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The anxiety, fear and uncertainty of a global pandemic can also entail a great deal of boredom. Such an experience arises not only from the lack of activity that comes with staying at home for hours on end but also from an overabundance of stimulation with the use of technology that is also found at home. Through the lens of Henri Lefebvre's metaphilosophy, this chapter explores the experience of boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. In particular, the focus here is on the elevated use of screen technology in everyday life and the blurring of the line between work life and home life for white-collar workers and the boredom that results. Ultimately, it is argued that the experience of boredom is not simply a psychological curiosity but is a type of homesickness with the potential to change everyday life after the pandemic.

Neoliberalism’s global scale crisis has been most acute in Africa, in terms of economic welfare, human suffering, ecological damage, and policy sovereignty. Social opposition to the first rounds of dissent was quelled during the 1980s, and export-led growth strategies finally appeared to pay off when, during 2002–2011, commodity prices soared and “Africa Rising” became the watchword. However, as commodity prices plateaued during 2011–2014 and then crashed, authoritarianism has revived. The reimposition of neoliberal policies, a new round of unrepayable foreign debt (in part associated with Chinese-funded infrastructure), and renewed austerity are all bearing down. From internal elite circuits, this threatens to unleash a well-known combination of neoliberalism, neopatrimonialism, and repression by authoritarian leaders. New rounds of protests, often arising as a direct result of these economic catalysts, were witnessed in some of the most famous sites of struggle such as Tunisia and Egypt in 2011, Nigeria in 2012, and South Africa at various points in recent years. Ongoing strife has also brought intense pressure on governing regimes in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, leading to major political reforms and even changes in regimes. This chapter examines the dynamics of this process to expose the neoliberal foundations of rising authoritarianism accompanied by repression – and resistance – across the African landscape.

The focus of this paper is to understand the initial formation of inter-firm relationship with the ultimate aim to form a long-term relationship in offshore-wind sector. The research question is “How and why new inter-firm relationships are built in nascent industries with highly uncertain business environments?”

Longitudinal case studies of three pairs of new inter-firm relationships based on interviews and other archival data are analysed.

Not all new inter-firm relationships progressed to expansion stage, largely owing to incompatibility and uncertainty. In some cases incompatibility could be rectified by trust and sharing of information. High trust is required to move the relationship from awareness to exploration stage. Investment in R&D is required to move the relationship from exploration to expansion. Innovation complementarity is the key in OSW sector.

Provide insights into how new inter-firm relationships in OSW sector could fail or be built up. High trust at the beginning helps to lower risk and encourages further investment.

Inform inter-firm relationship theories under high market risk and political uncertainty, especially for OSW sector.

In recent years, research on children's tourism experiences has gained prominence, as children are becoming an increasingly vital market for the tourism industry. While events are a main sector of the industry and host millions of children every year, there is a lack of research specifically focussed on children's experiences in events. This chapter focusses on children's entertainment events which can provide children with a satisfying, memorable and educational experience. This study has developed a framework to facilitate deeper mixed studies on children's experiences in event tourism. The framework is composed of four pillars based on various social, tourism and event theories and models, including the Cognition–Affect–Behaviour (CAB) theoretical framework, the Orchestra Model of Experience, the Event Experience Scales (EES), the Theory of Child Well-being and the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change (TTM). The framework can be used by future researchers as an analytical evaluation tool to study children's experiences in different types of events and understand the mechanisms of behaviour change in this context.

Adopting an EU policy lens, this chapter primarily addresses the proposed pivotal role of firm-level innovation capability (FLIC) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a stimulant of sustainable development (SD) and green growth in Ireland/Wales. The chapter specifically examines the scale and scope of the green economy (GE), and considers the importance of organizational inherent “green” innovation capabilities (GICs) to achieve it. Underpinning the study is the methodology and concept of utilizing a facilitated cross-border multi-stakeholder learning network to enable knowledge transfer and exchange practices to flourish between partners, acting as a significant predictor of the development of SME GICs structures. Specifically, against the backdrop of the Green Innovation and Future Technologies (“GIFT” hereafter) INTERREG 4A Project, the research assesses how academic–industry partner exchange and inter-group learning and cooperation facilitates the development of GICs in smaller enterprises to realize a sustainable smart green economy in Ireland.

