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The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether audit committee characteristics, in particular audit committee size, audit committee activity and audit committee gender diversity, are associated with financial performance in Egyptian banks. The second purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating role of board gender diversity on the relationship between audit committee characteristics and financial performance.

A multiple regression analysis is used to estimate the moderating role of board gender diversity on the relationship between audit committee characteristics and financial performance of a sample of Egyptian banks during the period between 2018 and 2022.

The results indicate that audit committee size has a negative and insignificant effect impact on return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE), respectively. The results also indicate that the audit committee gender diversity has a significant positive impact on ROA and ROE, respectively. Regarding audit committee activity, the number of board meetings has a negative and insignificant effect on ROA and ROE, respectively. Regarding gender diversity as a moderating variable, in general there is a positive effect of gender diversity on the relationship between audit committee characteristics and financial performance.

The study was limited to 20 banks in one country, but it sets the tone for future empirical research on this subject matter. The study also relied on one moderating variable, which is board gender diversity. This study provides an avenue for future research in the area of corporate governance and financial performance in other emerging countries, especially other African countries.

This study provides useful insights for managers and policymakers to better understand which audit committee characteristics can best encourage a company to improve financial performance. Furthermore, regulators should ensure that banks strictly adhere to corporate governance principles to build a strong banking industry capable of achieving economic development.

Banks will benefit equally from valuable qualities across demographic groupings in society by having females on the audit committee and appropriate audit committee meetings. Additionally, if audit committee members are correctly selected, banks with more females in audit committee and suitable audit committee meetings can successfully contribute to strengthening financial performance and social welfare of diverse segments of society. A culture of good banking governance must emerge to improve bank financial stability and, as a result, greater stability and economic growth.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is, perhaps, the first to examine the moderating role of board gender diversity on the relationship between audit committee characteristics and financial performance in Egyptian banks. This study adds to the literature by investigating such an issue in a developing economy that operates in a different context than those in developed countries.

The use of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics derived from shredded bottles in concrete is not formalized yet, especially in reinforced members such as beams and columns. The disposal of plastic wastes in concrete is a viable alternative to manage those wastes while minimizing the environmental impacts associated to recycling, carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption.

This paper evaluates the suitability of 2D deterministic and stochastic finite element (FE) modeling to predict the shear strength behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams without stirrups. Different concrete mixtures prepared with 1.5%–4.5% PET additions, by volume, are investigated.

Test results showed that the deterministic and stochastic FE approaches are accurate to assess the maximum load of RC beams at failure and corresponding midspan deflection. However, the crack patterns observed experimentally during the different stages of loading can only be reproduced using the stochastic FE approach. This later method accounts for the concrete heterogeneity due to PET additions, allowing a statistical simulation of the effect of mechanical properties (i.e. compressive strength, tensile strength and Young’s modulus) on the output FE parameters.

Data presented in this paper can be of interest to civil and structural engineers, aiming to predict the failure mechanisms of RC beams containing plastic wastes, while minimizing the experimental time and resources needed to estimate the variability effect of concrete properties on the performance of such structures.

This study aims to propose a practical, virtue-centric model of leadership based on Islamic principles. The structure of the Islamic leadership construct is validated through confirmatory factor analysis. Its relationship with performance and organizational commitment is examined and the mediating role of organizational commitment is assessed.

Islamic leadership model is tested using confirmatory factor analysis with data collected from employees working in the services sector in Turkey. Relationships between Islamic leadership, organizational commitment and performance are examined through a path analysis.

The factor analysis results presented a good fit for the proposed Islamic leadership model, which consists of wisdom, religiosity, justice and kindness dimensions. Regarding path analysis, findings indicated a positive relationship between Islamic leadership and job performance. Moreover, organizational commitment partially mediated the relationship between Islamic leadership and job performance.

Previous studies on Islamic leadership contain a very little number of empirical models. This study proposes a valuable empirical model of Islamic leadership consisting of moral values, spirituality, ethics and wisdom. In addition, the proposed model is supported with empirical pieces of evidence. Evidence of the partial mediating role of organizational commitment between Islamic leadership and job performance is also revealed by the study.

The objective of this study is to examine the various factors that exert an influence on the green economy. This study also investigates the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the Malaysian economy, specifically focusing on its position as a mediator. This research also examines the correlation between FDI and its influence on the contemporary green economy.

The authors employed quantitative methodologies and a self-administered survey to evaluate data and derive a definitive conclusion. The result was constructed using SPSS and SEM-PLS as the analytical software.

The study reveals that technological advancement, investment country and government policy significantly and positively affect the green economy, catalyse SDG goals and restructure the economy in better shape.

The current empirical research bridges the research gap in the context of technology advancement in government policy from emerging economies by exploring important factors, proposing their impact on the performance of the green economy, and empirically testing those hypothesized relationships. This study deciphers that FDI influences the green economy, where the investment country plays a significant role. Also, for a graphical presentation of this abstract, see the online appendix.

This study aims to conceptualise a customer-centric model based on an online customer experience (OCE) construct, mediated by e-loyalty (EL) and e-trust (ET), to improve the continuous usage intention (CUI) of Indian digital banks from Generation Y and Z perspectives.

This study used an online survey method to gather data from a sample of 466 digital banking users, from which usable questionnaires were obtained. The obtained data were subjected to thorough analysis using PLS-SEM to further study the research hypotheses.

The main factors that determine digital banks’ OCE are perceived enjoyment, e-service quality, information quality and e-convenience. Additionally, relevant constructs were evaluated using an importance-performance map analysis.

This study used convenience sampling for the urban population using digital banking; therefore, the outcome may be generalised to a limited extent. It would be valuable to imitate studies in other countries to strengthen digital banking further.

