This study aims to examine whether financial inclusion advances sustainable development in a fragile and institutionally constrained economy. Using Palestine as a case study, it assesses the association between financial inclusion and a composite measure of sustainable development capturing both economic and social dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the period 2012–2024.
This study adopts a quantitative econometric design grounded in technological and macroeconomic perspectives. Financial inclusion is measured using multiple banking and financial indicators, including nonperforming loans, the number of bank accounts, the number of bank branches and offices, automated teller machines (ATMs), total deposits and total credit facilities. Sustainable development is measured using a composite Z-score index. Fixed effects (FE) models are used for the main estimations, while one-year-lagged specifications are used as a robustness check.
Results indicate a positive and statistically significant association between financial inclusion and sustainable development in Palestine. Evidence suggests that digital and credit-based channels (e.g. accounts, ATMs, deposits and credit facilities) contribute more consistently to economic and social progress than traditional physical outreach (bank-branch expansion), which appears weak and can be occasionally adverse.
For fragile settings, the findings imply that policymakers and financial institutions should prioritize digital financial services and inclusive credit mechanisms to accelerate progress toward the SDGs. The results also indicate that expanding physical branch networks alone may be insufficient and should be complemented (or substituted where appropriate) by technology-enabled channels and access-to-credit policies.
This study adds context-specific evidence from Palestine to the literature on the financial inclusion–sustainable development nexus in fragile economies. It contributes by operationalizing sustainable development as a composite Z-score index spanning economic and social indicators and by highlighting that, under institutional constraints, digital and credit-driven inclusion channels may yield stronger development payoffs than conventional branch expansion.
Ammar Salem, B. Awwad· International Journal of Dev...· 0 citations
Based on agency theory, this study examines the association between the optimistic tone of earnings conference calls and the cost of equity capital using an unbalanced panel of 342 non-financial FTSE All-Share companies (987 firm-year observations) over the period 2010–2024. Earnings conference call tone is measured using the financial sentiment dictionary and analysed using NVivo 14 software. The cost of equity capital is estimated using an implied cost of equity model. Panel specification is determined using appropriate panel-data diagnostic tests, while robustness is assessed through lagged-tone regressions, an alternative cost of equity measure, and two-stage least-squares (2SLS) estimation to address potential endogeneity. The results show a significant negative association between optimistic earnings conference call tone and the cost of equity capital (β = −7.787, p < 0.01). A statistically significant reverse association is also documented: A statistically significant reverse association is also documented: a lower cost of equity is associated with a more optimistic tone in subsequent conference calls (β = −0.001, p < 0.01). This result is interpreted as evidence of an association rather than a causal effect. Both results remain robust across alternative model specifications, lagged-tone analyses, alternative cost of equity measures, and endogeneity controls. The findings indicate that positive and transparent voluntary communication, particularly through earnings conference calls, is associated with lower information asymmetry and a lower cost of equity capital. Firms that have not yet adopted this communication channel may consider incorporating earnings conference calls into their investor-relations strategies to enhance voluntary communication with investors. This study contributes to the disclosure literature by documenting statistically significant associations between earnings conference call tone and the cost of equity capital under two model specifications in the UK market and by providing comprehensive robustness evidence supporting the stability of the reported associations.
Salah Kayed, A. Ramadan, Ruaa Binsaddig et al.· Journal of Risk and Financia...· 0 citations
This paper explores the relationship between institutional governance quality (IGQ), digital transformation, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance in a fragile institutional environment. The study employs an unbalanced panel dataset comprising 473 firm-year observations from firms listed on the Palestine Exchange over the period 2014–2024 and uses fixed-effects regression analysis, robustness tests, and System GMM estimation to ensure the reliability of the findings. The results reveal a significant and robust positive association between institutional governance quality and CSR performance, indicating that higher levels of governance quality are associated with greater corporate engagement in CSR activities. Furthermore, the baseline fixed-effects results show that digital transformation significantly strengthens the positive relationship between institutional governance quality and CSR performance, suggesting that technological progress enhances transparency, information exchange, and institutional monitoring, thereby improving the effectiveness of governance mechanisms in promoting CSR. Robustness tests confirm the stability of the baseline findings, while the dynamic System GMM estimation provides additional evidence after accounting for endogeneity and the persistence of CSR performance. These results indicate that CSR performance exhibits strong persistence over time and that the moderating role of digital transformation becomes more nuanced under a dynamic specification. The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence from a fragile emerging economy that remains underrepresented in governance and CSR research. In addition, the findings offer important policy implications by highlighting the complementary roles of institutional governance quality and digital transformation in promoting CSR and supporting sustainable digital transformation in developing economies.
Ruaa Binsaddig, A. Salem, Raed Abdelhaq et al.· Economies· 0 citations
