Journal of Economics, Management and Trade

Behavioural Biases, Risk Perception and Financial Literacy in Mutual Fund Investment Decisions: A Theoretical Review

Mukta Rani Hessa — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mutual funds delegate security selection to professional managers, but they do not remove behavioural demands from retail investors. Investors still decide whether to participate, which fund or fund family to select, how much risk to accept, when to contribute or redeem, and whether to switch after gains, losses or salient market events. This critical narrative review integrates three literatures that are often analysed separately: behavioural biases, subjective risk perception and financial literacy. Literature published from 1 January 1990 to 19 July 2026 was considered, while seminal earlier theory was retained when necessary for conceptual development. The synthesis indicates that mutual fund decisions are shaped by selective attention, representativeness and performance chasing, reference-dependent evaluation, disposition tendencies, overconfidence, familiarity and social cues. Their effects are not uniform: some patterns that appear behavioural can also arise from search costs, tax considerations, rational learning or heterogeneous participation costs. Risk perception is best treated as a dynamic translation mechanism between information and choice rather than as a synonym for stable risk tolerance. It is influenced by framing, affect, recent experience, disclosure format and investor knowledge. Financial literacy generally improves fee sensitivity, diversification and interpretation of risk, and it can attenuate some biases, but knowledge is not a universal debiasing device. Perceived literacy and confidence can diverge from objective knowledge, while generic educational interventions show heterogeneous downstream effects. The review therefore proposes an integrated process model in which information environments shape attention; attention and prior experience shape beliefs and perceived risk; literacy and confidence affect the quality of that translation; and realised outcomes feed back into future reference points and choices. The strongest evidence comes from transaction records and incentive-compatible experiments, whereas much recent emerging-market evidence relies on cross-sectional surveys and investment intentions. Future work should combine longitudinal account data, validated psychometrics and randomised disclosure interventions to identify mechanisms and boundary conditions more credibly.

Problems Faced by Apparels Industry in Bilaspur District of Chhattisgarh and Its Potential in the Region

Preetam Sahu, Archana Agrawal — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The apparel industry is a labour-intensive, globally significant sector that supports economic growth and large-scale employment, particularly in emerging economies such as India. Against this backdrop, the present study examines the growth trajectory, development potential, and manager-reported constraints of the apparel industry in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh, India, between 2000 and 2024. A descriptive mixed-methods design was adopted, combining secondary data from government reports and academic literature with primary data collected through a pre-tested, self-structured questionnaire (Cronbach's α = 0.7923) administered to 50 managers of apparel manufacturing units in Bilaspur. Time-series data show that the number of apparel units in the district expanded from 459 in 2000 to 3,541 in 2024, with the highest period-on-period growth (147.39%) recorded in 2010. Parallel growth was observed in capital investment, which rose from ₹110.16 lakhs in 2000 to ₹1,816.73 lakhs in 2024, and in employment, which expanded from 895 workers in 2000 to 8,286 in 2024. Manager perceptions indicate that the following problems significantly (p ≤ 0.05) constrain the growth of the sector: lack of finance for operations (t = 4.22), inadequate raw-material quality and availability (t = 3.79), low productivity (t = 2.16), skill shortages (t = 2.54), weak infrastructure (t = 2.28), the rapid turnover of fashion preferences (t = 2.19), the absence of sector-specific government policies (t = 2.36), and environmental impacts of production (t = 2.05). The findings establish that the apparel industry of Bilaspur holds substantial potential for economic development, employment generation, socio-economic upliftment, infrastructure growth, and the deepening of local markets, but realising this potential requires targeted policy and institutional responses to the documented constraints.

A systematic Panel Analysis of Equity-Sector Sensitivity to Macro-Financial Indicators

Minsung Park — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Aims: This study systematically evaluates whether eight macro-financial indicators are associated with subsequent equity-sector returns and whether the observed relationships are sector-specific or predominantly market-wide.

Study Design: An observational longitudinal panel design was applied to U.S. macro-financial indicators and exchange-traded-fund returns.

Methodology: A monthly panel spanning 1993–2026 combined eight indicators representing credit conditions, corporate profitability, housing, labour, real money growth, household equity allocation, the yield curve, and the copper/gold ratio with fourteen equity tickers. Indicator observations were aligned to approximate publication timing, and 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month forward log returns were calculated. Associations were assessed using heteroskedasticity- and autocorrelation-consistent linear regressions and indicator-specific regime comparisons.

Results: Associations were sparse at the 1-month horizon but became broader at 6- and 12-month horizons. The copper/gold ratio and household equity allocation showed the most pervasive inverse associations with subsequent returns. Temporary-help employment and corporate profit margin also displayed broader multi-quarter relationships, whereas housing starts and the 10-year minus 3-month yield-curve spread were comparatively weak. Several counterintuitive relationships were consistent with crisis-rebound or mean-reversion effects rather than stable causal prediction.

Conclusion: The findings support a medium-horizon regime-association interpretation more strongly than short-term market timing and should be regarded as exploratory pending multiplicity correction, vintage-data validation, stability assessment, and genuine out-of-sample evaluation.

Comparison of Colourfastness in Printex-Finished Cotton Fabrics across Three Washing Exposures: Key Soap Versus Standard Soap

Anastasia Amenya — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Aim: This laboratory study compared the colourfastness of three black-and-white 100% cotton Printex fabric finishes (plain, embossed, and plissé) after three washing exposures with Key Soap and a Ghana Standards Authority reference soap (Standard Soap).

