Purpose: The agricultural sector in Togo has a huge financing problem and numerous other problems mainly related to climate change.

Methodology: This study proposes a critical look at the microfinance sector and its relationship with the agricultural industry, which banking institutions have long abandoned.

Results/Findings: Based on data from major international institutions and the two most significant microfinance structures in the country, after some analysis, the results show that the microfinance sector in Togo is a very dynamic sector with strong growth, given its aggregates that continue to grow year after year. On the other hand, the share of agricultural credit in the portfolio of microfinance structures is constantly decreasing from year to year, demonstrating that microfinance is also starting to move away from the farming sector. Finally, the credits granted are not, for the most part, adapted to the financial needs of agricultural producers. Most of the time, these rural loans are insufficient or do not respect the cultivation calendars of producers. Also, access to these loans is prohibitive for many producers, primarily small-scale producers.

Purpose: Nowadays, we talk about an increasing number of tools in the IT area that are being used in the accounting field. We can already discuss automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, and digitalization in accounting practices. This reality is giving rise to more and more discussions about how the era of digitalization of processes influences or will influence the activity carried out by accountants. In this context, our study aims to establish to what extent this new reality in the practice of economic entities is advantageous for professionals in the field or, on the contrary, is a threat from the perspective of taking over tasks, operations or activities that accountants currently still have in their portfolio. Methodology: Therefore, using scientific research tools, we will try to clarify whether the accounting profession and professionals are threatened by the developments observed due to the increasing advances that are taking place in digitalization. The research undertaken is based on the analysis of speciality literature, the regulatory framework applicable to accounting in Romania, and the accounting officer based on International Financial Reporting Standards.

Results and Findings: The study aims to identify the advantages and threats that digitalization induces in the field of accounting practice and the major paradigm shifts that digitalization will bring to the exercise of the profession by accountants. The study will also look at the limitations that digitalization has in the field of accounting and the significant changes that digitalization will impose on the education and training of professionals in the field of accounting.

Purpose: This paper aims to test the volatility models for Bitcoin (BTC) and the financial stress index (FSI) and examine the volatility spillover among them. This aim was reached by obtaining weekly data from the 7th of January 2011 and the 24th of December 2021.

Methodology: First, volatility modelling for the series is provided, and GARCH (1,1) for the BTC series and IGARC (1,2) for the FSI series are determined as the most appropriate volatility models. Then, residual volatility series are created for each variable over the IGARCH (1,2) and GARCH (1,1) models for the volatility spread between the series. The volatility spread between the series is examined with the diagonal VECH GARCH method. It is concluded that there is a positive volatility spillover effect from the FSI variable to the BTC variable. Then, impulse-response analysis is performed on the volatility residual series created for each variable. The empirical findings from impulse response analysis support a risk transfer between BTC and FSI series.

Results and Findings: Changes in the BTC return series and FSI series are caused mainly by themselves, and the series are most affected by their shocks. By comparing the variance decomposition of the volatility series with the analysis results, it can be said that the changes in the volatility series are caused mainly by each other.

Purpose: This study investigated the impact of insurance risk management on fixed capital formation in Nigeria. The study sampled all insurance companies operating in Nigeria.

Methodology: Time series data covering the period 1996 - 2019 were obtained from the CBN Statistical Bulletin, Annual Report of National Insurance Commission, and the various Nigerian Stock Exchange Factbook issues. General business insurance and life insurance claims represent risk management (independent variable), while gross capital formation was the dependent variable. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, unit root, Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL), ARDL Bound cointegration test and model diagnostic test by Stata 15 software.

Results and Findings: The study found that life insurance claims exert an insignificant positive impact on gross capital formation, with a reported estimate of (p=0.058 >0.05). On the other hand, general insurance business exerts a negligible negative impact on gross fixed capital formation, with an estimate of (p= 0.065>0.05) and the non-existent long-run connection between gross fixed capital formation and independent risk management.

Originality and Practical Implications: Our study suggests that regulatory authorities should implement strategies to encourage Nigerians to patronize life insurance companies since this would lead to more excellent insurance investment and, in turn, growth in Nigeria's gross capital formation, among other things.

