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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.

This study investigates the variables that impact initial public offerings (IPO) initial returns witnessed in Pakistan from 1996 to 2019 using pre-listing information variables, namely country-level institutional quality, sponsor ownership and pricing mechanism. IPO oversubscription is included as a moderating variable.

This research is motivated by the premise that the Pakistani IPO market is characterised by a broad range of institutional and regulatory frameworks. Multiple regression studies, i.e. ordinary least square (OLS) and quantile least square (QLS), were performed on 102 IPOs issued on the Pakistan stock market.

The present study findings suggest that the quality of public service, the independence of civil service from political influences and the legitimacy of government increase investors’ confidence in the prospects of companies, hence increasing the demand for IPO and initial returns. In addition, good regulatory quality enhances market transparency and lowers uncertainty, hence signalling high-quality IPOs and leading in substantial initial returns. The negative effect of the lock-up ratio on the initial return of an IPO is consistent with the risk-return trade-off theory, which asserts that the lock-up ratio indicates the quality of the IPO.

The results provide market regulators, policymakers, investors and underwriters with useful data for assuring proper subscriptions of issued shares, as these variables are crucial for company transparency and market efficiency. The findings will also help investors make better IPO subscription decisions.

The present study explains the important influencing factors of IPO initial return in the Pakistani market.

Purpose: The sharing economy epitomises a paradigm shift by advocating for sustainable consumption practices and resource optimisation. This study investigates the critical factors influencing the burgeoning sharing economy.

Methodology: Logical analysis and synthesis methods to glean insights from the existing scholarly literature on the sharing economy and the factors impacting its development. The author establish a comprehensive set of indicators categorised into four key domains: technological infrastructure, political and regulatory landscape, economic context, and socio-cultural environment.

Findings: A framework of quantifiable indicators encompassing the critical factors necessary for the sharing economy’s development. Indicators encompass a comprehensive spectrum, reflecting the influence of technological advancements, economic conditions, socio-cultural factors, and the prevailing political and regulatory environment.

Implications: This evaluation considers the principal factors influencing the development and enables comparative analysis between countries based on the conditions fostering the sharing economy.

Limitations: This study relies on a literature review, which may not encompass all factors affecting the sharing economy, with a possibility that additional factors not addressed in this study could influence the development of the sharing economy. The indicator framework could be expanded or revised in the future based on new research findings.

Future Research: Incorporating dynamic analysis would reveal how fluctuations in identified factors affect the sharing economy over time. Expanding the research to more countries could provide a broader understanding of the global sharing economy landscape, potentially investigating regional or city-level factors for contextual insights. Future research could weight indicators based on their relative importance.

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.

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.

This study aims to determine the export price pass-through elasticity, specifically for Indian exports. It employs static and dynamic panel data techniques to estimate these elasticities. Notably, the pass-through effect is more significant in the long term compared to the short term. The dynamic panel analysis, considering broader economic factors, identifies trade openness and global demand as statistically significant in explaining export price variations. Additionally, the study reveals that the response of export prices to exchange rate changes depends on the nature of those changes, with depreciation having a lesser impact than appreciation. Furthermore, this chapter emphasizes the importance of analyzing these effects at the product level for a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms. The implications of these findings underscore the crucial role of exchange rates as a policy tool for promoting exports and economic growth, as well as their potential in reducing current account deficits.