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This paper focuses on the commitment of a leading Middle Eastern country – Saudi Arabia – to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG13, climate preservation. This paper aims to investigate the determinants of greenhouse gas emissions by examining their correlation with economic growth, population growth, renewable energies, forest area, digitalization and monetary policy.

This research observes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the potential influencing factors during 1990–2023. It employs the autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) after testing the stationarity of the variables.

The findings show that population growth, gross domestic product (GDP) growth, percentage of individuals using the internet and forest rents are significant determinants of carbon oxide (CO₂) emissions. Further, methane (CH₄) emissions are significantly associated with population growth, GDP growth, percentage of individuals using the internet and renewable internal freshwater resources. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions depend significantly on the percentage of individuals using the internet and renewable internal freshwater resources.

This research helps policymakers in Saudi Arabia and worldwide identify the factors moderating GHG emissions, and accordingly design targeted interventions. These initiatives would substantially reduce GHG and further global climate goals. Additionally, focusing on Saudi Arabia, a significant emerging country in the Middle East, has broader implications. The findings offer insights that extend beyond its borders, providing valuable lessons for governments in the Middle East and worldwide to assess and improve their initiatives toward SDG13. Therefore, monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in this key country boosts global progress toward the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, this paper aligns with the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) by leveraging academic and managerial strategies toward sustainability and climate action initiatives.

This study adds to the limited literature on the determinants of GHG emissions in the Middle Eastern region, particularly in Saudi Arabia. In addition to CO₂, it also focuses on CH₄ and N₂O emissions. It shows the beneficial effect of renewable internal freshwater resources. It uses the ARDL model to distinguish between the short- and long-run associations.

The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry has underscored the growing significance of online movies. However, there is limited research available on the factors that influence the viewership of online films. Therefore, this study aims to use the signaling theory to investigate how signals of varying qualities affect online movie viewership, considering both signal transmission costs and prices.

This study uses a sample of 1,071 online movies released on the iQiyi from July 2020 to July 2022. It uses OLS regression and instrumental variable method to examine the impact of various quality indicators on the viewership of online movies, as well as the moderating effect of price.

After conducting a thorough analysis of this study, it can be deduced that the varying impacts on online movie viewership are attributed to disparities in signal transmission costs. Specifically, star influence and rating exhibit a positive effect on the viewership of online movies, whereas the number of raters has a detrimental impact. Furthermore, there exists an “inverted U-shaped” relationship between the number of reviews and online movie viewership. Additionally, within the consumer decision-making process, both price-cost and price-quality relationships coexist. This is evident as prices negatively affect online movie viewership but positively moderate the relationship between rating, number of reviews and online movie viewership.

The research findings of this study offer valuable insights for online film producers to effectively leverage quality signals and pricing, thereby capturing market attention and enhancing film profitability.