Business Commons^™

Impact Of Capital Structure On Performance Of Microfinance Institutions, Rukhsana Bibi, Naveed Raza, Attiya Yasmin Javid

Business Review

Microfinance institutions play a crucial role in poverty alleviation and provide financial services to low-income households. Microfinance growth rate is quite high in Asia but an undesirable development is achieved due to high borrowing cost and inadequate reserves. For microfinance institutions, there is a need to determine a suitable mix of financing to stay sustainable. This study examines the impact of capital structure on the performance of microfinance institutions in Asia. Using a unique unbalanced panel data set of 253 microfinance institutions from 2000 to 2015, performance is measured in terms of sustainability, financial performance, social performance and efficiency. It …

Public Debt Sustainability Measures And Its Growth Implications For The Nigerian Economy, O. W. Gobna, G. Usman, S. S. Mohammed

Economic and Financial Review

This study utilises the linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models to investigate the impact of public debt sustainability measures and its growth implications for the Nigerian economy from 1981 and 2021. The results suggest that public debt-to-oil revenue ratio (PDOR) has a significantly negative effect on economic growth both in the long- and short-run. It also shows that public debt-to-non-oil revenue ratio has an asymmetric effect in the short-run and a positive relationship on economic growth in the long-run. The study concludes that economic growth needs to be enhanced through improved government non-oil revenue. Therefore, to bolster economic …

How A Community Foundation’S Disaster Framework Guided Rapid Pandemic Response, Steven W. Mumford, Isabel Barrios, Kellie Chavez Greene

The Foundation Review

Disasters create opportunities for philanthropy to rebuild equitably by prioritizing the most vulnerable community members in disaster response and addressing existing disparities and structural inequities in the recovery phase. As intermediaries between donors and local communities, community foundations are well-positioned to lead transformational disaster response.

Through its experience with Hurricane Katrina and subsequent disasters in the region, the Greater New Orleans Foundation developed a flexible disaster framework that emphasizes four broad principles — resilience, sustainability, civic participation, and equity — and specific practices in each area to guide rapid and long-term disaster response and preparedness. This article describes how the …

Ethnic Entrepreneurial Success Factors: Evidence From The United Arab Emirates, Suzanna Elmassah, Reynold James, Shereen Bacheer

All Works

This paper examines how personal, business, and environmental factors influence ethnic entrepreneurial success in the UAE, against the backdrop of the nation's concerted efforts to promote entrepreneurship and foreign investments in SMEs, as the means to attaining its goals of sustainable, long term economic diversification, expansion, and enhanced performance. The study adopts a mixed methods approach to investigate the key determinants of ethnic entrepreneurial success by utilizing primary quantitative data collected via a survey of 103 entrepreneurs. In addition, qualitative data is obtained from in-depth interviews of ten expatriate entrepreneurs. Whereas the quantitative results evidenced a significant impact of one …

Knowledge Risks And Sustainability: An Empirical Study On Lebanese Knowledge-Intensive Firms, Rabih A. El Khatib, Alaaeldine Abbass Ali

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Today’s business environment is characterized by a growing number of knowledge risks. There has been a paucity of empirical research on the impact of knowledge risks on business sustainability. This paper looks at the direct and indirect consequences of knowledge risks on a firm's sustainability. A questionnaire was administered with a sample of 427 respondents from Lebanese knowledge-intensive firms. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the research framework. The findings indicate that knowledge risks and knowledge loss have a direct and significant detrimental impact on business sustainability. The performance of organizations has a direct and significant positive impact …

Does Citizens’ Involvement Reflect Sustainability In Smart Cities?, Zeina Mazloum

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Though being highlighted for years as a core driver for smart cities to advance, a small body of research revealed the significant role of citizens in contributing to smart cities’ maturity and sustainability. This paper emphasizes the importance of citizens’ involvement in the decision-making process in smart cities through obtaining a high quality of life, ensuring rapid urban growth, attracting brains, talents, and skills in addition to raising productivity. All these serve as solid foundations for sustainability in smart cities and opens doors wide for future studies.

The Asymmetric Relationship Between Foreign Direct Investment, Oil Prices And Carbon Emissions: Evidence From Gulf Cooperative Council Economies, Sania Ashraf, Jithin P, Zaghum Umar

All Works

We investigate the asymmetric nonlinear link between foreign direct investment, oil prices, and CO2 emissions for the Gulf Cooperation Council nations, using foreign direct investment and oil price data. As foreign direct investment is positively associated with carbon emissions in the long run and oil prices have positive, significant effects on CO2 emissions, our findings support the pollution-haven hypothesis. Furthermore, these variables have an asymmetric nonlinear relationship, which corresponds to the theoretical expectations of the pollution-haven hypothesis. We also find that negative changes in foreign direct investment have positive, significant impacts on carbon emissions in the short run, implying that …

Investing Green To Become More Green: An Analysis Of Whether S&P 100 Companies Are Decreasing Their Carbon Footprint Proportional To Their Liquidity, Ashley Hendler, Ethan Hunter

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

Global warming may have ignited the flame in corporations to invest in the changing business and environmental climate. The importance of a broader stakeholder value perspective has grown as firms have impacted the global environment. The S&P 100 firms are at the forefront of the public’s attention in maximizing shareholder and stakeholder value. With the worldwide expectation for corporate social responsibility, these top firms are not in question of whether they are investing in sustainability initiatives but to what extent. We seek to decipher if these top corporations are reducing their carbon footprint proportional to their excess available funds. Since …

