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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between capital regulation and risk-taking behavior of Indian banks after incorporating the influence of competition. Further, the study intends to enrich the existing literature by providing empirical evidence on the role of human resources in managing risk along with the influence of other bank specific and macroeconomic variables.

Secondary data on 39 listed Indian commercial banks are collected from “Capitaline Plus” corporate data database for a period of 15 years. Capital is measured by capital adequacy ratio as defined by the regulators, and two definitions of risk – credit risk and insolvency risk – are employed. Competition is measured by Herfindahl-Hirschman deposits index, concentration ratio and H-statistic. The value-added intellectual coefficient model is employed to compute human capital efficiency (HCE). Three-stage least squares technique in a simultaneous equation framework is used to estimate the coefficients.

The study finds that absolute level of regulatory capital and bank risk are positively associated, although the influence of capital on risk is not statistically significant. The influence of competition on risk is negative for all the models, which supports the “competition stability” view. The impact of human capital on bank risk is also negative for all cases.

The findings of the study are useful for the decision makers in several ways based on the inverse influence of competition and HCE on bank risk. Further, the observed positive association between capital and risk indicates that the capital regulation is not sufficient to enhance the stability in the banking sector.

This is the first study in the Indian context that incorporates the competition in the banking industry as an explanatory variable in the extant bank capital and risk relationship.

This paper examines the impacts of technical efficiency and intellectual capital efficiency (ICE) on bank performance in India after controlling other bank-, industry-specific and macroeconomic variables.

The authors use secondary data on listed Indian commercial banks for the period 2005–2018. The authors use data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique-based Malmquist index (MI) to obtain technical efficiency and value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) model for computing ICE. System generalized method of moments (GMM) (SGMM) model in a dynamic framework is used to estimate the parameters, which takes into consideration issues of endogeneity, heterogeneity and persistence of bank performance. Further, the authors use quantile regression model to examine whether the impacts of covariates are homogeneous at different locations of the conditional distribution of bank performance.

The authors find positive impact of technical efficiency and negative influence of market concentration on bank performance. The results of the study support the efficient structure (ES) hypothesis (ESH). The authors observe positive influence of intellectual capital (IC) on bank performance, which indicates the relevance of intellectual resources in enhancing banks' value. Further, the results of quantile regression indicate that the impacts of technical efficiency and ICE are more pronounced at higher quantiles of the conditional distribution of bank performance.

This paper in the Indian context examines the influences of technical efficiency and ICE after controlling bank-, industry-specific and macroeconomic factors.

This study investigates the effect of intellectual capital (IC) and its components on the technical efficiency of Indian commercial banks after controlling the influence of bank-specific and macroeconomic variables.

The study selects a sample of 37 listed Indian commercial banks from 2005 to 2019 and uses the two-step data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. Banks' technical efficiency scores are first estimated, while the relationship between IC and technical efficiency is examined in the second stage using the panel data Tobit model.

This study's findings suggest a fluctuating trend in the technical efficiency of Indian banks. Notably, from 2015 onwards, a declining technical efficiency trend is observed for all banks. However, private-sector banks outperform public-sector banks in terms of technical efficiency. This study's regression analysis indicates a positive relationship between IC and banks' technical efficiency scores. Further, by decomposing IC into its components like human capital, structural capital and capital employed, the study's findings show that human capital and structural capital enhance banks' technical efficiency. Notably, capital employed reduces technical efficiency. Moreover, bank size, diversification, capitalization, net interest margin and the country's growth rate significantly drive Indian banks' efficiency. In contrast, their operating cost ratio and the country's inflation negatively influence the same.

This study makes a novel endeavor to examine the IC and bank's technical efficiency nexus in the Indian context, encompassing a period of landmark banking reforms.

Given the relevance of female directors in the governance of any firm, this paper aims to examine their effect on firms’ financial performance by investigating their general impact and segregating the same into different subgroups based on Kanter’s theory.

To achieve the purpose, this study selects a sample of the top 100 listed Indian firms for the period of 2014–2018 and gathers the data pertaining to the variables under consideration from the respective firms’ annual report and corporate database Capitaline Plus. For undertaking the investigation, the authors have segregated the sample into three groups, i.e. firms with boards having less than 10% of female directors are called skewed boards; firms with boards having female directors that range from 10% to 20% are called as tilted board; and firms with boards having sizable representation of female directors of above 20%. To examine the performance impact of overall female directors and their different subgroups, the authors have used a generalized estimating equation model. For the robustness test, the authors have used the fixed-effect model.

