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This paper aims to empirically investigate the dynamic interlinkages among globalization, digitalization and economic development in the top 75 most globalized countries from 2000 to 2019. The selection of the 75 most globalized developing countries is based on the overall scores of the KOF Globalization Index (2021).

The research design is based on secondary data collected from the World Bank (2021), the International Telecommunication Union (2021) and the KOF Globalization Index (2021). The study uses panel unit root tests followed by the panel cointegration techniques. Further, the estimation uses panel fully modified ordinary least squares and panel dynamic ordinary least squares methods.

The empirical results reveal that the effect of globalization on economic development is sensitive to different estimation procedures; in some cases, but not in every case, the effect is positive and significant. However, the positive and significant effect of digitalization on economic development is robust across all estimated models. Long-run equilibrium relationships and bidirectional causalities strongly affirm the nexus among globalization, digitalization and economic development, substantiating the interconnectedness among 75 developing economies.

The study reinstates that the forces of globalization and digitalization will be instrumental in shaping the selected most globalized economies in the long run. Adopting various econometric methodologies takes care of the time-specific and cross-sectional dynamics, as evident in the panel framework considered in this study. The empirical findings truly ascertain the theoretical synergy among the forces of globalization leading to more digitalization and economic development. This makes the empirical interplay highly conducive to framing long-term policies to expand the information communication network in terms of its access and reach.

Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium and can be thought of as a guaranteed small loss to prevent a large, possibly a devastating, loss. Insurance is often challenging to quantify and count its values. A study on international insurance comparison will be more justified and result driven only when it is based on the comparable economic-adjusted insurance growth level. This motivates the study to introduce a model, Benchmark Ratio of Insurance Penetration (BRIP), for insurance growth comparison across the selected countries. This model makes an attempt to compare the relative stance between a country's Insurance Penetration (IP) and the selected countries’ average IP at an economic level which is at par with the country's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The study is done by selecting the G7 countries and the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) nations to have a proper representation of the world. These two groups of countries can give a picture of developed, emerging as well as underdeveloped countries. The paper uses the data of 12 countries for the past years (2007–2020) as the sample to study the objective of insurance comparison. The implications of such an analysis will be able to serve the purpose of insurance companies for their strategic expansion planning on an international basis. The insurance companies can depend on this more economically adjusted data when the policymakers want to lay foot in newer countries or expand in the existing ones.

Social media is becoming a hub of fake content, be it political news, product reviews, business promotion or any other sociocultural event. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the emerging literature to advance an understanding of misinformation on social media platforms, which is a growing concern these days.

The authors curate and synthesize the dispersed knowledge about misinformation on social media by conducting a systematic literature review based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses framework. The search strategy resulted in 446 research articles, out of which 33 relevant articles were identified for this research.

Misinformation on social media spreads swiftly and may result in negative consequences. This review identifies 13 intrinsic predictors of the dissemination, 11 detection approaches and 10 ways to combat misinformation on social media.

The study adds to the present knowledge of spread and detection of misinformation on social media. The results of this study will be beneficial for researchers and practitioners and help them in mitigating the harmful consequences of the spread of misinformation.

The purpose of this article is to evaluate revenue efficiency performance of life insurance companies in India. The study also compares if private or public insurance sector is more “revenue efficient”. Furthermore, the study determines the nature of return to scale (RTS) and identifies the leaders and laggards amongst insurance companies operating in India.

Revenue efficiency is calculated by employing data envelopment analysis – a non-parametric approach, on a data set of 24 insurance companies over the period 2013–2014 to 2017–2018.

The empirical results suggest that life insurance companies in India could generate only 34.4% of revenue, which is very less than what these are expected to generate from the same inputs. Majority of life insurance companies operating in India are operating at decreasing return to scale (DRS). There is a reduction in leaders and the highest proportion of companies is falling in the category of laggards.

