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Sustainable economic growth in both developed and developing countries requires the restructuring and expansion of road transportation infrastructures (RTIs). However, RTIs are always subject to high costs and delays, especially in developing countries with fewer resources than developed ones. Cost overruns and inaccurate forecasts usually lead to project failures. In this regard, some governments in developing countries have adopted public–private partnerships (PPPs) to deliver RTI projects with very positive outcomes. However, academic research has not yet studied the most recurring barriers and associated solutions to adopting PPPs in RTIs particularly for developing countries. This paper aims to fill up this knowledge gap in the existing literature.

A Delphi survey method involving 103 experts in RTIs based in Iran was implemented. Results indicated that the most perceived barriers to applying PPPs in RTIs in developing countries are linked to political, legal and economic factors. Ten other experts also participated in semistructured interviews, which were thematically analyzed to provide practical effective solutions for overcoming those identified barriers.

The findings indicated that all the presented barriers achieved above-average scores and could be considered severe obstacles of applying PPPs in RTIs for developing countries. In terms of barriers and solutions reported, these seem to converge on three profound elements: political stability, legal framework and conjoint management.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first-ever research study regarding the barriers to adopting PPPs in delivering RTI projects for developing countries. Practical recommendations for overcoming these perceived barriers and achieving better implementation of PPPs in RTIs for developing countries were advocated. This work has contributed to the extant PPP theory as the management of coproduction in delivering RTI projects.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that determine the long-term readiness of UAE-listed companies to handle environmental, social and governance (ESG) related opportunities and disruptions.

In this paper, we use S&P Global Ratings' ESG evaluation to assess the long-term preparedness of UAE-listed companies in addressing ESG risks and opportunities. The score for long-term preparedness provides a forward-looking, cross-sector analysis of a company’s capacity to operate successfully in the future, based on how ESG factors may affect stakeholders and lead to material direct or indirect financial impacts. Specifically, the paper investigates the corporate governance and ownership structure factors that significantly impact the ability of UAE-listed companies to effectively prepare for and respond to long-term ESG risks and opportunities. Our final sample consists of 48 listed companies observed over the period from 2019 to 2021. We employ an ordered logit model for our estimations.

Our paper findings provide evidence that (1) firm size has a positive significant effect on ESG rating and governance rating implying that larger firms have a robust governance system and strong ability to implement ESG strategies within the organization. (2) Firm performance measured by ROE looks to be an important determinant of ESG rating, environmental rating and social rating. (3) Firm leverage has a positive and significant effect on ESG rating and environmental rating. (4) Board size has a positive effect on social rating and governance rating. (5) Government ownership has a positive and significant effect on ESG rating, environmental rating and governance rating. (6) Institutional ownership has a positive and significant effect on governance rating.

This paper has several practical implications. First, by adopting a forward-looking upstream approach that identifies the determinants of long-term ESG preparedness, it supports the efforts of UAE regulators to enforce ESG strategies among listed firms. Second, the paper provides an overview of the long-term preparedness for ESG risks and opportunities for firms listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM), which can aid various stakeholders in making informed decisions. Third, the findings underscore the need to strengthen corporate governance mechanisms to promote sustainable development.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to explore the determinants of long-term preparedness for ESG risks and opportunities among UAE-listed companies, utilizing a unique dataset to assess ESG performance. The research contributes to understanding the factors influencing firms' long-term readiness to handle ESG challenges and supports regulators' efforts to implement ESG strategies in the UAE market.

This study aims to explore the intermediate role of self-differentiation in anger management and neurotic perfectionism for a sample of high achievers at some public universities in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. This increases the chances of these students obtaining their rights.

The researcher used the microcopy of Drake, Murdock, Marszalek and [(the Differentiation of Self Inventory—Short Form (DSI-SF)] scale, differentiation of self child-adolescent perfectionism scale and Davidson and Munro (2000) scale of neurotic perfectionism in addition to the anger management scale of the current study. The researcher used the appropriate statistical methods and the descriptive design to find the results.

The results showed that there is no statistically significant difference among male and female students in the positive anger management while three was a statistically significant difference among them in the negative anger management favoring male students. Further, there were no statistically significant differences among the study sample according to the country (Egypt and Saudi Arabia) in anger management (positive and negative). Moreover, there was a correlation matrix between the study variables as shown in the study; The statistical analysis was conducted to identify the suggested constructive model and variables of the study, anger management (positive-negative) as an independent variable, self-differentiation as an intermediate variable and neurotic perfectionism as a dependent variable among high achievers, This explains the necessity of preparing the environment for these students to become more healthy, through which they can enjoy all their rights as a category of special education, where most of the focus is on the handicapped groups from special education more than the high achievers’ students.

The study recommended that higher education courses should focus on anger management skills and the development of self-differentiation and the positive part of perfectionism. Also, the current study provided the educators of higher education with some suggestions to promote it and develop high achievers, which may lead to positive mental and physical health for high achievers and raising awareness of society and obtaining their rights in education and life.

