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In the most recent years, social, innovative, economic and political changes in the European context have characterized consumers' behaviours. The paper aims to understand if the use of electronic commerce differs in a situation characterized by uncertainty.

An innovative approach to categorising online consumer behaviour considers the self-determination theory and basic psychological needs in an uncertain scenario. The research is based on a quantitative analysis obtained by clustering algorithms on a sample of 1,000 digital users in European countries. A structured questionnaire was administered online and distributed through the leading online social platforms and direct mailing.

The results show online activities during changes in consumer behaviour patterns and retailers' strategies. This research will allow online retail managers and practitioners to obtain important information to help them define appropriate customer-oriented strategic actions to enhance value in the electronic context for both customers and firms.

The innovation of this research approaches the categorization of online consumer behaviour by exploiting the self-determination theory in an uncertain scenario. Precisely, the novelty of this research is to highlight three detailed categories of electronic commerce consumers, namely, unwilling, halfback and digital, to collect, store and disseminate information about these categories of Online Consumers Behaviours.

In this chapter, the authors make the case that preserving and curating knowledge for the future involves more than changing methods and tactics or extending our current applications and technology to support knowledge capital. It means changing the way we think about the future. It means envisioning multiple futures where various elements may be known or unknown – a four-future quadrant. First, the authors explain what it means to think strategically in multiple known and unknown futures. Next, the chapter presents ideas for strategic thinking about future knowledge preservation and curation. Finally, the authors consider using the four futures to develop a flexible and relevant knowledge preservation and curation strategy.

Our paper studies a central issue with a long history in economics: the relationship between population and economic growth. We analyze the joint dynamics of economic and demographic growth in 111 countries during the period 1960–2019.

Using the concept of economic regime, the paper introduces the notion of distance between the dynamical paths of different countries. Then, a minimal spanning tree (MST) and a hierarchical tree (HT) are constructed to detect groups of countries sharing similar dynamic performance.

The methodology confirms the existence of three country clubs, each of which exhibits a different dynamic behavior pattern. The analysis also shows that the clusters clearly differ with respect to the evolution of other fundamental variables not previously considered [gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, human capital and life expectancy, among others].

Our results indirectly suggest the existence of dynamic interdependence in the trajectories of economic growth and population change between countries. It also provides evidence against single-model approaches to explain the interdependence between demographic change and economic growth.

We introduce a methodology that allows for a model-free topological and hierarchical description of the interplay between economic growth and population.

Commercial property development builds floor space in anticipation of potential, but unknown, future demand, making it particularly prone to risk and uncertainty. The research explores the degree to which property developer decision-making is objective and rational and the degree to which it relies on behavioural instincts and intuition. Decision-making theory, including heuristics, is considered and its prevalence in the field of commercial property development is examined.

A “dual-processing” decision-making model, comprising intuitive System 1 and objective System 2 processing, is proposed and tested. Inductive research using template analysis of interviews, with “high status” commercial property developers, explored whether the model offers an accurate representation of developers' behaviour and effective lens through which to examine decisions made under conditions of risk and uncertainty.

Participants believed they adopted objective and rational approaches to complex commercial property development decisions. Analysis of interviews reveals that System 1 heuristics and intuition play significant roles in decision-making behaviour, leading to potential bias and systematic error. The research concludes that the dual-processing model provides a useful lens through which to better understand the decision-making approach adopted by commercial property developers.

The research represents the rare application of behavioural theory to the realm of commercial property development and provides new and original insight as to how important investment decisions are made under conditions of risk and uncertainty, with implications for professional practice.

The construction industry’s contribution to environmental deterioration is widely established in the literature, implying that addressing this issue will require a coordinated effort from all stakeholders. According to literature, stakeholder involvement without stakeholder management (SKM) is not enough, in ensuring efficient construction waste management (CWM). This study investigates the impact of SKM on efficient CWM by aggregating all relevant SKM variables and measuring their degree of influence on efficient CWM.

This study used a four-stage research approach that included a literature review, a pilot study, a questionnaire survey and statistical analysis. After a thorough examination of the literature, nine essential SKM factors were identified and tested by a questionnaire survey following a pilot study. A total of 310 questionnaires were filled out and returned for analysis (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis).

The study established that SKM is a unidimensional construct since all the variables extracted unto one underlying component with total variance explained (TVE), accounting for 58.938% of the total Variance in the measure of SKM in efficient CWM. Additionally, the reliability and validity test results satisfied the recommended thresholds, thus justifying the factorability of the construct. Furthermore, the hypothesis test revealed that SKM has a statistically significant impact on efficient CWM, implying that increasing SKM will have a beneficial impact on efficient CWM.

The study is limited to material waste management in the construction industry and the outcome was determined solely by a field survey in Ghana. Extending the study to other jurisdictions would have improved its findings and made them easier to generalise.

The study’s findings are helpful for practitioners and researchers, especially regarding the influence of the eight SKM variables on efficient CWM.

The study’s findings will reduce pollution, thus enhancing public health and encouraging social inclusion through the creation of jobs in the waste management chain.

The uniqueness of this study is anchored on the fact that no CWM study has considered all the eight SKM variables measured in this study at the same time. Also, this study has contributed to the literature by establishing the determinants of SKM in efficient CWM in Ghana.

A central question of public administration is how political principals secure the cooperation of administrators within organisational frames and contexts; increasingly, rational influences are being considered alongside bounded rationality and non-rational influences. This paper aims to explore the intent of New Zealand’s Public Service Act 2020 in managing administrative behaviour.

The methodology is primarily ethnographic, combining emic and etic perspectives. A mixed-methods approach comprises participant observer field notes and meeting documentation, substantiated by official documents; documents were analysed thematically and triangulated with other data sources.

The Public Service Act introduces new bounds on administrative behaviour. The stated rationale for these changes reveals an attempt to set limits on the principal–agent relationship between politicians and administrators and causes predictable deviations from rational behaviour by cultivating public service motivation and a unified public service identity.

As the legislation in question was only passed in 2020, it is too early to definitively assess the ultimate impact of legislation on administrative behaviour. This case study demonstrates that behavioural approaches to public administration are being applied intentionally by governments. The choice architecture created in the case study blends rational, bounded, and non-rational influences. Together, this produces a bricolage of semi-relevant theories from other disciplines, especially psychology, to explain administrative behaviour. Further refinement is needed to develop a cohesive and comprehensive theory of administrative behaviour that can account for contemporary practice.

Administrators act as agents of political principals, within ethical and rules-based limitations and influenced by public service motivation and social identity. Shifting from implicit to explicit choice architecture does not negate possible tensions between bounds and can signal them more explicitly. Shared symbols are sometimes intended to influence identity and therefore adherence to behavioural norms.

This paper explores the manipulation of choice architecture as a viable strategy for altering behaviour for the better and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, is the first known instance of choice architecture being “legislated in” rather than merely “showing through”. This study illustrates the blending of rational, boundedly rational and non-rational factors into a choice architecture for public administrators that help mediate the biases and challenges of principal–agent relationships (which form a cascade in New Zealand’s public administration system).