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The purpose of this research is to ascertain the impact of audit committee (AC) activism and independence on the quality and quantity of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures for energy sector firms in Australia. This paper aims to understand how AC attributes such as meeting frequency, and the number of independent directors influence the compliance with the global reporting initiative (GRI) guidelines and quantity of ESG disclosures.

Bloomberg ESG disclosure scores and company reported AC attributes are collected and analysed using the pooled ordinary least square (OLS) regression framework with Petersen’s (2009) technique by using a two-dimensional cluster at the firm and year level. Further, this paper uses a lagged independent variable and two-stage least square approach to address endogeneity concerns.

The results show a significant positive effect of AC activism and independence on the level of compliance with the GRI guidelines, indicating the favourable effect of AC attributes on ESG reporting quality. Likewise, AC attributes positively affect the quantity of ESG disclosures. Notably, the impact of AC attributes is more pronounced on environmental disclosures.

This paper validates the significance of the management control mechanism in improving the quality and quantity of ESG disclosures for an environmentally sensitive sector, hence offering a potential answer to reduce agency and legitimacy issues for the sensitive industry firms.

This study aims to investigate the influence of personality characteristics (risk-aversion and self-consciousness) on skepticism toward online services information (STOSI), consumer stress and health.

A between-subjects experiment (n = 228) was designed to compare effects based on third-party organization endorsement (TPO endorsed vs nonendorsed).

Results revealed that personality characteristics positively influenced STOSI, which in turn escalated consumer stress. Furthermore, consumer stress predicted detrimental effects on consumer health (increased blood pressure and heartbeat). Regarding TPO endorsements, both the risk-aversive and self-conscious consumers showed lesser STOSI when exposed to TPO-endorsed ads compared with nonendorsed ads.

This study is one of the first to examine the effects of consumer personality on consumer health through STOSI and consumer stress. In addition, the remedial roles of TPO in coping with STOSI and consumer stress also accumulate to the novelty of this study.

This book is essential for anyone in artificial intelligence (AI) and destination management in the tourism industry or government. The book includes both theoretical and practical writings for stakeholders. In all chapters, we provide titles including AI, regenerative and green destinations, sustainable tourism, tourist motivations and expectations, good examples of smart destinations and regions, the regeneration of the tourism industry via AI, rethinking tourism activities and products, current issues in robots, self-service technology, effect of pandemic on smart destinations, sustainable gastronomy and regenerative tourism and tourism issues are discussed in the management plans of the centralisation. This book provides cases and empirical studies that deal in depth with the current situation, challenges, solutions and future strategies after technological development of tourism and increasing interest on smart destinations from a responsible perspective, for readers with an equitable interest or involvement with the organizations in inquiry.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the simultaneous effect of corporate governance (CG) of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Islamic banks (IBs) on efficiency and risk.

The authors include Shariah supervisory board (SSB) size, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)-duality and ownership structure as CG variables. Efficiency and risk are measured using the data envelopment analysis (DEA)/stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and Z-score, respectively. This paper also examines the risk-efficiency relationship. To test the hypotheses, the authors used seemingly unrelated regressions on a sample of 56 GCC IBs during the period 2004-2013.

The results indicate that implementing rigorous CG structures correlate with higher efficiency levels. Particularly, the authors show that the governance structure of IBs allows them to take higher risks to achieve a high efficiency level. In addition, results show that bank efficiency and risk are positively related.

This paper gives some insights to policy makers. It points out detail attention toward the importance of CG in IB that influences the efficiency level and risk-taking behavior. Thus, IB should improve governance procedures that can lead to higher efficiency and survival in a competitive environment and sustain financial crisis. Moreover, the economic conditions of a country are the main determinant of an IB’s efficiency and risk relationships.

The simultaneous effect of the CG of the GCC IBs on efficiency and risk is examined, taking into consideration different CG proxies, i.e., SSB size, CEO-duality and ownership structure, and different efficiency estimation techniques, i.e., SFA and DEA.

The heat transport phenomenon in which energy transfers due to temperature differences is an important topic of interest for scientists in recent times. It is because of its wide range of applications in numerous domains such as electronics, heat dispersion, thermoregulation, cooling mechanism, the managing temperature in automotive mobile engines, climate engineering, magnetoresistance devices, etc. On account of such considerations, the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) entropy rate for nanomaterial (CoFe₂O₄/C₂H₆O₂) and hybrid nanomaterial (CoFe₂O₄+MoS₄/C₂H₆O₂) is analyzed. The Darcy–Forchheimer relation is utilized to describe the impact of a porous medium on a stretched sheet. Two nanoparticles molybdenum (MoS₄) and cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄) are combined to make hybrid nanomaterial (CoFe₂O₄+MoS₄/C₂H₆O₂). Heat flux corresponds to the Cattaneo–Christov model executed through heat transfer analysis. The influence of dissipation and heat absorption/generation on energy expression for nanomaterial (CoFe₂O₄+MoS₄/C₂H₆O₂) and hybrid nanomaterial (CoFe₂O₄+MoS₄/C₂H₆O₂) is described.

Nonlinear partial differential expressions have been exchanged into dimensionless ordinary differential expressions using relevant transformations. Newton’s built-in shooting method is employed to achieve the required results.

Concepts of fluid flow, energy transport and entropy optimization are discussed. Computational analysis of local skin friction and Nusselt number against sundry parameters for nanomaterial (CoFe₂O₄/C₂H₆O₂) and hybrid nanomaterial (CoFe₂O₄+MoS₄/C₂H₆O₂) is engrossed. Larger magnetic field parameters decay fluid flow and entropy generation, while an opposite behavior is observed for temperature. Variation in magnetic field variables and volume fractions causes the resistive force to boost up. Intensification in entropy generation can be seen for higher porosity parameters, whereas a reverse trend follows for fluid flow. Heat and local Nusselt numbers rise with an increase in thermal relaxation time parameters.

No such work is yet published in the literature.

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the Covid-19 crisis at the level of individual information behavior among citizens from the German-speaking countries, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

An online survey was conducted among 308 participants gathered through convenience sampling in April and May 2020, focusing on how citizens changed their mix and usage intensity of information sources and according to which criteria they chose them during the Covid-19 crisis. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for testing central tendencies. Effect sizes were considered to support the interpretation.

The results show first that the Covid-19 crisis has led to an increased demand for reliable information. This goes alongside a significant increased use of public broadcasting, newspapers and information provided by public organizations. Second, the majority (84%) of the participants reported being satisfied with the information supply during the Covid-19 crisis. Participants who were less satisfied with the information supply used reliable sources significantly less frequently, specifically public television, national newspapers and information provided by public organizations. Third, the amount of Covid-19-related information led some participants to a feeling of information overload, which resulted in a reduction of information seeking and media use.

This paper is one of the first to analyze changes of information behavior patterns of individuals during crises in the current information environment, considering the diversity of resources used by individuals.