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In recent years, the fast growth of Islamic banks (IBs) has generated debates among policymakers and economists about the sustainability and performance of these institutions. This paper aims to undertake a comparative analysis of the financial performance of IBs and conventional banks (CBs) in Pakistan over the period 2008–2019 to evaluate how IBs are faring compared to their conventional peers.

This paper considers Financial Ratio Analysis (FRA) to analyse and compare the performance of the top-10 IBs and CBs operating in Pakistan. The sample includes five full-fledged IBs and five CBs which offer Islamic windows in Pakistan. The top-five performing CBs offering Islamic windows have been selected in this study.

The results show that IBs are better capitalized, less risky and have higher liquidity as compared to CBs. In contrast, the profits of IBs are found to be lower than those of CBs.

The study has provided an analysis of financial performance only for Pakistan. A cross-country analysis could be more representative of the performance of IBs.

The study infers that the size of the Islamic banking industry in Pakistan should be enhanced by opening new branches and promoting Islamic financial literacy.

The study assists investors, creditors, debtors and managers in making better decisions. It also provides the latest valuable information to regulators and policymakers that can be used to make rules and policies for the finance industry in Pakistan.

This study investigates the effectiveness of microfinance-backed entrepreneurship as a mechanism for the holistic empowerment of women.

This study employs a mixed-method research-design consisting of quasi-experimental design (quantitative approach) involving women, both entrepreneurs (132) and non-entrepreneurs (238), as well as in-depth semi-structured interviews (qualitative approach).

Quantitative analysis revealed that female entrepreneurs are better off than female non-entrepreneurs in terms of economic, social, political and psychological indicators of empowerment. However, relatively lesser impact was found in terms of political, and to an even smaller extent, social empowerment of women. Analysis of in-depth interviews corroborated these findings confirming that entrepreneurship serves as an effective tool for the holistic empowerment of women. However, non-entrepreneurs also exhibit social empowerment.

Given the restricted geographical ambit of the study, prudence ought to be exercised in drawing inferences applied to alternate contexts. That the vast majority of questionnaire respondents are illiterate presented a notable impediment in the process of collection of accurate responses.

Microfinance intervention ought to be specifically directed to cultivating entrepreneurship among women; in particular, to achieve the full benefits of empowerment, women availing microfinance ought to exert full control over their own business ventures.

In analyzing holistic empowerment through microfinance supported businesses set up by women, the study adds to the existing literature on women entrepreneurship and empowerment.

The purpose of this paper is an attempt to cover available literature on natural resource management, which reflects the involvement of Pakistan communities living in different regions for sustainable management in agriculture, forestry and livestock sectors differentiated by women. In addition, it was also highlighted about the lack of access to productive resources for rural women farmers. The conclusion was drawn and key recommendation were suggested.

It is authors real-life experiences or observations in a given field to support colleagues in a variety of ways including advising, establishing best practices and noting trends.

It was concluded that there are no opportunities such as training of most advanced launched technologies for the sake of better crop production, dairy and fisheries sector sustainable development, as well as the availability of microfinance to support the women farmers in Pakistan rural areas to make them self-dependent.

The opinions and key recommendations are genuine and useful, which should be adopted for the more bright future of women farmers, especially in Pakistan’s rural area.

The purpose of this paper is to draw a map of the general features of epistemological and critical concerns in contemporary Islamic philosophy. This study will not be confined to the domain of academic philosophy or to those who are professionals in the field of philosophy.

The paper adopted the critical rational approach in dealing with contemporary Islamic philosophy in the Arab world. The scope will include scholars from different fields of epistemology who tried to present a “vision” of the attitude that should be adopted in facing the challenges of the age and the problems of the nation on the epistemological level or the political, economic and social levels.

There is a need for a philosophy of action and progress rather than a philosophy that is based on abstract ideas and theories and of words/rhetoric. The ethics required to accomplish this ought to identify the attributes of the citizen who can reach self-actualization through legitimate means based on a progress agenda with theoretical and philosophical foundations.

Because a critical rational approach can be dealt with from different perspectives, this paper will adopt the classification of the principal intellectual trends: the reformist, secular and liberal.

This paper covers a long time span to determine whether the philosophical projects have been effective.

This paper, which criticizes the philosophic projects that are theoretically unsound and that do not address real social problems (like poverty), argues the need for a philosophy of progress and action. This will lead to devising an agenda that addresses the challenges the society is facing and to finding alternative and creative solutions resulting in development.

Despite its devastating nature, the COVID-19 pandemic has also catalyzed a substantial surge in the adoption and integration of technological tools within economies, exerting a profound influence on the dissemination of information among participants in stock markets. Consequently, this present study delves into the ramifications of post-pandemic dynamics on stock market behavior. It also examines the relationship between investors' sentiments, underlying behavioral drivers and their collective impact on global stock markets.

