• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.723-732
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• 2021

On September 25, 2015, 193 countries of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, signed the 2030 Agenda to work towards attaining 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its associated 169 targets and 232 indicators. With one of the largest renewable energy programs, India is well-poised to be a role model for low-carbon transformation to other Asian countries. However, bridging the financing gap is critical to ensure that the country meets its SDG targets. Though the SDGs identified by the UN are broad-based and interdependent, for ease of analysis we have grouped them into five themes - people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership - based on existing UN models. This paper investigates the financing gap for 'green' projects linked to planet-related SDG targets in India. It builds an argument for utilizing green bonds as an instrument to bridge the gap. After establishing the potential of green bonds in raising the finance to meet India's planet-related SDG targets, we look at the current policy landscape and suggest recommendations for successful execution. The paper concludes that deepening of the corporate fixed income securities market and firming up guidelines in line with India's climate action plans are inevitable before green bonds can be considered a viable financing option.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.111-122
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• 2021

The main purpose of the present research is to analyze the effects of trade, financial globalization, and technological progress on income inequality in the Indian economy over the period from 1982 to 2018. For this purpose, the study uses economic growth, financial globalization, trade openness, technological development, and economic inequality variables with appropriate proxies. The study employs the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to co-integration and VECM based Granger causality approach to estimate both the short-run and long-run relationship and causality among variables. Using the ARDL bounds test, the study finds a long-run co-integrating relationship existing among the variables in the model. The study confirms the existence of a positive and significant impact of technological progress on income inequality. Further, globalization's limited impact reflects two offsetting tendencies; trade globalization is associated with a reduction in income inequality, while financial globalization is related to an increase in inequality. The results of VECM based Granger causality approach further confirm that technological progress, trade, and financial globalization causes income inequality both directly and indirectly through economic growth and inflation. In case of India, the results of this research can significantly facilitate stakeholders and policymakers in devising policies towards effective globalization and technological innovation for inclusive growth.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.531-542
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• 2021

The study aims to investigate differences between men and women in influence of various socio-demographic factors on choice of mode of transport. For this purpose, a binary logit model of choice probabilities is implemented on survey data of a developing country city. Results indicate women's choice of travel mode to be more environment-friendly than that of men. Well-educated, working and middle-aged individuals appear to be the most likely to choosing more-polluting modes of transport for frequent travelling purposes. Individuals in the sample who are the least socioeconomically well off are found the most likely to be promising for the environment. The findings of this study suggest the future transportation policies toward development of existing infrastructure of greener modes of transportation in the city such as, public transportation services and pedestrian lanes, so as to manage the rising issues of degrading environmental quality. The study highlights how the consideration and inclusion of socio-demographic factors is crucial for policy recommendation regarding curtailing the environmental damages contributed by transportation sector. Because mobility crucially affects all other indicators of empowerment, and women are the ones using green modes extensively, the city's transportation system should be so developed which gives their safety and security due importance.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1041-1050
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• 2021

Employee engagement plays an important role in the development as well as the success of a company. The manner in which employees are committed to their work and be more innovative seems to drive people's curiosity. This study aims to analyze the impacts of job demands-resources, personal resources, and coworker support on work engagement. Also, whether there is a relationship between work engagement and creativity of employees is tested through this research. The data served for the research was collected in the context of Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The authors used structural equation modeling (SEM) (software Smart PLS), to test the proposed hypotheses by using the data of 602 employees. Results of the study point out that proposed antecedents influence work engagement and creativity. Such findings have shed light on both theory and practice implications. In theory, it supports the social exchange theory and the job demands and resources model. In practice, leaders should assist subordinates in various aspects and build and promote a corporate culture where employees help others with great enthusiasm to increase the level of work engagement and spirit of innovation of employees.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.113-122
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• 2021

This study aims to investigate the effects of fiscal policy instruments on economic growth in Jordan using annual data from 1970 to 2019, by applying the VAR model (Vector Auto regression) and the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The study also examines the dynamic relationship among economic variables over time using the Granger casualty test, Impulse Response Function, and Variance Decomposition. The results show that not only the public expenditures have a positive effect on economic growth in Jordan, but also the tax revenues positively affect the economic growth in the short-run, and this is because of using the tax revenues to finance the government activities in Jordan. This effect becomes negative in the long run, and this is explained because the tax seems a source of distortions in the economy, The extreme taxes may cause huge distortions in the economy, and these distortions destroys the purchasing power, the aggregate demand, and supply. More governmental dependence on tax revenues is the main source of tax evasion and less efficiency. The effect of taxation will curb any prosperity in the economy. Therefore, the government should estimate the fair tax rates to generate sufficient revenues to finance the public expenditure required to enhance economic prosperity.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.21-32
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• 2021

