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The circular economy (CE) is an evolving subject transitioning from conceptualization to empirical testing. Over the past decade, researchers have done an exhaustive study to understand the concept of CE and its realized values both financially and environmentally on organizations that have traditional business models based on linear consumption. For understanding the transitional phenomena completely, the paper aims to review the current and emerging research trends in CE to ascertain future direction.

The research was conducted on 91 articles published in the study area during the past decade (2016–2021) in renowned peer-reviewed journals. The criteria set to review literature are based on the following assortment: CE drivers, CE barriers, definitions by different authors, yearly distribution of the publication, research publisher and journals, google citation and methodology used in the selected research articles.

The study suggests that researchers from the selected years are keen to understand the transition and its critical factors by bringing forward frameworks and incorporating CE with digital technologies. The digital technology implied are Industrial Technology (IR) 4.0, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Data Analytics to increase organizational and environmental performance. CE researchers need to use empirical testing in different sectors to understand and bring forward more improvised business models and practices according to the dynamics of the industry.

The literature review suggests gaps exist to integrate the micro, meso and macro levels to get CE implementation's system-wide benefits. The study has also identified that many CE frameworks available in the literature for implementation must be empirically tested to yield performance results.

Road and transportation has a significant role in the prosperity, economic growth and development of a region. The main purpose of this study is to conduct an in-depth analysis of local residents’ attitude towards road and transport infrastructure (China–Pakistan economic corridor, CPEC) and the wider economic, social, cultural and environmental impact on local people.

Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from the local people. Factor analysis and structural equation modelling approach were used to test the relation between the observed and latent variables.

The result discovered that road infrastructure has significant socio-economic and cultural impacts that significantly affect the local people support for CPEC development. It also revealed that more promotion and awareness regarding benefits of the project for dwellers lead to more support of the local residents in the study area.

Information provided by this study will help policymakers to gain local resident support for the project and make policies accordingly for the future projects.

This study investigated the attitude and support of the local people based on the road infrastructure’s social, economic, cultural and environmental impact, which has never been examined in the existing literature.

This study aims to assess the quality of care among adult oncology patients in tertiary care hospitals in Karachi by using an international standard of quality of care and to identify domains where improvement is needed.

This is a cross-sectional study carried out at two tertiary care hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan, belonging to private and public sector, respectively, between February and April 2018. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a modified questionnaire having five-point Likert scale questions regarding satisfaction of patients with doctors, nursing staff, information provided and the hospital standards. SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis, and the results were expressed using mean, frequencies, percentages and p-values.

The authors approached 415 patients, out of which 389 patients agreed to participate in the study. For both hospitals, the lowest mean scores were for sections pertaining to satisfaction with psychosocial support and information provided. The mean satisfaction score of patients from the private hospital were found to be significantly higher as compared to patients from the public hospital for all domains of patient care (p-value < 0.01 using t-test for two independent samples). The data showed an increasing trend of “satisfied” responses as the household income increased.

A comparative study should be conducted with the aim of pinpointing the differences in areas in which there is a significant difference in positive satisfaction levels between private and public sectors. Similar research could also be expanded adding other variables that affect quality of care such as doctor's approach to their patients, time given during each consultation and patient's understanding of doctor's knowledge. Further studies can be done to bridge the gaps between what a doctor views as standard care and what the patient knows will help them receive a more holistic approach to care.

Assessing the quality of care helps determine gaps in care and allocating health resources accordingly. In clinical practice, emphasis needs to be given on increased duration and improved quality of patient counselling to improve the low satisfaction levels of patients regarding the psychosocial support. Addressing patients' concerns should be made part of clinical teaching from an undergraduate level. As far as patient access to doctors of the specific speciality is concerned, hospital managements should adopt systems to ensure continuum of care and come up with mechanisms to bridge the discrepancy between a patient's needs and doctor availability.

