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This study reinvestigates the validity of the Phillips curve in Nigeria for the period 1980–2020 by considering the asymmetric nexus between unemployment and inflation.

The nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) technique was used to decompose the unemployment variable into two components: tight and loosened labour markets.

The empirical outcome shows that unemployment has a significant negative effect on inflation when the labour market is tight and a weakly negative and significant effect on inflation when the labour market is loose. The study confirms an asymmetric Phillips curve in Nigeria since the positive (tight) unemployment rate exerts a greater effect on inflation than the negative (loosened) unemployment rate.

The findings of this study have important implications for implementing monetary policy in Nigeria.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the existence of a nonlinear Phillip curve in Nigeria.

This paper aims to examine the return and volatility transmission among economic policy uncertainty (EPU), geopolitical risk (GPR), their interaction (EPGR) and five tradable precious metals: gold, silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium.

Applying time-varying parameter vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) frequency-based connectedness approach to a data set spanning from January 1997 to February 2023, the study analyzes return and volatility connectedness separately, providing insights into how the data, in return and volatility forms, differ across time and frequency.

The results of the return connectedness show that gold, palladium and silver are affected more by EPU in the short term, while all precious metals are influenced by GPR in the short term. EPGR exhibits strong contributions to the system due to its elevated levels of policy uncertainty and extreme global risks. Palladium shows the highest reaction to EPGR, while silver shows the lowest. Return spillovers are generally time-varying and spike during critical global events. The volatility connectedness is long-term driven, suggesting that uncertainty and risk factors influence market participants’ long-term expectations. Notable peaks in total connectedness occurred during the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, with the latter being the highest.

Using the recently updated news-based uncertainty indicators, the study examines the time and frequency connectedness between key uncertainty measures and precious metals in their returns and volatility forms using the TVP-VAR frequency-based connectedness approach.

Given the rise of sport non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and sponsorships from cryptocurrency companies in the sport industry during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, this paper aims to critically frame the partnerships between cryptocurrency and sport by exploring the reception of fan tokens amongst supporters of three English Premier League clubs: Manchester City, Everton and Crystal Palace.

Drawing upon the emerging critical scholarship on cryptocurrency and the political economy of professional football, this study uses digital ethnography in an attempt to understand the major themes emanating from the online forum discussions amongst fans in response to the issuance of fan tokens by the aforementioned three clubs, among other types of partnerships with crypto companies.

The supporters’ critical deliberations revolved around the contradictions of fan tokens (as a means for supposed “fan engagement” or for financial speculation) and the utility of cryptocurrency for the public. These reactions in turn showcase a larger tension underlying the financially unstable professional football industry: the contest between the owners and the fan bases over the exchange value (for profit) and use value (for community) of the clubs.

This paper is one of the first studies to adopt a critical framework to examine the emerging partnerships between sports and cryptocurrency companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also provides one of the first in-depth analyses of the critical receptions of sport NFTs amongst sport fans. While contributing to the literature on fan activism/protest in the context of the commercialization and commodification of sport, the paper also raises new questions on the responsible use of cryptocurrency/NFT in sport.

This paper investigates the role of economic disagreement in the cross-sectional pricing of individual stocks. Economic disagreement is quantified with ex ante measures of cross-sectional dispersion in economic forecasts from the Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF), determining the degree of disagreement among professional forecasters over changes in economic fundamentals.

The authors introduce a broad index of economic disagreement based on the innovations in the cross-sectional dispersion of economic forecasts for output, inflation and unemployment so that the index is a shock measure that captures different aspects of disagreement over economic fundamentals and also reflects unexpected news or surprise about the state of the aggregate economy. After building the broad index of economic disagreement, the authors test out-of-sample performance of the index in predicting the cross-sectional variation in future stock returns.

Univariate portfolio analyses indicate that decile portfolios that are long in stocks with the lowest disagreement beta and short in stocks with the highest disagreement beta yield a risk-adjusted annual return of 7.2%. The results remain robust after controlling for well-known pricing effects. The results are consistent with a preference-based explanation that ambiguity-averse investors demand extra compensation to hold stocks with high disagreement risk and the investors are willing to pay high prices for stocks with large hedging benefits. The results also support the mispricing hypothesis that the high disagreement beta provides an indirect way to measure dispersed opinion and overpricing.

Most literature measures disagreement about individual stocks with the standard deviation of earnings forecasts made by financial analysts and examines the cross-sectional relation between this measure and individual stock returns. Unlike prior studies, the authors focus on disagreement about the economy instead of disagreement about earnings growth. The authors' argument is that disagreement about the economy is a major factor that would explain disagreement about stock fundamentals. The authors find that disagreement in economic forecasts does indeed have a significant impact on the cross-sectional pricing of individual stocks.

To explore the economical and reasonable semi-rigid permeable base layer ratio, solve the problems caused by rainwater washing over the pavement base layer on the slope, improve its drainage function, improve the water stability and service life of the roadbed pavement and promote the application of semi-rigid permeable base layer materials in the construction of asphalt pavement in cold regions.

In this study, three semi-rigid base course materials were designed, the mechanical strength and drainage properties were tested and the effect and correlation of air voids on their performance indexes were analyzed.

