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The accuracy of budgeting is important to fulfilling its various roles. The aim of this study is to examine perceptions of budgeting accuracy in UK universities and to identify and understand the factors that influence them.

A mixed methods research design comprising a questionnaire survey (84 responses, = 51.5%) and 42 semi-structured, qualitative interviews is employed.

The findings reveal that universities tend to be conservative in their budgeting, although previous financial difficulties, the attitude of the governing body and the need to convince lenders that finances are being managed competently might lead to a greater emphasis on a “realistic” rather than cautious budget. Stepwise multiple regression identified four significantly negative influences on perceived budgeting accuracy: the difficulty of forecasting student numbers; difficulties associated with allowing unspent balances to be carried forward; taking a relatively long time to prepare the budget; and the institution’s level of financial surplus. The interviews are drawn upon to both explain and elaborate on the statistical findings. Forecasting student numbers and associated fee income emerges as a particularly challenging and complex issue.

Our regression analysis is cross-sectional and therefore based on correlations. Furthermore, the research could be developed by investigating the views of other parties as well as repeating the study in both the UK and overseas.

Implications for university management follow from the four factors identified as significant influences upon budget accuracy. These include involving the finance department in estimating student numbers, removing or controlling the carry forward of unspent funds, and reducing the length of the budget cycle.

The first study to examine the factors that influence the perceived accuracy of universities’ budgeting, this paper also advances understanding of budgeting accuracy more generally.

From 1979 to 2023, the takaful structure has been adopted in many jurisdictions, making the documenting of its early days of establishment relatively difficult and somewhat unreliable. This is unlike conventional insurance, where the history and legislation are well documented and archived in various research (Hellwege, 2016; Marano and Siri, 2017). The purpose of this paper is to provide a chronology for the establishment and development of takaful via the takaful establishment in each jurisdiction, documenting its first takaful operator and first takaful regulation.

This paper has used a qualitative method in the form of reviewing literature and available data such as journals, books and official resources. The data is thoroughly analysed in order to build the chronology for takaful. It adopted an exploratory research design, which is deemed suitable in situations where few works of literature have examined the subject (Neuman, 2014). The paper explores the establishment and non-establishment of takaful in 57 countries. The paper categorises the countries into seven regions starting with the GCC, Levant, Asia, Central Asia, Africa, Europe and Others.

The takaful chronology presented in this paper shows that takaful operations exist in 47 jurisdictions, starting from Sudan and the UAE in 1979, with the most recent adopters being Morocco and Iran in December 2021. It is found that 22 jurisdictions do not have takaful regulations, and the Takaful Act 1984, issued in Malaysia, is considered the first takaful regulation that sets the basis for other regulations that follow.

The paper contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive chronology of takaful, especially as the few existing timelines have been found to be incomplete and consist of contradictory information.

This research paper aims to conceptualize digital transformation governance and its conventional mechanisms and to present governance solutions tailored to an organization’s level of digital maturity. The objective is to provide a framework for large organizations to select appropriate governance mechanisms based on their digital maturity level, enabling them to effectively manage and govern their digital transformation journey.

The study employs a meta-synthesis methodology, systematically reviewing and synthesizing findings from 175 academic papers and 31 reports/white papers. The research involves a rigorous qualitative approach, including literature search, selection of relevant texts, information extraction, analysis of qualitative findings, quality control and presentation of findings.

The proposed model suggests a three-tiered approach to digital transformation governance based on the organization’s digital maturity: “beginner,” “intermediate” and “advanced” stages. The findings indicate that as an organization advances in its digital maturity, its governance mechanism tends to be less centralized and involves multiple relevant units. Conversely, organizations with lower digital maturity require a more concentrated approach to digital governance.

The study is based on a systematic review and synthesis of existing literature. Further empirical research could validate and refine the proposed model.

By using the proposed maturity-driven model, organizations can choose a more suitable and effective governance mechanism for the realization of their digital transformation roadmap based on their digital maturity level. The model offers a comprehensive framework for selecting and combining appropriate governance mechanisms at each maturity stage.

