Syed Faisal Shah

This study examines the complex relationships between productive sophistication, societal well‐being, corporate sustainability practices and the stability of the financial sector across three major Western countries. Using extensive panel data from 320 publicly traded financial institutions in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States between 2010 and 2022, we analyse both micro‐level equity performance measures (buy‐and‐hold returns) and macro‐level stability indicators ( z ‐scores) to evaluate banking sector health. Our framework, based on Hofstede's cultural typology, confirms that the selected countries share similar institutional and behavioural traits, reducing concerns about unobserved structural differences biasing our results. Through rigorous econometric analysis using ordinary least squares and feasible generalised least squares for robustness, we find a surprising paradox: while advanced productive structures promote national prosperity, they also create vulnerabilities within the banking system. Specifically, we observe a strong negative link between economic complexity indices and both types of bank performance, indicating that the features enabling advanced economies, such as sectoral interdependencies, rapid innovation and complex financial products, also introduce coordination challenges and contagion risks that banks struggle to absorb. Conversely, indicators of national happiness and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) scores consistently correlate with greater financial stability, suggesting that social trust and responsible governance act as buffers against systemic risks. Notably, we develop and empirically test a new interaction between a country's well‐being and investor climate sentiment, which shows counterintuitive negative effects on banking outcomes. This suggests that optimism combined with climate‐related fears can lead to sentiment‐driven mispricing, weakening rather than strengthening financial resilience. Our study advances the literature in three key ways: first, by highlighting economic complexity as a crucial macro‐structural factor influencing banking risk; second, by demonstrating that ESG and societal happiness serve as stabilisers in complex economies; and third, by identifying the limits where positive social conditions do not automatically translate into financial stability. These insights carry important policy implications, indicating that efforts to strengthen financial sectors should incorporate sustainability initiatives, well‐being considerations and targeted regulation to address systemic risks inherent in highly developed economic systems.

Purpose: This study investigates the impact of deposit insurance on bank risk-taking and examines how Islamic banking architectures moderate this relationship in the MENA region's dual banking system. Design/methodology/approach: We apply panel quantile regressions to an unbalanced dataset of 136 commercial banks across 9 MENA countries from 2011 to 2023. The empirical framework uses four distinct risk dimensions: SDROA, POR, a normalized Z-score and ROA. Findings: Deposit insurance significantly reduces bank risk-taking, demonstrating that stabilization benefits dominate classical moral hazard in fragile regimes. This effect is highly asymmetric and concentrates heavily in high-risk tails. Through unique governance and contractual constraints, Islamic banking operations strengthen asset volatility reduction but weaken portfolio asset-shifting trends. Practical implications: Regulators should implement differentiated deposit insurance schemes tailored specifically to the unique risk-sharing properties of Islamic contracts. Overhauling and strengthening Sharia governance frameworks provides a critical mechanism to optimize overall macro-financial stability. Originality/value: This is the first empirical work to model the structural interaction between deposit insurance safety nets and Islamic corporate frameworks across an entire risk distribution using a quantile approach.

This study explores how FinTech advancements, economic policy uncertainty (EPU), and social media sentiments affect bank stock returns in the United States. We analysed data from 338 listed banks between 2010 and 2022, using a two‐step Generalised Method of Moments estimator to address potential biases. Our findings show that EPU has the most significant negative impact on bank stock returns, highlighting the importance of stable policies for maintaining investor confidence. While FinTech advancements generally boost bank performance, they can temporarily hurt profitability due to initial costs and market scepticism. Positive social media sentiments, especially from platforms like Twitter, significantly enhance investor confidence and bank stock returns. However, when combined with high EPU, the positive effects of FinTech and social media are diminished, showing the density of these interactions. Robustness checks, including feasible generalised least squares and control variables such as unemployment, political stability, and the Z ‐Score, confirm the consistency of our results. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and researchers, emphasising the need for strategies that integrate technological, social and policy factors to support financial stability and market performance.

The research examines the influence of fintech, broad money and population growth on bank stability (Z-score). We examined the unique interaction of fintech, broad money and population growth to assess the relevance and direction of their association with bank stability. The study sample comprises seven ASEAN nations covering 2010–2022. We employed quantile regression models to identify the significance and directions of exogenous variables on the endogenous variable. Also, for robustness, we used the fixed effect method. Fintech has a significant indirect impact on financial stability at almost all levels of quantiles. Broad money growth constantly demonstrates a significant negative influence on financial stability throughout most of the quantiles. Population growth exhibits a significant positive impact on financial stability at lower quantiles; however, it turns negative at higher quantiles. Finally, the interaction of fintech, broad money growth and population growth is positive and significant across all quantiles. The study highlights the essential need to regulate broad money expansion, manage fintech adoption and synchronise population growth to mitigate the possible risks of beyond appropriate thresholds in ASEAN’s financial institutions and ensure financial stability. Ensuring structural resilience and promoting sustainable development requires a systematic and precisely calibrated approach. This study offers a new examination of the intricate relationship of fintech adoption, overall money growth and demographic factors in influencing bank stability. Examining their collective impacts provides sophisticated insights into the structural factors affecting financial stability in developing ASEAN economies.

