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This paper aims to explore how accounting is fostering neoliberal citizenship through the participants of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). More specifically, this paper aims to understand how accounting discourse and the management accounting technique of budgeting, when intertwined with automated administrative processes of the NDIS, are giving rise to a pastoral form of power that directs people’s behaviour toward certain ends.

Publicly available data has been crafted into an autoethnographic case study of one fictitious person’s experiences with the NDIS – Mina. Mina is an amalgam created from material submitted to the Joint Parliamentary Standing Committee on the NDIS. Mina’s experiences are then analysed through the lens of Foucault’s concept of pastoral power to explore how accounting has contributed to marketising and digitising public disability services.

Accounting rhetoric appears to be a central part of rationalising the decision to shift to individualised disability funding. Those receiving payments are treated as self-governable, financially responsible subjects and are therefore expected to have knowledge of management accounting techniques and budgeting. However, NDIS’s strong reliance on the accounting concepts of funds, budgets, cost and price is limiting people’s autonomy and subjecting them to intervention and control.

This paper addresses calls to explore the interplay between accounting and current disability policies. The analysis shows that incorporating accounting into the NDIS’s algorithms serves to conceal the underlying ideology of the programs, subtly driving behaviours towards neoliberal objectives. Further, this research extends the Foucauldian accounting literature by revealing the contribution of accounting to reinforcing the authority of digital pastors in contemporary times.

Firms are increasingly pressured to comply with mandatory supply chain transparency (SCT) regulations. Drawing on information processing theory (IPT), this study aims to show how blockchain technology can address information uncertainty and equivocality in assuring regulatory compliance in an interorganizational network (ION).

IPT is applied in a single case study of an ION in the mining industry that aimed to implement blockchain to address mandatory SCT regulations. The authors build on a rich proprietary data set consisting of interviews and substantial secondary material from actors along the supply chain.

The case shows that blockchain creates equality between actors, enables compliance and enhances efficiency in an ION, reducing information uncertainty and equivocality arising from conflict minerals regulation. The system promotes engagement and data sharing between parties while protecting commercial sensitive information. The lack of central authority prevents larger partners from taking control. The system provides mineral provenance and a regulation-compliant record. System cost analysis shows that the system is efficient as it is inexpensive relative to volumes and values of metals transacted. Issues were identified related to collecting richer human rights data for assurance and compliance with due diligence regulations.

The authors provide some of the first evidence in the operations and supply chain management literature of the specific architecture, costs and limitations of using blockchain for SCT. Using an IPT lens in an ION setting, the authors demonstrate how blockchain-based systems can address two key IPT challenges: environmental uncertainty and equivocality.

The extant literature underlines the inadequacies of legal and policy frameworks addressing the safety and health concerns of sandstone mineworkers in India. Notably, Rajasthan, a state renowned for its extractive industries, mirrors these concerns. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to critically evaluate the relevant legal and policy landscape, with an emphasis on the recent central statute: the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code of 2020 (OSHWCC). Given that the Code subsumes the key legislation pertaining to the safety and health of mineworkers, an in-depth critical analysis is essential to forge suitable policy interventions to address continued gross violations of human rights.

The critical analysis of legal and policy frameworks on silicosis in sandstone mineworkers is based on a comprehensive reading of existing literature. The literature includes relevant laws, case law, reports of the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission and National Human Rights Commission, publicly available data and key scholarly contributions in the field.

Although the OSHWCC has made some changes to the existing regulatory architecture of mines in India, it has failed to safeguard the safety and health of mineworkers. Notably, the vast majority of mines in India – constituting approximately 90%, which are informal, seasonal and small-scale – remain beyond the jurisdiction of this Code. In Rajasthan, there are specific policies on silicosis, but these policies are poorly implemented. There is a serious shortage of doctors to diagnose silicosis cases, leading to under-diagnosis. The compensation for silicosis victims is insufficient; the distribution mechanism is complex and often delayed.

The central and many state governments have not established the regulatory institutions envisaged under the OSHWCC 2020; therefore, the working of the regulatory institutions could not be critically examined.

The paper critically evaluates laws and policies pertaining to silicosis in sandstone mineworkers, with a special emphasis on the state of Rajasthan. It offers a comprehensive critique of the OSHWCC of 2020, which has not received much attention from previous studies.

In July 2021, the European Commission has proposed a set of conjunct initiatives to reform the antimoney laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulatory regime in Europe with the main aims to (i) harmonize the AML/CFT regulation and (ii) centralize the authority to a higher degree at European Union (EU) level. This paper aims to assess the reform in light of the EU subsidiarity principle.

