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The shadow economy (SE) has been a serious issue with varied dimensions in all countries that significantly affect economic growth. Therefore, all countries have made an effort to tackle the SE by pursuing several measures. This study aims to investigate the impact of financial markets (stock and bond) in reducing the SE while considering the role of country risk (political, economic and financial) in N-11 countries.

The study employed first-generation methodological techniques, including a unit root test to identify stationarity in the series, a panel cointegration test and panel autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) to estimate long-run and short-run relationships. Finally, the Granger causality is applied to determine the direction of the causal relationship.

The study explored that country risk factors are crucial in reducing the size of the SE. Moreover, the significant moderating role of country risk factors in the financial market development and SE nexus suggests that by controlling the country's risk, financial market development can negatively affect the SE.

Due to the availability of data, the study used data, ranging from 1995 to 2015, because the tax burden data is available from 1995 while the maximum data for the SE is available till 2015, using Medina and Schneider's (2019) data estimates for the SE.

The previous studies have focused explicitly on the role of financial institutions' development in the SE. To the best of the author's knowledge, no previous study is attempted to investigate the role of financial markets (bonds and stock) in the size of the SE. Furthermore, previous studies have ignored the important role of country risk factors in the size of the SE. This study investigates the impact of country risk on the SE and the moderating role of country risk in the development of financial markets and the SE nexus.

Consumers and businesses are becoming increasingly conscious of sustainable business practices and are often willing to pay a premium for responsibly sourced and manufactured products. Many countries and organizations have implemented regulations and standards for sustainability and companies face penalties or are barred from exporting for not meeting the requirements. Rooted in the resource-based view theory, this study aims to test a moderated mediation model to improve the sustainability performance of exporting firms.

Textile firms generating more than 25% of export revenues were targeted for this research. The data collected from 245 middle management-level employees were tested for reliability and validity. The structural equation modelling in AMOS 26 was used to test hypotheses.

Organizational readiness for green innovation (ORGI) has a direct positive effect on sustainability performance. The mediation analysis implies that ORGI translates into sustainability performance through improvement in green innovation performance. The moderating effect of knowledge integration highlights the importance of being prepared internally and actively seeking and incorporating external knowledge to improve green innovation performance.

The findings offer a solid foundation for informed decision-making, policy development and strategies to improve sustainability performance while aligning with the global nature of the textile industry and its inherent challenges. The proposed model and practical implications guide policymakers and managers of exporting firms to foster a culture of green innovation to leverage the effect of their readiness for green innovation on sustainability performance.

Abusive supervision (AS) provides insights into the darker aspects of leadership behavior and its effects on employees. Understanding and addressing AS can contribute to creating healthier work environments and promoting employee well-being. The effect of abusive leadership (AS) on counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) in nursing staff is examined through the theoretical lens of the social exchange theory.

Data were collected from 302 nursing staff working at public and private hospitals through a self-administered questionnaire. Measurement scales were adapted from the literature and the data were tested for validity and reliability before performing hypotheses testing through structural equation modeling in SmartPLS 4.0.

AS positively affects CWB, and psychological contract breach mediates this relationship. However, employees with high Islamic work ethics (IWE) are less concerned with supervisors' dysfunctional behaviors and pay less attention to them; thus, IWE buffers the effect of AS on CWBs.

A positive and supportive organizational climate is crucial for attracting and retaining skilled healthcare professionals. When healthcare professionals are subjected to abusive behaviors, their ability to share knowledge, adopt safety protocols and provide the best patient care may be hampered. Therefore, addressing AS in hospitals is vital to promoting a positive work environment, enhancing employee well-being and improving patient care.

The study seeks to examine the effectiveness of implementing the ISO 9001 quality management system (QMS) on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) performance in Saudi Arabia. It explores ISO 9001 usefulness through the dimensions of continuous improvement, customer satisfaction focus and prevention of nonconformities. The study investigates two dimensions of firm performance's: operational performance and product/service quality.

The study employs a quantitative method. A simple random sampling technique is used to collect study samples. A self-administered questionnaire is employed as the data collection tool. The study was based on 263 samples from SMEs in Saudi Arabia. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS/AMOS.

Prevention of nonconformities, customer satisfaction focus and continues improvement had a positive significant correlation with operational performance and product/service quality. Moreover, the ISO 9001 QMS effectiveness construct showed a helpful and important correlation with the performance of the company.

The study offers empirical evidence to clarify ambiguous findings from past studies, as well as expounds knowledge on the effect of ISO 9001 on SMEs' performance through the lenses of operational performance and quality/service quality.

The purpose of this study provide answers to the following research questions: Whether and to what extent money laundering affects the achievability and the trend of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?; Does the influence of money laundering on the SDGs’ achievement differ from developing to developed countries?; How does the influence of money laundering vary among the 17 SDGs?

The paper’s analysis involves two key parts. In the first part, the authors perform a multivariate analysis to examine the influence of money laundering on the achievement of SDGs, and then in the second part, the authors make use of an ordered probit regression model to investigate the impact of money laundering on the trend of attaining each SDG.

