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The importance and value of the leisure phenomenon are becoming more prominent daily as it becomes a determining indicator of both qualities of life and social welfare. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused severe disruptions in the lifestyles of individuals, has also made it inevitable to face the emergence of sociocultural conditions in which traditional daily life routines have disappeared and the reorganisation of the leisure space. In line with the conditions mentioned earlier, the characteristics of the ‘new’ and the ‘old’ have started to come together in the daily lives and leisure spaces of individuals in constant conflict. Under these conditions, individuals who spent their leisure time travelling from one place to another before the pandemic had to choose different leisure options. Therefore, the leisure space, which is an integral part of the social life of today's individual, has evolved into an unthinkable position independently of the COVID-19 pandemic effects. From this point of view, this study aims to examine the transformation of the leisure space due to the COVID-19 pandemic within the framework of previous studies on this subject and to discuss it in the context of sustainability. For this purpose, firstly, a general framework is drawn on the historical development of the leisure concept, and then its relationship with the COVID-19 pandemic is evaluated. In the last part of the study, the new forms of leisure that have emerged due to the process, as mentioned earlier, are discussed over the critical issues in ensuring the sustainability of leisure practices.

This chapter analyzes the efficiency levels of a circular economy (CE) with an emphasis on transaction costs. It examines the governance aspect of CE activities in comparison to the predominant linear value creation. Extant CE research in business studies tends to be descriptive and lacks a theoretical foundation, particularly in understanding CE management. Transaction cost theory explains efficiency in economic organizing, lending itself to the study of arrangements that maximize resource efficiency at continued economic virtue. The conceptualization proposes that CE transaction costs are greater than those within the linear economy (LE), primarily due to the uncertainties about reciprocal dependencies, looping material complexities, exchanging novel information, and increased contracting efforts. Geographically bounded and institutionally homogeneous CE initiatives may curb these rising costs. By bringing efficiency concerns into CE analysis, the chapter demonstrates the applicability of transaction cost theory and highlights CE relevance to international business by pointing out spatial choice implications.

Global value chains (GVCs) have been challenged by several emerging macro-trends during the last years. Among them, sustainability of production and consumption patterns is becoming a central theme given the necessity to mitigate the degradation of the environment and the over-exploitation of scarce natural resources. In this respect, scholars and practitioners increasingly propose the circular economy (CE) approach as a systemic solution to overcome the conventional linear “take–make–use–dispose” model underlying the structure of contemporary global economy. However, the international business (IB) community has introduced the topic of CE only marginally in its debate. The aim of the present study is to fill this research gap identifying the opportunities for integrating IB and CE principles. Thus, the main objective is to investigate whether and how the adoption of the CE paradigm by multinational enterprises (MNEs) may affect activities, geographical configuration, and governance of their relevant GVCs.

The authors address the issue from a conceptual point of view, identifying direct and indirect impacts of CE adoption on GVC, relative enablers, and possible broader implications. Lastly, the authors propose some reflections for future investigations.

Industry 4.0 has been identified as a key cornerstone to modernise economies where man and machines complement each other seamlessly to achieve synergies in decision-making and productivity for contributing to SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. The integration of Industry 4.0 remains a challenge for the developing world, depending on their current status in the industrial revolution journey from its predecessors 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. This chapter reviews reported findings in literature to highlight how robotics and automated systems can pave the way to implementing and applying the principles of Industry 4.0 for developing countries like Mauritius, where data collection, processing and analysis for decision-making and prediction are key components to be integrated or designed into industrial processes centred heavily on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques. Robotics has not yet found its way into the various industrial sectors in Mauritius, although it has been an important driver for Industry 4.0 across the world. The inherent barriers and transformations needed as well as the potential application scenarios are discussed.

