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The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationships between company business strategy type and tax aggressiveness for companies listed on the Brazilian Bovespa stock exchange.

Following the concepts of Miles and Snow (1978, 2003), we classified company strategies into four types, analyser, defender, prospector and reactor, using data from 2012 to 2016. The authors excluded financial companies due to a differential tax regime. Next, prospector and defender companies were identified, and the relationship of these strategies with tax aggressiveness assessed using regression analysis; analyser and reactor types were not included as these are defined as a combination of the prospector and defender type, or non-strategic, respectively. To assess aggressiveness, the authors used effective tax rates on corporate profits, as well as a metric that captures tax burden in terms of all taxes paid by a company.

Most Brazilian companies were analysers (76.66 per cent), with prospector companies being a minority, and defenders representing a little over 21 per cent. Unlike the findings of Higgins et al. (2015), the authors found that defender companies also have a tendency to practice aggressive tax planning.

The authors found the Brazilian defender companies similar to prospectors, tended to be more tax aggressive or to take higher tax risks. Thus, findings in economies such as the USA may not be generalizable to other countries, such as Brazil, Russia, India or China (i.e. the BRICs), for example. The particularities of each country, such as ease of access to the capital market, tax deductibility of investment in research and development and legal issues must be considered before applying generalized prognostics.

This paper offers original empirical evidence from Brazil of the relationship between company strategy type and the tax aggressiveness, offering a clear result that differs in part from results from American companies. It therefore encourages further studies on this topic.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

Relative risk ratings measure the degree by which a country’s sovereign rating is better or worse than other countries (Basu et al., 2013). However, the literature on the impacts of sovereign ratings on capital flows has not covered the role of relative risk ratings. This paper aims to examine the effect of relative risk ratings on private capital flows to emerging and frontier market economies is filled. In the analysis, the effect of relative risk ratings to that of absolute sovereign ratings in influencing private capital flows are compared.

This paper examines the influence of sovereign credit ratings and relative risk ratings on private capital flows to 26 emerging and frontier market economies using quarterly data for a 20-year period between 1998 and 2017. A dynamic panel regression model is used to estimate the relationship between ratings and capital flows after controlling for other factors that can influence capital flows such as growth and interest rate differentials and global risk conditions.

The analysis finds that while absolute sovereign credit ratings were an important determinant of net capital inflows prior to the global financial crisis in 2008, the influence of relative risk ratings increased in the post-crisis period. The post-crisis effect of relative ratings appears to be driven mostly by portfolio flows. The main results are robust to an alternate measure of capital flows (gross capital flows instead of net capital flows), to the use of fixed gross domestic product weights in calculating relative risk ratings and to the potential endogeneity of absolute and relative ratings.

This study advances the literature on being the first attempt to understand the impact of relative risk ratings on capital flows and also comparing the impact of absolute sovereign ratings and relative risk ratings on capital flows in the pre- and post-global financial crisis periods. The findings imply that emerging and frontier markets need to pay greater attention to their relative economic performance and not just their sovereign ratings.

The number of researches that evaluate how behavioural and personality issues affect consumers’ acceptance and perception of food is increasing. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of nutritional information and health claims related to soya and cashew nut beverages over consumers’ acceptance and perception regarding nutritional value and healthiness and to verify whether behavioural and personality issues affect such evaluation.

The samples were evaluated in two phases, with (blind phase) and without information (informed phase) about their composition, nutritional characteristics and functional claims related to some of their ingredients. The sensory evaluation data were analysed by means of the analysis of variance for repeated measures, applying 2 (information) × 2 (beverage) and generalised linear model to evaluate the effect of information over the acceptance averages, as well as over the perception of healthy food and nutritional value.

Information on composition, nutritional characteristics and functional claims related to the cashew nut and soya beverages did not influence flavour acceptance (p-value = 0.250) and overall impression (p-value = 0.316), but had a positive impact on consumers’ perception regarding healthiness (p-value < 0.001) and nutritious value (p-value < 0.001) of both beverages, the cashew nut beverage being perceived as more nutritious and healthier than the soya beverage. Consumers’ different characteristics with respect to their interest in healthy eating (high and low) and food neophobia (neophiliacs and neophobics) did not have any influence on the beverages’ acceptance, as well as on the perception of healthy food and nutritious value.

This work compares consumers’ acceptance and perception regarding nutritional value and healthiness with relation a totally unique product in the Brazilian market, and in the world, a new functional beverage made from cashew nuts, with a soya-milk beverage. Until this moment, there are no studies comparing consumer acceptance and perception of products based on hydrosoluble extract-base added with fruit juice which evaluate the influence of behavioural and personality characteristics of consumers in their perception and acceptance towards these products.

The Internet of Things has made the shift to the digital era possible, even though the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector has not embraced nor integrated it within the core functions compared to other sectors. The need to enhance sustainable construction with the adoption of Internet of Things in this sector cannot be overemphasized. However, the real-world applications of Internet of Things in smart buildings remain relatively unexplored in the AEC sector due to several issues related to deployment and energy-saving potentials. Given these challenges, this paper proposes to identify the present state of development and research in Internet of Things and smart buildings, identify Internet of Things clusters and applications in smart buildings.

Bibliometric analyses of papers from 2010 to 2023 using the Scopus database and scientometric evaluations using the VosViewer software were undertaken. The proper search keyword was identified by using the phrases “ Internet of Things” and “Smart Building”. A total of 1158 documents in all, written by 3540 different writers, representing 2285 different institutions from 97 different countries were looked at. A metasynthesis was conducted and a system of Internet of Things applications in a smart building is illustrated.

