The non-linearity between financial development and carbon footprints: the environmental roles of technological innovation, renewable energy, and foreign direct investment

The economies of the majority of the South Asian countries have substantially expanded in the last couple of decades. Nevertheless, the simultaneous deterioration in environmental quality questions the quality of such growth performances of the South Asian countries in light of their environmental sustainability objectives. As a result, limiting the environmental hardships faced by these countries is deemed as an important agenda of the concerned governments. Therefore, this study aims to examine the determinants of carbon footprints in selected South Asian countries using advanced panel data econometric methods. Overall, the findings confirm an inverted U-shaped association between financial development and carbon footprints based on which the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is verified in the long run. Besides, technological innovation is evidenced to curb the short- and long run levels of carbon footprints while renewable energy transition exerts carbon footprint-inhibiting impact only in the long run. Further, the findings verify the pollution haven hypothesis by confirming carbon footprint-boosting impact of net foreign direct investment inflows. Consequently, for improving environmental quality, South Asian economies should develop their financial sectors further, discover green technologies, undergo renewable energy transition, and restrict inflows of unclean foreign direct investments

Impact of E-Commerce and Digital Marketing Adoption on the Financial and Sustainability Performance of MSMEs during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has remarkably affected the business processes and performance of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) across the world. MSMEs have had to adopt and implement numerous strategies to sustain their businesses, and their financial and sustainability performance has been impacted by their choice of e-commerce (EC) platforms and digital marketing (DM) strategies. The objective of this research was to explore the effects of EC and DM platforms and strategies on facilitating MSMEs’ financial and sustainability performance amid the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. This study gathered data from 212 MSMEs from three districts of Bangladesh. A partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was undertaken, to test the hypothesized model. The findings revealed that e-commerce had a significant association with MSMEs’ financial performance and sustainability amid the pandemic. It was also observed that digital marketing strategies had a substantial impact on MSMEs’ financial performance. However, the linkage between DM strategies and MSMEs’ sustainability was found to be insignificant. Furthermore, it was found that the financial performance of MSMEs mediated the relationship between e-commerce adoption and their sustainability performance. These findings contribute to the extant technology adoption literature, by exploring the role of e-commerce and digital marketing on firms’ financial outcomes amid a global pandemic. Managers and policymakers of small businesses can learn several things from this study, and understand how crucial digital commerce and digital marketing are to their success and long-term survival

Corporate Social Responsibility, Green Finance and Environmental Performance: Does Green Innovation Matter?

This study aims to examine the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Green Finance (GI) on the Environmental Performance (EP) of banking institutions in emerging markets like Bangladesh. The study also examines the role of green innovation (GI) as a mediator in the existent relationship between CSR, GF and EP. Data were obtained from 357 bankers of commercial banks in Bangladesh through the aid of structured questionnaires. A structural equation modeling approach was employed in the investigation of the obtained primary data, and results revealed that CSR had a significant positive impact on GI and EP, while GI strongly enhances EP. Besides, the findings revealed that GF had a significant positive influence on GI and EP. Furthermore, the research data indicated that GI fully mediates the link between CSR and EP, and GF and EP significantly. The study highlights the importance of CSR dimensions (social, economic and environmental), GF and GI in the attainment of EP, as well as the urgent need to incorporate sustainability into banking strategies to help achieve the country’s long-term economic development. As a result, major policy implications were further addressed

Corporate Social Responsibility, Green Finance and Environmental Performance: Does Green Innovation Matter?

This study aims to examine the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Green Finance (GI) on the Environmental Performance (EP) of banking institutions in emerging markets like Bangladesh. The study also examines the role of green innovation (GI) as a mediator in the existent relationship between CSR, GF and EP. Data were obtained from 357 bankers of commercial banks in Bangladesh through the aid of structured questionnaires. A structural equation modeling approach was employed in the investigation of the obtained primary data, and results revealed that CSR had a significant positive impact on GI and EP, while GI strongly enhances EP. Besides, the findings revealed that GF had a significant positive influence on GI and EP. Furthermore, the research data indicated that GI fully mediates the link between CSR and EP, and GF and EP significantly. The study highlights the importance of CSR dimensions (social, economic and environmental), GF and GI in the attainment of EP, as well as the urgent need to incorporate sustainability into banking strategies to help achieve the country’s long-term economic development. As a result, major policy implications were further addressed

Factors Affecting the Repurchase Intention of Organic Tea among Millennial Consumers: An Empirical Study

The study aims to identify the factors affecting consumers’ intention to repurchase organic tea in an emerging country such as Bangladesh. The study adopted the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) theory, which uses seven constructs as the predictor of repurchase intention. This is a quantitative and empirical study that adopted cross-sectional survey methods. The convenience sampling method was used to collect data from 340 young respondents who visited supermarkets in Dhaka between October and November 2021. In order to analyze the obtained primary data, the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used. The findings revealed that product satisfaction, perceived values and brand trust are the predictors of repurchase intention. Surprisingly, we did not find that promotional efforts effected repurchase intention. The study also identified food quality and information quality as the antecedents of perceived value and product satisfaction, while the antecedents of brand trust were product satisfaction, food quality, brand image, information quality and promotional effort. The study suggested numerous theoretical and policy implications to improve repurchase intention of organic tea in the context of emerging economies such as Bangladesh

Do Green Banking Activities Improve the Banks’ Environmental Performance? The Mediating Effect of Green Financing

