Search Results (5,792)

Saudi Arabia’s construction industry is greatly impacted by rising costs and delays, causing project overruns and high financial pressures. In construction, blockchain technology is a decentralized and secure system that promotes transparency, trustworthiness and effective management of project data and transactions. This research is based on the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework, which develops and tests a conceptual model to investigate how supply-chain management, smart contracts, transparency and traceability, regulatory compliance and building information modeling (BIM) integration influence blockchain technology adoption, with organizational culture as a moderator. Data from 291 professionals in large Saudi contracting firms were analyzed employing a quantitative, cross-sectional design using SmartPLS. Results confirm all hypothesized factors significantly drive blockchain technology adoption. Organizational culture, acting as a key amplifier, positively moderates all relationships. The model explains 71.1% of the variability in blockchain technology adoption. In order to overcome project challenges and meet Vision 2030’s goals, the results present a validated roadmap for Saudi’s construction sector. The findings show that technical investments and promoting a culture of innovation, collaboration across departments and strong leadership are important for adoption blockchain technology. Full article

Advancing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is essential for integrating land and water strategies and ensuring access to safe and secure water services. Yet, assessing the quality of IWRM implementation remains a persistent challenge for policy and practice. This study presents the first systematic review of 375 empirical articles to consolidate evidence on how enablers and obstacles shape IWRM’s effectiveness in advancing Sustainable Territorial Development (S-TD). Following PRISMA guidelines and combining bibliometric and qualitative coding procedures, we identify ten categories of enablers and eleven categories of obstacles. Results show that institutional strengthening, stakeholder participation, and technological innovation are the most frequent enablers, while fragmentation, coordination challenges, and financial limitations are the most prevalent obstacles. Beyond frequency patterns, this review highlights that outcomes depend on the configurations and interactions of these factors, which condition IWRM’s capacity to steer sustainable development trajectories in the territory. By comparing enablers and obstacles across nexus sectors (food, energy, land) and geographic scales (sub-basin, basin, transboundary, urban, national), we delineate scale- and sector-sensitive pathways linking IWRM to S-TD. To support further research, we provide an open-access dataset as a unique resource for replication, comparative analysis, and policy design, enabling evidence-based decision-making toward sustainability and resilience across diverse geographical and institutional contexts. Full article

Nitrogen leaching from land and farms is a major global issue that pollutes water, damages ecosystems, and accelerates climate change. This review synthesizes evidence from the literature on how interactions among landscape characteristics, sources of nitrogen input, and temporal dynamics shape leaching vulnerability. It identifies conditions under which nitrogen is most likely to be transported through soil systems into aquatic environments. This review reveals that leaching vulnerability is strongly conditioned by soil hydraulic properties and topographic position. Coarse-textured upland soils exhibit substantially greater nitrate mobilization than finer-textured, hydrologically buffered lowland soils. Fertilizer formulation and application timing further modulate loss potential, with late-season mineral nitrogen inputs disproportionately contributing to subsurface export relative to demand-synchronized applications. Most of the nitrogen leaching occurs outside the active growing period, when vegetative uptake is suppressed and drainage intensity is highest. Farmers can lower nitrate runoff by using targeted fertilization, cover crops, and nitrification inhibitors, while landscape-scale features like controlled drainage and vegetative buffers provide additional downstream filtration. The effectiveness of regulatory approaches is amplified when aligned with economic incentives and regionally calibrated nutrient thresholds. Advances in high-resolution observation platforms and process-based predictive tools offer new capacity for anticipatory management, although widespread deployment is limited by financial and institutional constraints. Collectively, these insights support the development of more targeted and sustainable nitrogen management strategies. Full article

Sovereign wealth funds enhance the international movement of capital and often facilitate economic development in domestic and host countries. However, the lack of transparency and accountability of SWFs varies, and state ownership gives rise to suspicions and realizations of political motivations, unfair commercial advantages, opportunities for corruption, and national security threats, thereby challenging the liberal economic order. This paper provides an overview and identifies major concerns and policy options associated with SWFs. Defining SWFs, measuring their size and transparency, domestic, cultural, and political origins, and policies for oversight and mitigation of geopolitical risk are discussed. The goals and behavior of SWFs are too diverse to draw broad, general conclusions. The growth in the number of funds and assets under management has increased their diversity, but the essential defining characteristic is that they are state-owned financial investment vehicles not subject to the hard budget constraints or regulations of comparable private sector, market-oriented entities. Transparency varies, with democratic country SWFs more transparent and less problematic than those of autocracies. SWFs have evolved into unbounded state-owned entities ushering in a new era of financial statecraft. Policies to guide their behavior and enforcement mechanisms are host-country specific and highly variable. An often-discussed international regulatory framework to mitigate geopolitical risk has not emerged and is not likely. Full article