The development of IoT and Smart Buildings is done in two phases: initiation (2010–2012) and development phase (2013–2023). The IoT clusters comprised Internet of things, energy efficiency, intelligent buildings, smart buildings and automation; while the most commonly used applications were analysed and established. The study also determined the productive journals, documents, authors and countries.

Documents published in the Scopus database from 2010 to 2023 were considered for the bibliometric analysis. Journal articles, conference papers, reviews, books and book chapters written in English language represent the inclusion criteria, while articles in press, conference reviews, letters, editorials, undefined sources and all medical and health publications were excluded.

The results of this study will be used by construction stakeholders and policymakers to identify key themes and applications in IoT-enabled smart buildings and to guide future research in the policymaking process of asset management.

The study utilised bibliometric analysis, scientometrics and metasynthesis to investigate Internet of things applications in smart buildings. The study identified Internet of things clusters and applications for smart building design and construction.

This paper aims to investigate delegation decisions in supply chains, exploring the metaphor that consumers who make environmentally and socially responsible choices are equivalent to voters in an election.

This theoretical paper relies on the principles of agency theory to shed light on fundamental challenges that shape our ability to transform supply chains.

This paper unravels two puzzles linked to delegation decisions within sustainable supply chains. It shows that as firms adopt sustainable production systems, their ability to convey relevant information that convinces consumers to enter in a delegation relationship diminishes, ceteris paribus; and once a delegation relationship is established, complementarity within the dimensions of the contract is necessary to guarantee the delivery of sustainability attributes.

The findings of this paper offer insights that can inspire empirical research on sustainable supply chain management.

Policymakers and entrepreneurs willing to incentivize the transformation of supply chains must think about the nature of the relationship between firms and consumers. This paper provides a metaphor that can help practitioners to reinterpret their role as providers or consumers of products and services with sustainability attributes.

This paper provides insights that may enhance the understanding of how individual consumption decisions may contribute to transforming supply chains.

This paper expands the repertoire of theoretical tools that can be applied to study the emergence and resilience of sustainable supply chains.

This article aims to explore synergies between Lean, Green and Six Sigma practices in order to propose an integrated LGSS framework for continuous and incremental improvement in the Indian manufacturing industries. The three-dimensional LGSS framework seeks to provide various combinations and support operational, financial, environmental and social needs.

In the research method, first, the current problems faced by Indian manufacturing industries are considered and proposition of a conceptual framework that qualitatively integrates synergistic aspects of Lean, Green and Six Sigma practices, and second, the framework is checked by a survey taken from 203 Indian firms by using SPSS-AMOS.

The hypothesized result suggests that the positive impact of integrated practices on firm performance in terms of operational, financial, social and environmental outcomes. It also provides a systemic and holistic approach to problem-solving through constant and incremental enhancement in the manufacturing sector.

In this research, only Indian manufacturing industries have been studied but can be extending into different geographical areas and sectors. Future research is also possible for different behavior and characteristics of companies that can lead to recommending strategies on how companies can improve performance. Most importantly, future research can try to understand which specific practice can contribute to competitive advantage and business success.

Manufacturing firms that want to improve environmental sustainability should implement integrated LGSS practices into their supply chain. The set of combined practices improves operational, social, economical and environmental benefits.

The research presents an integrated approach of LSS for the manufacturing industry which leads their business processes to achieve economic sustainability through continuous growth and improved operational efficiency. Manufacturing industries result in outcomes like reduced cost, lead time, improved quality, sustainable market position, profitability, customer satisfaction, etc.

This research is different from previous studies because it integrates Lean, Green and Six Sigma practices into a unique framework that fulfills a specific need of the Indian manufacturing sector that guides operational, social, environmental and financial issues in Indian industries.

The aim of this study is to obtain a broader knowledge of innovative pedagogical practices in higher education, by analysing the particular case of the Higher Institute of Administration and Languages (ISAL). The literature review reveals a gap in this scientific field, and filling this gap is as imperative as the need to articulate higher education with the Students' Profile by the End of Compulsory Schooling.

This research adopts a qualitative methodological approach, in order to analyse the students and teachers' perceptions of the active learning methodologies implemented at ISAL. Data were collected from a closed-ended questionnaire, aimed at a population composed of students and teachers.

The literature review reveals a gap in this scientific field, particularly in Portugal. Filling this gap is as imperative as the need to articulate higher education with the Students' Profile by the End of Compulsory Schooling.

With the adoption of this methodological approach, this research intends to verify not only whether the innovative pedagogical practices addressed in the literature review are implemented in this institution, but also to identify obstacles to their implementation. With regard to the results, several pedagogical innovation practices are already implemented, even though some limitations to their implementation are identified.

This research allows identifying indicators that are essential to outline an intervention plan in the pedagogical practices implemented at ISAL or other higher education institutions and contributes to assessing the current state of pedagogical practices in higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, at a national scale, how self-reported happiness varies with the different levels of environmental conditions resulting from national policies, while also considering different levels of freedom.

The authors estimated the effects of environmental performance on happiness using the log-log regression model presented.

Environmental performance is shown to have a direct impact on happiness. Nonetheless, the explanatory influence of freedom is only significantly positive for free countries, where the institutional and political arrangements are better established and thereby the effective democracy is more solid.

This article offers insights into happiness levels within the context of the current clamour for environmental protection and more sustainable development goals.