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This study proposes an analysis of the performance of companies that have assumed the responsibility of facilitating the digitalization of economic activities. Because of their potential to accelerate digitization, these companies have been financially supported. The monitoring of the performances recorded by these companies, including the evaluation of the impact of different determining factors, meets both the needs of the financiers (concerned with the evaluation of the efficiency of the use of nonreimbursable financing) and the needs of continuous improvement of the activities of the companies in the field.

The study assesses performance dynamics and the impact of its determinants. The model allows achieving a simplified vision of performance and its determinants, supporting decision-makers in the management process. The construction of an estimation model based on the multiple regression method was considered. Robustness tests were performed on the results, using parametric and nonparametric tests.

The results of the analysis at the level of the extended sample indicated that, during the analyzed period, the economic and commercial performances decreased, and significant influences in this respect include the financing structure, sales dynamics and volume of receivables. The analysis at the level of the restricted sample confirmed these interdependencies and provided additional evidence of the impact of other determinants.

The study contributes both to performance research and to the assessment of the prospects for accelerating digitalization in support of economic activities. Since the empirical research was carried out on a sample of Romanian companies that provide services in information technology, which accessed nonreimbursable financing, the representativeness of the results is limited to this sector. For the analyzed sample, the study provides support for improving performance.

The results of the study prove to be useful from a microeconomic and macroeconomic perspective as well, as they provide evidence on the performance of companies that have implemented information and communication technology (ICT) projects and on the efficiency of the use of non-reimbursable funding dedicated to business support.

The study fills the literature gap regarding the performance of companies that have developed ICT projects and received grant funding for the implementation of these projects. The literature review indicated that there are few studies conducted on these companies, which did not include Romanian companies.

This study aims to answer the question of how to structure a circular ecosystem for extractive fishing in the Amazon region. It explores possibilities for implementing a circular ecosystem management model in an imperfect market with low technological availability, high informality and limited public assistance.

Qualitative approach was adopted for this paper, with a case study on extractive fishing in the state of Amazonas. Data was collected through 35 interviews and direct observation of the processes of collecting, storing and transporting fish on two routes: Tapauá-Manaus and Manacapuru-Manaus.

Through the data collected, it was possible to observe the importance of an orchestrating agent – such as an association or even a public authority – for the establishment and development of a circular ecosystem for extractive fishing in the region.

The paper makes theoretical contributions by presenting how a circular ecosystem management model could be implemented for an imperfect market in the Global South, as well as contributing to the literature on how the circular economy contributes to mitigate the threat to biodiversity posed by the linear economy.

It contributes to the management practice of structuring circular ecosystems.

The role of public authorities and the collective organization of fishermen as orchestrators connecting the network of actors that develop the extractive fishing ecosystem is fundamental, guaranteeing effective social participation in solving local problems.

The idea of circular ecosystems was applied to imperfect contexts, with high informality, weak institutions and bioeconomy, topics still little explored in the literature.

This paper first aims to examine associations between factors involved in business-to-business complaints management and results (satisfaction and loyalty) and analyses three types of distributors based on their cultural profile (domestic, low context and high context). Second, the paper investigates whether the identified associations remain stable over time.

Data from a sample of distributors for a manufacturing company were gathered during two periods of time. A factorial analysis of correspondences and a cluster analysis were carried out to visually represent the associations among clients, complaints and results in the associations among clients, complaints and results. The stability over time of these relationships was also analysed by calculating the correlations between the Euclidean distances on the two maps (one per year) and their mobility ratio.

The authors found significant evidence that clients from different cultures are associated with varying profiles of complaint and different result types and that certain associations remain stable over time.

While many studies have analysed complaint behaviour in business-to-consumer contexts, there is a lack of research from an international business-business relations point of view, leaving questions virtually unexplored. Second, the last phases of supply chain management, specifically complaints management, have been undeveloped, limiting the cultural factor to the general scope of negotiation. In this vein, this paper compares different complaint profiles and results, comparing culturally different customers/distributors. Third, research has mostly referred to a single period, while this paper investigates two different periods of time for the same company (and their distributors) to analyse the relevance of the stability (or not) over time of the associations identified.

Through the reconstruction of the events of some foreign entrepreneurs who worked in the territory of the Italian city of Bari in the first half of the 19th century, this paper aims to analyze the role of entrepreneurial migration in the economic development of Apulia land in this period.