The paper uses a benchmark approach to compare the proposed EU money laundering reform against Article 5(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The paper confirms that more centralized decision-making at EU level in this policy area is justified, mainly because (i) the policy area is not an area where the EU has exclusive competence, (ii) EU centralized action is necessary and (iii) it also adds value, for instance, for level playing field and efficiency considerations as long as local information advantage will not be lost. As such, the subsidiarity principle can be applied and is an adequate tool to legitimize EU centralized action in the field of money laundering combat.

As the EU AML regulatory reform has not yet been sufficiently discussed in light of the subsidiarity principle, the article is of innovative nature.

The global organic market is expanding, and India is in an advantageous position with the highest number of organic producers worldwide. Although many articles have been published on the value chain of organic products from India, no significant studies were found related to the value chain analysis of organic pineapple. This study aims to know the various aspects of the organic pineapple value chain, i.e. network structure, value addition at various stages of chain actors, value chain upgradation and governance structure.

The study is explorative in nature, and primary data from various actors involved in the chain is collected and analyzed. Primary data through a structured schedule and interviews are collected from farmers and traders. A multistage sampling plan has been adopted. A sample of 75 farmers was randomly selected from the study area. For traders, snowball sampling is used due to the nonavailability of the sampling frame. A total of 10 commission agents, 10 wholesalers and 20 retailers were thus selected for the study. For objectives 1 and 4, descriptive statistics are used. For objective 2, a modified formula described by (Murthy et al., 2007) is used to calculate farmer’s net price and marketing margin. For objective 3, Garrett’s ranking technique is used to identify various constraints in upgrading the organic pineapple value chain in Assam.

This study shows that the value chain of organic pineapple is in the initial stage and proper value addition is required to have a complete regulated value chain. Six marketing channel is identified, and products are sold through farmer producer company only in case of export and trade with distant buyers. The marketing efficiency for channels II and III is 1.69 and 0.99, respectively. The degree of value addition for channel II in the hands of the commission agent, wholesaler and retailer is 11.65%, 4.56% and 12.60%, respectively. In the various constraints in upgrading the value chain, farmers rank “policy support” as a major constraint. In the governance structure, trade with distant traders and exports is done formally and through written contracts.

The study performs value chain analysis of organic pineapple in Cachar district of Assam, India for the year January 2022–January 2023. Future studies are encouraged related to various aspects of the supply chain and value chain of organic pineapple from various northeastern states of India and other states.

The study will help policymakers and key actors to know the existing chain and frame a well-coordinated and regulated value chain.

This study is one of the first study to explore the value chain of organic pineapple of Cachar district of Assam, India. Implementation of these findings can help various actors to strengthen the existing value chain.

Assuming that knowledge management is a pivotal issue in business to improve and maintain competitive advantages, this paper aims to investigate how knowledge management is useful to face challenges about the integration of environment, social and governance (ESG) factors, filling the gap in the literature regarding knowledge management and ESG in the banking world by considering a real case.

Starting from the analysis of the more relevant literature on the topic, this paper describes an illustrative real case through interviews with the credit department of an Italian bank that has adopted a specific sustainability approach. This paper discusses this case in the context of the outlined theoretical background to explore the trends and challenges of ESG integration. The case study allows us to evaluate and expand our theoretical framework, leading to a greater understanding of the complex phenomenon under investigation.

Based on the analysis of the literature combined with the insights that emerged from the experience of the real case, this study shows that there are three primary factors to consider: data issues, competencies and workflow. This study outlines an enhanced knowledge management framework displaying the complexity emerging from the integration of ESG into a bank’s credit department and identify the best practices to pursue.

Given the increasing pressure toward the incorporation of ESG factors into the banking sector, the practical implications of the study are relevant as they provide guidelines for action. Specifically, the practical problems highlighted by the real case, like the priority on themes such as questionnaires, the need for ad hoc commissions and workflow, drive the attention of decision-makers on key aspects to effectively adopt an advanced knowledge management approach aimed at improving the ESG integration. Considering the effect of the banking system on the economy, the best practices this study has identified can also have a positive impact on society as a whole.

The proposed enhanced knowledge management framework offers a guideline to orchestrate ESG integration into banks’ credit departments, considering the increasing need to frame a sustainability-oriented strategic approach that emerges from academic and practical enquiries. This research represents an initial attempt to investigate the integration of ESG factors in the banking system through the lens of knowledge management. The strategic nature of the ESG approach clearly appears in a dynamic environment where stakeholder pressures and regulatory evolutions are strong.

This study aims to explore the evidence-based usage patterns of higher education commission (HEC) subscribed e-journal databases in the university digital library used by the scholarly community and the academics’ online searching behaviour at a higher education institution in Pakistan.

