Blockchain technology, also known as distributed ledger technology, has been hailed as a game-changing invention. Blockchain can affect several sectors, including accounting and assurance, as demand for its application is growing. The paper performs an exploratory research on developing a blockchain-based accounting system. The focus is to see how knowledgeable accounting professionals are about the blockchain-based accounting system. Descriptive statistics and 'Chi-Square test' were administered for data analysis. A sample segmentation was created to identify a homogeneous group of accounting professionals with different degrees of awareness regarding blockchain technology-based accounting systems. For this purpose, non-hierarchical clustering with K-means cluster analysis was performed to obtain groups, and two schools of thoughts were discovered: (i) Yuji Ijiri Momentum Accounting; and (ii) William McCarthy REA ontology. It is found that work on triple-entry accounting is now done and that McCarthy REA ontology school of thought is used. The results reveal that accounting professionals are aware of blockchain technology. They also feel that new technologies will influence their career, but are unfsure how they will be applied due to lack of technical skills. Academic institutions should provide a platform for professionals to obtain disruptive technology knowledge and abilities.

Sustainable development has become a global agenda with the initiation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations. The UN Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) Initiative has set SDGs for stock exchanges. The paper focuses on SDG-8 (target:8.3), SMEs and Sustainable Development. It analyzes the performance of Indian SME stock indices and estimates the long-term relationship with Indian benchmark stock indices. For the analysis, the daily stock returns of S&P BSE SME IPO, Nifty SME Emerge, S&P BSE SENSEX and Nifty 50 indices have been considered from 2015 to 2021. ADF test, GARCH model, Johansen cointegration and VECM have been applied. The findings indicate that a majority of stock exchanges of UN SSE have adopted SME listing initiative; the SME indices generate better returns with slightly high volatility than the benchmark indices; the SME indices have cointegrated with benchmark indices; and the Nifty SME Emerge index has established a long-term relationship with both benchmark indices, i.e., S&P BSE SENSEX and Nifty 50. The findings also reveal that the S&P BSE SENSEX, Nifty 50 and Nifty SME Emerge price movements show significant long-term equilibrium convergence from short-term disturbances.

The paper examines the use of different GARCH type models to capture the impact of normal movement and the impact during a crisis (e.g., Covid pandemic) for capturing the volatility of randomly selected stock markets in European and Asian countries. This case is based on daily data from DAX - Germany, IBEX- Spain, CAC - France, BEL - Belgium, ATX - Austria, SZSE - China, NIKKEI - Japan, KOSPI - South Korea, JKSE - Indonesia, and HANG SENG - Hong Kong. It is found that GARCH is the most robust model to estimate volatility even during a crisis period; EGARCH demonstrates persistence in volatility and capturing leverage effects; EGARCH also remains the best quality model, apart from the symmetric model. Further, the models captured difference in magnitudes of European and Asian stock markets with different volatility movement patterns. Some Asian markets showed more adverse performance than European markets during the same time-period creating differences in asset pricing, risk magnitudes and prospective returns. The study demonstrates the relative effect on asset prices and changes in values of investors and determines the parameter for risk and returns in Europe and Asia.

The Covid-19 crisis provided an opportunity to generate excess returns as stocks were trading below their fair value. The first infection case was reported in November 2019, and a sharp fall in global markets was witnessed soon thereafter. Though markets gradually recovered from their respective lows, its impact was felt across major parts of the globe till early 2021. The paper analyzes the efficiency of 44 world major stock exchanges (Asia-Pacific-17, Europe-16, America-6 and Africa-5) for 15 months (November 2019 to January 2021), and tests whether markets move randomly or whether they are adaptive in nature, i.e., whether Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) or Adaptive Market Hypothesis (AMH) holds good in such conditions. The results of Hurst exponent and Variance Test (VT) ratio prove that markets are adaptive.

Indian companies have participated in the worldwide trend of consolidation through cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). During the last decade, there has been a sharp and consistent increase in the number of M&As in India. The paper explores the impact of cross-border M&A on firm performance and financial distress of selected cases in India from diverse sectors. The motive is to get a clear understanding as to whether the cross-border M&As actually lead to improvement in growth, profitability and efficiency of Indian corporate firms, and also whether it helps in reducing their financial distress. For this purpose, the paper has focused on a sample of nine large cross-border M&As in India from different sectors. It is found that these M&As have been effective in improving the firm performance and financial distress in some cases, whereas it has led to increased distress and reduced performance in others.

The paper reviews the impact of earnings management through discretionary accrual on the Economic Value Added (EVA). The earnings management value was calculated for 52 companies listed on the Dubai Financial Market through Jones Model (1991), Modified Jones Model (1995), and the current model from 2014 to 2018. The results showed that companies practiced earnings management activities in varying proportions. In addition, EVA without adjustments and with additional adjustments for all sample companies were calculated. To test the validity of the hypothesis, regression analysis was used by applying the three empirical models. The results found that there is a positive effect of earnings management through discretionary accrual on EVA.

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, it investigates the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on financial performance (FP) in BSE listed Indian companies; second, it examines which of the five dimensions selected for the study, viz., Value-Added Measure (VAM), Market Measure (MM), Growth Measure (GM), Earning Measure (EM) and Profitability Measure (PM), plays a mediating role in the relationship between CSR and FP. The sample comprises 471 companies. The data was sourced from CMIE Prowess IQ repository for a period of 5 years from 2015 to 2020. Structural Equation Modeling was administered to study the impact of CSR on each of the five dimensions of FP. The key findings are: (1) CSR has a positive impact on all dimensions of FP; (2) the impact of CSR investment is highest on value added measures; and (3) the positive impact of CSR on FP indicators holds true across primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.