ECONOMICS - INNOVATIVE AND ECONOMICS RESEARCH JOURNAL

EXAMINING THE PATTERN OF HOUSEHOLD MONTHLY INCOME AND EXPENDITURES BY STATE IN MALAYSIA

Syerrina Zakaria — 2024-09-04

Malaysian households have exhibited significant improvements in
the standard of living and economic opportunities. However, a larg-
er household income does not always translate into an economically
comfortable household. Regional variations in income and expendi-
ture levels need to be explored for better understanding on the diversi-
ty of experiences among Malaysian households. Therefore, this study
aims to investigate the pattern and relationship between household
income, household expenditure, and household size among states in
Malaysia. Several methods have been used such as the Pearson cor-
relation coefficient, paired t-test, and multiple regression model using
IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27
and Microsoft Excel for the year 2016, 2019 and 2020. Descriptive
results showed that despite the significant increase in household me-
dian income, households seemed unable to allocate the income incre-
ment to their expenses, possibly due to higher living costs requiring
adjustments in expenditure. Results also showed that the expenditure
growth rate outpaces the income growth rate drastically in a few
states such as Negeri Sembilan and Putrajaya. The inferential results
have shown that there is a significant difference in the mean monthly
household median income and the mean monthly household median
expenditure across states in Malaysia between 2016 and 2019. Mul-
tiple regression revealed that household median income significantly
predicted household median expenditure, while household size is not
significant. This study suggests government to regularly review the
prices of essential goods and services to ensure they remain affordable
for all households. This is crucial for improving the living standards
and well-being of Malaysians.

CUSTOMER VALUE AND SUSTAINABLE CHOICE BEHAVIOUR IN SOCIAL COMMERCE

G. Kanimozhi — 2024-08-10

The emergence of Social Commerce, facilitated by social media plat-
forms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, has revolutionized
electronic commerce, reshaping consumer behavior and business
dynamics. This study investigates the connection between customer
value and sustainable choice behavior in Social Commerce, focusing
on individuals aged 18 and above actively engaged with these plat-
forms. Employing a convenience sampling method and a survey of
383 participants, a structural equation model was utilized to assess
various hypotheses. The findings highlight the significant impact of
word of mouth, intention, offers, and trust on purchase decisions with-
in Social Commerce. These factors play pivotal roles in shaping cus-
tomer perspectives, emphasizing the importance of integrating online
brand communities into marketing and communication strategies. By
leveraging social media, vendors can facilitate the discovery, sharing,
recommendation, and transaction of goods and services, enhancing
customer value and promoting sustainable choices. This study con-
tributes to the understanding of consumer behavior in the context of
Social Commerce, offering insights for businesses to adapt and thrive
in an increasingly digital marketplace.

HOW PRODUCTIVITY, CAPITAL INVESTMENT, EMPLOYMENT, HUMAN CAPITAL AND ENERGY ARE AFFECTING ECONOMIC GROWTH IN MOROCCO? AN ARDL, FMOLS, DOLS AND CCR APPROACHES

Hamdi El Asli — 2024-08-28

This paper aims to scrutinize the effects of; productivity, capital in-
vestment, human capital, employment and energy intensity; on eco-
nomic growth in Morocco under the Energy-augmented Cobb Doug-
las production function (CDPF) framework, using extended data
from 1965 to 2022. The ADF unit root test confirmed the existence
of cointegration among variables, then, the ARDL BTA/ECM model
proved the presence of long-term relationship within, in which the ex-
planatory variables progress all together positively and proportionally
to generate economic growth, just as stipulate the standard CDPF. The
outputs reliability was validated by FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR tests.
Results implies that an additional unit in GDP corresponds, in terms
of units to, 1.87 in productivity level, 0.12 in capital investment, 4.19
in of human capital, 0.98 in labor force and 2.52 in energy intensi-
ty, that Moroccan economy is human capital intensive unlike when it
comes to physical capital. In the light of this findings, we think that
Morocco should accelerate its industrial transition, proceed to a large
modernization and mechanisation of its agriculture in order to inspire
more productivity to its entire economy, keep acting in the sense of
more structural reforms to improve the business environment, share
out the public spending equitably following two dimensions, physical
by upgrading local infrastructure to attract more investments, human
by promoting human capital through education and social protection.

