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The successful achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) largely depends on human behavior. Will people act sustainably when they consume, work, travel, or simply go about their lives? Only if the answer is yes can we truly make progress toward sustainability. Research into what influences SDG-supportive behavior has identified several factors. However, some studies emphasize knowledge, others highlight economic barriers, and still others focus on traits and psychological factors—rarely all at once. In this paper, we aim to broaden this perspective. By reviewing multiple sources, we develop and empirically test a comprehensive model of sustainable behavior. We propose that awareness of sustainability issues influences how individuals interpret and understand societal challenges. At the same time, a person’s motivational orientation will determine whether they internalize sustainability values as their own beliefs and develop positive attitudes toward the SDGs. Nonetheless, even if individuals strongly believe in sustainability, their actions also depend on other factors. Using data from the Japan Household Panel Survey on Sustainable Development Goals, this study constructs psychometric measures and creates a nomological framework to examine the mechanisms behind the formation of sustainability behavior. The findings suggest that prosocial peace orientation and awareness of sustainability issues positively influence sustainability values and attitudes, which, in turn, shape sustainability behaviors.

This study examines the impact of wage disparities on employee performance within Zimbabwe's telecommunication industry using advanced structural equation modelling techniques informed by recent post-pandemic organizational behaviour research. A quantitative research approach was employed, collecting data from 227 respondents across various job levels in Harare through structured questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modelling, incorporating recent methodological advances in measurement invariance testing and multi-group analysis. Results reveal significant wage differentials with employees perceiving substantial unfairness in wage distribution. The structural model demonstrates that wage disparities significantly impact employee performance, with regulatory frameworks and economic instability identified as primary contributing factors. Organizations should adopt AI-enhanced transparent compensation systems and implement performance-based wage structures informed by recent Environmental, Social, and Governance frameworks to enhance employee satisfaction and organizational performance. 

Access to clean and safe water remains a critical development priority under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. However, water service providers in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, continue to experience performance challenges associated with governance, infrastructure limitations, and leadership effectiveness. This study examined the moderating effect of employee engagement on the relationship between exemplary transformational leadership and the performance of selected water and sewerage companies in Kenya. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the three-component theory of work engagement, and the balanced scorecard framework, the study adopted a positivist philosophy and a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from 328 employees drawn from 13 public water companies operating under the Athi Water Works Development Agency using structured questionnaires. Exemplary transformational leadership was measured through three practices—modeling the way, challenging the process, and empowering followers—while employee engagement was assessed through vigor, dedication, and absorption. Organizational performance was evaluated using indicators of service quality, economic efficiency, and operational sustainability. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and moderated multiple regression analysis were conducted using SPSS version 27. The findings revealed that exemplary transformational leadership and employee engagement significantly and positively influenced water company performance. Importantly, employee engagement significantly moderated the relationship between exemplary transformational leadership and performance (β = −0.689, p < .05), indicating a buffering effect in which leadership had a stronger impact under conditions of low engagement. The study contributes to leadership and public sector management literature by empirically validating the moderating role of employee engagement within Kenya’s water sector. It recommends integrating employee engagement strategies with leadership development initiatives to enhance service delivery, operational efficiency, and long-term sustainability in water utilities.

The airline industry faces persistent profitability pressure stemming from high fixed costs, intense competition, and macroeconomic volatility. Since the entry of low-cost carriers (LCCs), ancillary revenue—defined as income generated from services and products supplementary to the core ticket—has evolved from a peripheral activity into a strategic financial pillar for both full-service and low-cost airlines. This study investigates the determinants of passenger willingness to pay (WTP) for à la carte ancillary services and identifies behavioural and demographic profiles that predict purchase frequency. Using a survey of 254 air travellers and a multi-method statistical approach (Chi-square tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, and Kruskal–Wallis with Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons), six hypotheses are tested. The results demonstrate that (i) passengers familiar with à la carte services allocate significantly larger travel budgets to such services (p < .05); (ii) frequent travellers (>5 flights/year) are significantly more likely to purchase à la carte services (χ² = 8.44, p < .01); (iii) frequent-flyer programme (FFP) members purchase ancillary services at substantially higher rates (χ² = 9.70, p < .01); and (iv) contrary to common managerial intuition, short-haul passengers purchase à la carte services more frequently than long-haul passengers (χ² = 4.51, p < .05). Wi-Fi access is valued across all age cohorts without statistically significant differences. The findings extend the revenue management literature by empirically validating familiarity and loyalty-programme membership as the strongest behavioural predictors of à la carte WTP, and offer actionable guidance for targeted personalisation, segmentation, and dynamic pricing strategies. Implications for machine-learning-driven ancillary recommendation systems are also discussed in light of recent advances in offer management (2022–2025).