As per the best knowledge of researchers, no empirical work has been carried out with respect to measuring the revenue efficiency of Indian insurance companies. The current study appropriately fills the gap by not only calculating the revenue efficiency scores of insurance companies in India but also provides insights into the causes of revenue inefficiencies. It also gives implications for efficient and effective management of insurance companies.

This study examines the carbon emissions of Australia’s agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors from a consumption perspective to develop effective policy frameworks. The objective is to identify key supply chains, industries and products contributing to these emissions and provide recommendations for sustainable development.

A multiregional input-output lifecycle assessment was conducted using the Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab) platform to disaggregate sectors and enable benchmarking against other economic sectors.

In 2018, the “agriculture, forestry, and fishing” sector was responsible for 12.15% of Australia’s carbon footprint. Major contributors included the “electricity, gas, water, and waste” category (26.1%) and the sector’s activities (24.3%). The “transport, postal, and warehousing” sector also contributed 18.4%. Within the industry, the agriculture subsector had the highest impact (71.3%), followed by forestry and logging (15%) and fishing, hunting and trapping (7.6%). Aquaculture and supporting services contributed 6.1%.

The principal constraint encountered by the present study pertained to the availability of up-to-date data. The latest accessible data for quantifying the carbon footprint within Australia’s agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, utilizing the Input-Output analysis methodology through the Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab) platform, about 2018.

The findings of this study provide policymakers with detailed insights into the carbon footprints of key sectors, highlighting the contributions from each subsector. This information can be directly used to develop effective emission-reduction policies, with a focus on reducing emissions in utility services, transport and warehousing.

The study, by raising public awareness of the significant role of industrial agricultural methods in Australia’s carbon footprint and emphasizing the importance of renewable energy and sustainable fuels for electricity generation and road transport, underscores the urgent need for action to mitigate climate change.

This study stands out by not only identifying the most impactful industries but also by providing specific strategies to reduce their emissions. It offers a comprehensive breakdown of specific agricultural activities and outlines mitigation strategies for utility services, agricultural operations and transport, thereby adding a unique perspective to the existing knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to study the steady biomagnetic hybrid nanofluid (HNF) of oxytactic microorganisms taking place over a thin needle with a magnetic field using the modified Buongiorno’s nanoliquid model.

On applying the appropriate similarity transformations, the governing partial differential equations were transformed into a set of ordinary differential equations. These equations have been then solved numerically using Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method of fourth–fifth order programming in MAPLE software. Features of the velocity profiles, temperature distribution, reduced skin friction coefficient, reduced Nusselt number and microorganisms’ flux, for different values of the governing parameters were analyzed and discussed.

It was observed that as the needle thickness and solid volume fraction increase, the temperature rises, but the velocity field decreases. For a higher Peclet number, the motile microorganism curve increases, and for a higher Schmidt number, the concentration curve rises.

On applying the modified Buongiorno’s model, the present results are original and new for the study of HNF flow and heat transfer past a permeable thin needle.

This paper investigates the ways digital media applications in rural areas have transformed the influence of social networks (SN) on farmers' adoption of various climate change mitigation measures (CCMM), and explores the key mechanisms behind this transformation.

The study analyzes data from 1,002 farmers’ surveys. First, a logit model is used to measure the impact of SN on the adoption of different types of CCMM. Then, the interaction term between digital media usage (DMU) and SN is introduced to analyze the moderating effect of digital media on the impact of SN. Finally, a conditional process model is used to explore the mediating mechanism of agricultural socialization services (ASS) and the validity of information acquisition (VIA).

The results reveal that: (1) SN significantly promotes the adoption of CCMM and the marginal effect of this impact varies with different kinds of technologies. (2) DMU reinforces the effectiveness of SN in promoting farmers' adoption of CCMM. (3) The key mechanisms of the process in (2) are the ASS and the VIA.

This study shows that in the context of DMU, SN’s promotion effect on farmers' adoption of CCMM is strengthened.