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This study examines how board characteristics influence air, water and renewable energy (AWR) disclosures in an emerging economy. It argues for the necessity of separating these disclosures to address unique environmental impacts and stakeholder concerns.

Using longitudinal data from environmentally sensitive firms (2014–2022), a disclosure index based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework was developed to quantify AWR separately. To address potential statistical issues such as endogeneity and selection bias, the analysis employed a set of robust regression models, including the industry fixed effects (FE) model, a lagged model and a two-stage least squares (2SLS) model.

Board size and audit committees positively influence all AWR disclosures, while foreign directors significantly impact air and renewable energy disclosures. Board meetings negatively affect water disclosures. Surprisingly, board independence shows no significant impact, and gender diversity has no notable relationship. Post-amendment, firms increased AWR disclosures, though participation remains limited.

Grounded in legitimacy theory, this study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how separating the unique characteristics of AWR disclosures offers stakeholders more precise insights into how firms manage specific environmental concerns. The findings are based on data from listed firms in Bangladesh and may not be generalisable to unlisted firms or other regions.

The study emphasises the importance of distinct AWR reporting, offering valuable insights for regulators and corporate boards to improve transparency and sustainability practices.

Separating AWR disclosures provides stakeholders with clearer assessments of firms' environmental performance, promoting accountability and informed decision-making.

This study uniquely emphasises the need for disaggregating air, water and renewable energy disclosures in emerging economies. By focussing on each environmental issue separately, the research highlights how distinct disclosures offer clearer insights into how firms address specific environmental challenges, such as air pollution, water management and the transition to renewable energy sources. This disaggregation is essential for stakeholders – particularly regulators, investors and policymakers – to assess and respond to firms' sustainability efforts accurately.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained tremendous importance after several corporate scandals, financial crises and the rise of the hyper-competitive world. Firms must address multiple stakeholders’ interests to increase firm value. This study aims to investigate the effect of CSR on firm value. This study also examines the mediating role of enterprise risk management (ERM) and the moderating influence of corporate governance (CG) in this CSR-firm value relationship.

The sample of the study comprises 119 Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) listed firms and the study covers the period from 2010 to 2021. The corporate social responsibility performance has been quantified across five dimensions. These aspects are product, environment, employee relations, diversity and community. Four proxies i.e. strategy, operation, reporting and compliance, have been used to measure ERM. The governance quality of the sample companies was evaluated using the governance index, which included 29 governance provisions. The authors used the dynamic panel data technique (system-GMM) is used to achieve the objectives of the study. Furthermore, a firm’s engagement in CSR activities can also be measured through a multinational financial approach to check the robustness of the result.

Based on the regression analysis, the authors discovered that CSR was positively connected with firm value, validating the stakeholder view of CSR. Furthermore, following Baron and Kenny’s (1986) mediation technique, the findings confirm that ERM mediates this association. These results are robust by using the bootstrapping tests by Preacher and Hayes (2004). Furthermore, the result shows that corporate governance (CG) is positively connected with firm performance, and this relationship is strengthened in the presence of an effective governance system in the organization.

This study provides useful insights to regulators, investors and policymakers to consider CSR as a value-enhancing factor and encourage the development of enterprise risk management and compliance with CG mechanisms to improve firm value.

The presented analysis strengthens the existing CSR–firm value relationship by analyzing the mediating and moderating roles of ERM and CG, which have not yet been tested, particularly in the context of Pakistan.

The objective of the research is to examine the impact of global governance and macroeconomic indicators on the lending capacity of banks in India.

Employing a comprehensive time series dataset spanning from 1996 to 2022, we utilize the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag model approach to investigate the short-run and long-run impact of government policy (GP) effectiveness, lending interest rates and remittance inflows (RI) on the lending capacity of banks in India.

The findings of the study indicate that lending interest rates have a statistically insignificant impact on lending capacity in the short term. However, in the long run, an increase in the lending interest rate leads to a decrease in lending capacity, whereas a decrease in the lending interest rate has a non-significant impact. On the other hand, the effectiveness of GPs affects both short-term and long-term lending capacity. In the short run, positive or negative changes in GP effectiveness lead to a decline in lending capacity. Whereas in the long run, a positive shock in GP effectiveness increases lending capacity, while a negative shock decreases it. Lastly, RI indicated no significant short-term impact on the lending capacity of the banks. Conversely, in the long run, a positive change in RI enhances lending capacity, whereas a negative change in RI reduces it, with a more pronounced effect.