This paper examines how uninsured deposits influence credit union funding and whether private excess deposit insurance alters the stability, pricing, and lending capacity of uninsured deposits — deposits that exceed the federal deposit insurance limit. Using U.S. credit union Call Report data from 1995–2022, we exploit variation across institution size, insurance regime, and participation in optional private excess deposit insurance.  We distinguish between pre-crisis (1995–2007) and post-crisis (2009–2022) periods surrounding the 2008 expansion of federal insurance limits.  We document pronounced heterogeneity across the size distribution.  For small credit unions, uninsured deposits are limited in scale and are associated with lower loan intensity.  In contrast, uninsured deposits play a central funding role for large credit unions, which account for 94% of industry assets and 97% of uninsured deposits. For these institutions, uninsured deposits support lending and command higher funding costs — effects that are significantly moderated by excess deposit insurance, reducing funding costs by approximately 27 basis points during the pre-crisis period.  Following 2008, excess insurance participation declines among large institutions but increases modestly among small firms.  Overall, excess deposit insurance functions as a partial substitute for federal coverage, stabilizing uninsured funding without increasing delinquency rates — evidence against moral hazard.

This study examines how first-generation immigrants in the United States plan for retirement, report income, and engage with the Social Security system. The analysis combines an original anonymous survey of 120 first-generation immigrants with descriptive, correlational, and illustrative aggregate evidence constructed from Social Security Administration, Census Bureau, and related institutional data for 2013–2023. The survey results show three consistent patterns. First, retirement knowledge is limited: most respondents do not understand how Social Security benefits are calculated, yet a large majority would attend retirement-planning workshops. Second, financial behavior is shaped by legal status and labor-market formality. Tax filing rates are high overall, but underreporting incentives are stronger among respondents paid in cash and among groups facing legal or administrative uncertainty. Third, family obligations materially affect long-term planning. Many respondents prioritize supporting relatives over retirement savings, and women report lower earnings despite comparable English proficiency and, in this sample, higher educational attainment. Over 2013–2023, Social Security program income and program cost rose alongside the immigrant population, but this aggregate exercise is illustrative only, is not causal, and cannot identify immigrants’ net fiscal impact on the system. The paper’s main contribution is therefore behavioral: it shows how limited knowledge, payment formality, and family obligations shape retirement planning within a non-representative regional sample of first-generation immigrants.

We study the sinking fund provision in 1,533 nonconvertible corporate bonds issued from 1980 to 1996 with the year 1996 being the last year of inclusion for these provisions in fixed coupon non-convertible corporate bonds. The period 1980 to 1996 is classified as the period of high interest rates (Tewari, Byrd, and Ramanlal, 2015). We find that the provision addresses agency issues due to reinvestment risk, credit improvement, and growth options. When the interest rates are high, investment grade issues with sinking fund have longer maturities (> 20 years) by a ratio exceeding 4:1, while non-sinking fund issues have shorter maturities (≤ 20 years) by a ratio of about 2:1. High yield issues with sinking fund experience credit risk improvement, while non-sinking fund issues experience credit risk deterioration. When the rates are low and expected to rise, the provision is likely to present accumulation threat to the firm thereby, deterrent to its use by the firms. Also, firms use the sinking fund as a call option to capture the benefits of growth. These results suggest that the sinking fund provision has the potential to make a comeback in the corporate debt in a high-interest rate environment and when the rates are likely to fall. The current environment of persistent high rates presents conditions ripe for inclusion of the sinking fund provision in the corporate bonds.

This study examines the ethical beliefs of Turkish consumers using a modified version of the Muncy-Vitell Consumer Ethics Scale (CES). Turkey’s ethical climate faces challenges such as copyright violations, environmental pollution, deceptive advertising, unsafe products, bribery, and ethical misconduct in business and politics. Focusing on frequent purchasers, the research assesses consumer ethics in shopping behaviors. While prior studies suggest some Turkish consumers engage in unethical practices, this study reveals a heightened sensitivity toward unethical behavior among respondents. Given Turkey’s status as a Muslim-majority country, the influence of Islamic ethical principles on consumption patterns warrants deeper investigation. The findings contribute to understanding how cultural and religious values shape consumer ethics in emerging markets, offering insights for policymakers and businesses aiming to promote ethical consumption.