The main purpose of this study is to identify the impact of green banking activities on green financing and banks’ environmental performance. It also identifies the mediating effect of green financing on the relationship between green banking activities and environmental performance of private commercial banks (PCBs) in Bangladesh. Besides, this study also examines the major challenges and benefits of green banking development in an emerging economy like Bangladesh. The convenience sampling technique was used to collect primary data from bankers of PCBs in Bangladesh, and a final sample size of 352 was recorded. To assess the relationship among the study variables, the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach was employed. The empirical results revealed that green banking activities exhibit a significantly positive effect on banks’ environmental performance and sources of green financing, and that sources of green financing significantly influence banks’ environmental performance. Additionally, it was observed that green financing mediates the association between green banking activities and banks’ environmental performance. Furthermore, the study identified customers’ insufficient awareness towards green banking, high investment costs, technical obstacles, lack of capable and competent staff in appraising green credits/loans, and difficulties and complexity in assessing green projects as major challenges affecting the development of green banking in Bangladesh. Moreover, the study also discovered that increasing banks’ competitiveness, reducing long-term costs and expenses, providing online banking facilities, improving customers’ goodwill, and reducing carbon footprints are the key benefits of green banking development, as it helps in the achievement of the sustainable economic development of the country. Therefore, major theoretical and managerial policy implications are further discussed with study limitations and future research directions

Do Environmental Strategy and Awareness Improve Firms’ Environmental and Financial Performance? The Role of Competitive Advantage

Drawing upon the natural-resource-based view (NRBV), this study assesses the role of environmental strategy (ENS) and environmental awareness (ENA) in enhancing firms’ environmental and financial performance. Additionally, we hypothesize a mediating role of firms’ competitive advantage among these associations. We analyze several hypothesized relationships using survey data from 240 Bangladeshi manufacturing SMEs. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) findings suggest that environmental strategy strongly affects organizational competitive advantage and environmental performance. We also observe that environmental awareness substantially affects competitive advantage and environmental and financial performance. Finally, our statistical findings reveal that competitive advantage mediates the linkage between ENS and ENP as well as ENA and ENP. However, ENS was found to have an insignificant effect on firms’ financial performance. These crucial findings extend the NRBV, ENS, and ENA literature. Our research provides managers of manufacturing organizations and policymakers with a valuable model for managing environmental strategy and environmental awareness to enhance environmental and financial performance. It may assist manufacturing SME managers in strengthening their internal resources, such as ENS and ENA, to improve their competitive advantage and organizational outcomes

The Effect of Green Banking Practices on Banks’ Environmental Performance and Green Financing: An Empirical Study

Every sector of the global economy is faced with environmental problems and their resulting consequences to their day-to-day operations. Due to the rising threat of global climate change, the green banking (GB) concept has been given significant attention in recent green finance literature. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to identify the impact of GB practices on banks’ environmental performance and sources of green financing of private commercial banks (PCBs) in Bangladesh. Using a survey method, the primary data were obtained from a cross-sectional sample of 322 banking employees of PCBs in Bangladesh. In order to identify the key relationships existing between the study variables, structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was employed. The empirical findings indicated that banks’ employees, daily-operations, and policy-related GB practices have significant positive effects on green financing, contrary to banks’ customer-related GB practice, which was not statistically significant. Additionally, banks’ green project financing exhibited a strong and positive influence on banks’ environmental performance. Moreover, banks’ daily operation and policy-related practices of GB were observed to have significant impacts on banks’ environmental performances, in contrast to banks’ employee and customer-related GB practices. Therefore, major policy implications and directions for future research in the concerned area are discussed

Understanding Corporate Green Competitive Advantage through Green Technology Adoption and Green Dynamic Capabilities: Does Green Product Innovation Matter?

Our study explores the association between the adoption of green technology and the development of green dynamic capabilities to achieve green competitive advantage. This research concentrates explicitly on the mediating function of green product innovation. The study is grounded in the dynamic capabilities theory and seeks to improve understanding regarding how organizations can attain a competitive edge by employing green practices and capabilities. Data were obtained from 312 manufacturing business managers in Bangladesh. We utilized the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method to examine the data and evaluate the proposed hypotheses. The empirical evidence suggests that both green technology adoption and green dynamic capabilities significantly impact firms’ green product innovation and competitive advantage. Additionally, the findings indicate that green product innovation is a mediating variable in the association between green technology adoption-green competitive advantage and green dynamic capabilities-green competitive advantage. This research adds to the current body of literature by presenting empirical findings highlighting the crucial role of green technology and dynamic capabilities in promoting green competitive advantage. Our results reveal that it would be beneficial for organizations to prioritize adopting eco-friendly technologies and cultivating dynamic capabilities to improve their overall green performance. The present study contributes significantly to the literature by offering insights into the strategies managers and policymakers can employ to attain sustainable competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector

Perceived Environmental Responsibilities and Green Buying Behavior: The Mediating Effect of Attitude

The unsustainable operations of producers account for significant carbon emission and subsequent adverse impacts on nature. This study aims to identify the factors that influence consumers’ green buying behavior. The research focuses on the exploratory testing of theories using standardized questionnaires and interviews. Using a convenience selection approach, questionnaire surveys were used to gather primary data from a sample size of 305. The sample demographic reflects people who often make purchases; data were also obtained from shopping centers and elsewhere. The hypothesis testing of variables measured via five-point Likert scale questions was performed using structural equation modeling. We applied closed-ended questions relating to green buying behavior for the convenience of respondents. The empirical result established the effects of attitude, perceived severity of environmental problems, environmental concern, and subjective norms on Bangladeshi consumers’ green buying behavior. Additionally, it was discovered that attitude mediates the association between the perceived environmental responsibility and green buying behavior. Therefore, the government should play a constructive role in educating the public and promoting green business initiatives through improved coordination and legislative intervention