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The cost of agricultural loans is a major constraint to the growth of the agriculture sector. This paper examines agricultural loan pricing by banks in Ghana using panel data analysis.

Data were obtained from audited financial reports of 15 agricultural loan lending banks from 2010 to 2017. The study applies the random-effect model and the fixed-effect model in the analysis and uses the system generalized system method of moment to check the robustness of the results from the baseline models.

The study found that agricultural loan pricing by banks is significantly influenced by risk premium, cost of funds, loan impairment, agricultural growth rate and food inflation. Banks should leverage emerging technologies to de-risk agriculture loan pricing to allay the fear of default. Farmers should look for long-term and relatively cheaper funds to support agricultural loans. Increasing credit to the agricultural sector could increase output, thereby reducing food inflation uncertainty for competitive pricing of agricultural loans.

Agriculture employs about 52% of Ghana's labor force, contributing about 20% to GDP. But it is “under” financed. This study leads the way in unraveling the factors accounting for the high prices of agricultural loans in Ghana. This study further contributes to policy development toward increasing credit to the agricultural sector.

This research investigates the threshold effects of the interplay between finance, development and carbon emissions across 97 countries, including 50 low-income and 47 high-income countries, during the period from 1991 to 2019.

Employing various econometric modeling techniques such as dynamic linear regression, dynamic panel threshold regression and in/out of sample splitting, this study analyzes the data obtained from the World Bank's world development indicators.

The results indicate that low-income countries require a minimum financial development threshold of 0.354 to effectively reduce carbon emissions. Conversely, high-income countries require a higher financial development threshold of 0.662 to mitigate finance-induced carbon emissions. These findings validate the presence of a finance-led Environmental Kuznet Curve (EKC). Furthermore, the study highlights those high-income countries exhibit greater environmental concern compared to their low-income counterparts. Additionally, a minimum GDP per capita of US$ 10,067 is necessary to facilitate economic development and subsequently reduce carbon emissions. Once GDP per capita surpasses this threshold, a rise in economic development by a certain percentage could lead to a 0.96% reduction in carbon emissions across all income levels.

This study provides a novel contribution by estimating practical financial and economic thresholds essential for reducing carbon emissions within countries at varying levels of development.

The marginalization of women on boards is a heavily discussed topic across the world, especially in Ghana. Apart from estimating the link between boardroom gender diversity and technical efficiency of banks, this study aims to test the presence of upper echelons theory in the Ghanaian banking sector.

The study examines data from 2000 to 2019 annual reports of 23 banks in Ghana. The stochastic frontier analysis is used to estimate the impact of boardroom gender diversity on technical efficiency of banks in Ghana.

This study finds that greater boardroom gender diversity generates technical efficiencies for banks. The results remain unchanged after accounting for bank types (listed and non-listed). Thus, all banks benefit in terms of technical efficiency from more boardroom gender diversity. The upper echelons theory is validated in the Ghanaian banking context. Overall, the study supports pro-gender diversity on boards.

The results have implications at corporate, social and national levels. It supports the need for policies that improve greater boardroom gender diversity.

This study adds to a growing number of non-developed countries by investigating the link between the boardroom gender diversity and technical efficiency of banks in Ghana, a country which historically has had minimal female participation in the workforce. New insight is, therefore, offered into this relationship by using data which examines the technical efficiency of banks periods before and after the Women in Finance Charter in 2016.

Does the issuance of Eurobonds carry enough information about favourable domestic conditions to warrant more FDI inflows? In this study, the authors investigate how FDI is responding to the rising levels of Eurobonds in sub-Saharan African (SSA).

The study uses the system GMM model to set up a panel with all 17 SSA countries with Eurobonds. The dataset was transformed into time series, and the VAR model and Granger causality were used to diffuse the doubt of a possible bi-causal relationship between Eurobonds and FDI. Additionally, the authors use the impulse response function to test the behaviour of FDI to a one-time shock to Eurobonds.

The study reports that Eurobond levels matter in explaining FDI receipts. Specifically, the authors report that the issuance of Eurobonds leads to a favourable increase in FDI inflows. The authors transform our data into time series and use the VAR model and Granger causality test to diffuse the doubt of a possible bi-causal relationship between Eurobonds and FDI. The authors’ findings from this exercise suggest that two lag levels of Eurobond are a good predictor of future FDI flows. More also, the authors use the impulse response function to test the behaviour of FDI to a one-time shock to Eurobonds and report that a one-unit standard deviation shock to Eurobonds will cause FDI to swell up over at least 8 years.

The study is limited in scope due to data availability. Future studies may consider using countries across the globe that have issued Eurobond to retest the current research objectives.

The study establishes grounds to suggest that the issuance of Eurobonds carry enough information to foreign investors in deciding on the location of FDI.

The study is uniquely opening a new frontier to the discussion on how one international capital can be used to bait other foreign capital. It also discusses signalling theory at the macro level.

This study aims to use 67 developing countries to examine the role of financial inclusion as an “empowering tool” for renewable energy uptake and to improve environmental sustainability in developing countries.

Using a battery of econometric models, including the generalized method of moment-panel vector autoregression (GMM-PVAR), impulse response function, Granger causality, fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic ordinary least squares, the study proposed and tested three hypotheses.

The results from various estimations indicate that financial inclusion has a positive effect on renewable energy consumption and environmental sustainability improvement in developing countries. The findings suggest that financial inclusion can improve environmental sustainability by increasing access to financing to fund renewable energy projects, support sustainable businesses and promote sustainable practices.

This study suggests that policymakers prioritize financial inclusion to promote renewable energy consumption and environmental sustainability. Policies should enhance access to financial services, offer financial incentives and subsidies, provide affordable loans through microfinance institutions and fintech companies and promote sustainable businesses and green technologies.