The authors find a significant positive impact of the overall percentage of female directors on the financial performance of firms. Additionally, the results indicate that boards with a titled group of female directors and boards with a sizable representation of female directors significantly positively impact firms’ performance. However, the authors fail to extricate any significant performance impact of boards with a skewed group of female directors.

First, the study reveals that despite prevailing nepotism in India, female directors, owing to their core characteristics, can create a favorable perception of firms in the market. Second, it also works as an eye-opener for regulators by revealing the minimum threshold for female directors that a board should have to exploit the benefits of a gender quota rather than mere compliance with the requirements of the Companies Act, 2013. Third, it implies that more gender-diverse boards can improve a firm’s financial performance only if female directors range between the thresholds of 10% to 20%. Finally, the finding is significant for changing the business culture in India, where institutions are traditionally less supportive of women than in other emerging countries.

Departing from existing studies, which provide evidence on the performance impact of the overall percentage of female directors, the study unveils the differential impact of female directors on firms’ financial performance depending on their level of representation on the board. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in the context of an emerging market to test Kanter’s theory.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the disclosure pattern of corporate sustainability (CS) and the influence of sustainability reporting on firm performance of four countries in Asia – Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and India.

The authors have collected the sustainability reports and annual reports of 111 firms from four Asian countries for a period of six years. Based on the framework of Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI, 3 and 3.1), content analysis is used for calculating the disclosure score of corporate sustainability performance (CSP). These scores are further used to examine the impact on firm performance by employing a panel data regression model.

The study finds that the average level and quality of disclosure are the highest for Japanese firms, followed by India and South Korea. However, in the case of Indonesia, the average score is very low. Further, the study finds a significant difference in the disclosure of overall sustainability as well as components of sustainability between the countries. The regression results indicate the positive impact of CSP (both in terms of level and quality) on MBR. Specifically, the outcome of the regression model reveals that both the level and quality disclosure of CS are crucial for enhancing firm value for both the developed and developing countries of Asia. Moreover, the relative influence of CSP (both in terms of level and quality) on firm performance is found to be more in developed countries than the developing countries of Asia.

This is the first comprehensive study in the Asian context to investigate the disclosure pattern of CSP and also examine the association between CSP and firm performance by employing the panel data model. The outcome of this study is useful for policy implication.

The purpose of this paper is to look into the sustainability practices of Indian firms in terms of the quality of disclosure, the impact of corporate sustainability performance (CSP) on firm performance and the appropriateness of the sustainability reporting guidelines followed by the firms.

The present study is based on secondary data collected from annual reports and corporate sustainability reports of 28 listed Indian non-financial firms from 2008-2009 to 2013-2014. Content analysis is used to calculate the score in terms of level (binary coding system) and quality of disclosure (four-point scale). These scores are further used to examine the impact of CSP on firm performance by using an appropriate regression model.

The study finds that the average level of disclosure is 88 per cent, whereas the quality of disclosure is nearly 80 per cent. The influence of CSP (in terms of level and quality disclosure) on firm performance is positive and significant. Moreover, the study also reveals that the Global Reporting Initiatives framework is not sufficient enough to publish the sustainability report of any business concern. The outcomes of the study, thus, indicate that sustainability practices of Indian firms are not myth but approaching toward reality.

It is the first comprehensive study in India to analyze the corporate sustainability reporting practices encompassing different dimensions of sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on Indian traditional sector and compare the relative importance of IC on corporate performance of Indian knowledge-based sector (engineering sector) and traditional sector (steel sector).

Secondary data on 100 listed Indian firms, comprising of 44 firms from the engineering sector and 56 from the steel sector, are collected from “Capitaline Plus” Corporate database for a period of 14 years from 1999-2000 to 2012-2013. IC and its components are computed using Pulic’s value-added intellectual coefficient model and firm performance is measured by return on asset. Fixed effect regression model is used to investigate the hypothetical relationship between IC and firm performance. Further, quantile regression is used to check the robustness of the results.

