A person’s capability to manage financial matters has become important in today’s world. Availability of different types of sophisticated financial products coupled with the complexity and increased uncertainty of the economy and financial markets have generated a strong move to measure and study financial literacy among investors. The present article aims to analyze the status of financial literacy of college students with three identified antecedents, namely, socio-demographic characteristics, parental influence and attitude towards financial planning.
A sample of 425 students from various colleges of the Hyderabad–Secunderabad region was studied to understand the role of the identified antecedents on financial literacy. The results of logistic regression analysis support the hypothesis that financial literacy of Indian college students is influenced by their socio-demographic characters, parental influence and their attitude towards financial planning. While both socio-demographic and parental influences have a positive impact on financial literacy, attitude towards financial planning is observed to have a negative impact.
The article explores the role of ‘spirituality’ in green consumer behaviour. It proposes an original framework in order to explore the influence of spirituality on green purchasing intentions (GPI) of consumers through the mediating role of perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE). The data collected from Indian consumers were analyzed with the help of the mediation model proposed by Hayes (2008). By employing the consumer’s spirituality scale developed by Narang (2013) and the PCE scale of Kim and Choi (2005), the study found that the spiritual orientation of consumers significantly affects their GPI. The conclusions drawn from the study can be used by marketers to stimulate GPI by focusing on the role of spirituality among consumers. Since green has become a distinct way of positioning a product or a company, firms can employ environmental concerns and consciousness of consumers to magnetize new markets, customers and retain existing green consumers.
The purpose of this research is to assess the effectiveness of the role played by the Department of Posts (DoP) in financial inclusion of the unorganized sector. It examines, by studying the issues in disbursement of Social Security Pensions (SSPs) in a region, the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities that the DoP has and the threats it could face. The empirical study is confined to only one initiative of DoP, that is, SSP disbursements in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. The primary data was collected during the transition period when DoP was into SSP disbursements in urban as well as rural areas of Visakhapatnam on an experimental basis (February–April, 2015). Altogether eight hypotheses were tested for significance, based on the data collected through observation, interviews, survey and literature review. The sample for data collection consisted of DoP employees (from frontline to top management), representatives of local governing bodies in villages and SSP beneficiaries. The SWOT analysis of DoP helped in identifying issues in disbursements and perceptions (of both beneficiaries and DoP employees). The results show that DoP has been successful in achieving the first level of financial inclusion and has to work towards achieving the second level through collaborative partnerships.
Several suggestions and recommendations have been made for both DoP and policy-makers, which would help DoP in overcoming the challenges that it faces in financial inclusion. It is suggested that by looking at the bigger picture beyond disbursements, that is, financial inclusion of the bottom-of-the-pyramid customers, DoP will be able to emerge as a major player in the economic growth of the country.
This study explores the relationship between public expenditure (PE) and gross domestic product (GDP) to verify whether the Wagner’s hypothesis holds good in the Indian context. We cover the period from 1970 to 2013 and use econometric tools like Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) test to check the long-run and causal relationship among the variables. The results of the bounds test suggest that there exists cointegration between PE and GDP, but we found weak evidence for Wagner’s hypothesis as well.
This article investigates whether star analysts, identified as the best stock pickers by Thomson Reuters’ StarMine Awards, have superior target price forecasts than non-star analysts in an emerging market. The difference between star and non-star analysts is the former’s use of attention-seeking tactics by issuing aggressive target price forecasts. Empirical results indicate that the performance of star analysts is not significantly different from that of non-star analysts in the short term or at the end of the forecast horizon. However, star analysts have better short-term performance than non-star analysts for a sub-set of technology-driven, high-growth stocks which have higher liquidity and rapid incorporation of information. In essence, star-analysts have better short-term predictive ability than non-star analysts for stocks with higher trading volume and better flow of information. The key finding of this study is that investors in emerging markets like India have limited advantage in following target price forecasts issued by star analysts.
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has witnessed various interpretations since its inception. Even though the present era of CSR has been significantly reassuring, there is an urgent need to understand the primary role of CSR. In order to do so, it becomes necessary to study the evolution of the concept of CSR over the years. This research compares the models of CSR on the basis of certain accepted indices, arguably the most relevant ones in this context, and establishes a line of evolution—not a temporal convergence but a thematic convergence of the same—thus concluding that the idea of CSR is gradually moving towards a consolidated form. There is a stark difference between the conception and the practical implementation of a model. Although several models have been proposed and modified since the 1950s, the question still remains whether an evolutionary line can be established as far as their practicability is concerned. Each organization or nation, as a whole, follows different strategies to implement CSR activities. The strategies differ mainly due to varied perspectives about whether to put social benefits on the forefront or financial profits. Another question that arises consequently is: are these initiatives based on universally accepted social policies or are they governed by the evolving models of CSR? This research explores this very question by looking at the practical implementations of the CSR models and examines their optimality. It also investigates the proposition of probable thematic convergence of CSR.
