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Item Impact of esg disclosures on the cost of capital with the moderating role of gender diversity(UMT.Lahore, 2025) Neha HussainThe current study aims to investigate how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosures affect the Cost of Capital (COC) for non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, with a focus on the moderating role of Board Gender Diversity (BGD). The research is based on secondary data from 100 firms covering the period from 2017 to 2023. ESG scores and financial data were collected from annual reports and public sources. The analysis was conducted using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to handle panel data and endogeneity concerns. Findings show that ESG disclosures reduce the cost of debt but increase the cost of equity. The overall effect on the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is slightly negative and statistically significant. Board gender diversity strengthens the positive impact of ESGD on COD and WACC, while reducing its negative effect on COE, confirming its role as a positive moderator. The model’s reliability was confirmed through diagnostic tests, including the Sargan and Arellano-Bond tests. The study highlights the importance of ESG transparency and gender-diverse boards in improving financial outcomes and recommends stronger ESG reporting and inclusive governance practices in emerging markets.Item The influence of intellectual capital on environmental disclosure with the moderating role of corporate governance(UMT.Lahore, 2025) Fatima JamalThis study investigates the relationship between Intellectual Capital (IC) and Environmental Disclosure (ED) in the context of non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, with a particular focus on how Corporate Governance (CG) mechanisms moderate this association. Anchored in agency, stakeholder, and resource-based theoretical frameworks, the study adopts a quantitative, deductive research approach using panel data from 100 firms spanning 2018 to 2023. Financial institutions were excluded due to differences in regulatory and reporting structures. Data were obtained from company annual reports and verified regulatory sources, empirical analysis conducted using Stata software. Results confirm that Intellectual Capital significantly enhances firms' environmental disclosure performance. The moderating analysis reveals that board gender diversity and board independence positively strengthen the IC–ED relationship, reinforcing the role of inclusive and independent governance in fostering sustainability. In contrast, board size exerts a negative moderating effect, suggesting that excessively large boards may impede the effective deployment of intellectual resources for transparent environmental reporting. These findings underscore the critical role of governance design in shaping the impact of IC on sustainability outcomes. The study contributes to the growing literature on intellectual capital and corporate disclosure by offering robust empirical evidence from an emerging market setting, with practical implications for firms and regulators aiming to improve environmental accountability through strategic governance and resource alignment.Item The impact of ceo attributes on firm performance(UMT.Lahore, 2025) Rafay AhmadThis study investigates the influence of CEO attributes on firm performance with the moderating role of blockchain technology adoption in SMEs in Pakistan. Upper echelon theory grounded to evaluate the role of CEO attributes, including gender, age, experience, financial educational background, and tenure, significantly influences the sustainable performance (economic, social, and environmental). The study adopts a positivist philosophy and a quantitative research design, employing a survey-based method with data collected from 150 usable responses across manufacturing SMEs in Lahore. The present study employed the PLS-SEM technique, and the empirical findings indicate that CEO experience is positively and significantly linked to the firm's performance. In addition, the empirical findings indicate that CEO age significantly and negatively influences firm performance in the case of a direct relationship. Moreover, the present study proposed the moderating role of blockchain technology adoption. The results indicate that the adoption of blockchain significantly and positively improves the firm's performance. However, the moderating role of BCT between CEO traits and firm performance was found to be statistically insignificant, suggesting its impact is more direct than interactive. The empirical findings indicate that adoption of blockchain technology significantly moderates the relationship between CEO experience, CEO tenure, and firm performance at a 10% level of significance. The empirical findings of the present study extend the UET theory by empirically documenting the moderating role of blockchain technology adoption. It highlights the importance of experienced, innovation-oriented leadership and the strategic integration of blockchain as a driver for sustainable organizational competitiveness. Keywords: CEO attributes, blockchain technology adoption, firm performance, and sustainable attitude.Item Balancing profitability and sustainability(UMT.Lahore, 2025) Rameen SibgatGiven an