This study investigates the performance consequences of adopting emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics, and cloud computing, with attention to financial, operational, and environmental dimensions. Using an event study of 134 adoption announcements by publicly traded U.S. firms from 2009 to 2019, we compare adopters with matched control firms identified through propensity score matching. The empirical evidence shows that adoption is followed by gains in profitability and market valuation, reflected in improvements in return on assets, return on equity, and Tobin’s Q, alongside higher inventory turnover. At the same time, adopting firms exhibit a measurable decline in greenhouse gas emissions when compared with matched control firms. Taken together, these results suggest that digital transformation can align economic performance with environmental improvement, rather than forcing firms to choose between the two. The findings therefore provide practical guidance for managers and policymakers seeking to evaluate digital investments through the lens of long-term sustainability. Full article

This study investigates volatility spillovers from the stock markets of the United States, Germany, China, and Japan to the UK stock market using daily data from major benchmark indices (FTSE 100, S&P 500, DAX, Shanghai Composite, and Nikkei 225) and Brent crude oil prices. Using a novel two-stage bootstrap framework, we first model time-varying conditional volatilities with GARCH-family models and compare them with long-memory FIGARCH specifications to account for persistent volatility dynamics. These volatilities are then incorporated into a VAR-X model, treating Brent crude oil price volatility as an endogenous or exogenous variable in robustness checks. To overcome limitations of traditional VARs, bootstrap-corrected GIRFs are employed to trace dynamic, order-invariant impacts across key sub-periods: the global financial crisis, Brexit, COVID-19, and the Ukraine war. We also benchmark our results against the Diebold–Yilmaz connectedness index and conduct rigorous out-of-sample forecasting and Value-at-Risk backtesting. Results reveal heterogeneous spillovers: US and German shocks trigger strong, immediate, and persistent UK market volatility, reflecting deep integration; Chinese shocks are delayed and gradual, while Japanese shocks are muted or short-lived. Spillover intensity is time-varying, peaking during global crises. Our model outperforms standard benchmarks in out-of-sample volatility forecasting and risk management applications. The study offers critical insights for investors seeking international diversification and for policymakers aiming to manage systemic risk in an interconnected global financial system. Full article

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has emerged as a critical paradigm for corporate sustainable development. In the maritime industry, a sector central to global trade, ESG is gaining prominence, driven by regulatory pressures and investor demands. This study conducts a systematic literature review to map the research landscape of ESG in the shipping industry from 2020 to 2024. Employing the PRISMA methodology, we analyze 20 core academic papers from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Our findings reveal a rapidly growing research interest, with a clear thematic evolution from a singular focus on environmental issues to a more holistic, three-pillar (E, S, and G) framework. Key research hotspots identified include the relationship between ESG performance and financial performance, ESG disclosure, and risk management. While a positive correlation between good ESG practices and corporate financial performance is a recurring theme, significant challenges persist, notably inconsistent disclosure standards, fragmented global research efforts, and a lack of industry-specific evaluation frameworks. This review synthesizes the current state of knowledge, identifies critical research gaps, and proposes a forward-looking agenda focusing on developing industry-specific frameworks, analyzing external institutional impacts, and enhancing data credibility. Our findings provide a foundational reference for academics, policymakers, and industry practitioners to advance the sustainable transformation of the shipping industry. Full article

