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Literature on psychology highlights four traits that shape an amoral and antisocial personality: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy and sadism. Together, these personality traits form the Dark Tetrad. In this study, the standard intertemporal utility maximization model is reassessed from the point of view of a representative economic agent endowed with the Dark Tetrad personality traits.

The approach followed in this paper consists of identifying how each of the Dark Tetrad traits might be logically associated with the dynamic utility problem, as well as exploring, in the context of the model, the implications, for consumption and utility, of admitting the presence of such traits in individuals’ personalities.

It is found that, typically, dark personalities penalize consumption growth, even when such traits are interpreted directly and positively contributing to the utility of the agent. It is also found that in economies with two or more interacting agents, the dark traits might have a mutually destructive nature.

Economics is going through a smooth revolution in the direction of becoming an eminently behavioral science. Most of the traditional economic models, based on the idea of the hyper-rational agent, are being replaced or complemented by a different view of the homo-economicus, in which, among other things, personality matters. This paper offers a novel contribution in this direction.

This research aims to investigate the relationship between banks’ financial leverage and economic financial stability, and as a result, the research will discuss the role of earnings management (EM) in this relationship, since managers normally manipulate their financial reports when they show higher financial leverage. It is important to control the financial leverage in Jordanian banks based on the research results. The main objective is to mitigate the bank’s financial leverage risk as much as its relationship with financial stability. Results may be important for investors, managers, regulatory bodies and auditors in Jordan since they help strengthen financial stability in Jordan. Finally, the main objective of this study is to find a solution to maintain stable and real financial economy by finding the effect of higher financial leverage in Jordanian banks of managers’ cosmetic practices. This will be discussed through testing the role of EM of the relationship between firm’s financial leverage and financial stability.

In order for the researchers to analyze data, quantitative methods are processed statistically. Also, the researcher tests research conceptual framework according to the mediation model that was developed by Preacher and Hayes (2004). In Figure (1) of which panel A: determines a direct effect, while panel B: illustrates a mediating design. To construct the sample, the researcher used information extracted from Jordanian annual financial reports that is extracted from Amman Stock Exchange. The population of the study includes all Jordanian banks which are 26 banks, additionally, the period from 2008 to 2018 was used to illustrate data. The reason behind using this period is that to examine the variables relationships for and after 2008 financial crisis and its consequences. The researcher chose 2018 as the end period, that is because it is the year before COVID-19 period which covers 2019–2022, and this period is considered not normal. In comparison with past studies, the researcher used modified Jones Model to measure EM (Valášková et al., 2021; Nopiana and Salvi, 2022; Riahi, 2020; Quddoos et al., 2020; Cho et al., 2012), while financial stability and financial leverage was calculated using total debt/total equity (Nopiana and Salvi, 2022). Finally, financial stability is measured using the financial stability model for banking sector, but not for all economy that is because the banking sector represents 96% of the economy, also this study applied for banking sector. Missing values were replaced using the mean on SPSS. Finally, regression model and F-score, correlation have been examined in the research analysis.

Increased risk on enterprises has an impact on economic financial stability. And the interest rate result shows that Jordan’s central bank boosts interest rates during inflationary periods, increasing the risk to the economy’s financial stability. Furthermore, size has a minimal impact when compared to other variables, and greater business sizes signal more sophisticated transactions and higher leverage, reducing the economy’s financial soundness. Finally, ROA indicates increased bank performance, which contributes to the economy’s financial stability. While EM has a direct negative impact on financial stability, this conclusion is consistent with the researcher’s expectations. Because EM refers to the manipulation of financial report information, including information about financial leverage, manipulation also lowers investor confidence in bank share prices, affecting the stability of the economy’s financial system. It has little influence on the relationship between leverage and economic financial stability.

The implications of this research have been discussed through the research, for example, to maintain economic financial stability, auditors must take care through their role specially when there is higher financial leverage of Jordanian banks. Further, managers must pay attention before manipulating financial information if there is high financial leverage, because this will affect the economic financial stability. Lastly, the most important implication is that the maintenance of economic financial stability, and EM if not discovered for a period of time may show false signaling of economic financial stablity, and suddenly face financial crises.

Understanding the role of EM in the relationship between banks’ financial leverage the economic financial stability, may control many issues like the role of external auditor of reporting about the reliability of financial information (when there is high bank financial leverage, the auditor must exercise professional care and increase his sample to ensure that there are no cosmetic accounting), and when EM is in control, the economy will work smoothly and react normally to the effect of financial leverage of Jordanian banks. And the situation of 2008 crisis will not be repeated (because of the cosmetic practices by American firms for many years since 2008 with hidden cosmetic practices, suddenly, the 2008 crises happened). In conclusion, this discussion is original, since no literature theoretically discussed this issue before which (EM when financial leverage is high) may be applied in practice.

This study aims to examine the association between audit partner busyness and audit quality. Moreover, this research investigates whether boardroom gender diversity moderates the relationship between audit partner busyness and audit quality in Australia.

