This study investigated the impact of sustainability reporting on financial performance, with a focus on companies in the Turkish food, beverage and tobacco and textile, wearing apparel and leather sectors. The sustainability reports of 48 companies listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange for 2022 were studied, and the quality of sustainability practices was determined by using a general index (Sustainability Reporting Disclosure Quality Index (SRDQI)) and three partial indices (Environmental Disclosure Quality Index, Social Disclosure Quality Index, and Corporate Governance Disclosure Quality Index (CGDQI)). To analyze the relationships between financial performance and sustainability practices two types of regression models were developed, based on which eight models were directly examined. The results indicate the complete absence of a statistically significant impact of SRDQI on all financial performance measures used. Among the partial indices, only CGDQI has a significant positive effect on the Assets Turnover Ratio. An analysis of the influence of control variables shows a multidirectional dependence of individual financial performance measures on the size of companies, their age, industry affiliation, as well as on the structure of capital used. Finally, this study provides directions for improving the institutional environment of sustainability reporting for Turkish companies.

The main purpose of the work is to indicate the effects of the implementation of the concept of sustainable production from the perspective of the well-being of employees. The diagnosis was made among manufacturers operating in the sector of agricultural technical means of transport (production of parts and subassemblies). Achieving the main goal required the formulation and implementation of partial goals, which the authors included: (C1) analysis of the concept of sustainable production from the perspective of employees' well-being (theoretical plane); (C2) compiling a research model in the form of an evaluation sheet being the result of a literature query and an expert study (theoretical and design layer); attention was paid to the articulation of categories relevant to the content and scope of research; (C3) verification of the research model (indication of the effects of the implementation of the concept of sustainable production (the perspective of employee well-being) by the surveyed enterprises).

Using annual panel data of 46 listed commercial banks in China from 2012 to 2021 and constructing a two-way fixed-effects model, this study empirically analyzes the competition and technology spillover effects of fintech on the profitability of commercial banks. The results show that (1) in the early stages of fintech development, the competition effect is larger than the technology spillover effect; thus, it is negatively correlated with commercial banks’ profitability. However, with the spread of innovative fintech, the technology spillover effects and commercial bank profitability will gradually improve. (2) The influence of fintech on the profitability of commercial banks differs. Compared to large commercial banks, fintech has more significant negative effects on small- and medium-sized commercial banks in the short run. However, the role of fintech for such banks will also grow in the future. The results of this study provide practical guidance for how commercial banks can respond to the fintech wave. To realize sustainable development of the banking industry, commercial banks should change their business philosophy and revenue model, vigorously improve their fintech innovation capability, differentiate their choice of fintech development routes, develop personalized customization with a focus on users, and ultimately realize digital transformation and upgrading.

The objective of this study was to identify the factors determining a company’s corporate governance related to climate change. We analyzed the effect of various sustainability corporate governance variables on the disclosure level of climate change governance. These variables included facts such as having a dedicated sustainability executive and board committee, the mediating effect of female representation on the board of directors, number of reporting years according to TCFD, membership in a sustainability index, MSCI ESG rating, the existence of a corporate climate transition plan, a mention of the UN Global Compact and GRI, company location, as well as company size and profitability. By adopting a multi-theoretical framework that included stakeholder theory as well the legitimacy and agency theory, the underlying research study used a sample of 100 of the largest global companies by market capitalization and their reporting for the year 2020. Based on 1,400 observations for fiscal year 2020 and using correlation analysis, univariate and linear multiple regressions, we find a positive association between having a climate transition plan in place, being a leader in sustainability according to MSCI ratings, and being a DJSI constituent and the propensity to disclose information on governance for climate change. In addition, we find a company with a dedicated sustainability executive show an increased tendency to be transparent on climate governance issues. Furthermore, having a company location in a developed country is significantly and positively associated with climate change governance. Surprisingly, gender diversity in the corporate board or having a sustainability board committee did not show any significant correlation between a higher climate change governance level. The same was true for companies being active in either the extractive or non-extractive sector. Companies referring to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) or UN Global Compact also did not score higher in climate change governance. Neither did corporate profitability or size play a significant role. Our results are robust to variations and provide valuable insights for researchers, academics, executives, practitioners as well as regulators. As more and more companies are shifting towards a climate change reporting framework, it is of paramount importance that we are able to determine the contributing variables that lead to effective climate change corporate governance. Our results are inconsistent with stakeholder theory and are strongly suggesting that a diversified board and the existence of a sustainability committee that meets often/sufficiently may not necessarily lead to a higher level of transparency/quality regarding climate change. While more research is needed, knowing that a dedicated sustainability executive as well as having a climate plan in place can make a difference in climate change reporting, can be very beneficial to many corporate stakeholders. Given the current urgent climate change situation and the crucial role that corporation play in it, dedicated sustainability positions and committees need to be established. The findings could be useful for managers as well as governmental standards setter and regulators who are interested in improving corporate practices dealing with climate change. This study applies STATA software with various regression models to empirically test the relationship between CG and other variables and corporate climate change reporting.

Based on survey data from 297 beef cattle farmers in five provinces, Hunan, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shandong and Gansu, the impact of the package of support policies on farmers' beef cattle production was assessed by means of propensity score matching (PSM). The results showed that the package of support policies, the education level of the household head, participation in beef cattle professional cooperatives and taking out loans for beef cattle farming had significant positive impacts on farmers’ inventories of beef cattle and breeding cows. The current package of beef cattle support policies implemented by the national and local governments has significantly promoted the production of beef cattle by farmers, and the effects of the policy implementation have been positive. The implementation of the relevant support policies led to increases in farmers’ inventories of approximately 17 head of beef cattle and approximately 9 head of breeding cows. The contribution rates of the policy implementation to the beef cattle and breeding cow inventories reached 52.96% and 67.30%, respectively.

The prevalence of chronic diseases is dramatically increasing demand for emergency healthcare. Existing systems rely on patients self-identifying symptoms, causing dangerous delays. This study develops an AI and IoT-powered “digital twin” solution to enable continuous real-time monitoring and timely prediction of diverse medical emergencies. A digital twin is a virtual representation of an individual, modeled using multidimensional physiological data from wearable sensors. Machine learning techniques analyze patterns in this data to identify anomalies and predict emergencies like heart attacks or falls. A key contribution is an optimized ensemble algorithm combining gradient boosted trees, neural networks, and other techniques to accurately detect emergency events. Evaluation on a dataset of 9158 samples shows the digital twin identifies key emergencies with over 90% recall, enabling prevention and rapid response. It allows risk stratification and personalized interventions based on early warnings, circumventing over 2 million avoidable emergency room visits annually. This study demonstrates the feasibility of an integrated, predictive, patient-centric emergency response system enabled by digital twin technology.

Applying the improved social network analysis method and the idea of rolling window regression, this paper explores the impact of HSR network on the quality of urbanization and its dynamics. Based on a sample of 273 cities in China over 2009–2019, we find that the high-speed railway network has an increasing positive effect on the quality of urbanization, which proves the existence of network effect. The empirical results further show that this effect is closely related to the cov-erage rate of high-speed rail network. In addition, heterogeneity analysis reveals that urban ag-glomeration cities are the main beneficiaries. Academically, our study provides a plausible expla-nation and evidence from network size differences for the two conflicting views of the HSR effect. Practically, we also propose some important policy implications for countries in different high-speed rail network construction stages.

Purpose: The rapid development of technological innovations is causing major transformations in organisations. These changes are facilitating the transition of organisations from traditional to digital cultures and are influencing the positioning and even the survival of many of them. Higher Education Institutions are no exception. This article aims to understand the main factors that facilitate and drive this transformation from the point of view of their external stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach - Due to the complexity of the study, the case study method has been used as an appropriate methodology. Findings - As the results of the study show, the use of new agile methodologies, the development of continuous improvement processes, the automation of tasks with the use of new technologies, data-driven decision making, and the management of new digital talent are enablers. Research limitations/implications - Further research could conduct similar analyses with other stakeholders, to achieve a complete management model. Practical implications - The case study allows researchers to learn from practitioners and business leaders, while providing a theoretical model that can help other managers in the process of transforming their organisations. Originality/value - The main contribution of this study has been to apply the study to a specific Higher Education Institution.

The study presents empirical results investigating the relationships among renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and GDP within the Visegrád Group (V4) countries. Using FMOLS/DOLS and ARDL approaches, along with causality tests based on the Toda-Yamamoto method, the study explores these relationships at a regional level. The findings indicate that renewable energy has a small positive impact on long-term economic growth, with non-renewable energy having a more significant effect. Moreover, CO2 emissions have a negative impact on economic growth, suggesting ongoing reliance on non-renewable energy sources and a burden on economic expansion. On an individual country level, the effects vary. Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary exhibit a negative relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth. Energy sources also differ in impact: in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, non-renewable energy significantly affects economic growth, while in Hungary, renewable energy plays a more substantial role. Causality tests reveal a causal relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth in the Czech Republic and Poland, suggesting CO2 emissions significantly influence economic expansion. In terms of energy production, renewable energy is causally related to economic growth in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. All countries demonstrate significant causality between non-renewable energy and economic growth. Additionally, a relationship between renewable energy and CO2 emissions is confirmed in Poland.

This paper examines the use of business maturity models as a tool for achieving business maturity and improving organizational performance in a rapidly changing business environment. Specifi-cally, the paper evaluates existing maturity models and methodologies, analyzes their effective-ness, and develops a novel and enhanced model tailored to the oil and gas sector. The authors highlight the importance of considering fundamental factors that underlie the implementation of maturity models and the need to evaluate their fit with organizational goals and values. The pa-per concludes by emphasizing the ongoing nature of business maturity and the effectiveness of theproposed Business Maturity Framework (BMF) model in enhancing operational excellence, competitiveness, and sustainable growth in the oil and gas industry. The paper makes a notable contribution to the specialized literature precisely through the differ-ent approaches to the business maturity process and through the proposed business maturity model itself as a base of strategy formulation, which includes a new dimension. This dimension analyzes whether the market and customers are ready for the level of digitization that the com-pany wants to achieve in a future state.

The paper proposes an approach to determine the optimal number of medical specialists in the region. According to the author's theoretical model, in order to maximize public welfare, the marginal contribution of the last physician recruited to the growth of the public utility function should be equal to the marginal cost of attracting him and providing conditions for his work. To empirically assess the contribution of physicians to the number of lives saved, the CVD mortality rate is modeled using the instrumental variable method. On average, a 1% increase in the number of cardiologists is associated with a 0.6% decrease in cardiovascular mortality. At the level of provision with cardiologists in the amount of 1 per 100 thousand people, their marginal contribution to the number of lives saved is not less than 129 per 100 thousand people, with a further decrease by 5 people with the increase in the level of provision by 1 unit. The use of the obtained results will increase the validity of managerial decisions and in determining the optimal level of doctors when choosing between alternative possibilities of spending money on hiring doctors of different profiles or other expenses, especially in the case of limited resources.

Almost 115 million tons of fibers of which almost 90 million tons of chemical fibers were produced in the world in 2021, which are mainly used for the production of clothing and footwear. 30% of textile and apparel products are never sold, which means an extreme waste production. This article points out the possibilities of forecasting the sales of clothing in the case of one relatively large online store. Inadequate stocks of textile products in the company lead to loss and the need to sell products at a discount, which is undesirable for the company. The study in this article points to the calculation of the sales forecast for 2019 for the selected textile products, finding the analogy of the followed product sale. Sales for the years 2017 and 2018 serve as input data. The problem with textile products is that they have a short life cycle, i.e. the length of the life cycle is approximately half a year, and a high seasonality is also presented there. Therefore, the seasonal indices and Holt-Winters methods (multiplication and additional approaches) were used for products forecasting. Ultimately, this model could contribute to reducing the loss of unsold goods and thus reduce the waste of resources and increase the use of goods in other similar companies.