THE IMPACT OF SAUDI ARABIA’S ACCESSION TO THE BRICS BLOC ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SAUDI EXPORTS

Mahmoud Magdy Barbary — 2024-08-10

This study aims to analyze the expected impacts of Saudi Arabia’s
accession to the BRICS bloc, which is intergovernmental organiza-
tion comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. By
analyzing the intra-trade flows of Saudi Arabia with the BRICS coun-
tries from the implementation of the bloc until 2023 and measuring
the impact of Saudi exports and imports with BRICS on the balance
of merchandise trade, and to discuss the extent of the impact of the
net intra-trade situation of Saudi Arabia with BRICS on the balance
of merchandise trade. The most prominent Saudi export sectors were
diagnosed, and their corresponding customs tariff averages in the
BRICS countries were analyzed to determine the expected effects of
implementing a regional trade agreement (RTA) between the BRICS
bloc. The study is based on the ARDL model and Saudi data from
(2003-2022), using three models by applying on exports, imports, and
trade balance of Saudi Arabia, the findings suggests that there is no
significant relationship between Saudi Arabia’s trade balance on the
one hand, and exports, imports and the trade balance with BRICS on
the other hand, which reduces the impact of Saudi Arabia’s acces-
sion to BRICS on Saudi exports. which requires further negotiation
of mutual obligations and potential gains between the member states
of BRICS.

DYNAMIC INTERCONNECTIONS AND CONTAGION EFFECTS AMONG GLOBAL STOCK MARKETS: A VECM ANALYSIS

Hamza Kadiri — 2024-08-19

This paper investigates the nature of the associations and the poten-
tial existence of both short-run and long-run relationships between
the stock market indices of Morocco, France, Germany, the United
Kingdom, China, and the United States from January 2014 to January
2024. The purpose of analyzing dynamic interconnections and conta-
gion effects is to determine how the stock markets of these countries
influence and relate to each other. The study employs a time series
Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) approach, incorporating
stationarity, cointegration, and Granger causality tests. Additionally,
the Impulse Response Function (IRF) is used to analyze the response
of variables to shocks. The bivariate Granger causality test reveals
significant causal influences: from France, Germany, and the USA
to Morocco; from the USA to the DAX and France; and from the
UK to Germany. After establishing the Granger causal relationships,
long-run and short-run relationships are further examined. Using the
Johansen multivariate cointegration approach, the study suggests a
long-term equilibrium among the six stock market indices over time.
The short-run adjustments are analyzed using the VECM, which re-
veals that adjustments in the CAC 40, DAX, and MASI tend to correct
deviations from equilibrium, indicating a tendency to move towards
equilibrium. For the FTSE 100, S&P 500, and SSEC, the VECM cap-
tures the speed and direction of adjustments as these indices respond
to short-term disruptions and work towards restoring equilibrium. The
findings underscore the importance of closely connected global stock
markets, which means that international regulators must coordinate
their efforts to reduce the risks of contagion. Policymakers should
prioritize improving financial stability through integrated frameworks
considering short-term disruptions and long-term equilibrium trends.

PATTERN OF EUROPEAN REGIONAL CREATIVITY: EXPLORING ENDOGENOUS SUSTAINABILITY

Ihor Lishchynskyy — 2024-08-05

During the latest decades, regional creativity has often been consid-
ered as the precondition for innovativeness and sustainability. How-
ever, quantitative indicators of creativity are the subject of discussion.
The paper aims to analyse the patterns and causes of European re-
gional creativity distribution, revealing the influence of endogenous
determinants on regional innovative development. An empirical anal-
ysis of regional patenting activity and a selection of indicators of re-
gional creativity is conducted. Among the indicators, we include the
development of regional institutions that are assessed through the data
of the European Quality of Government Index. Besides the learning
ability of the region (indicators of higher education prevalence and
digital skills), the abundance of the creative class, regional innovative
infrastructure, and population agglomeration were taken into account.
The paper concludes concerning the most crucial factors contributing
to endogenous sustainability through the lenses of European regions.
In general, the formed model turned out to be significant with an ac-
ceptable level of standard error and a high predictive value. The influ-
ence of most of the parameters (except for the intelligence) was posi-
tive and significant. It is especially worth highlighting the parameters
of regional institutions’ quality and volumes of private research and
development expenditures, which exert the greatest positive influence
on the resulting variable.