Using a sample of 98 developed and developing countries, the regression results from multivariate analysis estimates show that money laundering has a strong inhibiting effect on the achievement of almost all the SDGs in the whole sample of countries and the sub-sample of developing countries, whereas no significant effect is observed for developed countries. However, for the SDG trends, the ordered probit estimates reveal that the harmful effect of money laundering occurs for all countries regardless their development level. In addition, perhaps surprisingly, the results from both the approaches yield also evidence advocating that money laundering activities might be associated with positive externalities on production and consumption. In fact, money laundering is found to have a significant positive influence on the achievement and the trend of SDG12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production). Overall, this study’s findings do have interesting policy implications, especially for developing countries. In these countries, prioritising the formulation and implementation of sound anti-money laundering policies is a necessary requirement for their progress towards achieving the SDGs.

The long-standing tradition of previous empirical studies examining the nexus between money laundering and sustainable development concentrates mainly on the economic dimension of sustainability (i.e. economic growth). However, little is known about the consequences of money laundering activities on the environment and the societies. Consequently, this study seeks to fill this gap by assessing the influence of money laundering on the achievement of the economic, environmental and social goals of sustainable development. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first integrated study to analyse the potential repercussions of money laundering on the SDGs’ achievement.

This research sought to examine the differential effect of chatbot banking artificial intelligence (AI) on consumer experience in the banking industry. A positivist paradigm was adopted to sample 389 consumers who were previously exposed to chatbot banking in Zimbabwe. A causal research design was employed whilst a quantitative approach was followed. In analysing data, the research study applied the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. The authors found that chatbot banking significantly improves customer experience (CX) in the banking industry. Reliability and responsiveness of the chatbot need to be enhanced for effective improvements in CX. A need was also identified to enhance CX through the development of an ease-to-use chatbot which is embedded in everyday messaging applications of consumers. A significant association was also found between perceived benefits of chatbot banking and CX. This study informs the development of competitive advantage by banks and other related companies through AI-based CX management strategies. In times of pandemics and beyond, chatbot banking can be very instrumental in improving CX.

This research investigates the complex relationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU), energy consumption and institutional factors in the Gulf region. The purpose of this study is to examine how institutional factors moderate the impact of EPU on energy consumption in Gulf countries.

This paper uses the dynamic panel autoregressive distributed lag (PARDL) method, over a period stretching from 1996 to 2021 in the Gulf countries.

The results show that, only in the long term, EPU has a positive and significant impact on energy consumption, suggesting that increased EPU leads to increased energy use. Furthermore, this study found that, only in the long term, government effectiveness and regulatory quality have positive and significant effect on energy consumption. Accordingly, the two institutional factors play a moderating role in the EPU−energy consumption nexus.

This study highlights the importance of considering the time dimension when formulating energy and economic policies in Gulf countries. Policymakers should take into consideration the nature of these relationships to make informed decisions that promote energy efficiency and economic stability in the region.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study examining the relationship between EPU and energy consumption in the Gulf countries while incorporating the role of institutional factors as potential mediators.

The purpose of the study is to determine the local antecedents of subsidiary participation in global services and, subsequently, the impact on local performance.

The study is based on a survey with the local subsidiaries of 14 manufacturers engaged in global services as part of their servitisation strategy.

Findings show support for considering the local ability for global services as an antecedent for local subsidiary participation in global services and the local service performance as an outcome. In addition, the results reject our hypotheses related to the specific roles of local opportunity and motivation for global services.

This study provides novel insights on the global service operations of manufacturers by highlighting the perspective of subsidiaries engaged in the local service delivery and development of global services. This perspective sets the conditions of the global-local collaboration in the context of global service strategy with local service delivery.

Drawing on the ability-motivation-opportunity model, this study investigates how gender-inclusive human resource management practices and overall fairness perception promote the career progression of female employees via psychological empowerment.

Partial least structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to two-waves data collected from 308 respondents from Pakistan to confirm hypotheses.

Findings suggest that gender-inclusive HRM practices substantially affect female employees' psychological empowerment and career progression. Psychological empowerment is a mediating mechanism that explains the effect of gender-inclusive HRM practices on female employees' career progression. Finally, overall fairness perception further amplifies the effect of gender-inclusive HRM practices on psychological empowerment and career progression.

The study provides evidence to policymakers that organizations may promote psychological empowerment and career progression of female employees by implementing gender-inclusive HRM practices and promoting overall fairness perception.

This study contributes to achieving the SDGs by examining the impact of gender-inclusive HRM practices and overall fairness perception on female employees' psychological empowerment and career progression. Specifically, it aligns with “Goal 5 - achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” and “Goal 8 - promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all”.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the probability of default and examine the relationship between default risk and financial performance, with dynamic panel moderation of firm size.

This study utilizes a total of 1,500 firm-year observations from 2013 to 2018 using dynamic panel data approach of generalized method of moments to test the relationship between default risk and financial performance with the moderation effect of the firm size.

This study establishes the findings that default risk significantly impacts the financial performance. The relationship between distance-to-default (DD) and financial performance is positive, which means the relationship of the independent and dependent variable is inverse. Moreover, this study finds that the firm size is a significant positive moderator between DD and financial performance.

This study provides new and useful insight into the literature on the relationship between default risk and financial performance. The results of this study provide investors and businesses related to nonfinancial firms in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) with significant default risk's impact on performance. This study finds, on average, the default probability in KSE ALL indexed companies is 6.12%.

The evidence of the default risk and financial performance on samples of nonfinancial firms has been minimal; mainly, it has been limited to the banking sector. Moreover, the existing studies have only catered the direct effect of only. This study fills that gap and evaluates this relationship in nonfinancial firms. This study also helps in the evaluation of Merton model's performance in the nonfinancial firms.