Testing the moderating role of regulatory quality in the relationship between financial institutions’ depth, access, and efficiency and energy intensity in GCC countries

The extensive use of financial technologies and innovations in the provision and utilization of financial products and services causes new risks that require constant attention. The article aims to improve innovation risk management methods to increase the operational stability of financial institutions in Ukraine. By generalizing international practice, the types of innovation risks are classified, and their impact on the activities of financial institutions and consumers is characterized. The attention is drawn to the control strengthening over the impact of operational and regulatory risks, based on important theoretical provisions contained in WBG, BIS, BCBS, and FSB documents. An organizational scheme for the interaction of a financial institution and an IT company is proposed to conclude “smart contracts” based on the use of a cloud service and blockchain technology. The authors propose additional methods of insurance protection and compensation for losses caused by the implementation of risks of using ICT and innovation based on creating the Collective Risk Insurance Fund of financial institutions; offer approaches to the calculation of variable and fixed parts of the contribution to the insurance fund for certain groups of financial institutions. It is concluded that to maintain the proper operational stability of financial institutions in Ukraine, it is necessary to introduce additional collective compensation methods for the risks of innovation and the strengthening of cyber threats.

The provision of and access to financial services, particularly credit, can contribute greatly to the development of microenterprises in South Africa. Such provision has been an issue ignored by conventional banks or formal financial institutions. The problem associated with this ignorance includes high transaction and operation costs, lack of collateral, and the inability to obtain information about microenterprises resulting in difficulties to extend such credit. Microfinance therefore becomes an alternative to conventional banking and a mainstream and sustainable development activity for extending credit to microenterprises. However, the benefits of microfinance, which include, among others, the ability to provide the much-needed financial support for microenterprises, have not been fully harnessed in South Africa. The objective of this article is to evaluate the impact of microfinance on microenterprises in a typical South African township and to propose specialized financial mechanisms to support and improve the provision of credit to microenterprises. The article draws on the findings of a study undertaken in the Ga-Rankuwa township located in the Tshwane Metropolitan area in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It further draws on a wide range of extensive review of literature that documents the impact of microfinance on microenterprises. A case study approach is adopted and mixed method research paradigm (qualitative and quantitative) is used to gather information. Structured questionnaires and interviews were used to solicit information from the randomly selected microfinance institutions and microenterprises in the Ga-Rankuwa township.

The article analyzes the role of universities, assessed through the prism of the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings (UI GreenMetric) methodology, in ensuring energy efficiency and sustainability of the national economy. For this purpose, UI GreenMetric results, systematized by country and region, were used, as well as data for 2017–2022 on countries’ progress in achieving SDG 7 and the national level of primary energy intensity. The analysis of trends in the development of sustainable universities according to UI GreenMetric shows regional differences: on average, the highest scores in the ranking are given to universities in OECD countries and East and South Asia, and the lowest – to Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe & Central Asia. A positive correlation (from 13.9% to 18.7% of the variation) was found between the activities of universities and the countries’ progress in achieving SDG 7, as well as a negative correlation with the energy intensity of the level of primary energy of these countries; this proves the participation of higher education institutions in ensuring the energy efficiency of national economies (the level of influence is much lower, the explanation of model variations is 2.4%-8.2%). The role of universities is not only to develop green campuses but also to increase research, create new educational programs, develop cross-sectoral cooperation and ‘living laboratories’ to implement sustainable development practices, and train future leaders capable of overcoming global energy challenges.