The proposed framework offers a strategic and novel yet practical tool, enabling organizations to advance their digital governance capabilities in sync with their transformation roadmap. The study consolidates dispersed findings and expands the range of viable governance mechanisms contingent on digital progression.

The purpose of this review paper is to investigate the consequences of tourism development and economic growth within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, focusing specifically on Lao PDR post-pandemic. The adverse effect of COVID-19 on tourism and economic sectors has been pervasive across the ASEAN region, with varying degrees of impact. Some of these difficulties are set to continue, though there are positive signs of recovery and of the resilience of the tourism industry. Utilising case material from Lao PDR in Southeast Asia – an area frequently neglected in tourism studies – the paper sheds light on the post-pandemic landscape to address existing gaps in the current literature.

A case study approach was taken in this review paper, utilising secondary data such as media reports, official reports from Tourism Laos and international governing bodies like United Nations and the World Bank to form a viewpoint discussion in the Lao PDR post-pandemic condition.

This paper reveals that contrary to a long period of recovery post-pandemic, there has been a degree of continuity from the pre-pandemic period. Considerable numbers of backpackers have returned to Vang Vieng, along with Vientiane and Luang Prabang. While the pre-pandemic emphasis on mass tourism persists, there is also an increased focus on regional and domestic markets. Laos, with its strategic location and cross-border connections, aims to take advantage of this shift.

The paper highlights a detailed exploration of the Lao tourism industry post-pandemic. It goes beyond the initial expectations in literature of a complete transformation post-pandemic, highlighting the continuity in visitor sources and traditional tourist attractions. It emphasises the Lao PDR strategic position for market reorientation, providing insight into the nation’s adaptive strategies and a nuanced perspective on the evolving landscape of Lao tourism.

This study explores how institutional and cultural factors influence political trust among hotel employees and its impact on support for local government actions, with implications for hotel leadership and regulatory compliance.

Employing a quantitative approach and structural equation modeling (SEM-PLS), the study integrates institutional and cultural theories of trust. Data were collected from 444 frontline hotel employees via mTurk in May 2021.

The research reveals insights into the significant role of institutional and cultural factors in shaping political trust among hotel employees. Moreover, it demonstrates a positive correlation between political trust and support for local government actions.

This research has limitations to acknowledge. The sample size may restrict generalizability, and data from May 2021 might not capture long-term trends. Furthermore, relying solely on quantitative data may overlook individual nuances and complexities.

Hotel leadership can leverage these findings to prioritize building political trust among employees, leading to better support for government actions and regulatory compliance.

Fostering trust between hotel employees and governing bodies can foster more effective collaboration, benefiting the hotel industry and the broader community.

This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by presenting a novel conceptual model that integrates institutional theory and cultural theory of trust to examine the formation of political trust in the context of hotel employees. The application of this model to the hospitality industry adds to the limited research available in this area.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of combined assurance on tax avoidance in South Africa.

This study is founded on a sample of 76 South African firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange over the 2014–2022 period. The authors used the feasible generalized least squares regression estimation technique to test the hypothesis. To address endogeneity issues, this study conducted a difference-in-differences (DID) analysis based on propensity score matching.

The results reveal that combined assurance negatively impacts tax avoidance. Implementing combined assurance, as an integrated risk management approach, significantly minimizes tax risk. The DID analysis provides well-founded evidence attributing the decline in tax avoidance levels to the availability of combined assurance. The inferences are robust to using alternative measures of tax avoidance, testing combined assurance impact across various tax avoidance levels and controlling for the COVID-19 effect.

This study presents valuable insights for firms, managers and policymakers. The findings encourage companies to bolster their risk management practices, opting for combined assurance over a sole risk monitoring mechanism. This approach enables the company to ensure better compliance with tax regulations, thereby enhancing overall efficiency. Besides, the disciplining effect of combined assurance motivates managers to make informed decisions, avoid tax avoidance strategies and safeguard corporate reputation. Moreover, this research calls upon policymakers to promote effective global regulatory frameworks for combined assurance practices.

