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This study examined how economic freedom and its related components, such as open markets, regulatory efficiency, rule of law and the size of government, affect bank risk behavior, focusing on the Japanese context.

The study employs a two-step GMM framework on the annual data of Japanese banks ranging from 2005 to 2020 to empirically test the hypotheses. Furthermore, we also use the ordinary least square method to ensure the robustness of our mainline findings.

The finding suggests that economic freedom increases the banks' risk-taking, thus making them fragile. The results also highlight that out of the four main subcomponents of economic freedom, regulatory efficiency and government size increase bank risk-taking, while the rule of law and open markets decrease banks' risk-taking. Additionally, we examine how the banks' specific characteristics affect the results by creating a subsample based on capitalization and liquidity ratios. Overall, the results are consistent with the baseline findings. Moreover, the results are robust to alternative proxy measures of risk.

The study's findings have several implications for regulators and policymakers. The results suggest that regulators and policymakers should reconsider their strategies for economic freedom to ensure that they promote stability in the banking system and reduce banks' risk-taking inclinations.

Although previous studies have examined the impact of economic freedom on bank stability and risk-taking, this study is the first to do so in the Japanese context, contributing to the literature by providing new insights and empirical evidence.

This study researched the effects on the perceptual evaluations of participants for the physical environmental factors of cafés using curvilinear, rectilinear, and mixed forms to provide for the spatial states of belonging, to increase the pleasures, and to extend the periods of remaining in the space.

This study used virtual reality (VR) technology to model the cafés designed by using curvilinear, rectilinear and mixed forms as an experimental environment. After experiencing the virtual images of the experimental spaces, participants filled out a “spatial perception” questionnaire. Perceptual evaluations of 415 participants regarding the environmental factors of cafés designed using curvilinear, linear and mixed forms were analyzed in a computer environment.

According to the analysis of the questionnaire data, the cafés using mixed forms were perceived as more positive for the factors of appeal (inviting, restful, warm and sincere), planning (well-planned) and space freedom (roomy, uncluttered, uncrowded, large, wide and free space) compared with the cafés using curvilinear and rectilinear forms. Furthermore, the cafés using curvilinear forms were perceived as more positive for all elements compared with the cafés using rectilinear forms. However, there was a more negative approach in the perceptual evaluations of participants connected to increases in level of education.

The research results clearly demonstrated that the different interior and furniture forms frequently encountered in cafés cause significant effects on users’ perceptual evaluations.

The purpose of this study provide answers to the following research questions: Whether and to what extent money laundering affects the achievability and the trend of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?; Does the influence of money laundering on the SDGs’ achievement differ from developing to developed countries?; How does the influence of money laundering vary among the 17 SDGs?

The paper’s analysis involves two key parts. In the first part, the authors perform a multivariate analysis to examine the influence of money laundering on the achievement of SDGs, and then in the second part, the authors make use of an ordered probit regression model to investigate the impact of money laundering on the trend of attaining each SDG.

Using a sample of 98 developed and developing countries, the regression results from multivariate analysis estimates show that money laundering has a strong inhibiting effect on the achievement of almost all the SDGs in the whole sample of countries and the sub-sample of developing countries, whereas no significant effect is observed for developed countries. However, for the SDG trends, the ordered probit estimates reveal that the harmful effect of money laundering occurs for all countries regardless their development level. In addition, perhaps surprisingly, the results from both the approaches yield also evidence advocating that money laundering activities might be associated with positive externalities on production and consumption. In fact, money laundering is found to have a significant positive influence on the achievement and the trend of SDG12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production). Overall, this study’s findings do have interesting policy implications, especially for developing countries. In these countries, prioritising the formulation and implementation of sound anti-money laundering policies is a necessary requirement for their progress towards achieving the SDGs.

The long-standing tradition of previous empirical studies examining the nexus between money laundering and sustainable development concentrates mainly on the economic dimension of sustainability (i.e. economic growth). However, little is known about the consequences of money laundering activities on the environment and the societies. Consequently, this study seeks to fill this gap by assessing the influence of money laundering on the achievement of the economic, environmental and social goals of sustainable development. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first integrated study to analyse the potential repercussions of money laundering on the SDGs’ achievement.

