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The study aims to investigate the impact of financial inclusion (FI) on environmental quality and the mediating role of industrialization (IZ). In addition, these relationships among the counties with different levels of income and carbon emissions were also analyzed.

This paper used the International Monetary Fund database for indicators of FI. The environmental indicators were obtained from the World Bank database for a panel of worldwide countries from 2004 to 2019. Separate indices of environmental sustainability (ES) and environmental degradation (ED) were created by using principal component analysis . The generalized method of moments regression was applied to examine the relationship between variables.

The study found full mediation of IZ between FI and ES, whereas partial mediation between FI and environmental degradation. The results were found robust against alternative measures of carbon emissions. Furthermore, the study also bifurcated the sample according to the level of income and carbon emission. It was found that FI plays a positive role in the betterment of environmental quality for high-income countries, while a negative role in upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income and low-income countries. Besides, FI has a negative role in the ES of the countries having higher or lower carbon emission levels.

Empirically this study contributes by creating two different novel measures of ES and environmental degradation, in contrast to other studies that solely relied on carbon emission. Contrary to previous studies, this study suggests that FI is not solely responsible for environmental damages, and IZ is the key channel by which FI shifts its impact on ES. Moreover, for environmental degradation, there are some other channels involved that need to be investigated further. This study has also noted that the relationship between FI and ES is context-dependent. Theoretically, this paper contributes to the literature by using ecological modernization theory in the nexus of FI, IZ and environmental quality.

Asia is the largest and most densely inhabited region in the world. Despite exhibiting an extremely expeditious economic growth, the majority of the world population categorized as poor resides in Asia, with more than a billion people financially excluded. This study aims to assess how social sustainability (SS) may increase financial inclusion (FI) and maintain financial stability (FS) in Asia.

Established on the stakeholder theory, the study analyzed the association among SS, FI and FS in Asia, employing a generalized method of moment’s estimation. The mediation of FI was also investigated in the relationship between SS and FS. Moreover, this study has analyzed the alternative proxies for the variables of interest to ensure dynamic results.

The findings point toward a positive association among SS, FI and FS. Furthermore, FI is observed to be undertaking a partial mediating role between SS and FS.

This study emphasizes that both SS and FI have individual parts in the amelioration of FS in Asia, whereas previous studies implied that FI is a mere tool for stimulating SS. Hence, Asian policymakers must keep these outcomes in mind due to their simultaneous contribution to FS.

The relationship between SS, FI and FS has received little attention in the literature. No previous study has deduced that increasing SS may instigate an increase in FI and FS. Additionally, quite contrary to previous studies that relied on narrow indicators, this study develops a broad measurement of SS by considering a wide range of crucial indicators for a sustainable society.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This paper aims to explore the level of hibah knowledge among Muslims in Kedah and investigate its determinants, consisting of education level, education stream, religiosity, social influence and social media.

This study is quantitative in nature. Questionnaires were distributed to collect data from Muslims in Alor Setar, Kedah. In total, 195 questionnaires were collected and data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis.

The study finds that Muslims in Alor Setar, Kedah have good knowledge of hibah. Further, education stream, religiosity, social influence and social media were identified as significant factors that influence their knowledge of hibah.

The first limitation is its narrow focus in surveying Muslims only in Alor Setar, Kedah. The second limitation is the limited number of determinants used in investigating hibah knowledge among Muslims and the techniques used in analyzing the data. Despite these limitations, the study’s findings provide invaluable insights into the factors influencing hibah knowledge among Muslims in Alor Setar, Kedah.

This study provides insights regarding the significant personal factors and environmental factors to increase Muslims’ knowledge of hibah. The link between the Islamic education stream and hibah knowledge provides a clear indication that Islamic education can curb the economic problems caused by the substantial amounts of frozen and unclaimed assets in Malaysia. A significant relationship between the environmental factors (social influence and social media) and hibah knowledge also implies that the government and private agencies related to Islamic estate planning and management may use these significant determinants as part of the marketing strategy to increase the usage of hibah as an alternative tool for estate planning.

This study contributes to a better understanding of Muslims’ knowledge about hibah. The government and related agencies in Islamic estate planning and management can now gain better insights into Muslims’ level of knowledge about hibah and the factors influencing their knowledge of hibah as an effective tool for Islamic estate planning and management. Hence, more effective strategies can be recommended to enhance the knowledge of Muslims on hibah. The findings of this study should be of value to the government in its effort to address the increasing number of frozen estates in Malaysia.

This study explores the role of the Internet of Things (IoT) as an enabler for Lean Construction principles and tools in construction projects.

In response to the scarcity of studies about IoT functionalities in construction, a two-round systematic literature review (SLR) was undertaken. The first round aimed to identify IoT functionalities in construction, encompassing an analysis of 288 studies. The second round aimed to analyze their interaction with Lean Construction principles, drawing insights from 43 studies.

The outcome is a comprehensive Lean Construction-IoT matrix featuring 54 interactions. The highest levels of interaction were found in the Lean Construction principle “flow” and the functionality of “data transfer and real-time information sharing”.

