Search Results (231)

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PESs) have become a central instrument in global biodiversity finance, yet endangered species-specific PESs remain rare and poorly understood in implementation terms. Taiwan provides a revealing case: a three-year program paying farmers to conserve four threatened species—Prionailurus bengalensis, Lutra lutra, Tyto longimembris, and Hydrophasianus chirurgus—in working farmland across Taiwan and Kinmen island. Through semi-structured interviews with farmers, residents, and local conservation actors, we examine how payments are interpreted, rationalized, enacted, and emotionally experienced at the ground level. This study adopts Colaizzi’s data analysis method, the primary advantage of which lies in its ability to systematically transform fragmented and emotive interview narratives into a logically structured essential description. This is achieved through the rigorous extraction of significant statements and the subsequent synthesis of thematic clusters. Participants reported willingness to continue not only because subsidies offset losses, but because rarity, community pride, and the visible arc of “we helped this creature survive” became internalized rewards. NGOs amplified this shift by translating science into farm practice and “normalizing” coexistence. In practice, conservation work became a social project—identifying threats, altering routines, and defending habitat as a shared civic act. This study does not estimate treatment-effect size; instead, it delivers mechanistic insight at a live policy moment, as Taiwan expands PESs and the OECD pushes incentive reform. The finding is simple and strategically important: endangered-species PESs work best where payments trigger meaning—not where payments replace it. Full article

Introduction: Rare diseases disperse expertise across institutions and borders, making structured second-opinion systems a pragmatic way to concentrate subspecialty knowledge and reduce diagnostic delays. This scoping review mapped the design, governance, adoption, and impacts of such services across implementation scales. Objectives: To describe how second-opinion services for rare diseases are organized and governed, to characterize technological and workflow models, to summarize benefits and barriers, and to identify priority evidence gaps for implementation. Methods: Using a population–concept–context approach, we included peer-reviewed studies describing implemented second-opinion systems for rare diseases and excluded isolated case reports, purely conceptual proposals, and work outside this focus. Searches in August 2025 covered PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane Library, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and LILACS without date limits and were restricted to English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Two reviewers screened independently, and the data were charted with a standardized, piloted form. No formal critical appraisal was undertaken, and the synthesis was descriptive. Results: Initiatives were clustered by scale (European networks, national programs, regional systems, international collaborations) and favored hybrid models over asynchronous and synchronous ones. Across settings, services shared reproducible workflows and provided faster access to expertise, quicker decision-making, and more frequent clarification of care plans. These improvements were enabled by transparent governance and dedicated support but were constrained by platform complexity, the effort required to assemble panels, uneven incentives, interoperability gaps, and medico-legal uncertainty. Conclusions: Systematized second-opinion services for rare diseases are feasible and clinically relevant. Progress hinges on usability, aligned incentives, and pragmatic interoperability, advancing from registries toward bidirectional electronic health record connections, alongside prospective evaluations of outcomes, equity, experience, effectiveness, and costs. Full article

In the face of increasingly severe global environmental challenges, corporate environmental information disclosure (CEID) has become a critical link connecting national ecological governance goals with firms’ green development practices. From the perspective of green signaling, this study examines whether government environmental concerns (GEC) in China incentivize CEID and the mechanisms underlying this effect. We theoretically elaborate the transmission pathways and moderating effects of GEC, and measure GEC and CEID indicators using text analysis of local government work reports and corporate annual reports. Based on a series of empirical tests on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2008 to 2023, we find that: (1) GEC can significantly enhance CEID by attracting green investors and fostering greater media scrutiny. (2) Green technological innovation exhibits a masking effect, which reveals a counterintuitive mechanism whereby stringent environmental regulation may divert innovation resources toward pollution control investments. (3) The impact of GEC is positively moderated by external volatility such as climate policy and market uncertainty and internal capabilities such as firms’ digital transformation. (4) Further heterogeneity analysis shows that GEC has a more significant impact on non-state-owned enterprises, enterprises in heavily polluting industries, and those in the mature or declining stage. This study provides a new theoretical lens for understanding the dynamic interplay between institutional pressure and corporate behavioral responses, and offers empirical insights for calibrating the intensity of GEC to maximize incentives for firms to engage in sustainable practices. Full article

