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This study aims to test the dynamic impact of public debt and economic growth on newly democratized African countries (South Africa and Namibia) and compare the findings with those of newly democratized European countries (Germany and Ukraine) during the period 1990–2022.

The methodology involves three stages: identifying the appropriate transition variable, assessing the linearity between public debt and economic growth and selecting the order m of the transition function. The linearity test helps identify the nature of relationships between public debt and economic growth. The wild cluster bootstrap-Lagrange Multiplier test is used to evaluate the model’s appropriateness. All these tests would be executed using the Lagrange Multiplier type of test.

The results signify the policy switch, as the authors find that the relationship between public debt and economic growth is characterized by two transitions that symbolize that the current stage of the relationship is beyond the U-shape; however, an S-shape. The results show that for newly democratized African countries, the threshold during the first waves was 50% of GDP, represented by a U-shape, which then transits to an inverted U-shape with a threshold of 65% of GDP. Then, for the European case, it was 60% of GDP, which is now 72% of GDP.

The findings suggest that an escalating level of public debt has a negative impact on economic growth; therefore, it is important to implement fiscal discipline, prioritize government spending and reduce reliance on debt financing. This can be achieved by focusing on revenue generation, implementing effective taxation policies, reducing wasteful expenditures and promoting investment and productivity-enhancing measures.

This study has two main objectives. First, it aims to identify the opportunities and challenges influencing consumer purchase behaviors when ordering food through food aggregator platforms. Second, it seeks to determine consumer preferences for paid, owned and earned media (POEM) channels in the context of food aggregators.

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with consumers who ordered food via aggregator platforms. Qualitative data analysis was conducted using NVivo 14.

The study identifies eight key themes representing the opportunities and challenges faced by food aggregators: (1) Streamlining and transparency in charges, (2) Enhancing speed, quality and reliability of delivery services, (3) Strategizing discounts and promotions to maximize customer engagement, (4) Ensuring food quality, packaging and accuracy in delivery, (5) Diversifying payment portfolios to cater to different customers, (6) Streamlining the ordering process and timely addressing of issues, (7) Normalizing pricing issues and (8) Ensuring the safety of delivery agents. The results indicate consumer preferences for POEM channels, showing a preference for earned media first, followed by owned media, with paid forms of communication ranking last.

The study enhances the understanding of consumer perceptions and the dynamics of media influence on purchasing decisions, contributing valuable insights to the existing body of knowledge.

The qualitative analysis highlights critical themes and areas that brands must address to maintain customer satisfaction. Identifying opportunities and challenges allows food aggregators to prioritize strategic initiatives effectively. Additionally, understanding customer preferences for POEM channels enables marketers to tailor their communication strategies to better align with consumer expectations.

The study highlights that while food aggregators provide convenience and flexibility for consumers, major concerns such as the quality and packaging of delivered food as well as the safety of delivery partners, also influence customer decisions when ordering through aggregators.

This research is novel in its approach, providing an in-depth qualitative analysis that captures the nuanced perspectives of consumers using food aggregators. By analyzing customer interactions and feedback, the study aims to offer actionable insights for enhancing service quality and meeting consumer expectations.

Sports bras can effectively reduce breast displacement, alleviate breast pain and protect the breast. Different bra components have different effects on breast support. This study aims to explore the quantitative relationship between bra components and vibration reduction function.

To understand the effects of different bra component parameters on breast support, 30 sports bras were fabricated with precise component parameters. The dynamic vertical breast displacement when wearing each sports bra was monitored using motion capture technology. The breast displacement data from five breast positions was used to analyze the overall vertical displacement of the breast. To address variability due to differences in human anatomy, the experiments were conducted on a custom-made manikin prepared using three-dimensional printing.

Compared with bare breasts, breasts supported by bras made with high-elastic-modulus cup materials, high-elastic-modulus shoulder strap materials and polyester underbands exhibited reduced vertical displacement during physical activity. Structurally, bras with higher cup heights, shorter strap lengths and smaller underband circumferences were associated with reduced overall breast displacement during physical activity.

By systematically studying the effects of different bra components on breast support, this study provides valuable insight and recommendations for the design and materials selection of sports bras.

This study examined the impact of digital finance on SME financial inclusion in Africa.

The study obtained data from the International Monetary Fund's Financial Access Survey and World Development Indicators covering the period from 2011 to 2022. Heteroskedastic panels corrected standard errors (HPCSE) and feasible generalized least squares regressions were employed in the analysis.

The findings indicate that digital finance (volume and intensity) significantly improves SME financial inclusion in Africa.

Due to the paucity of data, the study covered only 17 African countries over 12 years (2011–2022).

The findings imply the need for African central banks and other relevant regulatory bodies to establish effective regulations mandating Deposit Money Banks and other financial institutions to operate agent banking. This would facilitate access to financial services for SME owners. Such measures could financially include more unbanked SME owners, especially those in rural areas. Moreover, these initiatives must be strongly supported by introducing user-friendly digital financial technologies and registering more financial technology (fintech) companies.

Implementing necessary measures to enhance access to digital financial services for SMEs in Africa is likely to reduce unemployment and poverty and contribute to the economic growth and development of the region.

This study provides empirical evidence showing how digital finance affects SME financial inclusion in Africa.

This study aims to analyse and understand customer sentiments and perceptions from neobanking mobile applications by using advanced machine learning and text mining techniques.

This study explores a substantial large data set of 330,399 user reviews available in the form of unstructured textual data from neobanking mobile applications. This study is aimed to extract meaningful patterns, topics, sentiments and themes from the data.