THE LINKING OF THE FAMA FRENCH FIVE FACTOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE ON MARKET VALUE

Pariang Siagian — 2024-08-16

The pharmaceutical industries are crucial for the nation’s health and
economy; therefore, their performance must be maintained. When
they obtain the more successful performance indicators that can sway
investors to raise their confidence as well as market value. This study
aims to examine the effect of the Fama-French five factors and envi-
ronmental performance on share returns. This was conducted on phar-
maceutical industries listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, and all
data was obtained from annual-quarterly reports in the period 2017–
2023. A total of 196 panel data observations have been conducted, and
the analysis technique has employed quantitative approaches, notably
autoregressive distributed lag analysis, of time series data. The results
showed that market risk premium (MRP), firm size (SMB), profit-
ability (RMW), and environment performance (EP) have a significant
impact on share returns (SR), while firm size (SMB) and book value
to equity (CMA) have not been significant statistically. The study is
important for a variety of stakeholders, including managers, investors,
and policymakers, who are interested in resolving the financial and
environmental performance of pharmaceutical companies and pre-
serving market prices by establishing mitigation strategies related to
the specific factors. However, this study has limited relevance to the
presence of F-F five factors and environmental performance that can-
not maximally encourage the disclosure of market value.

MODELING THE TOURISM MARKET BEHAVIOR BASED ON DISCRETE EQUILIBRIUM MODELS “SUPPLY – PRICE – DEMAND”

Ihor Novakivskyi — 2024-09-07

The work is devoted to the modeling of the behavior of the tourism
market in the conditions of a supply random lag, distributed according
to normal and uniform distribution laws. The behavior of dependenc-
es on the tourist market of supply and demand on the price is consid-
ered. The modeling of the behavior of the tourism market was carried
out using a market dynamic model in the plane of variables “sup-
ply – price – demand” taking into account the interests of different
groups of consumers, primarily from the point of view of pricing. The
delay between changes in supply and demand volumes is taken into
account using a Cobweb model. To test this method, information was
collected on family expenses when traveling abroad (outbound tour-
ism, tourist vacations lasting 7-15 days) by surveying the employees
of 38 travel organizations as of 2021. Three segments of the tourism
market are identified: low ($2000 − 4000), medium ($4000 − 12000),
and VIP-segment ($12,000 − 20,000). The analysis of the modeling
results showed that the behavior of tourists of different segments can
significantly influence the market dynamics. The use of a Cobweb
model allowed for determining the level of stability of tourist be-
havior and assessing the possibility of consumer migration from one
segment to another. Sensitivity to price changes and response to new
offers from different segments can be different, which is important
for determining pricing strategies, marketing, and the development of
new tourism products.

THE ASCENDENCY OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON ACADEMIC TEACHING STAFF STRESS WITH THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL

S. Suganya Bharathi — 2024-08-15

Purpose: According to the Workplace Health Reports 2023, around
76% of employees worldwide have experienced moderate-to-high
stress levels. Around 26% of Indians are stressed due to their current
work environment with long working hours, lack of job security, low
wages, and growing competition. It is often believed that teaching is an
extremely difficult job, in particular, academic staff experience a lot of
stress due to several stressors. Emotional intelligence is a set of non-
cognitive abilities, to effectively handle environmental demands and
stresses. The current investigation seeks to project the effect of psy-
chological capital as a mediator linking emotional intelligence (EI) and
occupational stress to academic teaching faculties in Chennai City.
Research Methodology: The proposed study used a questionnaire pre-
pared, and distributed among college faculties of various levels of 325
respondents in Chennai city.
Findings: The research results indicate that while psychological capital
acts as a mediating factor in the association between EI and occupation-
al stress, EI itself has a favorable impact on both psychological capital
and occupational stress.
Research Limitations: We suggest delving further into this in sub-
sequent research to ascertain the degree to which the findings may be
generalized outside the study population. Secondly, we neglected to ex-
amine the influence of additional work-related stressors on the degree
of work-related stress.
Practical/Social Implications: The investigation’s implications can be
used by top management authorities of private colleges and universities
to concentrate on the enhancement of EI and how it reduces the work-
place stress of teaching faculties with the mediating variable as psy-
chological capital, which improves the productivity of the employees.

AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO MEASURING THE TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA USING THE INTEGRATED (DWYER & KIM) MODEL

Andrijana Mrkaić Ateljević — 2024-09-04

Competitiveness is a generally accepted concept that emerges in all
social and economic spheres, so understanding competitiveness in the
sphere of tourism is also essential for destinations to attract a sig-
nificantly larger number of tourists and increase tourism expenditure.
The aim of the research in this paper is related to the verification of
the applicability of the Integrated Competitiveness Model, which was
created by Larry Dwyer & Lee Kim. In order to demonstrate the ap-
plicability of the Integrated Competitiveness Model using the exam-
ple of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the paper established a clear meth-
odological framework based on a questionnaire as the main research
instrument, which was interpreted by applying a Likert scale, and the
responses were analyzed using measures of descriptive statistics. The
statistical processing of the collected responses indicates the success-
ful applicability of the Integrated Model, according to which Bosnia
and Herzegovina is a moderately competitive destination. A particular
significance of the model is its precise suggestion of the multidimen-
sionality and interdependence of competitiveness determinants, high-
lighting those that need improvement. The research, which utilized
an innovative approach through a survey questionnaire, achieved rep-
resentativeness through careful sample selection, encompassing not
only tourists but also representatives of the tourism industry, resulting
in original conclusions.