The main objective of this paper is to develop a readiness index model that can serve as an analytical tool for exploring the achievements of electrification of transportation systems. We have applied this readiness index model to evaluate the readiness positioning of China, Norway, and Sweden to-wards transport electrification. We have chosen these three countries as they represent diversity among countries that are in the process of adopting electric transport system solutions. Our developed readiness index model has four key dimensions, technological readiness, political readiness, societal readiness, and economic readiness. The embeddedness of all four dimensions in one model provides a multi-perspective way of analyzing and evaluating the readiness levels of countries moving towards transforming the transportation system. Therefore, we named the model a “multidimensional readiness index.” Our main conclusions are that the political processes and political decisiveness involved are the most important factors followed by the societal needs and economic ability, with the current technology available as the fourth. Without the participation of dedicated and determined political decision-makers being involved, the other three factors are challenging to obtain. Political decision-makers need to facilitate the use of economic means to support the transformation in the society and affected industries to balance the initial economic disadvantages of the electrically powered systems until they pass the cost disadvantage turning point. The development of the relevant technology is no longer a great barrier as it was at the beginning of this transformation, about 20 years ago. The technology for electrically powered transportation systems and devices is widely available now, although it is continuously evolving and being improved. Associated industries cannot be expected to initiate, finance, take the risk, and take the lead in this global societal transformation without clear and strong political support.

Based on a literature review, a framework for digital organizational culture with a focus on innovation is proposed. This digital organizational culture becomes relevant today since digital transformation requires an appetite for risk and a willingness to undertake, aspects that are strengthened by an environment and atmosphere that motivate individuals to generate new ideas. The proposal begins with a diagnosis of the existing organizational culture, which allows identifying the differences between the components of the current organizational culture and the innovation-oriented digital organizational culture. Through this diagnosis, the gaps that need to be addressed to achieve a digital organizational culture with innovative characteristics are identified. In addition, specific recommendations are proposed to carry out this transformation. In the process, the assumptions underlying the current typology of the company's organizational culture are highlighted. The importance of integrating creativity, risk readiness, and entrepreneurial willingness into the digital organizational culture aimed at innovation is emphasized. These elements are essential to create an environment

Several empirical studies indicate that the lack of financing is one of the main barriers that affects the economic growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The main objective of this investigation was to determine to what extent the economic sector; enterprise size; the characteristics inherent to the enterprise; legal status; the variables linked to the performance of the enterprise; and the attributes of the owner influence the access to bank financing of SMEs in Mexico. Using a discrete response probit regression model, the impact of enterprises characteristics on the probability of obtaining a bank loan was determined. The data collected is from the Enterprise Surveys of Mexico, carried out by the World Bank. The sample of 1,480 enterprises is representative by enterprise size, by economic sector, and by region. The research has a quantitative approach with a correlational scope and a non-experimental and transectional design. One of the main results highlights that the determinants with the greatest influence on access to bank financing are: age, the small size, foreign participation, and the manufacturing sector. These results are consistent with other empirical studies, as well as with the pecking order theory and the financial life cycle theory.

Food insecurity is a pervasive issue for Allegheny County as one in five residents experience food insecurity. Food insecurity is linked to chronic health conditions like heart disease and hypertension and disproportionately affects women in the United States, particularly women who are head of household. There are multiple dimensions used to measure regional food insecurity, one of which is food accessibility. Prior research has examined the linkages between food access and food insecurity, and this study aims to further explore the relationship between equitable access to sustainable food and levels of regional food insecurity. This study examines food outlets in Allegheny County to determine if there is a significant relationship between food outlet availability and food insecurity. Both the presence and accessibility of these food outlets were examined. To measure accessibility, the walking distance to the nearest public transportation stop was calculated for each public transportation stop. The minimum distance to each food outlet was compared to food insecurity rates on a Census Tract level. Results showed that communities without grocery stores did, on average, have higher rates of food insecurity. Also, communities with a higher proportion of female-headed households experienced greater food insecurity, regardless of access to food outlets. However, there was no statistically significant relationship between the distance from public transportation stops to grocery stores and rates of food insecurity. Based on these findings, we suggest that sole reliance on distance as an indicator of food insecurity can be misleading, and there should be a greater focus on walkability within the community as using opposed to physical distance alone.

There are two purposes for this article. The first purpose is to perform a reiew of previous research on global supply chain management (GSCM) principles that can adapt and survive adversity, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The second purpose is to put forth a conceptual framework for the GSCM that is sustainable in the event of future turbulence similar to that experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. With regard to the issues raised, the article posits the following questions. Is there, perhaps, a sustainable post-COVID-19 pandemic GSCM? Can the COVID-19 pandemic-related international logistics system (GSC) turbulences be predicted with certainty using these sustainable post-COVID-19 pandemic GSCM concepts? Putting it all together, the paper concludes that, while debatable, sustainable GSCM is feasible and can be accomplished utilizing JIT, supply chain mitigation, and supply chain visibility, as demonstrated by the manufacturing firms referenced in the article.

The Internet of Things (IoT) was born from the fusion of virtual and physical space and became the initiator of many scientific fields. Economic sustainability is the key to further development and progress. Today, the need for electronic commerce has become an economic priority in the transition period between Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0. Unlike mass production in Industry 4.0, customized production in Industry 5.0 should reach its true potential in vertically organized management and decision-making systems. The authors focused their research on e-commerce based on the three-level vertical IoT environment and the edge, fog, and cloud computing. The paper presents hands-on machine learning (ML) algorithms to facilitate the transition from a flat to a vertical e-commerce concept. The authors also propose practical ML algorithms for a few e-commerce types: consumer-consumer relationships and consumer-company-consumer relationships. These algorithms are mainly composed of convolution neural networks (CNN), natural language understanding (NLU) and sequential pattern mining (SPM), reinforcement learning (RL for agent training), algorithms for clicking on the item prediction, consumer behavior learning, etc. All presented concepts, algorithms, and models are described in detail.

"Metaverse" as a term came to the fore in 2021 when Facebook rebranded its corporate identity to Meta, and signaled its intention to invest at least $10 billion in developing the concepts and related products that year. However, there is still little consensus in defining what constitutes the metaverse, although there is a widespread, though not universal, agreement that it will bring a wide range of benefits across society. More specifically, the advent, and continuing evolution, of the metaverse has strategic and operational implications for, and impacts on, industry and business at large. Adopting an inductive, interpretivist approach, this exploratory research article presents case examples of the guidance on the responsible development of the metaverse provided by two IT business services companies. The article identifies the major risks and responsibilities associated with the metaverse and assesses how companies might address these responsibilities. Very little research has been published in this area and this article attempts to make a small contribution to filling this gap in the literature. The article finds that responsibilities are largely in line with those currently associated with corporate digital responsibility, and concludes that the strategic impact and extent of regulatory change will depend on the nature of the metaverse that materialises in the forthcoming decade.

Climate change represents a prevalent challenge confronted by humanity, and with cities being one of the regions most heavily impacted by such change, enhancing their climate resilience is paramount in adapting to and mitigating the associated risks and losses. This article evaluates the climate resilience of 270 major cities in China by creating an urban climate resilience indicator system centered on exposure, vulnerability, and resilience. The article analyses the spatial and temporal evolution trend of climate resilience in Chinese cities, as well as the source of regional differences using Kernel density analysis and the Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition. The article then explores the influence of financial investments on urban climate resilience, considering the moderating effect of urbanization rate.

The advent of remote work has ushered in a new era of economic transformation, redefining the dynamics of local economies, and unleashing the multiplier effect on a national scale. This abstract explores the profound implications of remote work on local economies, dissecting how the multiplier effect operates within a nation's economic landscape. The multiplier effect is a fundamental economic concept that highlights how changes in spending and investment can create a ripple effect, leading to a magnified impact on an economy. This concept gains new significance in the context of remote work, as it triggers a chain reaction of economic activities that radiate from remote workers to their local communities. The increased flexibility and reduced geographical constraints of remote work have reshaped the allocation of resources. The continued reliance on remote work may lead to a reduction in demand for commercial real estate in urban centers, necessitating adaptive urban planning strategies. In conclusion, the rise of remote work has initiated a transformative era for local economies, driven by the multiplier effect. By amplifying the impacts of spending and investment, remote work fosters job diversification, innovation, and infrastructure development within communities. As remote work continues to reshape the landscape of work and life, understanding and harnessing its multiplier effect remains paramount for policymakers, businesses, and local communities alike. The multiplier effect is a concept in economics that illustrates how changes in spending can lead to larger impacts on a nation's economy through a chain reaction of economic activities. It demonstrates that an initial injection of spending, whether from government expenditure, investment, or consumption, doesn't just have a one-time impact. Instead, it sets off a series of interconnected spending and income-generation processes that result in a larger overall increase in economic activity. t's important to note that the multiplier effect can work in reverse as well. If there's a decrease in spending, it can lead to a decrease in economic activity and income through the same chain reaction process. This concept highlights the interconnected nature of economic activities and emphasizes the significance of changes in spending patterns on a nation's overall economic health. The magnitude of the multiplier effect is influenced by factors such as the marginal propensity to consume (the proportion of additional income that households spend), leakages (savings and taxes that reduce the multiplier effect), and the extent to which additional spending creates additional production capacity within the economy. Understanding the multiplier effect is essential for policymakers, as it helps them gauge the potential impacts of changes in fiscal and monetary policies on the economy.

This paper introduces the spatial component in cross-section econometric estimations and specifically, the spatial dependence effect inherent in some of the variables involved in the modelling process. First, the spatial structure of the data from thematic maps is observed and Moran's spatial autocorrelation indicators are presented. Subsequently, the spatial weights matrix is built under different specifications. Finally, several modelling specification strategies are shown and the interpretation of the estimated coefficients. The theoretical concepts are illustrated with examples and their corresponding R software codes. This code and databases are available in a freely accessible repository in the BE2SHARE-EUDAT platform so that they can be easily reproduced.

. This paper features an analysis of the relative effectiveness of a variety of methods of modelling Realised Volatility (RV), namely: the use of Gegenbaur processes in Auto-Regressive Moving Average format, GARMA, as opposed to Heterogenous Auto-Regressive HAR models and simple rules of thumb. The analysis is applied to two data sets that feature the RV of the S&P500 index, as sampled at 5 minute intervals, provided by the Oxford Man RV database. The GARMA model does perform slightly better than the HAR model, but both models are matched by a simple rule of thumb regression model based on the application of lags of squared, cubed and quartic, demeaned daily returns.

Earnings management and financial distress are two critical facets of financial management in corporations that have lately been the focus of thorough research from both scholars and practitioners. The purpose of the research is to evaluate the influence of financial distress on the earnings management of companies listed at the NSE during the pre- and post-COVID eras. Multiple linear regression was applied in this study to examine the causal association between earnings management and financial distress. To assess the effect of financial distress on earnings management, the study analyzed data from 37 listed companies during the pre-COVID and post-COVID periods. The methodology also takes into account control factors like firm size, GDP, and inflation. The pre-COVID research indicates a significant positive correlation between financial strain and earnings management. In contrast, the correlation between financial distress and earnings management is not statistically significant in the post-COVID analysis. However, research shows that firm size has a statistically significant negative influence on managing earnings. The results of this study show that smaller firms are more inclined to engage in earnings management during the post-COVID era than bigger ones.

The introduction of digitization has changed all spheres of business on a global level, including geospatial data. In the Republic of Serbia, the process on this topic should begin with the introduction of the terms ePlan and eSpace. The general goal of the paper implies the construction and implementation of the ePlan as a future part of the eSpace for digital management of geospatial data, by creating co-creating value. For this purpose, the authors conducted research in which representatives of local self-governments and holders of public authority participated, by means of structured online research. The focus was on the digitization of urban and planning documents and the establishment a central database of spatial and planning documents in electronic format, and its further distribution through the one system. In that way, easy access to digital plan data expands the user community, and enables communication with different stakeholder groups. Ac-cording to the results of the research, the authors point out that it is necessary to form a new model for managing geospatial data through a eSpace system. This is achieved by shifting the focus from urban and spatial planning to other databases and their registers that are related to geospatial data. The goal of the paper indicates that it is necessary to raise the awareness of society, to introduce the concept of value co-creation, because conditions are created for the implementation of all measures aimed at digitization and management of electronic services in sustainable project society, at all countries.

