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The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of foreign aid in terms of trade in Sri Lanka. This study aims to analyze whether foreign aid from the Western countries to Sri Lanka promotes exports to the donor countries and encourages imports from Asian countries.

The results derived from the analysis suggest that there is no significant relationship between aid and trade in the long run whereas foreign aid marginally causes only the imports in the short run. Overall, the study finds that foreign aid does not significantly affect trade in Sri Lanka.

The auto regressive distributed lag bounds testing approach is used to examine the long- and short-run relations between foreign aid and trade using the annual time series data during the period from 1977 to 2019.

Sri Lanka has been one of the aid recipients among Asian countries since 1960. At the same time, Sri Lanka has been experiencing trade deficit since its independence and has to find all the ways to improve the trade. Because foreign aid has promoted trade in a numerous countries, it is high time for Sri Lanka to negotiate with the donor countries and agencies to design aid for trade promotion.

The nexus between the trade–aid link of Sri Lanka with Western and Asian country’s perspectives has not so far been investigated. The findings of this study would be a new knowledge added to the literature on the trade–aid link and be useful to the policymakers for decision-making and future researchers to cope up with further analysis.

This study aims to examine the factors that affect individuals’ intentions of participating in waqf-based crowdfunding model in Kuwait.

This study adopted the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. The data were collected by online questionnaire survey based on 419 donors in waqf institutions in Kuwait. The data were analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique.

The results illustrate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating condition positively affect behavioural intention towards waqf-based crowdfunding projects.

The paper presents an alternative source for waqf institutions to raise capital to develop waqf assets in majority and minority Muslim countries. The findings of this study hold significant implications for government officials and policymakers.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to explore waqf crowdfunding in Kuwait using the UTAUT model. There needs to be more research on waqf-giving behaviour in Kuwait, particularly concerning crowdfunding, which has become more popular recently. Thus, this paper aims to address this gap and contribute new insights to the field.

Microcharity is a non-profit organization promoting social brotherhood through small donations and volunteer services among diverse members, aiming to address poverty through compassion, cooperation and humanitarianism. The study aims to comprehend the role of microcharity as an alternative to microcredit for poverty alleviation. It sheds light on the modus operandi, prospects and problems associated with microcharity.

The current study used a qualitative research design to investigate a social phenomenon while involving the researchers directly. The study applied participatory action research by involving participants and researchers to comprehend social challenges and evaluate their experiences. The study made considerable use of participant-observer data and field observations.

It has been revealed that microcharity has potential to address social challenges faced by the marginalized and vulnerable section of society.

This study is based on participatory action research, and therefore, it suffers from academic standardization and heavily depends on researchers. On the other hand, it offers practical approach to solve social problems and would bring forth realistic resolution by offering insights of those making use of micro charity for philanthropic activities.

The article is especially helpful for communities that must respond to emergencies and will be beneficial to individuals and institutions working for social welfare.

It will bring forth various facets of micro charity as an alternate for fundraising to rescue sufferers of social exigencies through collective efforts.

The article represents original scholarly research, leveraging the researchers' personal experience to enrich the understanding of microcharity. Its implications are valuable for communities involved in social welfare and can benefit individuals working for charitable institutions, cooperative societies, NGOs and social welfare programmes of government. Additionally, the study's insights can aid researchers in designing new methodologies to explore microcharity and its impact on social welfare initiatives.

This study aims to determine how the applications of blockchain technology (BT) can play a crucial role in managing financial flows in the humanitarian supply chain (HSC) and what benefits and challenges are associated with BT in a humanitarian setting.

The present study used a qualitative research approach, incorporating a systematic literature review and conducting semi-structured interviews with 12 experts in the fields of humanitarian operations, supply chain management, fintech and information technology.

The findings show that the humanitarian sector has the potential to reap significant benefits from BT, including secure data exchange, efficient SCM, streamlined donor financing, cost-effective financial transactions, smooth digital cash flow management and the facilitation of cash programs and crowdfunding. Despite the promising prospects, this study also illuminated various challenges associated with the application of BT in the HSC. Key challenges identified include scalability issues, high cost and resource requirements, lack of network reliability, data privacy, supply chain integration, knowledge and training gaps, regulatory frameworks and ethical considerations. Moreover, the study highlighted the importance of implementing mitigation strategies to address the challenges effectively.