emphasis on how environmental disclosure influences business performance, this study examines the increasingly difficult task of striking a balance between sustainability and profitability in emerging economies. Although sustainability reporting is becoming more and more popular worldwide, its financial effects are still up for debate. Experts disagree on whether disclosure adds value over time or incurs needless expenses. Given that businesses in Pakistan operate in environmentally delicate sectors but encounter lax regulatory enforcement and changing stakeholder expectations, the country offers an intriguing backdrop. In light of this, the study looks at how corporate governance, audit quality, and environmental disclosure interact and affect firm performance as a whole. With an emphasis on industries including textiles, cement, fertilizer, and energy where environmental impact and disclosure are most important, the study uses purposive sampling of companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. In order to ensure that the companies included in the analysis supplied both financial and environmental information, data were gathered from annual reports, sustainability disclosures, and financial statements. A content analysis index was used to measure environmental disclosure, market capitalization, net profit margin, and Tobin's Q were used to operationalize firm performance, Big-4 versus non-Big-4 auditors were used to proxy audit quality, and board-related attributes were used to measure corporate governance. The findings show a complex web of connections. Net profit margin is positively and significantly impacted by environmental disclosure, suggesting that increased efficiency and profitability are linked to reporting transparency. Investors' worries that sustainability activities may raise compliance costs in the near future are viii shown in the disclosure's strong but negative correlation with market capitalization. As an indicator of the market's future direction, Tobin's Q stayed negligible, indicating that Pakistani investors have not yet completely incorporated environmental information into their valuation models. Corporate governance's moderating effect had mixed effects; in some cases, it gave disclosure more credibility, but in other cases, it made the relationship between disclosure and profitability and market value worse by forcing businesses to invest more in compliance. Since confidence in emerging markets is more dependent on governance systems than on auditor reputation, audit quality did not significantly mediate the issue. The thesis concludes by pointing out that sustainability and profitability are not mutually exclusive, but that alignment calls for strong governance frameworks in order to turn transparency into a source of legitimacy and long-term value. Environmental disclosure has the potential to increase accounting-based profitability, but how it affects market perception largely relies on whether stakeholders see it as an expensive compliance burden or as a true indication of responsibility. This study adds to the worldwide discussion on sustainability reporting by presenting empirical data from Pakistan. It also offers useful advice for managers, regulators, and politicians who want to incorporate sustainability into business planning.Item Role of internal risk factors and economic fluctuations on the development of banks(UMT.Lahore, 2025) Dua Batool KhanThis thesis aims to find the role of both bank’s internal risk factors and macroeconomic factors on the development and performance of banks. The bank’s internal risk factors are credit risk, operational risk, capital risk and liquidity risk. The macroeconomic factors are interest rate and exchange rate. To fulfill the objective of this study, 20 banks were chosen from the time period of 9 years from 2015-2023. To achieve the objective of this study, this study has employed descriptive statistics, diagnostic test and GMM regression. The results reveal that bank’s internal factors create an impact on ROA, TobinQ and stability of banks. the findings also shows that macroeconomic factors create an impact on only ROA and TobinQ. It has failed to create an impact on growth and stability. This study has implications for banks management, investors, policymakers and regulators. Banks need to focus on how they should manage their cost; they should develop strategies on verification of the person to whom they are giving loans. Banks need to invest on employees training and they should also invest in new technologies.Item Eco-conscious banking strategies and environmental performance of pakistani banks(UMT.Lahore, 2025) Alishba JamilThis research shows how GBA is influencing Green Financing and Banks Environmental Performance. On the base of Institutional Theory, the study is looking how banks internal system is influencing sustainability and financial outcomes. To capture this green banking activities are studies across four dimensions: rank related practices, Bank operational related practices, Bank Customer related practices, and Bank personal related practices. Together these dimensions reflect how Bank embed environmental awareness in their daily operations policies, employee development, and interaction with customers. The study develops and tests several hypotheses to evaluate how these practices