The main aim of this study is to examine the effects of Total Quality Management (TQM) practices (leadership of management, decision making, continuous improvement, customer focus, employee involvement, process management and relations with suppliers) on the financial and operational performance of hospitals in service industry. The data of the study were collected by the questionnaire prepared in the light of published studies and the suggestions of medical and administrative staff. Medical and administrative staff were chosen as target participants that reflect perspectives of hospitals. 1069 questionnaires were answered in 6 private and 26 public hospitals in the Marmara region in Turkey. The results claim that “customer focus” affects both operational performance as well as the financial performance of hospitals more than other TQM practices. While “process management” and “customer focus” explain the variance of financial performance significantly. “Process management” does not explain variance of operational performance.

In the following article, we analyse the determinants of the number of physicians in the context of ISTAT BES-Benessere Equo Sostenibile data among twenty Italian regions in the period 2004-2022. We apply Panel Data with Random Effects, Panel Data with Fixed Effects, and Pooled OLS-Ordinary Least Squares. We found that the number of Physicians among Italian regions is positively associated, among others, to “Trust in the Police and Firefighters”, “Net Income Inequality”, and negatively associated, among others, to “Research and Development Intensity” and “Soil waterproofing by artificial cover”. Furthermore, we apply the k-Means algorithm optimized with the Silhouette Coefficient and we find the presence of two clusters. Finally, we confront eight different machine-learning algorithms to predict the future value of physicians and we find that the PNN-Probabilistic Neural Network is the best predictive algorithm.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as an emerging technology poised to reshape various facets of our daily lives, with a particularly noteworthy influence on the labor market. In Morocco, AI adoption has commenced in diverse sectors, including finance, insurance, and telecommunications, opening up fresh avenues for employment. Nevertheless, this technological shift also ushers in challenges for Moroccan workers, necessitating training and upskilling to effectively engage with AI-driven systems. Within this article, we delve into the burgeoning impact of AI on the Moroccan economy and job landscape, delving into both the opportunities and obstacles that accompany its proliferation. Furthermore, we explore strategies that authorities and businesses can employ to harness the benefits of AI while mitigating its potential adverse effects on Morocco's workforce.

This article examines how digitalisation is impacting the management of IT. Phase 1 of the re-search focuses on the German automotive industry, and adopts a qualitative inductive approach, based on feedback from 19 semi-structured interviews with IT managers and professionals. Five key aspects of digitalisation are identified, and a new model for the management of IT is devel-oped. Phase 2 then reviews the deployment of digital technologies in eight organisations from other industry sectors and assesses the overall impact on the management of IT. The results suggest that the transition to new IT management structures in the German automotive industry may be the forerunner of a change process that will impact more widely in other industries, in particular where digital technologies are now embedded in an organisation’s products or services. The results also provide some new perspectives on the conceptualisation of digitalisation and digital transformation, and represent a contribution to the developing theory around new tech-nology deployment and IT management in the digital era.

This article explores how digitalisation is impacting the hospitality industry and assesses the evolving role of Information Technology (IT) strategy in the digitalisation process. The research approach is qualitative and inductive, based on six in-depth interviews with senior IT professionals in the hospitality industry. Findings indicate significant differences in the role of IT strategy in guiding digitalisation in the companies studied. The depth of information provided by the interviewees supports the development and application of a model that profiles the companies regarding their degree of digitalisation and technology integration. Analysis of interview material allows the identification of key properties for successful digitalization: process agility, workforce adaptability, and technology manageability, along with a clear data culture and ensured cybersecurity. However, disparate systems and technologies, and a lack of data integrity, are key issues that leave hospitality companies with difficult choices in progressing digitalisation initiatives. The applied model and identification of key properties for successful digitalisation contribute to the development of related theory and can also be used as a reference point for senior IT professionals working in the industry.

The solar cell industry is a part of the green energy sector, and effectively combining the patents of various manufacturers within the supply chain to collectively create sustainable patent market value is of paramount importance. This study aimed to establish a business strategy framework for Project-based licensing through the analysis of solar cell patents and the integration of supply chain manufacturers' patents, with the goal of collectively creating market value for patents sustainably. The research methodology included literature analysis and focus group discussions. Initially, the study analyzed solar cell industry patents from the past decade using the WIPS Global Patent database to identify projects with the highest patent count. Subsequently, through the use of focus group discussions, the feasibility of a patent pool strategy within the supply chain was explored. Finally, a strategy framework was proposed for Project-based patent pool licensing, focusing on the top 15 projects with the highest count of 5,579 patents. The results indicated that adopting this strategy framework for supply chain manufacturer patents can result in higher commercial patent value.

The adoption of a fully battery-based Electric Vehicles (EVs) in Kuwait apparently seems to be less than one percent and hence Kuwait has the lowest indexed-rank among countries around the globe. The absence of fast-charging stations for fully-battery-based EVs and landlords' reluctance to install home fast-charging plugs are the primary reasons for extremely low adoption rates in this country. Because the government of Kuwait is reluctant to give permission for expatriates to own property in Kuwait, fully battery-based EV ownership is restricted to Kuwaiti nationals who reside in their private properties. To accomplish the present objectives, a quantitative de-scriptive method (closed-ended questions) was used to collect data from a sample of 227 Kuwaiti nationals who owned gasoline cars. The finding of the present study indicates that more than half of the participants stated that they preferred to purchase an EVs within the next three years if certain criteria were met, inclusive of government-controlled pricing policies and charging stations availability, fast-driving lanes, and free of charge parking spaces. Furthermore, more than 40 percent of respondents stated that they would contemplate purchasing an electric vehicle if the price of gasoline or diesel increased by 19 to 50 percent. The finding also indicates that more than forty percent of respondents said that believed that EVs are fire- and crash-safe and roughly half of the participants would pay between 6 and 20% more for an EVs because they be-lieve that EVs are environmentally friendly and significantly faster than gasoline vehicles. In addition, participants rewarded EVs with an excellent mark for their environmental, economic, and technological attributes and benefits.

Having effective and efficient financing is one of the most important steps in accelerating the development of public infrastructure, including toll roads. This study aims to identify Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for the implementation of toll infrastructure financing in Indonesia. Thirty-three CSFs have been identified from literature review. A Delphi survey involving a panel of experts working in the infrastructure industry was conducted. Based on the survey, it is known that internal rate of return, affordability, investment decision, commercial banks, financing costs, interest rate risk, control of cash flow, contract scope, and principles of risk transfer are important factors for the implementation of toll infrastructure financing in Indonesia. This study fills research gaps by developing a CSF model for successful toll road infrastructure financing in Indonesian PPPs, considering private perspectives and aiming to provide insights for investors and enhance understanding of country profiles in developing countries. The focus on toll road implementation in Indonesia contributes to a comprehensive understanding of CSFs for PPPs in the country.

The aim of this paper is to study the main areas in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) will impact the field of project management that relates to cost, risk and scheduling. The research model was based on a previous study of the ten project management knowledge areas presented in the PMI’s PMBOK 6th edition where project schedule-, cost- and risk management knowledge areas were identified as being the ones most likely to be affected by the development of AI. A group of experts that participated in the study agreed that AI will affect the project management profession in the future. Different elements of the three knowledge areas were considered to be affected more by AI than others. The schedule baseline is the element believed to be affected the most out of the project schedule management elements. For project cost management, the estimation of resource cost is believed to be affected the most. In the case of project risk management, the application of AI will have the strongest impact on the probability and impact format.

In the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, understanding the factors that contribute to successful upskilling and reskilling is crucial for workforce adaptability. Research on AI and automation has shown that they affect the workforce, but there is still a gap in understanding what factors contribute to successful upskilling and reskilling initiatives, especially from an organizational perspective. This study employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to analyze these factors and identify effective combinations for promoting upskilling and reskilling. By examining complex causal relationships and incorporating case studies, this article aims to enhance the understanding of upskilling initiatives in the AI and automation era. The findings provide insights into key factors driving successful upskilling and reskilling and offer implications for organizations seeking to improve their initiatives, ultimately promoting workforce adaptability and competitiveness.

The combination of e-commerce and the green economy allows enterprises to distribute their green products directly to consumers through Internet channels. This paper investigates the impact of service spillovers on emission reduction and channel decisions in a two-echelon supply chain,in which the supplier is a Stackelberg leader and the retailer is a follower.By comparing the equilibrium outcomes of the single-channel and dual-channel supply chain in a setting with and without retail services, we observe that the supplier prefers to encroach on the market when services that retail locations provide largely spillover to and benefit the direct sales channel. Contrary to popular belief, a higher degree of service spillovers is beneficial for the retailer to get more returns under the dual-channel structure, whereas supplier encroachment will lead to a decline in the service level if the spillover degree is relatively low. In addition, the emission reduction level of products under supplier encroachment is always higher than that employed in the single-channel structure if consumers have both low-carbon preference and high degree of service sensitivity. Furthermore, we extend the equilibrium decisions under a carbon cap-and-trade (CCT) mechanism; the results fully verify the above conclusions. Interestingly, the implementation of a carbon price not only motivates carbon emission abatement and supplier encroachment, but also helps achieve a win-win outcome for supply chain members when service spillovers happen.

This study examines the relationship between firm-level and macroeconomic variables and stock prices (SP) in Iran, Saudi Arabia (KSA), and Iraq, where economic conditions are uncertain. The sample consists of all firms listed on these countries' stock exchanges between 2015 and 2019, yielding a comprehensive dataset from 154 Iranian firms, 82 KSA firms, and 33 Iraqi firms. Using a fixed effect model, intriguing relationships are uncovered between firm-level and macroeconomic factors on SP. The findings indicate that, at a 1% significance level, there is a strong link between Iran and Iraq's GDP and their respective SP. In KSA, the association between GDP and SP is positive and significant at a 5% level. In addition, there is a positive and statistically significant correlation between the inflation rate and SP in all three countries. Moreover, the association between exchange rates and SP is significant and positive in KSA and Iraq but negative and significant at the 1% significance level in Iran. Furthermore, in KSA, the connection between oil prices and SP is positive and significant, whereas, in Iran, the relationship is negative at the 1% level. Surprisingly, there is no association between the price of oil and Iraqi SP. Regarding intangible assets, their impact on SP in Iran and KSA is negligible. In Iraq, however, there is a negative and significant relationship at the 5% level, indicating that intangible assets have a detrimental impact on SP. These findings highlight the complex link among macroeconomic factors, intangible assets, and SP in the examined countries. Policymakers and governments should prioritize implementing measures to foster sustainable economic growth, manage inflation, and stabilize exchange rates. These actions can boost investor confidence and contribute to the stock market's overall development.

The paper discusses the experience of implementing an efficient economic management system at the University of Vigo in Spain. This system, which focuses on managing secondments, aims to minimize bureaucracy and standardize economic procedures for various staff groups. By adopting a qualitative methodology and utilizing content analysis, the study compares the University of Vigo's fully digital administrative procedure with other universities in the CRUE network. The results show significant time and cost savings due to this implementation. The improved traceability and information for users support the administrative change, and the positive environmental impacts highlight the commitment to a more sustainable approach. The paper's originality lies in demonstrating how this approach enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and improves sustainability within a Spanish public administration setting.