Using a large sample of bond rating downgrades of US firms announced by the three largest rating agencies during 1997-2023, I find that cumulative abnormal stock returns (CAR) spanning the day of and day following downgrade announcements are significantly and negatively related to annual report readability, indicating that downgrades are more informative among firms with more readable annual reports. My baseline regression results indicate that a one standard deviation improvement in annual report readability corresponds to a reduction in the announcement CAR of approximately forty-three basis points, which is economically meaningful given that it constitutes roughly 27% of the sample average announcement CAR of -1.62%. Furthermore, additional analysis reveals that the informativeness enhancing effect that better annual report readability has on rating downgrades is stronger among firms that should be more difficult to monitor and evaluate, including lower rated firms, firms with high stock return volatility, and younger firms. Overall, the results strongly support the hypothesis that well-written annual reports facilitate more timely and informative bond rating downgrades, especially among more informationally problematic firms.

This is a study about the financing of large group health insurance in the United States. Almost 8 in 10 covered employees in private large firms are enrolled in self-insured (or self-funded) health plans in contrast to only 20 percent of employees in small firms. More than half of all large standard (non-supplemental) health plans are self-insured although their number is decreasing. Considering their significantly greater risk of exposure and transaction costs, the question for scholarly investigation is why (and how) do private large firms self-fund employer-sponsored health insurance? Using plan-level data from health plan administrator filings of Forms 5500 and Summary Annual Reports (2014-2022) with the U.S. Department of Labor, six variables are examined in this study relative to large group self-insurance: industry/sectoral distribution, plan size/enrollment, plan administration, benefits coverage, plan assets and investments, and statutory compliance. Findings suggest that industry/sectoral and enrollee distributions of large health plans are not widely dispersed while their assets and investments and statutory exemptions offer comparative advantages. These plans have also increasingly relied on stop-loss insurance, third-party administration, supplemental health benefits, and less major medical plans to mitigate actuarial risks that involve considerable financial exposure to fluctuating claims costs, potential for catastrophic claims, and cash flow unpredictability. The intertwining theoretical and practical implications of large group self-insurance in healthcare finance and risk management are addressed by way of conclusion.    

In the loanable funds theory, the interest rate serves as a balancing factor between the savings offered for loans and the funds borrowed for investment. In Keynes’s theory, by contrast, it is a monetary phenomenon that balances the demand and the supply of money. At first glance, the monetary phenomenon of the interest rate may seem quite different and is often considered groundbreaking and revolutionary. In Keynes’s theory, people hold part of their savings in money to cope with uncertainty about the returns from long-term bonds, and it is savings held in money that leads the interest rate to be a monetary phenomenon. While people hold part of their savings in money, they also invest their savings by purchasing long-term bonds. The interest rate also balances savings offered, though only in part and not the whole, and funds borrowed in the bond market, as in the loanable funds theory. In this regard, Keynes’s theory and the loanable funds theory are not as strikingly different as it may first appear. The main exegetical work of Keynes’s ideas is Keynesian economics. In this theory, the interest rate is also a monetary phenomenon, as is expected of exegetical work. However, it is not due to savings held in money as in Keynes’s theory; rather, it is due to the cash holdings required for purchasing goods and services. This paper examines the differences among these three interest rate theories, the reasons behind them, and their practical implications.    

The research analyzes in depth how Beyond Budgeting influences financial results across the South African non-ferrous metal industry. The research solves the challenge of outdated budget systems alongside marketplace insecurities and operational obstacles in the examined sector. The 60-month period from 2020 through secondary financial statement analysis of non-ferrous metal firms constitutes the research approach. Financial performance analysis used a sample set of statements to conduct t-tests on paired data points for examining budgeting practice associations. Beyond Budgeting brought better revenue results to organizations but proved minimally effective in increasing profitability when associated with growing cost diversity levels. Beyond Budgeting produced enhanced revenue results but did not create substantial changes in operating profit numbers. Traditional budgeting methods proved unfit for handling the changing non-ferrous metal market environment because they produced erroneous financial prediction results. The study findings indicate South African non-ferrous metal firms should implement Beyond Budgeting for their revenue flexibility but must maintain cost control systems for profitability sustainability. Organizations should combine traditional budgeting components with Beyond Budgeting principles to attain financial security as well as market responsiveness according to research findings. Financial managers require training in adaptive budgeting and organizations should install real-time tracking systems which effectively regulate cost variances.

