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Although the phenomenon of the corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) has derived the interest of several scholars, in recent years, the comparative studies between Islamic banks (IBs) regarding CSRD quantity versus quality have not been the subject matter of studies till now. In this perspective, this chapter aims to investigate the importance given by IBs to the quality and quantity disclosure of CSR. Moreover, it seeks to explore the impact of CSRD quality and quantity on the IBs' financial performance (FP). To meet these objectives, we used a sample of 59 IBs from 2011 to 2016 in the Arab world and non-Arab world. Then, by adopting the content analysis approach, the authors constructed two CSRD indexes (quality and quantity). The empirical results indicated that IBs give more importance to the qualitative disclosure than the quantitative. Our findings will be very helpful for the policymakers and the managers of IBs because maintaining a good CSRD policy increases the capacity of IBs to deal with possible reputational events, thus protecting their profits and financial results. As far as the comparison between the Arabian and non-Arabian IBs, based on financial reports and Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) governance standard N°7 is concerned, our study is among the first studies that provides two new CSRD indexes (quantity and quality).

The American agricultural economist Marion Clawson advised the Israeli government during 1953–1955. Clawson, a protégé of John D. Black and Mordecai Ezekiel, criticized the government for ignoring economic considerations, and stated that Israel’s national goals – defense, Negev Desert irrigation, immigrant absorption via new agricultural settlements, and economic independence – were mutually contradictory. His major recommendations were to improve the realism of Israel’s agricultural plan; end expensive Negev irrigation; enlarge irrigated farms eightfold; freeze new settlements until the number of semi-developed settlements falls from 300 to 100; and limit new Negev settlements to 10 over 5–7 years. Thus, Clawson ignored political feasibility and made value judgments. Minister of Finance Levi Eshkol and Minister of Agriculture Peretz Naphtali rejected Clawson’s recommendations because they ignored Israel’s national goals. By September 1954, Clawson shifted towards greater pragmatism: He acknowledged that foreign advisors should not question the national goals or make value judgments, and sought common ground with the Ministry of Agriculture. At his initiative, he wrote Israel Agriculture 1953/54 in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. Israel Agriculture was a consensus document: Clawson eschewed recommendations and accepted that the government might prioritize non-economic goals. In proposing Israel Agriculture, Clawson made a pragmatic decision to relinquish some independence for (potentially) greater influence. Ultimately, Clawson was largely unsuccessful as an advisor. Clawson’s failure was part of a general pattern: Over 1950–1985, the Israeli government always rejected foreign advisors’ recommendations unless it was facing a severe crisis.

This chapter has aimed to indicate some new important emerging policy problems, which have characterised the Covid crisis in the European economy during 2020 and then the bounce-back in 2021. The chapter has illustrated an economic theoretical framework focussed on innovation and structural changes, according to a Schumpeterian and evolutionary or neo-institutional approach, which seems more appropriate than the traditional neoclassical and macroeconomic models, as the basis for a ‘new industrial strategy’ in the European Union. The mainstream economic models are static and point-like, as they do not consider the role of time and of space, such as the existence of asymmetric information and external economies and also the interdependence between the companies and the other ‘stakeholders’ in the process of economic development. On the contrary, the theoretical framework of this chapter considers the factors that act on the structural changes according to four different and interdependent dimensions: the final demand, the intermediate productions and also the supply of labour and the endowment of natural resources. Finally, some preliminary indications on the organisation of a new industrial strategy at the European scale are discussed, different from the focus on just the digital and green technologies, as indicated by the NGEU program by the European Commission.

The issue of dropout looms large in the context of school education in India despite various flagship programs that have been initiated in school education. According to U-DISE report (2019–2020), girls drop out more than boys at the upper primary level. An analysis of the dropout problem demands probing deeper into intrahousehold dynamics that involves bargaining at the household level on investment decision. These decisions are often influenced by the social context in which the girl child in the family faces discrimination which gets reflected in terms of dropout of girl children. Apart from the issue of gender, birth order also determines which child is more likely to drop out. Using NSSO data (2017–2018), we observe that not all children of a household are equally susceptible to the dropout problem. Moreover, the eldest sibling is found to be more susceptible to the dropout problem and dropout rate goes down with the other younger siblings in the same household. First-born girl children drop out more than their male counterparts showing gender bias. The chapter concludes that the factors pushing a child to drop out become more effective for the eldest sibling. The major reason is the family structure of India as the eldest sibling is expected to be more responsible and look after other younger siblings. Consequently, a certain number of the younger siblings try to follow the elder siblings and discontinue going to school.

Despite the great technological, economic, and social advances and the significant progress achieved by women from the last century until today, there is still a clear division between men and women in the labor market: more women are working, but their salaries are lower, as are their positions and their possibility of full development is reduced.

The gender problem is global, which forces the business sector, as one of the main agents of the market, to build policies around gender equality and the recognition of women as agents who generate growth and economic and business development. In this sense, business projects that seek to reduce gender gaps also impact the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), because they increase opportunities for equity, freedom, and dignity, for men and women in equal conditions.