The objectives of this study are threefold. First, we evaluate the applicability of the information–motivation–behavioral skills (IMB) model for predicting organic food purchase intention (OFPI) in adults with chronic conditions. Second, we examine the indirect effects of organic food knowledge, attitudes toward organic food purchase, and subjective norms on OFPI through self-efficacy. Third, we examine whether these indirect effects are moderated by gender and educational attainment. Data were collected from Indian adults with chronic conditions using a self-administered questionnaire. The results show significant indirect effects of organic food knowledge, attitude toward organic food purchase, and subjective norm on OFPI through self-efficacy. Moreover, the mediating effect of knowledge was moderated by gender and education attainment, with the effect being stronger for females and among individuals with a lower level of education. Organic food marketers, social marketers, and public health agencies promoting organic food consumption to people with chronic conditions should aim to increase their confidence in comprehending organic food. This study contributes to the literature by assessing the applicability of Fisher and Fisher’s (1992) IMB model in understanding behavioral intention toward organic food.

Current stock market forecasting methods encompass fundamental, technical, emotional, and bargaining factors. Predominantly, price prediction hinges on order volume and price, although correlating these two within existing models proves challenging. This study employs Cycle Generative Adversarial Network (Cycle GAN) to unravel the intricate price-volume relationship, combining it with Bollinger Bands for trading signal analysis, overcoming hurdles in short-term forecasting prevalent in numerical analysis and AI. Focusing on TSMC (2330.TW) stock price, the research leverages Cycle GAN in deep learning to master the price-volume nexus, juxtaposed with LSTM and RNN. Historical TSMC closing prices and transaction counts are model inputs, scrutinizing their interconnectedness for predictions. This innovative approach aligns stock price, volume, market value, taxes, and prior changes via system engineering. By intertwining Bollinger Bands with stock price forecasts, trading signals are distilled, factoring in extended index %b for a comprehensive market picture.

By using the Black-Derman-Toy (BDT) model, we predict the future trend of the riskless rate, and then we build an equation that relates the market price of zero-coupon bonds and the theoretical price of zero-coupon bonds calculated using a binomial option pricing model. Based on this, we can find the implied daily return μ, implied natural upturn probability p, and implied daily volatility σ with respect to different time-to-maturity values of zero-coupon bonds. With these results, we can give some suggestions to bond traders.

This study analyzes the influence of CEO types on corporate governance, focusing on de facto (substantial) CEOs. We examine how substantial CEOs impact ESG activities (Hypothesis 1) and corporate value (Hypothesis 2). Data were collected from KIS-VALUE and DART (Electronic Disclosure System) of the Financial Supervisory Service, defining substantial CEOs as highest remuneration recipients exceeding the representative director of the company pay. Results sup-port Hypothesis 1, showing companies with substantial CEOs are more engaged in ESG activities, potentially to improve public image while concealing self-serving behaviors. Hypothesis 2 is validated, indicating lower corporate value in companies with substantial CEOs due to prioritizing personal interests over long-term profit maximization. Despite limitations in exploring governance relationships beyond remuneration data, the study offers key contributions. It expands research on corporate governance and ESG activities by identifying substantial CEOs through objective remuneration data. It highlights the importance of an independent board for transparent governance and positive corporate value. Lastly, empirical evidence shows the negative impact of misdirected ESG activities on corporate value. By using remuneration as an indicator, this study illuminates substantial CEOs' influence on corporate value and ESG activities, providing insights for future research in corporate governance and ESG.

This study aims to explore predictors of the foreign investment from China coming into Rwanda. One of the components of Rwanda’s economy is the investment it receives from other countries. In order to achieve these objectives, the study gathers econometric secondary data from 2007 to 2020 quarterly which were availably provided by National Statistics of China, World Bank, UNCTAD, National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, and the National bank of Rwanda. From literature and based on the availability of data, market size, trade openness, infrastructure, and human capital were measured as predictors of Chinese FDI. The data is analyzed using linear regression in Stata. The finding of the study showed that variables have a positive effect on FDI from China, and it found that though FDI had an effect on overall economy of Rwanda, the effect was not statistically significant. The study suggested that Rwanda’s policy on foreign investment should aim to attract and encourage Chinese investment to increase the economy of Rwanda. To encourage more FDI, the Rwandan government can offer Chinese investors greater ownership, locational, and internalization benefits. It also should continue to strengthen economic policy transparency since it lowers transaction costs and hence improves incentives for foreign investment.

The growing concerns on sustainability urge insurance companies to incorporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies in order to remain competitive. As all dimensions of sustainability involve taxation, it is important to establish if this association reflects on financial performance. Our analysis of worldwide property and casualty (P&C) insurers during 2013-2022 reveals that high ESG insurers pay more taxes, while are less profitable compared to low ESG insurers. This pattern is confirmed using instrumental variable regressions and simultaneous equations systems. We argue that sustainable insurers are less tempted to avoid taxes, and don't shift their tax burdens on policyholders and investors. However, the interplay between taxes and sustainability seems to harm insurers' profitability, potentially sorting negative consequences on investment and economic growth. This is an important insight for tax authorities and insurance managers.

At the beginning of 2020, with the onset of the pandemic, the traditional learning environment for learners drastically changed globally. Since then, most students/teachers have started and practiced distance and virtual learning/teaching. Thus, a technological breakthrough in virtual learning has followed. In connection with this, many countries worldwide have commenced allocating additional financing and funds for educational institutions' technological improvement and development. The long-term stay in distance learning has revealed and highlighted new problems students face: their knowledge level has decreased, they lack socialization skills, and they face psychological and physical health problems. Due to this negative impact on students, a need to research and evaluate how much the EU countries allocated to solve the distance learning-caused problems and what programs or models they prepared has emerged and encouraged further studies. The research has found that many countries increased their allocations very minimally, e.g., 0.0.1%, but some increased their available budgets to 32%. Notably, most countries did not separate distance learning exit funding from distance learning preparation funding. Based on the problems the countries saw, only a few states identified withdrawal from distance learning as a problem. Considering this, we set ourselves the goal to evaluate exit models from distance learning and allocated funding amounts. The following objectives were planned to achieve the goal: · to evaluate the global practice of exit from distance learning; · to determine the scope of funding for pandemic management; · to evaluate the amounts of funding allocated to manage pandemic-caused consequences and the GDP ratio. Research methods: mathematical-statistical analysis, empirical analysis, and analysis of scientific literature.

Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) is a well-established and widely used approach for defining the readiness of new technology. To this extent, it assesses technology maturity against specific benchmarks, ranging from 1 (concept) to 9 (market solution). Although this is a useful classification service, allowing us to establish a common language, there are cases where we find that this conceptual approach fails to adequately highlight the maturity of certain innovative endeavors and effectively steer their development to higher TR levels. We will present an empirical case where the TRL approach presented a critical shortcoming in highlighting the true and effective readiness of a specific technological development and could not suggest the next natural step in ascending the maturity ladder. We will seek to generalize for the case of co-creation at large, analyze why co-creation may be poorly serviced by the current TRL model and suggest an amendment that would allow the observed shortcoming of the traditional TRL approach to be overcome and its use extended also in such co-creative settings.

Logistics industry has been found to be among the key sources of carbon emission. In Vietnam logistics industry, there is a considerable difference between the number of foreign and Vietnamese firms as well as the proportion of markets that they are taking. This study is to research the low-carbon emission measures conducted by domestic and foreign invested logistics service providers (LSPs) and compare the results of the two groups. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are applied. Literatures in relevant fields are reviewed and expert opinions are taken for structuring a questionnaire which was later distributed to 279 LSPs, with 166 returned and 159 being valid for data calculation. The results imply that there are differences in extension of applications of low-carbon practices between foreign and domestic firms. Except for transport mode switch and energy-saving lighting, the other practices witness that adoption levels of foreign LSPs are higher than their counterparts, which is possibly thanks to their global operation, more comfortable capital resources and awareness level of green initiative necessity. In conclusion, a comparison between the application conducted by foreign-invested firms and domestic ones, which has not been investigated before, was made.

This study aims to identify the model that best approximates the credit spread that should be fixed on debt instruments issued by both public and private companies, considering the particularities of the Mexican market. Five models were analyzed: Merton's [1], those proposed by Denzler et al., the one presented in this paper, which includes the conformable derivatives, taking as a reference the change of variable made by Morales-Bañuelos et al., and the Corporate Default Risk Model (DRSK) for Publics Firms of Bloomberg [4]. The required financial information was obtained from the Bloomberg platform, from which the probabilities of default, credit spreads, and credit ratings for each company in the sample under the model (DRSK) were extracted directly. Likewise, the program developed by Moody's K.M.V. was used to obtain the EDF (Expected Default Frequencies). It was concluded that the Modified Merton model approximates to a greater extent the credit spreads that fix on a prime rate on the loans granted to the Mexican non-financial companies.

With the deepening of the diversification and openness of financial system, financial vulnerability, as an endogenous attribute of financial system, becomes an important measurement of financial security. Based on network analysis, we introduce network curvature indicator improved by Copula entropy as an innovative metric of financial vulnerability. Compared with previous network curvature analysis method, CE-based curvature proposed in this paper can measure market vulnerability and systematic risk with significant advantages.

The selectin of a demand forecasting method is critical for companies aiming to avoid manufacturing overproduction or shortages in pursuit of sustainable development. Various qualitative and quantitative criteria with different weights must be considered during the evaluation of a forecasting method. The qualitative criteria and criteria weights are usually assessed in linguistic terms. Aggregating these various criteria and linguistic weights for evaluating and selecting demand forecasting methods in sustainable manufacturing is a major challenge. This paper proposes an extension of fuzzy Elimination and Choice Translating Reality (ELECTRE) I to resolve this problem. In the proposed method, fuzzy weighted ratings are defuzzified with the signed distance to develop a crisp ELECTRE I model. Moreover, an extension to ELECTRE I is developed by suggesting an extended modified discordance matrix and a closeness coefficient for ranking alternatives. The proposed extension can overcome the problem of information loss which can lead to incorrect ranking result when using the Hadamard product to combine concordance and modified discordance matrices. A comparison is conducted to show the advantage of the proposed extension. Finally, a numerical example is used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method; furthermore, a numerical comparison is made to display the advantage of the proposed method.

This paper examines the relationship between the ratio of independent board member to the financial performance of the company under the mediation of the three pillars of environment, society, and governance (ESG) in Taiwan. The study addresses a research gap between independent directors and corporate financial performance, an issue that is rarely discussed today. The author develops the hypotheses and tests them by applying panel data regression to the data tables taken from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database to analyze data on 173 Taiwanese companies that reported ESG from 2009 to 2021. The results show that the relationship between the ratio of independent directors and financial performance has a positive relationship. At the same time, the 3 pillars of ESG also clearly show the intermediary role in this relationship. Finally, this study provides additional insights into the relationship between the ratio of independent directors and financial performance in the Taiwan context.

Abstract: This paper aimed to investigate the entrepreneurial intentions of female students in Saudi Arabia, utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as the theoretical framework. Employing a quantitative research methodology, data was collected through a questionnaire administered to female students at Princess Nourah University. The results revealed a positive inclination towards entrepreneurship, with over 64% expressing a desire to pursue entrepreneurial ventures in the future. This optimistic trend among female students suggests a potential pool of future entrepreneurs. Interestingly, a small percentage (3.21%) categorically rejected entrepreneurship as a career option, indicating a relatively low level of disinterest in entrepreneurial pursuits. However, many respondents (32%) remained undecided, presenting a valuable opportunity for mentorship and support to cultivate their entrepreneurial intentions. These findings underscore the significance of providing guidance and education to encourage entrepreneurship among female students. The TPB analysis highlighted that attitudes and perceived behavioral control towards entrepreneurship were favorable among female students, indicating a positive mindset and belief in their ability to embark on entrepreneurial endeavors. However, societal norms still exert a negative influence on some student’s entrepreneurial intentions, suggesting a need to address cultural barriers that might hinder female students' willingness to pursue entrepreneurship. The study suggests enhancing female entrepreneurship through societal encouragement and support from personal networks. It highlights the importance of fostering entrepreneurial aspirations in female students. Crucially, the study underscores the role of universities in cultivating entrepreneurial intentions by proposing the implementation of entrepreneurship-focused curricula and the creation of university-based training units or incubators.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the trade performance of Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study identifies the effects of private consumption demand shock and trade disruptions due to higher trade costs caused by the pandemic on the export and import of Bangladesh in different sectors and compares the analysis results with actual data. Based on the previous literature, this study assumes the shocks in different levels such as low, medium, and high level and identifies their effects on the trade in Bangladesh. The study applies the CGE model using GTAP to measure the effects of the shocks on trade and output and compares the actual trade with the CGE simulated results. The results of the study suggest that both demand shock and trade disruptions substantially affect the export, import, and domestic output of Bangladesh during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is also evident that the higher the level of shock, the higher the impact on trade and output. The actual export and import data cross-validate the CGE analysis results and provide mixed findings on the trade performance of various sectors of Bangladesh during the pandemic.

