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This study underscores the critical importance of well-functioning sewer systems in achieving smart and sustainable urban drainage within cities. It specifically targets the pressing issue of sewer overflows (SO), widely recognized for their detrimental impact on the environment and public health. The primary purpose of this research is to bridge significant research gaps by investigating the root causes of SO incidents and comprehending their broader ecological consequences.

To fill research gaps, the study introduces the Multi-Phase Causal Inference Fuzzy-Based Framework (MCIF). MCIF integrates the fuzzy Delphi technique, fuzzy DEMATEL method, fuzzy TOPSIS technique and expert interviews. Drawing on expertise from developed countries, MCIF systematically identifies and prioritizes SO causes, explores causal interrelationships, prioritizes environmental impacts and compiles mitigation strategies.

The study's findings are multifaceted and substantially contribute to addressing SO challenges. Utilizing the MCIF, the research effectively identifies and prioritizes causal factors behind SO incidents, highlighting their relative significance. Additionally, it unravels intricate causal relationships among key factors such as blockages, flow velocity, infiltration and inflow, under-designed pipe diameter and pipe deformation, holes or collapse, providing a profound insight into the intricate web of influences leading to SO.

This study introduces originality by presenting the innovative MCIF tailored for SO mitigation. The combination of fuzzy techniques, expert input and holistic analysis enriches the existing knowledge. These findings pave the way for informed decision-making and proactive measures to achieve sustainable urban drainage systems.

The study evaluates whether an application of Ind-AS that converged with IFRS in India has enhanced financial reporting quality (FRQ) and how that is reflected in financial performance (FP).

Design/methodology/approach: The study uses discretionary accruals (DACC) to measure FRQ. In addition, it uses ordinary least square (OLS) regression to examine the association between Corporate Governance attributes, FRQ, and financial performance for a sample of 24 textile companies from 2010 to 2021.

The results indicate that adopting IFRS has a role in monitoring CG attributes to enhance FRQ; this means the financial reporting qualit improves somewhat with some CG attributes under Ind-AS. In addition, the results demonstrate that financial reporting quality positively influences FP.

There are significant effects on authorities and decision-makers. The findings from this research can benefit lawmakers by providing Ind-AS policy enforcement with more consideration. The results are also helpful for policymakers who want to improve CG and need proof of the significance of high FRQ in this respect.

Given the dearth of research on FRQ in India, the study extends prior literature on FRQ by examining the quality of financial reporting according to the transformation to IFRS in Indian textile firms. The theoretical contribution of the current study is the testing of agency theory towards practices of corporate governance mechanisms on FRQ and FP in the context of the textile sector.

The number of construction dispute cases has maintained a high growth trend in recent years. The effective exploration and management of construction contract risk can directly promote the overall performance of the project life cycle. The miss of clauses may result in a failure to match with standard contracts. If the contract, modified by the owner, omits key clauses, potential disputes may lead to contractors paying substantial compensation. Therefore, the identification of construction project contract missing clauses has heavily relied on the manual review technique, which is inefficient and highly restricted by personnel experience. The existing intelligent means only work for the contract query and storage. It is urgent to raise the level of intelligence for contract clause management. Therefore, this paper aims to propose an intelligent method to detect construction project contract missing clauses based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and deep learning technology.

A complete classification scheme of contract clauses is designed based on NLP. First, construction contract texts are pre-processed and converted from unstructured natural language into structured digital vector form. Following the initial categorization, a multi-label classification of long text construction contract clauses is designed to preliminary identify whether the clause labels are missing. After the multi-label clause missing detection, the authors implement a clause similarity algorithm by creatively integrating the image detection thought, MatchPyramid model, with BERT to identify missing substantial content in the contract clauses.

1,322 construction project contracts were tested. Results showed that the accuracy of multi-label classification could reach 93%, the accuracy of similarity matching can reach 83%, and the recall rate and F1 mean of both can reach more than 0.7. The experimental results verify the feasibility of intelligently detecting contract risk through the NLP-based method to some extent.

NLP is adept at recognizing textual content and has shown promising results in some contract processing applications. However, the mostly used approaches of its utilization for risk detection in construction contract clauses predominantly are rule-based, which encounter challenges when handling intricate and lengthy engineering contracts. This paper introduces an NLP technique based on deep learning which reduces manual intervention and can autonomously identify and tag types of contractual deficiencies, aligning with the evolving complexities anticipated in future construction contracts. Moreover, this method achieves the recognition of extended contract clause texts. Ultimately, this approach boasts versatility; users simply need to adjust parameters such as segmentation based on language categories to detect omissions in contract clauses of diverse languages.