This study adopts a theoretical framework that combines the concept of mixed embeddedness in a multifocal perspective, with the model of the diffusion of innovation focusing on the role of the so-called agency of actors, and of the network, in the dissemination of innovation. The theoretical framework is applied to multiple case studies to compare the evidence that emerged from the simultaneous analysis of several situations.

By analyzing how innovations have spread within the network of entrepreneurs of that time, it is possible to identify some relevant aspects related to the mechanisms of dissemination of innovations in the context of entrepreneurial migration. Specifically, the opportunity structure is intended in an even broader sense than indicated in the classic approach to mixed embeddedness: it is considered as the result of the joint interaction of the political, institutional and economic context of several places, and the behavioral dynamics of several groups.

Due to the specific method chosen, the outcomes of the research might apply to a narrow context. Therefore, the results need to be tested and confirmed in further empirical studies, and by applying multiple research methods.

Findings are useful and significant in the analysis of the link that exists between the diffusion of innovations and migrant entrepreneurship, and then the conclusions can be applied and extended to the current phenomenon of migration-related innovations, with specific reference to developing countries.

Findings can be applied and extended to the current phenomenon of migration-related innovations and highly skilled migration, with specific reference to developing countries.

This paper contributes to shed new light on the contextual and multifocal factors that influence the development of innovations in the networks of migrant entrepreneurship, in a specific historical period and a specific context. Combining social, human and financial capital with the wider opportunity structure, this study also provides a comprehensive understanding of the modalities through which migrant and high-skilled entrepreneurs could innovate.

The purpose of this paper is to find out the role and factors that lead to efforts by banking institutions to deal with money laundering by using the principle of knowing your customer.

This research method uses a sociological juridical approach and descriptive analysis in analyzing the data.

The results of the study found that the implementation of the principle plays a role in identifying each transaction, and if there is a transaction that is considered suspicious, each bank is required to report the transaction to the center for reporting and analysis of financial transactions.

Banks must reduce the risk of being used as a means of money laundering by knowing customer identities, monitoring transactions, maintaining customer profiles and reporting suspicious transactions made by parties using bank services. The application of the know your customer principle (KYCP) is based on the consideration that KYCP is not only important in the context of eradicating money laundering but also in the context of implementing prudential banking to protect banks from various risks in dealing with customers.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is first empirical study of banking in Indonesia that conduct money laundering crimes through application of KYCPs.

Effective agricultural product price regulation policies depend on market integration and the degree of symmetry in the transmission of agricultural product price signals. This study analyzes the transmission and asymmetry of the price series between the Ouagadougou consumer market and assembly markets considering three primary cereal products in Burkina Faso.

This study applies the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) econometric model, which is an asymmetric extension of the ARDL cointegration model. The price series examined covers the period extending from January 2005 to December 2020.

Our analysis provides novel insights regarding short- and long-term asymmetric effects in the transmission of price signals between assembly markets and the consumer market. We also determine that the effects of negative shocks are more persistent than those of positive shocks in several markets.

For markets that exhibit symmetrical responses of assembly market prices to consumer market prices, the results could reflect the continuous efforts of market players, particularly the government, to eliminate market failures and ensure the long-term efficiency of cereal markets. To this end, an agricultural market information system can have a crucial role in easing information access for all market players.

This study provides new evidence regarding the nature of the transmission and asymmetry of price information on primary cereal products in the largest markets in Burkina Faso. Applying the NARDL model makes it possible to simultaneously estimate short- and long-term asymmetry.

This study examines the impact of financial technology (FinTech) on bank performance employing data from the United Kingdom (UK) banking sector for a period spanning from 2010 to 2019.

This study employs static as well as dynamic panel data regression analysis to assess the impact of FinTech on the profitability of UK banks.

The results show that FinTech firms positively impact bank performance. For every new FinTech firm introduced into the UK market, net interest margin (NIM) and yield on earning assets (YEA) increase by 6.385 and 3.192% of their sample means, respectively.

Cooperating with FinTech firms, UK banks can broaden their portfolio of financial services offered to their customers and optimize their profit margins.

This is the first study that examines the impact of FinTech on bank profitability employing data from a developed market.

This study aims to shed light on the experience of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in balancing three main pillars: the environmental criteria, the reduction of CO₂ emissions and the economic growth. Based on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework, it will assess the causal relationship between economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, trade openness and energy use and environmental indicators such as CO₂ emissions.

The analysis relies on a period of 40 years (1981–2020) where data is extracted from the World Bank database. This study uses the unit root test for time series stationarity, the optimal lag length test, the “Johansen” test for co-integration and the vector error correction model.