In the context of growing global political tension and introduction of world trade barriers, the urgent task is to develop new tools for assessing their consequences. In the paper we present the agent-based model of trade wars, considering organizations, states and residents generated using initial statistical data. Simulation determines changes in output and supplies of organizations under trade restrictions. Results of calculations on the developed model and comparison of various model complexes forecasts with real consequences of trade wars between the USA and China in 2018 and Western countries against Russia in 2022 are presented. Within calculations four scenarios were considered: (1) baseline, (2) new restrictions between China and the USA, (3) more serious sanctions against China and Russia by the USA and the EU, (4) a global trade war. In the second scenario deviation GDP of the USA and China from the baseline scenario does not exceed 0.5%. In the third scenario, the range of countries involved is expanding, and the fall in GDP in them is expected at the level of 0.7-1%. In the fourth scenario, the entire world economy experiences a serious slowdown, and the EU are facing the most severe consequences, going into recession.

Prior research has extensively examined the relationship between religion and accrual-based earnings management. However, there is currently little research in the relationship between religion and real (non-accrual) earnings management, especially in Europe. This paper aims to fill this research gap and examines whether and how the effect of religion could be linked with firms’ real earnings management activities. Four hypotheses are developed and tested with our results providing indications that the degree of overall religiosity is negatively and significantly associated with real earnings management. Furthermore, when investigating the effects of different religions in Europe, Christianity and Islam have the opposite impact on firms’ real earnings management activities. Overall, our paper indicates that in European countries, the religious environment can mitigate firms’ manipulations on earnings.

As an emerging model, self-service fitness centers are reshaping the consumer fitness experience globally. Given the crucial role of customer loyalty in the sustainable operation and management of fitness service enterprises, this study constructs a structural model incorporating service quality, service convenience, customer satisfaction, word-of-mouth intentions, and repatronage intentions. The model is designed to elucidate the factors and mechanisms impacting customer loyalty at self-service fitness centers and further investigates how these relationships are affected by service methods, either with staff or without staff. The study employs PLS-SEM to empirically analyze 552 customer questionnaires from four self-service fitness centers in first-tier cities in China. The results reveal positive correlations among the constructs in the structural model, emphasizing the important position of raising service quality standards and reducing the time and effort expended by customers in the management of customer loyalty. Concurrently, service convenience was found to play a significant driving role in customers' perceived service quality. Through the chain-mediating effect of service quality and customer satisfaction, service convenience exerts a considerable positive impact on word-of-mouth intentions and repatronage intentions. Moreover, the study reveals significant differences in these relationships when considering service methods, either with staff or without staff.

The rapid ageing of populations around the World is creating complex challenges for national governments. The establishment of sustainable and equitable long-term care systems for old and dependent people is one of the main issues of social policy in developed countries. The aim of this work is to define a cost model for residential and day care centres for dependent persons in Cantabria (Spain). The cost model will make it possible to establish the theoretical cost of attending to the needs of the different types of dependent persons in the different types of care centres, and the methodology used could be extrapolated to other regions. The daily cost per user for elderly residential care is €53.72. The cost per user in elderly day centres (5 days) is 32.56 euros. In residential centres for people with disabilities, the values range between €47.41 and €75.25 depending on the category of the centre. In three categories of centres the public price is not enough to cover the cost (physical disability, intellectual disability, mental illness – low care), and therefore the administration should reconsider their public prices for these kind of centres if they want to really contribute to the sustainability of these residential care centres. This research will have important implications for policy-makers in a context of fulfilment of SDGs and where better support for old and disabled people and their carers, as well as fair and efficient financing of social care services, are essential to address the current and future challenges of dependency.

Consumer preference for products made from transgenic technology has been widely studied, yet few studies exist exploring the factors influencing producers’ adoption of transgenic technology. Based on field surveys in Chinese provinces of Shanxi, Henan and Shandong, we employed a gambling experiment to capture producers’ risk preferences by estimating their risk aversion coefficients. We further estimated producers’ risk amplification and risk perception of GM technology. Using ordered logit model and Poisson model we identified the major factors influencing producers’ adoption of transgenic technology. We found the factors impacted the decision of producers from different regions in different ways. The results showed that over 60% of participants amplified the risk of transgenic crops. When there was potential risk, producers might not be rational even if they had high level of knowledge and cognition about the technology. Our results shed light on government policies aiming to increase the adoption of new technologies by producers.

: There remains no acquiescence that confirms the extent to which unemployment and entrepreneurship influence each other in developing countries. Thus, an incessant invite for further debate attracted the need to assess the relationship between unemployment and entrepreneurship in terms of business formation in Namibia Given that, this study examines the relationship between unemployment and entrepreneurial activities in Namibia. Time series data were collected from the World Bank database to investigate the relationship between unemployment and entrepreneurship in Namibia. Unit root test was conducted using both the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test and the Phillips-Perron test to measure stationarity of the data and found all the variables to have no unit root after the first difference. Thus, we employed the Johansen-Juselius test of cointegration, and the results revealed the absence of a long-run relationship between the variables. Hence, we performed a vector autoregressive (VAR) model to estimate the short-run relationships and found that Namibia exhibit both the refugee and Schumpeter effects. Finally, the direction of causality between the variables was measured using the Pairwise Granger causality test and the results revealed that none of the variables was proven to granger cause the other, concluding that they are all independent of each other. Therefore, in pursuit of unemployment mitigation, we recommend policymakers to focus on other aspects beyond entrepreneurship when devising policies without jeopardizing the ease of business start-up procedures. This will incentivize entrepreneurial activities, which can eventually address other macroeconomic issues beyond unemployment.

Individual investors often struggle to predict stock prices due to the limitations imposed by the computational capacities of personal laptop Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) when running intensive deep learning models. This study proposes solving these GPU constraints by integrating deep learning models with technical analysis methods. This integration significantly reduces analysis time and equips individual investors with the ability to identify stocks that may yield potential gains or losses in an efficient manner. Thus, a comprehensive buy and sell algorithm, compatible with average laptop GPU performance, is introduced in the study. This algorithm offers a lightweight analysis method that emphasizes factors identified by technical analysis methods, thereby providing a more accessible and efficient approach for individual investors. To evaluate the efficacy of this approach, we analyzed the performance of eight deep learning models: LSTM (4 layers), CNN, BiLSTM (4 layers), CNN Attention, BiGRU CNN BiLSTM Attention, BiLSTM Attention CNN, CNN BiLSTM Attention, and CNN Attention BiLSTM. These models were used to predict stock prices for Samsung Electronics and Celltrion Healthcare. The CNN Attention BiLSTM model displayed superior performance among these models, with the lowest validation mean absolute error value. In addition, an experiment was conducted using WandB Sweep to determine the optimal hyperparameters for four individual hybrid models. These optimal parameters were then implemented in each model to validate their back-testing rate of return. The CNN Attention BiLSTM hybrid model emerged as the highest-performing model, achieving an approximate rate of return of 5 percent. Overall, this study offers valuable insights into the performance of various deep learning and hybrid models in predicting stock prices. These findings can assist individual investors in selecting appropriate models that align with their investment strategies, thereby increasing their likelihood of success in the stock market.

At present, countries around the world adopt digital strategy, so that enterprises apply digital technology, digital supply chain, blockchain, and a series of digital measures to enhance their competitiveness. By analyzing the relationship between digital transformation of manufacturing export enterprises, and their business performance and export performance, this paper focused on the current situation and existing problems of digital transformation of manufacturing export enterprises in China. Based on the Resource Based View theory and Trade theory, the impact of digital transformation of enterprises performance, proposing hypotheses, and building regression models were explored. With the samples of 1007 listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock markets from 2012 to 2019, the regression analysis, intermediate effect test, robustness test, stage lag, and heterogeneity analysis were conducted. The results shew that: (1) Listed manufacturing export enterprises carried out digital transformation, which had a significantly positive effect on enterprise performance; (2) It was found that digital transformation could improve enterprise performance by reducing costs, improving R&D intensity and improving human resources etc. (3) According to the fractal analysis, non-state-owned enterprises had more positive effects on enterprise performance, and digital transformation of manufacturing export enterprises in developed areas had a more significant impact on enterprise performance. Finally, according to the empirical results, relevant suggestions for digital transformation were provided.

This study examined if people who reside in different regions of South Korea exhibit different WTP for the mitigation of PM2.5 emissions from coal power plants by restricting the operation of such plants during the winter and spring when air pollution becomes severe. A contingent valuation method combined with a double bounded dichotomous choice was used to derive people’s WTP for the mitigation of PM2.5 emissions. Sample group was divided into central, western, eastern, and southern regions. It is known that the eastern region is affected by northwesterly winds in the winter and spring seasons, so air pollutants in the eastern areas fly to the eastern sea. According to the estimation results, respondents who live in eastern regions showed significantly lower WTP than the average WTP. We suggest that the mitigation policy on PM2.5 emissions should consider regional differences in the contributions of coal power plants to PM2.5 emissions.

In Japan, where the working population is declining, there is a growing expectation that the potential working population will play an active role, and in this context, administrative measures such as the promotion of women's activities have been implemented. However, there is no end to the number of women who leave the workforce after life events such as childbirth or child rearing.　For example, in Fukuoka Prefecture (population 5.1 million) alone, where we are based, it is estimated that there are 43,300 potential female workers. Many of these women have have been employed in the past, but have left the workforce due to childbirth, family care, or other reasons, and still wish to work. However, although this group has potential employment needs, they have not yet engaged in specific job-hunting activities, and thus are on the periphery of the labor market, without access to the current active labor market. There are many promising potential employees there, and support for their career redevelopment and participation in the labor market is required. On the other hand, few studies have been conducted in Japanese prefectures to systematically estimate social value, i.e., to determine the scope of impact on society and the stakeholders. This is an obstacle to the formulation of policies for women's advancement and the establishment of related social projects. This paper is aware of this problem and, based on the support for women seeking to re-enter society (career redevelopment) that the authors are implementing, selects seven prefectures in Kyushu, which is also a wide economic zone, as a support area and estimates the social value to companies and families in these areas by using SROI. As a result, it was derived that if 3,586 individuals were reemployed, the SROI ratio (1:X) X would be 76.1 in the first year of reintegration assistance activities and X would be 313.3 in the fourth year.

International trade has been one of the most significant economic activities among countries, and its contributions towards a country’s economic growth and sustainable development have been acknowledged. In recent times, international trade and global trade networks have received preeminent attention due to the sharp growth in trade volumes and its contributions to poverty reduction and general welfare. Despite the growth in global trade volumes, there are worrying concerns about the unprecedented changes in international trade patterns and growing imbalances in trade in recent times. Whereas China’s trade volumes have more than tripled over the last decades and have maintained the largest trade surplus spot ahead of Germany, other major trade surplus countries such as Japan, the USA, etc. have become trade deficit countries with their trade volumes increasing at a much slower pace. In view of the growing imbalances in global trade volumes, we use an augmented gravity model of trade that incorporates social network measurement, the real effective exchange rate which is a measurement of international competitiveness, as well as the Linder theory of trade, to investigate the factors that determine the export performance of countries. Using data from 51 countries for 41 years, our results indicate that the GDP of both the home country and the partner country affects the home country’s exports positively. Similarly, the real effective exchange rate REER, trade openness OPEN and dummy variables BORDER, ENGLISH, and EU have produced positive and statistically significant coefficient estimates, and these are in line with our theoretical expectations.

