Ardi Paminto

This study aims to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on insurance companies` performance. Data spanning 2018 to 2022 from the Wall Street Journal Database was employed, encompassing 1,931 companies across 65 countries. The research distinguishes between developed (808 insurers) and emerging markets (1,123 insurers) to identify more real consequences of the pandemic. The random effects model was utilized for regressions, which run in three stages. The dependent variables (Return on Assets and Return on Equity) and the independent variables (the COVID-19 pandemic and four firm-specific factors such as claim expenses, company size, leverage, and liquidity) were analyzed. In developed markets, the study confirms the significant negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on insurance firms, resulting in a global decline in performance. Conversely, emerging markets reveal a different scenario where company size plays a substantial role in insurance company performance, particularly in return on assets, aligning with findings favoring larger insurance entities. However, when considering company size’s interaction with COVID-19, larger insurers in emerging markets experienced performance declines during the pandemic. While leverage significantly affects insurance firm performance in both market types, its interaction with the pandemic shows no substantial impact. Liquidity, as represented by cash holding does not significantly enhance performance, particularly in developed markets, but higher cash reserves during the pandemic negatively affect performance, primarily in emerging markets. These findings provide insights for insurance company managers to develop adaptive strategies amid evolving market conditions and potential crises, including pandemics like COVID-19.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study examines how medium-sized enterprises improve financial performance through environmental awareness and digital financial literacy, with accounting information-based decision making as a mediating mechanism. The study focuses on medium-sized enterprises operating in East Kalimantan, particularly in the cities of Samarinda, Balikpapan, and Bontang, Indonesia, as this region represents a rapidly developing economic area with increasing environmental and digitalization challenges. Data were collected from 244 business owners and managers using stratified random sampling from June 2025 to September 2025. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) is employed for analysis. The empirical results reveal that digital financial literacy has a stronger influence on financial performance than environmental awareness, emphasizing the dominant role of digital capability in driving firm outcomes. Furthermore, accounting information-based decision making significantly mediates these relationships, confirming its role as a crucial mechanism through which internal capabilities are translated into improved financial outcomes. The model also demonstrates strong explanatory and predictive power, indicating that the proposed framework effectively captures the key determinants of financial performance. The findings show that environmental awareness and digital financial literacy significantly enhance financial performance both directly and indirectly through accounting information-based decision making. The mediating role of decision making emerges as a key mechanism linking internal capabilities to firm performance, while government support does not significantly moderate these relationships. These results highlight the importance of internal behavioral and cognitive capabilities in strengthening the financial performance of medium-sized enterprises.