João Jungo

Counterfeiting of luxury products is an illegal practice that can cause significant and reputational damage to companies, as well as erode consumer trust. Managing the fight against counterfeit luxury products is a major concern for luxury brands. The aim of this chapter is to identify and bring together some strategies from previous studies to combat the production and commercialization of counterfeit luxury products.

An efficient legal system facilitates the enforcement of guarantees, enables the recovery of non-performing loans and increases trust between creditors and borrowers. This study examines the effect of the legal environment and the profitability of the Angolan banking sector. Specifically, it analyses the influence of property rights and the rule of law on bank profitability in Angola. The study employs various econometric methods for analyzing panel data, such as Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS), and instrumental variables models such as Two-Stage Least Squares (IV-2SLS), Generalized Method of Moments (IV-GMM) and Quantile Regression (MQREG). The study concludes that improving the legal environment by strengthening property rights and promoting the rule of law favours the profitability of Angolan banks. In terms of practical implications, this study shows that the legal environment in Angola is an important barrier to the promotion of credit in Angola, and, above all, to improving the profitability of banks. This study contributes to the scarce literature highlighting the relationship between the legal system and the Angolan banking sector, a topic that has been little explored in the context of African countries. Furthermore, the study awakens the dormant debate on the legal system and finance.

Purpose: Evidence shows that African countries are confronted with high levels of income inequality. Therefore, it is relevant to approach and analyze the factors contributing to these severe inequality cases. This paper addresses the issue by focusing on the role of financial regulation and military spending.Design/methodology/approach: We used a sample of 30 African countries and a recent period (2009–2020), employing various instrumental variable estimation techniques to control for endogeneity.Findings: The results confirm that economic growth aggravates income inequality due to high corruption and political instability. Results confirm that the increase in military spending increases inequality and that financial regulation weakens financial inclusion and also increases income inequality.Research limitations/implications: The study shows the need for greater control of corruption and the promotion of political stability so that economic growth and financial inclusion can effectively reduce income inequality, as well as the need for a better balance in the drafting of financial regulations and the preparation of military expenditure to safeguard other policy objectives.Originality/value: The present study contributes to scarce financial, economic, and social literature considering the role of financial regulation and military spending in the persistence of income inequality in African countries. Previous studies disregarded this fact.Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2023-0287

Purpose: The paper aims to investigate the relationship between institutions and economic growth in developing countries, considering the role of financial inclusion, education spending and military spending.Design/methodology/approach: The study employs dynamic panel analysis, specifically two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM), on a sample of 61 developing countries over the period 2009–2020.Findings: The results confirm that weak institutional quality, weak financial inclusion and increased military spending are barriers to economic growth, conversely, increased spending on education and gross capital formation contribute to economic growth in developing countries. Regarding the specific institutional factor, we find that corruption, ineffective government, voice and accountability and weak rule of law contribute negatively to growth.Practical implications: The study calls for strengthening institutions so that the financial system supports economic growth and suggests increasing spending on education to improve access to and the quality of human capital, which is an important determinant of economic growth.Originality/value: The study contributes to scarce literature by empirically analyzing the relationship between institutions and economic growth by considering the role of financial inclusion, public spending on education and military spending, factors that have been ignored in previous studies. In addition, the study identifies the institutional dimension that contributes to reduced economic growth in developing countries.

An inclusive financial system favors easy, safe, and affordable access to financial products and services for all economic agents without discrimination, and access to credit is an important component of financial inclusion. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of credit expansion on economic growth in the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) over the period 2000-2021. The result of the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) estimation model confirms that bank credit has a negative impact on economic growth. Therefore, these results clearly indicate that the cost of financing (high interest rates) and the weak development of the financial sector are a major constraint on economic growth in these countries. In addition, the result indicates that encouraging consumption and government spending on education can sustain economic growth. Request access from your librarian to read this chapter's full text.

