PurposeThe goal of this paper is twofold: to assess the influence of specific corporate and market features on automobiles and parts sector's profitability in Euro area and to identify this particular sector's optimum debt level.Design/methodology/approachFor the paper's purposes, the authors applied a panel data analysis on an annual basis for the period 2005–2017.FindingsThere is a strong statistical significance of debt ratio, growth domestic product per capita growth, E.C.'s economic sentiment index (ESI), the European Central Bank key interest rate and the Euro area crisis on sector's profitability, while weak statistical significance appears to emerge for the firm's size. Moreover, the authors find average 14.4% profitability for the entire sector of the Euro area, without significant fluctuations among firms and/or during the examined time period. Another interesting finding of this study is that results are consistent with the theory of Modigliani Miller that financial leverage at a “low” level is beneficial for the firm, but beyond a turning point, it becomes counterproductive. This turning point for the automobiles and parts sector in Euro area has been computed at 47.3%.Originality/valueThe paper focuses on issues of profitability, capital structure and optimal debt ratio of an important sector of the economy, the automotive sector. As regards the Euro area automotive sector, it is a dynamic sector with a significant multiplier effect for the European economy as it is strongly correlated with other industrial sectors as chemicals, steel, textiles, information technology and so forth, having an outstanding multiplier effect on the economy.

This study attempts to examine the existence of interdependencies between specific stock market indices, exchange rates and crude oil for the period January 2021 to July 2022 with daily data. In the period we have chosen, the post-vaccination phase against COVID-19, as well as the war in Ukraine, is covered. The variables selected for this study are RTSI, Eurostoxx, S&P 500, EUR/USD and RUB/USD exchange rates and crude oil prices. The selection of the specific variables was made because they are directly related to the pre-war period that coincides with the post-vaccine period of the pandemic, which allowed us to characterize it as the normal period and to characterize the period of the war in Ukraine that coincides with the energy crisis as the unstable period. In this way, the present study covers the markets of Russia and other developed economies. For empirical purposes, we applied a wavelet coherence approach in order to investigate the possible existence of simultaneous coherence between the variables at different times and scales for all the considered times. The findings of the study reveal the existence of strong correlations between all variables, during different time periods and for different frequencies during the period under review. Of particular interest is the finding that shows that during the crisis period, the RTSI significantly affects both the European and American stock markets, while also determining the evolution of the Russian currency. In addition, it appears that capital constraints in the Russian stock market, combined with increased demand for crude oil, determine the interdependence between RTSI and crude oil. Finally, an interesting finding of the study is the existence of a negative correlation between the US stock index and crude oil in low-frequency bands and the RTSI and Eurostoxx with crude oil for the post-vaccination and pre-war periods in the medium term. These findings can be used by both investors and portfolio managers to hedge risks and make more confident investment decisions. In addition, these findings can be used by policy makers in the planning of regulatory policies regarding the limitations of the systemic risks in capital markets.

FinTech is a New Financial Technology, which provides financial services through innovative information and communication technologies. It is widely accepted that 4th industrial revolution, has affected tremendously the living and working conditions of the societies. The convergence between advanced technologies, entrepreneurship becomes more complex and remarkably computerized. Within such significant changes it is rather expected that banking, has been one of the most challenged sectors. New players like FinTech and Big Tech companies try to capitalize the circumstances, by promoting new consumer patterns to gain market shares. The purpose of this study is to investigate the rapid expansion of FinTech and to evaluate its impact on the Greek banking system. This topic becomes very important nowadays as the number of FinTech companies, which compete with traditional banks on financial products and services, are increasing constantly as digital technology develops. In our study we apply a questionnaire method mainly with closed questions to collect data from the main players. To do this, we use two questionnaires each one for a different sample. The first sample consists of the consumers for financial products and services in the Greek banking sector and the second sample consists of the employees in the Greek banking sector. According to the results, customers of all ages seem to trust the traditional banks more than FinTech companies whereas the level of mobile transactions separately for each consumer, depends on age and education. From the answers of the consumers, it is clear that security is on the top of their worries for using financial services by FinTech companies. On the other hand, the second questionnaire with bank employees shows clearly that educational level is a critical factor for their readiness and response to new technologies.