Open Access

Article

Article ID: 1893

Enhancing clean energy financial policies: Financing efficiency of new energy industry based on DEA-BCC-Malmquist-Tobit Model

by Aicong Liu, Yueyue Song, Tong Dong, Shi Yin

Forum for Economic and Financial Studies, Vol.3, No.2, 2025;

The “double carbon” objective presents opportunities for new energy enterprises, though financing efficiency remains a significant challenge. This paper assesses the financing efficiency of 153 new energy enterprises from 2017 to 2021 using DEA-BCC (Differential Evolution Algorithm-Bias Corrected and Accelerated) and DEA-Malmquist models, providing both static and dynamic perspectives. The Tobit model is employed to analyze the factors influencing financing efficiency, with a case study on Shanghai Electric. Key findings include: (1) New energy enterprises and Shanghai Electric show diversified financing channels (internal financing, debt, equity, and financial support) with a positive trend. (2) Despite this, their financing remains inefficient. From 2017 to 2021, only about 15% of new energy enterprises achieved DEA effectiveness, with overall financing efficiency impacted by changes in scale efficiency. Dynamic analysis shows an overall improvement, but low efficiency persists. For Shanghai Electric, while its comprehensive technical efficiency was optimal between 2017 and 2020, it declined in 2021 due to suboptimal scale efficiency. Low technical progress and scale efficiency contributed to this inefficiency. (3) Factors affecting financing efficiency include enterprise size, green technology innovation, capital structure, government support, and employee quality. For new energy enterprises, scale is inversely related to financing efficiency, while the other factors positively influence it. For Shanghai Electric, enterprise size, employee quality, capital structure, and government support significantly impact its financing efficiency.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 2026

The impact of macroeconomic variables on financial performance: A bibliometric analysis

by Sanjay Singh Chauhan, Pradeep Suri, Farman Ali, Amit Joshi

Forum for Economic and Financial Studies, Vol.3, No.2, 2025;

This study aims to review the literature on the relationship between the stock market and macroeconomic variables. Given the stock market’s role in driving economic activity, understanding this interaction is critical for investors, policymakers, and economists. The research uses bibliometric analysis to explore the current literature, identify trends, and map the intellectual landscape. Using Scopus data from 1979 to 2023, 867 publications were analyzed with Bibliophagy, a tool in R’s Bibliometrics package, automating the identification of influential journals, authors, and themes. Citation analysis, co-citation analysis, and social network analysis further provided insights into the academic discourse. The findings show that the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock markets has evolved with changing economic conditions. This study also identifies research gaps and suggests future studies focus on specific industries to understand better how macroeconomic factors impact different economic segments.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 2852

Poverty mitigation in Nigeria: The role of human capital investment and institutions

by Samson Adeniyi Aladejare, Timothy Odzie, Patrick Akani Odey

Forum for Economic and Financial Studies, Vol.3, No.2, 2025;

Despite the enormous resource wealth and human capital of Nigeria, poverty has become endemic among its population. Thus, this paper assessed the role of human capital investment and institutions in mitigating poverty in Nigeria between 1990 and 2023. By employing the autoregressive distributed lag technique, the paper demonstrated that human capital has a weak effect in decelerating poverty levels in the country. Specifically, while public investment in education and health has no significant long-term impacts on poverty, an increase in employment significantly reduces poverty levels for Nigeria. Conversely, institutions were found to aid the rising trend of poverty in the country, with dysfunctionality in government effectiveness and politically motivated violence being significantly responsible. Thus, the study recommends an increase in funding for the health and educational sectors and an enabling environment for sophisticated manpower investment to further boost income levels against poverty incidences. Also, the dysfunctionality in the institutional workings of the country will need to be tamed before the dividends of governance can effectively tackle poverty.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 2015

Integration between Islamic financial technology and Islamic financial principal to improve performance of SMEs in Indonesia

by Sukrisno, Idah Kusuma Dewi, Pranoto, Reliani Zai, Dionius Saputra Nehe, Renny Apriliyani, Haniek Listyorini, Kundori, Karona Cahya Susena

Forum for Economic and Financial Studies, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

This study investigates the integration of Islamic financial technology and principles and their impact on small and medium enterprise (SME) performance in Indonesia. Utilizing a quantitative research methodology, the study employs a correlational design to examine the relationships between Islamic financial technology adoption, adherence to Islamic financial principles, and SME performance metrics. The research sample comprises 230 Muslim SME owners from Java Island, selected through stratified random sampling. Data collection involved structured questionnaires designed to measure the adoption levels of Islamic financial technology, adherence to Islamic financial principles, and various indicators of SME performance. The study employed multiple regression analysis to assess the relationships between the variables. Results indicate statistically significant positive correlations between the implementation of Islamic financial technology, adherence to Islamic financial principles, and SME performance. The regression model accounts for 79.5% of the variance in SME performance. Islamic financial technology adoption emerged as a particularly strong predictor of improved SME outcomes, suggesting the potential for technological innovation within an Islamic financial framework to drive business success. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on Islamic finance and financial technology in emerging markets. It provides empirical evidence for the potential synergies between Islamic financial principles and modern financial technology in enhancing SME performance in Indonesia. The findings have implications for policymakers, financial institutions, and SME owners in leveraging Islamic financial technology to promote sustainable economic growth.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 2519

Assessing the future influence of tourism-related factors on economic growth in selected south Asian countries through a random forest approach

by Sujan Acharya, Md Shahriar Kabir Sajib, Ahnaf Aiman Abdi, Golam Mahadi

Forum for Economic and Financial Studies, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

The study applies sophisticated machine learning techniques to measure the effect induced by important tourism indicators upon the GDP of six South Asian countries from 2001–2019. Among the models tested, the Random Forest model demonstrated the highest predictive accuracy, making it the most effective approach for analyzing GDP determinants in the region. It was determined from a World Development Indicators dataset analysis through the use of a Random Forest model what were the main determinants behind GDP growth for all countries in the area. Tourist arrivals and international tourism expenditure are good indicators of economic growth, while the unemployment rate and population growth have only minor effects. Other tourism-related factors contribute very significantly toward explaining any possible variation in GDP growth. Therefore, these results are important from the standpoint of the formulation of policies related to tourism toward maximizing its contribution to the economies of South Asia. For such policies to result in maximizing contributions from tourism, investments need to focus on the development of tourism infrastructure and international marketing to effect sustainable tourism development environments. Such policies are also very important with respect to unemployment and demographics. This work offers an evidence-based perspective to inform policymakers in developing investment in tourism infrastructure, international tourism promotion, and sustainable tourism practice. Such investment will greatly empower the South Asian economies to reconfigure tourism as a key driver of sustained economic growth and globally improved competitiveness.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 2218

Unemployment and the informal economy in Uganda: An empirical investigation

by Stephen Esaku, Salmon Mugoda

Forum for Economic and Financial Studies, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

This paper investigates the relationship between unemployment and the informal economy in Uganda. Using annual time series data from Uganda, covering the period from 1991 to 2017, we apply the ARDL method to investigate this relationship. The results indicate a positive and statistically significant relationship between unemployment and the shadow economy in both the long- and short-run. This implies that an increase in unemployment increases the shadow economy in both the long- and short-run. These findings reveal that a high level of unemployment is detrimental to the formal economy since it spurs informal sector activities in both the short-and long-run. These results suggest that any attempt to regulate unemployment without tackling informal sector activities may not succeed unless they are addressed simultaneously. Furthermore, the results also imply that curbing informality requires implementing fiscal, economic and political reforms aimed at ensuring proper functioning of the business environment.