Financial inclusion is a topic of growing interest to researchers and policymakers, while creating a sustainable, just, and inclusive world where no one is left behind is a top priority in current times. The aim of this study is to provide a systematic review of the literature on the effect of financial inclusion on sustainable development goals, specifically to understand the effect of financial inclusion on Goals 1 (eradicate poverty), 2 (eradicate hunger), 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), 7 (renewable energy), 8 (jobs and economic growth), 10 (reduce inequalities), and 13 (climate action). The study concludes that there is a lot of evidence to show that financial inclusion is the primary tool for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, the authors note that there is a scarcity of studies linking financial inclusion to the quality of education, health, and the eradication of hunger; in contrast, there is a fairly large body of scientific evidence confirming the beneficial effect of inclusion on economic growth, poverty reduction, gender equality, and income.

The purpose of this study is to examine the ability of financial literacy, financial innovation, and financial inclusion to mitigate the adverse effect of corruption on banks’ credit risk, profitability, and financial stability, with this joint inclusion being the novelty explored. Furthermore, we aim to compare the results across four different groups of countries, namely African, Asian, American, and European countries. The Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) estimation results indicate that corruption increases credit risk, reducing profitability and bank stability, being these effects mitigated by financial literacy, financial innovation, and financial inclusion. Furthermore, we find that financial literacy, financial innovation, and financial inclusion reduce credit risk while increasing bank profitability and stability. These results enable policymakers and managers to promote inclusion, innovation, and financial literacy to achieve banking sector stability while combating corruption.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the impact of financial inclusion and financial innovation on corruption, considering the moderating role of education, as well as identify the specific modality of digital inclusion and payments that contribute to corruption reduction.Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a representative sample consisting of 46 African countries in three different years 2011, 2014 and 2017. On the data, feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), instrumental variables – two stages least squares (IV-2SLS) and two-stage generalized method of moments (IV-2GMM) model estimation methods were employed.Findings: The results suggest that financial inclusion and education significantly reduce corruption. As well, the interaction between financial inclusion and education reduces corruption. Additionally, the authors find that the expansion of bank credit and the use of credit and debit cards are the specific modes of financial inclusion and digital payments that can contribute to corruption reduction.Research limitations/implications: This study awakens policymakers in African countries about the need to consider education as an alternative measure to support financial inclusion and reduce the use of physical cash in transactions for an effective fight against corruption.Practical implications: Regarding practical implications, the study shows that financial inclusion besides reducing poverty for households can contribute to macroeconomic stability in Africa.Originality/value: The study uses a representative sample composed of 46 African countries and considers the role of education in moderating the relationship between financial inclusion and financial innovation on corruption. Furthermore, the study identifies the specific modality of financial inclusion and digital payments that contribute to corruption reduction.

The objective of this study is to contribute to the knowledge about the relationship between financial inclusion and credit risk in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, which remains relatively unexplored in the developing countries context. The result of panel vector autoregressive models (PVAR) estimation shows that there is no bidirectional causality between financial inclusion and credit risk, but there is unidirectional causality where financial inclusion improves credit risk. Furthermore, the feasible generalised (FGLS) estimation result confirms that financial inclusion reduces credit risk. Policymakers in SADC countries should implement measures that foster financial inclusion to achieve financial stability.

Financial inclusion is a widely used measure to improve the living standards of households and foster inclusive economic growth. Thus, financial inclusion is one of the main policy objectives in developing countries. Besides, financial regulation (capital adequacy requirement) is a policy measure used to ensure financial stability. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of financial regulation on competitiveness and financial inclusion in 15 countries in the SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) region and 8 countries in the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region over the period 2005–2018. The result of Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) estimation suggests that financial regulation reduces competitiveness and hampers financial inclusion in the banking sector in the two regions. Furthermore, we find that financial stability moderates the negative effect of financial regulation on competitiveness and financial inclusion, meaning that financially stable banks remain competitive and normally offer financial products and services even if strong capital adequacy requirements are implemented. Additionally, we find that competitiveness increases financial inclusion in countries in the SADC region. The policy implication of this study focuses on regulatory flexibility to preserve the need for greater financial inclusion in the two regions. As for the practical implication, the study calls for strategic measures to preserve stability such as complementing financial inclusion with financial literacy, fostering corporate governance.