As global demand for critical minerals intensifies with the expansion of energy transition technologies and advanced manufacturing, developing sustainable and efficient exploration strategies has become a national priority. In this shift, AI-driven exploration technologies are emerging as a transformative force, reshaping how mineral resources are discovered, assessed, and managed. This study analyzes the global research landscape in critical mineral exploration by examining patent and scientific publication data to evaluate both research efficiency and knowledge spillover capacity. Using data envelopment analysis and super-efficiency modeling, we compare national R&D performance, identify leading countries, and quantify diffusion dynamics. The results reveal significant disparities: countries such as the United States, South Korea, and Canada demonstrate high research efficiency and strong spillover effects, supported by active innovation ecosystems and technological adoption. In contrast, resource-rich nations including China, Australia, and Russia show limited diffusion due to weaker AI-based innovation incentives and insufficient industry–academia collaboration. Italy stands out as an effective model of policy-driven R&D utilization and technological diffusion. These findings highlight the strategic importance of combining AI-enabled exploration, qualitative research impact, and international cooperation. The study offers policy implications for countries seeking to strengthen resource security and enhance competitiveness through sustainable and innovation-driven mineral exploration. Full article

Using data on China’s A-share listed manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2023 and employing fixed-effects models, this study examines the impact of digital–intelligent transformation on manufacturing firms’ total factor productivity, as well as its underlying mechanisms and economic significance. The results show that digital–intelligent transformation significantly enhances manufacturing firms’ total factor productivity by improving the utilization of data and technological elements. These findings remain consistent across a series of robustness checks. Further analysis reveals that both internal incentives and external pressures positively reinforce the effect of digital–intelligent transformation on manufacturing firms’ total factor productivity. Full article

By employing the 2017 reform of China’s financial statement presentation as an exogenous shock, we evaluate how the change shapes the likelihood of stock price crashes. Our analysis indicates that firms affected by the reform exhibit notably higher crash risk after the new reporting format is adopted, and this finding remains consistent across multiple robustness checks. The increase in crash risk can be largely attributed to managerial incentives to manage earnings by reclassifying held-for-sale assets and other special items. Moreover, the reform exerts a stronger effect on firms that exhibit poor information transparency and receive little oversight from internal and external monitors. Full article

The Trump administration signalled a shift toward protectionism in U.S. trade policy, imposing tariffs on imports from both strategic partners and competitors, which generated renewed uncertainty in international trade relations and the future of existing frameworks such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). Earlier analysis has shown that a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the United States can be trade-creating and lead to improved macroeconomic outcomes in SACU countries. However, these positive effects decline over time, with varying impacts across different industries, influenced by initial tariff levels and export orientation relative to the US. This paper examines whether there are economic and strategic incentives for SACU to negotiate a more beneficial agreement than a simple across-the-board elimination of ad valorem import tariffs. Using a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, the paper examines the outcomes if cereals, poultry, dairy products, red meat, and sugar products—often classified as sensitive due to their labour intensity, food security implications, and exposure to import competition—were to retain some level of protection under a SACU–US Free Trade Agreement. The results suggest that while the FTA boosts key macroeconomic indicators in the short run, gains taper off over time. Crucially, real wages and employment remain stagnant, and terms of trade deteriorate, raising questions about the inclusivity and sustainability of such a deal. Shielding vulnerable sectors initially enhances SACU’s exports and supports some industry growth, particularly in agriculture. However, without broader reforms and export diversification, long-term competitiveness remains weak. A nuanced FTA design, combined with structural support policies, is essential to unlock lasting and inclusive trade benefits. Full article

Romania faces a double challenge in the swine production sector. On one hand, the European Union’s environmental agenda demands that member states drastically reduce both the carbon footprint and the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry by 2030. On the other hand, the Romanian swine industry still grapples with long-standing internal issues such as excessive fragmentation, a strong dependence on imported piglets and feed materials, and a clear shortage of modern management experience. This study set out to explore how the ADKAR model can serve as a structured approach to help commercial swine farms in Romania transition toward sustainability. To gather relevant data, researchers distributed a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire to 83 farm managers, out of the 361 officially registered commercial swine farms. The instrument was designed to assess how each farm positioned itself across the five ADKAR dimensions. The results revealed that most Romanian farm managers are highly aware of the need for change and show a generally positive attitude toward adopting sustainable practices. However, there remain considerable knowledge gaps and practical limitations, which continue to act as major barriers to effective implementation. The composite ADKAR-S Index, which measures the “sustainability maturity” of each farm, displayed a strong positive correlation with economic performance, particularly the profit margin (r ≈ 0.45, p < 0.001), and a significant negative correlation with antimicrobial use (r ≈ −0.50, p < 0.001). Simply put, farms that are better prepared for organizational transformation tend to perform better financially while also reducing their environmental footprint. The findings suggest that policy efforts should prioritize human capital development, especially through training programs and reinforcement systems such as continuous monitoring and staff incentives, to ensure that sustainable practices are not only adopted but also maintained in the long run. Full article