The novelty of the study lies in the fact that it is a pioneering study that utilizes global governance and macroeconomic indicators to examine the impact on the lending capacity of banks and financial institutions in India. Moreover, the study adopts a non-linear approach to examine the relationship between the chosen variables, which enables an understanding of the impact of both positive and negative shocks on the dependent variable both in the short and long run. Lastly, the examination sheds light on the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 8.10, which is related to financial inclusion and it is a major concern for a large developing nation like India.

Previous studies emphasized the substantial energy-saving potential of light emitting diode (LED) lighting systems, especially in the clothing industry. However, the specific quantification of energy conservation potential in industrial factories, particularly in Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) sector, remains unexplored. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential energy savings and efficiency improvements of lighting systems in Bangladesh’s RMG sector using LED technology.

Understanding and optimizing energy consumption is crucial in the RMG sector because this sector contributes significantly to the country’s export earnings. For this, an RMG factory was surveyed and possible lighting system retrofitting was estimated and compared.

The adoption of energy-efficient lighting options, particularly LED, could decrease the current lighting energy usage from 15% to 7.5% in Bangladesh. First, this study reveals, that the reduction of annual energy consumption was determined to be 18,220 kWh due to the retrofitting of the lighting system with LED tube. Second, it conducts real-time measurements to assess the suitability of in-building lighting systems, providing insights into the current scenario. Lastly, it evaluates the economic and environmental benefits of the proposed lighting system in the RMG industries. Due to the retrofitting of the lighting system, the reduction of equivalent CO₂ gas emissions was found to be 119.896 tCO₂.

For the first time, this study explored the potential for enhancing energy-efficient lighting system design through retrofitting in the RMG industry, with a focus on Bangladesh. By addressing these aspects, this study aims to contribute to the advancement of energy efficiency and conservation efforts in the RMG sector, ultimately fostering sustainable industrial development in Bangladesh and beyond.

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) a group of five emerging nations that are expected to lead the global economy by the year 2050. The growth potential of these nations attracts investors from all over the world who are in search of maximizing the return on their investments and limiting the losses to the lowest possible level. The purpose of this research study is to determine whether or not Indian stock market investors can diversify their stock market portfolios into other BRICS economies.

A daily frequency of stock market closing data for the BRICS nations over a period of 2013–2021 has been considered and several econometric techniques have been applied. Starting with the Granger causality test for checking the direction of causality. The VAR technique is applied to find out whether the movement in the Indian stock market is influenced by its own past values or the past values of the other BRICS nations, and lastly, the DCC-MGARCH technique is applied to check the degree of integration or the volatility spillover from the Indian stock market to the stock markets of other BRICS nations.

The results of the study indicated that in both the short term and long term, stock market volatility is spilling over from the Indian stock market to the stock markets of other BRICS nations. Hence, the study suggests that BRICS nations cannot be a destination for portfolio diversification for Indian stock market investors.

The stock markets of emerging nations experience high volatility, which creates confusion for investors as to whether to invest or to abstain from portfolio diversification. At present, there is a gap in the existing literature to capture the stock market volatility of BRICS nations. This research study fills this research gap and confirms that BRICS nations cannot be a destination for portfolio diversification. Moreover, equity market experts, portfolio managers and researchers can all take advantage of this study.

This study aims to examine the influence of global and local structural factors on reducing poverty.

The research uses data spanning from 1996–2022 and uses the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model. This model allows for the assessment of the short and long-term effects of remittance inflow (RI) growth, control on corruption and employment rate (ER) on poverty reduction in India.

The research findings indicate that in the short run, an increase in international RIs, a higher control of corruption and a greater ERare associated with a decrease in poverty in India. Specifically, a positive change in RIs and control of corruption significantly reduces poverty, while an increase in the ERhas a substantial impact. However, in the long run, only a positive change in RIs and a higher control of corruption continue to significantly reduce poverty.

This study makes several significant contributions to the existing literature. First, it examines the simultaneous impact of three structural factors on poverty, offering insights into their combined long-term effects on the economy. Second, unlike previous studies, this research investigates the nonlinear effects on poverty, which is particularly relevant for developing nations. Lastly, this study aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 1, which aims to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. The findings of this study are expected to assist Indian policymakers in formulating effective poverty eradication strategies and provide guidance for other developing nations facing similar challenges.

The purpose of this research is to develop a predictive model that can estimate the volume of remittances channeled toward Yemen’s economic reconstruction efforts.

This study utilized a time-series dataset encompassing remittance inflows into Yemen’s economy from 1990 to 2022. The Box-Jenkins autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) methodology was employed to forecast remittance inflows for the period 2023 to 2030.

The study’s findings indicate a downward trajectory in remittance inflows over the next eight years, with projections suggesting a potential decline to 4.122% of Yemen’s gross domestic product by the end of 2030. This significant decrease in remittance inflows highlights the immediate need for concrete steps from economic policymakers to curb the potential decline in remittance inflows and its impact on Yemen’s economic recovery efforts.

