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The purpose of this paper is to address the use of sludge from water treatment plant (WTP sludge), in its natural form (wet), in the construction industry, especially in the production of concrete, evaluating the effects of replacing natural sand with different WTP sludge levels in the concrete properties.

The dosage study evaluated mixtures with replacement levels of 0, 5, 7 and 10 percent of wet sludge in relation to the mass of natural sand, analyzing their effects on mechanical properties and water absorption in concrete with water/cement (w/c) ratios of 0.45, 0.55 and 0.65.

From the results obtained, it is possible to note that the addition of WTP sludge in its natural form (wet) reduces the strength of concrete. However, from a technical point of view, a level of replacement of up to 5 percent for applications in concrete is suitable, provided that it is not structural concrete.

Further studies should be conducted to verify the influence of the replacement of sand for heat-treated sludge in concrete properties, also analyzing the environmental viability linked to the calcination process.

Few studies are conclusive in relation to the use of WTP sludge in concrete production. This study shows statistically the negative effect of the addition of wet sludge in the mechanical properties and in the water absorption of concretes from different w/c ratios.

In education concerning environmental issues, there are two predominant currents in the world, environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD). ESD is the formal commitment and therefore promoted by the United Nations, to ensure that countries achieve sustainable development. In contrast, EE was the first educational trend with an environmental protection approach. The purpose of this systematic review that seeks to show whether the migration from EE to ESD is being effective and welcomed by researchers and especially by universities is presented. With the above, a global panorama can be provided, where the regions that choose each model can be identified. In the same sense, it was sought to determine which of the two currents is more accepted within engineering education.

The review followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyzes parameters for systematic reviews. In total, 198 papers indexed in Scopus, Science Direct, ERIC and Scielo were analyzed. With the results, the advancement of ESD and the state of the EE by regions in the world were identified.

It was possible to categorize the geographical regions that host either of the two EE or ESD currents. It is important to note that ESD has gained more strength from the decade of ESD proposed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. For its part, EE has greater historical roots in some regions of the planet. In turn, there is evidence of a limited number of publications on the design and revision of study plans in engineering.

Through this systematic literature review, the regions of the world that are clinging to EE and those that have taken the path of ESD could be distinguished. Moreover, specific cases in engineering where ESD has been involved were noted.

This historical example of the creation of the arms industry in the Connecticut River Valley in the 1800s provides new insights into the value of government venture capital (GVC) and government demand in creating a new industry. Since current theoretical explanations of the best uses of governmental venture capital are still under development, there is considerable need for further theory development to explain and predict the creation of an industry and especially those industries where failures in private capital supply necessitates governmental involvement in new firm creation. The purpose of this paper is to provide an in depth historical review of how the arms industry evolved spurred by GVC and government created demand.

This study uses abductive inference as the best way to build and test emerging theories and advancing theoretical explanations of the best uses of GVC and governmental demand to achieve socially required outcomes.

By observing this specific historical example in detail, the authors add to the understanding of value creation caused by governmental venture capital funding of existing theory. A major contribution of this paper is to advance theory based on detailed observation.

The relatively limited research literature and theory development on governmental venture capital funding and the critical success factors in startups are enriched by this abductive investigation of the creation of the historically important arms industry and its spillover into creating the specialized machine industry.

This paper aims, first, to advance the current understanding about the impact of innovation in non-traditional exports, and, second, to provide insights about the structure of emergent economies often not regarded by traditional innovation and export theories.

A longitudinal analysis using panel data based on Box Jenkins’ theory was conducted, so to identify statistically significant variables on export performance, regarding expenditure on research, development and innovation (R&D + I) activities, ICT and specialized training and formation.

This study suggests the need to design public policies aimed at stimulating innovation in potential export sectors, as a mechanism for competitive development and growth in emergent economies such as Colombia.

The introduction of innovations in goods and services exports has become more important in economies, such as the Colombian ones, where globalization openness processes force to establish minimum competitiveness levels regarding the international standards.

This paper focuses on medical device university spin-offs (USOs), taking into account the peculiarities of financial and nonfinancial support and intellectual property rights (IPRs). The authors declare that these parameters play a significant role in business development at the early stages.

This empirical data consist of individual and group interviews in Finland and Sweden, which are later inductively analyzed.

The results show that public financial support contributes to the formation and start of sales stages in small countries and local markets. However, at the validation stage, approaches for supporting entrepreneurship in the field of medical devices may differ. The ownership of IPRs assists in the development of entrepreneurship in the region due to the transfer of research results and researchers to the industry and increases the number of spin-offs and the cooperation of universities with business.

This contribution is in the identification of the key parameters for the formation, support and development of the USOs from the point of view of the availability of financial resources and the ownership of IPRs.

This paper aims to explore the extent to which technology and disruption has been considered within the accounting literature, to introduce the five papers which compose this special issue and to provide an agenda for future research on technology and disruption.

To explore previous works on the disruptive potential of technology in accounting, the study compares topics in accounting research articles that contain variations of the term “disrupt” with those articles containing variations of the term “technology”. Based on the method first proposed in Marrone and Hammerle (2016), an entity linker application was used to extract key topics from the top 50 accounting journals, and these topics were then compared to determine the extent of thematic intersection.