The study investigates the effects of energy resource efficiency on the triple themes of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental dimensions). We adopt a quantitative research method, and the required macroeconomic data were extracted from World Development Indicators for a period of 30 years (1991–2020). The extracted data were analysed using correlation analysis and linear regression. Ultimately, the estimations from the three models produced mixed results. Energy resource efficiency (EFF) exerts a significant positive effect on economic sustainability (ECS), a significant negative effect on social sustainability (SOS) and a significant negative effect on environmental sustainability (EVS). However, claims on government (COG) exerted an insignificant negative effect on ECS, an insignificant negative effect on SOS and a significant positive effect on environmental sustainability (EVS). In practical terms, the findings are consistent with previous empirical studies, and they also validate X-efficiency theory (XET) and resource curse theory (RCT). The study concludes with implications, limitations and further research directions.

In this chapter, to explore the past and understand the present scenario in financial market, a comprehensive literature review (LR) is performed, in which 809 articles from the database of Scopus for the last 10 years are extracted and analyzed using VOSviewer software for bibliometric analysis. Citation analysis of the popular identified factors is highlighted that will help the future researchers to focus on the identified popular factors for research in the financial market. The chapter also presents a conceptual model of financial market, to uncover the future of financial markets.

Politics is ubiquitous in every crisis, and public health issues have always been weaponised to advance political mileage of leaders. This chapter first analyses the link between COVID-19 and populism in the Philippines and Malaysia. During the coronavirus pandemic, an exodus of opportunistic leaders in both countries took advantage of the health crisis to cement their control and maintain power. Strong and charismatic leadership helped Filipino populist politicians spread their influence with solid support from the people and less resistance from the opposition. Meanwhile, Islamist populism and ethnonationalism were utilised by Malaysian leaders to secure authority and earn people’s recognition. Then, it explores how generations of national issues, such as corruption, inequality, and instability, also contributed to the rise of populist leaders in the Philippines and Malaysia. Finally, the chapter argues that the future of populism in these countries will remain strong due to the vulnerability of the people. In one way or another, COVID-19 and populism affect global movements, not just political and social, considering their generational and historical developments. The chapter seeks to answer the following question: what factors contributed to the rise of populism, and what are the future of populism in both countries?

This chapter presents a research study that examined post-disaster authentic university academic care resilience (PAUACR) at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). PAUACR is a university’s and its students’ capacity to bounce back from post-disaster educational challenges. PAUACR requires a strong caring response and authentic academic care environments. For the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), PAUACR following Hurricanes Irma and Maria was crucial to ensure students successfully completed the academic year. To assess UVI’s PAUACR, this study utilized a caring about academic caregiving inventory (CAACI). This 49-item instrument was used to gain students’ discernment of post-disaster authentic university academic care (PAUAC). The research employed a cross-sectional exploratory survey research design. The empirical analysis found associations between the structural workings of UVI’s academic caregiving in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. These findings offer distinctive indicators of UVI’s PAUACR. Along with the findings, this chapter offers practical lessons of academic resilience drawn from the experience of conducting post-disaster research.

The analyses of civil–military relations during public health emergencies are traditionally confined to applications in international and humanitarian action related to conflict and disaster. The expansive global response to the COVID-19 pandemic fused health and national security issues, and such a response involved extensive collaboration between the military and civil sectors. The expanded scope and centrality of the military in government pandemic response have been noted globally, and Southeast Asia presented interesting developments. This study investigates how the pandemic affected civil–military relations in the region by looking at the cases of the Philippines and Malaysia. First, it assesses the extent to which the pandemic has been framed within the security language through war analogies that rationalised military response. Second, it investigates the roles of the military in the respective governments’ public health emergency response, providing clues on how the increased military intervention affected people’s trust and confidence in public institutions during the pandemic. The study finds that securitising the pandemic correlated to expanding the military’s power and scope in the government response, but notes that civil–military relations remained dependent on the historical roles of the armed forces in politics and society. The two countries have similarly framed the pandemic as a security threat, but the military’s participation in Malaysia’s response shows development opportunities, while the case of the Philippines reveals how a military-centric pandemic response could lead to deleterious effects.