Purpose: This study examines the impact of climate change vulnerability, fintech and investor sentiment on bank performance in the MENA region. Design/methodology/approach: The two-step Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator was employed to investigate 166 listed banks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, covering the last decade. Findings: The study revealed mixed findings about climate change vulnerability. The study identified that factors such as capacity, habitat, infrastructure, sensitivity and vulnerability had a beneficial impact on the banks' buy and hold stock returns in the MENA area. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that exposure, ecosystems, food, health, and vulnerability had an inverse impact on these returns. Remarkably, the fintech index negatively affects the long-term stock performance of banks in the MENA region. Research limitations/implications: Policymakers should focus on enhancing infrastructure and boosting banks’ capacity to manage and adapt to climate-related risks. Originality/value: The novelty of this study is that it explored the impacts of climate change vulnerability, fintech and investor sentiment on banks’ buy-and-hold stock returns in the MENA region. Notably, this research employs a unique model that has not been previously examined.

This study measures the sustainable performance of ten car manufacturers operating in the U.S. We took into account three dimensions of sustainability: (a) economic, (b) environmental, and (c) social. Our methodology drew on the generalized directional distance function data envelopment analysis in conjunction with the multi-parametric method for bias correction of efficiency estimators. The combination of the two methods reduced the bias of efficiency estimators, which was sourced from the dimensionality of the production set and the sample size. Our analysis revealed that Chrysler-Fiat, GM, and Ford have the worst sustainable performance among firms under review over the years 2014–2018.

Purpose: This paper has analysed the impact of cultural dimensions, investor sentiment and uncertainty on bank stock returns. Also, the study examined the influences of the interaction between cultural dimensions and individual (private) sentiment (investor sentiment).Design/methodology/approach: To meet the study's objectives, a two-step generalised method of moments estimator was applied to the study sample, which included 105 banks in the nine Middle East and North African region countries between 2010 and 2020.Findings: The cultural dimensions of individualism and masculinity were found to have a positive and significant effect on banks' buy and hold stock return (BUH). At the same time, power distance and uncertainty avoidance were discovered to have negative effects. Besides, the findings revealed that the interactions of power distance, individual sentiment and uncertainty avoidance had positive and significant relationships with banks' BUH. However, individualism, individual sentiment and masculinity had inverse relationships with banks' BUH. Furthermore, the findings revealed that investor sentiment positively influenced banks' BUH. Finally, uncertainty influenced banks' BUH stock returns positively.Research limitations/implications: Important implications for participants in the financial sector and governments may be learnt from this study's conclusions. Due to cultural biases, this study's findings suggested that investors overreact in the stock market.Originality/value: Additionally, this research comprises one of the few studies that have overviewed the link between classical and behavioural finance in MENA countries with distinctive cultural characteristics.

Review of: FEMALE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE GCC COUNTRIES [https://www.qeios.com/read/GCO6OI] The topic is very intriguing and well presented in the article; however, there are a few minor comments to be addressed. COMMENTS: Page 2 paragraph 1 re...

This paper examined the impacts of; investor sentiment, governance, and uncertainty on bank stock returns in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region countries. The sample consisted of 173 conventional and Islamic banks based in the MENA region and 68 conventional and Islamic banks based in the GCC region from 2010–2020. Also, this study employed the Two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator. The selection of this estimator prevented endogeneity issues related to the variables used in this study. This research found that individual sentiment and uncertainty negatively affected bank stock returns while governance positively influenced bank stock returns. The regression coefficients from the interaction of the governance indicators and conventional banks variable showed a positive and significant effect on bank stock returns in the MENA region, except for the interaction of the rule of law and voice and accountability in conventional banks, showing a negative effect. The GCC countries showed similar results. However, the outcomes were insignificant. Regarding the control variables, the loan ratio and inflation were negative, and bank size and the GDP showed positive and significant effects on bank stock returns throughout all models, excluding the loan ratio and bank size in the GCC region. Overall, the banking sectors of the MENA region countries were sensitive to; investor sentiment, uncertainty, and country-level governance indicators.