Purpose: After the outbreak of COVID-19, the insurance business has experienced losses in terms of decreased demand for an insurance policy, lower return on investment, and increased claim settlement. Thus, risk management plays a significant role in mitigating the risk for businesses. However, risk management is restricted as a predefined approach for managing threats of uncertainty resulting from the activity or error of humans. Furthermore, the life insurance industry faces the challenge of paying claims in case of an increased death rate after the outbreak of COVID-19. Thus, there is a need for a better risk management framework. Methodology: This paper identifies the gap between the existing risk management model and the model specified by IRDA and suggests a model to mitigate the insurance risk. The study posits that whether an individual is more suitable or not for life insurance can be decided based on a simple factor. By using this tool/model of risk management, a life insurance company can reduce its risk of providing insurance to a customer exposed to high risk.

Practical Implications: This study will help life insurance companies to mitigate their insurance risk.

Purpose: The study focused on the effect of technological advancement on the Risk management of insurance companies in Nigeria. The study's objectives were to examine how technological innovations enhance the identification of policyholder risk by insurance companies and evaluate how information technology has improved the identification of risks inherent in investment by insurance companies.

Methodology: A survey research design was employed in this study. The study focused on the 14 composite insurance companies in Nigeria, only five of which were selected based on gross premium written and retention ratio. The targeted population of the study was 1569, while the sample size was 181 employees of the selected insurance companies. A well-structured questionnaire was formulated and administered, out of which 163 were filled and used for analyses using regression analysis with the SPSS (IBM 23) package.

Results and Findings: The results showed that technological innovation had enhanced insurance companies' identification of policyholder risks. In contrast, information technology has not improved the identification of risks inherent in investment by insurance companies. Thus, the study recommended, among others, that insurance companies should invest more in information technology to help achieve better results.

Purpose: The creation of favourable conditions on the part of the state for the introduction of approaches to responsible business conduct ensures that the development of the national accounting system is in line with modern trends adopted throughout the world. However, adaptation is impossible without proper scientific-analytical and methodological support. Scientific and analytical support of the adaptation process requires constant, consistent and planned work to assess the translation of European legislation into Ukrainian; implementation of a comprehensive comparative analysis of current legislation in accounting with international approaches to the disclosure of information in non-financial reporting.

Methodology: The work aims to explore the best practices of forming the institutional framework for non-financial reporting of enterprises, which governments of low-middle economy countries can successfully implement. The object of research is international and national regulations and framework documents in the non-financial reporting of enterprises. Practical Implications: The value of the work is the creation of institutional preconditions for spreading the concept of corporate social responsibility among Ukrainian enterprises, which will increase the favourable business environment of the country and the efficiency of state resources management. The best world practice of non-financial reporting regulation was analyzed to achieve this goal. In addition, the basic principles of formalizing the mechanism of collecting and processing data on non-financial reporting of Ukrainian enterprises through the prism of international experience were studied.

Purpose: A claim is always requested at the maturity or occurrence of an event. The claim is a perception influencer and mirror image in the relationships between the insurers and their policyholders. This perception is thus crucial to the claims handling process. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the claims handling process explicitly attributed to the perceptions of motor insurance policyholders in Lagos, Nigeria.

Methodology: The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The study population was the total number of registered motorists recorded in 2019 by the Motor Vehicle Administration Agency, 704,828. Thus, quota and convenience sampling methods were adopted in the questionnaire distribution and collection processes. A structured questionnaire was employed for data gathering. A total of 399 copies of the questionnaire were distributed, of which 287 were found usable, representing a 72% response rate. The data procedural technique employed were simple frequency percentages and Friedman’s rank test statistical method.

Results/Findings:This study confirms the importance of motor insurance policyholders attached to claims handling processes in Nigeria. This study recommended that claims handling procedures should be strategically designed to incorporate the various attributes explained to provide for a mutually beneficial ambience between policyholders and insurers. Furthermore, motor insurance providers should put in place attractive claims packages to boost the confidence level of the motoring communities. Given the implications of this study, research work is thus encouraged to look at behavioural factors that can influence the claims handling preferences of motor insurance policyholders in Nigeria.

Purpose: This paper is an empirical analysis of Nigeria's determinants of the ceding decision of life insurance companies. It is birthed from the notion that reinsurance, though highly beneficial to the insurance industry, is rarely undertaken by life insurers. Thus, this study aims at expounding on the determinants of reinsurance decisions of life insurance companies in Nigeria and the relationship of each determinant with ceded reinsurance.

Methodology: An ex-post facto research design was adopted, and a sample size of seven (7) core life insurance companies in Nigeria was selected using the purposive sampling technique. Data were sourced from the Nigerian Insurers Digest and the websites of the select insurance companies covering the years 2011 to 2019. Descriptive analysis and unit root tests were conducted on the data to justify its suitability. Data were further analyzed using the panel data regression, and a decision was arrived at using the Hausman and redundant fixed effect tests.

