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The adoption of solar energy by households is an important avenue of protecting the environment and enabling energy access in rural areas, especially in developing countries like Uganda, where energy access is low. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the factors that influence the households’ willingness to adopt solar photovoltaic (PV) energy and how soon the households are willing to adopt solar PV energy for business use in Uganda.

Heckman’s two-step selection model was used to determine the willingness and urgency of adopting solar PV energy for business use in selected districts in Eastern Uganda. The respondents were selected purposively at the household level at a given point in time.

Results show that sex, household head estimated income, mode of acquisition and repayment terms of solar technology positively influence both willingness and urgency to adopt solar energy for business use in households. However, financial disclosure only influences willingness to adopt solar. Then, age and energy need only significantly influence how soon the household is willing to adopt solar PV energy for business use.

This study’s findings essentially apply to the individual factors that determine the willingness and urgency to adopt solar PV energy for business use by households. Hence, further research is needed to understand the external and industrial factors which could strengthen the predictive potential of the elements in this study.

This study underscores the need for regulatory enforcement on the supply and usage of quality, reliable and affordable solar equipment which are suitable for business use. Also, the need to promote and finance the usage of solar PV as a green energy source for household businesses has been emphasized.

The study simultaneously examines the willingness and urgency to adopt solar PV energy for household business purposes using Heckman’s two-step selection model. This has hitherto remained unknown empirically.

Much like their residential counterparts, commercial leases have a reputation problem. Although often derided as painfully dull and mundane documents, residential leases have begun to be interrogated by socio-legal scholarship with renewed interest. This paper aims to continue this line of work in the commercial context through a detailed examination of a widespread form of leasehold in the pub sector: the “tied lease”.

The paper draws on interviews with 14 publicans and archival research.

The author argues that the lease is a decisive actor in determining the balance of power between publicans and pub-owning companies and shaping the physical environment of pubs in the UK.

The author’s broader agenda is to argue that socio-legal scholars’ renewed interest in leases should not be confined to the residential context: commercial leases warrant far greater socio-legal scholarly attention.

The aim of this study is to understand a family firm's choice of related-party transaction (RPT) types and analyze their value impacts to separate the abusive from benign RPTs.

It uses a 10-year panel of BSE-listed 378 family (and 200 non-family) firms. The fixed effects, logit and difference-in-difference (DID) models help examine value effects, propensity and persistence of harmful RPTs.

Loans/guarantees (irrespective of counterparties) destroy firm value. Capital asset RPTs decrease the firm value but enhance value when undertaken with holding parties. Operating RPTs increase firm value and profitability. They improve asset utilization and reduce discretionary expenses (especially when made with controlled entities). Family firms have larger loans/guarantees and capital asset volumes but have smaller operating RPTs than non-family firms. They are less likely to undertake loans/guarantees (and even operating RPTs) and more capital RPTs vis-à-vis non-family firms. Family firms persist with dubious loans/guarantees but hold back beneficial operating RPTs, despite RPTs being in investor cross-hairs amid the Satyam scam.

Rent extractability and counterparty incentives supplement each other. (1) The higher extractability of related-party loans and guarantees (RPLGs) dominates the lower extraction incentives of controlled parties. (2) Holding parties' bringing assets, providing a growth engine and adding value dominate their higher extraction incentives (3) The big gains to the operational efficiency come from operating RPTs with controlled parties, generally operating companies in the family house. (4) Dubious RPTs seem more integral to family firms' choices than non-family firms. (5) Counterparty incentives behind the divergent use of RPTs deserve more research attention. Future studies can give more attention to how family characteristics affect divergent motives behind RPTs.

First, the study does not single out family firms for dubious use of all RPTs. Second, investors, auditors or creditors must pay close attention to RPLGs as a special expropriation mechanism. Third, operating RPTs (and capital RPTs with holding parties) benefit family firms. However, solid procedural safeguards are necessary. Overall, results may help clarify the dilemma Indian regulators face in balancing the abusive and business sides of RPTs.

The study fills the gap by arguing why some RPTs may be dubious or benign and then shows how RPTs' misuse depends on counterparty types. It shows operating RPTs enhance operating efficiencies on several dimensions and that benefits may vary with counterparty types. It also presents the first evidence that family firms favor dubious RPTs more and efficient RPTs less than non-family firms.

