Despite years of research, scholars still have a limited understanding of the factors that lead individuals to start their own businesses. Drawing upon the crisis decision theory (CDT), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the entrepreneurial event model (EEM), and previous research on entrepreneurial intentions (EIs), this study investigates the impact of a set of predictors (i.e., perceived crisis severity, entrepreneurial disposition, support from family/friends, university affiliation, gender, year of study, work experience, presence of a role model, and completion of an entrepreneurship class) on the outcome variable (i.e., EIs) of Generation Z in a highly tourism-dependent transitional economy. Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression were employed to analyze the data collected in May/June 2020 via a self-administered questionnaire from 300 tourism and hospitality students enrolled at five public universities in Croatia. The results indicate that entrepreneurial disposition, work experience, and gender are directly related to EI. The perceived crisis severity does not affect EI. These findings contribute to filling gaps in the existing research on entrepreneurship during major crises, on EIs of Gen Z, on the role of perceived crisis severity in EIs, and on the state of EIs in mono-industrial (i.e., dominated by one industry) crony capitalist ex-communist economies. Full article

Based on China’s newly established Securities Investor Services Center (CSISC), a minority shareholder protection mechanism, we investigated how the CSISC shareholder influences the ESG performance of listed companies. Using a difference-in-differences analysis for a sample of Chinese listed companies during 2013–2017, we found that the pilot reform of CSISC shareholding has a positive influence on the ESG performance of listed companies. We also found that this effect exists in large companies and in companies in non-high-polluting industries. Besides, analysts’ attention, external auditing quality, institutional shareholding, and highly-developed market intermediary and legal systems can strengthen the effect of CSISC shareholding on corporate ESG performance. Our findings inspire regulators in emerging markets to establish suitable mechanisms to protect minority shareholder rights in the long run. Full article

This study investigates the effect of entrepreneurial orientation (EO; one of the most broadly acknowledged firm-level constructs) on the performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Furthermore, we analyze the moderator effect of creating shared value (CSV) on firm performance. Our analysis was conducted using a structural equation model on a stratified sampling method of 294 manufacturing and service SMEs in Korea. The results show that an SME’s efforts in some variables in EO constructs are statistically positively related to both its financial (economic benefits) and non-financial performance (social benefits). Our study results also reveal that there is a significant positive moderator effect of CSV on the EO-performance relationship. This implies that CSV, when bundled with EO, can boost firm performance and provide SMEs with not only a competitive and sustainable advantage but also reduces their risk. This research contributes to the extant literature by investigating the interactive effect of CSV on the relationship between EO and firm performance in the context of SMEs, which has received scant attention in the extant literature. In the last section, the limitations and future research agenda of this study are presented. Full article

Performance evaluation of green supply chains (GSC) is an important tool to improve their comprehensive management. Identifying critical indicators is crucial to evaluation. This study examines the critical indicators in performance evaluations of GPC and provides relevant suggestions for managers to improve GSCs’ performances. Firstly, we summarized 24 evaluation indicators from five dimensions—financial value, customer service-level, business processes, innovation and development, and the so-called green level. Secondly, the Delphi method was used to determine the formal research framework. The fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory based analytic network process (fuzzy DEMATEL-based ANP) model was applied. The weighted prominence of each indicator was calculated to identify those that were critical, and a causality diagram was constructed for them. Finally, corresponding countermeasures and implications regarding those were put forward. The research results show that the critical indicators include the return rate of net assets, the growth rate of profit, the rate of service satisfaction, market share, production flexibility, and the green consensus. Among them, the green consensus, the growth rate of profit and the rate of service satisfaction form a virtuous circle, leading to the improvement of the overall performance of GSC. Full article

Adequate financial management is of great importance to the health care system. In the contemporary state of affairs, health care is facing numerous limitations due to drastic costs and growing pressures to provide quality health care. In such appalling conditions, the managers of health organizations must build skills and knowledge that go beyond the comfort zone of their clinical competencies. It is necessary to develop their leadership skills. Bearing in mind the importance of financial competencies, the general aim of this paper is to determine the competencies of the managers of Serbian health institutions (private and public sector) in this area. Insufficient attention has been given to how health care organizations’ financial literacy affects their sustainability. For the purpose of this prospective research, a questionnaire was created that surveyed the managers of various health care institutions. The results of this study indicated that managers of health organizations have a relatively modest level of financial knowledge. However, they participate in financial activities to a large extent. This gap between the function they perform and the knowledge they have can potentially harm the well-being of the health care organizations they lead. Managers of organizations in the public sector showed a more active role in the development of business plans and more frequent independent decision making, while managers of organizations in the private sector gave more importance to financial control, negotiation, and internal financial reporting, for the improvement of the management process. Full article

