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This study aims to construct a mental health service system for middle school students in the post-COVID-19 era with the framework of Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve and control) and analyze the influencing factors of the mental health service system to study the implementation strategies of quality-oriented mental health services in middle schools.

This study was conducted in Tianjin, China, from September to November 2022, and 350 middle school students from Tianjin Public Middle School were selected as subjects. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data. In this study, the Six Sigma DMAIC method, sensitivity analysis method, exploratory factor analysis and principal component analysis were used to analyze the mental health services provided to middle school students.

Based on the Six Sigma DMAIC framework, this study indicates that the contribution rate of the mental health service process factor is the largest in the post-COVID-19 era. The mental health cultivation factor ranks second in terms of its contribution. Mental health quality and policy factors are also important in the construction of middle school students’ mental health service system. In addition, the study highlights the importance of parental involvement and social support in student mental health services during the post-COVID-19 era.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, a study on middle school students’ mental health in the post-Covid-19 era has not yet been conducted. This study developed a quality-oriented mental health system and analyzed the influencing factors of mental health for middle school students based on data analysis and the Six Sigma DMAIC method.

This paper aims to trace the contours of Islamic political economy (IPE) for last four decades with the help of bibliometric analysis. This method does not focus on in-depth literature. However, it reviews more material content of the published papers in the field, generally including the number of publications, authors, title, H-Index and authors’ affiliation.

The authors use biblioshiny by R in conducting bibliometric analysis. Based on the results of analysis, the authors only found 39 relevant documents to the topic with the help of keyword of “Islamic political economy”. The authors analyse the data and visualize it into bibliometric images for the convenience of the readers.

There are 39 documents on IPE in the annual scientific production. The year 1980 had the lowest productivity at 3% while the year 2007 showed an increase in scientific productivity by 13%. The most significant increase in production occurred between 2014 and 2015 by 8%, while the most significant decline occurred between 2007 and 2008 by 10%. The most significant contributors are Akan, T., Choudhury, M.A. and Asutay, M. According to the Corresponding Author’s Country, the UK has eight articles on IPE. Humanomics is the most influential Journal, with six documents.

This research only examines documents sourced from Web of Science and Scopus under the title “Islamic political economy” and does not include articles from other sources. This research has implications for future researchers and suggests a shift in recent research on IPE towards exploring current realities and expanding beyond traditional economic and political aspects. The goal is to gain a comprehensive understanding of Islam’s role in shaping economic and political systems, promoting inclusive sustainable development and social justice, and exploring its relationship with broader political and economic systems.

IPE has become a trendy topic in the early days, the second half of the 20th century, during the revival of the Islamic mode of finance and development. However, with time, the discussion on this topic appeared less in scientific and academic publications; this issue needs an overview of how far this discipline has evolved. This work aims to identify future research trends in this area. Scholars should investigate articles by author, institution, country, databases, data sources with high-impact factors and objective metrics to get new perspectives.

This study aims to examine the effects of vocational training programs for people with disabilities on their income.

It conducted a multinomial regression analysis of 10,469 survey responses from 31 provincial administrative areas in mainland China.

It finds the following antecedents all influence the trainees’ self-reported income, including their perception of the quality of the program, the training subject, the degree of consistency between their current job and this subject, their employment sector, their motivation and access to training resources and the geographical location of the program.

The findings are not representative of people with disabilities across mainland China because the respondents were not randomly sampled.

The findings suggest that to increase the income of people with disabilities, the training can be designed according to the needs of employers by teaching subjects relevant to the needs of the labor market, reaching out to motivated trainees and enhancing the quality of training. Training institutions, employers and governments are recommended to work together to integrate class-based learning with workplace-based learning and practices. More training resources can be devoted to the self-employed people with disabilities or those who operate in the informal sector and are in less-developed areas.

The improvement of employment opportunities and income of people with disabilities supports the safeguarding of their social economic rights and the building of an inclusive society.

Few studies have empirically explored and explained the effects of vocational training programs on people with disabilities’ income. This article fills this gap by assessing the performance of China's vocational training programs funded by the Federation of Disabled Persons at all levels.

