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The chapter examining the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on audit quality to achieve business sustainable practices, trying to found that using of AI as a substitute for human intelligence affects auditor’s capability and experience, from other hand affects audit process, starting from audit planning until issuance of reporting. Based on literature review about AI and audit quality, the chapter findings showed that AI adoption is a necessary requirement for auditors due to time constraints, accuracy requirements, and job speed requirements. The impact of AI on audit quality is profound and multifaceted. By leveraging the capabilities of AI, auditors can enhance the accuracy, efficiency and objectivity of their work.

To guarantee that the application of AI benefits the auditing profession and the public it serves, it is imperative to solve the obstacles that come with it. AI has the ability to greatly improve audit quality, but its deployment needs to be closely monitored to prevent any early problems. With appropriate training, data, and governance, AI can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of audits, leading to more accurate and reliable financial reporting. However, it is important for auditors to be aware of the challenges and risks associated with AI and to take steps to mitigate these risks. Where cybersecurity is a protection line for external threats and it is considered as a new risk management tool.

This study aims to examine Africa’s environment, social and governance (ESG) research through a systematic literature review (SLR). The authors aim to identify and discuss influential aspects of ESG accounting in Africa, focusing on prominent themes, authors and journals in published articles using Africa’s setting. It also constructs agendas for future research to advance the literature and contribute to the ESG accounting practices in Africa.

This study uses an SLR approach, where accounting research journal articles are collated and compiled according to pre-determined criteria and analysed using bibliometric techniques. After carefully reviewing 1,387 articles, the authors selected and examined 246 academic articles published from 2006 to 2024 in 32 accounting journals indexed in the Web of Science.

The authors identify four main streams of ESG accounting research in Africa, namely, ESG disclosure in primary-based economies; corporate governance dynamics in Africa; internal mechanisms in ESG reporting; and external mechanisms in ESG disclosure. According to the analysis, the authors propose future research agendas to discuss institutional perspective of ESG reporting standards implementation and enforcement; value creation impact on sustainability performance; ESG reporting effect on conflict resolution; and ESG reporting quality and environmental sustainability.

This study assists policymakers, academics, managers, accounting professionals and investors in comprehensively understanding the current state and projecting future actions to develop ESG accounting in Africa.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is perhaps the first to examine Africa’s ESG research through an SLR. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a comprehensive analysis of the existing ESG accounting landscape and tailoring future research agendas based on the distinctive characteristics of Africa.

The chapter examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on audit quality to achieve business sustainable practices, trying to find that using AI as a substitute for human intelligence affects auditors’ capability and experience, and it also affects audit process, starting from audit planning to the issuance of reporting to improve business sustainability. Based on the literature review about AI and audit quality, the chapter findings showed that AI adoption is a necessary requirement for auditors due to time constraints, accuracy requirements and job speed requirements. The impact of AI on audit quality is profound and multifaceted. By leveraging the capabilities of AI, auditors can enhance the accuracy, efficiency and objectivity of their work.

To guarantee that the application of AI benefits the auditing profession and the public it serves, it is imperative to solve the obstacles that come with it. AI has the ability to greatly improve audit quality, but its deployment needs to be closely monitored to prevent any early problems. With appropriate training, data and governance, AI can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of audits, leading to more accurate and reliable financial reporting, which directly achieve business sustainability through enhancing financial reporting quality, investors’ confidence, corporate governance and mitigation of agency conflicts.

International trade and its effects on the environment are increasingly discussed both in academia and by policymakers. To counter negative effects of international trade on the environment, so called environmental provisions have been integrated in trade agreements aimed at businesses and economies. However, as both the intent and effectiveness of these provisions are controversial, this paper aims to provide an overview of the current state of research and identified key factors influencing their effectiveness.

The authors conduct a systematic literature review of 44 papers on the effects of environmental provisions in international trade agreements on the environmental performance of businesses, as well as economies from 1992 to mid-2024.

The integration of environmental provisions into trade agreements generally has positive effects on the environment while their effectiveness is influenced by their design and several boundary conditions. Alongside the importance of effective enforcement mechanisms, reputation concerns of businesses and lobbyism are discussed as intermediary factors in the design and impact of environmental provisions.

The insights can benefit policymakers to optimize future environmental provisions and advance the effectiveness of policies aimed at balancing the effects of trade liberalization with environmental protection.

Social sustainability is increasingly relevant for creating more sustainable trade policy while societal mechanisms seem to be an adequate tool to ensure effective enforcement of ecological provisions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review is the first of its kind to provide a systematic overview of the literature on the effectiveness of environmental provisions that combines the micro-level of businesses and macro-level of economies, although the importance for trade in general and environmental protection, in particular, has been recognized in the academic literature.

Research on the living conditions of slum dwellers in the inner cities of developing countries has received much attention. Nevertheless, there is little empirical research on the influence of personal attributes on the poor environmental condition of the slum area. This study aims to examine the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics and the physical condition of the slum environment in the inner city of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Data was collected through the use of questionnaire administration from a household survey of 491 slum dwellers. Systematic random sampling was used in the selection of the respondents. The study used descriptive, factor and multiple regression to analyse the data collected.

