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Introduction: The Republic of Moldova’s economy faces risks caused by the war in Ukraine and the economic crisis, proving that citizens’ prosperity is essential for national stability and that financial knowledge influences the standard of living. A minimum financial education provides information, knowledge, and tools to make correct decisions based on informed consent in an increasingly complex financial system. In the financial-banking and academic environment, in-depth research of consumers’ financial education level helps to optimise, streamline, and balance bank–client relations with fairness. This work is the consequence of studying the level of financial education among consumers of financial-banking services, with direct implications for their financial well-being.

Purpose: The main aim of this research is to measure the financial knowledge of consumers of financial-banking services, developing recommendations for measures to improve the situation.

Methodology: To explain the factors of influence, the following research techniques were used: analysis and synthesis of conceptual approaches to financial education; deduction and induction; analysis of the findings of sociological research on the level of financial education of users of financial-banking services; and recommendation synthesis.

Findings: The research validates that enhancing financial education has a positive effect on individuals and the economy, reinstates confidence in financial markets, makes an innovative contribution to accurately assessing consumers’ financial knowledge enabling the implementation of proactive measures.

Implications: This chapter provides insights into consumers’ financial education level, serving as a crucial indicator for institutions and public authorities in formulating and promoting effective educational initiatives to ensure minimal skill gaps.

The management of consumer privacy has become a critical concern for organizations in the age of artificial intelligence–powered marketing. The impact of data on the market environment has brought both benefits and challenges, with marketers gaining valuable insights but also raising privacy concerns. As artificial intelligence–powered marketing advances, consumer vulnerability increases due to the sensitivity of collected data. This vulnerability leads some consumers to resort to falsifying information, posing a significant threat to the digital economy. Privacy empowerment and customer control play a vital role in addressing these challenges. This chapter explores the influencing factors and ethical considerations surrounding data falsification. It also discusses strategies to mitigate perceived vulnerability through privacy controls and explores the consequences of data breaches and customer vulnerability. The chapter further emphasizes the need for organizations to balance benefits, risks, and customer trust while harnessing the value of customer data. An ethical framework for data privacy marketing audits is proposed to help organizations assess their data practices responsibly and competitively. By integrating personal data protection strategies within an ethical framework, organizations can protect consumer privacy, enhance customer trust, and maintain their competitive edge in the market.

In the years following the publication of A Theory of Consumption (1923), Hazel Kyrk’s book became the flagship of the field that would later be known as the economics of consumption. It stimulated theoretical and empirical work on consumption. Some of the existing literature on Kyrk (e.g., Kiss & Beller, 2000; Le Tollec, 2020; Tadajewski, 2013) depicted her theory as the starting point of the economics of consumption. Nevertheless, how and why it emerged the way it did remain largely unexplored. This chapter examines Kyrk’s intellectual background, which, we argue, can be traced back to two main movements in the United States: the home economics and the institutionalist. Both movements conveyed specific endeavors as responses to the US material and social transformations that occurred at the turn of the 20th century, notably the perceived changing role of consumption and that of women in US society. On the one hand, Kyrk pursued first-generation home economists’ efforts to make sense of and put into action the shifting of women’s role from domestic producer to consumer. On the other hand, she reinterpreted Veblen’s (1899) account of consumption in order to reveal its operational value for a normative agenda focused on “wise” and “rational” consumption. This chapter studies how Kyrk carried on first-generation home economists’ progressive agenda and how she adapted Veblen’s fin-de-siècle critical account of consumption to the context of the household goods developed in 1900–1920. Our account of Kyrk’s intellectual roots offers a novel narrative to better understand the role of gender and epistemological questions in her theory.

The purpose of this study is to look at the factors that drive people to participate in the sharing economy (SE). Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the study proposes a mathematical model. The study’s ultimate objective is to help businesses attract more involved customers and promote collaborative consumption as a sustainable alternative to typical consumption patterns. The study offers a conceptual framework established via a thorough literature review to examine Indian customers’ use behavior toward SE platforms. A one-sample two-tailed t-test is used to assess the framework’s efficacy. The research fills gap in the literature on the SE by investigating the factors that determine subjective norms (SN), attitudes (A), and perceived behavioral control (PBC). A framework is provided that takes behavioral intention (BI) contemplated as a mediating variable. The research improves TAM and TPB by including new factors such as technical characteristics. This research adds to the body of knowledge on the digital SE by underlining the relevance of usage behavior in comprehending Indian customers, where A, SN, and PBC are important aspects. The research presents a paradigm for better understanding customers’ attitudes and behaviors toward various SE platforms, which might help academics, practitioners, and policy makers situate their initiatives within the larger field of sharing. The study’s categorizations of Indian consumers’ A, SN, PBC, and BI toward the SE might potentially advise on future research and government policies.

