Explore the vast range of titles available.

This study investigated the influence of tourism on sustainable development while considering institutional quality as a moderating variable. Moreover, exchange rate, urbanization, household consumption, per capita income and renewable energy per capita were also essential factors in determining sustainable development. The sample consists of 64 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries from 2003–2018. The outcomes of the two-step system GMM confirmed the statistically significant and positive dynamic nature of sustainable development and its relationship with tourism and other determinants at a significance level of 1% for BRI countries. Institutional quality enhanced the 4.693% sustainability path to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) agenda with regionally interconnected countries at significance level of 1%. Renewable energy per-capita and income per-capita played a significant and positive role, while the exchange rate, household consumption, and urbanization negatively influenced by hurting thd path of sustainable development. The current research findings have valuable contributions to academics as it offers novel insights about the 0. 351% influence of tourism on sustainable development at significance level of 1%, and it proposes valued suggestions to policymakers concerning tourism development strategies.

This study attempts to determine the untapped factors that affect sustainable development in 64 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries from 2006 to 2019. The study employed the two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) validated through Two-stage Least Square (2SLS). The findings of system-GMM revealed a significant dynamic nature of the relationship between sustainable development and its determinants. Findings demonstrate that financial development, financial inclusion, energy efficiency ratio, per capita health expenditure, per capita income growth, governance, and integration of before and after BRI dummy show a significant positive impact by contributing to BRI countries’ sustainable development path. However, e-government, natural resource rent, macroeconomic conditions, and government size have a significant but negative effect by hurting sustainable development. Integration of BRI further enhances and promotes a country and regional sustainable development path. Therefore, better regional policies for financial development, financial inclusion for poverty alleviation, and e-government development are required, boosting per-capita income and sustainable development in the coming years. The study concludes that BRI country’s natural resources rent contributes to national saving but declines the natural resources. Also, it endorses the theory that a nation should adopt the “Hartwick rule” to reinvest rents from the depletion of the natural resources in reproducible capital forms to shift from a weak sustainable path. This study also proposes significant policy implications for balanced and sustainable growth in light of the current research findings.

This study evaluates the nexus of regional integration, socioeconomic determinants and sustainable development (SD) by investigating the effect of health, humans and age structure on sustainable development, with the regional integration (RI) as the moderating variable. Socioeconomic determinants have an important role in sustainable development, while regional integration has fueled up the development process. The sample is based on 64 Belt and Road (BRI) countries from 2003–2018. Pair-wise correlation results indicate that human development, health expenditure and age structure showed a positive relationship with sustainable development. Two-step System-GMM direct effect outcomes are mixed and reveal that human development, health expenditure per capita, age structure, governance index and population size have a positive impact on sustainable development. On the other hand, e-government, government size, and globalization showed negative effects on SD. Apart from that, the moderating channel of regional integration (RI), interaction term with human development and health expenditure, showed a significant and positive impact on sustainable development. However, age structure interaction with regional integration showed a negative impact on SD. Other socio-economic factors, i.e., governance index and population contribute positively towards SD. It can be concluded that the dynamic nature of sustainable development is positive and the net present value is increasing. Therefore, BRI countries are on the sustainable path from 2003–2018, as suggested by economic and social welfare theory. The integration of BRI can be labeled as an entrance to successful sustainable development. However, weak e-government systems, globalization and government resources need to be utilized amicably in Belt and Road countries. Driscoll-Kraay standard-errors regression confirmed and validated the two-step System-GMM results. The findings of the current research have important policy implications for balanced and sustainable growth.

This study aims to determine the role of globalization, electronic government, financial development, concerning the moderation of institutional quality in reducing income inequality and poverty in One Belt One Road countries. The electronic government and regional integration of the economies of the One Belt One Road countries has increased globalization and can play a vital role in reducing income inequality and poverty. However, this globalization and digital transformation of government systems can only be beneficial in the presence of good institutional quality. The sample includes 64 One Belt One Road countries from 2003 to 2018. We employed a two-step system generalized method of moment (Sys-GMM) and a robustness check through Driscoll–Kraay standard errors regression. Our findings show that globalization, economic growth, e-government development, government expenditure, and inflation have a statistically significant and negative impact on income inequality and are key to eradicating income inequality and poverty. On the other hand, financial development, gross capital formation, and population size positively influence income inequality, which causes an increase in poverty and income inequality as financial development and population levels increase. Moderating variable institutional quality also positively impacts income inequality, which means that institutional quality in Belt and Road Countries is weak, as they are mostly developing countries that need to improve their systems. Moreover, the marginal effect also revealed that institutional quality has a corrective effect on the factors’ relationship with income inequality. Our findings endorse and conclude that globalization and e-government development improve economic growth and eradicate poverty and income inequality by boosting digitalization, investments, job creation, and wage increases for semi-skilled and unskilled human capital in Belt and Road countries. The sustainable utilization of financial and institutional resources plays a vital role in reducing income inequality and poverty in Belt and Road countries.