Pet health insurance can reduce the financial burden of veterinary care and ensure adequate treatment for companion animals. In France, where 67% of households own at least one pet and 68% of owners consider them family members, awareness of pet insurance reaches 94%, yet only around 5–6% of pets are insured. This review aims to provide an overview of the French pet health insurance market, analysing its structure, coverage options, and potential implications for veterinary practice. A literature review was conducted using French and English sources, complemented by simulated price quotes from major insurance companies for four virtual pets (two dogs and two cats). The analysis compared 11 major French pet insurance providers across criteria such as species covered, waiting periods, age limits, coverage rates, reimbursement mechanisms, and preventive care benefits. The results reveal significant variability in coverage options, preventive care allowances, and reimbursement procedures. Across providers, simulated annual premiums for the virtual pets ranged from EUR 71.76 to EUR 1426.44, with reimbursement rates of 50–100% and annual caps of EUR 763–2500. It can be concluded that pet insurance may help owners manage unexpected veterinary costs and encourage preventive care. However, subscription rates remain low due to limited understanding of insurance plans and perceived high costs. Wider adoption of pet insurance could improve access to care and ensure fair remuneration for veterinarians. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral driver of digital transformation in the banking sector, fundamentally influencing operational efficiency, resource allocation, and profitability. This study investigates how AI adoption affects the profitability of Chinese commercial banks and through which mechanisms these effects occur, within the context of the country’s broader financial digitalization process. Using panel data for 17 A-share listed banks in China from 2009 to 2022, we employ a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) framework—whose validity rests on the parallel trend assumption, empirically verified through an event-study specification—and combine it with propensity score matching (PSM) and placebo simulations to ensure credible causal identification. The results indicate that AI adoption significantly improves bank profitability. Mechanism analyses suggest that AI enhances profitability through two overarching channels—operational efficiency and resource allocation—manifested in (i) higher cost elasticity of income, (ii) improved deposit–loan turnover adaptability via more efficient liquidity and funding-cycle management, and (iii) optimized cross-business capital allocation efficiency through better risk–return matching in diversified operations. The effects are stronger for banks with higher digital investment intensity and tighter customer stickiness–liability cost coupling, and vary systematically across ownership types, bank sizes, and policy cycles. Overall, the findings provide policy-relevant evidence on how AI-driven digital transformation can enhance bank performance and risk management in modern financial systems. This study contributes by constructing a disclosure-based AI adoption measure from bank annual reports and exploiting staggered adoption with a multi-period DID design to provide causal evidence from China’s listed banking sector. Full article

Weather modification has gained significant and growing interest in the United States (US) in recent years. The trend can be largely attributed to the changing climate, persistent droughts, and other extreme weather events that have been experienced across various regions of the US. This paper provides a critical review of weather modification program costs, benefits, policy, and governance to help shed light on policymaking and program management associated with the growing interest in adopting weather modification as a local climate management strategy in the US. Additionally, to deepen our understanding of the widely concerning issues, such as the financial burden on taxpayers and potential environmental risks, the paper explored the local implementation challenges and common environmental and public health concerns related to weather modification activities. A synthesis of the literature and policy debates reached four general conclusions: (1) The need for weather modification programs is expected to keep growing, though regional variations may exist due to regulatory and other local factors; (2) weather modification can bring significant local benefits, ranging from enhanced agricultural yield and recreational economy to extreme weather management and public environmental health benefits; (3) state-level and local support, including financial resources, will be essential for program development in the foreseeable future; and (4) technological advancements will be critical for addressing many of the project operation efficiency challenges and environmental and public health concerns related to weather modification programs. More specifically for program governance and local implementation, aspects such as project planning (including resource pooling), risk and liability management, communication and reporting, outcome measurability, and stakeholder engagement are indispensable for addressing issues related to program legality and oversight, public acceptance, and sustainability. Full article

This study examines the evolving role of board heterogeneity, including gender diversity, board attributes, and governance practices, in shaping corporate risk outcomes. In mature governance settings, corporate risk management emerges from the interaction between board structure, independence, leadership arrangements, and boardroom composition, such that gender diversity in isolation may no longer fully capture board effectiveness. We argue that while gender diversity remains relevant, its explanatory power operates in conjunction with other board characteristics that condition the quality of decision-making in already well-functioning boards. Using multiple regression estimations on a sample of STOXX600 firms, our main outcomes show that in mature European boards gender diversity (1) improves the operational efficiency, conditional by model specification, (2) increase debts level to finance growth, thereby enabling more rapid expansion than would otherwise be possible, without pushing to extensive borrowing, while reduce leverage starting 33% (3) prevents corporate failure starting 40% women on board (4) gender-diverse boards increase liquidity when critical mass is met (33%). Overall, the findings suggest that gender-diverse boards contribute to a reconfiguration of firms’ risk exposure across operational, financial, liquidity, and failure dimensions, rather than a uniform reduction in risk. Full article