After being identified as a major deficiency, training doctors in the sensitivities of the population and demographics, especially with respect to socio-economic statuses, can aid in enhancing patient satisfaction to the treatment. Implementation of patient-centred care leads to greater satisfaction with care, which, in turn, increases a patient's self efficacy in managing important aspects of their care and improves health care-related quality of life.

Cancer patients have long-term exposure to the hospital environment. A patient's satisfaction with the quality of care is an important determinant in patient compliance to the treatment protocol and required hospital visits. There is a dearth of research on the outpatient quality of care in the oncology departments in Karachi. This study provides an overview of the quality of care available to cancer patients in Karachi both in public and private sectors. The results of our study identify the gaps in the quality of care being provided to the patients in a developing country like Pakistan, which can be used to improve the quality of care, leading to better patient outcomes.

This study’s objectives are twofold; first, this paper aims to explore the determinants of perceived benefit and perceived risk of Islamic Fintech. Second, this study examines the influence of perceived benefit, perceived risk and user trust on the intention to adopt Islamic Fintech.

The sample of 350 was distributed among the respondents, while a usable sample of 321 was retained for the analysis. The study performed a self-administration survey to collect the sample data while the hypothesized model was tested using SmartPLS.

The results revealed that perceived benefit and perceived risk were significant and positively influenced by their factors. Moreover, perceived benefits showed a positive and significant impact on trust. However, perceived risk had a negative and significant impact on trust. The results also found a strong positive and significant relationship between trust and intention to adopt Islamic Fintech.

The outcome of this research may be used to develop strategies for Fintech and enables the financial sector to attain economies of scale in the world.

The study has two aims: first, it aimed to investigate the impact of contextual factors (such as information quality, service quality, system quality, trust in applications (app) and COVID-19 health anxiety) on the intention to use the Mobile Payment (MP) app, and subsequently, the actual use of the app. Second, the aim of this study is whether the COVID-19 threat has a moderating influence on the relationship between customers' intent to use MP app and the actual use of MP app.

The data are collected through an online survey from 341 Mobile Banking (MB) app users from Pakistan to empirically analyze the relationship between service quality, system quality, information quality, trust in the app, COVID-19 health anxiety and COVID-19 threat, intentions to use MB-app and actual use of MB-app.

The empirical analysis of the data collected from MB-app users from Pakistan shows that service quality, system quality, information quality, trust in the app and COVID-19 health anxiety positively related to intentions to use MB-app, consequently affect the actual use of MB-app. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the COVID-19 threat positively moderates the relationship between intentions to use MB-app and actual use of MB-app.

Although, prior research established a positive impact of mobile apps on customer service and consumer satisfaction. Yet, it is not clear which factors influence customers to adopt MB-app. This study contributes to the research on MB-apps based on adaptive structuration theory and examines the technological factors and contextual factors that collectively explain when and how individuals decide to adopt MB-app.

The deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in travel and tourism has received much attention in the wake of the pandemic. While societal adoption of AI has accelerated, it also raises some trust challenges. Literature on trust in AI is scant, especially regarding the vulnerabilities faced by different stakeholders to inform policy and practice. This work proposes a framework to understand the use of AI technologies from the perspectives of institutional and the self to understand the formation of trust in the mandated use of AI-based technologies in travelers.

An empirical investigation using partial least squares-structural equation modeling was employed on responses from 209 users. This paper considered factors related to the self (perceptions of self-threat, privacy empowerment, trust propensity) and institution (regulatory protection, corporate privacy responsibility) to understand the formation of trust in AI use for travelers.

Results showed that self-threat, trust propensity and regulatory protection influence trust in users on AI use. Privacy empowerment and corporate responsibility do not.

Insights from the past studies on AI in travel and tourism are limited. This study advances current literature on affordance and reactance theories to provide a better understanding of what makes travelers trust the mandated use of AI technologies. This work also demonstrates the paradoxical effects of self and institution on technologies and their relationship to trust. For practice, this study offers insights for enhancing adoption via developing trust.