The results show that the success of neobanking mobile applications depends on user experience, security features, personalised services and technological innovation.

This study is limited to textual resources available in the public domain, and hence may not present the entire range of user experiences. Further studies should incorporate a wider range of data sources and investigate the impact of regional disparities on user preferences.

This study provides actionable ideas for neobanking service providers, enabling them to improve service quality and mobile application user experience by integrating customer input and the latest trends. These results can offer important inputs to the process of user interaction design, implementation of new features and customer support services.

This study uses text mining approaches to analyse neobanking mobile applications, which further contribute to the growing literature on digital banking and FinTech. This study offers a unique view of consumer behaviour and preferences in the realm of digital banking, which will add to the literature on the quality of service concerning mobile applications.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities are increasingly prominent in the current agendas of firms, regulatory agencies and consumers worldwide. It is vital for banks to understand how consumers perceive CSR activities, as such activities strengthen their brand equity building. This study examines the relationship between financial consumers’ perceptions of banks’ CSR initiatives and brand equity, identifying a mediating influence of consumer trust and satisfaction.

The survey was conducted by distributing questionnaires to Italian banking consumers (941 valid responses). The research hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis.

Our analysis reveals that consumers’ perceptions of banks’ CSR initiatives directly affect brand equity. Moreover, trust and satisfaction positively mediate the relationship between consumers’ perceptions of CSR initiatives and brand equity in the Italian banking industry.

These findings advance understanding by making a novel contribution to the literature; they also have managerial implications. In terms of literature advancement, we provide new evidence related to a context with specific features, namely Italy. From a managerial perspective, this study highlights the importance of informing Italian customers about and promoting awareness of sustainable activities. In turn, client perceptions affect the banks’ value.

The present paper offers a literature review on the application of institutional theory in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study aims to synthesize existing research on how institutional factors, both formal and informal, shape the strategic behaviors of SMEs through the lens of new institutionalism and its three strands – rational-action neoinstitutionalism (RAN), social-constructionist neoinstitutionalism (SCN) and mediated-conflict neoinstitutionalism (MCN). It also identifies critical gaps and proposes avenues for future research.

Employing the B-SLR’s multi-method framework, this study integrates bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review. The analysis examines 202 articles, categorizing them into four key research clusters related to the application of institutional theory to SMEs.

The literature on SMEs and institutional theory is framed around the following clusters: (1) institutional theory and innovation in SMEs, (2) institutional theory and the environmental sustainability of SMEs, (3) institutional theory and the internationalization of SMEs and (4) institutional theory and SME strategies in emerging markets.

This study represents the first literature review applying institutional theory to SMEs, offering a framework for understanding how institutional factors influence SME strategic decisions. The paper also identifies research gaps, proposing directions for future studies within each of the four clusters and contributes to bridging the fragmented research on SMEs and institutional theory.

This study aims to evaluate the safe haven property of several assets against the US and European stock markets during the Russo-Ukrainian War in a time–frequency framework.

This study uses the wavelet-based dynamic conditional correlation-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (DCC-GARCH) methodology and wavelet coherence on daily returns for the S&P500, STOXX600 and 13 possible save haven assets.

The results show that wheat and corn are the best assets to use as hedges and safe havens for all types of investors. The second-ranked are energy commodities, which are hedges and safe havens for long-term investors. Gold, silver and palladium display hedging and safe haven qualities for medium- and long-term investment. However, cryptocurrencies, the Dow Jones sustainability index and Islamic indices do not act as safe havens for most holding periods.

These findings have significant implications for portfolio investment strategies in times of geopolitical risks.

The contributions of this study are twofold. First, several assets from different classes were analyzed as possible candidates for safe havens. Second, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze safe haven property through different investment horizons for the US and the European stock market indices during the Russo-Ukrainian War.

The perception of sexual harassment varies from culture to culture and from person to person. Due to the consequences of sexual harassment, it is of utmost importance to assess the perception of sexual harassment among undergraduate students of health sciences since they are future healthcare professionals. This study assessed sexual harassment prevalence, experiences, perceptions and its associated factors among undergraduate female pharmacy students.

This study was conducted in ten pharmacy schools in Nigeria with the aid of a validated structured self-administered questionnaire which was administrated as an online link through the WhatsApp platform. Data obtained was summarized using descriptive statistics. Chi-square was used to determine the association between the students’ demographic characteristics and sexual harassment experiences, prevalence and perception while Pearson’s correlation determined the correlation between the students’ experiences and perception of sexual harassment and domains of sexual harassment. P-values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant.

A majority 352 (67.6%) of the respondents were between the age of 21 and 23 years and single (475, 91.2%). Over one-third, 211 (41.1%), of the respondents had experienced inappropriate sexual incidents. Gender harassment was the most prevalent form of sexual harassment. Most students perceived “a lecturer makes sexual advances to you in his office” (86.0%) and “a perceived strict lecturer frequently tries to touch you in a discomforting manner” (85.8%) as sexual harassment while 90% perceived dating a lecturer while in school as sexual misconduct. Age and ethnic groups were associated with the perception of sexual harassment (p = 0.003 and p < 0.0001 respectively). Gender harassment was associated with experiences of unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion (p < 0.0001). Previous experience of an inappropriate sexual event was associated with gender harassment, experiences of unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion (p < 0.0001).

Sexual harassment is prevalent in Nigerian pharmacy schools and gender harassment is the most prevalent form of it. Excessive physical contact from a male lecturer, sharing sexual fantasies and making sexual advances is perceived as sexual harassment by the undergraduate female pharmacy students. The students’ perception of sexual harassment was influenced by their age and ethnicity.