The impact of global remittance inflows on various macroeconomic and microeconomic factors has long been of interest to researchers, policymakers, and academics. Yemen has been embroiled in violent clashes over a decade, leading to a fragmentation of central authority and the formation of distinct local alliances. In such prolonged turmoil, foreign aid often falls short, providing only temporary relief for basic needs. Consequently, the importance of migrant remittances in sustaining communities affected by conflict and disasters has increased. Remittances have played a crucial role in fostering economic progress and improving social services for families transitioning from conflict to peace. Therefore, this study aims to estimate and forecast the volume of remittances flowing into Yemen, to assist in the nation’s economic reconstruction.

A company’s dividend policy is determined not just by its strategy but also by the qualities of its managers, particularly overconfidence. As a result, the purpose of this study is to explore the impact of CEO overconfidence on dividend policy using the dividend payout ratio and dividend yield ratio.

The study’s sample includes 170 non-financial enterprises listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange between 2011 and 2022. Furthermore, we used corporate governance and firm-specific factors as control variables. The fixed effect model based on the Hausman test result and dynamic system GMM estimation technique was employed in the analysis. Furthermore, the dividend dummy variable and alternative proxies of dividend payments are used to ensure the results are robust.

The findings indicate that CEOs’ overconfidence positively impacts dividend payout and dividend yield ratios. Further analysis reveals that board size and remuneration committee significantly impact dividend payment among corporate governance control variables, while block holding has a negative effect. Among firm-specific control variables, the results suggest that firm size, profitability, and market-to-book ratio are significantly positively associated. In contrast, the coefficient of variation and debt ratio are inversely associated with dividend payments.

Managerial overconfidence benefits shareholders by increasing dividend payouts, but firms may struggle in the long run if they do not have adequate retained earnings to meet capital requirements. Dividends and retained earnings must be balanced to make enough funds available for long-term investment in capital-intensive projects.

Although little previous research has focused on the managerial overconfidence-dividend policy relationship, the authors believe this is the first study to test this relationship generally in emerging markets, particularly Pakistan.

This paper aims to explore the use and impact of social media, specifically Twitter (now X), in political mobilization in Pakistan. It focuses on the events followed by the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan as Pakistan’s prime minister in April 2022 and the protest campaign that ensued, facilitated through the strategic use of the Urdu hashtag #امپورٹڈ_حکومت_نامنظور (translated as “imported-government unacceptable”) on Twitter, both within and outside Pakistan.

Using Web scraping, data from Twitter was extracted and analyzed between 2022 and 2023. By probing into user account profiles and interactions with this hashtag, this paper investigates the claims surrounding the hashtag’s popularity, by identifying suspicious accounts and their contributions in the trending of the hashtag.

Findings suggest that the claim of the hashtag's unprecedented success was overhyped, further suggesting that the popularity and impact of the social media campaign were exaggerated. Despite high engagement rates, the study indicates a discrepancy between perceived influence and actual impact on public sentiment and political mobilization.

This paper contributes to the literature on social media’s role in political mobilization and agenda-setting in the Pakistani context. More generally, understanding hashtag dynamics and their impact on shaping public opinion, may be beneficial to academics and practitioners in better understanding the role of digital platforms in the politics.

The relationships between transformational leadership (TL), organizational climate (OC) and project performance have been investigated by previous studies, but no review of existing studies has systematically analyzed the effects of TL and OC on project performance in the industrial revolution (IR) 5.0 era. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a systematic literature review on the effects of TL and OC on project performance in IR 5.0, and to identify mainstream research topics, research gaps and future research directions.

To do this, a total of 53 included journal articles were obtained after initially retrieving 648 documents from the Scopus database by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. It consists of four main steps, namely, identification of documents, screening, eligibility and included articles. In addition, science mapping analyses were conducted for keyword co-occurrence and document analyses, which aided in identifying the mainstream research topics, research gaps and future research directions.

The results report the annual publication trends, keywords and document analyses. Furthermore, a detailed qualitative discussion highlighted four mainstream research topics including TL in project management; the relationship between TL, OC and innovation; safety climate; and OC in project management. Moreover, this review study identified four research gaps and future research directions aligned with the mainstream research topics. They include: longitudinal investigations and multinational corporation surveys in TL; scope and longitudinal data in innovation; mono-method bias and universality of safety climate; and more comprehensive analyses of OC.

This review study would contribute to not only advancing the effects of TL and OC on project performance in IR 5.0, but also enabling project managers to understand TL or OC issues to improve project performance.