This paper focuses on the study of the “greenium”, i.e., the premium on Green Bonds (GBs) vs. Traditional Bonds (TBs) whereby investors accept lower yields of GBs vs. TBs, which is caused by the important difference between them with reference to their contribution to the green transition, specifically paying attention to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on it. The conjecture of this paper is that the negative shock of rates due to the pandemic crisis has increased the greenium, as it has also increased the interest in projects of the green transition. In addition, a hypothesis is made that the risk of breaking the green promises might be higher for corporations than for governments and, hence, that the greenium would be lower for corporate GBs than for government GBs. Finally, the possibility that the post-pandemic changes of the greenium might vary depending on individual GBs’ liquidity is considered. The empirical analyses provide support for the first two hypotheses but not for the third one. Full article

Science and technology parks (STPs) are curated locations where new technology-based firms (NTBFs) and other SMEs and firms can conglomerate and promote a culture of innovation. Overall, the aim is to construct a sustainable high-value tech entrepreneurship ecosystem, and to this end we present here some recent and novel concepts derived from approaches using a data-driven statistical foundation. This paper considers studies on the organic growth of young start-up science and technology parks by authors who have used big data, econometric analyses, panel data and computer simulations. The results and concepts are derived from industrialized countries, notably Sweden and the UK, and may well be applicable to many regions and emerging economies. The findings are of interest to regional development, technology entrepreneurs considering choosing an STP to inhabit, as well as those in STP central teams, specializing in management and enterprise development, including the sustainable growth of new parks. Full article

The demand-responsive public transport system with multi-vehicles has the potential to efficiently meet real-time and high-volume transportation needs through effective scheduling. This paper focuses on studying the real-time vehicle scheduling problem, which involves dispatching and controlling different model vehicles uniformly based on generated vehicle number tasks at a given point in time. By considering the immediacy of real-time itinerary tasks, this paper optimizes the vehicle scheduling problem at a single time point. The objective function is to minimize the total operating cost of the system while satisfying constraints such as passenger capacity and vehicle transfer time. To achieve this, a vehicle scheduling optimization model is constructed, and a solution approach is proposed by integrating bipartite graph optimal matching theory and the Kuhn–Munkres algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by comparing it with a traditional greedy algorithm using the same calculation example. The results show that the optimization method has higher solution efficiency and can generate a scheduling scheme that effectively reduces operating costs, improves transportation efficiency, and optimizes the operation organization process for demand-responsive buses. Full article

The authors of this study aimed to evaluate the links between corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, trust, identification, and commitment to measure the impact of consumer perceptions of CSR initiatives on these three marketing outcomes (trust, identification, and commitment). A structured questionnaire was administered to 341 bank clients as part of an empirical study to examine the hypotheses. The study’s proposed model was tested in the Indian banking industry and examined the use of the structural equation modeling (SEM) method in the AMOS program. According to the findings, consumers believe that CSR initiatives significantly affect two marketing outcomes (trust and identification). The findings of this study are useful in helping policymakers at various banking institutions comprehend the major impact that CSR initiatives have on influencing consumer behavior. This study provides a greater knowledge of how consumers view CSR and how that impression may affect marketing outcomes. Full article

We examine the impediments to rapid recovery from a supply chain disruption through rapid supply chain growth in capacity. We explore how to minimize the effects of disruptions in supply chains that could be caused by pandemics, wars, supplier down times, absenteeism, distributor bottlenecks, etc. The tools we use include reliability theory, logic, simulation, and other methodologies. Our objective is to better understand supply chain disruptions and to propose solutions to the sustainability problems currently being experienced within supply chains. The authors use models to better comprehend how to avoid supply chain structures that are easily disrupted. Included among the findings are that disruptions cause the loss of production capacity; thus, the ability to rapidly increase production capacity in the same or other parts of the supply chain becomes paramount. Furthermore, structural redundancy can help alleviate the loss of capacity coming from a disruption. One purpose of the models is to foster a basic appreciation for the different lead times and fixed costs associated with capacity expansion of the various supply chain components. There are implications for where within the supply chain additional robustness and capacity are needed. Full article