The purpose of this study is to examine herd behaviour under different market conditions, examine the potential impact of the firm size and stock characteristics on this relationship, and explore how herding affects market prices in the German market.

The authors apply a method that does not rely on theoretical models, thus eliminating the biases inherent in their application. This technique is based on the assumption that macro herding manifests itself in the synchronicity (comovement) of stock returns.

The study’s findings show that herding is more pronounced in down markets and is more pronounced when market returns reach extreme levels. Additionally, the authors have found that there is stronger herding among large companies compared to small companies, and that stock characteristics considered have no effect on the degree of macro herding. Results also suggest that the contemporaneous market-wide information drives macro herding and that macro herding facilitates the incorporation of market-wide information into prices.

The study’s results strongly support the idea of directional asymmetry, which holds that stocks react quickly to negative macroeconomic news while small stocks react slowly to positive macroeconomic news. Additionally, the study’s results suggest that the contemporaneous market-wide information drives macro herding and that macro herding facilitates the rapid incorporation of market-wide information into prices.

To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines macro herding for a major financial market using a herding measure based on the co-movement of returns that does not rely on theoretical models.

This study aims to consider environmental sustainability, a global challenge under the preview of sustainable development goals, highlighting the significance of knowledge economy in attaining sustainable aggregate demand behavior globally. For this purpose, 155 countries that have data available from 1995 to 2021 were selected. The purpose of selecting these countries is to test the global responsibility of the knowledge economy to attain environmental sustainability.

Results are estimated with the help of panel quantile regression. The empirical existence of aggregate demand-based environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) was tested using non-linear tests. Moreover, principal component analysis has been incorporated to construct the knowledge economy index.

U-shaped aggregate demand-based EKC at global level is validated. However, environmental deterioration increases with an additional escalation after US$497.945m in aggregate demand. As a determinant, the knowledge economy is reducing CO₂ emissions. The knowledge economy has played a significant role in global responsibility, shifting the EKC downward and extending the CO₂ reduction phase for every selected country. Further, urbanization, energy intensity, financial development and trade openness significantly deteriorate the environmental quality.

This study contains the empirical existence of aggregate demand-based EKC. The role of the knowledge economy is examined through an index which is calculated by using four pillars of the knowledge economy (technology, innovations, education and institutions). This study is based on a combined panel of all the countries for which the data was available.

This study aims to merge the world’s proven ways of housing finance, including musharakah mutanaqisah, housing cooperatives and real estate crowdfunding, to present an alternative housing unaffordability solution based on the Islamic finance principle. It is intended to reduce the burden of funding for both sides (consumers and developers) and create win–win chances for all stakeholders, including intermediaries. By moving away from debt financing and merging the features of crowdfunding and cooperative, it is hopeful that the burden of home ownership will no longer be the case.

This paper presents the opinions of potential Chinese homebuyers (minority Muslims and most non-Muslims) and a few industry experts toward the proposed model via a mixed research method.

According to the findings, the majority of respondents agreed with the proposed paradigm. Just concerned that China’s lack of community culture and trust could pose a major threat to implementation. However, this paper argues that Chinese local governments may perform pilot testing in places where Islamic culture is prevalent. Their unique community culture and fundamental understanding of Shariah law may affect the viability of the proposed model.

The proposed model would increase the applicability of Islamic finance as a way of protecting the social order of communities in the spirit of upholding justice and fairness. A new type of housing loan based on musharakah mutanaqisah may squeeze out the real estate bubble and provide stakeholders with a multidimensional investment channel. In particular, the study identifies the impact of Chinese Islamic financing on government and cultural needs. It presents possible challenges for implementing the proposed model in reality and helps bridge the gap between theory and practice.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how sustainability was operationalized in the Spanish universities through plans and actions that contribute actively to the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

A systematic search and content analysis served to examine information available on websites belonging to the 76 universities listed in the Conference of Rectors of the Spanish Universities (CRUE).