The present study is confined to exploring the benefits, challenges and corresponding mitigation strategies. The research uses a semi-structured interview method as the primary research approach.

This study adds to the existing body of knowledge concerning BT and HSC by explaining the pivotal role of BT in improving the financial flow within HSC. Moreover, it addresses a notable research gap, as there is a scarcity of studies that holistically cover the expert perspectives on benefits, challenges and strategies related to blockchain applications for effective financial flows within humanitarian settings. Consequently, this study seeks to bridge this knowledge gap and provide valuable insights into this critical area.

The use of interviews for data collection is prevalent in qualitative accounting research. This paper examines vignettes – sketches of hypothetical scenarios – as a promising complementary way to conduct interviews in qualitative accounting research.

The paper is based on our experiences designing and using vignettes in five separate qualitative accounting studies, which collectively involve over 200 interviews with various participants. It discusses the opportunities the use of vignettes in interviews offers to qualitative accounting research, as well as the challenges associated with designing and using vignettes. The paper also reflects on fellow researchers’ varied reactions during seminars, workshops, and the journal review process.

Vignettes emerge as a productive and engaging complementary way for accounting researchers to obtain additional insights and perspectives not usually accessible in semi-structured interviews. The paper also provides practical insights into developing, using and publishing qualitative accounting studies using vignettes, contributing an additional behind-the-scenes view of using qualitative research methods.

The aim of this paper is to increase awareness of vignettes as a complement to the standard qualitative accounting interview. It provides guidance on how vignettes might be used productively for studying rare, new, emerging, complex, or multi-period real-world accounting phenomena. It also discusses how vignettes can promote transparency, honesty, and a greater level of detail in participants’ responses, as well as facilitate the involvement of lay people in accounting studies.

This paper draws on two studies from a wider research program exploring the long-term graduate outcomes of Australia’s international development scholarships, the Australia Awards. The paper’s focus is on exploring how soft power can be identified through international scholarships and outlines conditions for success in achieving such outcomes.

This article discusses a mixed-methods sequential design that uses a quantitative online survey to identify themes to explore in a case study using a quantitative social networks approach.

The research identified two outcomes linked to the soft power of international scholarships, these are: (1) The value of existing connections – exposure and opportunity for scholarship recipients to build professional networks while in-country, influences the likelihood of alumni actioning these positive experiences by developing partnerships with host-country organisations after returning home; and (2) The value of alumni interconnectivity – the critical mass of peer-to-peer alumni relationships is a soft power asset that donors can harness to influence their international development and diplomacy objectives. Together, these findings also provide evidence that soft power attraction engendered in international scholarship participants can have longevity.

This article builds on early literature examining the effectiveness of international scholarships for developing countries in achieving soft power for scholarship donors. It provides a new view of these outcomes by looking at alumni networks individually and as a critical mass, to demonstrate how these contribute to achieving the diplomacy objectives of this type of state-sponsored student mobility program.

Beneficiary photos on charity appeals are believed to engender prosocial behavior. This study explores photo framing of healthy and unhealthy beneficiary photos in the context of photo-rich online medical crowdfunding. Based on framing theory, emphasis framing effect (i.e. unhealthy photos only vs both healthy and unhealthy photos) and equivalency framing effect (i.e. healthy photos prior to unhealthy photos vs unhealthy photos prior to healthy photos) are identified.

A scenario-based experiment with 135 participants was used to empirically test the proposed research hypotheses. The subjects were randomly assigned to three treatment groups, with 45 subjects in each group. ANOVA, linear regression, and multiple mediation analysis were used to analysis data.

The results reveal that disclosing both healthy and unhealthy photos can elicit stronger sympathy and perceived need than merely disclosing unhealthy photos. Moreover, the order of unhealthy photos prior to healthy photos leads to a higher level of sympathy than the order of healthy photos prior to unhealthy photos. Furthermore, sympathy and perceived need are positively related to donation intention.