This examine the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance on financial reporting quality (FRQ) before and during COVID-19 in the Egyptian market.

This study uses quarterly data from 2017 to 2021 to draw conclusions, with a sample consisting of 486 firm-year observations for 27 Egyptian companies listed on the Standard and Poor’s/Egyptian Stock Exchange ESG index. This study uses both firms’ ESG scores and the Beneish Model, an earnings detection model, as proxies for FRQ. COVID-19 effects on ESG performance and FRQ were examined by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and two-stage least squares.

COVID-19 has a significant impact on the link between ESG and FRQ. This implies that corporations with high ESG performance are less likely to manipulate earnings (having a low M-score) and thus provide high FRQ during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, there is a significant positive relationship between firm size, leverage and M-Score, indicating that large firms typically present a high FRQ.

The sample size and data availability are the main research limitations. Additionally, this study only considers the effects of firms’ ESG performance on FRQ during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, future research should consider other factors associated with investors’ corporate social responsibility (CSR).

This research has practical implications for market regulators seeking to establish a legislative framework and enhance guidance to mandate managers to provide ESG data and CSR reports appropriate for Egypt and other developing economies in times of crisis.

Promoting the adoption of ESG practices in business, particularly during crises, has the potential to effectively provide high-quality and reliable financial reporting required for investment.

This study aspires to address notable deficiencies in the pertinent literature concerning the relationship between ESG performance and FRQ during COVID-19. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, little is known about how ESG performance changes in response to pandemics in emerging markets. To address this gap, this study examines the effects of COVID-19 on the relationship between ESG performance and FRQ in Egyptian-listed firms from 2017 to 2021.

The construction industry plays a significant economic role but has struggled with improving labor productivity. Understanding the reasons behind this slow growth is valuable for the industry’s sustainability and improving wages. This study aims to explore the impact of capital intensity and the interaction effect of market regulations on construction labor productivity.

Using two-stage least squares panel data modeling, financial data from 55 Malaysian construction firms and economic data from 2009 to 2020 are analyzed.

The findings reveal that higher capital intensity associated with mechanization and innovation generally boosts labor productivity. However, certain market regulations, such as economic and capital freedom (ECF) and foreign debt rules (FDR), can counteract this positive effect. This suggests that poorly developed financial regulations may lead to inefficient capital allocation, reducing labor productivity in the long run.

The study highlights the importance of policymakers understanding these dynamics to develop effective strategies for enhancing labor productivity in the construction industry by considering the impact of capital intensity and the moderating effect of market regulation.

This study aims to assess the factors influencing the effective implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) practices within the context of sustainable accounting goals and circular economy principles. It seeks to provide insights into the significance of EPR policies for manufacturing industries striving to enhance their environmental, social and governance performance while ensuring sustainable accounting of their business operations.

The methodology proposed in this article is based on the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique. This approach formulates a structural framework for evaluating influential elements among critical recognized factors. By using DEMATEL, the study examines the interconnectedness between assessed factors through a cause-and-effect diagram, facilitating the integration of EPR into sustainable accounting practices.

The research findings reveal that the most impactful contributors to sustainable accounting practices of EPR within the framework of sustainable development goals and circular economy are producers, consumers, eco-design, public awareness and the support of local authorities. These findings underscore the importance of considering these factors in implementing EPR and advancing sustainable accounting practices.

This paper contributes to the literature by proposing a DEMATEL-based model for evaluating the factors affecting the implementation of EPR within the context of sustainable accounting goals and circular economy principles.

This study aims to comprehensively examine the relationship between initial public offering (IPO) activities and macroeconomic factors in Sri Lanka.

This study uses principal component analysis (PCA) and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) techniques to examine the relationship between IPO activities and macroeconomic factors. Ten macroeconomic variables are transformed into principal components (factors) using PCA. Then, ARDL is applied to investigate the long- and short-term relationships between IPO activities and the transformed macroeconomic factors.

The empirical investigation identifies three principal factors from the ten macroeconomic variables, of which two factors have a significant long-run association with IPO activities: “return on investment (RTOI)” and “economic and market development (ECMD).” In the short run, “trade openness and banking sector development (TOBD)” and RTOI are significantly associated with IPO activities.

The study was based on 30 years of observations, which passed all diagnostic tests but may be insufficient for generalizing the findings. Future studies could use high-frequency data (monthly or quarterly) to increase the number of observations and repeat the method and analysis. Also, while the symmetrical ARDL method was used in this study, an asymmetrical ARDL method may provide more insightful results and interpretations.