This study examines the dual-edged role of digital finance (DF) and regional innovation (RI) in shaping corporate excess leverage (CEL) within China’s swiftly evolving economic landscape. Drawing on a comprehensive panel dataset of 1200 firm-year observations from Chinese listed firms (2011–2020). Combining theories of optimal capital structure, credit market dynamics and systemic risk, we employ fixed effects, two-stage least squares, system GMM and quantile regression techniques. The findings reveal a nuanced paradox: while digital finance significantly expands credit access, it simultaneously exacerbates corporate leverage, challenging the narrative that technological innovations invariably democratize financial markets. Moreover, regional innovation, contrary to Schumpeterian expectations, fails to independently mitigate leverage risk without robust institutional frameworks, exposing systemic vulnerabilities in debt-driven ecosystems. Notably, our analysis reveals significant heterogeneity across ownership structures: state-owned enterprises (SOEs) exploit regional innovation for policy-driven objectives and escalate leverage, whereas private firms (POEs) face heightened risks from unregulated DF due to agency costs and weaker safeguards. The study advances existing theoretical perspectives by (1) bridging the credit expansion and financial constraint framework; (2) refining the resource-based review, highlighting that state-backed resources distort innovation‒leverage dynamics, amplifying financial instability in SOEs; and (3) extending agency theory to the financial ecosystem, where regulatory asymmetries and information gaps intensify managerial risk-taking. Practically, we propose adaptive policies: AI-driven surveillance in innovation hubs for real-time risk mitigation and institutional capacity-building in underdeveloped regions to balance financial inclusion with stability.

This research aimed to determine the dynamic endogeneity nexus among energy consumption (EC), financial development (FD), foreign direct investment (FDI), globalization (GI), and urbanization (URBAN). The study used 64 countries’ annual panel data on “the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)” from 2009 to 2019. Moreover, it employed a two-step system GMM, robust and results, that indicates financial development and urbanization are positively correlated with energy consumption, suggesting that these two factors raise the energy demand. Contrastingly, globalization negatively impacts energy demand, implying that global connectivity is essential for BRI countries. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has a positive but insignificant connection with energy consumption. Additionally, the Granger causality test was employed to explore the causal association among the variables, and outcomes reveal a bidirectional causal connection between FD and energy consumption. The study also suggests sustainable energy policy implications, which will be helpful to policymakers and governments for ensuring a balanced, sustainable growth. JEL Code: P48; P25; Q4; F6; G00; E2

This paper is to investigate the relationship between managerial activities, marketing activities, human resource activities, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) performance. In this study, the cross-sectional research design was used, and data was collected from 362 SMEs located in Pakistan by using a questionnaire and analyzed thorough statistical package for social analysis (SPSS). Correlation analysis was used to show the association between variables under investigation. Regression analysis was adopted to establish the relationship between managerial activities, marketing activities, human resource activities, and small and medium enterprise (SMEs) performance. The results demonstrated that all the variables are positively correlated with each other understudy. The results indicated that managerial activities, marketing activities, and human resource activities have a positive association with SME's performance. The results also demonstrated that marketing activities have the most active association with firm performance, among other variables.

The conventional finance theories, including Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), assume rational agents at the core of all investment decisions and overlook how real people make decisions. Practically, however, investment behavior differs and is dependent on the type of investor. This study aims to examine the behavioral biases in investment decision making by using the moderating role of investor’s type (IT). A survey-based questionnaire was designed and circulated to accumulate the feedback of small investors in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). An investment decision making was modeled with disposition effect (DE), herding (HE) effect, and overconfidence (OC) bias, whereas an IT was taken as a moderating variable. Multiple regressions were employed to test the effect of different behavioral biases on investment decision making. Twostage least square (2SLS) regressions were used for the moderating effect of IT. The findings depicted that DE, HE bias, and OC biases have a significant and positive impact on investment decisions. However, the investor prevails that in DE, such a moderating role is not present, and the positive moderating role of OC bias in the investment decision portrayed. Additionally, IT has a negative moderating role in HE bias. The outcomes postulated that active investors show more OC bias, while inactive investors are more inclined toward HE bias. The findings of the study may have important policy implications for investment analysts and policymakers in terms of educating investors and ensuring better decision making.

This paper aims to highlight the role of mutual assistance of China and Pakistan’s regional connectivity through the China‑Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and show what lessons can be learned by Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). CPEC promotes trade, FDI, peace, and sustainable socio‑economic development, and it can help to alleviate the effects of COVID–19 in the region to promote socio‑economic development. In this study, we employed the Rolling Window Approach (Rolling Moving Average Approach) for data analysis of pre‑ and post‑COVID–19. It also focuses on before and after the CPEC initiative’s impact on the Pakistani economy through the Rolling Window Approach and graphical trends. In Pakistan, thanks to CPEC; trade, FDI, remittance, and the stock exchange (PSX) showed an upward shift. Terrorism decreased, which indicates a positive sign for peace and socio‑economic development. However, currency depreciation increased, and the exchange rate trend is going up against the dollar, hurting the economy badly in several ways, such as the balance of payment, current account deficit, and lower some exports. To mitigate these issues, Pakistan and China have taken steps as trade formulated in domestic currency between China and Pakistan. During COVID–19, the provision of health care equipment on a priority basis from China helped to combat the COVID–19 effects and stabilize Pakistan’s Economy. CPEC is structured to connect regional economic zones by forming local, regional, and global value chains. To cope with the COVID–19 impacts, socio‑economic reforms and regional cooperation are suggested for CEECs with a pre‑post circumstances review. Regional integration and cooperation are key to coping with this pandemic. CEECs can learn lessons from CPEC for socio‑economic development, reducing violence, and improving the economy.

Microfinance is regarded as a tool to support the reduction of poverty and this study aims to determine its effect on poverty alleviation in the least developed area of Pakistan. The study is based on primary data collected from a sample of 250 less-educated people who had availed themselves of MFI services, and regression and crosstab analyses performed to assess the performance of microfinance in meeting basic needs, improving living standards, and the usage of microfinance to enhance income levels. The results revealed a significant, positive relationship between microfinance and poverty alleviation. The study recommends that MFIs should offer training sessions before advancing credit as most of the clients may not be well educated or skilled and need entrepreneurial skills, business knowledge, and guidance.