The participation of Spanish universities on initiatives focused on sustainability is very limited, highlighting the negligible role of private institutions in which topics like sustainability and the 2030 Agenda/SDGs were scarcely addressed.

The study outlines the actual extent of the inclusion of sustainability in particular co-curricular actions toward the SDGs in the CRUE. The findings enable to define a long-term sustainability road map for the Spanish university system.

This theme issue sought to find answers to the question: What should be the role of tourism education social structures to create and support collaborative learning environments and the tourism sector?

A thematic analysis of the articles in this collection draws together the key outcomes related to the strategic question, with particular reference to the contribution to knowledge, important to generate ideas and conceptual researches that will support institutions teaching tourism and hospitality. Archive research results and recommendations to encourage the collaboration of different stakeholders involved in sustainable tourism development. Most importantly to raise awareness of the question of what educators are doing in tourism education for social, organizational structures in learning environments and the actual tourism sector.

Two key players, the educator and sector has been challenged to consider their roles in education as well as depicting the role of social and organizational structures that support the students, institutions and the tourism sector. The main findings have proven the important role education plays for a truly sustainable tourism model, suggesting that it is not possible to create awareness of the sustainable development goals without incorporating them in the tourism education system with the support of information computer technology.

This paper reflects on the strategic question discussed in this theme issue, and it contains valid reviews, research studies by practitioners who are experienced in the field of tourism education with an opportunity to research, reflect and develop new possibilities in learning, mitigate negative points and increase positive tourism education roles for sustainable tourism development, in the destination and industry.

This study aims to introduce management students to climate change by providing them with an opportunity to address it in their own lives, through a class exercise.

An in-class exercise was designed, carried out and described in this study. Student teams were assigned different questions on how to address major causes of climate change. Each team did research to generate answers, and ranked their answers based on the speed of implementation. Teams reported their answers to the class. The instructor facilitated a debriefing session, during which all responses were ranked with respect to other variables, including cost savings, time savings and lifestyle fit. This exercise uses few resources and can be adapted to different time lengths and teaching/learning formats (e.g. on-ground, virtual, asynchronous online).

This exercise can help students to gain an understanding of climate change and its causes and complexities. Students learn how to implement a diverse set of personal actions to mitigate climate change; these can start in the present and continue throughout their lives. In addition, this exercise may help students to make the leap from individual climate change mitigation practices to organizational and societal practices, when they are in the position to do so as future leaders.

Although classes, exercises, and assignments ask management students to consider issues such as climate change at the organizational level, this individual-level exercise can allow students with limited organizational experience to engage more quickly with climate change and better understand organizational and societal implications in the future. That is, if students first understand how to address climate change in their own lives, they may more effectively transfer and apply that understanding at organizational and societal levels and ultimately synthesize solutions to address climate change in the world.

South Asia is a region urgently seeking development, although it has failed in regional integration. It is the second least integrated region regarding the number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and can thus be recognised as a missing bloc in the global multilateral system. This study aims to focus on South Asian FTAs and explores the problems of the inter-relations and compatibility between the systemic and regional trade systems.

The study proposes a framework to benchmark the compatibility of South Asian FTAs with WTO rules. Primary data from 2000 to 2020, including descriptive analyses of reports, legal text of the FTAs, official documents and factual presentations, have been collected and analysed through thematic analysis using the proposed framework.

The study finds that, although South Asian FTAs meet most of the WTO requirements, they are not progressing toward facilitating and promoting trade. Data from 2000 to 2020 show us that South Asian FTAs have not significantly impacted trade between themselves. The study argues that, although South Asian FTAs fulfil some benchmarks, they show only a lukewarm interest in contributing to the international trading system as building blocs. It is therefore recommended that the case of South Asian trade liberalisation must be understood contextually and be given careful and exclusive attention by the WTO.

As such, this study is the first to claim that South Asian FTAs are not fully compatible with the WTO rules. They remain a missing regional bloc in the multilateral system, rather than a building bloc or a stumbling bloc, delaying the region’s opportunity to develop as a region and within the larger system.