Results/Findings: The analysis showed a significant relationship between leverage and ceded reinsurance, firm size and ceded reinsurance, as well as return on assets and ceded reinsurance, while underwriting risk and reinsurance price had insignificant relationships with ceded reinsurance. All the explanatory variables also had positive relationships with the ratio of ceded reinsurance. Thus, it was concluded that leverage, firm size and return on assets are major determinants of the ceding decision of these companies, while underwriting risk and reinsurance price are not.

Originality and Practical Implications:This study is an original work of the authors. It practically shows the relationship between the factors considered by life insurers in deciding to cede their risks and ceded reinsurance. With previous studies on reinsurance and its benefit to the insurance industry, this study brings factors that impede the life insurer from deriving these benefits. Therefore, it was recommended that to encourage life insurers to cede more risks, policymakers and regulators should align specific regulations on leverage, firm size and return on assets of life insurers in Nigeria.

Purpose: The objective of this article is to identify the types of risks associated with corporate real estate (CRE) and the risk management strategies adopted by companies. Moreover, the aim is to measure business performance and analyze its correlation with CRE risk management strategies.

Methodology: Interviews were held in Aurangabad city in India to gather information from respondents about their adoption of CRE risk management strategies. Monte Carlo simulations are used as a tool to measure company performance and the results are then correlated with the average of the strategies drawn from the analysis.

Findings: It is found that most organizations have integrated risk management into their strategic business plans.

Originality: Although there is much literature on risk management, few researchers examined the relationship between corporate real estate risk management.

Purpose: In today’s modernized banking-services, customers compete for comparative time-saving-options and banking-service-providers compete for maximizing profits. In this win-win setup, many factors are unpredictable. These perceived risk (PR) factors have been undermining the vision of cashless-society country-wise such as Bangladesh. Banks can eliminate this issue by adopting Voluntary Insurance (VI) as a new product. But it raises question: how do customers feel about it?

Methodology: This study uses a self-designed survey questionnaire, for conducting convenience sampling reliability analysis and tests the results using statistical analysis.

Findings: Statistical analyses of customers’ preferences reveal that “age-group” and “occupation-group” of customers have different preferences. The result shows that demographic factors impact customers’ preferences for the new product.

Practical Implications: The findings can attract more users by improving customer’s satisfaction, customer-base, banks benefits including reduction of operational-cost. Thus, the answer to the question posed in the title is: Yes. Thus, this effort brings the findings of the Survey-Opinions to the attentions of bank-leaderships and policymakers so that the VI becomes a product in bank-led e-banking services, which can be an example in economy country-wise.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study, which was based on the increasing relationship between sports and the environment and the importance of this relationship, was to calculate the carbon footprint of Sarıkamış Ski Facilities in the city of Kars, Turkey. To do this purpose, an answer was sought to the following study question: What is the carbon footprint of Sarıkamış Ski Facilities?

Methodology: The study was conducted within the scope of quantitative research methods design, which are used frequently in social sciences in recent years. The amount of electricity consumed on the cable car line in Sarıkamış Ski Facilities in Kars and the natural gas consumption amounts of the three hotels that have the highest bed capacity and overnight stays in the hotels area were used as the dataset in the study. To answer the study question, the carbon dioxide emission amount (carbon footprint) of the ski Facilities was calculated by using the calculation methodology (Tier 1 Method) that was put forward by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Results/Findings: The carbon dioxide emission (carbon footprint) occurring because of the natural gas consumption of three accommodation facilities and the electricity consumption of the cable car lines on the ski slopes in the 2022 ski season in Sarıkamış Ski Facilities was calculated as 12.140.58 tons. According to these calculations, 86% of the carbon footprint of the ski facilities occurred because of electricity consumption. This can be associated with the increasing demand in Sarıkamış Ski Facilities and the intense use of cable car lines to cover this demand. These results, which were limited to Sarıkamış Ski Facilities in Kars in Turkey, indicate that it is necessary to turn to renewable energy sources in Sarıkamış Ski Facilities. Also, it can be argued that the increasing demands on skiing should be covered in an environmentally friendly manner with increasing awareness of environmentally friendly energy. It is inevitable to develop sustainable environmental and sports policies to resolve environmental problems such as climate change, global warming, and carbon footprint. This study, which was limited to only Sarıkamış Ski Facilities, is expected to prepare the ground for a study throughout Turkey, and it is also aimed to help the development of an environmentally friendly sports concept in Turkey.

