Addressing the complexity of financial decision-making process, this study assessed the effects of financial knowledge towards the financial behavioural intention to invest with both risk perception and attitude, in serial, as mediators among young Malaysians. This study operationalized financial knowledge as actual financial knowledge (objective knowledge) and self-rated financial knowledge (subjective knowledge). Using purposive sampling strategy, this study sampled 492 respondents who were of below the primesavings years for the questionnaire survey. The resultant outcomes of this study revealed significant mediating effects of risk perception and attitude in the sequential positive relationship between financial knowledge and financial behavioural intention to invest. Apart from the significance of financial knowledge in the financial decision-making process, this study also unravelled the complexity of the relationship of knowledge and behaviour with the combination of risk perception and attitude.

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The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between board independence and the firm performance of Chinese firms listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange, under the moderating role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). A total of 860 firm-year observations over a period of ten years, that is from 2010 to 2019 was collected. The panel data regression technique was employed to analyze the data and determine the relationship between board independence and the firm performance of the Chinese firms under investigation. After a robustness check, the empirical results showed that the level of the CSR moderated (reduced) the positive relationship between board independence and firm performance. Therefore, the results seemed to imply that although the CSR has been seen as a useful business strategy, the level of the CSR in China still needed to be improved. In order to improve firm performance through practicing the CSR, the Chinese government and enterprises should be encouraged to continuously improve the level of the CSR.

Decision-making process about financial investment is complicated. Relying on modern financial theory to explain behaviours of individual investors is inadequate because it focuses on the objective risk as the determinant for making investment decisions under the assumption that individuals are rational. The current study, which was built from the financial, sociological and psychological perspectives, investigated the predictors of risk perception and determined the association of risk perception and attitude toward financial investment intention. This study served the purpose of unravelling the complexity of the financial investment decision-making process among individuals. Design/methodology/approach: The research framework was based on Perception Formation Model (PFM) with further support from the Theory of Planned Behaviour, decision making models under risk, and knowledge-attitudebehaviour model. Purposive-sampling method was adopted. The dataset, which consisted a total of 492 responses from income earners below the age of prime savings years were entered for analysis. Twelve hypotheses were tested using the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) statistical software. Findings: Measurement-model assessment revealed the data fitted well to the research model Results from the structural-model assessment revealed subjective knowledge, peer influence, internet influence, and risk propensity had a significant relationship with favourable risk perception. Consistent with the PFM proposition, it was found favourable risk perception significantly related to higher intention toward financial investment. Research limitations/implications: The resultant outcomes strengthen the understanding of how financial investment decision is performed by individuals, which is crucial in the personal-finance industry, especially in promoting a long-term and meaningful client-advisor relationship. Interestingly, objective knowledge, which measured the actual level of financial knowledge was found to be insignificantly associated with risk perception and intention toward financial investment. As a sizeable financial literature posited financial knowledge has impact on decision-making process, future study could perhaps examine whether objective knowledge could contextually alter the relationship between predictors and the endogenous variable. Originality/value: The study has successfully identified several predictors for risk perception about financial investment and provided an empirical link for knowledge-perception-attitude-intention, thus, enriching the behavioural finance literature. The research model was robust as it was formulated based on the three major pillars of behavioral finance, namely: financial, sociological, and psychological perspectives.

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