This study investigates the key factors influencing warehouse inventory performance at Eskom Distribution in the Gauteng Cluster using factor analysis. The aim is to identify critical elements that impact inventory management effectiveness and enhance operational performance. Eskom faces challenges in inventory control, including forecasting inaccuracies, procurement risks, and technology integration limitations, despite advancements in Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and Reorder Point (ROP) models. This research applies a quantitative approach with a positivist paradigm, using simple random sampling to select 144 respondents from a target population of 230 employees involved in inventory management. Data was collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to uncover the factors affecting warehouse performance. The study identifies three major components—operational efficiency, inventory accuracy, and record-keeping—that account for the majority of variance in performance outcomes. These findings are aligned with previous studies emphasizing the role of accurate inventory data, efficient operations, and technology in enhancing warehouse functioning. The implications suggest that Eskom and similar organizations should invest in advanced inventory management systems, improve staff training, and adopt real-time tracking solutions. Further research could explore how external disruptions and emerging technologies, such as AI and blockchain, influence inventory performance across various sectors. This study contributes valuable insights to the field of inventory management within the public sector, offering practical recommendations for improving warehouse efficiency and reducing operational delays.  

This paper examines the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) and its impact on home inflation in Bangladesh, particularly in the post-pandemic era. Examining important economic factors including the nominal exchange rate (NER), money supply (M2), industrial production (IP), and global commodity index (GCI) using monthly data from January 2002 to August 2023 helps one to grasp their combined influence on consumer price inflation (CPI). By means of Johansen cointegration and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) approaches, the study reveals important short-term and long-term dynamics. Contrary to patterns in many emerging nations, the results show that changes in exchange rates have apparently little impact on home prices. Rather, changes in the money supply and world commodities prices mostly influence inflation; the latter becomes a major factor. The study also exposes an unexpected positive link between industrial production and CPI, implying complexity in Bangladesh's production-driven economic structure. Moreover, this investigation underlines how complex monetary expansion, external commodities shocks, and devaluation of money interact to shape inflationary pressures. These results offer legislators important new perspectives and support strong monetary policies and focused involvement in world commodities markets to help to lower inflation. This study clarifies ERPT in developing countries and provides direction on inflation control techniques for Bangladesh.

Workplace stress and nurse retention are critical challenges in healthcare, affecting organizational stability and public health outcomes. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of stressors and job satisfaction on nurses’ turnover intentions in the western region of Ghana, with a focus on the moderating role of transformational leadership. Methodologically, a descriptive cross-sectional design was employed to collect data from 364 registered nurses working in four hospitals. Participants completed an online questionnaire measuring stress factors, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and transformational leadership. Structural equation modelling was employed to analyze the data using Mplus 8.3. The results revealed stressors (stress from workload, superiors, and coworkers and daily life) significantly increased nurses’ turnover intentions while negatively influencing job satisfaction. Job satisfaction was inversely associated with turnover intentions, and transformational leadership moderated this relationship, reducing the likelihood of such intentions. The findings highlight the importance of fostering job satisfaction and implementing transformational leadership strategies, such as mentorship and effective stress management, to alleviate workplace stress and enhance nurse retention. These insights offer valuable guidance for hospital administrators and policymakers in designing interventions to improve nurse retention and overall organizational performance.

Marketing effectiveness, a technique aimed at improving marketers' outreach to customers to optimise marketing expenditures, has consistently demonstrated efficacy in a highly competitive landscape. Nonetheless, its empirical mediating function continues to be a subject of inquiry among many experts. This study aimed to examine the mediating function of marketing effectiveness in the relationship between interactive marketing and the marketing performance of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the Nyanza Region, Kenya. A cross-sectional survey study approach was employed, targeting a population of 3,211 registered MSE owners in Nyanza, from which a sample size of 356 was determined using Yamane's (1967) formula. Data were gathered by questionnaires and analysed utilising descriptive and inferential statistics with SPSS version 26.0. The analysis reveals that interactive marketing significantly influences marketing performance (t = 19.933, p < 0.5); interactive marketing also significantly affects marketing effectiveness (t = 19.331, p < 0.5); furthermore, marketing effectiveness significantly impacts marketing performance (t = 15.238, p < 0.5). The indirect test indicates that marketing effectiveness, as an intervening variable, can mitigate the impact of interactive marketing on marketing performance.

