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This paper intends to argue against the idea of an asocial business arena by reiterating the original philosophical underpinnings of theories on the creation of society, societal institutions and the relationship between society and societal institutions. This paper posits that business and ethics, though initially aligned, have been systematically maligned and distorted. The authors present a theoretically justified argument that business and ethics can and should seamlessly exist in the same realm.

This is a theoretical study that endeavors to go back to the original theories on business and society to challenge the view that business ethics is an oxymoron. For this purpose, the authors survey and interpret the scholarly works of Adam Smith, Aristotle and John Locke.

Given the economic debacles faced by the USA and the world economy in the past two decades, this study argues that one significant factor for these financial disasters could be that the original ideas about self-interest, societal interest, the free market system and the relationship between society and its constituting components, i.e. individuals, groups and institutions, have been distorted over time. Based on the interpretation of the original ideas around business and society, the authors find that some distortion of the original theories have indeed occurred.

This study is going against a well-established prevalent idea that business ethics is an oxymoron. It is claimed that the endoxa about business and its place in society often represents misinterpretations of the original ideas on the relationship between business and society. The originality of this work lies in challenging this dangerous idea by revisiting by journeying back in philosophical history to cut through the ideological scar tissue and reach the original arguments surrounding society and societal institutions.

This paper aims to examine the effects of CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, cultivated area and the labour force on the production of cereal crops in Pakistan from the period 1971-2014.

The study used the Johansen cointegration test, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and Granger causality test to estimate the long-run cointegration and direction of the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

The outcomes of the Johansen cointegration test confirmed the existence of a long-term cointegrating relationship between the production of cereal crops, CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, cultivated area and the labour force. The results of the long-run coefficients of CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, cultivated area and labour force have a positive impact on cereal crops production. The long-run relationships reveal that a 1 per cent increase in CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, cultivated area and labour force will increase cereal crops production by 0.20, 0.11, 0.56 and 0.74 per cent, respectively. Moreover, the findings show that there is a bidirectional causality running from CO₂ emissions and cultivated area to cereal crops production. Moreover, there is a unidirectional causality running from energy consumption to cereal crops production.

The present study also fills the literature gap for applying the ARDL procedure to examine this relevant issue for Pakistan.

The efforts of researchers in the 21st century have been devoted to developing novel approaches to leave planet earth green for future generations. This study aims to report the synthesis of microcapsules from natural essential peppermint oil and their application to a bleached polyester and cotton (PC) blended fabric.

Microcapsules were prepared by a complex coacervation process and applied through the conventional pad-dry-cure method. The liquid suspension of the microcapsules was examined by optical microscopy to investigate the surface morphology of the microcapsules. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the surface morphology of the fabric after the application of the microcapsules. The finished fabric was checked for its mosquito repellent activity at the lab scale using a standard test protocol (cage test) by inserting a human arm and hand enfolded with microcapsules treated fabric.

PC fabric treated with 6% microencapsulated peppermint oil at zero wash showed 95.3% repellency against mosquitoes, and after 30 washes, the repellency was 85.8% which confirmed the durability of the developed finished fabric. The finished samples exhibited excellent air permeabilities and absorbencies.

This study successfully developed peppermint oil microencapsulated fabric with excellent efficacy against three mosquito species.

This study aims to investigate the long-run relationship between financial inclusion and agricultural growth in Pakistan for the period of 1960–2018.

The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach, the Johansen co-integration test and the dynamic ordinary least squared (DOLS) method are used for the evaluation.

The results show that in both short- and long run, domestic credit has a significantly negative impact on the agricultural growth, while broad money and cropped area positively affected the agricultural growth in Pakistan in both cases.

The government and policymakers need to develop strategies that bring together agriculturalists on a single platform so that the government can clearly distinguish the interests of these farmers and can obtain precise information for allocating agricultural expenditure and easing access to credit for small-scale agriculturalists.

This is the first study to evaluate the impact of financial inclusion on the agricultural growth in Pakistan by using different econometric techniques, including the ARDL-bound approach, Johansen co-integration test and DOLS method.