This chapter reviews developments concerning central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). It introduces, analyzes, and discusses the potential implications of CBDCs on the existing cryptoassets landscape. The chapter also provides an overview of the different approaches to adopting and implementing this new form of money. Additionally, it compares traditional cryptocurrencies, privately issued stablecoins, fiat currencies, and CBDCs. Although vastly divergent opinions exist on digital money’s purpose, benefits, and use cases, CBDCs can provide opportunities for innovation and experimentation at a central bank and systemic level. CBDCs may pave the way for democratizing access to unbundled financial services while rethinking the overall purpose of money, monetary systems, and global business.

In recent years, there have been a significant number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) among financial institutions in American, European as well as in Asian countries. The Malaysian government too has encouraged mergers among financial institutions since the 1997‐98 financial crisis so as to create stronger and more viable business entities. Through M&As Malaysian financial institutions are expected to emerge more resilient to withstand the pressures and challenges arising from the increasingly globalized business environment. Numerous tax considerations arise as a result of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and this has financial implications for the new entities. This paper examines broad tax issues involving M&As. The types of taxes that would become payable include income tax, real property gains tax and stamp duty. Income tax effects include deductibility of payments for termination of employees, legal fees, bad debts and treatment of business losses as well as capital allowances. Aspects involving stamp duty payment are also analyzed. Mergers and acquisitions inevitably involve a transfer of shares or property and as such the property gains tax issues are also addressed.

Catherine Althaus, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria in Canada. Her present research interests focus on public policy and public administration as well as bioethics, leadership in the public service, and the interface between politics and religion. She teaches online courses in the Master of Public Administration and Master of Arts in Community Development programs.

The tendency to study autistic children has resulted in the lack of research about autistic seniors. This chapter begins by showing the results of two studies that have measured the volume of research about autistics based on age brackets. Two factors that have hampered research about autistic seniors are then presented. This chapter then concludes by highlighting seven topics where more research can be conducted about autistic seniors. These topics are research about their physical health, cognitive abilities, mental health, employment, transport, healthcare and specific issues relating to autistics residing in a nursing home/aged care facility.

The original contribution that this chapter makes to autism spectrum research is to examine the imbalance in research between autistic children and autistic seniors and to provide several suggestions where more research can be conducted about autistic seniors.

This paper aims to review empirical research on the relationship between institutional ownership (IO) and board governance (85 studies).

Based on agency and upper echelons theory, the heterogeneous monitoring function of specific types and the nature of institutional investors on board composition, compensation and chief executive officer (CEO) characteristics will be focused.

The author found that most studies have referred to archival studies, analyzed the impact of board governance on IO, focused on CEO characteristics, neglected IO heterogeneity and advanced regression models to address endogeneity concerns. In line with the theoretical framework, the relationship between total IO and board governance is heterogeneous. However, specific types such as foreign, dedicated and pressure-resistant institutions represent active monitoring tools and push for increased board governance.

The author provided useful recommendations for future research from a content and methodological perspective, e.g. the need for analyzing the impact of IO on sustainable board governance and other characteristics of top management team members, e.g. the chief financial officer.

As many regulatory bodies implemented regulations to promote shareholder rights and board governance, this literature review highlights the connections of both corporate governance mechanisms. Managers should conduct a careful and timely investor analysis and change the composition and compensation of the board of directors in line with institutional investors’ preferences.

This analysis makes useful contributions to prior research by focusing on IO and board governance, whereas the author structured the heterogeneous variables and results within the structured literature review. The authors guides researchers, regulatory bodies and business practice in this corporate governance topic.