The selection of financing is a top priority for businesses, particularly in short- and long-term investment decisions. Mixing debt and equity leads to decisions on the financial structure for businesses. This research analyzes the moderate position of company size and the interest rate in the capital structure over six years (2013–2018) for 29 listed Pakistani enterprises operating in the sugar market. This research employed static panel analysis and dynamic panel analysis on linear and nonlinear regression methods. The capital structure included debt to capital ratio, non-current liabilities, plus current liabilities to capital as a dependent variable. Independent variables were profitability, firm size, tangibility, Non-Debt Tax Shield, liquidity, and macroeconomic variables were exchange rates and interest rates. The investigation reported that profitability, firm size, and Non-Debt Tax Shield were significant and negative, while tangibility and interest rates significantly and positively affected debt to capital ratio. This means the sugar sector has greater financial leverage to manage the funding obligations for the better performance of firms. Therefore, the outcomes revealed that the moderators have an important influence on capital structure.

The study examines the link between firm-level investment and firm performance moderated by economic policy uncertainty in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan across the six years from 2015–2020. The System-GMM estimation has been employed to demonstrate the problem of endogeneity with dynamic linear and non-linear models. The study revealed that the moderating impact of economic policy uncertainty has negative and significant impact on investment (investment in tangible assets, investment in intangible assets, and financial leverage) and firm performance (Tobin’s Q). Similarly, economic policy uncertainty regarding investment and firm performance (ROA) is negative and significant in investment in tangible assets, but positive and significant in financial leverage. Our findings remain constant over a range of variable characteristics, even after accounting for endogeneity issues. Our main contribution is the finding that investment and firm performance have a negative and significant relationship with economic policy uncertainty. As economic policy uncertainty raises the firm level, investment decreases, which ultimately impacts firm performance negatively. Thus, the study advises that policymakers make an effort to minimize the effect of economic policy uncertainty at a certain level. They must keep this uncertainty within a reasonable range since increased economic policy uncertainty will push businesses to minimize their short-term and long-term investments.

Objective: This study evaluates the role of tourist motivation in the determination of destination and ecotourism loyalty using push and pull motivation theory and the theory of planned behavior. The paper also analyses the mediating effects of satisfaction and destination image in the relationships between motivation and the two types of loyalty. Method/analysis: Primary data has been gathered from surveys involving 522 Vietnamese tourists traveling to the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the Czech Republic. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques in R. Findings: The findings support both direct and indirect positive associations between tourist motivation and destination and ecotourism loyalty. In terms of ecotourism loyalty, the effect is mediated by destination image. In terms of destination loyalty, the effect is mediated by satisfaction and destination image. Novelty/improvement: This study has further expanded the theory of planned behavior in the context of ecotourism by linking it to travel career pattern theory and functionalist theory. These are complementary theories that can explain the behavior of ecotourists and help operators and marketers adjust their strategies to attract and retain visitors to ecotourist destinations. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-05-014 Full Text: PDF

The overall objective of this research is to analyze the financial condition of failing companies prior to bankruptcy, in comparison with non-failing companies, which are matched on the industry, size, and time-period. The sample consists of 168 SMEs from the wholesale and retail industry, whose financial statements were analyzed for the 2011-2015 period. The analysis is primarily based on the ratio analysis and the models developed for bankruptcy prediction and financial statement manipulation. Mann-Whitney U test is used to compare differences between failing and non-failing SMEs for a set of twenty variables. Research findings indicate that there is a significant difference between failing and non-failing SMEs, especially in accruals, asset quality, leverage, profitability, and liquidity. For the very first time in the transition economy of CEE Bosnia and Herzegovina, the pre-bankruptcy behavior of failing SMEs is analyzed, providing insights into potentially manipulated areas, which represent the main contribution of the research.