The purpose of this study is to investigate and measure the level of financial literacy and its variables within the academic community in Indonesia. The strength of this study is that it extends the concept of financial literacy and its variables. This study explains how members of Indonesian academic community understood their financial literacy levels and the ways in which it can be improved. The study sample comprised 889 lecturers in Indonesia. The survey method was used to measure financial literacy and its variables which include subjective financial knowledge, financial behavior, financial experience, financial awareness, financial skills, financial capability, financial goal, and financial decisions, as reflected in individuals' financial behavior. The research data were collected using a quantitative survey and were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results confirm the relationships between financial literacy and its variables of financial awareness, financial behavior, financial experience, financial skills, subjective financial knowledge, financial capability, financial goals, and financial decisions. This study fills the gap in the literature related to the multi-variables of financial literacy. It provides information to assist policy-makers in developing strategies to increase financial literacy in society.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between rural banks’ efficiency and their lending provision for micro and small businesses (MSBs) in West Java Indonesia. Rural banks are special banks that are generally located in the district and sub-district areas and they are very involved in providing loans to MSBs. Design/methodology/approach The study includes 212 rural banks in various districts in West Java province over the 2012–2016 period. Data envelopment analysis is employed to obtain banks’ technical efficiency and panel data analysis is used to reveal the impact of rural banks’ efficiency on their loan provision to MSBs. Findings The findings reveal that technical efficiency of the rural banks has a significant positive impact on their loan provision to MSBs in West Java Indonesia. These results have underscored the importance of rural banks in maintaining and increasing their bank efficiency levels to enhance their capacity in providing loans to MSBs. Practical implications The results of this study have brought some implications for practitioners (rural bank management) to maintain and improve their efficiency in order to expand their capacity to lend to MSBs. The roles of Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or the Indonesia Financial Services Authority in monitoring the efficiency of rural banks and overseeing the provision of their loans to MSBs are also very necessary in ensuring good performance of rural banks in terms of both aspects, respectively. Social implications This study highlights the importance of rural banks in providing loans to MSB segments. The contribution of rural banks in stimulating the development of MSBs is believed to be able to produce positive social implications in terms of empowering the economic and social life of MSBs in their local communities. Originality/value The study fills the literature gap by revealing a significant relationship between bank efficiency and loan provision for MSBs in the context of rural banks.

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Currently, the studies on entrepreneurial characteristics do not distinguish the business scales, while different scales of businesses, i.e. small, medium to large scales have their own characteristics. The purpose of this research was to determine whether business performance mediates the impact of entrepreneurial characteristics on accessing credit at small-scale business. In this study, a total of 221 questionnaires was distributed to the respondents of small enterprises entrepreneurs in West Sumatera Province, Indonesia using the method of the purposive random sampling. The hypotheses were tested using survey data from small enterprises that had obtained bank loan. For data analysis, the Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used. Based on the study results, the entrepreneurial characteristics positively affect the business performance, which then positively affects the chances of access to the credit. Ultimately, it was proven that entrepreneurial characteristics affect the access to credit. The research finding highlights the important of the role of business performance in mediating the effect of entrepreneurial characteristics on credit access. Therefore, it is recommended that there should be a strategy to strengthen the entrepreneurial characteristics to improve the small business performance. In addition, the entrepreneurs are recommended to develop and maintain a strong entrepreneurial characteristics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people’s lives and increased the banking solvency risk. This research aimed to build an early warning and early action simulation model to mitigate the solvency risk using the system dynamics methodology and the Powersim Studio 10© software. The addition of an early action simulation updates the existing early warning model. Through this model, the effect of policy design and options on potential solvency risks is known before implementation. The trials conducted at Bank BRI (BBRI) and Bank Mandiri (BMRI) showed that the model had the ability to provide an early warning of the potential increase in bank solvency risk when the loan restructuring policy is revoked. It also simulates the effectiveness of management’s policy options to mitigate these risks. This research used publicly accessible banking data and analysis. Bank management could also take advantage of this model through a self-stimulation facility developed in this study to accommodate their needs using the internal data.