POTENTIAL FOR USING ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Borislav Borissov — 2024-08-10

Artificial intelligence has become a defining technology for the last
decade and possibly the next few. Every day, new and new appli-
cations are created based on large language models (LLM), a little
hastily called artificial intelligence (AI). This reveals new and new
opportunities for their use in various spheres of public life. Public
administration, despite its inherent conservatism, is also one such area
where AI can be used to enhance its administrative capacity and citi-
zens’ satisfaction with administrative services. The aim of this article
is to address the possibilities of using AI in public sector organizations
and to reveal the limitations that hinder it. In this sense, the object of
the research is the Bulgarian state institutions, and the subject - the
application of AI in their work. A study was conducted that shows that
the employees in the Bulgarian state administration still do not know
the possibilities of AI and how to use it in their work. Abstention is
due to both ignorance and lack of regulation about what apps can be
used where, as well as fear of possible risks. The report presents the
possibilities of using some AI-based applications in the implementa-
tion of basic work processes in administrations and justifies the need
to introduce strict regulations for this. The author’s hypothesis will
defend the claim that the Bulgarian administration does not know well
the possibilities of digital transformation and AI, through which their
work and efficiency can be improved.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE VOLATILITY AS A MODERATING EFFECT OF THE GOLD AND COAL PRICE AGAINST FUND AGE AND MUTUAL FUND IN INDONESIA

Musdalifah Azis — 2024-08-20

Shifts in gold and coal prices have a crucial impact on the macro
economy, especially investment growth. On a financial scale, there is
still little discussion of the relationship between gold and coal prices
and stock mutual funds. Also, the role of exchange rates and inter-
est rates in moderating this relationship has not been examined. This
research reviews the performance of exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
in the scope of fund age and Indonesian stock mutual funds which
are influenced by gold and coal prices with the moderating effect of
interest rates and exchange rates. Core data was obtained from 20
companies as mutual fund owners officially registered with the Finan-
cial Services Authority (OJK) throughout 2019–2022. By operating
Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA) into SmartPLS 4, there are
interactions between prices and exchange rates, prices and interest
rates, and prices and gold prices. As with the relationship between the
age of ETF mutual funds traded on the Indonesian Stock Exchange
(IDX) and the gold price, these two variables have a strong and pos-
itive correlation. This implies that relatively small changes in gold
prices over the monitoring period may impact the fund age ETF. This
positive association shows that an ETF investment can have its life
extended by a relatively small increase in gold prices. This research
indicates a strong causality, which improves the ETF’s performance
on the IDX as fund age rises. Furthermore, the second model exam-
ines how fund age, gold, and coal have a direct impact on ETF mutual
fund performance. It also looks closely at how indirectly coal, gold,
and fund age affect ETF performance. The age of the fund, gold, coal,
and exchange rates affect the performance of ETFs. While the effect
is not statistically significant, interest rates, gold, coal, and fund age
have a beneficial impact on ETF performance. Implications for policy
makers to monitor and re-evaluate commodity price fluctuations using
mining production regulation scenarios that are balanced with quality.
Weaknesses of the current study such as the observation period need
to be taken into consideration in future research.

HOW DOES FINTECH DEVELOPMENT AFFECT FINANCING CONSTRAINTS OF SMES? EVIDENCE FROM CHINA

Jian Yang — 2024-08-05

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an indispensable
role in China’s economy through making huge contributions to GDP,
national employment, financial innovation and government taxation.
However, SMEs in China have long faced financing constraints due
to their inherent problems, such as financial information asymmetry,
immature governance mechanisms, and lack of collateral under the
traditional financial system, which have hindered their long-term de-
velopment. In recent years, financial technology (Fintech) has entered
a rapid development track, especially in China, providing new ideas
and methods for solving the financing difficulties of SMEs from a
technical perspective. In order to examine this, this paper measures
the degree of financing constraints through the cash flow sensitivi-
ty of cash model and explores how the Fintech development affects
financing constraints of SMEs in China and how this impact further
communicated to the performance and the risks of SMEs by adopting
two-way fixed effects models. The results show that Fintech could al-
leviate the financing constraints of SMEs. Furthermore, the mediating
role of ownership is identified, presenting a better mitigating effect
of Fintech on the financing constraints for private SMEs. In addition,
both the performance and the risks of SMEs showed the upward sin-
gle-sided U-shaped relationship with the increase of the Fintech de-
velopment index, which indicates that Fintech could amplify perfor-
mance while magnifying the risks of SMEs. The findings of this paper
offer an important implication for China that regulatory authorities
should consider and balance the financing constraint mitigation effect
and risk amplification effect of Fintech.