This chapter aims to shed light on some aspects of instructional collaboration with the purpose of providing further understanding of how teachers collaborate and what hinders their collaboration in Saudi inclusive and mainstream schools. Instructional collaboration among teachers in Saudi educational settings has not been thoroughly reviewed, nor has it been adequately considered as an essential component in assuring the implementation of inclusive education. The voice of two special education teachers and two college professors are presented and discussed in order to explain and clarify aspects of instructional collaboration. The last part of the chapter delineates proposed changes that may motivate teachers and aid them in developing a clear understanding of how to practice instructional collaboration in inclusive and mainstream settings, namely, provision of professional development for special and general education teachers, endorsement of legislation and regulations to promote instructional collaboration, and development of teacher education programs.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the empirical cointegration, long-run and short-run dynamics as well as causal relationship between electricity consumption and real GDP in Bangladesh for the period of 1971‒2014.

Autoregressive Distributed lag (ARDL) “Bound Test” approach is employed for the investigation in this study.

Both short-run and long-run coefficients are providing strong evidence of having positive significant association between electricity consumption and GDP. Our long-run results remain robust to different measurements and estimators as well. The study reveals the unidirectional causal flow running from per capita electricity consumption to per capita real GDP in the short run. The study result also yields strong evidence of bidirectional causal relationship between per capita electricity consumption and per capita real GDP in the long run with feedback. It is suggested that both electricity generation and conservation policy will be effective for Bangladesh economy.

In prior studies, lack of causality between electricity consumption and GDP is due to the omitted variables. Combined effects of public spending and trade openness on GDP and electricity consumption are also considerable.

Introduction: Healthcare facilities have witnessed deterioration, limited employee engagement, and communication gaps due to a lack of wireless technology. The Internet makes work and life quicker and more intelligent. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a scheme of interconnection equipped with unique identifiers in recent years. Artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT advancement allow employees to develop competent and predictive services and solutions in human resource (HR) practices. This chapter has been formulated to summarise and classify the existing research and better understand the past, present, and future of employee engagement by improving IoT interrelated devices in the healthcare industry.

Purpose: This study aims to categorise and overcome the challenges involved in HR practices. Effectively embracing IoT application-connected devices in the healthcare industry can enhance human resources management’s (HRM) role and measure performance assessment to improve employee engagement and productivity.

Methodology: In this study, the authors develop propositions dependent on a theory-based review. A systematic analysis was applied to minimise the challenges of HRM. The subject-related articles from different journal sources, like Scopus, Emerald, Web of Science, Springer, etc., were analysed based on engagement criteria. It was graphically recorded in a collective and informative way to emphasise the review outcomes. The study has presented the positive impacts of AI and IoT on engagement in health care.

Summary: This chapter accumulated theory-based knowledge about healthcare employee engagement and how IoT-based technology like AI can optimise employees’ engagement effectively. Further, it draws comparative benefits for a workforce to execute performance advancements and create future progressive aspects for healthcare employees.

This study aims to explore the diverse sources of electricity generation (coal, natural gas, oil and hydroelectricity) and their respective associations with economic growth and environmental quality.

This study uses static panel data analysis with a random effects model for six selected ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Filipina, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar) from 1994 to 2014.

This study reveals that economic growth in six selected ASEAN countries is enhanced by electricity generation from all sources, while the contribution of electricity production from hydroelectricity remains the largest and strongest. There is no environmental impact of electricity production from hydroelectric, whereas fossil fuel-based electricity production emits carbon dioxide, with coal sources being the largest contributor, followed by natural gas and oil.

Based on the results, these six ASEAN countries should invest more in hydropower projects, reduce the coal mix in power generation and promote clean coal technology to improve economic efficiency and environmental sustainability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research has examined the relationship between electricity production, environmental quality and economic growth in Southeast Asian nations. Therefore, the outcome of this study is expected to provide insightful results to supplement the framing and implementation of national and collective regional strategies for sustainable electricity generation in ASEAN countries.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth of France.

To analyze the relationship, an extended Cobb–Douglas production function is used. The auto-regressive distributive lag bounds testing approach is applied to test the existence of the long-run relationship between the series. The vector error correction model Granger causality approach is implemented to detect the direction of causal relation between the variables.

The results show that variables are cointegrated for the long-run relationship. They also indicate that natural gas consumption, exports, capital and labor are the contributing factors to economic growth in France. The causality analysis indicates that feedback hypothesis is validated between gas consumption and economic growth. The bidirectional causality is also found between exports and economic growth, gas consumption and exports and capital and gas consumption.

The feedback hypothesis between gas consumption and economic growth implies that adoption of energy conservation policies should be discouraged; rather, gas consumption and economic growth policies should be jointly implemented.

This study is an original work for France and shows the results of the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth. In line with the results of this study, new direction for policy makers is opened up to formulate a comprehensive energy policy to sustain long-term economic growth in France.