The study used descriptive, factor and multiple regression to analyse the data collected. The study reveals an interplay between various socio-economic factors and environmental conditions. The results show that out of ten (10) socio economic variables that were submitted in the regression model, only eight (8) of these variables such as income, household size, occupation, level of education, age, marital status, year of residency and nativity were significant.

The study concluded that despite the fact that the condition of the slum environment is a product of multiple interrelated factors, personal attributes also contribute to the poor environmental condition of the slum area. The study recommended that improving the socio-economic conditions of slum dwellers would lead to improved environmental conditions.

The study aims to identify the antecedent conditions of the entrepreneurship system in a country to achieve sustainable competitiveness and explain the interplays in the pathways beyond the triple bottom line theory.

The study employs a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) with contrarian case analysis on 126 country datasets from the Global Innovation Index (GII) reports and Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index (GSCI) reports for the period from 2013 to 2022.

The results show four parallel leverage mechanisms leading to high sustainable competitiveness, where research and development, knowledge diffusion, and new business density are the central roles in most cases.

This model complements and helps to amplify the understanding of sustainability theories and the fsQCA with contrarian case analysis on panel data, which was not tested or employed earlier on entrepreneurship and sustainable competitiveness.

This study aims to identify the principal changes that digitalization has brought about in the internal audit functions (IAFs), focusing on the main characteristics that have been affected by this phenomenon.

The study follows a qualitative approach, involving the thematic analysis of semistructured interviews. A total of 22 professionals working in Italian-listed companies’ IAFs were interviewed. The framework of institutional theory was used to analyze the results.

The elements most affected by the digitalization of IAFs in Italy are: the skills required in IAFs, the relationship with external consultants and the types of activities performed by internal auditors (IArs). Nevertheless, the extent of the level digitalization within the IAFs of the companies analyzed appears to vary in accordance with the level of institutional pressures experienced by the organizations.

The study contributes to the literature on IA and digitalization by delineating the principal elements that are influenced by the digitalization process of IA. Moreover, it highlights how these elements develop and evolve as the level of digitalization of the IAF changes.

Binder jetting of 17-4PH martensitic stainless steel is of great interest to several industries that could exploit the higher degree of geometrical complexity granted by 3D printing, thus this paper aims at providing a comprehensive description of the material development throughout the multiple manufacturing stages and treatments.

In this work, insight into the as-sintered 17-4PH microstructure and the manufacturing process effects on the copper precipitation is provided. Furthermore, conventional ageing treatments were applied to the specimens starting from either the as-sintered or the solution-annealed state and studied with particular attention to the microstructure and the resulting mechanical properties.

The analysis of the as-sintered microstructure revealed a continuous δ ferrite network along martensitic grains, with Cu-rich phases within the ferritic phase. Solution annealing was able to redistribute the alloying elements within the matrix and limit the continuity of the ferritic network leading to an enhancement in ductility. On the contrary, the direct ageing treatments performed on the as-sintered microstructure lead to overageing of the Cu-precipitates and impairing of the tensile properties compared to those starting from solution annealed condition. Nonetheless, hardness remains comparable independently from the ageing temperature and the ferritic network retains its morphology and distribution.

A stepwise description of the microstructural development throughout thermal treatments is provided granting the chance to design the most convenient post-processing route to achieve the required mechanical properties with a minimisation of energy and cost consumption.

This study aims to examine whether the age and tenure of the chair of the board of directors are related to research and development (R&D) investment in China.

This study uses A-share manufacturing firms that traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchange between 2009 and 2018. This study uses OLS regressions, controls for self-selection bias, and uses an instrumental variable to alleviate the concern of endogeneity.

This study finds that chair tenure has a negative relationship with R&D investment. This study does not find a significant relationship between chair age and R&D investment.

This study contributes to corporate governance and strategic management literature by highlighting chair tenure as a new factor affecting R&D investments. It also adds a significant contribution to the limited literature on the chair’s role in strategic decisions. Moreover, companies that are eager to strengthen corporate governance and maintain sustained innovation may reconsider the chair tenure. Given that many proposals for board governance reform explicitly stress the importance of limiting board tenure, this study contributes to policymakers by providing evidence in support of these proposals.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of online brainspotting (BSP) therapy in reducing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and influencing brain metabolism in a survivor of intimate partner sexual violence.

A quasi-experimental single-case study using a pretest–posttest design was conducted with clinical assessments and neuroimaging techniques (Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy or H-MRS). The PTSD participant underwent 15 online BSP sessions, with a healthy control included for comparison. PTSD symptoms and neural activity, specifically the N-acetyl aspartate/creatine ratio, were evaluated before and after the intervention.

The results indicated significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and improvements in neural activity, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus and amygdala. Reductions in anxiety and depression levels were also observed through clinical assessments. Follow-up sessions confirmed sustained symptom improvement.

The small sample size and lack of randomization limit generalizability, and reliance on self-reporting could introduce bias. Future research should involve larger samples, randomized trials and longer follow-up periods.

This study offers preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of online BSP therapy in treating PTSD, highlighting its potential as an accessible treatment option and demonstrating the value of neuroimaging in tracking therapy outcomes.

The study provides novel insights into online BSP’s impact on brain regions associated with trauma and emphasizes the need for culturally sensitive PTSD treatment in Indonesia.