THE IMPACT OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY ON MITIGATING THE CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE REGIONS OF UKRAINE

Tetiana Kobylynska — 2024-08-16

Climate change and its impact on the economic and social welfare is a
vitally important problem explored everywhere in the modern world.
The objective of this research is to determine a correlation between
the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in Ukrainian regions and their
economic and demographic indicators: gross regional product, turnover
of business entities and population density. The study is focused
on CO2 emissions from stationary pollution source. The article provides
evidence-based arguments that circular economy is the model
integrating two central objectives: economic growth and mitigation
of effects from climate change. The study revealed a strong correlation
between the implementation of circular economy practices and
objectives of Sustained Development Goas, in particular with respect
to minimization of СО2 emissions. A statistical analysis of the relationship
between СО2 emissions and gross regional product (GRP),
turnover of business entities and population density at the level of
Ukrainian regions was made. It was revealed that all the Ukrainian
regions with high rates of per capita GRP growth there is no tendency
to increase CO2 emissions. This complies with circular economy priorities:
minimization of resource extraction through processing and
re-production. The regions with a higher population density were revealed
to have lower СО2 emissions, which can be attributed to the
fact that a higher population density often entails a more compact urban
habitat. The regions with the largest turnover of business entities
include regions with their highest population density. Economically
developed regions often push technological innovations with breakthrough
effects for energy technologies, tr

LINKING TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND GREEN INNOVATION VIA EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

Ahmad Harasis — 2024-09-07

The main purpose of the existing study is to present the mediating
influence of employee performance on the relationship between trans-
formational leadership style and green innovation. This study con-
ducted in the hotel sector in Amman, Jordan, where exploratory stud-
ies related to the hotel sector are limited. A total of 20 five-star hotels
in Amman were involved in the research sampling process, targeted
respondents were employees with titles below supervisor level (rank-
and-file) were those employees who provide the services and are in
direct contact with customers, and a simple random sampling was uti-
lized to gather the data, 359 employees participated in this study, and
survey form was sent to heads of departments at the targeted hotels to
help in the distribution process. The data was analyzed using Smart-
PLS software. The results showed a partially positive mediation of
employee performance among both constructs of individualized con-
sideration and intellectual stimulation of green innovation in the hotel
sector. Moreover, these results proved the power of the relationship
between employee performance and the adoption of green innovation.
The current study contributes positively to the area of hospitality in-
dustry studies and its related activities. It provides better insights for
hotel leaders on improving the adopted leadership styles, leading to
outstanding employee performance, and green innovation to sustain
market competitiveness and provide exceptional and innovative ser-
vices for a better hospitality industry.

WITH JOB SATISFACTION OR NOT? THE ROLE OF JOB SATISFACTION IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAINING AND REWARDS ON EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY

Misna Ariani — 2024-08-15

With a harmonious pattern between the workforce and the company,
job satisfaction will result. East Kalimantan is very popular for its
abundant natural resources, including mining. Referring to the ter-
minology above, this paper focuses on the causality between training
and rewards on employee productivity by involving job satisfaction
as a mediator. The focus of this paper is one of the largest companies
operating in the mining sector located in the Balikapan area. The as-
sessment was carried out by distributing an open questionnaire to 346
employees who worked at the company. The quantitative approach is
implemented in Smart-PLS, where the output is two schemes (outer
model and inner model). In general, the statistic analysis finds that
training and rewards have direct implications for employee job satis-
faction and productivity. At the same time, job satisfaction does not
have direct implications for employee productivity. Unfortunately, job
satisfaction is unable to mediate the relationship between training and
rewards on employee productivity. In essence, although training and
rewards function in stimulating job satisfaction and employee produc-
tivity, they have not been proven optimal in encouraging employee
productivity which is mediated by job satisfaction. Therefore, com-
panies need to prioritize job satisfaction with more comprehensive
proportions.