With the view toward enlivening the Chinese automobile market, this work seeks to develop a framework to reveal the tastes of Chinese car users from online user-generated content (UGC) and identify future product improvement orientation. We construct an importance-satisfaction gap analysis (ISGA) model based on sentiment analysis technique. Specifically, a novel unsupervised word-boundary-identified algorithm for the Chinese language is used to extract domain professional feature words and a set of sentiment scoring rules is constructed. By matching feature-sentiment word pairs, we calculate car users' satisfaction with different attributes based on the rules, and weigh the importance of attributes using TF-IDF method, which lay the statistic foundation for our ISGA model. We also take time into account and further analyze the ISGA model, aiming to provide new insight into the changing tastes of Chinese car users so as to suggest correct design positioning and resource allocation. The final evaluation results show that the method proposed in this paper, which integrates Chinese word-boundary-identified algorithm and sentiment lexicon matching rules, is well supported.

The study of the effect of corporate entrepreneurship(CE) which is a key indicator of success in corporate innovation performance(IP) is a central research topic. However, an empirical study on whether various types of government support(GS) have a moderating effect between these two variables is of new interest. This study empirically analyzed the effects of CE on IP and analyzed the indirect effects of GS on CE and IP based on 4000 Korean manufacturing firms. The results showed that all five factors of CE (innovativeness, risk-taking, proactiveness, autonomy, and competitive aggressiveness) had a positive effect on IP. In addition, the moderating effect of GS on the relationship between CE and IP was validated in seven categories: taxation, subsidies, financial support, human resources, technology, certification, and procurement. The results showed that five types of GS, other than financial support and technical support, strengthened the effect of CE on IP. This study provides a basis for establishing a strategy for strengthening organizational entrepreneurship and for selecting and focusing on various types of GS. It can be concluded that for more effective government support policies, direct government financial support or technical support should be more elaborately implemented.

Knowledge of the motivations of managers to practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a critical issue for those who promote its adoption. The understanding of these reasons is complicated by the fact that there are different ways of defining this responsibility, raising the question of whether there is any relationship between reasons for adopting it and how to define it. To address this issue, a classification of these reasons was constructed and related to a classification of the different ways of defining CSR. A self-administered questionnaire was applied to a non-probability sample of Social Responsibility managers, which included indicators for both classifications. It was found that these managers present all types of motives, with proactive outweighing reactive motives and that there is a significant degree of correlation between the ways of defining CSR and the reasons for doing so. This suggests that managers present coherence in their objectives (motives) and means (practices of Social Responsibility.

This paper examines the Business Model (BM) from a socioeconomic system perspective to discern key factors, and understand its interactions resulting in the Scaling of Social Impact (SSI) in Social Entrepreneurship (SE). Previously, studies have explained the importance of BM in relation to SE. However, there is a lack of empirical studies on how BM’s transitions through participation of various actors result in SSI. This research applies qualitative analysis on a single case study of a Japanese social startup, “mymizu”, the first water refill application platform in Japan. The findings show that collaboration amongst different stakeholders on the initial phase of the BM could increase awareness of responsible consumption, convert into actual users for sustainability, and change their behavior. Secondly, members of the society could take on dual roles, both as users and collaborators in the BM, which results in an exponential scaling effect of the social impact. This paper contributes towards adding a participatory stakeholder (PS) to the ecosystem of SSI and building a “regenerative” BM that is relevant in SE towards sustainability.

Innovation and technology are important tools of minerals sector efficiency and productivity im-provement. The uptake of technologies has proven important levelrs to improve the productivity of mining sector. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of mine-level productivity by using a global data of copper, gold, and platinum from 1991-2020. Various drivers of proioductivity have been analysed to draw policy insights. Empirical findings reveal significant disparities in technical efficiency and productivity across mines and regions. A further decomposition of TFP into its different components suggest that the adoption of innovative practices and investment in technology adoption could improve the overall productivity of these commodities. The findings also suggest that an appropriate input mix and optimal scale of production could boost platinum mining productivity. Regional disparities in productivity in different commodities (e.g., South Africa vs. Zimbabwe) give policymakers with insights into how to support production scale and productivity through appropriate input mixtures.

Due to the incomplete of China's current social security system, health shocks are one of the main risks faced by rural families. Using data from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey, we examined the impact of borrowing on household welfare when rural households face health shocks. We found that household income and food expenditure both declined significantly when rural households faced health shocks; rural household borrowing was mainly used for the treatment of the diseases, and it had a crowding out effect on tourism and general health care expenditures, but not on education expenditures. We also found that the impact of borrowing on the western region was higher than that on the central and eastern regions from Looking at the impact of borrowing in different regions. Finally, we put forward some suggestions for promoting sustainable rural development from the perspective of medical security, such as accelerating the promotion of new rural medical insurance, helping rural low-income families improve health benefits, establishing diversified financing channels, improving rural financial platforms, and solving the financing difficulties of households to improve the ability of rural households to resist health shocks.

The main objective of this article was to evaluate the repercussions of the crises resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine on changes in the European Union's reliance on energy raw material imports, particularly from Russia. Furthermore, several specific objectives were outlined: to ascertain the EU's energy balance and any alterations therein, to identify changes in the concentration of energy raw material imports among EU countries during the crises, to determine the level and fluctuations in energy raw material import dependence within the EU and individual member states throughout the crises, and lastly, to assess changes in the concentration of energy raw material imports from Russia in EU countries during the crises. The research encompassed all 27 EU Member States as of 31st December 2022, and the examination period spanned from 2010 to 2022. The information sources included relevant literature on the subject and data sourced from Eurostat. In conducting the analysis and presenting the data, several methodologies were employed, including descriptive, tabular, and graphical techniques. Additionally, quantitative measures such as the Gini structure concentration coefficient and concentration analysis through the Lorenz curve were utilized. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU experienced a slight reduction in dependence on energy raw material imports. However, this reduction was short-lived and mainly attributed to the decrease in energy demand caused by the pandemic. Conversely, the war in Ukraine had a substantial impact, leading to a notable surge in energy raw material imports as a result of stockpiling efforts and the need to safeguard against further disruptions in the energy market. Notably, the EU's reliance on energy imports from Russia was already considerable. Following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, imports of oil, petroleum products, and solid fossil fuels experienced significant decline due to imposed sanctions. Nonetheless, restrictions on natural gas imports were comparatively less severe.

Taxes on the consumption of certain products have played a key role in public revenue analysis in European countries. This work aims to assess the differences in tax planning on new non-combustion products across some European territories. Through theoretical analysis, the paper has three distinct aspects. Firstly, we show the taxpayer profile in different countries. Secondly, the study analyzes the risks for the health system and the individual. Thirdly, the design of the land tax is based on previous experience and planning in Europe. This paper concludes with a case study for different countries: 1) Spain “vapers” and “smokers”, where the analysis is based on micro-data from the European Health Interview Survey 2020. 2) Sweden with the analysis of snus, shows it as a practice to reach economic savings while decreasing economic costs thanks to the nudging of consumers towards better products. The results show taxation and, specially, land taxation, should consider differences in planning in the case of new products, such as the non-combustion products, given the user per capita income and the potential lower health risks involved.

This paper introduces an advanced method that integrates contingent valuation and machine learning (CVML) to estimate residents’ demand for reducing or mitigating environmental pollutions and climate change. To be precise, CVML is an innovative hybrid machine-learning model, and it can leverage a limited amount of survey data for prediction and data enrichment purposes. The model comprises of two interconnected modules: Module I, an unsupervised learning algorithm, and Module II, a supervised learning algorithm. Module I is responsible for grouping the data into groups based on common characteristics, thereby grouping the corresponding dependent variable, whereas Module II is in charge of demonstrating the ability to predict and the capacity to appropriately assign new samples to their respective category based on input attributes. Take a survey on the topic of air pollution in Hanoi in 2019 as an example, we found that CVML can predict households’ willingness– to– pay for polluted air mitigation at a high degree of accuracy (i.e., 98%). We found that CVML can help users reduce costs or save resources because it makes use of secondary data that is available on many open data sources. These findings suggest that CVML is a sound and practical method that could be widely applied in a wide range of fields, particularly environmental economics and sustainability science. In practice, CVML could be used to support decision-makers in improving the financial resources to maintain and/or further support many environmental programs in years to come.

This paper aims to explore differences in personality traits, focusing on the levels of primary psychopathy, between formal leaders of family and non-family companies as well as assessing differences in the job satisfaction levels of their employees. Moreover, we assess the relationship between the employees' perception of their formal leader’s primary psychopathy levels and their job satisfaction levels in family firms. The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of 95 Portuguese employees, who responded to a questionnaire that included their perception of their formal leader’s primary psychopathy level and job satisfaction measures. All respondents work in small and medium-sized private companies with no management responsibilities and under formal hieratical supervision. The initial idea that family firms’ employees perceive lower levels of primary psychopathy in their formal leaders than non-family firms’ employees was confirmed. However, employees of family and non-family firms did not differ in their job satisfaction levels. The results also support the notion that perceived levels of primary psychopathy in formal leaders are negatively associated with the employees’ job satisfaction levels. These findings contribute to the research literature by addressing two aspects under-addressed in the comparison between family and non-family firms, while offering insights on the relationship between primary psychopathy in formal leaders and job satisfaction levels of employees working in family firms.

The increasing social pressure for decarbonization has placed businesses under considerable scrutiny to actively reduce carbon emissions. A critical step towards achieving this objective is to shift conventional production and consumption systems to more sustainable alternatives. Thus, there is the emergent need to understand the patterns and drivers of the transformative business models (BMs) that underpin that shift. This study adopts a mixed-methods approach that integrates different literature streams--including Sustainability Transitions Theory (STT), Strategic Niche Management (SNM), and the Business Models approach--and stakeholders’ interviews to investigate the key elements of business models that lead towards sustainable practices. This research examines the organizational arrangements of European start-ups operating between 2014 and 2020. The transformation towards decarbonized production and consumption is characterized by efficient combination of business strategies that incorporate advanced technologies (ATs), such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and its algorithms, along with sustainable elements, resulting in transformative business models. By exploring the driving elements behind the transition to low-carbon approaches, this study fills a significant gap in the existing literature on business models. The findings from this research also hold relevance for policymakers to promote decarbonization.

This paper examines the relationship between GDP per capita and waste generated in European Union countries, highlighting the importance of this relationship for understanding the environmental consequences of economic growth and formulating waste management policies. The analysis findings demonstrate that, in most cases, higher GDP is associated with higher amounts of waste, although there are exceptions to this trend. A smaller number of countries are also found where no such relationship exists. These are primarily high-income countries in the lower part of the EKC or countries in transition. Cluster analysis reveals regional differences in the relationship between GDP and waste that the economic factors and the level of development in the regions concerned can explain. Bulgaria is among the European countries with the lowest economic growth associated with a large amount of waste. The analysis, therefore, focuses on Bulgaria. The impact of GDP per capita, Human Development Index and Population Density on municipal waste in Bulgaria is studied. The aim is to identify significant relationships and dependencies between these factors and the amount of waste. Based on the results of multiple regression analysis and the findings from municipal waste management data in Bulgaria, specific actions are proposed for municipal waste management in the country. Recommendations are made for developing sustainable waste management policies and sharing best practices between regions.

