The banking industry is facing huge challenges due to technology-enabled innovation, to changes in customer preferences, to bank de-risking and to new regulatory initiatives. To go through all these changes, banks need to be stable. The present study contributes to the empirical literature by identifying the determinants of stability of banks in the Latvian Banking Industry. This study covers both bank-specific (endogenous) factors and macroeconomic (exogenous) factors that impact the stability of banks. The data set used in this study is the annual financial statements of Latvian banks operated in the period 2003-2016. Using multivariate regression analysis techniques, we found evidence that credit risk and efficiency ratio have a significant negative impact on banks' stability, whereas size of the bank, liquidity ratio, profitability, inflation and GDP growth have significant positive impact on bank's stability. We made comparison of bank-specific variables performance for Nordicowned and non-Nordic-owned banks. Credit and liquidity risks, as well as efficiency ratio for Nordic-owned banks during the research period were higher, whereas size of the banks and profitability were better. Comparing measurement results of stability of banks, we received that Nordic-owned banks performance between 2003 to 2016 was better than non-Nordic-owned banks performance.

This study investigates the country-level determinants of liquidity synchronization and degrees of liquidity synchronization during economic growth volatility. As a non-diversifiable risk factor, liquidity co-movement shock spreads market-wide and thus disrupts the overall functioning of the financial market. Firms in Asian markets operate in legal and regulatory environments distinct from those of firms analyzed in the previous literature. Comprehensive analyses of liquidity synchronicity in emerging markets are limited. A major knowledge gap pertaining to Asian emerging markets serves as the primary motivation for this study. Seven Asian emerging economies are selected from the MSCI emerging market index: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines for analysis from 2010 to 2019. The empirical findings show high levels of liquidity synchronicity in weaker economic and financial environments with low GDP growth, high inflation and interest rates and underdeveloped financial systems taking the form of low levels of private credit. Liquidity synchronicity is also affected by poor investor protection, political instability, weak rule of law and government ineffectiveness. Moreover, levels of liquidity synchronicity are higher in a period of economic growth volatility.

This study investigates the country level determinants of liquidity synchronization and degrees of liquidity synchronization during economic growth volatility. As a non-diversifiable risk factor, liquidity co-movement shock spreads market wide and thus disrupts the overall functioning of the financial market. Firms in Asian markets operate in legal and regulatory environments distinct from those of firms analyzed in the previous literature. Comprehensive analyses of liquidity synchronicity in emerging markets are limited. A major knowledge gap pertaining to Asian emerging markets serves as the primary motivation for this study. Seven Asian emerging economies are selected from the MSCI emerging market index: Bangladesh, China, India, Indo-nesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and the Philippines for analysis from 2010 to 2019. The empirical findings show high levels of liquidity synchronicity in weaker economic and financial environments with low GDP growth, high inflation and interest rates and underdeveloped financial systems taking the form of low levels of private credit. Liquidity synchronicity is also affected by poor investor protection, political instability, weak rule of law and government ineffectiveness. Moreover, levels of liquidity synchronicity are higher in period of economic growth volatility.

Background:The study aims to investigate the challenges experienced among undergraduate and postgraduate education and the strategies adopted to overcome those challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method:A systemic review on PubMed and Google Scholar was performed from January to August 2020, yielding 8,847 articles. The PRISMA statement 2020 was followed. Title and abstract of the articles were used to scrutinize them followed by full-text screening based on the set inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twenty-seven of the obtained articles were selected for final data extraction. The facts and findings of the studies were also discussed based on per capita income, literacy rate, and internet accessibility. Results:The selected articles were from North and South/Latin America, Asia & Pacific, and Europe regions. Eighteen of the selected articles discussed undergraduate education, eight postgraduate, and one in both groups. The affordability of digital devices and availability of internet services were the major challenges observed for low and middle-income economies. The ZOOM platform was adopted by more than 90% of the education systems. Conclusion:In light of this review, it is suggested that harmonized and collaborative efforts should be made to design cost-effective and user-friendly tools to overcome the current challenges and prevent future education crises. Systemic review registration:The review was not registered.

This study examined the impact of liquidity synchronization on stock valuation in selected emerging economies in Asia. Empirical testing was motivated by the relevance of liquidity synchronization in asset pricing. Liquidity synchronicity is a nondiversifiable risk, which can affect the overall functioning of a market. The regulatory environments of Asian firms are different from those investigated in previous studies. Comprehensive analysis of the subject is limited in emerging economies mainly due to the small size of the markets and the constraint of data availability. A substantial knowledge gap provides the underlying foundation of this study. Three emerging economies of Asia -China, Pakistan and India -were selected for analysis using data from 2010 to 2019. The implied cost of equity pricing model and realized returns pricing model were employed to study the impact of liquidity synchronicity on asset valuation. Liquidity synchronization was found to have a significant impact on asset valuation in emerging Asian economies and the effect is stronger during market volatility.Contribution/Originality: This study is one of very few studies which have extended the scope of liquidity synchronicity literature to Asian economies. We provide evidence of the valuation effect of liquidity risk arising from liquidity synchronicity. This study documents a higher cost of equity for assets having high liquidity synchronicity during market volatility.