This paper investigates the impact of corporate ESG performance on internal pay gaps using data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2023. Our study finds that, after controlling for relevant variables and fixed effects for firms and years, corporate ESG performance significantly widens the internal pay gap. To address endogeneity concerns, we use policy shocks, construct instrumental variables with the number of ESG investment fund holdings, and apply propensity score matching methods, all of which support our main findings. Furthermore, the negative impact of ESG performance on internal pay equality is mainly driven by compensation incentives and corporate financialization. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the negative effect of ESG performance on internal pay gaps is less pronounced in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-manufacturing firms. Additionally, charitable donations and strengthened agency mechanisms can effectively mitigate excessive internal pay gaps. This paper offers a novel theoretical perspective on corporate sustainable development and provides significant implications for internal pay policy formulation and governmental policies aimed at reducing income inequality. Full article

The main objective of this article is to conduct a literature review on the use of open innovation (OI) for green transition to identify tools and methods that can make green transition more effective, efficient, and socially acceptable. This review is accompanied by an attempt to answer the following research questions: R1. How can open innovation be used in the economy and by individual entities to achieve the goals of the green transition? R2. How can individual stakeholders be activated and motivated to participate in the process of creating open innovation for the green transition? and R3. What are the real effects of using open innovation on a macroeconomic, social, and individual scale? The results allow concluding that OI is used by enterprises, cities, regions, and entire economies. Among the methods of activating and motivating individual stakeholders to engage in the process of creating OI for green transition, the following can be selected: (1) internal resources and competencies (knowledge management, internal programs, open leadership, trust, complementarity of resources); (2) partnership characteristics (modern business models, involvement of partnership intermediaries, strengthening relationships with suppliers and customers, involvement of prosumers, cooperation with universities and research institutions); (3) external legal and regulatory conditions (protection of intellectual property rights, pro-innovation and pro-environmental education systems, creation of a legal framework for cooperation between science and business); and (4) external technical and organizational solutions (online platforms, social media, Living Labs, external sources of knowledge). The most frequently mentioned individual effects of open innovation in the energy sector include: improved efficiency, effectiveness and competitiveness in environmental management and the implementation of sustainable development, as well as the use of modern technologies. At the economic level, OI supports investment and economic growth. It can also have a positive impact on reducing energy poverty and developing renewable energy sources, including in emerging economies. This form of innovation also promotes social integration and the creation of social values. The findings of this review can be utilized by scholars to identify current and future research directions. They may also prove valuable for practitioners as both an incentive to engage in open innovation and guidance for its design and implementation. Furthermore, the results can contribute to disseminating knowledge about open innovation and its role in the green transformation. Full article

This study provides empirical evidence of tax-induced profit-shifting by multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in Morocco, an underexplored developing country context characterized by notable tax arbitrage potential. Using a micro-level panel dataset of foreign-owned subsidiaries from 2014 to 2023, we employ a pseudo-ordinary least squares (POLS) framework to examine how corporate income tax (CIT) differentials affect subsidiaries’ earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT). The results indicate that higher CIT differentials significantly reduce reported profits, supporting the indirect evidence on corporate profit-shifting behaviour. Our findings also document that the effect of the CIT differential on EBIT is moderated by firm capitalization. However, contrary to investment distortion theory, subsidiaries do not reduce investment in response to higher effective capital costs. This study also assesses the impact of Morocco’s implementation of BEPS, the COVID-19 shock, and institutional quality indicators on subsidiaries’ reported EBIT. The findings highlight the strategic role of capital structure and governance in shaping MNCs’ tax-motivated behaviour. This study contributes to the literature on international taxation and corporate finance and offers important policy implications for developing economies seeking to balance revenue integrity, investment incentives, and robust anti-avoidance enforcement. Full article