Purpose: The appeal of the Rational Apathy Theory lies in the fact that it is not only a descriptive theory of shareholder behaviour in the modern public firm but also a powerful normative tool which recommends itself to corporate legislators and policymakers. True to their normative logic, proponents of apathy contend that since shareholders of modern public firms will never find it cost-efficient or incentivized to perform their monitoring responsibilities over corporate management, insisting on a shareholder-oriented corporate governance model is undesirable. This article rejects the determinism and immutability of the above thesis and argues that firm investors will embrace activism where the cost of corporate monitoring is reduced, and the benefits of doing so are increased. Given the ability of the internet to reduce monitoring costs for shareholders (predominantly minority shareholders) in public companies, the article campaigns for minority shareholder electronic participation in corporate governance and proposes a careful reform of corporate law and governance in post-covid Nigeria, drawing inspiration from similar reforms on electronic governance in Canada, UK, and the State of Delaware in the US. In a society where digitalization has been identified as a major catalyst for the economic revival of commercial and corporate life, this article recommends itself to policy and lawmakers, corporate boards, corporate law experts, legislators, regulators, and other relevant stakeholders.

Methodology: The article adopts doctrinal and comparative methods of legal analysis.

Results/Findings: The article finds that while the Rational Apathy Theory may have served the analogue world, it is unsuitable for a digital generation, where issues of cost, communication and participation could be liberalized, through the use of the internet, to serve the interest of shareholder democracy in public companies.

Purpose: Oman is the first country among the GCC countries to implement corporate governance (CG) principles. Corporate governance regulates the fundamental principles that govern the activities of businesses, like the responsibilities and roles of the Board of Directors (BoD), financial reporting and auditing, remunerations, and internal control system. Banks play a vital role in the economic development of a country. Adopting CG practices and the audit function in banks paves the way for transparent financial reporting. Furthermore, the audit committee has an impact on the financial performance of a firm as they undertake the task of preventing fraudulent financial reporting. From the above discussion, the purpose of this study is to understand and examine the characteristics of the audit committee by exploring its association with its performance.

Methodology: All the eight listed banks on the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) have been selected for the study, and data has been collected from the banks' annual reports for five years (2016-2020). The study has been conducted based on three CG characteristics such as the number of members in the committee, number of committee meetings and number of non-executive members in the committee. Measuring firm performance has been done by calculating Return on Asset (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). Correlation and regression analysis has been used to study the relationship between CG factors and bank performance. ROA and ROE are dependent variables. The three CG factors are independent variables, and bank size has been used as a control variable.

Results/Findings: This study shows a positive relationship between the banks' performance and the number of committee meetings and non-executive members and a negative impact between the number of members in the committee and bank performance.

Originality and Practical Implications: Further research on this study area can be conducted after 2021, considering the impact of audit committee characteristics on bank performance before and during COVID – 19.

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an analysis of the author's research in relation to legal investment treatments among participants who are not only interested in the topic of national economic development but would like to be aware of additional essential non-purely economic elements and factors of this desirable development.

Methodology: For this research, the methods of scientific abstraction, logic and analytics, as well as expedients in the style of historicism of international law and philosophy of modern business, have been applied.

Results/Findings: The research highlights the significance of investment legal treatment as a contributor to local investment attractiveness, outlining the importance of developing state guarantees to protect foreign investments by delivering progressive European approaches.

Purpose: This study examined the effect of the rate of carbon footprints in an economy on the financial performance of listed insurance companies in selected countries in the sub-Saharan African region. It is argued in the study that factors that are external to the insurance industry (carbon footprint) intensify risks faced by the insurance firms.

Methodology: The study employs secondary data from the sampled insurance firms' annual audited financial statements. Data was collected from forty-five (45) insurance firms in eight (8) selected sub-Saharan African countries from 2010 to 2019. A dynamic estimation procedure was adopted based on the system GMM estimation technique using dependent variables (ROA, ROE and Tobin’s Q), explanatory variable CO₂ emission and moderating variables of firm’s size, economic growth and inflation rate.

Results/Findings:The results from the study reveal that the pattern of effects of carbon footprints differ in terms of the measurement used for a performance indicator. In particular, the study found that the level of carbon footprint in the economy exerts significant negative effects on all the performance indicators of insurance firms. Optimal risk and sustainable insurance procedures are therefore recommended in the study.