This study is an effort to investigate the asymmetric effects of privatization and the digital economy on renewable energy consumption. The nonlinear quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) technique is used to estimate short and long-run analysis. Findings of the nonlinear QARDL model posit that the long-run positive shock in privatization promotes renewable energy consumption by increasing renewable energy consumption, while the long-run negative shock in privatization demotes renewable energy consumption by reducing renewable energy consumption. In the short run, the positive shock of privatization does not significantly impact renewable energy consumption, while the negative shock of privatization reduces renewable energy consumption. Moreover, information and communications technology (ICT), economic development, and financial development increase renewable energy consumption in the long run; however, in the short-run only financial development helps increase renewable energy consumption. The Wald test confirms the asymmetric impact of privatization on renewable energy consumption only in the long run. Based on these results, policymakers should thus take into account both positive and negative shocks in privatization when developing policies to encourage pro-environmental behavior. Full article

Sustainability gets higher on the policy agenda of many countries in terms of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Unethical tax behaviour diminishes the tax system’s sustainability, but paying taxes is necessary if we want to contribute to society. There is a deeper need to understand the factors that influence taxpayers’ perceptions, personal values and personal tax culture. Previous research by the OECD (2013, 2019) using the World Values Survey (WVS) did not provide a sufficient explanation of all the socio-economic factors associated with personal tax culture. As the behaviour of an individual is shaped by a set of values, and values can provide predictive and explanatory power in the analysis of attitudes, opinions and actions by policymakers, it is necessary for them to understand such when proposing tax morale incentives within the institutional pillar. A literature review showed that the research topics on personal tax culture present specific assumptions and gaps. To contribute to this topic, a conceptual model was developed, and the relationship between personal values (conservation/self-enhancement), measured by the widely accepted and recognised Schwartz’s circular model, and personal tax culture was analysed with the aim of formulating recommendations for policymakers. The survey conducted in Slovenia involved 202 respondents. Based on exploratory factor analysis and the performed correlation analysis, empirical research suggests that a relationship between personal values and personal tax culture as the cornerstones of an individual’s tax-compliant behaviour and their attitude towards the ethics of tax evasion is significant. The correlation between personal values and an individual’s attitude towards the tax system is insignificant. By understanding the relationships between individuals’ personal and tax culture values, policymakers can achieve a greater sustainable tax system. Full article

High-quality economic development is an organic whole, involving macro, meso, and micro factors, therefore it is necessary to explore the mechanism for quality development in the construction of a modern economic system. Following the new development concept, this paper constructs a measurement system for the economic development quality of 30 provinces and cities in China by using the entropy weight and TOPSIS method. In addition, the linkage effects of factors on high-quality economic development were analyzed by using the fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method. The results show that among factors contributing to diversified forms of the high-quality regional economy, the following three stand out: scientific and technological innovation, marketization, and infrastructure construction. On this basis, three paths were proposed for quality economic development, and they are: the innovation- and market-driven mode, the synergy mode of market and innovation, and the market-led conversion mode. Full article

Numerous studies have focused on the ripple effect in housing markets; however, these studies often fail to grasp the critical role of commercial real estate land use when forming a real estate portfolio. We argue that spreading an investment across various land-use assets—namely, diversification—may be effective in stabilizing and balancing China’s housing market through the introduction of the ripple effect. In six Chinese mega-cities, the cointegration system is initially used to prove the existence of ripple effects. A causality test can then identify the source cities: Beijing and Chongqing in the residential market, and Shenzhen and Chongqing in the commercial market. Finally, the authorities should enforce the differentiated measures by “depressing the housing market while encouraging the commercial market” in the respective target cities; this approach could efficiently ripple out to other cities. It is believed that the policy of land resources diversification can enable the Chinese real estate market to achieve more sustainable development. Full article

This study proposes a nitrogen recycling system that collects and recycles nitrogen compounds from waste gases in the industrial sector, such as those from stationary sources, from industrially processed wastewater containing livestock effluent, and from household wastewater. Multiple scenarios are set, and the potential global flows of anthropogenic nitrogen in 2050 are estimated and compared to assess the effects on the largest planetary boundary problem. In contrast to the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, in which environmental conditions are worsened through a 47% increase in nitrogen emissions by 2050 above the 2010 levels, the agricultural countermeasures scenario produced a reduction in emissions which was less than the 2010 levels. The industrial countermeasures scenario proposed in this study achieved comfortable reductions in nitrogen production by constructing a nitrogen recycling system that installs the nitrogen compounds to ammonia (NTA) technologies. Combining the agricultural and industrial countermeasures achieves a 66% reduction in nitrogen emissions compared with the BAU scenario in 2050. The combination of both countermeasures with a high installation rate of NTA technologies can achieve the reduction of nitrogen emissions beneath the planetary boundary. Full article