What are the challenges and opportunities in gender equity presented by economic analyses in Colombia in a Latin American context?

According to the question, a Latin American economic context of gender gaps is presented, from the perspective of socioeconomic inequality and poverty, sexual division of labor, patriarchal cultural patterns, and concentration of power. Similarly, the effects of the pandemic on women’s employment and income are reviewed. When talking about gender gaps and professional contribution to the economy, it is not only a solution to inequalities, it is analytically undoing this cultural conception to give it a new structure of dominance.

There is a lack of conversation about economics and gender because the analysis is found from a macroeconomic perspective when writing that regardless of who performs care work or domestic work can also question the assumptions of economic science that, by convention, in national accounts, it ignores the value of domestic work and almost always deals with scarcity, selfishness, and competition, and rarely of abundance, altruism, and cooperation.

It must be recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic gave importance to childcare for national economies in general and women’s economic participation in particular, which has stimulated a renewed interest in childcare policy in many countries that have implemented lockdowns, as well as women, who provided most of the unpaid care, not only did they lose income due to demands for care but also they struggled to access needs, with some reporting increased personal insecurity.

The economic crises of the last century reflected recessions that had a greater impact on the employment of men since they are usually employed in sectors where employment tends to be unstable or as the economy is called cyclical employment. However, in the crisis unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, given their particular conditions, it is women who are mainly affected.

Challenges and opportunities in terms of gender equity present economic analyses in Colombia in a Latin American context, in this context, it is reviewed: the national survey of time use and its findings; the incorporation of the care economy in the measurement of economic growth and poverty indicators by gender and its effects on improvements in the quality of life of the population and its impact on the economy.

Among the advantages of incorporating the gender perspective in the economic analysis, the following perspectives are analyzed:

• The similarities of the experiences of the gender gap and its effect on the economy suggest that the response of public policies of recovery and preparedness with the corresponding recognition, women absorb the costs of care work, with possible long-term negative effects on health, and well-being.

• A greater stimulus to growth, as women bring new skills to work, productivity, and growth gains from greater female participation in the labor force. And, greater productivity and reducing gender barriers.

The similarities of the experiences of the gender gap and its effect on the economy suggest that the response of public policies of recovery and preparedness with the corresponding recognition, women absorb the costs of care work, with possible long-term negative effects on health, and well-being.

A greater stimulus to growth, as women bring new skills to work, productivity, and growth gains from greater female participation in the labor force. And, greater productivity and reducing gender barriers.

Purpose: Analysis and systematisation of global trends in the transformation of DSSs from the standpoint of solving their global and local problems and determining the central axioms of setting up and supporting business processes in DSSs.

Need of the Study: Decision Support Systems (DSSs) are the basis of doing business in an enterprise by automating business processes, keeping accounting and reducing various risks associated with complexity, labour-intensiveness, slow execution time and, therefore, potential loss of profit. In recent decades, the rapid development of DSSs has led to the emergence of complex enterprise information system architectures. At the same time, many local business processes are not implemented or are partially implemented. In Ukraine, such techniques include VAT accounting.

Methodology: The study is based on the literature analysis, Internet resources and practical experience obtained during the SAP ERP system implementation projects. Particular attention is paid to developing information systems architecture to solve the problems enterprises face during their growth. Thanks to the analysis of the example of the realisation of the Internet sales process and the induction method, the axioms of automation of business processes in accounting systems were formed.

Findings: Regardless of the qualitative and quantitative transformation, modern DSSs still cannot solve all the enterprise’s problems, mainly due to the use of paper documents and the diversity of national legislation. By the example of the SAP ERP system, the optimal implementation of the business process of VAT liabilities was proposed by Ukrainian legislation for sales below cost price.

Practical Implications: Compliance with the established axioms of automation of business processes will reduce the cost of resources for their implementation, maintenance and correction of potential errors and, therefore, will provide an opportunity to process more transactions. Implementing the proposed algorithm for calculating VAT liabilities in SAP ERP for sales below the cost price will simplify the existing process and enable the fulfilment of other requirements within the framework of current legislation.

The crisis of globalisation and the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic pose new threats to the national security of all countries. States have been increasingly challenged on their role, particularly in the economic order. Their actions concerning pandemic, ecology, climate or air pollution have been strongly inspired by the decisions of specialised international organisations, too often advised by dominant commercial and financial interests. In this context, states have no longer been able to assume the full range of national security components. Mercantilists considered that dependence on a State’s foreign trade led to an unacceptable reduction to the power of the Prince. Today, all countries are dependent on others, and then economic wars are becoming more and more likely. Armed warfare between states remains a potential response to these possible disruptions of essential intermediate consumption or to the search for power. Moreover, the lack of solidarity perceived during the pandemic testifies to the maintenance of political and economic power relations between States and the priority given to national interests to the detriment of international public goods. The pandemic highlights the inability of states to find common solutions to today’s global problems, thus developing a strong sense of insecurity among citizens.