The study highlights the importance of considering both long- and short-term associations when analyzing the impact of macroeconomic variables on IPO activities.

This study is the first to comprehensively examine the relationship between IPO activities and macroeconomic variables using PCA and the ARDL technique. The study provides insight into the macroeconomic factors that influence IPO activities in Sri Lanka and highlights the importance of considering long- and short-term associations.

The study examined the factors inhibiting the engagement of Quantity Surveyors (QS) on private residential building projects in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria with a view to enhance the performance of such projects.

The study used a qualitative research approach with the use of interview protocol for data collection. A Convenient sampling method was used to select 20 on-going residential building construction projects for the study in the Government Reserved Area, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. The client and the architect of the selected projects were the population of research for interview. For data analysis, 28 successful interviews were used, while frequency, percentile and content analysis were the method of data analysis used.

The result indicated that the most important factor inhibiting the engagement of QSs on private residential building projects is lack of awareness of the benefit inherent in engagement of QS on residential projects. Other important factors are; the perception that engagement of QS will increase the construction cost, absence of legislation that mandate engagement of QS, usurpation of Quantity Surveyor’s roles by other professionals and the perception that engagement of QS is essential only in big projects.

It was recommended that every state chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) should start a series of awareness campaign program within their State to enlighten the populace on the services that a professional QS can offer them with emphasis on the benefits of engaging QS on the small scale projects such as residential building projects. More recommendation has it that as a matter of policy and requirement for building approval criteria, deliverables from QS should be made compulsory. This measure will help every potential residential building client to see QS as an important professional that must be engaged before their project can be successfully delivered.

The study attempted to investigate the factors inhibiting the engagement of QS on private residential building construction projects. This was motivated by the perceived prevalent of non-engagement of QS in the study area with the attendant poor project performance.

The emergence of Construction 4.0 technologies provides an impetus for radical change and rejuvenates the interest of stakeholders in addressing long-standing performance issues in the construction sector. However, construction firms struggle to implement Construction 4.0 technologies for performance measurement and improvement. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to develop a conceptual model of innovation management for implementing Construction 4.0 that guides and facilitates the strategic transformation of construction firms.

A conceptual model of innovation management is presented, and the findings are synthesised based on a literature review, 20 semi-structured interviews, two focus group discussions, three workshops, expert consultation and observations on three digitally-enabled projects. Data were inductively analysed using thematic analysis.

The analysis of empirical data revealed: (i) Four scenarios that could lead the industry to different futures, based on the extent of research and development, and the extent of integration/collaboration; (ii) Construction 4.0 capability stages for a sustained implementation route; (iii) Possible business model configurations derived from servitisation strategies; and (iv) Skills management challenges for organisations.

First, the empirical data was only collected in the UK with its unique industry context, which may limit the applicability of the results. Second, most of the research data comes from the private sector, without the views of public sector organisations. Third, the model needs to be further validated with specific data-driven use cases to address productivity and sustainability issues.

Successful Construction 4.0 transformation requires a concerted effort of stakeholders, including those in the supply chain, technology companies, innovation networks and government. Although a stakeholder’s action would depend on others’ actions, each stakeholder should undertake action that can influence the factors within their control (such as the extent of collaboration and investment) and the outcomes.

The conceptual model brings together and establishes the relationships between the scenarios, Construction 4.0 capability stages, business models and skills management. It provides the first step that guides the fuzzy front-end of Construction 4.0 implementation, underpins the transformation to the desired future and builds long-term innovation capabilities.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of an online course on gender equality in tourism on the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of students concerning sustainable development goals (SDGs) at two universities in Spain and Mexico.

The study uses 38 online qualitative surveys administered to participants both before and after the university online course. The methodology incorporates the three variables of the KAP model: knowledge, attitudes and practice.

Following the online course, disparities in knowledge levels were observed, accompanied by positive shifts in attitudes and practices toward SDG 5 among university students from Mexico and Spain. The results suggest that a positive initial attitude markedly enriches the learning experience, even without extensive preexisting knowledge and notably increases the likelihood of participants engaging in practical actions postcourse completion.

The study proposes an innovative framework for designing SDGs-oriented training courses within university settings. Additionally, it outlines a pathway by which enhancements in knowledge, attitudes and practices related to SDGs, with a focus on SDG 5, empower students to act as catalysts for societal change.

This study presents a novel application of the KAP model’s variables in analyzing the results of a university course within the tourism sector. It underscores the essential role of expert-led instruction using real-life case studies for SDG education, providing fresh perspectives on augmenting the contribution of higher education to sustainable development.