This paper explores the role of accounting and accountability techniques in contributing to Australia’s border industrial complex.

We use the political thought of Behrouz Boochani to explore the role that accounting techniques play at the micro and macro level of his dialectic of alienation and freedom. Firstly, we explore the accounting and accountability techniques detailed in Boochani’s No Friend but the Mountain, which gives an account of his life in Manus Prison, and the accounting techniques he experienced. Secondly, we explore the discourse of alienation created within the annual reporting of the Australian Federal Government regarding the border industrial complex.

We argue that the border industrial complex requires the alienation of asylum seekers from their own humanity for capital accumulation, and that accounting and accountability techniques facilitate this form of alienation. These techniques include inventorying, logging and queuing at the micro level within Manus Prison. This alienates those trapped in the system from one another and themselves. Techniques also include annual reporting at a macro level which alienates those trapped in the system from the (White) “Australian Community”. However, these techniques are resisted at every point by assertions of freedom.

We illustrate the role of accounting in accumulation by alienation, where the unfreedom of incarcerated asylum seekers is a site of profit for vested interests. But also that this alienation is resisted at every point by refusals of alienation as assertions of freedom. Thus, this study contributes to the accounting literature by drawing from theories of alienation, and putting forward the dialectic of alienation and freedom articulated by Boochani and collaborators.

This paper aims to comprehensively analyze the factors influencing the adoption intentions of the digital rupee, a digital currency, among users in India.

Drawing upon the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the study examines the relationships between cognitive beliefs (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, perceived self-efficacy, perceived cost and awareness), affective belief (attitude) and adoption intention of the digital rupee. The study uses a structured questionnaire to collect primary data from 1,707 respondents, which are then analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use significantly impact users' attitudes toward the digital rupee, as well as their adoption intentions. The findings further reveal that perceived trust, perceived self-efficacy, and awareness positively influence attitude and adoption intention. On the other hand, perceived cost exhibits a negative effect on attitude and adoption intention. These results provide empirical evidence on the factors that shape users' attitudes and intentions toward adopting the digital rupee.

The research methodology used in this study ensures rigorous data collection and analysis. The structured questionnaire enabled the collection of detailed information from a large sample of respondents, allowing for robust statistical analysis. The utilization of structural equation modeling facilitated the examination of complex relationships among variables, enhancing the reliability and validity of the findings.

The study's findings offer practical guidance for policymakers, financial institutions and researchers in shaping digital currency regulatory frameworks, tailored financial services and further exploration of adoption dynamics.

The research has social implications by potentially influencing the way individuals and communities in India engage with digital currencies, impacting financial inclusion and digital economic participation.

This research contributes to the understanding of the adoption of digital currencies in India and provides valuable insights for policymakers, financial institutions and researchers in the field of digital finance and technology adoption.

This study aims to explore the synergetic effects of total quality management and supply chain management (TQM–SCM) initiatives and their effects on organizational performance (OP). This research has been conducted in Pakistan’s logistics sector. The research reveals the synergistic effect of TQM and SCM initiatives and their effects on OP.

The constructs of the TQM and SCM were chosen after reviewing the literature that was critical for the logistics sector. The synergetic effect of TQM–SCM on OP has been evaluated. The mediating, direct and indirect effects were also evaluated in different models independently. Structural equation modelling was applied to drive the results via using AMOS.

It was observed during the analysis that both the TQM and SCM have a significant effect on OP. Both TQM initiatives have directly correlated to the improvement in SCM, and both have a positive effect on an organization. This research study has aided logistics firms that are focusing on TQM and SCM planning and implementation. The results can give management a better and more in-depth knowledge of the TQM initiatives and OP.

The data was collected through email and personal visits from different organizations. The data was collected through an adopted questionnaire. It is found in the study that many people at the managerial level have limited knowledge regarding SCM and TQM. The results may vary if the knowledge of the employees is improved.

The current study presents an upscale addition by examining the function of SCM and TQM linkage in OP as well as their relationship. The evaluated model serves as a guideline for firms looking to expand and achieve maximal OP.

Text.

The evaluated model is developed in this study that serves as a guideline for firms looking to expand a new method to reach maximum OP.

The study evaluates the role of institutional framework and macroeconomic instability on financial market development among emerging economies.

