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Amazon Explore is a new online experience product from Amazon, which offers live stream sightseeing of destinations around the world. This paper aims to provide a first insight into how exactly Amazon Explore enters the virtual experience (VE) industry, and discuss the possible implications of its business model for the future of virtual and offline travel experiences.

Qualitative and quantitative methods of content analysis methods were employed in this study. The sample of this research consisted of 175 Amazon Explore products. Firstly, the authors analysed the content of each product, and then quantitative method were used to present the data. With this analysis, the authors presented how Amazon Explore is testing the foundations for new business models, and discuss the possible implications for the future of tourism. One year later, those same Amazon Explore products were reviewed again to check development progress. The following were the main questions regarding VE: How interactive are Amazon Explore products? How does Amazon Explore aim to ensure the monetisation of these products in an economically sustainable way in order to go beyond the “freemium” business model, often associated with VE as just another destination marketing tool?

This article presents the discussions of VE and virtual reality (VR). The authors determined the level of interactivity of the diverse VE offered themes with a model of four levels of interactivity. The results show that the analysed products achieve mostly only low levels of interaction. Regarding monetisation, Amazon Explore shows three possible future directions in the development of VE: as a marketing tool, as an extension of the offline experience and as potentially someday replacing real travel as part of the future monetisation scenario.

The article offers the first insights into Amazon's extension into the realm of VE in two time periods in 2020 and 2021, and, based on these preliminary results, discusses four possible scenarios for the future development of VE monetisation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether board composition affects corporate sustainability (CS) levels in private firms. Additionally, the study examines a potential interplay between CS levels and CS reporting, and the impact of EU Directive 2014 / 95/EU (Non-Financial Reporting Directive [NFRD]) on resources spent on CS.

The authors surveyed the chief executive officers (CEOs), chief financial officers (CFOs) and Environment Officers of Swedish private firms subject to NFRD, receiving 149 valid responses (a response rate 24%). The authors coded the responses using van Marrewijk and Werre’s (2003) CS levels framework. The levels are Pre-CS, Compliance-driven, Profit-driven, Caring, Synergistic and Holistic. The study then explained the CS levels with board characteristics.

While on average the sample firms have a profit-driven CS level, the authors find that CS level is positively driven by female Chairs, female CEOs and external CEOs. Early voluntary reporting before NFRD does not explain the CS level. On adoption of the NFRD, mandatory reporters increased resources spent on CS activities and CS reporting more than early voluntary-reporters. Nonetheless, slightly over half of the sample firms reported no significant impact of the NFRD on resources spent on CS.

The findings may be useful for stakeholders interested in corporate governance and CS levels. Also, the findings support further regulation such as EU Directive 2022/2464 (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive [CSRD]).

In private firms, female leaders are likely to play a significant role in driving altruistically motivated CS practices.

The focus is on private firms in Sweden which, unlike those in other jurisdictions, were subject to NFRD. Methodologically, the use of a survey provides an alternative to the previous heavy reliance on archival research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of farmland renting-in on planted grain acreage.

A survey data of five counties were analyzed with the two-stage ordinary least squares model.

Households renting-in land trended to plant more maize, and the more land was rented by a household the more maize was planted, while wheat acreage showed non-response to farmland renting-in.

Overall, the analysis suggests that policy makers should be prepared for different changing trends of grain crop acreage across the nation as farmland transfer continues. Future research should pay attention to the effect of farmland transfer on agricultural productivity and rural household income growth.

As the Chinese Government is promoting larger-scale and more mechanized farms as a way of protecting grain security, it is important to understand whether farmland renting-in will reduce planted grain acreage. This study provides empirical evidence showing the answer to that question may differ across different regions and depend on the particular grain crop in question.

To build public trust in the accounting profession, previous research studies have stressed the need for ethics education. This present research aims to investigate the effects of teaching ethics using the ethics education toolkit (EET) developed by the International Accounting Education Standards Board on accounting students’ moral judgment.

An experimental design was used to determine the effects of teaching ethics using the EET on moral judgment. Data were obtained using the multidimensional ethics scale questionnaire and analysed with multiple linear regression. Factor analysis was performed to obtain the four moral philosophies defined in the literature.

The results confirm that use of the EET improves the moral judgment of accounting students. The influence of utilitarianism and relativism on moral judgment was reduced, while the students’ ability to recognise violating an unwritten contract as an unethical act was improved. Contrary to expectations, the influence of justice on moral judgment decreased.

The study may benefit academics by showing positive outcomes of EET use. The EET is a well-developed teaching tool, also suitable for educators insufficiently qualified to develop their own ethics courses or facing time constraints.

The EET was developed to support implementation of ethics education in programmes for professional accountants. By investigating the applicability and effects of the tool in higher education, this study aims to develop moral judgment in accounting students before they enter the accounting profession.