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This study aims to assess the efficiency of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) countries in achieving sustainable development by analyzing their ability to convert resources and technological innovations into sustainable outcomes.

Using data envelopment analysis (DEA), the study evaluates the economic, environmental and social efficiency of BRICS countries over the period 2010–2018. It ranks these countries based on their sustainable development performance and compares them to the period 2000–2007.

The study reveals varied efficiency levels among BRICS countries. Russia and South Africa lead in certain sustainable development aspects. South Africa excels in environmental sustainability, whereas Brazil is efficient in resource utilization for sustainable growth. China and India, despite economic growth, face challenges such as pollution and lower quality of life.

The study’s findings are constrained by the DEA methodology and the selection of variables. It highlights the need for more nuanced research incorporating recent global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical shifts.

Insights from this study can inform targeted and effective sustainability strategies in BRICS nations, focusing on areas such as industrial quality improvement, employment conditions and environmental policies.

The study underscores the importance of balancing economic growth with social and environmental considerations, highlighting the need for policies addressing inequality, poverty and environmental degradation.

This research provides a unique comparative analysis of BRICS countries’ sustainable development efficiency, challenging conventional perceptions and offering a new perspective on their progress.

Drawing on the tenets of institutional theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of Confucianism on technology for social good, while also considering the moderating influence of extrinsic informal institutions (foreign culture) and intrinsic formal institutions (property rights).

This study constructs a comprehensive database comprising 9,759 firm-year observations in China by using a sample of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2016 to 2020. Subsequently, the hypotheses are examined and confirmed, with the validity of the results being upheld even after conducting endogenous and robustness tests.

The findings of this study offer robust and consistent evidence supporting the notion that Confucianism positively affects technology for social good through both incentive effect and normative effect. Moreover, this positive influence is particularly prominent in organizations with limited exposure to foreign culture and in nonstate-owned enterprises.

The findings contribute to the literature by fostering a deep understanding of technology for social good and Confucianism research, and further provide a nuanced picture of the role of foreign culture and property rights in the process of technology for social good in China.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of corporate digital transformation on bond credit spreads. Additionally, it also explores the two potential channels, information asymmetry and default risk, through which digital transformation can influence bond credit spreads.

We use the bond issuance data of Chinese listed companies over the period 2008–2020. Corporate digital transformation of these companies is measured with textual analysis of the management discussion and analysis part of annual reports. We employ a panel regression model to estimate the effect of digital transformation on bond credit spreads.

We find robust evidence that companies with higher digital transformation experience lower bond credit spreads. We further observe that credit spread reduction is higher for firms that are smaller, non-state-owned, have lower credit ratings and have less analyst coverage. We also find evidence that digital transformation reduces credit spreads by reducing the information asymmetry between firms and investors with enhanced information transformation mechanisms and lowering corporate default risk by strengthening operating efficiency.

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to understand the impact of corporate digital transformation on bond credit spreads. Our findings help to understand the effect of digital transformation on firms’ credit worthiness and access to capital.

This research paper aims to establish a comprehensive framework for the barriers to CER in the construction industry, assesses the barriers' relative degrees of hindrance and causal mechanisms.

Firstly, 26 carbon emission reduction (CER) barriers in the construction industry were identified based on a systematic literature review (SLR) and categorized into five dimensions: policy, economy, society, technology and organization (PEST + O model). Secondly, the Best–Worst Method (BWM) was used to clarify the degrees of hindrance of the CER barriers. Then, the Grey-Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (Grey-DEMATEL) was used to visualize the directional cause–result relationship network among prominent barriers. Finally, the Boston matrix model was used to propose differentiated strategies to address CER barriers in the construction industry.

The calculated centrality and causality of the prominent barriers indicated that the lack of relevant legal policies and normative guidelines, the poor binding force and enforcement of existing relevant policies, the lack of effective economic subsidies and incentives and the difficulty in the operation, transformation and upgrading of existing construction CER are the key barriers that CER needs to address first in the construction industry. Considering the order of priority and the optimal path, differentiated countermeasures are proposed to address key, driving, independent and effect barriers.

This study develops a BWM–Grey-DEMATEL integrated multi-criteria decision-making model. An innovative C-shaped strategic map for addressing CER barriers in the construction industry is proposed by integrating the dual dimensions of time and space. This will guide practitioners, policymakers and decision-makers in developing CER strategies.

This paper takes the Shanghai-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect as a quasi-natural experiment and investigates the impact of capital market liberalization on the corporate debt maturity structure. It also aims to provide some policy implications for corporate debt financing and further liberalization of the capital market in China.

Employing the exogenous event of Shanghai-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect and using the data of Chinese A-share firms from 2010 to 2020, this study constructs a difference-in-differences model to examine the relationship between capital market liberalization and corporate debt maturity structure. To validate the results, this study performed several robustness tests, including the parallel test, the placebo test, the Heckman two-stage regression and the propensity score matching.

This paper finds that capital market liberalization has significantly increased the proportion of long-term debt of target firms. Further analyses suggest that the impact of capital market liberalization on the debt maturity structure is more pronounced for firms with lower management ownership and non-Big 4 audit. Channel tests show that capital market liberalization improves firms’ information environment and curbs self-interested management behavior.

