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This paper analyzes how air pollution and the public attention to it influence the returns of stocks in the Indian context.

The study uses firm-level data for the stocks listed on National Stock Exchange in India. Air quality is measured using the Air Quality Index (AQI) values provided by US Embassy and Consulates’ Air Quality Monitor in India. Google Search Volume Index (GSVI) of the relevant terms acts as the measure of public attention. Appropriate regression models are used to address how AQI and attention influence stock returns.

It is observed that degrading air quality alone is unable to explain the stock returns. It is the combined effect of increasing AQI and subsequent rise in associated public attention that negatively impacts these returns. Returns of firms with poor environment score component in their environmental, social, governance (ESG) scores are more negatively affected compared to firms with higher environment scores.

Investors can make use of this knowledge to formulate effective trading strategies and ensure higher chances of profitability in the share market.

To the knowledge of the authors, no earlier study has investigated the effects of AQI and attention together to explain stock price movements. The study is conducted in the Indian context providing a unique opportunity to study the behavioral impact of these effects in one of the fastest growing global economies, which is also plagued by an alarming increase in ambient air pollution.

The aim of this paper is to identify the factors that are responsible for the slow development of the renewable energy sector in the Pacific Island countries (PICs), and suggest ways of overcoming them.

The paper compares the energy situation in Australia and Germany to that in the PICs, and the state of energy development in the PICs to its African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) counterparts.

The paper finds that policy frameworks are important pre‐requisites to the development of renewable energy. In addition, the absence of a science and technology base in the PICs is a serious impediment to the development of the renewable energy sector in these countries. It is found that the PICs are lagging behind in policy frameworks and institutional capacity building requirements as compared to other ACP countries.

Policy frameworks must be established as an essential pre‐requisite to the development of renewable energy in the PICs. In addition, ways and means must be found to address the lack of proper attitudes amongst decision‐makers to the value of a science base in development.

The paper identifies the underlying impediments to the rapid development of the renewable energy sector in the PICs, and suggests what could contribute to the lack of an appropriate science base that is considered as a requirement to development.

The purpose of the present study is to contribute to the existing literature by examining the nexus and the connectedness between classes S&P Green Bond Index, S&P GSCI Crude Oil Index, S&P GSCI Gold, MSCI Emerging Markets Index, MSCI World Index and Bitcoin, during the pre-and post-Covid period beginning from August 2011 to July 2021 (10 years).

The study employs time-varying parameter vector autoregression and Quantile regression methods to understand the impact of events on traditional and upcoming asset classes. To further understand the connectedness of assets under consideration, the study used Geo-Political Risk Index (GPR) and Global Economic Policy and Uncertainty index (GPEU).

Findings show that these markets are strongly linked, which will only expand in the post-pandemic future. Before the pandemic, the MSCI World and Emerging Markets indices contributed the most shocks to the remaining market variables. Green bond index shows a greater correlation and shock transmission with gold. Bitcoin can no longer be used as a good hedging instrument, validating the fact that the 21st-century technology assets. The results further opine that under extreme economic consequences with high GPR and GPEU, even gold cannot be considered a safe investment asset.

Financial markets and the players who administer and communicate their investment logics are heavily reliant on conventional asset classes such as oil, gas, coal, nuclear and allied groupings, but these emerging asset classes are attempting to diversify.

This paper examines Aman Ullah’s contributions to robust inference, finite sample econometrics, nonparametrics and semiparametrics, and panel and spatial models. His early works on robust inference and finite sample theory were mostly motivated by his thesis advisor, Professor Anirudh Lal Nagar. They eventually led to his most original rethinking of many statistics and econometrics models that developed into the monograph Finite Sample Econometrics published in 2004. His desire to relax distributional and functional-form assumptions lead him in the direction of nonparametric estimation and he summarized his views in his most influential textbook Nonparametric Econometrics (with Adrian Pagan) published in 1999 that has influenced a whole generation of econometricians. His innovative contributions in the areas of seemingly unrelated regressions, parametric, semiparametric and nonparametric panel data models, and spatial models have also inspired a larger literature on nonparametric and semiparametric estimation and inference and spurred on research in robust estimation and inference in these and related areas.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) gained attention, particularly SDG 4 which focuses on quality education. Tecnologico de Monterrey, popularly known as TEC, is one of the few elite private universities in Mexico that took significant steps to enhance the quality of education amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, in view of students’ career plans. In this empirical research, an online survey was employed to investigate the mediating role of peers’ feedback on team-based learning (TBL) and career planning skills among university students. The study included 86 students from bachelor’s and master’s programmes. IBM SPSS version 26 and PROCESS Macro v 3.5 were used for the quantitative data analysis. The results confirm that peers’ feedback partially mediates the relationship between TBL and the career planning skills of students. This study provides recommendations to university authorities to develop educational policies in-line with SDG 4, thoroughly revise course curricula of the degree programmes offered, and include online learning activities for solving problems in the current world scenario.