The research brings original insights by exploring the influence of combined assurance on tax avoidance. This addresses a gap in the current literature that has predominantly focused on the relationship between tax avoidance and individual lines of defense.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in countries reacting differently to an ongoing crisis. Latent to this reaction mechanism is the inherent cultural characteristics of each society resulting in differential responses to the epidemic spread. In this study, the moderated moderation role of culture, on information dissemination by media during epidemic recovery-phase has been investigated.

Hofstede’s cultural factors are hypothesized to moderate the moderating effect of free-liberal media on the relationship of COVID-19 recovery rate and human mobility. Panel regression model, using mobility data and recovery rate across 95 countries for a period of 170 days has been preferred to test the hypotheses. The results are further substantiated using factor wise interaction plots and slope difference analysis.

The findings suggest that societies with high power distance and masculinity scores strengthen the impact of media on the relationship between COVID-19 recovery rate and mobility whereas, high individualistic and long-term orientation societies weaken the same effect. However, similar conclusions were not confirmed for uncertainty avoidance. Cross-cultural impact, as elucidated by this study, forms a crucial element in policy formulation on epidemic control by indigenous Governing bodies.

While most of the studies emphasizing on cultural characteristics of a society in an epidemic situation covers the growth phase of infection, This research talks about the recovery-phase of the epidemic and the effect of culture.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2023-0314

Accountability and transparency represent two concepts that are gaining more and more importance in the higher education systems. Universities are increasingly called upon to provide both financial and non-financial information. This circumstance has attracted the interest of academics interested in examining the transparency levels of universities. However, limited attention has been paid to corporate governance disclosure. This study aims to bridge this important gap by analyzing the amount of corporate governance information disseminated by Italian universities through their website and the factors capable of influencing this level of disclosure.

This study uses manual content analysis on a sample of 92 Italian universities to measure the extent of corporate governance information dissemination. In addition, it uses various regression models to test the research hypotheses.

Empirical results demonstrate, first, an adequate commitment to online corporate governance disclosure and, second, a greater propensity toward the dissemination of corporate governance information by the largest and public universities.

The findings greatly enrich the academic literature and have important practical implications for universities, policymakers, and lawmakers.

This study explores the moderating effect of board gender diversity (BGD) between a firm's Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance and Economic value added (EVA) using NSE-listed 331 companies' data from 2015 to 2020, forming 1986 firm-year observations.

Our study is based on panel data; hence, we use a system GMM panel regression model to confirm whether the BGD moderates ESG and EVA. We also address the endogeneity issues.

Overall, our study reported a positive moderating effect of BGD between ESG and EVA. Similar results were observed across the chemical and financial services industries. However, in the case of the healthcare and consumer goods industries, we did not find support for the moderating effect.

The implications of our results are considerable and relevant for regulators, governing bodies, and corporate managers. It helps them understand how BGD plays a vital role in influencing the effect of ESG on a firm's EVA.

No existing research has explored the moderating effect of BGD between ESG and EVA, to the authors' best knowledge. Therefore, our study extends the existing literature and further supports resource dependency, agency, and stakeholder theories of corporate governance.

The study aims to identify the trends in the scholarly works on investors preference toward sustainable investments by synthesizing their knowledge structures.

A systematic search approach using PRISMA protocol on the Scopus database was used to generate a sample of 403 publications for the purpose of bibliometric analysis. The study performed a range of analyses, including three-field plot analysis, thematic mapping and cluster analysis using the VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software.

The key findings comprise the identification of four clusters within the subject, namely, corporate social responsibility and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, ethical investing, green finance and socially responsible investments. This study offers a clear picture of the publishing advancement and research diversification of four selected clusters' research themes, and cluster subthemes.

The research reveals the social and intellectual structure of the field, which provides the future researchers an insights into emerging themes and provides them opportunities for collaboration as well. The outcomes of the research hold significance for policymakers, governing bodies, aspiring scholars, advocates for the environment and investors. It offers an insightful framework for implementing sustainable practices, balancing profits, and environmental risks and creating value from environmentally conscious research and practice.

The future direction and extensiveness of research work have been explored using the themes generated. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study, which combines the VOSviewer and Biblioshiny tools, is likely the first attempt to provide a thorough bibliometric analysis in the research sphere of investors preferences toward sustainable investments.