First, this study extends the photo-related research limited to certain characteristics of a single photo to the sequence effect of multiple photos. Second, this study contributes to framing theory by introducing photo framing, particularly the equivalence and emphasis framing effect of beneficiary photos. Finally, this study reveals the emotional and cognitive routes through which beneficiary photos stimulate prosocial behavior. It also offers practical guidance in the aspects of the framing effect of beneficiary photos for crowdfunding management.

The purpose of this research is to investigate how different accountability practices might be observed in the annual reports of non-government organisations (NGOs) in Bangladesh. The study further aims to understand whether such accountability disclosures support NGO legitimacy in Bangladesh and if so, in what form.

To fulfil this objective, a content analysis was conducted on the annual reports of 24 selected leading NGOs operating in Bangladesh. The data were then analysed through the not-for-profit accountability framework of Dhanani and Connolly (2012). Theoretical constructs of legitimacy were further mobilised to corroborate the evidence.

It was found that NGOs operating in Bangladesh discharged all four types of accountability, i.e., strategic, fiduciary, financial and procedural (Dhanani and Connolly, 2012) through annual reports. The findings further suggested that carrying out these accountabilities supported the legitimation process of NGOs. Moreover, we found that NGOs took care of the needs of both primary and secondary stakeholders although they widely used self-laudatory positively charged words to disclose information about their accountabilities.

The study contributes to the limited accounting research on the public disclosures of NGOs and not-for-profit firms particularly in emerging economy settings. Also, we contribute to the limited research on the accountability-legitimacy link of NGOs evident in public disclosures like annual reports.

The paper studies how the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) positioned itself in the process through which capacity building in developing countries was interpreted and enacted within the global development aid agenda from 1999 to 2016.

The paper is an in-depth case study drawing on a comprehensive analysis of publications, reports and archival materials.

The paper unveils how IFAC shaped the interpretation of capacity building and its associated practices in a manner aligned with its expansionary aims thereby transforming itself into a prominent actor within, what we term, the capacity building issue-based field. It unpacks the strategies pursued by IFAC as it mobilised economic, social and cultural resources in support of its global capacity building ambitions for the accountancy profession. It reveals how key interactions between actors in the international development exchange field and the professional exchange field of accounting underpinned IFAC’s infiltration of, and impact on the evolution of, the capacity building issue-based field. We show how IFAC increased its influence in this field despite initially operating on the periphery of the global development aid agenda.

The paper reveals how the global accountancy profession’s engagement with the capacity building activities of international development agencies became central to its commitment to serving the public interest. Our analysis suggests that deeper explorations of capacity building by the global accountancy profession in specific developing countries are required in order to determine whether these efforts have effectively catered to the needs of the citizens of those countries.

The work of professional accountancy organizations (PAOs) operating at the global level in the area of capacity building has been addressed in a fragmented fashion in prior research. This paper presents a unique analysis of developing alliances between the global accountancy profession and international aid agencies aimed at supporting the globalising efforts of IFAC within the realm of capacity building in international development aid. Theoretically, the paper advances prior work exploring the evolution of issue-based fields, in particular the role of inter-field relations in interstitial spaces within these processes.

The overarching goal of the study was to formulate an integrated research model to empirically demonstrate the complex interplay between heuristics, project characteristics, information system usage quality, empathy, and mindfulness in predicting users'/donors' donation behaviour and well-being in the context of donation-based crowdfunding (DBC) mobile apps.

The data were collected from 786 respondents and analysed using the multi-stage SEM-ANN-NCA (Structural equation modelling-artificial neural network-necessary condition analysis) method.

Increased perceived aesthetics, narrative structure, self-referencing, project popularity, project content quality, and initiator reputation would foster empathy. Empathy and mindfulness lead to donation behaviour, and, ultimately emotional well-being.

This study offers a clear framework by ranking the key contextual predictors and assessing the model’s necessity logic to facilitate crowdfunders' donation behaviour and well-being on DBC platforms. This research provides practical insights for bank marketers and further aids financial service providers in formulating an optimal DBC mobile app strategy.