GovTech maturity and digital payment adoption in transition economies: Delayed associations and divergent deployment models

Adopting International Financial Reporting 9 is critically relevant as it significantly transforms accounting practices, particularly in credit risk management, for banks in Jordan. The primary purpose of this study is to examine the impact of implementing International Financial Reporting 9 on the financial performance and credit risk management practices of Jordanian banks. A quantitative analysis was conducted using the Difference-in-Differences approach and Fixed Effects models on data from 19 banks operating between 2012 and 2022.
The results indicate that the adoption of International Financial Reporting 9 led to a substantial increase in loan loss provisions, with a mean increase of 0.25 (t-value = 18.00). This increase in loan loss provisions negatively affected profitability metrics such as Return on Assets and Return on Equity, which showed mean decreases of 0.0857 (t-value = 4.22) post-implementation. Despite the negative impact on profitability, the findings also highlight improvements in financial transparency and stability due to more accurate credit risk assessment.
While the adoption of International Financial Reporting 9 imposes operational and financial challenges, it enhances the robustness and clarity of financial reporting in Jordanian banks.

The global adoption of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) represents a pivotal shift in monetary systems, driven by technological advancements and economic imperatives. While a small number of official digital currencies are in circulation, many nations are launching pilot programs to address financial inclusion challenges and enhance economic resilience. This study aims to identify the determinants of digital currency adoption across 116 countries, using logistic regression to analyze the effects of economic, technological, institutional, and financial factors.
The results show that higher GDP levels significantly increase the likelihood of active CBDC adoption by 332.1 percent and pilot adoption by 212.6 percent, reflecting the role of economic development. Greater internet usage improves the odds of active adoption by 12.7 percent and pilot adoption by 13.4 percent, while financial inclusion indicators, such as account ownership, increase the likelihood of adoption by 59 percent for active initiatives and 141 percent for pilot projects. Monetary freedom positively influences active adoption by 31.1 percent, and higher interest rates increase the odds by 20.8 percent. Conversely, business freedom negatively affects active adoption by 27.5 percent and pilot adoption by 29.1 percent, suggesting that countries with strong private-sector digital payment solutions may rely less on CBDCs.
These findings represent the transformative potential of digital currencies to improve financial inclusion and economic participation. Policymakers should prioritize investments in digital infrastructure and financial inclusion initiatives to facilitate the integration of digital currencies into national economies and empower underserved populations globally.

This study aims to investigate the relationships between economic development and environmental degradation regarding the emissions of CO₂ and SO₂ in Southeast Asia (SEA). The pooling data consist of 10 countries, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, in the period 2003-2012. Furthermore, income elasticity of CO₂ and SO₂ emissions is computed for each country to observe the sensitivity of environmental degradation through the emissions of CO₂ and SO₂ brought by economic development.
The results indicate that CO₂ displays an inverted U-shape pattern, whereas SO₂ has decreased at an increasing rate since 2003. It is expected that SO₂ will increase as the SEA economies further develop. The turning points for both CO₂ and SO₂, indicate that the current SEA income level has not reached the turning point. The income elasticities show that income elasticities for CO₂ are positive for all 10 countries. Both Singapore and Malaysia are classified as countries with high income. However, Singapore, with 0.64%, has the highest income elasticity, and Malaysia, with 0.15%, has the second lowest. There is no indication that wealthy countries have a significant impact on CO₂ through economic development. Income elasticities for SO₂ of each country are all negative. This suggests that SO₂ is an inferior good. Brunei, with 8.41%, has the most sensitivity toward change in SO₂ emissions, whereas Myanmar, with only 0.58%, is the least sensitive to SO₂ emissions.