FIIB Business Review

Indian banking sector is facing the problem of rising bad loans as gross non-performing assets (GNPA) of Indian banks is on continuous rise. The present study is an attempt to analyse rising bad loans scenario of Indian banks, various factors that contributes to non-performing assets (NPA), along with the present state of Indian banks. This study found that poor recovery measures, lack of proper credit and risk management system at bank level, wilful default by borrowers, lack of stringent regulation, poor level of corporate governance and misuse of funds by borrowers are the key factors behind the rising level of bad loans of Indian banks. It was found that public sector banks (PSB) are suffering the most from rising level of NPA, high rate of NPA of banks have adverse impact on banks’ balance sheets, their assets quality, increased provisioning coverage ratio of banks and low return on assets. Although various concerned stakeholders have taken numerous measures to curb the situation, such as recapitalization of PSB, construction of assets reconstruction companies (ARC), Debt Recovery Tribunals for speedy recovery of bad loans and enactment of insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC),still there is much more to do, and have a huge scope to bring reforms in banking sector, especially in PSB of India.

This case discusses the sustainable business model adopted by the MUD Jeans Company in the context of the Circular Economy (CE). The clothing industry evolved from clothing to apparel and eventually to fashion. The clothing economy shifted from the traditional linear to a sustainable circular model. Established in 2012, MUD Jeans introduced an innovative concept called "Lease a Jeans," thereby attempting to save precious natural resource. The fashion industry is the second largest polluter. Keeping in mind the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the company embarked on a nine-step action plan called MUD Method - simple but essential recycling concept. Increased awareness and urgency to shift to sustainable practices will only make the future of jean manufacturing and fashion industry practices to be circular. However, the company has to face challenges – more so when following the sustainability approach. This case followed the qualitative research method and case study methodology. The case appraises management students on the concept of business interests and sustainability practices.

This study provides a systematic literature review on the balanced scorecard (BSC), highlights gaps in the literature and identifies areas for further research. We review a sample of 114 BSC articles published in 14 accounting and 56 management journals between 1992 and 2021. Each article must either be in the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC), Scopus-indexed or Academic Journal Guide (AJG) list, or receive at least 100 citations, as reported by Google Scholar. We separate the BSC literature into 11 major themes, examine the research methods, statistical tools used and identify the country affiliated with the authors. Companies typically use the BSC as a performance measurement system instead of a management control system. The BSC is more compatible with private versus public sector organizations. Successful implementation of the BSC requires support from the top management and effective communication and coordination. Additionally, a cause-and-effect relationship should exist among its four perspectives—customers, internal business, innovation and learning, and financial. BSC’s critics question its superiority over other performance measurement tools. But the number of supporters is much higher than the opponents. Articles mainly focus on developed, not developing, countries and tend to be conceptual papers rather than data-based empirical studies. The most commonly used statistical tool used is regression analysis. Our review of BSC articles provides insights about BSC strategy, implementation, execution and control that should be of interest to researchers and managers. However, this qualitative study uses judgment to identify BSC themes.

Bangladesh has been encountering a budget deficit since 1972 because of a decrease in the source of income. This paper aims to examine the effect of budget deficit financing on economic growth in Bangladesh throughout 1981–2018. Using secondary data, the paper uses the cointegration test, vector error correction mechanism (VECM) and Granger causality test. Johansen’s cointegration test outcomes find that the study variables are cointegrated and subsequently have a long-run nexus among the variables. The study finds that in the long run, government domestic debt (GDD), government external debt (GEXD) and money supply (MS) affect positively economic growth (RGDP). The outcomes of the VECM approach express that in the short run, GDD, external debt and MS negatively affect economic growth. Also, short-run causality runs from the GDD, GEXD and MS to economic growth. The Granger causality test result shows unidirectional causal nexus running from GDD to RGDP, RGDP to external debt and GEXD to MS, and bidirectional causal nexus between MS and GDD in Bangladesh. The study suggests the governments should enhance moderate levels of domestic and external borrowing and uses it in productive and efficient ways to accelerate economic growth in Bangladesh.

Socially responsible investing (SRI) is the catalyst in aligning financial growth with sustainable development. The current study is an attempt to investigate the viability of responsible investment across major developing and developed countries of the world. The authors evaluate and compare the performance of socially responsible indices, against their general and conventional counterparts, in select developing and developed countries through market conditions of bull and bear over a 12-year window. Descriptive statistics and risk-adjusted-performance evaluation methods of performance evaluation reveal socially responsible investing to be non-penalizing in developing countries. Premium rewards earned by SRI help the responsibility indices in emerging countries secure topmost ranks, using Fama’s decomposition model. While no significance in difference of performance is found among the indices in overall period, the study finds that the SRI strategy in emerging economies can provide investors with a safe investment vehicle during adversity. Thus, SRI can provide diversification benefit to the international investor seeking country effect, social impact as well as financial reward through responsible investing. The study on SRI index evaluation implies useful insights for achieving global sustainability goals through the use of financial tools to every market participant, especially in the era of globalization.

The concept of reverse innovation can be defined on a spectrum ranging from narrow to broad. We look at the broad concept, which indicates that an innovation travels successfully from a developing country to a developed country. A few authors have indicated that microcredit is a reverse innovation. However, credit by itself is not an innovation, nor is lending to the poor. The essential feature of modern-day microcredit in developing countries is that it acts as a social innovation, using group lending, being primarily directed towards women and creating financially stable institutions. We do not find evidence that any of these features have been adopted by a developed country’s microfinance institutions (MFIs) in a sustainable manner. We consider that only the use of the words ‘microfinance’ and 'microcredit' have been adopted by developed countries to further the corporate image, and researchers should be aware that ‘microfinance’ holds different connotations in different regions.

Social entrepreneurship literature is silent on what governs social enterprises’ (SE) financing decisions in contexts where there are no clear legal distinctions between social and commercial enterprises. Using a qualitative multiple case study approach, this research explores how social entrepreneurs decide their financial strategies and evaluate investors in such contexts where such blurred boundaries exist. The case study of nine Indian SEs operating in emerging sectors of health, education, and agriculture reveals social entrepreneurs’ perspectives on SE financing and practical dilemmas faced when moving beyond donation is considered. Our findings present that the organizational factors governing their financing strategy and due diligence criteria used for investor evaluation reflect the social entrepreneur’s value-based lens of self-conceptualizing their own vision of ‘What is a Social Enterprise’ in their financial decisions. Though this does not adhere to popular capital structure theories used in commercial finance, it conforms with Hambrick and Mason’s Upper Echelons Theory, which states that organizations reflect their top executive’s values and belief in their decisions. We observe in our study that self-discretion and value expression is a contextual necessity for social entrepreneurs operating in emerging sectors where there are no clear legal distinctions in organizational forms or theoretical directives on financing decisions.