The rise of multi-sided digital platforms has transformed the global economy, enabling individuals and companies to create, deliver, and capture value through innovative connections and network effects. While scholars have studied the core strategy concepts and proposed platform architectures, less attention has been paid to the long-term sustainability of these platforms. This paper addresses this gap by examining the relationship between sustainability and platform architecture. Specifically, it asks what mechanisms characterize digital platforms for sustainability, and whether there are design choices that optimize the business model for sustainability. Using a mixed-methods approach that draws on platform literature, business models, and sustainable innovation, the paper develops an integrative framework to identify elements and design choices in platform businesses which support sustainability outcomes. The framework is then used to classify the business models of the identified platforms, revealing specific design choices for platform architecture that can optimize their business models for sustainability. This contribution to existing literature provides an artifact that allocates key decisions on value creation, delivery, and capture that are key to platforms and includes an additional layer to optimize them for long-term sustainability. As digital platforms continue to drive the economy, this research is relevant not only to platform practitioners, but also to policy makers and society at large.

The COVID-19 led to changes modifying the role of digital transformation and unleashing unparalleled opportunities to improve business production processes in all three dimensions of sustainability - economic, social, and environmental through data-driven innovative service implications that significantly impact restaurant business, resulting in an increased competitive advantage. This paper identifies the innovative service implications and summarizes sustainable social systems measures in the context of strategic management in the restaurant industry triggered by COVID-19. Based on in-depth interviews with sixteen key experts in the restaurant industry, the paper clarifies and concretizes the rapidly transforming problem of identifying the main changes in the restaurant business, using three dimensions: consumer demand, corporate strategy optimization, and the use of the company's innovative potential. The findings reveal how companies need to expand their digital strategies and adapt their management approach to all stakeholders bringing sustainable business development in the post-pandemic period into focus. This paper serves as a framework for understanding the digital transformation role in resilient business management within restaurant social systems, with friction occurring along the workflow from kitchen to customer.

The implementation of management systems has become a strategic advantage in achieving business goals, especially in industrial organizations, but the implementation of social responsibility requirements is especially ethical. Large multinational companies have long been developing and, in particular, implementing their own codes of conduct, which include their suppliers, to demonstrate their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The compliance with CSR requirements from stakeholders is thus extended or intertwined with requirements in established management systems (MSs). The objectives of the study were to (1) analyze the different approaches to CSR in internationally recognized cross-industry and industry-specific standards and codes in different industries; (2) select the most appropriate framework for assessing the degree of applicability of CSR in the selected management systems and develop a methodology for its assessment; (3) apply the proposed methodology (referred to as SRIMS) in the selected areas: automotive industry, research organization, and metallurgical industry; (4) through ANOVA, validate its use for assessing the overall level of CSR applicability in an organization's established management systems. The application of the Bonferroni method confirmed the hypotheses that the developed SRIMS model is a sufficiently appropriate tool for assessing the overall level of applicability of CSR requirements to established MSs.

The sustainable development of mines has been the focus of attention in recent years, in China, there are a large number of untreated mined-out areas, and a series of disasters caused by instability of the goaf will bring heavy blows to people’s safety and financial resources. Mined-out areas management is an important part that cannot be ignored in mine sustainable development, and filling management is one of the most effective ways to solve the hidden danger of mined-out areas. Among them, cemented filling with tailings and the ultra-high-water backfilling are commonly used in mining enterprises. However, filling treatment will lead to increasing cost and the decreasing profits, which seriously depresses the motivation of mining enterprises and even leads to mor-al hazard. Therefore, the analysis of the economic benefits of goaf control plays a vital role in the sustainable construction and long-term development of mines. This paper proposed the mine-out area treatment economic model, the proposed method employs the guiding philosophy of news-boy model to create a mathematical economy model that provides the basis of goaf management mode for mine. The following research results are achieved: (1) The economic model of mined-out area backfilling treatment is constructed, and which is classified three different modes. (2) Com-bined with mathematical derivation and simulation, the influence of relevant variable parameters on each type of filling mode is discussed. (3) Various types of goaf filling treatment mode are com-pared with non-filling scheme (benchmark mode), so as to provide theoretical support for mining enterprises to choose the appropriate filling scheme. The results shows that the economic model of mined-out area management provides the optimal mode for mined-out area filling, the balance of tailings and ultra-high water filling materials procurement is realized, to making maximum profits. In this paper, the use of economic thinking has an important impact on the sustainable development of safety goaf management. To evaluate the sustainable development of goaf management by building economic models. It has important theoretical basis and practical guiding significance for the development and exploration of mined-out area management by combining economy with sustainable development.

Using LSMS-ISA panel data, we analyzed determinants of diversification into Rural Non-Farm Enterprises (RNFEs) and dynamics of the sector by studying the transition between farming and both low- and high-return RNFEs. We found that diversification into RNFE is determined by household characteristics mainly age and gender of the household head, whereas initial capital endowments such as assets, human capital, land and livestock significantly affect level of participation than entry into RNFE. Furthermore, analysing dynamics of RNFE separately for the youth and matured households, our study finds that continuous participation in RNFE is higher among the youth than among matured households. Similarly, initial capital endowments mainly educational level and access to credit are important factors for the youth to transit to high return RNFE, implying that entrepreneurial skills development and access to finance that enhance investments and gradual accumulation of capital are vital for the youth to benefit from RNFEs. Moreover, shocks that affect agricultural productivity are significant in increasing the probability of transition out of high-return RNFE signifying the need for social protection measures to ensure growth of RNFEs.

Food insecurity remains a critical challenge in developing countries like Ethiopia. Majority of its population derive their livelihood from agriculture characterized by mixed farming systems. Smallholder farmers the principal actors of agriculture are also facing a rapidly increasing population and urbanization had been unable to be self-sufficient in food. This paper examines the role of commercialization on food security and its determinants in rural settings. We used cross-sectional data from 295 households randomly selected in northwest Ethiopia. Results from bivariate Tobit regression revealed both crop and livestock commercialization improves household food security but in quite different ways. The income from crop sales was instrumental in allowing households to buy additional foods while livestock sales foster crop diversity for own consumption by allowing them to purchase nonfood items. Thus, agriculture-food security nexus may not require the production systems to be subsistent. Improving commercialization with better access to off-farm employment and institutional services (credit and market infrastructure), and enhanced awareness of the extension towards promoting commercialization and diversified food consumption seem to be more promising. The research paper concludes commercialization is vital not just for economic growth and food security, but also for the smallholder agriculture in providing additional nutrition.

The perceived poor performance of publicly traded companies on their sustainability commitments and the quality of sustainability reporting has prompted stakeholders to consider the economic, environmental, and social impacts of corporate activities. Economic activities have led to various threats in the form of climate change, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, natural disasters, and other issues that have negatively impacted the environment and stakeholders. Companies are expected to report to stakeholders on their sustainability performance, but reality proves that present reporting falls below stakeholders’ expectations mainly due to its still voluntary nature. The present study aims to provide a literature review of the relationship between sustainability reporting and the role of companies governance, especially observing if climate change requirements and energy-needed changes are being accounted. Results highlight mixed evidence for the influence of board governance attributes, providing interesting insights for research advancement. The study has practical implications for businesses, regulators, governments, and other stakeholders in their policy deliberations and investment decisions. Further empirical studies are recommended to re-examine sustainability reporting using the variables identified as important factors and gaps in this study and other board characteristics to improve the generalizability of the results.

Consumer behavior is unpredictable. The accelerated pace of life and daily changes in the desires and preferences of each individual require significant marketing efforts to fulfill needs. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant disruptions in the market to which consumers have responded in a specific way. Our previous research on this topic [11], which included an analysis of various factors that influence consumer habits, was the basis for a new, more detailed analysis of the impact on individual consumption. The results of our previous research set psy-chological influence as a significant factor in consumer behavior. That is the main reason we put the impact of COVID-19 at the center of this research. The analysis was conducted on an existing sample of 559 respondents in the Republic of Croatia. The data obtained by the questionnaire were used to develop a hierarchical model. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a model based on deci-sion-making and was used to rank individual influences on consumer behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These influences have had a significant impact on consumer buying habits.

In recent years, groups of cyber criminals/hackers have carried out cyber-attacks using various tactics with the goal of destabilizing web services in a specific context for which they are motivated. Predicting these attacks is a critical task that assists in determining what actions should be taken to mitigate the effects of such attacks and to prevent them in the future. Although there are programs to detect security concerns on the internet, there is currently no system that can anticipate or foretell whether the attacks will be successful. This research aims to develop sustain-able strategies to reduce threats, vulnerability, and data manipulation of chatbots, consequently improving cyber security. To achieve this goal, we develop a conversational chatbot, an application that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to communicate, and deploy it on social media sites (e.g., Twitter) for cyber security purposes. Chatbots have the capacity to consume large amounts of information and give an appropriate response in an efficient and timely manner, thus rendering them useful in predicting threats emanating from social media. The research utilizes sentiment analysis strategy by employing chatbots on Twitter (and analyzing Twitter data) for predicting future threats and cyber-attacks. The strategy is based on a daily collection of tweets from two types of users: those who use the platform to voice their opinions on important and relevant subjects, and those who use it to share information on cyber security attacks. The research pro-vides tools and strategies for developing chatbots that can be used for assessing cyber threats on social media through sentiment analysis leading to a global sustainable development of businesses. Future research may utilize and improvise on the tools and strategies suggested in our research to strengthen the knowledge domain of chatbots, cyber security, and social media.

Globally, large numbers of adults remain unbanked and most of them live in rural areas of the Third World. The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how inequalities in accessing financial services continue to affect us. However, financial inclusion has emerged as an effective tool to tackle socioeconomic ills and drive economic development. In fact, due to these modern technological developments, the number of studies in this area is very limited, especially in the context of developing economies. This study examines the impacts of migrant remittances on digital financial inclusion within households using the Migration and Remittance Household Survey in Bangladesh. To meet the research objectives of this study, a household survey was conducted and interviewed 2,165 households in 2022-2023 in Bangladesh. This study finds that the coefficient of remittance has a positive relationship with the probability of using mobile banking for a household's financial transactions. However, the use of ATM cards by households for financial transactions has not been significantly affected. The article concludes that remittance flows may enhance access to and use of digital financial inclusion by reducing some of the barriers and costs in Bangladesh, which can greatly contribute to the country's economic growth by creating and increasing a strong fund for investment.

In spite of the significant progress towards sustainable cosmetics, mass-produced sustainable packaging has proven to be a challenge. The complexity of environmental, economic, social, technological and policy considerations in conjunction with varying consumer behaviors and corporate goals can make it difficult to select an optimal strategy across heterogeneous supply-chain components spread over the globe; and the cost and effort of developing, testing and validating alternative strategies discourages empirical exploration of potential alternatives. This review discusses the challenges that can be expected in the context of broader sustainability efforts, as well as the experience gained in related fields such as sustainable cosmetics and sustainable packaging, to identify potential pitfalls as well as promising trends towards development of sustainable cosmetics packaging. The findings suggest there may be little to be gained from attempting to induce customers to change their behavior; waiting for a significant increase in global recycling infrastructure; or expecting regulatory constraints to substitute for the lack of technological and business solutions. A research strategy is delineated towards development of sustainable packaging that, with appropriate policy support, could minimize externalities and provide mass-produced packaging that is acceptable to both consumers and producers.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the transfer of local government public ser-vices to the virtual world. Remote handling of matters in government offices has be-come the norm rather than the exception. The 2016 EU directive on public sector web-sites and mobile applications and the 2019 European Digital Accessibility Act made it mandatory that these services be provided electronically and accessible to people with disabilities. The purpose of the study conducted by the authors was to determine whether the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the implementation of European solutions in the Polish legal order and whether this implementation resulted in the actual adap-tation of digital activities of local government units (LGUs) to the needs of people with disabilities. The research was conducted in Q4 2022 in two trial formats: 1. In the form of a survey (about 250 LGUs), which covered compliance with for-mal requirements, the level of readiness of the officials to create digitally accessible documents and content, and organizational readiness of the offices. 2. In the form of an analysis of the source code of the websites of 66 Polish cities with county rights - due to the availability of results of the same sample from 2015. The completed research showed that the LGUs in Poland: 1. met the formal and organizational requirements for digital accessibility, 2. did not make the necessary efforts to prepare employees to create digitally ac-cessible documents and content, 3. the surveyed websites had inferior source code in terms of meeting the WCAG standard in 2022 than in 2015. It seems reasonable to conclude that the Covid-19 pandemic had a formal, rather than real, impact on the digital accessibility of services provided by Polish LGUs.

