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Motivated by the significant role of uncertainty in affecting investment decisions and China's economic leadership in Asia, this paper investigates the predictive role of exposure to Chinese economic policy uncertainty at the individual stock level in large Asian markets.

We estimate the monthly uncertainty exposure (beta) for each stock and then employ the portfolio-level sorting analysis to investigate the relationship between the China’s uncertainty exposure and the future returns of major Asian markets over multiple trading horizons. The raw returns of the high-minus-low portfolios are then adjusted using conventional asset pricing models to investigate whether the relationship is explained by common risk factors. Finally, we check the robustness of the portfolio-level results through firm-level Fama and MacBeth (1973) regressions.

Applying portfolio-level sorting analysis, we reveal that exposure to Chinese uncertainty is negatively related to the future returns of large stocks over multiple trading horizons in Japan, Hong Kong and India. We discover this is unexplained by common risk factors, including market, size, value, profitability, investment and momentum, and is robust to the specification of stock-level Fama and MacBeth (1973) regressions.

Our analysis demonstrates the spillover effects of Chinese economic policy uncertainty across the region, provides evidence of China's emerging economic leadership, and offers trading strategies for managing uncertainty risks.

The findings of the study significantly improve our understanding of stock return predictability in Asian markets. Unlike previous studies, our results challenge the leading role of the US by providing a new intra-regional return predictor, namely, China’s uncertainty exposure. These results also evidence the continuing integration of the Asian economy and financial markets. However, contrary findings for some Asian markets point toward certain market-specific features. Compared with market-level research, our analysis provides deeper insights into the performance of individual stocks and is of particular importance to investors and other market participants.

The current academic publishing model, in which researchers rely significantly on multinational publishing companies to disseminate their work, has implications for knowledge enterprise both in terms of knowledge production and distribution. This study aims to provide a critical reflection on the academic publishing model and how it works, particularly in light of the rise of open access publishing and the growing analytics focus of publishing companies and discusses the impact on knowledge equity.

This exploratory essay offers a critical analysis of the impact of the current academic publishing model on research practices. The discussion provides a foundation for the argument that knowledge equity is essential to social justice.

To effectively fulfil the transformative aims of the interdisciplinary research community within social and environmental accounting, it is imperative to establish equitable access to published research.

This essay opens space for discussion of the current publishing model, given its dominance of the knowledge enterprise. It outlines some of the implications of this model for knowledge equity and suggests strategies for fostering a more inclusive and accessible dissemination of scholarly work.

Banking sector is an important subset of any economy and plays a very crucial and significant part in its growth and development. The expansion and credibility of banking sector is attributed to the fact that it caters to the financial needs and accordingly provides customised solutions for the people at large. The new millennium has witnessed metamorphosis in the banking sector. The pace and trend of transformation is all set to accelerate in the coming decade. The process of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation Model (LPG Model) banking practices which being unleashed a few decades back will reach to greater heights as we step into the next decade. The innovative technology has brought about a paradigm shift in all aspects of banking like routine operations, transactions, products and processes, delivery of services in terms of various e-channels, credit administration and credit management, audit and compliance and Fin-Techs partnership. Digital transformations in the banking sector have received much needed thrust because of ‘The Digital India Moment’. The current study attempts to highlight the role of technology in banking and how technology-led innovations and initiatives will determine the business of banking as a whole. The significance of these technology-driven innovations and transformations is that they put both banker and customer in a win-win situation as drawn from existing literature related to financial institutions. The focus is on investigating the digital innovations adopted by the different banks both public and private to understand the economic structural changes resulted out of it.

Though alternative building technologies (ABTs) have been encouraged to address accessible and affordable issues in low-cost housing (LCH) provision, their adoption is still overwhelmed with encumbrances. The encumbrances that hinder ABT adoption require an in-depth study, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. However, studies regarding ABT and its role in improving Nigeria's LCH to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 are scarce. This research investigates encumbrances to ABT adoption in Nigeria's LCH provision and suggests feasible measures to prevent or reduce the encumbrances, thereby improving achieving SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities).

This research utilised qualitative research and adopted a face-to-face interview as the primary data collection. The interviewees comprised ABT practitioners and end users in Nigeria who were chosen by a convenient sampling technique. The study's data were analysed manually through a thematic approach.

This study shows that stakeholders should embrace ABT in LCH provision to improve achieving SDG 11 in Nigeria. Also, it clustered the perceived 20 encumbrances to ABT adoption in LCH provision into government/policymaker, housing developers/building contractors, ABT users and ABT manufacturers-related issues in Nigeria's context. This study suggested mechanisms to mitigate encumbrances to ABT adoption in LCH provision, thereby improving achieving SDG 11.

This research adds to the limited literature by analysing ABT adoption encumbrances in Nigeria's LCH provision, which could assist policy formulation for the uptake of ABT in LCH provision and improve achieving Goal 11.

Studies show that apprenticeships can enhance skills development and economic growth. There is a paucity of academic literature concerning apprenticeship’s role in developing Nigerian construction artisans’ skills, especially regarding achieving Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Thus, this study aims to appraise the role of apprenticeship in developing construction artisans’ skills and suggest measures to improve skills development for artisans’ on-the-job training mechanisms to achieve Goal 8.

Given the unexplored nature of the problem, the study utilised face-to-face data collection via a qualitative research approach. It covered two major cities in Nigeria and achieved saturation at the 29th chosen interviewee. Also, the study adopted a thematic method to analyse the data from selected construction artisans, construction firm management staffers and consultant experts in skills matters.

