Shaping digital financial wellbeing through digital financial literacy and financial inclusion: Evidence from gender and residential groups in India

As financial technologies rapidly expand in developing countries like India, digital financial literacy plays a critical role in shaping how individuals interact with innovative financial services. This study evaluates the influence of financial literacy, digital literacy, and digital financial literacy on the adoption of Peer-to-Peer lending platforms. It also explores the distinct roles and interrelationships among these forms of literacy within the Peer-to-Peer lending ecosystem. Data were collected from 430 participants, exceeding the minimum sample size requirement calculated through G*Power. Participants, comprising borrowers and lenders, actively interacted on Peer-to-Peer lending platforms in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai, ensuring a holistic understanding of the ecosystem. Borrowers are individuals seeking financial assistance, while lenders provide funds, often in exchange for interest-based returns. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the study reveals that while financial literacy and digital literacy significantly contribute to digital financial literacy, they do not directly impact the behavioral intention to adopt Peer-to-Peer lending platforms. Instead, digital financial literacy directly influences adoption intention, highlighting the importance of integrated literacy over isolated skills. The findings underscore the high proficiency levels of existing users in financial, digital, and digital financial literacy, reflecting the platforms’ appeal to skilled individuals. Expanding access to less proficient populations remains crucial. Moreover, platform managers can capitalize on user expertise by introducing advanced features tailored to sophisticated needs, thereby enhancing satisfaction and the overall user experience. These insights emphasize digital financial literacy’s pivotal role in fostering broader Peer-to-Peer lending adoption.

Acknowledgments
The first author thanks the Ministry of Education, Government of India, for providing financial assistance (fellowship) during her Ph.D.

This study analyzes the effect of gender diversity, board size, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures on firm performance and risk management in the consumer goods sector in Indonesia, targeting companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2020 to 2022. Based on 273 cases and using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), this paper tests eight direct and moderating hypotheses. The results reveal that both gender diversity and board size positively impact firm value, while board size successfully reduces firm risk. However, gender diversity does not mitigate risks. The findings indicate that increasing board gender diversity and size are positively related to performance, while only board size contributes effectively to risk reduction. ESG disclosures play a moderating role, enhancing the synergy between gender diversity and performance but showing mixed effects on risk reduction. Overall, the study highlights the importance of integrating gender diversity and strong ESG practices to achieve better performance outcomes, improve transparency, and develop a more competitive corporate strategy.

Acknowledgment
The author would like to thank the Higher Education Service Institute of Region VII of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology and the Directorate of Research, Technology and Community Service, Directorate General of Higher Education, Research and Technology for funding this research with research contract number 076/SP2H/PT/LL7/2024.

Leadership style is a key factor shaping employee engagement and performance, which in turn determines organizational success. This study investigated the relationship between leadership style, work engagement, and employee performance in women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Over three months (March to May 2024), 1,000 questionnaires were distributed via Google Forms to employees working in women-owned SMEs in Vietnam; 465 responses were received, of which 376 were considered valid for analysis. The workforce was predominantly female, aged 36–45, with a high school education or less, and the highest proportion was those with 3–6 years of work experience. SMART PLS Version 4.0 software was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings showed that transformational leadership had the most positive effect on work engagement and employee performance, followed by transactional and democratic styles. In contrast, the authoritarian and laissez-faire leadership styles had lower impacts on employee engagement and performance than the previous three leadership styles, but in the opposite direction. Notably, work engagement played a mediating role in the relationship between leadership style and employee performance. This study suggests that leaders should adopt a flexible approach to leadership, particularly by leveraging the strengths of transformational, transactional, and democratic styles, while minimizing the use of authoritarian and laissez-faire approaches.