Labuan Bulletin of International Business and Finance (LBIBF)

STRATEGIC CAPABILITIES AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION, MARKET ORIENTATION, AND LEADERSHIP QUALITIES AMONG BUMIPUTERA SMES IN SABAH, MALAYSIA

John Ambrose — 2026-08-30

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in Malaysia’s economic development, particularly in regions such as Sabah where SMEs contribute significantly to employment generation and local economic growth. However, many SMEs continue to face challenges in sustaining organizational performance due to limited strategic capabilities and managerial resources. Drawing on the Resource-Based View (RBV), this study examines the relationships between Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), Market Orientation (MO), Leadership Qualities (LQ), and Organizational Performance (OP) among Bumiputera SMEs in Sabah, Malaysia. A quantitative research design was adopted using survey data collected from 513 SME owners across 22 districts in Sabah. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings reveal that entrepreneurial orientation significantly influences all dimensions of market orientation, including customer orientation, competitor orientation, inter-functional coordination, and profit orientation. Market orientation was found to positively affect organizational performance and mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and performance. Furthermore, leadership qualities moderate selected relationships between market orientation and organizational performance, particularly strengthening the effect of customer orientation on firm performance. These results suggest that SMEs that effectively integrate entrepreneurial initiatives with strong market orientation and leadership capabilities are better positioned to achieve sustainable organizational performance. The study contributes to the entrepreneurship and strategic management literature by providing empirical evidence from the context of Bumiputera SMEs in Sabah and offers practical insights for policymakers and SME development programs aimed at strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging regional economies.

MAPPING THE INTELLECTUAL LANDSCAPE: A SCIENCE MAPPING REVIEW OF LOCUS OF CONTROL AND FINANCIAL WELL-BEING RESEARCH

Ag. Kaifah Riyard Kiflee — 2026-08-30

Research on financial well-being has expanded alongside interest in psychological determinants such as locus of control, yet the intellectual structure linking these domains remains fragmented. This study provides a comprehensive science-mapping review of literature connecting locus of control and financial well-being, employing bibliometric methods to visualize thematic evolution, collaboration networks, and conceptual hotspots. Scopus was searched for “financial” and “well-being” covering May 1989 until 2026. Retrieved records were cleaned in OpenRefine and analyzed with Scopus Analyzer while VOSviewer was used for network visualization, including co-authorship, keyword co-occurrence, and cluster detection. The refined dataset comprised 577 publications. Findings indicate a pronounced increase in research output after 2010, predominantly developed countries and growing interdisciplinary collaboration across psychology, economics, and finance. Keyword and cluster analyses reveal core themes: financial literacy, behavioral finance, personality and psychological traits, measures of well-being, and socioeconomic determinants. Emerging topics include financial resilience, digital financial behaviour, and the role of technology in financial decision-making. Locus of control appears as a crucial determinant associated with financial attitudes, planning, risk-taking, and outcomes, mediating relationships between literacy, behaviour, and well-being. Network analysis highlights key authors, institutions, and cross-national collaborations shaping the field. This review summarise the intellectual landscape, identifies gaps from longitudinal and diverse-population studies, and proposes future directions in understanding how psychological factors like locus of control influence financial well-being.

DIGITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES ADOPTION AMONG ELDERLY CONSUMERS: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH TRENDS, KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURE AND FUTURE RESEARCH GAP

Nur Aida Mustaffa — 2026-08-30

This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of research on the adoption of Digital Financial Services (DFS) by elderly consumers within institutional platforms, reflecting the growing importance of inclusive digital finance in aging societies. Despite rapid digital transformation in financial services, elderly users remain underrepresented in adoption studies, particularly within institutional contexts such as government-linked or statutory financial platforms. This gap limits the understanding of behavioural, technological, and contextual factors influencing adoption among older populations. To address this issue, the study employs a quantitative bibliometric approach using the Scopus database. Advanced search strategies were applied based on three primary keyword clusters: “digital financial”, “adoption”, and “elderly”, resulting in a final dataset of 114 publications spanning from 2008 to May 2026. Data were refined and standardized in OpenRefine, and performance analysis was conducted using Scopus Analyzer. Science-mapping and network-visualization techniques, including co-authorship, co-citation, and keyword co-occurrence analyses, were performed in VOSviewer to identify intellectual structures and emerging research themes. The findings reveal a significant upward trend in publications, particularly after 2018, indicating increased scholarly attention to DFS adoption among aging populations. Key contributing countries, influential authors, and high-impact journals are identified, alongside dominant research themes such as technology acceptance models, perceived risk, trust, and financial inclusion. However, notable gaps persist in the integration of customer experience, institutional platform contexts, and longitudinal behavioural insights. The study concludes by highlighting the need for more context-specific, theory-integrated, and policy-relevant research to better support elderly consumers in navigating digital financial ecosystems, thereby contributing to more inclusive and sustainable financial development.