This paper is concerned with behavioural responses to reviewed ground rents in New Zealand. The focus is on how freehold growth information is interpreted when considering reviewed ground rents on ground leasehold value.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ground leaseholders to inform the design of a controlled experiment. The interviews revealed that (a) purchasers tended to directly compare freeholds to ground leaseholds and (b) used rudimentary valuation methods. In the experiment, 40 property investors were requested to estimate the ground leasehold value close to the ground rent review time. Thereafter, 20 of the investors reassessed their ground leasehold value estimate using a projection of the future ground rent and a statement as to freehold growth (treatment). The control group of the remaining 20 investors received the estimate of the future ground rent only.

The tendency for higher treatment group valuations indicated the growth information was too available. Comparing ground leaseholds directly to freeholds, rather than thinking about the cost implications, is attributed to a manifestation of the availability heuristic.

The study involves a typical ground lease arrangement (as verified by experts) in the New Zealand market where there are few protections for ground leaseholders. These findings justify prohibiting new ground leases where the ground rents are set by reference to freehold land value.

This paper extends behavioural theory (availability heuristic) to explaining human interaction with ground leaseholds.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the phrase “just and equitable”, and associated terminology, within New Zealand’s strata law, to inform other jurisdictions. In particular, this paper temporarily suspends the notion of a statutory hendiadys to consider what kind of justice is reflected in judicial consideration of the phrase.

This paper takes a mixed-methods approach, drawing on a combination of black-letter law, property law theory and insights from literary and philosophical analysis.

While justice is often considered as “treating like cases alike”, this is not apparent from this study. The analysis shows that different kinds of justice outcomes emerge, with some emphasis on justice as economic efficiency. In addition, the paper highlights the inherent uncertainty in what is “just and equitable” and how associated disjunctive phrases, such as “unjust or inequitable” are still treated as hendiadys, but are no more clear.

The research is limited to consideration of a single jurisdiction (New Zealand), though the useful degree of case law from this jurisdiction provides broad insight.

Among other things, the paper argues for further consideration of the usefulness of the “just and equitable” test in light of the kind of justice we want to achieve. The addition of mandatory considerations to existing statutory tests may allow more of a focus, beyond the exigencies of individual cases or narrow outcomes of economic efficiency.

While there is existing literature on the “just and equitable” phrase within strata law, the paper is the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to provide an analysis focused on how suspending the statutory hendiadys normally inherent in “just and equitable” provides insight into the kind of justice that emerges from the application of this test within a single strata jurisdiction. As such, the paper provides lessons for other jurisdictions on how to improve relevant statute and case law outcomes.

Systems thinking calls for a shift of our mindset from seeing just parts to seeing the whole reality in its structured dynamic unity and interconnectedness. Systems thinking fosters a sensibility to see subtle connections between components and parts of reality, especially the free enterprise capitalist system (FECS). It enables us to see ourselves as active participants or partners of FECS and not mere induced factors of its production–distribution–consumption processes. Systems thinking seeks to identify the economic “structures” that underlie complex situations in FECS that bring about high versus low leveraged changes. A system is strengthened and reinforced by feedback of reciprocal exchanges that makes the system alive, transparent, human, and humanizing.

In Part I, we explore basic laws or patterns of behaviors as understood by systems thinking; in Part II we examine the basic archetypes or structured behaviors of systems thinking; in both parts we strive to see reality through the lens of critical thinking to help us understand patterns and structures of behavior among systems and their component parts. In conclusion, we argue for compatibility and complementarity of critical thinking and systems thinking to identify and resolve management problems created by our flawed thinking, and sedimented by our wanton assumptions, presumptions, suppositions and presuppositions, biases, and prejudices. Such thinking will also identify unnecessary economic and political structures of the self-serving policies we create, which imprison us.

The purpose of this study paper is to highlight certain related barriers and issues of housing affordability and examine the factors that influence housing affordability in Malaysia.

This study used panel data including several variables, namely, household expense, population, home financing, interest rate, inflation rate (IF) and rental rate (RR). The regression models of panel data, namely, the ordinary least square model, the fixed effects model and the random effects model, were evaluated for their suitability.