The study sample consists of all public companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange from 2005 to 2014. The data is obtained from SIRCA and the Morning Star databases. The study uses fixed effects and logistic regression techniques to test the relationship between audit partner busyness, boardroom gender diversity and audit quality.

The collected empirical evidence shows that audit partner busyness is negatively associated with audit quality. In contrast, boardroom gender diversity moderates the relationship between audit partner busyness and audit quality. More specifically, the results suggest that board gender diversity mitigates the negative impact of audit partners’ busyness on the audit quality. The results are robust to endogeneity and alternative definitions of audit partner busyness, boardroom gender diversity and audit quality.

The study’s findings will be of interest to policymakers, regulators and investors in the Australian market. The results show the importance of gender-diverse boards in companies’ audit functions, particularly in the presence of busy audit partners, and hence support the call for more women on corporate boards in Australia. Moreover, the results call for a cap or upper limit on the number of clients an audit partner can take on based on their capacity.

The authors contribute to the growing literature on board gender diversity, audit partner busyness and audit quality. Although a plethora of prior literature suggests a negative association between audit partner busyness and audit quality, the results suggest that women in the boardroom positively moderate the relationship between audit partner busyness and audit quality.

This study investigates the impact of tax planning, both independently and in conjunction with earnings management, on the persistence of earnings and its various components.

In this study, tax planning refers to corporate strategies aimed at minimizing taxes, while earnings management involves manipulating reported earnings through accounting accruals. The analysis uses a dataset of US companies from 1989 to 2016 and includes a series of regression tests.

The study finds that firms implementing aggressive tax strategies exhibit lower persistence in cash flows from operations and earnings. Furthermore, companies using both aggressive tax planning and earnings management techniques show the lowest persistence in total accruals, cash flows from operations and reported earnings.

Our sample of US firms limits generalizability. Future research could explore the international impacts of tax planning and earnings management on earnings quality and include post-2016 data for insights on the 2018 tax cuts and COVID-19. Investigating other earnings quality measures and their influence on investors and analysts could enhance performance assessment.

This research identifies key factors influencing the interpretation of financial statements, offering valuable insights for regulators, auditors, tax authorities, financial analysts and other users with significant practical and social implications.

This study contributes to prior research by highlighting the need to investigate the real effects of tax avoidance and extends prior research by examining the impact of high levels of tax planning, along with aggressive earnings management, on earnings persistence.

This study aims to investigate the mental health impacts of this disaster, focusing on the psychological resilience and vulnerability of displaced individuals. The study explores the mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that have emerged as a result of the sudden loss of homes, livelihoods and social networks.

The research employed a phenomenological approach, conducting 20 in-depth interviews with adult residents of Kiteezi who were displaced by the landslide. The interviews, conducted in English and transcribed for analysis, focused on three primary phenomena: landslides, displacement and mental well-being.

Findings reveal that the collapse of the Kiteezi landfill had profound mental health impacts on the displaced residents, with widespread reports of anxiety, depression and PTSD. The loss of homes and livelihoods, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding resettlement, exacerbated these mental health challenges.

The study’s implications are significant for disaster response and mental health intervention strategies. The findings underscore the need for comprehensive mental health support for displaced individuals, emphasizing the importance of addressing both immediate psychological needs and long-term resilience-building.

This study is original in its focus on the specific context of the Kiteezi landfill collapse, contributing to the limited literature on the mental health impacts of environmental disasters in Uganda. It provides valuable insights into the complex interplay between environmental disasters, displacement and mental well-being, offering practical recommendations for improving disaster response and recovery efforts in similar settings.

The purpose of this study is to examine the audit efficiency and timeliness of Big 4 auditors relative to non-Big 4 auditors, where audit efficiency is defined as the auditor’s ability to conduct an audit more quickly or with fewer resources while still achieving effective outcomes.

The authors use audit report lags (also referred to as audit delay) as a proxy for audit timeliness and efficiency, controlling for audit quality and audit fees (audit input). The authors use a propensity-score matching (PSM) approach to construct a pseudorandom sample in which each non-Big 4 client is matched with a similar Big 4 client based on their characteristics and audit quality, to control for potential endogeneity related to self-selection bias in this setting.

The authors find that non-Big 4 auditors are associated with shorter audit delays than Big 4 auditors. Additional analysis of the matched sample reveals that non-Big 4 auditors charge lower fees than Big 4 auditors do after controlling for the Big 4 premium. These findings do not support the notion that Big 4 auditors conduct audits more efficiently than non-Big 4 auditors do.

These results could be of interest to the management of public firms, audit committees, investors and regulators; provide valuable insights into the performance of audit firms in varying client environments; and contribute to a better understanding of audit timeliness and efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is answering two research questions: What are the trajectories of persistence in exporting followed by different groups of firms? What factors relate to each trajectory of persistence in exporting? The authors propose and test a framework that links operational and marketing firms’ capabilities to different trajectories of persistence in exporting.