This paper aims to investigate the impact of ethnic diversity among employees and managers on firm performance, focusing on return on assets and return on equity. The analysis is conducted on a sample of 391 U.S. companies over a five-year period, 2020–2024. The quantitative framework includes a wide range of indicators related to financial performance, ethnic diversity among employees, ethnic categories of managers, and other control variables. The research methodology employs the ordinary least squares (OLS) method to highlight these effects, using fixed-effects and random-effects regression models, both linear and nonlinear. By estimating the regression models, the empirical results support the hypotheses established in the current state of the literature, indicating that ethnic diversity affects firm performance in a mixed manner, with both positive and negative effects on ROA and ROE. These findings are particularly relevant for practitioners, given the need to integrate minority representation into performance assessment, risk evaluation, and decision-making processes. Furthermore, regarding the female component within firms, this dimension contributes to the promotion of sustainability and a sound ESG-oriented approach. Consequently, social factors such as ethnicity can influence companies’ financial performance and shape how firms are perceived by investors. Full article

Digital services companies help in the digitalization and transformation of the industry in driving Malaysia by advancing the economy of the country. However, digital services companies often face financial risks in terms of liquidity, solvency, efficiency, profitability, and operational risks. These risks increase the chances of failure and financial volatility, which put the companies at a serious disadvantage. This paper proposes an integrated Entropy-Weight TOPSIS model to analyze the financial risks of the listed digital services companies within Malaysia. The entropy method helps to prevent subjective weights by reflecting on information obtained from the financial reports of the companies. This study also provides an analysis to show possible improvements for the companies. The interest coverage ratio (ICR), which measures the capability to settle interest on debt, shows the highest weight followed by the basic indicator approach (BIA) and return on asset (ROA) based on the entropy weighting method. In addition, CLOUDPT, ITMAX, and MSNIAGA are ranked as the top three digital services companies that give the highest relative closeness to the ideal solution. The results help the risk managers to identify the criteria that caused the greatest financial risk in digital services companies to formulate targeted strategies to improve the companies’ financial health. Full article

Optimizing medication management and improving patient health outcomes depend primarily on the strength of primary healthcare services, where collaboration between general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists plays a critical role. This scoping review aimed to identify the main facilitators and barriers influencing pharmacist–GP collaboration. The review was conducted in line with PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science identified studies published in English between January 2019 and May 2025, of which twenty met the inclusion criteria. Key facilitators of collaboration included pharmacist co-location within GP practices, clearly defined professional responsibilities, access to shared electronic health records, and supportive government policies. Barriers most frequently reported were limited communication pathways, insufficient interprofessional training, and financial constraints. Overall, the findings suggest that effective pharmacist–GP collaboration relies on structural integration, professional trust, and policy initiatives that enable sustained cooperation. Long-term investment in collaborative infrastructure and workforce development will be essential to strengthen primary care, support patient outcomes, and ensure more efficient use of healthcare resources. Full article

This study examines the regime-dependent threshold between fiscal and monetary policy interactions across the EU-27 states, utilizing quarterly data from 2000 to 2025. A fixed-effects panel threshold regression model has been adopted in this study, using endogenously determined debt thresholds, to assess how budget, debt, money supply, inflation, and fluctuations in interest rates interact under different debt regimes. This analysis also incorporates shock dummy variables following mild recessions and inflationary pressures, the global financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent energy price and inflationary shocks. Consequently, three major findings emerge: firstly, fiscal deficits increase unemployment across both regimes, but their positive contribution is significantly reduced by 81% in high-debt regimes. Therefore, conventional Ricardian equivalence has been supported throughout this study in terms of precautionary savings and crowding-out impacts, which further contribute to intensifying with alternative debt regimes. Secondly, monetary variables, in this paper, have demonstrated limited direct effects on unemployment mitigation that highlight the transmission mechanisms under high-debt regimes. Thirdly, the effectiveness of crisis response critically depends on existing fiscal spaces, while the debt regime is interconnected with labor market outcomes. The main findings of the study provide empirical support for the Maastricht debt criterion of 60% as a structural threshold, which is a benchmark for a fundamental shift in the policy transmission mechanism. This study has identified rules and regulations for uniform fiscal consolidation as insufficient; rather, state-contingent governance frameworks have been highly recommended for managing asymmetrical fiscal–monetary policy interactions across different debt regimes. Furthermore, it contributes to the reformation of the more impactful fiscal and monetary policy interaction rule under a monetary union. Full article