The study uses panel data compiled from 32 countries from the sub-region of Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), covering the period starting from 1996 to 2019. Empirical analyses were carried out using the two-step system generalized method of moments (TS-GMM) statistical framework.

Reviewed results suggest that institutional quality, effective governance and corruption control have a significant positive impact on financial market development among economies in the sub-region. Further empirical estimates show that macroeconomic risk and macroeconomic uncertainty have significant adverse effects on financial market development. Additionally, reported empirical estimates suggest that an improved institutional framework has the potential to lessen the adverse effect of macroeconomic instability on financial market development among economies in the sub-region.

The uniqueness of this empirical inquiry compared to related studies in the present literature stems from the fact that studies employing similar empirical approaches on the subject matter for economies in the sub-region are rare. Additionally, the analysis pursued in this study employs critical variables whose impact on financial market performance in the sub-region has not been examined per our review. These variables include indexes such as macroeconomic risk and institutional quality, which are unique to this study based on their construction; these indexes are generated using a principal component analysis procedure with different underlying variables compared to what may be found in the literature.

This article advocates that privacy literacy research and praxis mobilize people toward changing the technological and social conditions that discipline subjects toward advancing institutional, rather than community, goals.

This article analyzes theory and prior work on datafication, privacy, data literacy, privacy literacy and critical literacy to provide a vision for future privacy literacy research and praxis.

This article (1) explains why privacy is a valuable rallying point around which people can resist datafication, (2) locates privacy literacy within data literacy, (3) identifies three ways that current research and praxis have conceptualized privacy literacy (i.e. as knowledge, as a process of critical thinking and as a practice of enacting information flows) and offers a shared purpose to animate privacy literacy research and praxis toward social change and (4) explains how critical literacy can help privacy literacy scholars and practitioners orient their research and praxis toward changing the conditions that create privacy concerns.

This article uniquely synthesizes existing scholarship on data literacy, privacy literacy and critical literacy to provide a vision for how privacy literacy research and praxis can go beyond improving individual understanding and toward enacting social change.

The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) has reinvigorated the policy focus on sustainable transport. Automated and Connected Transport (ACT) has been featured as a promising technology-based option to aid in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite progress in certain areas of sustainability, there are still a lot of SDGs where limited progress has been observed since the 2015 Paris Agreement, particularly regarding the social pillar of sustainability which is reflected from the user perspective. This chapter will set the scene for this edited volume first by contrasting ACT potential with the SDGs and then by highlighting the requirement to focus more on addressing user needs through ACT. Remarkably, scholars have been increasingly sceptical about the transition to fully automated and connected vehicles, thus it is pertinent to highlight relevant opportunities and risks. Chapter recommendations foster the promotion of a Quadruple Helix approach to operationalise the inclusion of social concerns (e.g. gender balance and equity) in Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) across the world.

Employee engagement (EE) continues to be one of the most difficult challenges for organizations today. Numerous factors have been linked to EE, according to studies. However, the necessary human resource management (HRM) strategies and systems for enhancing EE have not yet been developed. It is questionable if all employees inside the company require the same HRM strategies, to boost engagement as one size does not fit all. Therefore, it is necessary to create employee profiles based on factors associated with EE. This study aims to develop employee profiles based on engagement dimensions and outcomes. It seeks to comprehend the relationship between engagement level and factors such as age, years of service and employment grade.

Using latent profile analysis (LPA), we identified five EE profiles (highly engaged, engaged, moderately engaged, disengaged and highly disengaged). These five profiles were characterized by five EE dimensions (Culture Dimensions, Leadership Dimensions, People Process, Business alignment Dimension and Job Dimension) and EE outcomes (Say, Stay and Strive).

The study revealed that Engaged profiles exhibited low stay outcomes. The highest percentage of disengaged employees fall under 25 years of age with less than 5 years of experience and are at the entry level.

The study highlights the significance of the people processes dimensions in enhancing engagement. Profiles with low people process dimensions showed high disengagement. Person-centered LPA adds and complements variable-centered approach to develop a better understanding of EE and help organizations devise more personalized strategies. The study would be of interest to both academics and practitioners.

The novelty of this study lies in its attempt to model the employee profiles to comprehend the relationship between engagement levels using LPA.