This research provides empirical evidence for the consequences of capital market liberalization and enriches the literature on the determinants of corporate debt maturity structure. Further this study makes a reference for regulators and financial institutions to improve corporate financing through the governance role of capital market liberalization.

As China is on an inevitable march into the digital era, firms have accumulated abundant digital assets, such as algorithms and data. Facing the possibility of using digital assets as a new type input, besides traditional inputs such as capital and labor, would powerful managers perform better? Would managerial power help managers increase the efficiency of how a firm combines traditional and digital inputs and converts them into outputs? Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether powerful managers promotes corporate productivity by using digital assets as a new input.

Using data from listed Chinese firms between 2008 and 2020, the authors constructed panel regressions with three-way fixed effects to examine whether and how managerial power influences corporate productivity in the current digital context, particularly under market uncertainty.

The findings reveal no consistent relationship between managerial power and corporate productivity. The results explain this from two contrasting effects: while managerial power promotes technological change it hinders technical efficiency – two components of total productivity. Moreover, this study identifies market uncertainty as a significant external contingency. In uncertain markets, strong managerial power positively impacts corporate productivity.

The results extend extant theoretical insights in the literature on how managerial power might influence corporate productivity.

This paper aims to analyse sustainability reporting practices and the influences of local and global norms for sustainability reporting in the Indo-Pacific region. A comprehensive sustainability reporting index is developed to benchmark company reporting against major global reporting frameworks and local frameworks.

The content analysis was conducted on 2019/20 and 2020/21 sustainability and annual reports produced by the top 50 listed companies in four distinctive countries in the Indo-Pacific region: Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. A total of 249 reports were collected and analysed.

Through the lens of Integrative Social Contract Theory (ISCT), this study reveals that issues garnering global attention, which are also included in the local standards, are most likely to be reported, especially in the social dimensions related to employee health and well-being, as well as diversity and equity. While companies are keeping up with the global standards related to sustainability issues, the presence and comprehensiveness of key local frameworks significantly influence the extent of sustainability reporting in emerging Indo-Pacific economies. However, certain aspects of reporting, such as the implementation and training of the OHS system, gender diversity in leadership and renewable energy use, are not covered by the local frameworks but receive considerable attention in corporate reporting practice. These aspects have been integrated into the ethical principles that companies consider as crucial ethical norms, or hypernorms, irrespective of local influences.

The substantial impact of local expectations also suggests that global sustainability reporting guidelines may need to better incorporate the nuanced complexities of local or country-specific situations and challenges faced by companies. In addition, while Indo-Pacific companies are actively engaging with critical hypernorms related to workplace safety, equal leadership opportunities for women and clean energy, more attention and support are needed for equally important areas, such as age diversity and the circular economy, as companies embrace the global momentum.

Previous research on sustainability reporting in the Indo-Pacific region is patchy in both volume and scope, which is symptomatic of limited access to data and the slower uptake of the practice in developing countries. However, the growing economic and geopolitical importance of this region means that it is an important context to explore. This research takes a cross-country approach to examining sustainability reporting in the region, aiming to benchmark company practices against global and local frameworks. It reveals an integrative approach that companies in this region have adopted to harmonise global standards with the diverse array of local reporting norms and standards.

This study aims to explore the impact mechanism of social support on individual health knowledge creation among users in online patient communities, guide and promote the creation of health knowledge and provide insights into managing online patient communities.

A theoretical model was constructed by integrating social impact and social support theories. Data were collected through questionnaires, and 750 valid responses were analysed using a structural equation model.

This study found the following. (1) Social support influences individual health knowledge creation through the mediating effects of creative self-efficacy and positive emotions. (2) The general rule of the strength of the influencing factors on individual health knowledge creation is that creative self-efficacy > positive emotions. (3) The general pattern of the mediating effect of attitude factors between social support and health knowledge creation is that creative self-efficacy > positive emotions. (4) The key path for social support to influence individual health knowledge creation is “social support → creative self-efficacy → health knowledge creation”. (5) The dimensions of social support in online patient communities can be divided into information, emotional, respect and network support. Individual health knowledge creation can be divided into health knowledge externalisation, combination, socialisation and internalisation.

This study expands the application scope of social influence theory and opens up the “black box” of the impact of social support on individual health knowledge creation behaviour. Simultaneously, the dimensions of social support, individual health knowledge creation and the mediating role between social support and health knowledge creation are discussed.

Drawing on the technology affordance and affinity theories, this study proposes a framework explaining the antecedents and consequences of customers’ smart experiences (CSEs) in the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot context.

The quantitative approach employing an online survey was adopted to obtain data from chatbot users (N = 761) and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Results from a survey study show that chatbot affordances, including interactivity (two-way communication, active control and synchronicity), selectivity (customization and localization), information (argument quality and source credibility), association (connectivity and sense of safety) and navigation positively affect CSEs (hedonic and cognitive), leading to customer chatbot stickiness through affinity.

Our study provides evidence that supports and extends the affordances and affinity lens by highlighting the roles of specific chatbot affordances that contribute to a positive-smart experience and subsequently enhances customer chatbot stickiness through affinity.