The paper concludes to two major findings. On a short-term basis, CO₂ emissions and economic indicators are negatively correlated, whereas on a long-term basis, there is no association between CO₂ emissions and economic indicators in the UAE.

The research ends with important recommendations. It illustrates the importance of rationalizing the use of primary resources and the necessity to embrace successful and efficient policies in the energy production.

More specifically, UAE is urged to address the problem of CO₂ emissions in the electricity sector and increase awareness of the use of environmentally friendly processes in the transport and industrial sectors. While setting their economic agendas, UAE are encouraged to meet environmental criteria and invest in renewable energy projects such as “Shams 1”, the largest solar power plant outside of Spain and the USA.

The current study is significant in its research on the environmental impact of economic development, trade openness and energy use policies in the UAE. It uses CO₂ emissions as an environmental proxy and evaluates the environmental policies adopted in the UAE to reduce its impact.

Mega-infrastructure development plans pave the way for policies to upgrade the infrastructure, environmental management and different aspects of locals’ well-being. These developmental dynamics can positively affect rural tourism including heritage sites destinations. The quality of life of local people can be linked to this positive developmental change through long-term and sustainable economic revitalization projects. In terms of this process, developing large-scale infrastructure and incorporating tourism sustainability can improve the quality of life-related to different dimensions that are critical to the community's well-being. Therefore, researchers have attempted to address this issue.

Data were collected between September and October 2020. The study sample size was the residents of Zhabagly village, including Zhabagaly, Abaiyl and 115 Railway settlements. Moreover, the residents were older than 18 years. A systematic random sampling technique was utilised to reach the targeted sample size and the researchers received 243 responses from the locals. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used for analysis.

The findings from the structural equation modelling suggest that sustainable tourism increases due to the positive effect of mega-infrastructure development and positively impacts the locals' quality of life. Notably, no direct effect of mega-infrastructure development on quality of life reveals the pivotal role of sustainable tourism. Therefore, during the COVID-19 period, the dimensions of sustainable tourism – economic, market, socio-cultural and environmental – played a role in securing the positive impact of mega-infrastructure development on the locals’ quality of life.

This research highlighted the fact that when infrastructure projects are implemented to their full potential, they will generate sustainable tourism activities, provide eco-adventure activities, relax, treat signatories and boost the economy of all stakeholders. The study used AMOS to test the hypotheses. Qualitative research methods, including interviews with citizens, government officials and tourism managers, require further study.

The infrastructural development on a mega-scale means building an upscaling tourism ecosystem. This ecosystem is marked by the availability of drinking water, waste and energy management facilities that support the elevation of living material, community, health, safety and emotional well-being. It reflects the policy-level implications for future Belt and Road initiatives (BRIs). The tourism industry's resilience during COVID-19 has practical lessons for other industries.

Large-scale infrastructure construction must create favourable conditions for the rapid development of tourism. The availability of clean water, waste and energy management facilities contributes to the food production, social cohesion, physical and mental health and general well-being of the ecosystem. This is one of the few studies that used sustainable tourism as a mediator between the impact of large infrastructure projects and their impact on the quality of life of locals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aksu-Zhabagly, a World Heritage Site in Kazakhstan, was the site of this field study.

This study aims to investigate whether firms involved in a major corruption scandal, with broad ramifications across several emerging and advanced markets, design the content of their corporate codes of conduct to either improve corporate ethical standards and practices or merely manipulate the impression of stakeholders.

This study adopts an impression management perspective. It uses content analysis techniques to examine the codes of conduct adopted by seven Brazilian engineering and construction multinationals accused of corruption. The analysis covered five major themes: (1) forms of corruption, (2) values or principles, (3) interested parties, (4) procedures and routines and (5) punitive action.

The study provides detailed evidence that the codes of conduct adopted by these firms are mere artifices that aimed at meeting legal requirements but do not target the relevant corporate audience involved in grand corruption. At best, such a code may impede petty and bureaucratic corruption.

This research contributes to improving the understanding of how Latin American multinationals adopted codes of conduct after a major scandal and how they failed—at least to some extent—to design codes complying with established corporate governance principles. It shows that management manipulated the impression of stakeholders by selectively adopting or omitting certain terms, examining or concealing various issues and addressing mainly petty crimes rather than grand corruption. It also identifies areas where Western ethical values conflict with established practices and cultural norms in Latin America.