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of international tourist arrivals in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) is studied in this paper using the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model comprising a pulse function covariate vector evaluated via trial and error as an exogenous variable (SARIMAX). This paper provides a methodological innovation that combines outlier detection with intervention quantification so that tourism academics and practitioners can correctly capture estimated economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the response to it. In the pre-intervention modelling, four additive outliers and innovative outliers were detected and incorporated into the SARIMAX$(1,1,1)({0,1,2)}_{12}$ model, which significantly lowered the model’s evaluation metrics, making it the best fitting pre-intervention model. Next, from March 2020 to June 2025 (end of dataset), it is shown that the estimated total losses amount to 7,328,919 tourists compared to if there been no pandemic. This means that the number of tourist arrivals in the RSA has not yet returned to the pre-COVID-19 forecasted path as of June 2025, indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have long-term negative effects on the RSA’s number of tourist arrivals. Therefore, more efforts must be focused on developing innovative and advanced statistical models to assist the RSA government and private entities in creating incentives for investment, planning more effectively, providing societies reliant on tourism with more resources, and creating suitable regulations that boost the economy through the tourism sector. Full article

According to the International Maritime Organization, transitioning to alternative fuels is essential to achieving net-zero carbon emissions. Seafarers are at the frontline of this transition, and in this study, their attitude toward this strategy is analyzed using the technology acceptance model. The alternative fuels analyzed are liquefied natural gas (LNG) and methanol as short-term options and hydrogen and ammonia as long-term options. The analyzed seafarers are from South Korea, where alternative fuels are actively incorporated into shipbuilding and training. Across all fuels, perceived ease of use (PEOU) positively affected perceived usefulness (PU). PEOU and PU positively influenced attitude toward using (ATT). ATT and trust (TRU) significantly increased behavioral intention (BI), a finding that aligns with those of prior studies, while operational safety risk (OSR) also showed a positive effect on ATT. This indicates that seafarers became more aware of the need to use alternative fuels and expected improvements in managing related risks. Unlike OSR, environmental risk (ER) negatively affected ATT for hydrogen, consistent with prior risk perception studies. These findings suggest that to encourage alternative fuel use during the shipping industry’s energy transition, operational ease, enhanced risk management systems, and basic competency training and incentives are necessary to positively shape seafarers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions. Full article

Concerns about the increasing ecological harm caused by human activities have led to greater recognition of the need to address environmental degradation. Policymakers are implementing actions and strategies to alleviate the detrimental effects of climate-change-driven environmental degradation. One of the policy tools for internalizing the external costs of environmental degradation is eco-taxation, which provides incentives for businesses and individuals to adopt cleaner technologies. Investment in renewable energy has surged in solar and wind due to technological advancements, policy backing, and cost reductions. This study examines the long-term environmental effects of eco-taxation and renewable electricity in France between 1998 and 2020, utilizing a novel Fourier autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) econometric model. The results indicate that eco-taxation and renewable electricity have nonlinear and asymmetric effects on the environmental sustainability of France. In terms of policy implications, these findings provide policymakers in France with nonlinear and asymmetric insights. The government could optimize eco-taxation design and revenue recycling by integrating its existing green budget approaches with mainstream climate objectives into all government spending and taxation, thereby ensuring policy consistency and preventing environmentally harmful subsidies. Additionally, France could accelerate and diversify renewable deployment by committing to higher renewable generation targets, given the positive nonlinear impact without a rebound effect, or investing in grid flexibility and interconnection through grid modernization, smart grids, and cross-border interconnections. Full article

This study explores the psychosocial factors that predispose young e-scooter users (18 to 24 years) to engage in illegal speeding by adopting a theory-driven approach across the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The study, based on survey data of 474 participants, and analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), found that emotional regulation and internal locus of control predict speeding intention and behavior and are significantly negative (β = +0.66 and β = −0.52, respectively). Satisfactory robustness was assured by model fit indices (0.93 CFI, 0.91 TLI, 0.045 RMSEA, and 0.071 SRMR). Findings indicate that the effect of emotional regulation is more on attitude and perception of behavioral control, but the connection between self-regulation and speeding intention is mediated by internal control. The inclusion of psychosocial variables in the TPB contributes to the behavioral theory of micro-mobility contexts and the behavioral study of sustainable-mobility research to emotional and cognitive aspects of risk behavior. The policy suggestions include incorporating short emotion-management courses into rider-training applications, collaborating with scooter-sharing institutions on incentive-based safety interventions, and developing interventions that promote responsibility, self-control, and emotional sensitivity among young people. These results reiterate the fact that psychological antecedents of risky riding require attention to achieve socially and environmentally sustainable urban mobility. Full article