Mumtaz Ahmad

This paper investigates the relationships between board structure, board assiduity, and CEO pay-performance sensitivity (PPS) in Pakistani listed companies. It aims to understand how different board characteristics influence CEO compensation practices, both directly and indirectly through board engagement. Using 634 firm-year observations from firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) 100 Index between 2013 and 2022, the study employs path analysis to examine the direct effects of board structure (executive directors, non-executive directors, CEO duality, and female directors) on CEO PPS, and the indirect effects mediated by board assiduity. Findings reveal that non-executive directors positively influence CEO PPS, while executive directors indirectly enhance PPS through increased board assiduity. Surprisingly, female directors negatively affect both board assiduity and CEO PPS. CEO duality has no significant effect. Board assiduity emerges as a significant mediator, particularly in the effects of executive and female directors. Robustness of the mediation and causal relationships is confirmed through bootstrapping, Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS), and the Sobel test. The research contributes to the corporate governance literature by providing an examination of board assiduity as a mediating mechanism in the effect of board structure on CEO PPS. New insights in the intricate interaction of board composition and CEO compensation are offered for an emerging market. It challenges some conventional wisdom about board diversity from the results and draws attention to the fact that both direct and indirect effects need to be considered in governance research.

This study investigates the role of investor psychology, heuristics, and cognitive biases in contributing to stock market anomalies and irrational investment choices. Key psychological factors examined include overconfidence, anchoring, loss aversion, and herd behavior. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the research combines responses from 400 investor surveys with qualitative interviews of 15 financial experts. The results reveal that overconfidence and herd behavior have a particularly strong negative impact on investment decisions, while anchoring and loss aversion also significantly influence market outcomes. Statistical analysis and regression modeling show how these biases contribute to inefficiencies such as momentum effects and mispricing of securities. Qualitative insights further emphasize that emotional decision-making and media-driven panic are recurring barriers to rational investing. The study suggests implementing investor education initiatives, utilizing robo-advisors, and applying behavioral commitment strategies as potential solutions to mitigate bias-influenced decisions. By integrating behavioral insights with quantitative analysis, this research underscores the critical role of psychology in financial markets and offers practical tools for promoting rational decision-making and enhancing market stability. Keywords: Behavioral finance, cognitive biases, herd behavior, investment decision-making, market inefficiencies, overconfidence

The role of financial risk management is critical to the stability and growth of any organizations, while the dynamic nature of financial risks and the rapid growth of risk management techniques pose persistent challenges. The current study investigates the best approaches for managing financial risks, examining some of the limitations of traditional approaches while also examining the opportunities offered by new technologies. The value of the study comes from its contributions to organizational resilience, the ability to manage risk-return trade-offs, as well as for informing regulatory frameworks in an increasingly risk-aligned financial environment. This systematic review's major aim was a systematic review of the effectiveness of traditional finance risk management techniques and modern techniques, as well as their relevance in various industries, and their gaps. It also aimed to identify actionable steps for businesses and politicians to improve financial risk management practices. The researchers conducted a comprehensive search of several academic databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, to find studies published between 2000 and 2023. The search terms were quite broad such as "financial risk management," "risk mitigation strategies" and "AI-based tools." Based on the search, the final analysis consisted of 85 studies. The data were extracted and analyzed after adhering to thematic analysis and PRISMA guidance. The findings suggest that while traditional approaches, including hedging and diversifying, are relevant in a stable financial environment, they are not sufficient to manage more complex risks from a stable standpoint. The more modern tools, including financial derivatives and AI-based technologies, are more flexible to execute as needed with AI-base credit risk models decreasing non-performing loans by 20%, for example. There still remains problem related to the costs, regulatory issues, and cybersecurity. The study also highlighted gaps in the literature, including the need to focus more on long-term evaluations of AI tools and also more context specific strategies for emerging markets. In conclusion, this research highlights the importance of integrating both traditional and modern risk management strategies to effectively tackle diverse financial risks, advocating for standardized frameworks, technological innovation, and ESG integration to build organizational resilience.

This study aims to uncover the determinants for the formulation of accounting practices and their impact on firm performance in Pakistan through the lens of institutional theory. Based on a pragmatic approach, this study has collected data from 455 participants and 21 semi-structured interviews have been conducted. Firstly, it is noted that accounting practices can be traced back to the Mughal regime, and subsequently underwent a major development in the British colonial system. Secondly, our results indicate that institutional factors, namely, accounting regulatory framework, political factors, economic factors, cultural factors, and country-specific factors have also played a major role in the development of accounting practices after the creation of Pakistan as a separate state. Finally, this study suggests that the development of accounting practices have a novel contribution towards the performance of firms. This research thus provides a pathway for policymakers in this county to closing the gaps between accounting practices and the policies of the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB). Furthermore, firms can enhance their performance by implementing international accounting standards. This paper helps Pakistan’s regulatory institutions such as the SECP (Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan) and SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) in the process of developing new policies. Such decisions are related, but not limited to: attracting foreign investments, economic expansion, and international trade. Furthermore, it provides a pathway for firms to improve their performance. Ultimately, this research fills the gap as concerns international accounting standards by assessing, both empirically and theoretically, the role of various determinants for the formulation of accounting practices and their impact on the performance of firms.