The study focuses on the role of IoT as an enabler for Lean Construction. Future work can cover the role of Lean as an enabler for advanced technology implementation in construction.

The Lean Construction-IoT matrix serves as a resource for researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers seeking to enhance Lean Construction by leveraging IoT technology. It also provides various examples of how advanced technology can support waste elimination and value generation in construction projects.

This case study highlights why and how the Swiss banking sector played a crucial role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal. In particular, the paper illustrates how different actors in the Swiss financial sector neglected compliance guidelines and due diligence, thus effectively facilitating the laundering of misappropriated 1MDB funds. The purpose of this paper is to give bankers and compliance officers an overview of the methods money launderers use to circumvent compliance measures so that the Swiss banking sector can be protected more effectively from abuse. In addition, there is discussion whether current regulations, including banking secrecy, should be amended.

This paper used a content analysis methodological approach to collect data from media sources. Qualitative methods were used to analyze these sources.

The findings reveal that the Swiss banking sector played a major role in facilitating the siphoning and subsequent laundering of 1MDB funds by neglecting due diligence obligations.

This paper advocates a more consequential implementation of the existing anti-money laundering and corruption regulations.

A reworking of the 1MDB scandal should be of interest to compliance professionals in the banking sector and citizens that have been negatively affected or are concerned by the involved high-level corruption.

This paper is the first of its kind to study the role of the Swiss banking sector in the 1MDB scandal.

This paper aims to examine the impact of audit-related attributes and regulatory reforms on timely disclosure as proxied by audit report lag (ARL) in an emerging market setting, namely, Egypt.

The paper used the balanced panel data of 372 firm-years observations of the most actively traded companies on the Egyptian Stock Exchange over the period from 2007 to 2010. The study measures the dependent variable of ARL as the number of days between the client’s fiscal year-end and the audit report.

Multivariate analysis indicates that audit committee activity (proxy for regulatory reforms) and external auditor type (proxy for audit-related attributes) contribute significantly to the reduction of ARL and increase disclosure timeliness. Furthermore, the paper found that ARL witnessed a slight decrease following the adoption of the new Egyptian Standards on Auditing (ESA). Finally, the paper’s findings show that industry types moderate the relationship between ARL and several audit-related variables and corporate governance attributes.

The results may have policy implications for both regulators and investors. For instance, policymakers in Egypt can enact new rules to reduce the Chief Executive Officer duality and establish the minimum required number of audit committee meetings to improve transparency level and, thus, increase disclosure timeliness. Besides, if future regulations aiming to increase disclosure timeliness are intended by Egyptian regulators, this paper’s findings suggest that this may have implications for the audit market because the Big Four audit firms will be more able to meet shorter audit delays.

The empirical evidence provided in this study further enhances the understanding of timely disclosure in Egypt which represents one of the leading emerging markets in the Middle East and North Africa region.

This study aims to examine the impact of financial inclusion and financial innovation on corruption, considering the moderating role of education, as well as identify the specific modality of digital inclusion and payments that contribute to corruption reduction.

The study uses a representative sample consisting of 46 African countries in three different years 2011, 2014 and 2017. On the data, feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), instrumental variables – two stages least squares (IV-2SLS) and two-stage generalized method of moments (IV-2GMM) model estimation methods were employed.

The results suggest that financial inclusion and education significantly reduce corruption. As well, the interaction between financial inclusion and education reduces corruption. Additionally, the authors find that the expansion of bank credit and the use of credit and debit cards are the specific modes of financial inclusion and digital payments that can contribute to corruption reduction.

This study awakens policymakers in African countries about the need to consider education as an alternative measure to support financial inclusion and reduce the use of physical cash in transactions for an effective fight against corruption.

Regarding practical implications, the study shows that financial inclusion besides reducing poverty for households can contribute to macroeconomic stability in Africa.

The study uses a representative sample composed of 46 African countries and considers the role of education in moderating the relationship between financial inclusion and financial innovation on corruption. Furthermore, the study identifies the specific modality of financial inclusion and digital payments that contribute to corruption reduction.

This paper seeks to provide empirical insight into how industrialization and technology affect environmental quality in Ghana.

Using Ecological Footprint (ECF) as a measure of environmental degradation, the authors employ annual data from World Development Indicators of the World Bank and the Global Footprint Network spanning from 1970 to 2017 and apply the fully modified least squares (FMOLS) technique.

The results reveal that industrialization has a negative significant influence on ECF, suggesting that industrialization contributes to environmental sustainability in Ghana. The authors find that technology is harmful to the environment as it has a positive significant effect on ECF. The study also documents that while education and financial development improve environmental sustainability, fossil fuel consumption exacerbates environmental degradation in Ghana.

The environmental impact of industrialization is still being debated, with very scanty empirical evidence in the African context. Based on a detailed review of the literature, this paper provides an initial attempt to investigate the industrialization–environmental sustainability nexus in Ghana. Besides, whereas most extant studies have employed CO₂ emission as a proxy of environmental degradation, the authors use ECF to gauge the level of environmental degradation which is regarded as a more inclusive metric.