Zunarni Kosim

The study of firm value and financial risks became more important after the global financial crisis of 2007–2008, as the required risk was mismanaged, resulting in a deterioration in firm value. It is important to study the relationship between financial risks and firm value. This study aims to examine the moderating effect of capital adequacy on the relationship between financial risks and the firm value of listed banks in Pakistan. This study is based on half-yearly secondary data of 560 sample observations from 2009 to 2021. Multiple regression and panel data estimation techniques were employed for the analysis. The study used firm value as a dependent variable, proxied by Tobin’s Q, along with five independent variables and one moderating variable. The results of this study indicate that a higher capital adequacy ratio (CAR) increases firm value and has a moderating effect on financial risks and firm value. Nonperforming loans, net interest margin, and cost income ratio are found to have a significant negative relationship with firm value. The study concludes that the stock prices of listed banks in Pakistan are declining persistently, which causes the stock’s worth to shift from being inflated to being undervalued.

The global financial crisis increased corporate world uncertainties. Therefore, to meet these challenges, firms take a more proactive approach to tackling various corporate governance and firm value initiatives and policies. This study aims to explore the moderating effect of capital adequacy on the relationship between board characteristics and the firm value of listed banks in Pakistan. To obtain a more robust empirical model and results, this study incorporates moderator and control variables. This study is based on half-yearly secondary data of 560 sample observations from 2009 to 2021. Multiple regression and panel data estimation techniques were employed for the analysis. The study used firm value as a dependent variable, proxied by Tobin’s Q, along with five independent variables, one moderating variable, and two control variables. The results of this study indicate that a higher capital adequacy ratio (CAR) increases firm value and has a moderating effect on board characteristics and firm value. Low proportions of women and independent directors on board affect firm value. The presence of risk management and audit committees in listed Pakistani banks, on the other hand, increases firm value. The banks in Pakistan have no problem with CEO duality. The study also found that bank size has a positive relationship with firm value, while bank age has a negative relationship with firm value.

This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of digital financial inclusion on the relationship between digital financial literacy and the financial well-being of Malaysian households, focusing on gender differences. Using quantitative research, a total of 210 responses, which contained 105 samples for each gender, were collected from households across Malaysia using a self-administered questionnaire. The research model was analyzed using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling techniques. The findings revealed significant relationships between digital financial literacy and digital financial inclusion, as well as between digital financial inclusion and financial well-being. Additionally, digital financial inclusion was found to significantly mediate the relationship between digital financial literacy and financial well-being, underscoring the importance of digital financial inclusion. The MICOM analysis results show that all constructs have good configural invariance, indicating the measures are consistent across groups. High correlations between males and females suggest similarities, but permutation tests indicate these similarities might be due to chance. Variance differences for digital financial literacy and digital financial inclusion are not significant. However, financial well-being shows a significant variance difference, suggesting less variability among males, supported by higher reliability scores for the financial well-being of males, indicating more consistent responses. Notably, the standardized beta for the digital financial inclusion – financial well-being path is higher among females, indicating a stronger influence of digital financial inclusion on financial well-being for this group. However, the direct relationship between digital financial literacy and financial well-being is insignificant for both genders.

Acknowledgment
This research was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) of Malaysia through the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/1/2022/SS01/UUM/02/10).