Blockchain technology (BCT), since its emergence touted to be disruptive, is gaining momentum, especially in the agri-food system owing to its multiple benefits.

The authors attempted to conduct a systematic bibliometric visualization analysis of the BCT in the agri-food system. The analysis investigated the list of countries and institutions that conducted research on BCT in agriculture, growth trend analysis in research publications, bibliographic coupling of journals using the VOSviewer tool, and the countries and institutions researching BCT.

The authors discovered that China, the USA and India were the highly active countries in BCT research and publication. However, India has only limited research collaboration with other countries as compared to China and the USA. The keyword analysis indicates the role of BCT in order to maintain the transparency of the supply chain by means of protecting the privacy of the personal data of the stakeholders.

More research related to the implementation of BCT in livestock, fishery and agro-forestry sector is recommended.

The case examined is of particular interest as it is concerned with efficient supply chain management.

This study adds value and evidence to the scope and benefits of BCT by providing a comprehensive literature review, with a special focus on the opportunities and challenges concerned with implementation of BCT in the Indian agri-food system.

1. Blockchain technology (BCT) – a promising tool to resolve issues in agriculture supply chain.

2. BCT ensures transparency and protection of information along the supply chain transactions.

3. China, the USA and India are the highly active countries in BCT research and publication.

4. Multiple potential benefits to stakeholders are attributed to the BCT in the agri-food system.

5. The key challenge is to bridge the digital gap between developed and developing nations.

6. Future research on BCT should aim at easing and undistorted competition among stakeholders.

Blockchain technology (BCT) – a promising tool to resolve issues in agriculture supply chain.

BCT ensures transparency and protection of information along the supply chain transactions.

China, the USA and India are the highly active countries in BCT research and publication.

Multiple potential benefits to stakeholders are attributed to the BCT in the agri-food system.

The key challenge is to bridge the digital gap between developed and developing nations.

Future research on BCT should aim at easing and undistorted competition among stakeholders.

The paper develops a decision-making model for supplier selection combining quality function deployment (QFD), analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). The efficacy of the model was demonstrated by applying it for supplier selection of lithium ion batteries.

The proposed methodology involved identifying customer requirements for lithium ion batteries and translating them to requisite technical characteristics using QFD. Further, separate sourcing, safety and sustainability-related supplier parameters were proposed taking into account the manufacturer's point of view. The relative weight of each parameter was then calculated using AHP, and finally, TOPSIS was used to select the best supplier.

The proposed methodology was applied to six suppliers of lithium ion batteries, and the obtained results were used to select the most and least preferred suppliers.

The obtained results cannot be generalized and are valid to the case environment. However, the proposed approach can be used for any environment related to supplier selection after capturing the corresponding parameters. The proposed approach does not restrict the number of parameters to be considered.

Many researches related to supplier evaluation are reported in literature, but few studies are available related to supplier performance evaluation for lithium ion batteries using QFD, AHP and TOPSIS. The study will provide a guideline for comparing and selecting supplier on the basis of performance in general and its application to lithium ion batteries in specific.

This chapter presents digital reverse mentoring as a novel kind of human and technological resource management intervention. It presents a case study of digital reverse mentoring at a large metal multinational. It highlights the various design elements of digital reverse mentoring that contribute towards achieving digital transformation and rebuilding of mindsets in the company. Through the case study the chapter also suggests that HRM needs to look beyond adoption of technological tools to actively participate in addressing the strategic concerns of digital transformation in a company.

Women pursuing male-dominated careers face well-documented barriers to career success (e.g., stereotypes, sexual harassment, limited access to professional networks, and mentoring), which have the potential to be exacerbated or diminished by the increasing prevalence of work from home (WFH). In this chapter, the authors first review key career obstacles for women in male-dominated fields and analyse the impact of WFH on these barriers and, second, provide actionable strategies for organisations to implement WFH in a way that promotes rather than hampers the success of women in these fields. Both career obstacles and WFH remedies are considered through an overarching framework focussed on the significance of work–family boundary management, inclusion, and career advancement. Drawing on the extant research, the authors provide evidence-based, actionable guidance to help organisations and supervisors leverage WFH to support the career success of women in male-dominated careers.