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between country-level institutional quality and public debt in the context of Pakistan. The hypotheses of this study were assessed by using the country-level institutional quality data for Pakistan throughout the years from 1996 to 2018. Data came from the World Databank, IMF and Worldwide Governance Indicators databases. For the analysis, ordinary least square, quantile regression and robust regression were employed to assess the factors influencing the public debt. The results of this study indicate that the factors of voice and accountability, regulatory quality, and control of corruption have a positive and significant relationship with public debt, while political stability, government effectiveness, and the rule of law have a negative and significant effect on public debt. Based on the findings, a weak country-level institutional quality poses a substantial market risk as it signals the existence of an unfavorable economic condition that raises public debt. It was also revealed that an improved performance of country-level institutional quality can lead to the improvement of financial market transparency, hence reduce public debt. In contrast to previous studies, the present study will be breaking ground in enhancing public insight regarding the impact of country-level institutional quality on Pakistan's public debt.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.229-235
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• 2021

The ability of entrepreneurs to arrange working capital is the key to maximizing the profitability of small- and medium-sized enterprises and the wealth of entrepreneurs. The study investigates the correlation between entrepreneurs' working capital management and the profitability of SMEs listed on six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock exchanges between 2019 and 2020. The secondary data is collected from the financial statements of SMEs listed on the six GCC stock exchanges. Actual sample for the research study was a total of 136 small- and medium-sized enterprises selected using purposive sampling methods. Four research models were considered in this analysis, all ending up affecting gross profits. The selected entrepreneurial SMEs were listed on six different Gulf Cooperation Council stock exchanges during 2019-2020. The fixed financial assets ratio, financial debt ratio, and company size are used as control variables and data were analyzed using multiple regression. The research results demonstrate that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between profitability measured by gross profit and cash cycle and the components of the cash cycle (including days of accounts receivable and days of inventory). The study further reveals that there is no significant correlation between gross profit and days of accounts payable.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.119-126
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• 2021

This study is to examine the foreign direct investment (FDI) response to real effective exchange rate volatility in Vietnam by using the vector autoregression model. The research data are quarterly frequency data in the period from 2004:Q1 to 2019:Q2. The data on real effective exchange rate were collected from the statistics of Bruegel (Europe) and FDI data were collected from the International Financial Statistics. The quantitative study was conducted with two steps: (1) measuring exchange rate volatility by the GARCH(1,1) method; and (2) examining the impact of exchange rate volatility on FDI in the context of the global financial crisis. The estimation results show that FDI responded significantly to real exchange rate volatility with the lag of 3 periods at the 5% significance level. The FDI response increased after the exchange rate volatility with the lag of 3 periods, and the impact extended to the lag of 6 periods, and then gradually stabilized. The research findings indicate that FDI in Vietnam responds positively and significantly to exchange rate volatility with the lag of 3 periods. Simultaneously, the negative impact of the global financial crisis in 2008 with the lag of 2 periods leads to a slight decrease in FDI inflows into Vietnam.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.1231-1240
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• 2021

A shift in perspective from standard finance to behavioral finance has taken place in the past two decades that explains how cognition and emotions are associated with financial decision making. This study aims to investigate the influence of various psychological factors on investment decision-making. The psychological factors that are investigated are differentiated into two aspects, cognitive and emotional aspects. From the cognitive aspect, we examine the influence of anchoring, representativeness, loss aversion, overconfidence, and optimism biases on investor decisions. Meanwhile, from the emotional aspect, the influence of herding behavior on investment decisions is analyzed. A quantitative approach is used based on a survey method and a snowball sampling that result in 165 questionnaires from individual investors in Yogyakarta. Further, we use the One-Sample t-test in testing all hypotheses. The research findings show that all of the variables, anchoring bias, representativeness bias, loss aversion bias, overconfidence bias, optimism bias, and herding behavior have a significant effect on investment decisions. This result emphasizes the influence of behavioral factors on investor's decisions. It contributes to the existing literature in understanding the dynamics of investor's behaviors and enhance the ability of investors in making more informed decision by reducing all potential biases.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.1385-1393
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• 2021

This study examines the impact of independent behavior, goal achievement, and curiosity on employee performance and examines the impact of independent behavior and goal achievement on employee performance through curiosity. This research is conducted on a survey using explanatory research. Data collection is carried out using a questionnaire as a research instrument. The questionnaire was conducted on employees of finance companies in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The selection of companies used as research is based on the similarity of the products being marketed. In Yogyakarta, there are 54 branch offices of finance companies that carry out business activities. However, of the 54 companies, ten have the same products being marketed, namely mortgage loans, investment loans, and multipurpose loans. In contrast, other finance companies focus more on motor vehicle loans—determining the number of samples obtained by multiplying by six times the number of indicators used. The sampling technique is done by purposive sampling with specific respondent criteria. In this study, analysis techniques, using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS 22. The results showed that the increase in employee performance was influenced by curiosity regarding independent employee behavior. This study provides recommendations human resource management practices that have an impact on organizational performance.