Controlling corporate governance decision-making RISK is one of the prime safeguarding directives in the PCAOB’s requirement that the financials of Market Trading Firms [MTFs] are reasonably free from material error and thus are reliable indications of the results of operations. In this Corporate Governance Risk [CGR] context, it is important to understand the Interacting- & Integrated-Systemic Components of CGR and how they have evolved over time. We examine these aspects from Circa 1985 to date. We argue that the Driving Control System is: The Firm’s decision-making system of Internal Control over Financial Reporting [ICoFR] that impacts the Nature of CGR—to wit, Increasing CGRisk results as management experiences Increasing difficulties in maintaining adequate ICoFR. We examine the historical development of these systemic components and how they have spawned an Economic Sector of Firms that Rate & Score MTFs on the nature of their CGR profile, one currently predominate aspect of which is: The Nature of the MTF’s Caretaker Persona. With this as context, we present a duel-effect inferential design that examines the reliability of the Bloomberg™ Market Navigation Platform’s Institutional Shareholder Services™ [ISS]-Profiler as an information-link to be used in selecting MTFs to create CGR-sensitive Investment Portfolios. Our inferential results suggest for the MTFs in the ISS-Groups [{1: Lowest CGR} & {5: Mid-Level CGR} & {10: Highest CGR]}, it is likely that: (i) The decisions made by all involved in Management’s System of ICoFR, in its current COSO-version, are reflective of these MTF’s Caretaker Personas, (ii) The effects of these Caretaker Personas are analytically perceptible as reflected in the MTF’s Financials, and (iii) are aligned with the expected Nature of the ISS-Groups.

The fraudulent claims for Unemployment Insurance (UI) have also risen massively in the United States especially during the onset of COVID-19 pandemic with billions of dollars that were lost. These approaches applied formerly in fraud detection and prevention have been challenged by new and advanced fraud systems. For this reason, AI, Big Data and Predictive Analytics are now crucial for improving fraud mitigation in UI programs. The aim of this research is to understand how far AI, Big Data and Predictive Analytics have been utilized, for how effective they are and the barriers they pose in tackling unemployment insurance fraud in the United States. An online quantitative self-administered questionnaire was administered where 200 participants from the unemployment insurance agencies of the U.S, covering fraud investigators, IT personnel, data analysts and policymakers, were included in the study. Data were analyzed to establish the correlation between technology adoption to application of anti-fraud measures using descriptive statistics, chi-square test and regression analysis. The survey shows that about 42.5% of agencies actively use AI and 34% of them use Big Data very often. However, difficulties like high costs, integration troubles and limited availability of specialized staff are still issues that make adoption a problem. The results of using AI and Big Data were moderate and optimistic but rather elevated, as seen through regression analysis; on the other hand, predictive analytics demonstrated large potential when applied successfully. The study’s results indicate that AI, Big Data and Predictive Analytics present enormous potential for mitigating UI fraud, although broad integration will not be possible without overcoming essential infrastructural and resource limitations.

Abstract Resources and capabilities in SMEs are only advantageous when the SMEs have the potential to execute the right strategies and processes. SMEs must analyze their business environments and understand the resources available to operate efficiently and effectively and achieve a sustained performance. This study is the subject of the influence of valuable resources on performance of SMEs. This study used a cross-sectional survey design. The target population for this study comprised of 121, 680 SMEs. The research used stratified random sampling technique. The  sample size of this study was 399 SMEs. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Findings showed that there was a positive significant correlation between valuable resource and SMEs performance (r=.270; p<.01). According to the linear regression analysis valuable resources account for 7.3% of SMEs performance. According to the regression coefficients, one-unit increase in valuable resources improved SMEs performance by 0.269 units (? = 0.269). The t-statistics results showed that t = 4.778, p<0.05. Therefore, there was enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis and conclude that valuable resources have a statistically significant influence on SMEs Performance. The study concluded that valuable resource has a significant relationship with SMEs Performance. Valuable resources have a statistically significant influence on SMEs Performance. Increasing valuable resources in an SMEs will help the enterprise register higher performance. Key Words: Organizational Resources, Valuable Resources, Performance

Using A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2010 to 2019 and the density of Confucian temples and schools near sample company headquarters, this paper uses regression analysis to estimate the impact of Confucian culture on corporate environmental governance.  Enterprise environmental capital investment as a percent of total assets is the dependent variable used as a proxy for environmental governance. The log of the number of the number of Confucian temples and Confucian academies within a 200-kilometer radius of the company's registered location plus one is the independent variable. This study finds that the environmental capital expenditures increase by 0.007% for every unit increase in the independent variable. Similar results are found when the radius is expanded to 300 kilometers. The greater the influence of Confucian culture is, the more inclined enterprises are to participate in corporate environmental governance. Additionally, environmental governance information disclosure can be a key influence path for this correlation.  Further analysis finds that the relationship between Confucian culture and environmental governance is stronger with more experienced managers, a more developed institutional environment, and after 2015 following the People's Republic of China’s enactment of the Environmental Protection Law.  This study expands the literature on the factors that influence Confucian culture on corporate environmental governance, enriches the empirical evidence of the influence of the informal system of corporate environmental governance on enterprise decision-making, and confirms the modern commercial value of Confucian culture.