It was found that increasing the cement content increased the strength but reduced the air voids and water permeability coefficient. The permeability performance of the sandless material was superior to the dense; the performance of the two sandless materials was basically the same when the cement content was 7%. Overall, the skeleton void (sand-containing) type gradation between the sandless and dense types is more suitable as permeable semi-rigid base material; its gradation is relatively continuous, with cement content? 4.5%, strength? 1.5 MPa, water permeability coefficient? 0.8 cm/s and voids of 18–20%.

The study of permeable semi-rigid base material with large air voids could help to solve the problems of water damage and freeze-thaw damage of the base layer of asphalt pavements in cold regions and ensure the comfort and durability of asphalt pavements while having good economic and social benefits.

This study provides an in-depth understanding of the structural and contextual factors that foster or hinder the educational pathways and employment opportunities of young refugees and asylum-seekers in Catalonia (Spain), and how their expectations and aspirations vary and change before and after forced migration. The authors implemented a multimodal ethnographic methodology that explore, the potential of photography, to analyze how these young people, belonging to differentiated social locations – class, ethnicity, status, gender, and/or sexual orientation – have been exposed to similar systems of oppression. These systems function at their mutual intersection within a general matrix of domination. The vulnerability of asylum-seeker status is the main obstacle to social integration. However, these young people stand out for their great capacity for resilience and a strong desire to advance in education as a proactive response that helps them resist new “structural and contextual oppression” in the host society.

The purpose of this article was to evaluate the causal influence of Lean management practices on knowledge waste within the context of higher education institutions (HEIs). The peculiarities of knowledge impress upon organizations the need to think about reducing knowledge waste as a crucial practice. The Lean philosophy and practices therefore stand out as an appropriate management perspective, particularly given Lean's focus on waste elimination. However, little is known about the influence of Lean practices on reducing knowledge waste.

A quantitative research instrument was distributed to professors and technical and administrative staff across three types of HEI in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The validated and pretested survey was circulated to the target population via an online method to explore eight constructs and 38 items concerning Lean and knowledge and waste.

The results of the survey indicated that all hypotheses were supported. The sum total of 837 responses showed that the Lean relationships (internal organizational paths) were more obvious where leadership support proved to have a positive effect on continuous improvement, training, and customer involvement. Moreover, the significant and negative effects of the Lean practices studied on knowledge waste was also supported, including for example, the interaction between HEIs and its client base.

HEIs are knowledge generators. Therefore, the necessity of avoiding and reducing knowledge waste is even greater. This study also differentiates itself from the “traditional” knowledge loss studies by investigating knowledge while the employees are still part of an organization and not after they have left taking the knowledge away with them.

This study aims to investigate two public private partnership (PPP) road projects in Nigeria for exploring factors that can motivate end-user stakeholders for contributing towards sustaining a PPP project in the long-term.

Using a case study methodology approach, this study adopts two-way data collection strategies via in-depth interviews with PPP experts and end-user stakeholders in Nigeria host communities and a questionnaire survey to relevant stakeholders.

The study identifies an eight-factor structure indicating critical success factors for ensuring end-user stakeholders support PPP projects on a long-term basis in their host communities.

Results of the study have huge implications for policymakers and project companies by encouraging the early integration of far-sighted measures that will promote long-term support and sustainability for PPP projects amongst the end-user stakeholders.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based human capital management (HCM) software solutions represent a potentially effective way to leverage and streamline a bank’s human resources. However, despite the attractiveness of AI-based HCM solutions to improve banks’ effectiveness, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no current studies that identify critical success factors (CSFs) for adopting AI-based HCM in the banking sector. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating CSFs for adopting AI-based HCM software solutions in the banking sector.

Full consistency method methodology and technology–organization–environment, economic and human framework are used for categorizing and ranking CSFs.

The study identifies the technological and environmental dimensions as the most and least important dimensions for AI-based HCM adoption in banks. Among specific CSFs, compatible technology facilities, sufficient privacy and security and relative advantages of technology over competing technologies were identified as the most important. Implementation of AI-based HCM solutions requires significant outlays of resources, both human and financial, for banks.

The study provides bank administrators a set of objective parameters and criterion to evaluate the feasibility of adopting a particular AI-based HCM solution in banks.

This study aims to evaluate the two-way relationship between management practices and firm innovation along with the dual mediation of business environment, degree of competition and energy policies in Greece, Italy, Turkey and Portugal.

The study has derived data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey 2019 for Greece, Italy, Turkey and Portugal and analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to find results.

The outcomes of PLS-SEM revealed that management practices and firm innovation have two-way positive significant relationship with each other in Greece, Italy, Turkey and Portugal. The results exposed that the management practices and firm innovation have two-way positive significant relationship with the business environment, degree of competition, and energy policies in Greece, Italy, Turkey and Portugal. The findings also clarified that the business environment, degree of competition and energy policies have dual mediating role between management practices and firm innovation in Greece, Turkey and Portugal. Surprisingly, business environment does not have dual mediation in Italy.

These useful insights would enable practitioners and direct policymakers to develop and apply more magnificent management practices to boost up innovation among firms.

Although the topics of management practices and innovation have received a great concern of academia, but this is the first study that offers a comprehensive model of the relationship in these domains.