In 2016, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) initiated Saudi Vision 2030, an ambitious plan to lessen the country's dependency on fossil fuels and increase economic diversification. The Vision 2030 framework strives to establish a thriving economy, a vibrant society and an ambitious nation. This study aims to investigate the role of green service innovation (SI) and green work engagement (WE) in mediating the nexus between green human resource management (HRM) and green creativity (GC) under conditional role of spiritual leadership (SL).

A survey was done of 300 female intrapreneurs working in the organization within Saudi Arabia. This study has collected data via stratified random sampling technique. The framework was tested using PLS-SEM software.

The findings reveal that WE fully intervenes the nexus between green HRM and GC. Moreover, SL positively moderates the nexus between green HRM and SI.

Thus, based on findings, it is recommended that female intrapreneurs prioritize environmentally responsible operations to gain and sustain competitive edge over rivals in Saudi competitive market.

This study aims to investigate what past scholars have learned about Muslim consumer compliance behaviour in Islamic banks and identify what future research is needed. In addition, it also explores the relationship model between the previously studied determining factors and the customer’s Sharia compliance behaviour.

This study used a bibliometric–systematic literature review analysis using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) technique by reviewing the articles published from 2013 to 2023. The PRISMA procedures involved several stages, including identification, screening, eligibility, analysis and conclusion based on the findings.

The results found that customer Sharia compliance behaviour determinants in Islamic banks are attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, Islamic financial literacy, religiosity, consumer conformity, Islamic branding and behavioural intention. Interestingly, the results indicated that such factors as consumer conformity, Islamic branding and sustainable intentions are less discussed.

Decision-makers in Islamic banks must use digital technology to offer better service and make operations more reachable for customers to access information, complete transactions and manage their accounts by Sharia principles. Therefore, the bank needs to continually produce innovative products and services so that customers have a greater variety of options to suit their Sharia-compliant financial needs. Theoretically, this study has contributed by finding the main critical domains influencing customers’ Sharia compliance behaviour, such as attitudes, subjective norms, perceptions of behavioural control, knowledge of Islamic finance, religiosity, consumer conformity, Islamic branding and behavioural intentions. Then, it makes a theoretical contribution by establishing a model that explains how customers make decisions based on Sharia-related factors in the context of their purchases.

Past studies focused on the Sharia compliance behaviour in paying Zakat for takaful customers. Therefore, this study provides critical factors of Sharia compliance behaviour on conformity, Islamic branding and sustainable intention regarding unexplored consensus on the determinants and outcomes of customer Sharia compliance behaviour of Islamic banking.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the mean-variance capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and downside risk-based CAPM (DR-CAPM) developed by Bawa and Lindenberg (1977), Harlow and Rao (1989), and Estrada (2002) to assess which downside beta better explains expected stock returns. The paper also explores whether investors respond differently to stocks that co-vary with declining market than to those of co-vary with rising market.

The paper uses monthly data of closing prices of stocks listed at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). The data cover the period from January 2000 to December 2012. The standard, downside, and upside betas are estimated for different sub-periods,and then,their validity to quantify the risk premium is tested for subsequent sub-periods in a cross sectional regression framework. Though our empirical methodology is similar to that of Fama and MacBeth (1973) for testing the CAPM and the DR-CAPM, our approach to estimate the downside beta is different from earlier studies. In particular, we follow Estrada ' s (2002) suggestions and obtain the correct and unbiased estimation of the downside beta by running the time series regression through origin. The authors carry out the two-pass regression analysis using the generalized method of moment (GMM) in the first pass and the generalized least squares (GLS) estimation method in the second pass.

