Tập 28 Số 2 (2026)

Purpose

This study aims to revisit the existence of liquidity spillover effects between the US and European stock markets and investigates their dual-role structures. It examines which markets act as shock sources or absorbers or simultaneously assume both roles.

Design/methodology/approach

We employ entropy transfer to identify markets' roles. Additionally, a new multidimensional liquidity index is the primary variable in cross-market spillover analysis.

Findings

Evidence shows that the USA is both a source of shocks and a major absorber for the Austrian, Belgian, Swiss, Polish and Portuguese markets, alternately acting as both an absorber and a source of shocks, thereby confirming the hypothesis that the USA plays a dual role in this transmission network.

Research limitations/implications

The dataset is limited to the US and 10 European countries. Expanding to include emerging markets in Asia or Latin America would improve generalizability. More critically, the divergence between Shannon and Rényi entropy suggests potential further exploration.

Practical implications

This study develops a multidimensional liquidity index grounded in the theory of liquidity spillover at the market level. The index holds substantial potential as a proxy for further empirical research on cross-market liquidity spillovers.

Originality/value

This study contributes directly to the theory of liquidity spillovers by revising the existing literature, which overemphasizes the USA as a source of shocks rather than other markets. The findings also support the efficient market hypothesis by showing that markets respond synchronously to shocks through cross-border liquidity channels.

Purpose

This study examines the impact of Fintech credit on green innovation across countries. As global efforts to promote sustainable development intensify, understanding how alternative financing mechanisms, including Fintech credit, influence environmental innovation becomes increasingly relevant.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs a cross-national panel dataset covering the period from 2013 to 2019. Green innovation is measured by the number of environment-related inventions by domestic inventors. Fintech credit is measured by its total volume. Ordinary least squares regression is applied.

Findings

Fintech credit is shown to have a positive effect on green innovation, although this influence depends on the components of the former. Furthermore, the positive impact is stronger in countries with limited capital supply and lower levels of financial development, indicating a substitution effect of Fintech credit.

Originality/value

This study advances the finance – innovation literature by offering cross-country evidence on the heterogeneous effects of digital credit on green innovation. By distinguishing Fintech from BigTech credit and analyzing key moderating factors, it clarifies how different digital financial channels and country-specific conditions shape innovation outcomes.

Purpose

This study analyzes the impact of global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU) on the performance and risk of banks in Vietnam while also clarifying the moderating role of bank capital in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing panel data from 26 banks over the period 2010–2024, the study employs the feasible generalized least squares estimation method and the two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM).

Findings

The empirical results provide robust evidence that GEPU significantly reduces bank performance and increases banking risk. Bank capital plays an important moderating role as higher equity ratios help mitigate the negative effects of GEPU on both performance and risk.

Practical implications

The findings offer important policy implications for bank managers and policymakers in Vietnam to enhance banking performance and ensure financial system stability amid rising global uncertainty.

Originality/value

This study is the first to examine how GEPU affects bank performance and risk in Vietnam–an emerging, highly open economy with strong trade linkages to the United States and China. In addition, we extend prior work by employing the US–China Tension Index as an alternative proxy for uncertainty in robustness checks. Moreover, this research contributes to the literature by elucidating how bank capital moderates GEPU's effects on bank performance and risk. Building on the Real Options Theory, we suggest that the “delay” decision becomes more or less pronounced depending on whether banks have higher or lower levels of capital.

Purpose

This paper investigates how board gender diversity moderates the relationship between board independence and the financial performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Arab world, with explicit attention to the contingent role of subregional institutional logics. Challenging the assumption of regional homogeneity, this study examines why this governance synergy succeeds in some contexts but not others across four institutionally distinct subregions: the Maghreb, Nile Valley, Mashreq/Levant and Gulf.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a balanced panel of 84 MFIs from 10 Arab countries over 2006–2019 (1,176 firm-year observations), fixed-effects regression models are estimated with robust standard errors clustered at the MFI level. Financial performance is measured by Return on Assets and Return on Equity. Gender diversity is captured via Blau's and Shannon's indices, while macroeconomic and institutional controls are included to isolate governance effects.

Findings

Board independence positively influences MFI performance. Crucially, the effect of board independence on performance is significantly strengthened by gender diversity, but only in subregions where socio-cultural norms and legal frameworks support substantive female participation. This moderating effect is robust and statistically significant in the Maghreb (Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria) and partially in the Mashreq/Levant (Jordan, Lebanon), yet absent or weak in the Nile Valley (Egypt, Sudan) and the Gulf (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain). Macroeconomic stability further emerges as a critical enabler of financial sustainability.

Practical implications

The results caution against universalist gender quotas in governance. In inclusive environments, gender diversity acts as a performance multiplier for independent oversight; in resistant contexts, it risks remaining symbolic. Policymakers and MFI leaders must therefore couple board composition reforms with deeper institutional and cultural changes to unlock the developmental potential of inclusive governance.

Originality/value

This study advances development economics by demonstrating that the value of gender diversity as a governance enhancer is not intrinsic but regionally contingent. It introduces the concept of a “regional logic of inclusion,” showing how the interaction between governance mechanisms is embedded in, and amplified by, local institutional ecosystems. In doing so, it bridges agency theory with institutional analysis to offer a more nuanced understanding of effective governance in emerging economies.

Purpose

This study aims to examine the psychological mechanisms underlying sustainable apparel purchase intention (PI) by investigating the roles of perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE), green trust (GT), anticipated guilt (AG) and moral disengagement (MD) among Vietnamese Generation Z consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative survey of 720 Generation Z consumers in Vietnam was conducted using purposive sampling and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (SmartPLS 3.0).

Findings

PCE does not significantly influence AG or PI, whereas GT significantly reduces AG, which in turn lowers PI. At the same time, GT retains a positive direct effect on PI. The study shows that external-actor beliefs, represented by GT, reduce guilt-based motivation, whereas internal-actor beliefs, represented by PCE, are not channeled through AG in this context. These opposing effects result in an almost neutral total effect, indicating a competitive mediation mechanism. Furthermore, MD weakens the positive effect of AG on PI, reducing the motivational power of guilt.

Practical implications

Firms should design sustainability communication carefully. GT should be strengthened without reducing consumers' sense of personal responsibility. Combining trust-based messages with cues that reinforce individual responsibility can help sustain motivation.

Originality/value

This study challenges conventional models of sustainable consumption by theorizing sustainability-related beliefs as distinct internal- and external-actor mechanisms with asymmetric effects within a guilt-based mechanism. It advances emotion theory by demonstrating that the effectiveness of sustainability beliefs depends not only on belief strength but also on construal-level compatibility with the decision context.