There is a lack of research on digital banking and OCE in India; thus, this study helps rectify this issue while providing valuable insights. This study differs from others in that it examines the connections between OCE, EL, ET and the bottom line of financial institutions, using these factors as dependent variables instead of traditional measures.

Hepatitis C is one of the major health issues in both developed and developing countries. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is more common in prisoners than in the general population. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of HCV and its associated risk factors in Iranian male prisoners in Tehran.

In this cross-sectional study, the authors investigated the frequency and risk factors of hepatitis C infection among male prisoners in the Great Tehran Prison. Information on risk factors including the length of imprisonment, previous history of imprisonment, history of drug injection, history of tattooing, history of piercing, history of high-risk sex and family history of hepatitis C were extracted from patients’ records. To evaluate HCV status, blood samples were collected and tested.

In this study, 179 participants were included. Nine participants (5.0%, 95% CI, 2.3-9.3) were positive for hepatitis C. HCV infection was not significantly associated with age, marital status, education, previous history of imprisonment, length of imprisonment, piercing and high-risk sex; however, there was a significant association between a history of tattooing and a history of injecting drug use and Hepatitis C.

The prevalence of hepatitis C among male prisoners in Great Tehran Prison was 5% in this study, similar to recent studies on prisoners in Tehran. A history of drug injections as well as tattooing were the most important risk factors for hepatitis C in male prisoners.

This research is an empirical study that addresses whether knowledge resources impact on, or do not impact on, innovation development and if this impact is mediated by dynamic capabilities in the medical tourism sector in Mashhad city, Iran.

A quantitative research methodology was applied and questionnaires were used for data collection in this study. A total of 108 questionnaires were collected of which 102 questionnaires were valid. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling technique.

Empirical evidence obtained from the study reveals that the dynamic capability of learning plays a significant role in transforming knowledge resources into innovation in the medical tourism sector. The mediating role of coordinating capability in the relationship between explicit and tacit knowledge and innovation is considerable and it influences human capital, as well. Sensing capability also exhibits some degree of a mediating role; however, integrating capability is not influential and its role in transforming explicit knowledge to innovation is rejected.

Most studies on innovation in medical tourism focused on market and its typology, and neglected the role of knowledge resources and dynamic capabilities. The current study bridges this gap and thus contributes to the scientific literature.

The study hypothesized that the impact of board diversity on financial distress (FD) is not direct but rather mediated by the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of CSR as a mediator in the board diversity–FD relationship.

The study examined six board diversity dimensions – age, gender, nationality, education and tenure in 81 nonfinancial Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)-listed firms from 2010 to 2021. The CSR engagement of the sample firms is evaluated using a multidimensional financial approach and the likelihood of FD is computed using Altman’s Z-score. The system-generalized method of moments estimator is used to meet the study objectives. In addition, several tests are run to determine the robustness of the study’s findings.

Based on the procedure for mediation analysis outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986), the authors found that CSR is significantly inversely associated with the likelihood of FD. Second, board diversity variables age, gender and national diversity were positively associated with CSR. Third, board age, gender and national diversity are significantly inversely related to FD. Finally, it was found that there is partial mediation between board age diversity and FD, whereas full mediation is shown between board age diversity and FD and between board nationality diversity and FD.

This study provides practical insights into PSX’s board diversity for companies, regulators and policymakers.

This research studies the connection between board diversity and FD. In addition, the current study extended the analysis by testing for the first time the mediating role of CSR in the diversity–distress relationship, particularly in the context of an emerging economy.

Despite the significant growth in Islamic economies and the increasing number of Muslim youths inclining digital services, empirical-based research addressing the adoption of digital Islamic services is still limited. ZakaTech is a new phrase that has recently emerged as a modern term describing novel technologies adopted by zakat institutions; yet, it has been largely neglected in the literature. Therefore, this study aims to provide an integrated model that scrutinizes the determinants of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) of ZakaTech, combined with social cognitive theory (SCT), in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis where social distancing is the norm in conducting economic activities.

Based on cross-national evidence from two Muslim-majority countries, a total of 1,006 valid responses were collected from zakat payer users in Saudi Arabia and Egypt using a Web-based survey. To validate the research model and draw significant insights, SmartPLS structural equation modeling was used.

By analyzing both Saudi and Egyptian samples, the authors found that all UTAUT constructs are statistically significant, except for effort expectancy in Egypt. The effects of self-efficacy and social isolation on ZakaTech adoption are supported across both countries. Trust in technology reduces users’ inherent risks and increases their likelihood of adopting ZakaTech services in Saudi Arabia, while this is not the case in Egypt. However, the study revealed that trust in electronic-zakat systems (EZSs) is a vital predictor for mitigating perceived risk among Egyptian users of ZakaTech, but it is not the case in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, significant gender differences were found between males and females in the adoption of such digital services in both countries, particularly regarding self-efficacy, trust in EZSs, social isolation and social influence.

The results provide meaningful insights for policymakers to find ways to develop strategies to escalate the adoption of technology in zakat administration and also to create awareness among the users of ZakaTech in a gender-balanced manner that will include zakat payers and recipients as well in the hope that the digital gender divide will be bridged. Bridging the digital gender divide in this regard is imperative for sustainable inclusive development of zakat. Further, strategies need to be developed to provide incentives to zakat authorities and zakat organizations that adopt technology in managing zakat. This is important to escalate the process of fusing technology with zakat, which is an important social finance tool to eradicate poverty in the world.

This research serves as a building block for literature by empirically testing an integrated model of UTAUT-SCT within a modern and unique related context like ZakaTech. Also, it adds value by testing gender disparities in ZakaTech adoption among Muslims.