This study is aimed to explore the Islamic calendar anomaly or lunar effect over the period of eleven years commencing from Zilhajj 1429 (January 2007) to Muharram 1440 (September 2018) on daily historical returns. This study has identified the essence of weak-form Efficient Market Hypothesis Fama (1965) in Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai. Moreover market return behavior and seasonal effects are identified by using the dummy regression model. It is identified that anomalous behavior is reality in long run aptitude in all Islamic economies and the average behavior is reflecting that markets have been inspired by the seasonal effects. Overall the market behavior reflects weak form of efficiency except Iran and Bangladesh. It is identified that the Gregorian Calander is static but the lunar calendar is dynamic and go across all the weathers. Weathers and temperatures may affect perception and psychology of investor.

This study reviews the growth strategies and their effect on the efficiency and productivity of the microfinance sector of Pakistan. The sector needs to have adopted intensive growth strategy instead of extensive strategies of wide expansion in term of physical infrastructure and human resources, which had increased the financial sustainability risks for the credit constrain institutions. The sixdimension model of outreach used in this study also shows that the sector does not achieve the targets set forth for these micro finance institutes with respect to its active borrowers’ outreach. The sector has mainly focused the big cities and urban areas whereas the poverty levels are higher in rural areas. The government has also shown its interest by launching two different types of loan schemes. Among the three different types of institution, the microfinance banks dominate the sector.

Since the reform movement of the Muslim World from the midnineteenth century, many Islamic Financial institutions have been established. Subsequently, in 2001 the first Islamic banking policy was issued by the State bank of Pakistan and thereafter, Pakistan has faced many commercial, accountability and regulatory challenges in transforming the economy into an Islamic Economy. In this study, we find out whether the development of the Islamic Economy has fostered moral values in investors. This study, hence, aims to discuss the foundamental issues in moral values behind an investment decision while taking in account some personal factors influencing investment decisions. Data has been collected with the help of a questionnaire, where its reliability is confirmed by Cronbach Alpha, followed by correlation and multiple Regression tests. The results show a significant role of certain moral factors in investment decisions.

The study investigates the impact of various financing sources of working capital and fixed investment on sales growth. Population of the study comprises South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries’ small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Data of 6777 SMEs is retrieved from World Bank’s website. Multiple regression model is used to achieve the study objectives. Results signify a positive link between bank financing use for working capital and sales growth while the negative link between friends and family finance and sales growth is observed. Similarly all formal sources of finance used for fixed investment have positive link with sales growth. Finally, it is found that the government interventions and policy makers can alleviate access to formal sources of finance for boosting sales growth.

In this research, we visit literature directed seven steps procedure of scale development and incorporate it in studying dopamine, serotonin, epinephrine and norepinephrine and thus finalized 16 items neurotransmitters scale. We incorporated 6 samples for construction of reliable multi-aspect questionnaire that imitated across the samples. We confirm the content adequacy qualitatively and quantitatively including discriminant and convergent validity. We also established the criterion-related validity through the instrument’s relation with measures of behavioral aspects of individual investors. This research proposes that the neurotransmitters scale is valid and reliable. Neurotransmitters as dopamine, serotonin, epinephrine and norepinephrine have significant use for individual stock markets investors. This investigators hope that the corroborated scale is reliable as well as valid and will be appropriate to utilize in upcoming studies of neurofinance.

This study looks into the potential effect of foreign exchange exposure elasticity (FEEE) on the financial distress of non-financial firms from an emerging country (Pakistan) and a developed country (USA) during 2003-2015. It employs mixed methodology in which a comprehensive quantitative analysis is made from the panel data of the sample companies from both countries (Pakistan and USA). Subsequently, views of Chief Finance Officers (CFOs) of different companies are given. Results show that the effect of foreign exchange exposure is not statistically significant on the financial distress of Pakistani firms at contemporaneous level but it has positive significant effect at lagged level. Results also show that at gross exposure level, foreign exchange exposure of US manufacturing firms has a significantly positive effect on their financial distress contemporaneously but not at net market level. In case of US non-manufacturing firms, the foreign exchange exposure elasticity does not impact significantly on the Z-Score at gross exposure level. But the market model shows a weak significant effect of the FE Exposure on the distress of such firms in USA at relatively higher significance level. The firms fundamental attributes except foreign sales exhibit a significant effect on the financial distress. Only debt has negative coefficient which describes a positive effect on the financial distress. The findings have notable implications for the financial stability of the firms, especially in Pakistan.

This study examines equity mutual funds in Pakistan within bull and bear market contexts.It traces the evolution and significance of mutual funds, particularly their adoption by investors for retirement and financial goals. Despite a substantial presence of open-ended and closed-ended mutual funds, Pakistan's mutual fund industry remains comparatively small on a global scale. Equity mutual funds, focused on stocks, appeal to young investors seeking higher returns with moderate risk. These funds enable risk diversification and effective portfolio management by experienced professionals. While small investors benefit from equity funds, their performance is subject to public scrutiny due to robust regulatory oversight. This research sheds light on equity mutual funds' role in Pakistan's financial landscape, emphasizing their importance in providing accessible and diversified investment options for a range of investors.