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The purpose of this paper is to explore two financial inclusion measures adopted within the local welfare context of the city of Milan, Italy, examining their functioning and underpinning representations. The aim is also to understand how such representations take concrete shape in the practices of local actors, and their implications for the opportunities and constraints regarding individuals' effective inclusion. To this end, this paper takes a wide-ranging look at the interplay between the rise of financial inclusion and the individualisation and responsibilisation models informing welfare policies, within the broader context of financialisation processes overall.

This paper draws on the sociology of public action approach and provides a qualitative analysis of two case studies, a social microcredit service and a financial education programme, based on direct observation and semi-structured interviews conducted with key policy actors.

This paper sheds light on the rationale behind two financial inclusion services and illustrates how the instruments involved incorporate and tend to reproduce, individualising logics that reduce the problem of financial exclusion, and the social and economic vulnerability which underlies it, to a matter of personal responsibility, thus fuelling depoliticising tendencies in public action. It also discusses the contradictions underlying financial inclusion instruments, showing how local actors negotiate views and strategies on the problems to be addressed.

The paper makes an original contribution to the field of sociology and social policy by focusing on two under-researched instruments of financial inclusion and improving understanding of the finance-welfare state nexus and of the contradictions underpinning attempts at financial inclusion of the most vulnerable.

This work conducts a comprehensive analysis of how to incorporate resilience and sustainability into capacity expansion strategies for business-to-business (B2B) chemical supply chains. This study aims to guide both researchers and managers on ensuring profitability in B2B chemical supply chains while minimizing environmental impacts, complying with regulations and mitigating disruptions and risks.

A systematic literature review is conducted to analyze the interplay between sustainability and resilience in chemical B2B supply chains, specify the quantitative and qualitative methods used to tackle this challenge and identify the drivers and barriers concerning capacity expansion. In addition, a comprehensive conceptual framework is suggested to outline a compelling research agenda.

The findings emphasize the increasing importance of modeling and resolving decision-making challenges related to sustainable and resilient supply chains, particularly in capital-intensive chemical industries. Yet, there is no standardized strategy for addressing these challenges. The predominant solution methods are heuristic and metaheuristic, and the selection of performance metrics tends to be empirical and tailored to specific cases. The main barriers to achieving sustainability and resilience arise from resource limitations within the supply chain. Conversely, the key drivers of performance focus on enhancing efficiency, competitiveness, cost effectiveness and risk management.

This work offers practitioners a conceptual framework that synthesizes the knowledge and tackles the challenges of designing sustainable and resilient supply chains as well as managing their operations in the context of B2B chemical supply chains. Results provide a practical guide for navigating the complex interplay of sustainability, resilience and chemical supply chain expansion.

The key concepts and dimensions associated with capacity expansion planning for a resilient and sustainable chemical supply chain are identified through structured and comprehensive analyses of existing literature. A conceptual framework is proposed for delineating the intersections among sustainability, resilience and chemical supply chain expansions. This mapping endeavor aims to facilitate a future characterized by the deployment of a nexus of resilience and sustainability in chemical supply chains. To this end, a promising future research agenda is accordingly outlined.

Revenue management (RM) is a significant technique to improve revenue with limited resources. With the macro environment of dramatically increasing transit capacity and rapid railway transport development in China, it is necessary to involve the theory of RM into the operation and decision of railway passenger transport.

This paper proposes the theory and framework of generalized RM of railway passenger transport (RMRPT), and the thoughts and methods of the main techniques in RMRPT, involving demand forecasting, line planning, inventory control, pricing strategies and information systems, are all studied and elaborated. The involved methods and techniques provide a sequential process to help with the decision-making for each stage of RMRPT. The corresponding techniques are integrated into the information system to support practical businesses in railway passenger transport.

The combination of the whole techniques devotes to railway benefit improvement and transit resource utilization and has been applied into the practical operation and organization of railway passenger transport.

The development of RMRPT would provide theoretical and technical support for the improvement of service quality as well as railway benefits and efficiency.

The circular economy (CE) is a sustainable economic model that has the potential to create new opportunities, reduce environmental impact and enhance social well-being. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the largest city in Vietnam, has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, but at the cost of the environment and public health. The city could reduce waste, conserve resources and promote sustainable production and consumption by adopting CE principles. Employing qualitative research, including content analysis, we construct a SWOT analysis to assess HCMC's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the CE context. The city possesses several strengths, such as a vast potential for a CE and a robust economic foundation. However, it also faces multiple weaknesses, including insufficient infrastructure, inadequate citizen and business awareness and participation, ineffective policy enforcement and a deficiency of standards for recycled products. This chapter will conclude that the CE presents an opportunity for HCMC to reduce its dependence on imported raw materials, increase local value creation and create new jobs in the CE sector.

To address the challenges encountered in disaster responses, optimize resource utilization, minimize environmental and social impact, and ensure transparency and accountability, it is essential to review humanitarian supply chains and incorporate sustainability considerations. Humanitarian organizations can enhance their ability to deliver timely and effective assistance to those in need by continuously improving supply chain practices. Consequently, this work explores the convergence of two fast-growing domains: sustainability and humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM).