The results indicate that the mean-variance CAPM shows a negative risk premium for monthly returns of selected stocks. However, the results for the DR-CAPM of Bawa and Lindenberg (1977) and Harlow and Rao (1989) provide evidence of a positive risk premium for the downside beta. In contrast, the DR-CAPM of Estrada (2002) shows a negative risk premium in some sub-periods while the positive premium in the others. By comparing the risk premium for both downside and upside risks in a single-equation framework, the authors show that the stocks that co-vary with a declining market are compensated with a positive premium for bearing the downside risk. Yet, the risk premium for stocks that are negatively correlated with declining market returns is negative for all the three-downside betas in all the examined sub-periods.

The empirical findings of the paper are of great significance for investors for designing effective investment strategies. Specifically, the results help investors to identify an appropriate measure of risk and to construct well-diversified portfolio. The results are also useful for firm managers in capital budgeting decision-making process as they enable them to cost equities appropriately. The results also suggest that the risk-return relationship implied by mean-variance CAPM is negative and therefore this model is not suitable for gauging the risk associated with stocks traded in KSE. Yet, the authors show that DR-CAPM out performs in quantifying the risk premium.

Unlike prior empirical studies, the authors follow Estrada’s (2002) suggestions where downside beta is calculated using regression through origin to find correct and unbiased beta. Departing from the existing literature the authors estimate three different versions of DR-CAPM along with the standard CAPM for comparison purpose. Finally, the authors apply sophisticated econometrics methods that help in lessening the problem of non-synchronous trading and the issue of non-normality of returns distribution.

This paper aims to provide a systematic literature review (SLR) on contemporary cardinal money mule issues.

This paper reviews the most common money mule themes in perpetrating financial crime activities, especially its roles, recruitment and awareness. A systematic review protocol called preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols is adopted for this study.

Money mules are used by organized criminal groups (OCG) or fraudster to launder illicit funds from outrageous criminal activities. They allow their accounts to be used for money laundering by OCG. The attacker, OCG or fraudsters would layer the stolen funds using money mule accounts. These money mules are recruited using various approaches, oftentimes deceived by opulent lifestyles to captivate the interest of potential money mules.

This paper presents money mule awareness needed by accountant, bank employees and the society. It is an unprecedented SLR on money mule. This paper will be beneficial for future money mule researchers, enforcement agencies and practitioners in banking industry.

Consumer purchasing behavior (CPB) plays a crucial role within the hospitality sector, specifically in restaurants situated in China, as it directly impacts the performance and profitability of businesses. In this context, there is a need to assess the factors influencing CPB. Therefore, this research seeks to inspect the influence of consumer attitudes (CA) on interpersonal influences (II) and CPB. Additionally, seeks to explore the mediation of II and the moderation of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

This study utilized cross-sectional data obtained through online surveys. To analyze the data, structural equation modeling was employed.

The research unveils a substantial and positive association between CA, II and CPB. It also found that II partially mediates CA and CPB association. Moreover, CSR was identified as a moderator in the connection between CA and CPB.

The implications of this study are of great significance for companies operating in the hospitality industry. They indicate that cultivating favorable CA and promoting II, while considering CSR initiatives, can effectively augment overall purchasing behavior. As a result, it can contribute to the achievement of business success.

This study offers a unique perspective on the factors driving purchasing behavior, shedding light on how businesses can enhance their performance and profitability in this specific setting.

This study is an attempt to explore the determinants of entrepreneurial intentions in the context of family business background. There is a dearth of studies on the relationship between family business and entrepreneurial intentions. Three constructs of social cognitive theory (SCT) have been applied as mediators: self-efficacy, subjective norms and outcome expectations.

To measure entrepreneurial intentions, the data have been collected from the postgraduate students of three universities in Pakistan. The questionnaire was distributed among the respondents, and 416 complete responses were taken from the students. Simple random sampling has been applied, and measurement and hypothesized models are tested by using the structural equation modeling technique in WarpPLS.

The results of this research reveal that family business background significantly affects the three elements of SCT (self-efficacy, subjective norms and outcome expectations), which further develop the individuals’ entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). The results showed that social cognitive elements are the underpinning mechanism that explains the relationship between family business background and EIs.

The similarity of the study is less than 18%.