Using a dataset of 2,913 firms over 14 years from the annual manufacturing survey in Colombia (AMS), the authors explored the trajectories of persistence in exporting. The authors applied data envelopment analysis to measure operational and marketing capabilities and group-based trajectory modeling to discover and link such trajectories to firms’ capabilities.

The authors identified four trajectories of persistence in exporting. Also, the authors found that while the interplay between marketing and operational capabilities relates positively to the non-exporting trajectory and negatively to the persistent trajectory, operational capabilities relate positively to the erratic trajectory and negatively to the slow growth trajectory of persistence in exporting. Meanwhile, marketing capabilities do not relate to any trajectory.

Policymakers should help firms develop marketing and operational capabilities to compete globally to motivate them to export and persist in exporting. Policymakers should avoid stimulating firms to reinforce learned and familiar capabilities that cannot leverage desirable trajectories of persistence in exporting.

The authors introduce the trajectories of persistence in exporting, providing a fresh perspective for analyzing exporting behavior over time. The authors have also proposed and tested a unique framework that links operational and marketing firms’ capabilities to these trajectories, thus contributing to the existing body of knowledge on exporting behavior by firms from emerging markets.

Foodborne illnesses are often attributed to food services such as restaurants and takeaways. This study aims to investigate consumers’ perceptions of regulatory food hygiene inspections of restaurants and takeaways in UK.

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between November 2024 and March 2025, and 750 responses were received. Chi-square test was carried out to identify associations between demographic variables and checking of food hygiene rating or information. Ordered logistic regression was carried out to determine if demographics and eating out and/or takeaway consumption practices affect participants’ level of confidence in Local authorities (LA)’ (LAs) food hygiene inspections of restaurants and takeaways.

Females, individuals with food hypersensitivities, low-risk appetite, those who experienced food poisoning incidents and had reported food safety concerns to LA reported checking food hygiene rating or information more frequently. Our findings also revealed that participants who searched for food hygiene rating or information exhibited increased confidence in recent food hygiene inspections (less than a year).

LA should emphasise the importance of checking hygiene ratings or information before dining out or purchasing takeaways, especially for vulnerable groups. Although not mandatory, restaurants and takeaways in England and Scotland could make their hygiene ratings or information more visible and accessible to build public trust and encourage greater consumer engagement with food hygiene information. Additionally, public awareness on how food hygiene inspections are conducted and the factors influencing inspection schedules could further enhance consumer confidence in the inspection process.

This is the first study to explore the relationship between consumer perceptions of food hygiene inspection frequency and their confidence in LA’ inspection process. Our findings suggest that both perceived inspection frequency and food hygiene rating or information seeking behaviour can influence consumer confidence in LA’ food hygiene inspections.

This study examines the time, place and theme constructs from the viewpoints of their theoretical configurations and potential applications in heritage conservation. The examination taps on the relationship of time to chronology, place to geography and theme to the human agency. Time, place and theme pose challenges in delineating workable definitions and in corroborating the resolvability of the terms into real-world applications. The challenges stem from the metaphysical nature of the constructs and the conjectural interpretability of the associated connotations.

The humanistic setting of the study supports qualitative research and information assessment methods. Information to support the theoretical objective (configurations) comes from the seminal literature on the very nature of time, place and theme and on their relationship with chronology, geography and human agency, respectively. The information to support the applied objective (applications) comes mainly from the works of the US National Park Service heritage programs, particularly the historic context strategy where the members of the triad are applied.

The theoretical knowledge about time, place and theme geared towards framing the constructs' configurations and applications in heritage conservation is lacking. Mediating time into chronology, place into geography and theme into argument provides a useful framework for understanding the constructs' configurations and applications.

The study adds knowledge on time, place and theme that helps delineate the configurations and applications of these constructs to the benefit of heritage conservation planning.

The purpose of this study is to examine emotional states preceding and during sexual crimes in a Dutch sample of adult male patients who were admitted to mandated clinical care.

Emotional states preceding child sexual abuse (CSA) (n = 63) and rape against adults (n = 60) were compared using the Mode Observation Scale.

CSA and rape were equally preceded by feelings of vulnerability, undifferentiated anger and loneliness and characterised by callous unemotionality. Emotional manipulation was more dominant in the events leading up to CSA, whereas an exaggerated sense of self-worth was more dominant in the event preceding rape. Substance-related detachment was more common preceding rape but was equally common during both types of crimes. Controlled anger was more common in rape.

CSA and rape crimes are predominantly characterised by similar emotional states of persons who were admitted to mandated clinical care. This informs the development of more effective therapeutic interventions and support services tailored to the emotional profiles of patients, potentially improving rehabilitation or treatment outcomes. Scientifically, the results of this study provide a compelling foundation for further research into the psychological mechanisms underpinning sexual violence.

While previous research has often focused on these crimes in isolation, this study bridges a critical gap by examining the emotional commonalities between them. This study challenges the conventional understanding that treats these forms of sexual violence as entirely distinct, proposing instead that they may share underlying emotional dynamics.