Adapting to external and internal transformations is a difficult task that managers and scholars must face while attempting to keep their organisations alive and well-established. This chapter explores the various decision-making tools that can assist practitioners and scholars to improve their understanding of the external scenario to determine the contemporary appropriateness of these approaches for analysing the environment and their implications for various types of organisations. The chapter investigates the barriers and drivers of these methods and proposes existing alternative paradigms created by academics and practitioners to analyse and comprehend the context. It demonstrates how these decision-making tools can be implemented by providing examples and case studies.

Cryptocurrency arose, and grew in popularity, following the financial crisis of 2008 built upon a promise of decentralizing money and payments. An examination of the history of money and banking in the United States demonstrates that stable money benefits from strict controls and commitments by a centralized government through chartering restrictions and a broad safety net, rather than decentralization. In addition, financial crises happen when the government allows money creation to occur outside of official channels. The US central bank is then forced into a policy of supporting a range of money-like assets in order to maintain a grip on monetary policy and some semblance of financial stability.

In addition, this chapter argues that cryptocurrency as a form of shadow money shares many of the problematic attributes of both the privately issued bank notes that created instability during the “free banking” era and the “shadow banking” activities that contributed to the 2008 crisis. In this sense, rather than being a novel and disruptive idea, cryptocurrency replicates many of the systemically destabilizing aspects of privately issued money and money-like instruments.

This chapter proposes that, rather than allowing a new, digital “free banking” era to emerge, there are better alternatives. Specifically, it argues that the Federal Reserve (Fed) should use its tools to improve public payment systems, enact robust utility-like regulations for private digital currencies and limit the likelihood of bubbles using prudential measures.

International business research is showing an increasing interest in the link between international business and human rights. Despite extensive coverage of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, the analysis and discussion of why multinational corporations include human rights in corporate reporting is still in its early stages. This chapter develops an analytical framework on corporate human rights reporting, with special emphasis on international business. The conceptual part of the framework draws on legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and signalling theory. The analytical part distinguishes between factors inside the corporation and the external environment of business organisations operating internationally.

Clean energy is the most demanding issue for sustainable development, especially in post-COVID-19 scenario. The Government of India (GOI) has adopted various reform policies in the energy sector focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7). India has taken initiative on SDG 7 to ensure access to sustainable energy for all. The core interest area of this paper is to analyse recent energy reform policies in energy sectors covering power generation, transmission, distribution and consumption and discusses mechanism SDG target achievement within 2030 in India. In the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, every country faces a major issue of energy security since the undisrupted energy security is related to energy demand. In the time period of pandemic, industrial energy demand goes down rapidly all over the world, especially in India. Though in the eve of festive season in India the difference between the energy supply and demand slightly overcomes. In the year 2003, GOI through Electricity Act opened electricity market for private participation to increase efficiencies. In the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, every country faces a major issue of energy security since the undisrupted energy security is related to energy demand. Further, the Ministry of Power has taken several policies such as National Electrification Policy in 2005, National Tariff Policy, Rural Electrification Policy in 2009 and Integrated Energy Policy. This policy brief paper highlights the progress of clean energy in India and provides their future trajectory towards achieving SDG targets, especially in the period of COVID-19 pandemic.

Financial inclusion in Peru has been addressed through coverage, quality of financial services, movement of transactions, and service points. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate for the department of Ancash, Peru, the link between financial inclusion and its socioeconomic factors. Socioeconomic variables and financial inclusion of the Ancash department of the National Household Survey are taken as indicators, later contrasted through the logit model, with the financial inclusion variable being the explained variable.

There is evidence of positive and negative relationships between financial inclusion and socioeconomic variables; these are important components for planning financial inclusion. Raising the levels of formal employment, the educational level and considering the area of residence would be a strategy to generate a dynamic of inclusion in the department of Ancash.

Small business enterprises (SBEs) are a very critical element of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector especially in the underdeveloped locations of the country. SBEs not only provide employment but also support the local economy by way of their products and services. In modern times, their presence on the digital platform is becoming essential and thus, these types of studies are required to bring to the table the issues and practices from the less represented sections of the sector. This study attempts to understand the responsiveness of the SBEs in Sikkim, India, and Bhutan in terms of their frequency of digital marketing (DM) usage. This study also attempts to understand the relationship between the factors affecting the practice or adoption of DM among the SBEs of Bhutan and Sikkim, India. For this purpose, empirical data were gathered from 320 SBEs from Sikkim and Bhutan representing the various sectors as defined by the national governments of the two countries. The SBEs of Bhutan and Sikkim are not found to be very active on the front of DM. The SBEs in these two locations need to become more active in using the digital platforms and tools to promote their products and services. The industry trends and government support in the form of infrastructural development are expected to play a vital role in orienting the SBEs into the adoption of DM in a better way. This study is crucial for the MSME sector, the government, telecom services providers, and local entrepreneurs.