Microfinance loans have long been associated with relatively high interest rates. There is a wide variation of interest rates charged by microfinance institutions (MFIs) across countries, as well as some dispersion of interest rates across MFIs within the same country. The source of interest rate variation can result from institution specific characteristics such as, average loan size and the composition of female borrowers. The dispersion in prevailing interest rates in the formal financial sector across countries may partially contribute to the variation of microfinance interest rates across countries. I use yield on gross loan portfolio as a proxy for the average interest rate on loans, the average loan balance as a measure of average loan size, and lending rate for commercial loans to represent the interest rate in the formal financial sector. This study attempts to analyze the dispersion of interest rates on microfinance loans by showing its association with loan size, female composition of borrowers, and the prevailing lending rates. Using a large panel of 1,531 MFIs, I show that microfinance interest rates have a statistically significant negative relationship with loan size, and a positive association with commercial lending rate and the female composition of borrowers.

This is the first study to examine how Nigerian output is affected by the news-based Economic Policy Uncertainty Index by Tumala et al. (2023) and Climate Uncertainty Index by Salisu et al. (2023). Using ARDL and Granger causality on quarterly data from 2016Q2 to 2024Q1, the findings show that increased economic and climate uncertainties result in decreased output. Additionally, the study reveals that climate uncertainty has a more significant effect on output compared to economic policy uncertainty. The Granger causality indicates one-way causality from climate uncertainty to output, thereby reinforcing the substantial influence of climate uncertainty on output in Nigeria.

In recent years, as global climate change intensifies and ESG investment concepts gain prominence, climate risk has become a crucial factor for investors and financial markets. Investigating how climate risk is priced in the Chinese capital market is both theoretically and practically important for promoting the sustainable development of China's capital markets and advancing green finance. This study employs natural language processing (NLP) to quantify the proportion of climate risk-related content in the annual reports of listed companies, creating an indicator to assess their climate risk level. The study uses climate risk of listed companies as the explanatory variable and annual stock returns as the dependent variable, applying a fixed-effects model to empirically examine the impact of climate risk on investment returns. The study finds that: first, the climate risk of listed companies shows a clear trend of change over time; second, there is a significant positive correlation between the climate risk of listed companies and investment returns.

We propose a theoretical model that underlines the implications of a non-linear Phillips curve for the difficulty of monetary policy to fight against inflationary tensions similar to those encountered in 2021 and 2022 at a worldwide level, due to the resumption of demand after the COVID crisis and to the war in Ukraine. In such non-linearities, the interest rate becomes an asymmetric and convex function of an inflationary supply shock variation. In the case of inflationary tensions, the nominal interest rate can then strongly increase above its long-term equilibrium value. Economic recession is exacerbated, whereas inflationary tensions are more accentuated. Then, the risk is a more than proportional increase in public expenditure to compensate for the decrease in private consumption, which could not be achieved without a strong growth in the public indebtedness level.

The gender characteristics of initial wage levels in the labour market were investigated using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), and gender differences in the individual retirement accounts wealth of urban employees were studied on this basis. The results indicate that for female employees, the individual retirement accounts wealth they obtained through longer life expectancy is largely offset by their low level of income and short contribution period, and the net pension wealth of female employees who retire at statutory retirement age is even lower than that of male employees. Due to the inheritability of account balances, extending the retirement age will increase the individual retirement account net pension wealth of all employees, and each year of extension will bring more net pension wealth increase to male employees.

This study examines the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which began on February 24, 2022, on natural gas prices and supply security in major global markets. Six months after the conflict's onset, natural gas prices surged by an average of 78.65% across international markets. Notably, prices in the European Union, Russia, the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea saw substantial increases, while price hikes in China, the United States, and Australia were comparatively smaller. Despite these price fluctuations, the security of natural gas supply in key international markets remained largely unaffected. Using the Differences-in-Differences (DID) method, the study analyzed the conflict's impact on supply security, employing a mediation effects model to examine the roles of supply, demand, and price. The findings reveal that the conflict significantly reduced natural gas supply security, with negative effects on both supply and demand, although price changes did not mediate this reduction in supply security. Furthermore, the regional impact on supply security was minimal, likely due to the high integration of the global natural gas market. Overall, the Russia-Ukraine conflict notably influenced natural gas supply security by affecting supply and demand factors.