The authors conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed articles to identify the prominent research trends and themes from the two domains' interactions. The extant literature is represented under the theory, context, characteristics, and research method (TCCM) framework. The authors have utilized a stakeholder theory perspective to identify coordination and collaboration among the various stakeholders.

This study's review findings reveal five future research directions formulating this study's central themes: the role of environmental sustainability, coordination, and collaboration in building effective HSCs; the role of humanitarian aid for the responsive HSC; the influence of big data predictive analytics on the HSC performance; development and empirical validation of sustainable HSC performance framework; the role of HSC stakeholders in building effective and efficient HSCs.

There is no existing academic literature review available on sustainable HSCM. This review fills this void by fostering discussion about sustainable humanitarian supply chains where the authors notably propose the TCCM framework in the context of sustainable HSCM, followed by a stakeholder network.

This paper aims to analyze how smart city construction affects destination competitiveness and elucidates the potential mechanisms of digital economy. Also, the regional heterogeneity of smart city construction’s influence on destination competitiveness is discussed.

Given the quasi-natural experiment characteristics of China's smart city construction pilot, this study applies a time-varying difference-in-differences approach using a panel dataset of 272 Chinese prefectural-level cities to examine the causal effects of smart city construction on destination competitiveness.

Results indicate substantial enhancement of urban destination competitiveness from smart city construction, with this effect escalating annually. Digital infrastructure and digital finance serve as influence mechanisms. The positive impacts of smart city construction on urban tourism competitiveness do not differ by geographic location, rather there are significant differences between cities of different administrative levels. The impact of smart city construction on destination competitiveness is more significant in low administrative level cities. The improvement of economic development level and innovation ability helps to exert the positive impact of smart cities on tourism competitiveness.

This study constructs a new panel data set for smart city construction and destination competitiveness based on multi-source data and posits a theoretical linkage among smart city construction, digital economy and destination competitiveness. This paper provides invaluable insights on how to boost destination competitiveness by creating smart cities and leveraging the digital economy. Tourism sectors should proactively engage in smart city construction and foster the digital transformation of tourism.

本文旨在分析智慧城市建设如何影响目的地竞争力, 并阐明数字经济的潜在机制。此外, 还讨论了智慧城市建设对目的地竞争力影响的区域异质性。

鉴于中国智慧城市建设试点的准自然实验特征, 本研究基于272个中国地级城市的面板数据集, 采用双重差分方法检验了智慧城市建设对目的地竞争力的因果影响。

研究结果表明, 智慧城市建设显著增强了城市目的地竞争力, 这种影响每年都在增加。数字基础设施和数字金融是影响机制。智慧城市建设对城市旅游竞争力的积极影响不因地理位置而异, 不同行政级别的城市之间存在显著差异。智慧城市建设对低行政级别城市目的地竞争力的影响更为显著。经济发展水平和创新能力的提高有助于发挥智慧城市对旅游竞争力的积极影响。

本研究基于多源数据构建了一个新的智慧城市建设和目的地竞争力面板数据集, 并在智慧城市建设、数字经济和目的地竞争之间建立了理论联系。本文就如何通过创建智慧城市和利用数字经济来提高目的地竞争力提供了宝贵的见解。旅游部门应积极参与智慧城市建设, 促进旅游业的数字化转型。

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar cómo afecta la construcción de ciudades inteligentes a la competitividad de los destinos y dilucidar los posibles mecanismos de la economía digital. Se aborda también la heterogeneidad regional de la influencia de la construcción de ciudades inteligentes en la competitividad de los destinos.

Dadas las características de experimento casi natural del proyecto piloto de construcción de ciudades inteligentes en China, este estudio aplica un enfoque de diferencias en diferencias temporales utilizando un conjunto de datos de panel de 272 ciudades chinas de nivel de prefectura para examinar los efectos causales de la construcción de ciudades inteligentes sobre la competitividad de los destinos.

Los resultados indican una mejora sustancial de la competitividad de los destinos urbanos gracias a la construcción de ciudades inteligentes, efecto que aumenta cada año. La infraestructura digital y las finanzas digitales actúan como mecanismos de influencia. Los efectos positivos de la construcción de ciudades inteligentes sobre la competitividad Del turismo urbano no difieren en función de la ubicación geográfica, sino que las diferencias significativas se producen entre ciudades de diferentes niveles administrativos. El impacto de la construcción de ciudades inteligentes en la competitividad de los destinos es más significativo en las ciudades de bajo nivel administrativo. La mejora del nivel de desarrollo económico y la capacidad de innovación contribuyen al impacto positivo de las ciudades inteligentes en la competitividad turística.

Este estudio construye un nuevo conjunto de datos de panel para la construcción de ciudades inteligentes y la competitividad de los destinos basado en datos de múltiples fuentes y plantea un vínculo teórico entre la construcción de ciudades inteligentes, la economía digital y la competitividad de los destinos. Este artículo ofrece un valioso conocimiento sobre cómo impulsar la competitividad de los destinos mediante la creación de ciudades inteligentes y el aprovechamiento de la economía digital. Los sectores turísticos deberían participar de forma proactiva en la construcción de ciudades inteligentes y fomentar la transformación digital del turismo.