FROM TAX BURDEN TO VALUE CREATION: A BIBLIOMETRIC AND SCIENCE MAPPING ANALYSIS OF THE TAXATION-PERFORMANCE NEXUS

Hayati Azreen Ahmad Seri — 2026-08-30

This study maps how scholarly discourse on corporate taxation has shifted from a traditional cost-centric perspective toward a value-creation framework within the taxation-performance literature. Using a bibliometric and science mapping approach, the study analyzes 653 Scopus-indexed journal articles published between 1970 and May 2026. The dataset was examined using Scopus Analyzer, OpenRefine, and VOSviewer to assess publication trends, citation impact, keyword co-occurrence patterns, and country-level co-authorship networks. The findings reveal a sharp acceleration in scholarly output after 2015, indicating growing academic and policy interest in taxation as a strategic determinant of firm performance, investment efficiency, and sustainable economic outcomes. Citation analysis exhibits that interdisciplinary contributions from accounting, public economics, finance, governance, and strategic management shape the field. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identifies effective tax rate, tax avoidance, and tax burden as dominant intellectual anchors. At the same time, emerging themes such as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), sustainability, institutional quality, and corporate governance reflect a broader shift toward stakeholder-oriented value creation. The country collaboration network further indicates a centralized global structure dominated by developed economies, with emerging markets remaining comparatively peripheral. This study contributes by consolidating a fragmented research domain and demonstrating how taxation research has evolved into a multi-level field linking firm behavior, institutional conditions, and economic value creation. The findings offer useful insights for policymakers, firms, Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and future researchers examining taxation beyond its fiscal burden function.

EXAMINING THE DRIVERS OF MALAYSIA’S PEPPER EXPORT COMPETITIVENESS: EVIDENCE FROM AN AUTOREGRESSIVE DISTRIBUTED LAG (ARDL) FRAMEWORK

Jurin Gunsalam — 2026-09-13

This research explores the key drivers shaping the export competitiveness of Malaysian pepper from 2001 to 2022, utilizing the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework. Competitiveness is assessed through the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index, with particular attention to the roles of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER), and population dynamics. The long-run analysis indicates that both GDP and REER exert a statistically significant and positive influence on Malaysia’s pepper export performance. In contrast, FDI is associated with a negative long-term effect, while population changes appear to have no meaningful impact over the same horizon. Short-run estimates reveal more nuanced relationships: FDI initially dampens competitiveness before contributing positively, and REER demonstrates a shifting influence over time. Population, though insignificant in the long run, emerges as a supportive factor in the short term. These findings highlight the importance of fostering sustained economic growth, maintaining exchange rate stability, and strategically channelling FDI to reinforce Malaysia’s competitive edge in the global pepper trade.

ESG AND M&A PERFORMANCE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Yee Ee Chia — 2026-09-13

This review study aims to explore Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance in mergers and acquisitions activity. We conduct both a systematic literature review, following the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA 2020), and a bibliometric approach to analyze 18 published articles from the latest 6 years, from 2020 to 2025. This review highlights the increasing significance of ESG in shaping M&A outcomes. Firms with strong ESG practices are more likely to create long-term value, enhance market efficiency, and mitigate post-transaction risks. Bibliometric evidence indicates a significant increase in academic attention since 2021, with a particular focus on China and cross-border transactions. Notably, ESG alignment in cross-border M&A facilitates smoother transactions and supports sustainability objectives, though it may also introduce valuation challenges and delays. Overall, ESG has shifted from a peripheral concern to a central determinant of both scholarly inquiry and business practice. This review provides current insights and identified research gaps in emerging markets and industry-specific contexts that are needed for future research.