Methodology: The colourfastness component comprised 18 specimens representing three fabric finishes, two soap systems, and three washing exposures corresponding to 30, 60, and 90 min. Colour change was assessed against unwashed controls using the ISO Grey Scale for assessing change in colour. Three observers evaluated the washed and control specimens. The primary interpretation was descriptive. The one-way ANOVA values reported in the original analytical summary are retained as exploratory because the colourfastness subset contained one specimen per finish × soap × washing-duration condition.

Results: With Key Soap, all finishes were rated 4–5 after 30 min; after 60 min, the embossed finish declined to 4; and after 90 min, the plain and plissé finishes were rated 4 while the embossed finish was rated 3. Under the study's predefined pass criterion of at least 3–4, only the embossed finish under Key Soap at 90 min fell below the criterion. With Standard Soap, all recorded ratings remained at or above 3–4 across the three washing exposures, although the pattern was not strictly monotonic. Exploratory ANOVA values were p = .42 for Key Soap and p = .03 for Standard Soap; these p-values are not treated as confirmatory evidence because independent replication at each experimental cell was not available.

Conclusion: Within the tested fabrics and laboratory conditions, colour retention varied with fabric finish, washing exposure, and soap product. The most pronounced colour loss occurred for the embossed fabric washed with Key Soap for 90 min. The findings support product- and finish-specific care recommendations, while broader claims about detergent chemistry or general detergent superiority require replicated testing and direct chemical characterization.

External R&D and Green Process Innovative Performance of Firms in Ghana: Moderating Role of Knowledge Transformation

Prosper ADDO, Bright Kofi MOTTEY, Samuel AGYEI-AMPOMAH — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Aims: The study assessed the effect of external research and development (R&D) on firms’ green process innovative performance and examined the moderating role of knowledge transformation in Ghana.

Study Design: A quantitative explanatory research design was employed.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Ghana using the 2013 Ghana Enterprise Survey and the 2014 Ghana Innovation Follow-up Survey. The Innovation Follow-up Survey was conducted between January and August 2014.

Methodology: The study combined the 2013 Ghana Enterprise Survey and 2014 Ghana Innovation Follow-up Survey datasets. The analysis comprised 549 firms after data management from an original sample of 720 firms. External R&D was used as the measure of external knowledge acquisition, while knowledge transformation captured firms’ ability to integrate acquired knowledge with existing knowledge. Green process innovative performance was measured as a binary outcome indicating whether firms introduced environmentally beneficial production processes. Binary logistic regression models with robust standard errors were estimated to assess the direct and moderating effects, controlling for firm age, sector, size, and international recognition.

Results: External R&D had a positive but statistically insignificant direct effect on green process innovative performance (β = 1.0353, robust SE = 0.7427, marginal effect = 0.0726, p = .163). In contrast, knowledge transformation had a positive and statistically significant effect on green process innovative performance (β = 1.5576, robust SE = 0.3169, marginal effect = 0.1092, p < .001). The interaction between external R&D and knowledge transformation was positive and statistically significant (β = 1.6975, robust SE = 0.7195, marginal effect = 0.1448, p = .018), indicating that the association between external R&D and green process innovative performance strengthens as firms’ knowledge transformation capacity increases. Firm age was positively and significantly associated with green process innovative performance in both models (p = .001 and p < .001). Medium-sized firms did not differ significantly from small firms, while the negative coefficients for large-sized firms were statistically insignificant based on their reported coefficients and standard errors. In the moderation model, service-sector firms had a positive and statistically significant association with green process innovative performance relative to manufacturing firms (β = 0.7429, p = .015). Both models were statistically significant overall.

Conclusion: External R&D alone does not significantly enhance firms’ green process innovative performance. However, its positive association with green process innovation becomes stronger when firms possess greater knowledge transformation capacity. The findings therefore suggest that the value of external R&D depends partly on firms’ ability to integrate, adapt, and apply externally acquired knowledge. Strengthening internal knowledge transformation capabilities alongside external R&D may enable firms to translate externally acquired knowledge more effectively into environmentally sustainable production processes.

Spatial Differentiation in Agricultural Development in Uttar Pradesh, India: A District-level Cluster Analysis

Khursheed Ahmad Khan — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Aims: The present paper attempts to explore the spatial differentiation of agricultural development across the districts of Uttar Pradesh using hierarchical cluster analysis. Five main dimensions of agricultural development are identified: agricultural performance, access to agricultural finance, unviability of agriculture, technology and land resources.
Study Design: The study is based on secondary data, and district-level data were gathered from the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Uttar Pradesh. The analytical technique was used for the analysis.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted across the districts of Uttar Pradesh using the latest available data (2022-23). Based on data availability, 69 districts of Uttar Pradesh were selected for analysis.
Methodology: For the cluster analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis using Ward’s method was applied. One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD post-hoc test were subsequently used to examine differences among the identified clusters. The analysis provides an empirical basis for identifying relatively developed, intermediate and vulnerable agricultural zones within Uttar Pradesh.
Results: The analysis identifies three distinct clusters of districts. Cluster 1 consists predominantly of districts in Western Uttar Pradesh, characterised by a relatively strong agricultural base, larger holdings, commercial agriculture, greater use of technology and higher productivity and returns. Cluster 2 comprises districts from Western and Central Uttar Pradesh, along with Deoria and Azamgarh from Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and occupies an intermediate position. Cluster 3 contains 36 districts, including all districts of Bundelkhand and most districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and represents a relatively vulnerable agricultural zone.
Conclusion: The results suggest that agricultural development in Uttar Pradesh has a significant spatial component and that consistent state-level agricultural policies may not be suitable for addressing the differing circumstances across districts. Therefore, agricultural policies need to be sensitive to individual districts and specific to each cluster.