The findings revealed that RR and IF have a positive and significant impact towards housing affordability. The results provide strong evidence that RR as alternative in determining the home affordability as it helped in reducing the cost and the financing duration period of houses while at the same time increasing the level of capability of homeownership. Meanwhile, the level of IF has positive and significant impact towards housing affordability because it will cause a drop or increase in the purchasing power of households, as well as a decline or increase in the capability to own a house.

The most significant aspects to consider when analysing housing affordability in Malaysia are demand and supply. However, this study focuses on only five variables and only covers Malaysia. As a result, future researchers should analyse the study’s location, such as by region or district, and include additional variables from both the demand and supply sides. Homeownership of affordability requires a broader and more realistic definition in the current context of a more disruptive environment where technology such as fintech, blockchain and the internet of things acts as enablers for not only promoting homeownership but also ensuring homeownership sustainability. As a result, democratising Islamic home financing appears to be a viable option that requires rethinking, and further research is recommended.

The study proposes an end-to-end solution to promote homeownership levels by considering the level of RR as significant variables among stakeholders such as the house buyers/owners, sellers, investors as well the government agencies in influencing affordability in Malaysia.

This paper discusses the indicators of housing affordability index over the 21-year period of 2000–2020, covering all states in Malaysia. The comparison of affordability level can be seen through all states and by regions. Besides that, the findings revealed that RR and IF have a positive and significant impact towards housing affordability. RR is considered an essential variable in promoting homeownership in Malaysia and warrants further investigation towards policy implication. This paper also provides contribution on data on RR by states in Malaysia that can be used by policymakers to some extent.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 16 in developing countries to enhance asset pronouncements or the quality of opaque accounting information for listed firms’ leasing transactions.

This study designed ordinary least square (OLS) regression models to examine the hypotheses in two ordered tests. The first-order test ascertained the association between fundamental accounting information and earnings or stock prices. Then, the second-order test was nested to add the instrument variable to the first-order one. In addition, the researchers selected 17 Asia-Pacific countries.

First, this study contributes to the fair value of firms’ asset measurements, and the accounting discipline requires adaptive scalability to produce future potential cash flows. Second, it reduces literature gaps between the pros and cons of the opaqueness of assets. In addition, these research arguments would be the referee for reducing information’s opacity. Finally, this study demonstrates the impact of IFRS 16’s implementation on firms’ conservatism levels and entropy’s information quality, requiring the regulators to accommodate these issues.

Due to the implementation of IFRS 16, the authors are neutral about the impacted financial statements and political consequences for these Asia-Pacific listed firms and countries. First, we propose the uniqueness of problematic elaboration since implementing IFRS 16 results in a more pronounced or opaque information quality due to vulnerable complexities in the financial statements. Second, this implementation is associated with hierarchical information and conservatism, producing accounting information entropy or negentropy. However, the hierarchy theory suggests various levels of conservatism that could increase or decrease the information’s quality.

In this vein, this paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the following questions: Which expansion strategies offer better operational and economic performance? What effects does performance-related diversification have? How do other factors such as size, quality, service offered, location or seasonality interact with performance.

In this paper, the analysis of the effects of growth strategies and hotel attributes on performance is carried out with a sample of 255 hotels that operate internationally. Using panel data and quantile regression, this study evaluates the effect of expansion and diversification on the hotels’ performance.

From these findings, it appears that the equity strategy (own hotels) outperforms non-equity strategies (hotels under rental, franchise and management contract) at the operational level. However, the economic return of the property, both adjusted and unadjusted to risk, is lower under the property ownership strategy than under the franchise and management strategies because, in general, it requires a higher investment. Regarding diversification, the growth strategy based on related diversification in food and beverage services has a negative impact on performance, calling into question the synergies between the two businesses. However, an exception to this effect is seen among those hotels, mainly those in the Caribbean, that opt to provide all-inclusive services, since these hotels achieve better occupancy rates and more stable results.

This study has not taken into account the effect of hotel property revaluation on the performance of the ownership strategy, as there is no information on the historical average revaluation at the level of each individual hotel. This study has also been unable to include information regarding the level of competition and seasonality of sales.

This paper considers a wide number of factors that can influence the performance of hotels. Second, this is the only paper that studies the impact of growth strategies from the point of view of the hotel chain. Also, the sample considered uses data at the individual level on hotels and this research analyses not only operational performance but also economic performance.