Mahmoud Mousavi Shiri

This study examines the dynamic interactions among gross domestic product (GDP), external public debt, and domestic public debt in Iraq and discusses their implications for fiscal sustainability. The observed annual data cover the period 2005–2024, while the values for 2025 are based on IMF projections. Because continuous official monthly observations were unavailable, the annual series were temporally disaggregated using cubic-spline interpolation to construct an analytical monthly series. These interpolated values do not represent additional independent observations; therefore, the empirical findings are interpreted as exploratory. A recursive Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model was estimated using Cholesky identification with the ordering GDP, external debt, and domestic debt. The variables were transformed into second differences in their natural logarithms, and a three-lag specification was employed. Impulse-response functions and forecast-error variance decomposition were used to examine the transmission and relative importance of the identified innovations. At the 24-month forecast horizon, GDP shocks explained 93.3% of GDP variation, while external debt was predominantly explained by its own shocks (86.3%). Domestic-debt variation was explained by its own shocks (47.3%), GDP shocks (44.1%), and external-debt shocks (8.6%). These results suggest that domestic debt is more closely associated with changes in domestic economic activity, whereas external debt follows a comparatively persistent path. The findings emphasize the importance of debt composition, non-oil revenue diversification, expenditure management, and coordination between domestic and external borrowing. Because oil revenues and government expenditure are not included as separate endogenous variables, the model does not directly identify oil-revenue or government-spending shocks. Future research should employ genuinely observed quarterly or monthly data and incorporate these fiscal variables explicitly.

This study aims to investigate the mediating role of intellectual capital, organizational climate, and a culture of innovation on the relationship between COVID-19 and the performance of SMEs. This study’s statistical population included the accountants and auditors of SMEs in Mashhad, selected according to Cochran’s formula. The research sample size was 305 participants. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was used in this research to collect data. The validity of the questionnaire has been assessed in two ways, namely, divergent and convergent validity. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and combined reliability. Descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed to investigate and calculate the relationships between variables. The main scientific problem of this study is the insufficient understanding of the factors that can improve the performance of SMEs under critical conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that the conditions in question significantly impacted the performance of SMEs. Intellectual capital had a significant effect on the relationship between COVID-19 and the performance of SMEs. Organizational climate substantially impacted the relationship between COVID-19 and SMEs’ performance. Finally, the culture of innovation significantly affected the relationship between COVID-19 and the performance of SMEs. The findings of this study can contribute to the formulation of managerial strategies and supportive policies in similar conditions.

This study’s primary purpose is to investigate corporate governance’s role in investment efficiency and financial information disclosure risk in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. A multivariate linear regression model based on the panel data model was used to test the research hypotheses. The results of the survey of 140 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2021 indicate that investment efficiency has increased by increasing the quality of corporate governance. In addition, research findings show that improving the quality of corporate governance reduces the risk of financial information disclosure. The life cycle and firm size were used to evaluate the robustness of the results obtained in this study. It was observed that improving corporate governance in companies in the stages of growth and maturity increases investment efficiency and reduces the financial information disclosure risk. In contrast, in companies that are in the decline stage, it reduces investment efficiency and increases the risk of financial information disclosure. In terms of firm size, it was also observed that, in small firms, as corporate governance increases, investment efficiency decreases, and the risk of financial information disclosure increases. However, investment efficiency and financial information disclosure reduce risk by improving large companies’ corporate governance.