A key finding is that accounting academic articles featuring “disruption” are rarely linked with “technology”. The concept of “disruption” has been largely synonymous with crisis, and the crises endured to date have had predominantly social or environmental causes (e.g. the GFC and natural disasters). The literature on technology has coalesced around three broad themes – creation, deployment and protection – which have not been identified as crises triggers so far. This finding underscores the importance of the papers comprising this special issue, which explore enhanced data visualisation, blockchain and social media, as well as considering how such technologies might be managed and their potential for either emancipation or enslavement.

In relation to the review of prior literature, the primary limitation is that a quantitative approach was taken. Whilst this allows for a greater sample size and replication, a qualitative thematic review may reveal additional findings. The primary implication of this research and this special issue collectively is that there is much more to be done in exploring both the potential benefits and limitations of new technologies for accounting.

In relation to the review of prior literature, no previous studies have undertaken a quantitative analysis of the intersection of technology disruption in accounting research. In relation to this special issue, these papers collectively provide a multi-faceted view of how technology can and will transform the practice and potential of accounting in the years ahead. Finally, the provision of a thematic framework and research agenda will assist future researchers in exploring this dynamic and important field.

This is a selective annotated bibliography of the literature on Christopher Columbus from 1970 to 1989. The subject is particularly relevant considering the approach of the Quincentenary of the “discovery” of America in 1992. For that same reason, there has been an outpouring of literature on the subject since 1990, a significant subset of which contributes to are interpretation of Columbus the man, his voyages, and their impact on the new world. It is hoped that this more recent literature will be part of a subsequent annotated bibliography.

The purpose of this paper is to use a combination of resource-based theory and dynamic capabilities theory to explore the phenomenon of startup survival in an emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The study has a phenomenological research design, with an exploratory scope and qualitative approach. It uses in-depth interviews to identify the perceptions of ecosystem agents about the phenomenon of survival.

This paper argues that startup survival should be studied as a construct that is reflected by four conditions: break-even point, accelerated growth, cash stock and continuous operation. Furthermore, it is formed by the interaction of five mainly interacting resources: human capital, social capital, entrepreneurial capital, organizational capital and the incubation process.

The study offers a holistic model of survival that could be applicable to incipient entrepreneurial ecosystems such as the Peruvian one. This model presents survival as a reflexive-formative construct and not as a dichotomic variable (enterprise operating/enterprise closed) as has been commonly considered in the literature.

En este documento se utiliza una combinación de la teoría basada en los recursos y la teoría de las capacidades dinámicas para explorar el fenómeno de la sobrevivencia de startups en un ecosistema emprendedor incipiente.

El estudio tiene un diseño de investigación fenomenológica, con un alcance exploratorio y un enfoque cualitativo. Utiliza entrevistas en profundidad para identificar las percepciones de los agentes del ecosistema sobre el fenómeno de la sobrevivencia.

En este documento se argumenta que la sobrevivencia de los startups debe estudiarse como un constructo que se refleja en cuatro condiciones: el punto de equilibrio, el crecimiento acelerado, el stock de efectivo y la operación continua. Además, se forma por la interacción de cinco categorías de recursos organizacionales: el capital humano, el capital social, el capital emprendedor, el capital organizacional y el proceso de incubación.

El documento ofrece un modelo holístico de sobrevivencia que podría ser aplicable en ecosistemas emprendedores incipientes como el peruano. Este modelo presenta a la sobrevivencia como un constructo reflexivo-formativo y no como una variable dicotómica (empresa en actividad / empresa cerrada) como se ha considerado comúnmente en la literatura.

Digital transformation (DT) and supply chain resilience have received increasing attention. Structural social capital (SSC) and human capital (HC) have recently been identified as strategic resources for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). While the significant role of entrepreneurial competencies (ECs), SME innovativeness (SMI) and technology adoption (TA) in driving business performance have been partially researched, no studies have simultaneously examined the effect of these resources and capabilities on SME business performance growth (BPG) under the lenses of a resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities (DCs) as well as in the context of DT. This study aims to clarify these unclear relationships.

This study adopts established theoretical lenses, a mixed-methods approach and structural equation modeling (SEM) using a sample of 371 respondents who are top and middle SME managers in Vietnam.

The study discovers the significant and insignificant relationships between HC, SSC, ECs, SMI, TA and BPG besides providing a new measurement and reconciling existing measurements for the DT context. Some implications for driving SMEs' DT are also suggested.

This study is the first to thoroughly examine the effect of HC and SSC on SMEs' BPG through the mediating role of ECs, SMI and TA under RBV and DCs lenses in the DT context. The investigation is conducted in an emerging market, where DT implementation is in the process of being learned and experimented upon.

The purpose of this paper is to formulate a new theory of corruption based on the discretionary decisions of the government and the distribution of income in the economy, where corruption pays taxes and is in the legal channels of the economy.

The methodology is the practical exploration, based on events in the current Argentine economy, where this theory of corrupt phenomena is fulfilled, changing the approach to corruption, transforming corruption into legal.

The document concludes that the model is applicable to any country in the world, given the conditions of the theory formulated.

There is a paradigm shift, it transforms corruption into legal.

In this new theory of great corruption, the consequence is that it is very difficult to combat it, because it is developed based on legal, regulatory and ethical norms.

The social implications are through discretionary decisions of governments, large inequitable income redistributions, in favour of interest groups, pressure groups, private companies and the same state, with negative social consequences for the population.

This theory is original; it has not been formulated in the study of the types of corruption in the world.