The Mediated Effect of Bounded Rationality on the Relationship between National Cultural Psychology and Irrationality in Financial Decision Making of Entrepreneurs: – An empirical study on the evidence from Ethnic Minority Business (EMBs) Entrepreneurs in West Midlands, UK

AbstractThe purpose of this study: Ethnic Minority Business Entrepreneurs’ (EMBs) financial behaviour is presumably shaped by their underlying cultural and cognitive factors. In this paper, it is expected to examine the tripartite relationship existing among National Culture, Bounded Rationality and Irrationality in Financial Decision Making of Sri Lankan ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the UK. Methodology: This research employs a psychometric questionnaire consisting five point Likert scaled questions to collect data. Based on Kline’s (2005) 10:1 rule of thumb sampling method, a sample of 200 of Sri Lankan EMB entrepreneurs in the UK were selected. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (EFA and CFA) are used to examine the tripartite relationship among the underlying constructs. Findings: The results from EFA show there are linkages among National Cultural Psychology (NCP), Bounded Rationality (BR) and Irrationality in Financial Decision Making (IFDM). CFA further proved a statistically significant direct effect in between IFDM and NCB (standardised estimation =0.403, p=0.002&lt;0.05), and Indirect effect of NCB to IFDM via Bounded Rationality (standardised estimation = 0.301, p=0.001&lt;0.05). Accordingly, it can be discovered a ‘Partial Mediation’ among these three constructs.Originality and Contributions: This paper developed a questionnaire to measure the concepts and statistically confirmed the links among National Cultural Psychology, Cognitive Biases and Irrationality in Financial Decision Making of Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs. This study provides new knowledge for behavioural finance by looking through the lens of national culture and introducing a novel model as ‘Cultural and Behavioural Financial Decision Making (CBDFM)’ which explains how entrepreneurs are being diverted from rationality by their national cultural and cognitive factors. Practical Implications: EMB entrepreneurs are encouraged to understand their embodied cultural attributes which cause cognitive bias and eventually divert them from rational decision-making. Authorities who are empowering EMBs are recommended to consider the national cultural factors, and cognitive biases of EMB entrepreneurs when setting up new policies to promote EMBs. <br/

Impacts of Reduced Inequalities on Quality Education:Examining the Relationship between Regional Sustainability and Higher Education

Although the United Nations&rsquo; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advocate, through SDG 4 and SDG 10, equitable quality education and the reduction of inequalities within and between countries, respectively, few studies have examined how inequalities in regional sustainability influence higher education. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between regional sustainability and higher education in China using fixed-effects panel modelling. A systematic force framework showing how regional sustainability drives higher education was constructed from economic, social, and environmental perspectives, and the endogeneity in the process of how regional sustainability affects higher education was explored by introducing one-year lagged values as instrumental variables. Our results show that regional sustainability has a significant impact on higher educational attainment in China, with differing effects in the eastern, central, and western regions, respectively. In central China, economic sustainability plays a significant positive role in higher educational attainment; in the western region, economic and social sustainability have stronger positive effects, while environmental sustainability has significantly negative effects. In terms of policy implications, our findings can be used to support regional development policies to promote regional higher education

The Mediated Effect of Bounded Rationality on the Relationship between National Cultural Psychology and Irrationality in Financial Decision Making of Entrepreneurs: – An empirical study on the evidence from Ethnic Minority Business (EMBs) Entrepreneurs in West Midlands, UK

AbstractThe purpose of this study: Ethnic Minority Business Entrepreneurs’ (EMBs) financial behaviour is presumably shaped by their underlying cultural and cognitive factors. In this paper, it is expected to examine the tripartite relationship existing among National Culture, Bounded Rationality and Irrationality in Financial Decision Making of Sri Lankan ethnic minority entrepreneurs in the UK. Methodology: This research employs a psychometric questionnaire consisting five point Likert scaled questions to collect data. Based on Kline’s (2005) 10:1 rule of thumb sampling method, a sample of 200 of Sri Lankan EMB entrepreneurs in the UK were selected. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (EFA and CFA) are used to examine the tripartite relationship among the underlying constructs. Findings: The results from EFA show there are linkages among National Cultural Psychology (NCP), Bounded Rationality (BR) and Irrationality in Financial Decision Making (IFDM). CFA further proved a statistically significant direct effect in between IFDM and NCB (standardised estimation =0.403, p=0.002&lt;0.05), and Indirect effect of NCB to IFDM via Bounded Rationality (standardised estimation = 0.301, p=0.001&lt;0.05). Accordingly, it can be discovered a ‘Partial Mediation’ among these three constructs.Originality and Contributions: This paper developed a questionnaire to measure the concepts and statistically confirmed the links among National Cultural Psychology, Cognitive Biases and Irrationality in Financial Decision Making of Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs. This study provides new knowledge for behavioural finance by looking through the lens of national culture and introducing a novel model as ‘Cultural and Behavioural Financial Decision Making (CBDFM)’ which explains how entrepreneurs are being diverted from rationality by their national cultural and cognitive factors. Practical Implications: EMB entrepreneurs are encouraged to understand their embodied cultural attributes which cause cognitive bias and eventually divert them from rational decision-making. Authorities who are empowering EMBs are recommended to consider the national cultural factors, and cognitive biases of EMB entrepreneurs when setting up new policies to promote EMBs. <br/

An Exploration of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in Africa from Ethical and Cultural Perspectives

Abstract—This study explores the perceptions and conducts of Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa from ethical and cultural perspectives. It offers a better understanding of how ethical and cultural factors affect Chinese investment in Africa and how the investment projects performed in Africa from both Chinese investors and African stakeholders’ perceptions. It adopted a grounded theory approach and conducted 30 in-depth interviews with corporate managers. Grounded theory models are developed to link the ethical and cultural factors, actions, and consequences. Results reveal that some ethical concepts like the unity of humans and nature, benevolence, virtue and responsibility, and cultural traits including propriety, righteousness, sincerity, equilibrium, long-term orientation, and principles affect Chinese investors when making investments in Africa. Most Chinese investors harmonize with local managers, cooperate with each other, and are gentle and courteous to partners. They take stable and steady actions and invest in infrastructure and agriculture projects and adopt a virtue governance system in the organization. This study finds that consequently, Chinese investors and local partners take complementary advantages, make achievementssequentially, and therefore both sides can win. They recognize great potentials and make sustainable development in Africa to achieve the Great Together in the future. This study proposes a Chinese ethics and governance system including economic, social, and political perspectives and compares it with alternative systems. It makesimplications to the world island theory and propose suggestions to solve the Clash of Civilizations problem

When climate risk hits corporate value:The moderating role of financial constraints, flexibility, and innovation

This study examines the relationship between firms’ exposure to climate risk and their market value using global data from 2002 to 2022. A significant negative relationship between climate risk and firm value is identified, with geographic variation in impact severity. Asia faces the highest risk, followed by Europe, North America, and others. Policy events like the Stern Review and the Paris Agreement influence this relationship. Financial constraints exacerbate the negative effects of climate risk, while financial flexibility and R&amp;D mitigate them. Firms in environmentally sensitive sectors and outside the United States are more vulnerable, and non-G20/non-OECD countries face greater climate challenges