This article sets out to examine how digital twins have been used in a multi-national corporation, what technologies have been used, what benefits delivered and the significance of people and process related issues in achieving successful implementation. A qualitative, inductive research method is used, based on interviews provided by key personnel involved in three digital twin projects. The article concludes that digital twin projects are likely to involve incremental rather than disruptive change, and that successful implementation is usually underpinned by ensuring technology, people and process change factors are progressed in a balanced and integrated fashion. Building upon existing frameworks, three “properties” are identified as being of particular value in digital twin projects - workforce adaptability, technology manageability and process agility – and a related set of steps and actions is put forward as a template and point of reference for future digital twin implementations. The findings are a contribution to the developing theory around digital twins and digitalization in general, and are also of relevance to professionals embarking on DT projects.

In the era of persistent globalization, climate governance has emerged as a prominent concern within both the theoretical community and government departments of diverse nations. Of particular interest in academic research is the adverse effect of climate shocks on the global economy. This paper employs average temperature as a surrogate indicator for climate shocks and examines the influence of temperature fluctuations on inflation levels using a balanced panel dataset from 1995 to 2021. The findings indicate a positive association between temperature change and inflation within the country, which remains consistent even after subjecting the analysis to multiple robustness tests. Furthermore, accounting for heterogeneity reveals variations in the magnitude of response of inflation levels to temperature fluctuations. Regarding the analysis of underlying mechanisms, the study underscores the significance of energy demand as a pivotal pathway influencing inflationary pressures at the national level. Lastly, by incorporating GDP per capita as a threshold, the research reveals a nonlinear relationship between temperature change and inflation levels.

The present study reports a critical review of NIO's business model, considering the evolving landscape of the electric vehicle market and servicing. The objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive framework that facilitates the identification of key elements characterizing a company's business model and highlights ongoing transformations, crucial for adaptation and survival in a rapidly changing environmental context. Focusing on the case study of NIO, a relatively young Chinese original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specializing in high-tech electric cars, the research delves into the challenging scenario of the Chinese electric vehicle market, which has recently faced a bubble in 2023. The market proliferation, supply chain disruptions, and price wars triggered by Tesla have resulted in a survival struggle for numerous automotive startups, leaving larger companies with increasing market shares. Despite facing adversities, NIO managed to secure a promising segment, catering to premium-range battery electric vehicles (BEVs), establishing a competitive advantage through differentiation. By pursuing ambitious investments, the company aims to create economies of scope and achieve cost leadership, venturing into new market sectors and vertically integrating the production chain. Given NIO's agility in adapting to market conditions, aggressive entry into new segments, and a strategic vision for the future, it serves as an excellent candidate for testing and validating the proposed framework. The research sheds light on NIO's trajectory and offers insights into its potential for sustained growth in the dynamic electric vehicle market.

Sustainability means that the current use of resources does not compromise the well-being of future generations. Ever since Malthus (1798) forecast that population tends to grow faster than the growth of resources to support the population, people have claimed that current resource use is unsustainable, so future generations will be materially worse off than those in the present, yet for more than two centuries this has not been the case. The reason is that markets, and market prices, act to conserve scarce resources, and in market economies, entrepreneurs have an incentive to discover more efficient ways to use resources. The claim that twenty-first century market economies are not sustainable is not supported by the evidence. This paper explains why entrepreneurship in market economies produces sustainable economic progress.

African swine fever has damaged the foundation of China’s hog industry, caused a serious decline in hog production, highlighted the contradiction between supply and demand in the pork market, and led to major economic and social impacts. This study measured the industrial resilience of 31 Chinese provinces which faced the African swine fever shock and its spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics from 2018-2021 in terms of the two dimensions of resistance and recoverability. Using Geodetector, the study explored the key factors influencing the resilience of China’s hog industry. The results showed that 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 were the resistance and recovery periods of the hog industry under the African swine fever shock, respectively, with poor resilience characterizing the resistance period and improved resilience exemplifying the recovery period. At the early stage of the African swine fever outbreak, Tianjin, Shanxi, Guangxi and Yunnan had robust resistance in the hog industry, and the slaughter rate, economic level, mortality rate, carcass weight and culling rate showed the highest explanation for the resistance. At the most severe stage of the outbreak, the resistance of the hog industry in all provinces was generally poor, and the slaughter rate, per capita consumption and scale level showed the highest explanation for the resistance. In the period of rapid recovery of hog production, the recoverability of each province was very strong, and the industrial structure, culling rate, economic level and resource carrying capacity showed the highest explanation for the recoverability. In the reasonable adjustment period of hog production capacity, the recoverability based on the breeding sow inventory in 13 provinces, including Henan, Shandong and other large hog breeding provinces, was negative, and the scale level, slaughter rate, per capita consumption and resource carrying showed the highest explanation for the recoverability. It is recommended to take measures to enhance the resilience of the hog industry, strengthen the prevention and control of hog epidemics, improve the monitoring and early warning mechanism, and strive to enhance the ability of the hog industry to cope with major animal epidemics.

The analysis of the 2002 Prestige tanker accident showed how public misinformation can worsen marine pollution incidents, rendering their management suboptimal as these evolve, raising thus the issue of appropriately informing and educating coastal and island populations at risk. Two decades later, developments in electronic platforms, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), in Automatic Identification System (AIS) for ship signal transmission, and in social media, provide a set of means for public monitoring of such incidents, creating the possibility to antagonize effec-tively erroneous, or malevolent information which can hinder efficient actions for containing ma-rine pollution risks even without active training of populations concerned. The authors, in the framework of development of the Marine Coastal Observatory and Risk Management project “AEGIS+”, have developed E-S.A.V.E., an online platform which: a) meets the needs of different users as revealed by a survey run across groups of them, b) uses a suitable Geographic Infor-mation Systems (GIS) environment, c) cooperates with public authorities, for the reliable update of automated systems, and d) employs an artificial intelligence (AI) supported tool for social me-dia monitoring; the platform also provides educational and information national and interna-tional resources on marine environmental protection and sustainable maritime logistics.

Stochastic mortality models seek to forecast future mortality rates; thus, apparently the objective variable should be the mortality rate expressed in the original scale. However, the performance of stochastic mortality models - in terms, that is, of their goodness-of-fit and prediction accuracy - is often based on the logarithmic scale of the mortality rate. In this article, we examine whether the same forecast outcomes are obtained when the performance of mortality models is assessed based on the original and log scales of the mortality rate. We compare four different stochastic mortality models: the original Lee-Carter model, the Lee-Carter model with (log-)normal distribution, the Lee-Carter model with Poisson distribution and the median Lee-Carter model. We show that the preferred model will depend on the scale of the objective variable, the selection criteria measure and the range of ages analysed.

During two decades back, the growth of the fisheries sector in Indonesia was showing increasing trend, however, behind the rapid development of the sector, small-scale fisheries role is often neglected as one of the main actors to support the whole sector. They remain poor and doing fishing activities traditionally. Therefore, this study aims to describe the real situation of small-scale fishers, analyzing fishers’ ownership of the boat, analyzing their income level to reveal their poverty condition, to analyze the factors affecting their income. The regression analysis results indicate that fishing days, boat category, sea fish catch, fish selling price, variable cost, and secondary job have significant affect to fishers’ net income.

(1) As the craft beer industry continues to expand in Canada, understanding the regional differences between the Eastern and Western markets becomes pivotal for brewing ingredient companies seeking to penetrate or expand within these regions. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of these two distinctive markets, focusing on economic, logistical, ingredient, and cultural differences. (2) The study primarily relies on secondary data from government, industry reports, and scholarly publications, providing a holistic view of the Canadian craft beer landscape. It further highlights the need to consider market distinctions between Canada and the United States. (3) Findings reveal that Western Canadian breweries, unlike their Eastern counterparts, operate under constrained storage space, prefer locally-sourced ingredients, and offer a distinct variety of beer styles catering to local tastes. The study further uncovers the regulatory and financial complexities of the Canadian market compared to the United States. (4) Based on these findings, this study provides strategic recommendations for brewing ingredient companies, emphasizing domestic logistics, local sourcing, product adaptation, educational support, and regulatory navigation, fostering success in the Canadian craft beer landscape.

the process of rapidly digitalizing and transforming businesses, known as Industry 4.0, was already underway before COVID-19. However, the imposed restrictions during the pandemic significantly amplified the need and motivation for both businesses and consumers to utilize digital tools across all sectors including the sectors of bioeconomy. The agricultural and food production sectors have a predominant role in the bioeconomy of the European Union (EU), followed by wood production. These sectors make significant contributions not only to national economies but also to rural areas. Consequently, the digitalization of businesses within the bioeconomy sector not only transforms the enterprises and value chains themselves but also benefits the rural communities in which these enterprises are situated. This study aims to assess the barriers of the bioeconomy sector and ways to support digital transformation within this sector. The paper analyses bioeconomy in EU and the state of digitalisation in the EU. The empiric analysis is based on the cluster analysis of the digitalisation and R&D indicators of the EU and the AHP analysis that allows determining the digitalisation scenarios in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland carried out by four stake-holder groups - national government; advisory and extension; research and entrepreneurship. The results of the AHP indicate that experts from Lithuania and Poland preferred the scenario that suggested the self-initiative from the entrepreneurs of the sector, but experts from Latvia – prioritization of support for digital transformation using national and EU funding. The AHP results also indicate that the opinions of the national government, consulting, and research experts are more aligned throughout all three countries, but the opinion of entrepreneurs differs from these groups.

Tourism activities generally have a ∩-type lock on the level of tourism ecological security in an area, but when applied to the border areas of China, there are certain specificities in the spatial evolution of tourism ecological security (TES) compared to traditional findings. This paper measures tourism ecological security in China’s border areas from 2009 to 2020 by using the DPSIR model with the superefficient SBM-DEA and analyzes the spatial differences, evolutionary characteristics, and driving factors of tourism ecological security in border areas by using Pearson’s correlation coefficients, center of gravity models, and geographic probes: (1) The overall tourism ecological security index of China’s border provinces is relatively good. Tourism activities do not completely affect the traditional “∩ lock” of the border provinces. The tourism ecological security level of the border provinces presents three spatial-temporal changes (“∩” type, “U” type, “\” type) and four evolution trends (“high–high–high”, “middle–middle–medium”, “medium–low–low”, and “low–low–low”). (2) The overall tourism ecological security level in border areas is polarized between high and low levels, and the ecological security efficiency of the three large areas is spatially characterized as “Southwest Area > Northeast Area > Northwest Area”, and the center of gravity of ecological security is mostly concentrated in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Neimenggu, where the ecological security level is higher. (3) Social and environmental factors are the main factors that influence tourism ecological security in border areas, while economic factors account for a smaller proportion. Accordingly, this thesis also proposes the driving mechanism of the ecological security of tourism sites in border areas in China with a view to providing theoretical support for policy formulation.

Inflation in 2021 and 2022 grew much faster than the Federal Reserve expected. The Fed downplayed inflation in 2021 and then increased the federal funds rate by 500 basis points between March 2022 and May 2023. This paper investigates how this unprecedented tightening impacted the stock market. To do so it estimates a fully specified multi-factor model that measures the exposure of 53 assets to Bauer and Swanson (2022) monetary policy surprises over the 1988 to 2019 period. It then uses the monetary policy betas to gauge investors’ beliefs about monetary policy between 2020 and 2023. The results indicate that changing perceptions about monetary policy multiplied uncertainty and stock market volatility.