Authorities have set up numerous security checkpoints during times of armed conflict to control the flow of commercial and humanitarian trucks into and out of areas of conflict. These security checkpoints have become highly utilized because of the complex security procedures and increased truck traffic, which significantly slow the delivery of relief aid. This paper aims to improve the process at security checkpoints by redesigning the current process to reduce processing time and relieve congestion at checkpoint entrance gates.

A decision-support tool (clearing function distribution model [CFDM]) is used to minimize the effects of security checkpoint congestion on the entire humanitarian supply network using a hybrid simulation-optimization approach. By using a business process simulation, the current and reengineered processes are both simulated, and the simulation output was used to estimate the clearing function (capacity as a function of the workload). For both the AS-IS and TO-BE models, key performance indicators such as distribution costs, backordering and process cycle time were used to compare the results of the CFDM tool. For this, the Kerem Abu Salem security checkpoint south of Gaza was used as a case study.

The comparison results demonstrate that the CFDM tool performs better when the output of the TO-BE clearing function is used.

The efforts will contribute to improving the planning of any humanitarian network experiencing congestion at security checkpoints by minimizing the impact of congestion on the delivery lead time of relief aid to the final destination.

This study examines the relationship between financial reporting quality, Industrial Revolution 4.0 and social well-being of stakeholders among public companies in Malaysia.

The sample of the study includes 232 firm-year observations of Malaysian publicly listed companies from 2013 to 2017. Social well-being is measured using social pillar scores from the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data provided by Refinitiv. The study identified companies as an adopter of IR 4.0 based on their disclosure on the use of autonomous robots, simulation, cloud, horizontal and vertical system integration, cybersecurity, additive manufacturing, augmented reality and big data analytics in their financial reports. Financial reporting quality is measured using discretionary accruals.

This study found that financial reporting quality and IR 4.0 are related to social well-being, particularly the workforce. These results imply that companies with higher adoption of IR 4.0 are more likely to provide more information concerning job satisfaction, a healthy and safe workplace, maintaining diversity, equal and development opportunities for its workforce. Furthermore, the results show that firms with lower discretionary accruals (i.e. higher quality of financial reporting) are more likely to provide more information about social well-being. The results are robust even after addressing endogeneity issues.

This research contributes new insights into the role of financial reporting quality and IR 4.0 in enhancing social well-being in Malaysia. These findings offer valuable input for regulators striving to advance the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This study carries substantial practical implications for policymakers and businesses alike. It underscores the importance of embracing IR 4.0 technologies and integrating them into strategic planning to foster social well-being. These insights can guide policymakers in shaping economic strategies and assist businesses in prioritizing financial reporting quality while engaging stakeholders to promote social well-being.

This is the first study to investigate the combined relationship of financial reporting quality and IR4.0 on social well-being, which provides valuable evidence in this novel domain. While previous studies have primarily explored the relationship of IR4.0 on sustainability from an environmental and human resource perspective, this study sheds light on the specific dimension of social well-being, hence promoting sustainable development goals by the United Nations in 2030.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced much of the complexities of human life, which has affected the multifaceted socioeconomic dimensions and sectors around the world. One of the main consequences of the pandemic is the reduction in physical mobility and shifting toward a more digitally enhanced platform, where activities may be continued given the imposed physical limitations. Global supply chains were broken down into regional and even local ones and travel has been reduced significantly across leisure and nonleisure reasons, among others. While we recognize that these changes would require substantial capital and financial investments, these will not be put to waste given that emerging models, practices, and trends are the “silver linings” of the pandemic onto the tourism sector. Given that one emerging advocacy is the sustainability of tourism destinations under the backdrop of environmental awareness, care, and sustainable use, we also look at how tourism goods and services are put on sale given the adoption of new models. Finally, we envelope the pandemic experience and the induced iterations of local tourism initiatives as an opportunity to look for new and revitalized tourism innovations toward the “next normal.”

Venue comes from the Latin word meaning ‘come’ (venire). Not only the event's location or venue affect attendance but it can also have an impact on the event's personality. Additionally, the location or venue affects the event's atmosphere and the visitor experience. The most significant benefit of revitalisation or adaptive reuse is its positive impact on the environment as razing buildings is a major source of waste and carbon emissions, by contrast, adaptive reuse reduces waste, saves energy and conserves resources. The persistence of this chapter is to investigate the challenges and opportunities in making adaptive re-use or revitalisation of heritage buildings that includes forts/palace/museums as a venue for any event. For the purpose of achieving the goal, secondary data from 2000 to 2023 have been compiled from more than 50 research articles that have been published in peer-reviewed and University Grant Commission (UGC) journals, books written by various authors, including the authors themselves, other researchers working in the related field of event management, conference proceedings and websites. The authors discovered from their examination of the literature that the significance of the event venue cannot be unheeded. The event's tone sets the stage for possible guest experience influences. One must carefully consider the kind of venues or settings that are available in the destination before conducting any event.