influence the flow of green financing and, ultimately, the environmental performance of banks. A quantitative research design was adopted, incorporating both primary and secondary data collected from selected commercial banks. Green financing was analyzed as a mediator, showcasing how internal eco-conscious practices translate into environmentally supportive financial mechanisms such as eco-loans, sustainable investments, and renewable energy financing. To ensure robust findings, the study controlled for bank size (using total assets) and profitability (measured by return on assets—ROA), allowing for a more accurate assessment of intentional green strategies over institutional scale or financial leverage. The results demonstrate that Green Banking Activities have a significant positive effect on the sources of green finance, which in turn enhance banks’ environmental sustainability performance.Item Shariah compliance and risk management in islamic financial institutions(UMT.Lahore, 2025) Laibah HassanThis thesis explores the relationship between Shariah compliance, risk management, and the role of governance and transparency in Islamic Banks. The research investigates how IBs and conventional banks offering Islamic banking services navigate the complex landscape of risk management while adhering to Islamic principles. The central aim of the study is to understand how effective governance structures and transparency practices influence the implementation of risk management frameworks in these institutions. A sample of 19 Islamic banks, comprising both conventional banks offering Islamic banking services and IBs that are exclusively Islamic, was chosen using the convenience sampling approach. Information about these institutions' governance systems, Shariah compliance procedures, risk management plans, and transparency levels was gathered from their annual reports. The results show that Shariah compliance and efficient management of financial risks, including credit, market, and operational risks, depend on robust governance frameworks, such as Shariah boards and internal control systems. The report also emphasizes how important openness is for fostering stakeholder trust, accountability, and regulatory compliance. Effective risk management is hampered by issues including conflicting interpretations of Shariah, uneven legal frameworks, and a lack of standardized risk management principles, according to the report. The stability and long-term prosperity of Islamic financial institutions depend on the incorporation of strong governance structures and increased openness, according to the study's findings. It suggests enhancing regulatory monitoring, standardizing Shariah compliance procedures, and encouraging increased openness in financial reporting and risk management. The study recommends more investigation into international guidelines for Shariah-compliant risk management and governance in IFIs. Keywords: Corporate Governance(CG),Shariah Governance(SG),Financial Transparency (FT) and Islamic Banks (IBs)Item Role of financial literacy on sustainability of smes in pakistan(UMT.Lahore, 2025) Esha NisarThe detrimental consequences of sustainability on human health and climate change have resulted in a developing global concern. This concept incorporates the aspects of economic performance, social contributions, and environmental practices to lead the countries towards a green nation. However, there are some constraints faced by the businesses of Pakistan in achieving the goal of sustainable development and growth. Hence, the core objective of the current study is to examine the role of financial literacy on the sustainability of SMEs in Pakistan with the mediating role of green technological innovation. Access to Finance is also tested as a moderator. To analyze this relationship, cross-sectional study is conducted. Data is collected from 152 SMEs through online questionnaires filled in by owners of SMEs classified in the manufacturing sector. For data analysis, the two-stage technique structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to test the objectives of the current study. Firstly, the first-order measurement is assessed which reveal that the items meet the threshold of reliability and validity. Secondly, the second-order measurement model is assessed which also reveals that the latent variables meet the reliability and validity threshold. Finding of the structural model reveal that the financial literacy has a positive and significant influence on the sustainability of SMEs. Results show that financial literacy and green technological innovation have a positive and significant impact on each other. Green technological innovation and business sustainability have a positive and significant relationship with each other. Green technological innovation positively and significantly mediates the relationship of financial literacy and business sustainability. Lastly, the study found no moderation of access to finance on the relationship of financial literacy and green technological innovation. Institutions should ensure the training and development programs to integrate financial literacy into SMEs policies for investment decision. Government should provide subsidies and incentives in credit to SMEs owners, which are adopting eco-friendly production process and using renewable energy.