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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of environmental disclosure on firm efficiency of the listed firms in Pakistan.

The study uses secondary sources such as sustainability reports, annual reports and company websites to collect the data. A sample of 46 large firms is selected based on market capitalization and listing on the KSE-100 index.

The results suggest that environmental disclosure plays a significant positive role in determining the efficiency of the listed firms. The robustness test also confirms these results.

The study suggests that regulators should take appropriate steps for better and increase the firm's environmental disclosure. The number of sample firms restricts the generalization of results from this study. However, the results are consistent and can be validated using a large sample.

The study includes implications to develop strict guidelines on environmental disclosure in response to its positive effect on the efficiency of the firm.

The study contributes to the growing environmental and efficiency literature by providing empirical evidence from a developing country where there are no strict guidelines on environmental regulations. This study is one of the first to capture environmental disclosure and measure efficiency by employing the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method in developing markets.

This paper aims to evaluate the awareness level of university students on energy conservation by focusing on their knowledge, attitude and practice. Energy awareness is a feasible energy conservation measure, but an inappropriate approach can cause the wastage of resources. The current number of reported awareness studies especially among the university student is quite limited, and focus is more given to the awareness on renewable energy, instead of energy conservation.

A paper-based survey using a set of questionnaires that involved 2,857 respondents. There are four sections in this questionnaire, which are basic background information of respondents, knowledge (yes/true or no/false choice of responses), attitude (a scale of 1–10, where 10 indicates “strongly agree” and 1 chooses “strongly disagree”) and practices (a scale of 1–10, where 10 indicates “Always” and 1 selects “Never”). The evaluation includes the correlation analysis of all awareness variables with an educational background to disclose the most critical aspects that should be highly considered in the forthcoming awareness campaign.

This research revealed that university students have a high level of awareness of energy conservation. They hold a high knowledge level and show a positive attitude with very good energy conservation practices. However, some issues require serious attention in preparing energy management plans. Effective approaches should be taken by considering the field of study, gender and family economic status to enhance the awareness level of the university students on energy conservation.

The absence of appropriate references complicates the preparation of energy management plans including the establishment of energy policy and strategies. The findings of this research can contribute some contextual information in the local perspective to ensure the effectiveness of the energy management program and strengthen academic leadership by emphasising the element of sustainability. This is crucial for developing an energy saving culture among the young generation that will be our future scholars and leaders.

From the perspective of any nation, rural areas generally present a comparable set of problems, such as a lack of proper healthcare, education, living conditions, wages and market opportunities. Some nations have created and developed the concept of smart villages during the previous few decades, which effectively addresses these issues. The landscape of traditional agriculture has been radically altered by digital agriculture, which has also had a positive economic impact on farmers and those who live in rural regions by ensuring an increase in agricultural production. We explored current issues in rural areas, and the consequences of smart village applications, and then illustrate our concept of smart village from recent examples of how emerging digital agriculture trends contribute to improving agricultural production in this chapter.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the strain of oyster mushroom (OM) Pleurotus sapidus cultivated in a local (commercial) farm, and to generate a total quality index (TQI) on the strain using different modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) gas mixtures.

A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the MEGA software to identify the specific strain of P. sapidus grown in a local farm. The effects of MAP on fresh fruiting bodies of the identified strain were determined under three conditions: high carbon dioxide packaging (HCP: 20 per cent CO₂, 15 per cent O₂), low carbon dioxide packaging (LCP: 2 per cent CO₂, 30 per cent O₂) and high nitrogen packaging (HNP: 85 per cent N₂, 15 per cent O₂). All samples were stored at 4 ^oC for up to ten days, and subjected to total phenolic content (TPC), colour retention (CR) and sensory analysis. Quality parameters such as chewiness and odour were used to obtain the TQI.

From the phylogenetic analysis, a new strain (P. sapidus strain QDR) with 99 per cent similarity to P. sapidus was identified. Among the three MAP treatments, HCP recorded the highest TPC (2.85 mg GAE/g) and CR (60.36) after ten days, although only its CR was significantly different (p<0.05) from the control. Feedback from 30 sensory panellists indicated that both HCP and LCP were generally more effective in retaining the colour–odour of OM. The optimum TQI for HCP was obtained based on the observed parameters, which is useful for the large-scale packaging of OM.

Scientific evidence has revealed that packaging trend for commercially grown OM affects consumer’s acceptance.

Political risk devastates social and economic developmental projects. Countries with political stability attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and engage domestic investment corporations. This study aims to investigate the impact of perceived organizational politics and political risk on project success, considering the moderating and mediating roles of ethical leadership and the psychological contract.

A multimethod approach was adopted in this work that includes an exploratory content analysis to confirm the latent factors of the variables under study. A measurement scale was developed and tested for perceived organizational politics, political risk, the psychological contract and ethical leadership in the projectized environment. Lastly, cross-sectional data were collected from the senior-level professionals of the projectized organizations and analyzed using SPSS and SMARTPLS techniques.

The findings indicate that ethical leadership and the psychological contract mitigate political risk. The study recommends that developing countries emphasize well-defined policies and standard operating procedures to streamline the project design and execution processes.

The study claims that ethical leaders can play a vital role in mitigating perceived organizational politics and political risk and maximizing project value through the psychological contract.

Although previous research predicts that ethical leadership has very little effect on project success, this study provides critical theoretical and practical contributions to research on project success regarding leadership expertise and the psychological contract.