This article attempts to understand how income diversification influences efficiency of scheduled commercial banks in India across ownership and over crises periods. We explore two competing hypotheses prevalent in the literature—strategic focus and conglomeration. Input-oriented technical and pure technical efficiency scores are calculated using data envelopment analysis following two approaches in the literature—intermediation and operating. We find support for the conglomeration hypothesis under the intermediation approach while the strategic focus hypothesis holds under the operating approach regarding influence of revenue diversification on both types of efficiency. Furthermore, foreign banks indulge in higher revenue diversification in the post-crisis period and, therefore, report greater efficiency as compared with their domestic counterparts. These results have important policy ramifications for regulators and supervisors.
The financial inclusion models that have been implemented successfully in various parts of India have not gained momentum in North East India. The inherent characteristics of the states in this region and the prominence of several informal financial systems are some of the reasons for the failure of the formal financial inclusion models. This study made an attempt to examine the determinants of savings under the Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA), a formal financial inclusion scheme advocated by the Government of India for the betterment of girl children. The study area comprised the eight districts of Tripura, one of the states of North East India. The data for the case study was collected through scheduled interviews with 225 respondents, who had a girl child below the age of 10 years. The results, arrived at through a statistical analysis, showed that the pivotal catalysts determining the decisions whether to invest in the SSA scheme were: gender, age, level of income, family size and income, financial literacy, uncertainty of income and planning for child’s education, marriage and house. The relevance of the finding of the study in terms of policy-making has been highlighted.
This article identifies, through a retrospective study of literature, the transitional dynamics of traditional crafts of South and South East Asia. It aims to explain the various factors that necessitate commercialization of crafts, the most important element in transitional dynamics. The review of literature functions at two levels: on the one hand, it reiterates the relationship between commercialization and transition of crafts, whereas, on the other hand, it reveals the changes which accrue to the crafts of the region. A significant number of researchers have documented the reasons behind commercialization and subsequent modification of crafts, which take place either through tourism or through the expansion of export markets. Some countries go into commercial production mode for the betterment of the extremely poor craft-making communities, whereas others try to revive decaying traditions. In such instances of commercialization, it is important to understand the extent of the producer–customer interface that acts as a catalyst in the commoditization and modification of crafts. In regions where tourism flourishes, producers often commercialize their crafts spontaneously, whereas in regions where direct tourists as customers are not adequate in number, organizations, particularly non-governmental organizations (NGOs), play a vital role in the process of sponsored commercialization by linking producers with customers.
In India, Corporate governance norms were prepared with the assumption that firms were controlled by private players. However, in India, there are many firms that are majority-owned by the State or the government. Literature on corporate governance has highlighted the differences in the governance practices of government- and private-owned enterprises. But the parameters on the basis of which such differences emerge have not been studied. This article attempts to fill in the research gaps by analyzing the corporate governance practices of State-owned enterprises, known as public sector undertakings (PSUs), and family-owned enterprises in the Indian context by using the case study method. Five PSUs along with five family-owned private sector enterprises were selected for the study and their board practices were compared. The findings indicate significant differences in the board structure and the director’s compensation structure of PSUs and family-owned firms. These findings suggest that policy-makers need to consider the State ownership issue separately while making corporate governance norms.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a buzzword worldwide. In today’s globalized world, one of the great challenges faced by firms is integration of CSR in business. Stakeholders require a lot more from companies than merely pursuing growth and profitability. They demand information about economic, social and environmental performances of the companies. Previous studies in developed countries have confirmed that a true and sincere corporate communication leads to the building of stakeholders’ trust. There is, however, a dearth of such studies in developing countries such as India. This study is an attempt to bridge the gap by conducting an exploratory study on how the top management of a company reports CSR. Using the technique of content analysis, this article assessed the extent and nature of CSR reporting by Indian companies. We used multiple regression analysis to evaluate how well a set of predictors explain the social disclosure practices of Indian firms. The results indicated that there is no significant relationship between a firm’s profitability and its corporate social disclosure (CSD). However, a firm’s ownership (private sector or public sector) has influence on CSD practices. The findings also suggest that firm size has a positive association with CSD under the community development theme. This implies that large companies with public visibility favour community development. Finally, the study ends with a conclusion that has strong managerial implications: sincere and honest social reporting can harness a better relationship with all stakeholders.