The study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach. Raw transaction log data were collected for quantitative analysis, and the interview technique was used for qualitative data collection and thematic analysis.

Log analysis revealed that HEC subscribed databases were used significantly, and among those, scholarly databases covering various subjects were more frequently used than subject-specific society-based databases. Furthermore, the users frequently accessed the needed e-journal articles through search engines like Google and Google Scholar, considering them sources of free material instead of the HEC subscribed databases.

It provides practical implications for examining the evidence-based use patterns of e-journal databases. It suggests the need for improving the access management of HEC databases, keeping in view the usage statistics and the demands of the scholars. The study may also help create market venues for the publishers of scholarly databases by offering attractive and economical packages for researchers of various disciplines in developing and underdeveloped countries. The study results also guide the information professionals to arrange orientation and information literacy programs to improve the searching behaviour of their less frequent users and enhance the utilization of these subscribed databases.

The study is part of a PhD project and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first such work in the context of a developing country like Pakistan.

The purpose of this study is to apply altmetrics and bibliometric indicators on the top 100 most mentioned articles published related to the sustainable development goal (SDG)-13, Climate Action.

The authors used the Altmetric Explorer’s SDGs filter to extract the most mentioned articles belonging to Climate Action and their other characteristics, such as DOI, titles, tools mentioning them and their demographic descriptions. The same set of papers was searched in the Dimensions database to extract them in the format importable in R-studio to check the distribution of papers across various journals and identify their subject category, countries and institutions publishing these papers. Further, SPSS was used to check the correlation between altmetric attention score (AAS) and citations.

The results of the paper showed the mean of AAS and the citations received by the articles was 3,556.35 and 304.04, respectively. Twitter has been the most used social media platform for mentioning the research related to climate action, covering 88.1% of the total mentions. The Twitter and the News mention demographics show the USA contributing the most tweet mentions (15.2%) as well as news mentions (57.65%) to the papers. Also, the USA has solely published 49 papers from the total papers selected for the study. The papers were published in 31 journals most of them belonging to the quartile first (Q1) category and primarily belonged to the subject category “Earth Sciences.” Pearson’s correlational method showed a significant but low positive correlation between AAS and citation counts (r = 0.365, p = <0.001) and a strong positive correlation between the citations and Mendeley readership counts (r = 0.907).

The research is original in nature and discovered very interesting results about climate action using altmetric and bibliometric techniques.

Benchmarking e-government and digital society developments using relevant indicators provides crucial insights into what aspects to consider while building a resilient digital society in which digital public services are delivered effectively and sustainably. The purpose of this paper is to analyse selected indices and indicators over the years and provide findings and recommendations on what indicators contribute most to the development.

A mixed research approach was used to conduct the research and collect, analyse and interpret data. A qualitative analysis involving the search, decomposition and comparison approaches to identify e-government and digital society reports, indices, rankings and indicators was followed by a quantitative analysis comprising of regression and cluster analyses.

The findings revealed that changes in the mix of indicators used by e-government and digital society indices can be attributed to advances in ICT and channels through which people communicate and receive information. The authors found that digital and telecommunication infrastructures and the quality of their parameters such as broadband have the biggest influence on progress of the e-government and digital societies developments and contribute most to clustering of the EU member states into groups.

The paper provides insights into how the structures of related indices changed over the years and how different indicators contribute to benchmarking of e-government and digital society developments by means of their weights. It provides governments with recommendations on which indicators to focus most.

Health misinformation on social media threatens public health. A critical question that sheds light on the propagation of health misinformation across social media platforms revolves around identifying the specific types of social media users susceptible to this issue. This study provides an initial insight into this matter by examining the underlying psychological mechanism that renders users susceptible to health misinformation.

In this study, we developed an integrated model of susceptibility to health misinformation, drawing on the motivation-opportunity-ability theory and the elaboration likelihood model. We collected the data from a sample of 342 social media users in China. Furthermore, the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis was adopted to examine the proposed model and uncover the causal recipes associated with susceptibility to health misinformation.

The results indicated that there are three configural types of users that are susceptible to health misinformation: the health-consciousness core-driven type, the popularity-driven core type and the dual-driven type characterized by both high health consciousness and information popularity. Among these, high health-consciousness and the reliance on information popularity-based pathways emerge as pivotal factors influencing susceptibility to health misinformation.

This study contributes to the social media literature by identifying various psychological traits that lead to social media users’ susceptibility to health misinformation. Additionally, the study provides comprehensive guidance on how to mitigate the spread of health misinformation.