The results indicate that IC efficiency and physical capital efficiency are positively and significantly associated with the firm performance for both the sectors. Regarding the components of IC, the coefficient of human capital efficiency is positive and significant, but the present effort fails to disentangle any significant influence of structural capital efficiency on firm performance. However, the results indicate that the influence of IC efficiency on firm performance is significantly greater in case of knowledge-based sector than that of traditional sector.

The findings of the study are useful for the decision makers, as the results indicate that the IC plays crucial role in value creation not only for knowledge-based firms but also for the firms belonging to the traditional manufacturing sector.

In the Indian context, this is the first study to examine the relative importance of IC in a knowledge-based sector and a traditional sector using appropriate methodology.

This paper aims to address the need to modify the existing intellectual capital (IC) disclosure frameworks and examines the disclosure practices of Indian knowledge-based companies by using a comprehensive IC disclosure index that has been developed in this study.

The annual reports of 30 listed knowledge-intensive companies from two sectors – pharmaceutical sector and engineering sector – have been analysed for a period of five years from 2010-2011 to 2014-2015. Additionally, the sample firms were ranked on the basis of market capitalisation (MC) to examine the IC reporting practice of firms with high and low MC. An IC disclosure index has been developed through comparative analysis of the frameworks used in three studies that is based on Bukh et al.’s (2001) classification. Further, the study has also considered intangibles and the related non-financial indicators of MERITUM guidelines. The disclosure index consists of a total of 69 items encompassing six components.

The overall IC disclosure trend showed an increase in reporting practice over the five-year study period. With respect to the components, process capital is found to be the most disclosed component while relational capital is the least disclosed component. After categorisation of firms into high and low MC, it has been observed that the IC disclosure scores of firms with high MC are significantly higher than firms with low MC.

This paper has developed an IC disclosure index through careful analysis and scrutiny of the existing frameworks which contributes to the existing literature. Likewise, the use of a comprehensive framework can aid the investors to know the true value of the firm and make proper market decisions.

This is the first paper in the Indian context in which a modified IC disclosure index is framed based on Bukh et al. (2001) framework for examining IC reporting practices.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of Internet banking intensity on banks' profitability performance. It also examines the deferential impact of Internet banking intensity on the profitability performance of public and private sector banks.

The study uses data of 67 commercial banks operating in India over 9 years from 2011–2012 to 2019–2020. The volume and value of Internet banking are used as two proxies for Internet banking intensity. Return on assets and return on equity are considered measures of banks' profitability performances. The system GMM model and the three-stage least square (3SLS) model are used to investigate the impact of Internet banking intensity on performance.

The results indicate that the volume and value of Internet banking increase the overall profitability of the banks. The results further reveal that the positive impact of Internet banking on performance is higher in the case of public sector banks which possibly indicates that there are economies of scale of operation.

The results suggest that banks and policymakers should strive to increase internet banking scope to improve performance. Private banks should focus on increasing their customer base to achieve economies of scale and public banks should work on the efficient utilization of resources.

Prior studies investigated the impact of Internet banking adoption on the performance of banks. This study attempted to examine the impact of Internet banking intensity on the profitability performance of banks in the context of an emerging economy.

The paper aims to examine the climate change-related disclosure patterns of listed Indian firms and its impact on firm performance. Specifically, it strives to analyse the conformance of the selected firms with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) established by the Financial Stability Board of G20 nations.

The study conducts content analysis of the annual reports and/or sustainability reports of 22 selected firms from the energy sector for the period spanning 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 based on the four-fold recommendations of TCFD, namely, governance, strategy, risk management and target and metrics, to compute the overall and respective climate-change disclosure scores. Further, a panel data regression model is used to appraise the impact of such disclosure on the performance of the firms.

The findings of the study indicate that the disclosure level of Indian firms in the energy sector is moderate. The regression results establish a positive relation between climate change-related financial disclosure and firm performance indicating that firms can witness improved financial performance by disclosing more information on climate change.

This is the first study in the Indian context to evaluate the climate change-related disclosure practices of the selected firms based on the TCFD’s recommendations and to trace its association with the performance of the firms. The results of the study shall hence be of relevance for the policymakers and diverse stakeholders.