Drawing upon data spanning from 2012 to 2023 and encompassing major world indices classified by Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) market and regional taxonomy, this study employs a threshold regression model. This model effectively distinguishes the thresholds within these influential factors. To evaluate the statistical significance of variances across these thresholds, a Wald coefficient analysis was applied.

The empirical results highlighted the substantive role that investors' sentiments and behavioral determinants play in shaping the predictability of returns on a global scale. However, their influence on developed economies and the continents of America appears comparatively lower compared with the Asia–Pacific markets. Similarly, the regions characterized by a more pronounced influence of behavioral factors seem to reduce their reliance on these factors in the post-pandemic landscape and vice versa. Interestingly, the post COVID-19 technological advancements also appear to exert a lesser impact on developed nations.

This study pioneers the investigation of these contextual dissimilarities, thereby charting new avenues for subsequent research studies. These insights shed valuable light on the contextualized nexus between technology, societal dynamics, behavioral biases and their collective impact on stock markets. Furthermore, the study's revelations offer a unique vantage point for addressing market inefficiencies by pinpointing the pivotal factors driving such behavioral patterns.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the findings and criticisms in the extant literature concerning the theory of consumption values (TCV) by conducting a meta-analysis to (1) examine the extent to which consumption values influence consumer behavior and (2) to explore contextual and methodological factors that may account for between-study variance in the focal relationship.

The study employs a random-effects model and psychometric meta-analysis approach to examine 82 studies with 297 effect sizes in 34 countries between 1991 and 2022, inclusive.

Results reveal that consumption values have a positive significant and moderate effect on consumer behavior. Moreover, emotional value is the most influential predictor of consumer behavior, while social value is the weakest. Furthermore, the study's findings show that some contextual and methodological factors moderate the relationship between consumption values and consumer behavior.

The findings highlight that managers can work on consumption values to prompt positive consumer responses like attitude, intention, satisfaction and overall value perception. However, managers must consider that the relevance of the consumption values depends significantly on the outcome variable and the context, which calls for a tailored-made marketing strategy to appeal to consumers' diverse needs and wants.

Besides providing empirical evidence of the broad validity of the TCV, this study is the first meta-analytic review of the TCV, which integrates several insights to provide valuable research directions for future researchers and insightful implications for practitioners.

The presence of heavy metals in milk causes many acute and chronic physiological dysfunctions in human organs. The present study aims to investigate the heavy metals in cow's and buffalo's milk of two major cities, Karachi and Gujranwala, Pakistan to estimate metal intake by humans from this source.

In total, 48 milk samples from 2 cities were drawn from animals' udder to avoid contamination. Each sample was digested with nitric acid at 105 ^oC (degree Celsius) on a pre-heated electric hot plate to investigate the metals by atomic absorption spectroscopy (flame type). Air-acetylene technique analyzed chromium, cadmium and lead, and the hydride method analyzed arsenic in the milk samples.

The results revealed the highest mean lead concentration (19.65 ± 43.86 ppb) in the milk samples, followed by chromium (2.10 ± 2.33 ppb) and arsenic (0.48 ± 0.73 ppb). Cadmium was not detected in any sample, assuming cadmium's occurrence was below the detection level. The concentrations of all the metals in the samples of the two cities do not differ statistically. Lead concentrations in the buffalo's milk were higher than in cow's milk (p < 0.05). However, the concentrations of arsenic and chromium between buffalo's and cow's milk do not differ statistically. The present study reveals a lower level of metals in the milk than those conducted elsewhere. The mean concentrations of all the metals met the World Health Organization's (WHO) safety guidelines (1993).

Although cadmium causes toxicity in the human body, cadmium could not be measured because cadmium's concentration was below the detection level, which is 1 ppb.

This study will help reduce the toxic metals in our environment, and the sources of heavy metals, particularly from the industrial sector could be identified. The feed and water consumed by the milking animals could be carefully used for feeding them.

This study will help reduce the diseases and malfunction of human organs and organ systems since these heavy metals cause toxicity and carcinogenicity in humans. Arsenic and chromium cause cancer while lead causes encephalopathy (a brain disease).

The study reports heavy metal concentrations in the two attributes of four independent variables of raw milk samples that were scarcely reported from Pakistan.

The global economy is plagued by an unprecedented shock that has devastated economic growth under the coronavirus pandemic. The prolonged movement control orders, social distancing, and lockdowns have triggered the global economic downturn, disrupted the demand and supply chains, reduced the pool of workforce, and caused many jobs loss. This paper aims to analyze the global economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic, and its current and future implications.