Enhancing skills development, replacing the ageing workforce through practical broad-based skills training, bridging skills gaps, enhancing work-integrated learning and economic upliftment emerged as apprenticeship’s role in developing artisans’ skills in the Nigerian built environment if well implemented. Apprenticeship to develop skills in the built environment is not without hindrances. The perceived 34 barriers were re-clustered into employee, employer and government-related. Findings show that achieving Goal 8 may be threatened if these hindrances are not mitigated. They suggest improving skills development for artisans’ on-the-job training mechanisms to achieve Goal 8.

This study demonstrates that apprenticeship’s role in developing construction artisans’ skills should be all-inclusive. Also, the three stakeholders must do more concerning training programmes to improve artisans’ skills development to achieve Goal 8.

This chapter discusses the role of school leadership in the face of climate disasters and environmental injustices. These disruptions to schooling are emblematic of an increasing global uncertainty. School leaders play a pivotal role mitigating uncertainty following an environmental crisis or disaster through leadership activities that support their communities. However, preparing school leaders for unexpected disruptions to schooling has often been overlooked by preparation programs and professional development. The goal of this chapter is to equip school leaders with an essential understanding of both the influence of environmental injustice on schools and the tools to respond effectively to these events. First, the chapter contextualizes environmental injustice and inequality as a factor that influences school and student performance, especially for students living below the poverty line and students of color. Next, it synthesizes how school leaders have responded to prior instances of climate disasters and environmental injustices. Finally, it presents key considerations for school leaders confronting future occurrences.

Despite advancements in construction digitalisation and alternative building technologies, cost overrun is still a challenge in the construction industry. The inflation rate is increasing, especially in developing countries, and is critical in cost overrun matters. It can deviate construction built-up rate components. This may thwart improving construction-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Studies concerning the impact of the inflation rate on construction-related SDGs are scarce in developing countries, including Nigeria. The study investigated the impact of inflation on Nigeria’s construction projects and their outcome on SDGs and suggested possible ways to improve achievement of construction-related SDGs and their targets.

The researchers employed a qualitative research design. This is because of the study’s unexplored dimension. The researchers engaged 35 participants across major cities in Nigeria via semi-structured virtual and face-to-face interviews. The research utilised a thematic method for collated data and accomplished saturation.

Findings reveal that the impact of inflation on construction projects, if not checked, could hinder achieving construction-related SDGs in Nigeria. This is because of the past three years of hyperinflation that cut across major construction components. It shows that the upward inflation rate threatens achieving construction-related SDGs and proffered measures to mitigate inflation and, by extension, enhance achieving construction-related SDGs. This includes a downward review of the Monetary Policy Rate, control of exchange rate volatility and addressing insecurity to restore FDIs and FPIs confidence.

Besides suggesting possible solutions to mitigate hyperinflation on construction components to improve achieving construction-related SDGs, findings will stipulate government policymakers put measures in place through favourable fiscal and monetary policy implementation and encourage moving from a consumption to a production nation.

Chocolate production and cocoa supply chains are rife with social and environmental challenges. Chocolate companies commonly make claims that their products are “sustainable”, giving little guidance on what this means. The aim of this paper is to conduct a scoping review to synthesise the accounting literature related to the chocolate industry and sustainability and develop a research agenda for accounting scholarship.

The scoping review followed Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) five-stage framework for a scoping review. Nineteen accounting journals were searched for literature on “chocolate OR cocoa AND sustainability” from 2000 to 2023. A total of 171 papers were identified through the search, of which 18 were deemed relevant and included for thematic analysis. The themes are analysed using a conceptual framework on accountability.

Analysis of the relevant literature revealed three distinct perspectives on sustainability in the chocolate industry. These include critique on the problems related to top-down accountability approaches in the chocolate industry; that accountability mechanisms have fallen short in managing sustainability challenges; and that sustainability interventions are driven by profit motives. The themes further reveal a lack of accountability in the industry for marginalised voices.

The scoping review methodology used in this study offers insights into the diverse perspectives on sustainability in the chocolate industry. This research adds valuable knowledge to the field by uncovering nuanced issues around accountability and sustainability and highlighting the need for future research for accountability for sustainable chocolate production.

Environmental dynamics affect all sectors, and retailing is no exception. Scholarships reveal that, in such turbulent times, entrepreneurial characteristics are essential for business. In academic research, entrepreneurial characteristics like entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and entrepreneurial competence (EC) are seldom evaluated for retailers. This study aims to decode the impact of small retailers’ EO and EC on firm business performance (BP). It also traces the mediation effect of EC in the relationship between EO and BP.

The study executed among 740 small retailers is a pioneering work to trace EO’s efficacy via EC on the retailer’s BP. The present research is a primal work in the Indian context. This work redesigns the EC scale to suit the retail context and evaluate its mediation role in the EO and BP relationship.

Examining the mediation model through structural equation modelling (SEM) adds empirical evidence to entrepreneurial value creation (EVC) theory and throws light on the indispensable qualities required for small business retailers. The outcomes of the SEM model portray that there is an association between the EO, EC and BP.

This study, though carried out methodically, it is constrained by the ensuing intricacies. The investigation was limited to the small- and medium-retailers engaged in retailing with a floor space from 500 to 5,000 square feet. All three constructs used in the study are measured using the self-reported perceptual scale, which infuses the subjectivity in the data. Exploring the EO and EC of widely dispersed retailers, examining the entrepreneurial character of large-format independent retailers and evaluating financial performance measures through retailers will add value to the study in future.

The study verified the central role of EC in the intangible resource-reward relationship. Among the five pillars of EVC theory, the role of intention and external finance are not considered in this work. The present work explored the EO and EC of existing retailers, and hence intention is excluded. The study concentrates on small retailers, and the role of external financing is not explored. Mishra and Zachary (2014b) opined that the EVC process should be studied in different context and listed out several prepositions. Considering the role of intention and external financing and studying several prepositions spelt out in the theory in varying contexts will throw more lights on the EVC process.