Based on contingency theory, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of the current situation on the global economic cost of the COVID-19 outbreak and gives insights from an organizational perspective.

This paper found that the world has witnessed far-ranging economic consequences due to the coronavirus pandemic in four aspects: (i) decline in personal consumption; (ii) decline in the investments and stock prices in capital market; (iii) decline in government spending in developmental projects and increase in new borrowing; and (iv) decline of exports of goods to international markets.

The novelty lies in investigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on micro and macroeconomic levels — the components of GDP, consumer behavior, business investments, government spending, and global exports. The paper suggests the need for urgent actions by the world leaders to oversee, anticipate, and manage the risks and cushion the economic consequences. It concludes that the flexibility and adaptability of leaders, effectiveness, workforce protection, efficient use of modern technology, including automation and artificial intelligence, would enhance the resilience of supply chains which will support organizations to sustain in this critical time.

This paper investigated the impact of firms' service recovery efforts on consumers' desire to reciprocate and forgiveness in the hospitality industry of Pakistan. Additionally, this study examined the mediating role of perceived justice between service recovery efforts and their outcomes.

Using snowball sampling technique, an online survey was administered and 259 responses were collected from casual-dining restaurant customers. A partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) were used to examine the hypotheses.

The results indicate that perceived justice significantly mediates the effect of service recovery efforts on the consumers' desire to reciprocate and forgiveness. Moreover, high (vs. low) service recovery efforts lead to high consumer forgiveness.

The study provides insights for managers into how optimal recovery efforts predict consumers' positive responses and minimize the effect of service failure in South Asian consumers.

This research is among the early endeavors to examine consumers' desire to reciprocate in service recovery context. Also, this is the first study to validate the impact of service recovery efforts on consumers' desire to reciprocate and consumer forgiveness in a South Asian country.

The purpose of this study is to examine the drivers and barriers of travel behavior associated with tourist behavior during/post-COVID-19 pandemic to provide a knowledge base as well as an agenda for future research.

The authors utilized the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) technique for searching the articles published in Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus, to identify the main drivers and barriers affecting the tourist behavior during/post-COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, 47 articles were chosen for the final analysis.

The findings are reported in three sections, (1) quantitative research profile, (2) qualitative synthesis and (3) future agenda. This study addresses the nuanced questions regarding the significant change in tourist travel behavior, emotional dynamics and a detailed understanding of mechanisms, such as which drivers and barriers affect tourist behavior in a particular destination. Drivers and barriers to tourist travel behavior were characterized in personal-related, destination-related, and health-related factors. Moreover, this study provides thought-provoking ideas in theory, policy and practice in the field of tourism and hospitality.

This study has three limitations, as follows. First, the authors searched only two databases, Scopus and Web of Science, due to which the authors might be missing some related studies existing on the other databases. Although these databases provide an extensive range of academic literature, further studies could extend the data collection from the other databases (e.g. via Taylor & Francis). However, our systematic literature review (SLR) coverage is quite extensive, since journals are listed on these three main databases. Second, the authors followed a main study search protocol based on the synonyms and related keywords, however, some of the studies that may be related to the tourist behavior towards the destination are missing on account of the lack of our keywords in there, title, author, keyword and abstract. Furthermore, future research could endeavor to add other keywords to expand the results of studies. Third, although the accurate analysis was conducted to reduce subjectivity in identifying themes for drivers and barriers of tourist behavior, future studies on categorization could work to ensure that other sub-themes categorize.

The recent study has some key practical implications. First, this study is valuable for all the stakeholders in a unique way, including destination managers, academicians and policymakers, because it provides insight into barriers and drivers that influence the development of tourist behavior towards the destination. Second, the current study also offers practical implications for people involved in tourism service industries including governments and private businesses. Policymakers and other leaders are increasingly interested in harnessing the economic potential of tourism. Therefore, identifying the barrier which is inhibiting the tourist traffic towards the destination is beneficial to understand and effectively develop strategies to minimize the effect of such factors. Moreover, drivers and barriers of tourist behavior towards the destination in the COVID-19 pandemic situation towards the destination may help to create a framework for the development of destinations according to the current vulnerable situation. Third, current findings suggest that tourism marketers understand the drivers and barrier constructs found in this study and tailor their marketing strategies for attracting existing and new tourists. For instance, marketers should understand the drivers and barriers of tourist behavior for effective strategy development to increase the positive effect of drivers and to reduce the negative effect of barriers.

This is the first systematic literature review on the impact of drivers and barriers of tourist travel behavior. This paper analyses the methods and approaches that have been used in the previous literature to examine the drivers and barriers of tourist travel behavior. The paper ends with the research implication and limitations of the studies.