Ideal, Arnielle Dasha B. Baylon, Eron Gabriel G. Diadula, Angelique S. Glorioso, Isaiah C. Miranda, Lorine Ann D. Noguera

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

Isolation brought by the pandemic encouraged everyone to find a new hobby that helped the gardening industry grow and flourish. Due to this given opportunity, IDEAL decided to create a sustainable gardening kit named Plantify as a way to promote sustainability and motivate everyone to have a positive environmental impact. The primary venture of the business is selling gardening kits to experienced gardeners and to people who want to try a new hobby. IDEAL is a sole proprietorship business with a horizontal structure where each member is responsible for managing the business depending on their various roles. Each member has …

Preferences Of Filipino Consumers On Personal Hygiene Products: An Inside Look On Traditional And Sustainable Options, Daniella Louise S. Barbacena, Jose Gabriel T. Clutario, Lorenzo Miguel P. Gutierrez, Graciela Gabrielle A. Lasiste, Don King Razon

DLSU Senior High School Research Congress

The sustainability trend in the market requires businesses to change their usual models and mechanisms of producing goods to cater to consumer preferences. These preferences mainly revolve around the product's brand, price, and accessibility, impacting consumers' choices, priorities, and decisions (Gutierrez & Seva, 2016; Rappler, 2013; Longo et al., 2019). This study investigated more in-depth factors affecting an individual's purchase and non-purchase of sustainable personal hygiene products in the market: bamboo toothbrushes and shampoo bars. For the grounded theory inquiry, participants ages 16-20 from the National Capital Region of the Philippines were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were conducted asking about their …

“Green” Marketing In The Apparel Industry: The Spectrum Of Veracity, Stephanie R. Keane

Honors Theses in Science, Technology, and Society

Apparel companies’ propensity for manipulation in their marketing of environmental initiatives contributes to immense environmental pollution from petrochemical textile material production. Public scrutiny pressures these businesses to adopt “green” initiatives to avoid losing devoted consumers. In some cases, these initiatives disguise the real operations of a company or claim benignity for the company when this is not the reality. Previous business ethics research analyzed the emergence of “greenwashing” in corporations and thus concluded that corporations market themselves as eco-friendly to portray commodification as sustainable. In the form of case studies, this paper scrutinizes four companies: Zara, Patagonia, Lululemon, and Pact. …

Effective Green Marketing Strategies On Social Media: Selling Companies And Their Consumers On Investing In Carbon Offsetting And Solar Energy In 2021, Melvin Richard Springer Iv

Honors Theses

In a digital world where consumers and businesses alike care significantly about sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR), the success of startup companies hinges on constant, clear, and thoughtful communication. Through my research into successfully marketing such concerns on social media as well as my internship at Clearloop, I discovered some of the best ways to convince both companies and consumers that preserving the planet should be a primary concern for every environmentally conscious company. Companies that ignore their impacts on the environment are synonymous with companies doomed to fail in the 21^st century. Clearloop’s model of partnering with …

Nevada Economic Development And Public Policy 2022-2026: A Sustainable Future For All Nevadans, The Lincy Institute, Brookings Mountain West

Policy Briefs and Reports

This report evaluates economic development efforts in the State of Nevada since the 2011 publication of Unify, Regionalize, Diversify: An Economic Development Agenda for Nevada; assesses demographic and economic trends for Nevada and its regions; examines how state and federal actions since the onset of COVID-19 can position Nevada and its regions to address long-standing economic, educational, and social deficits; and offers policy recommendations to be implemented in the next four years to facilitate a sustainable future for all Nevadans.

Support New Business To Solve Old Problems With Kentucky’S Keystone Waste From Bourbon & Brewing, Samuel C. Kessler

Commonwealth Policy Papers

Provided here is a policy solution from the backside of Kentucky bourbon and brewing to upcycle Kentucky’s “keystone” wastes and grow businesses in the process. Potential effects range from removing the bottleneck on bourbon production and producing GHG-friendly biogas to lowering the price of milk.This full whitepaper brief provides an incentive model for keystone wastes which have a provider and a use. It is equally applicable for policymakers or advocates wishing to place a policy incentive behind waste-to-product upcycling, businesses involved with methane sequestration & renewable biogas energy, and shifting regulatory and penalizing models of pollution into incentive model for …

Understanding Transparency In Supply Chains, Lucy N. Buck

Haslam Scholars Projects

The purpose of this thesis paper is to examine what standards should be used for supply chain product transparency across industries to satisfy the needs of external stakeholders, specifically Gen Z consumers. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in supply chain management with growing stakeholder pressure, strict government regulations, and scarcity of resources. A scenario-based role-playing experiment is conducted using descriptive vignettes to measure Gen Z consumer reactions to the following factors: timing of transparency, type of product, and type of sustainability.

Online survey methods are used involving 33 students in one of the Honors and Scholars Programs at the University …

Sustainability, A Competitive Advantage In The Corporate World, Samantha Kennelly

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract: Over the years, society has become more aware of the impact they leave on the environment. For this reason, many are wondering what can be done to curb their footprint, and research has shown that customers now more than ever are demanding more sustainable goods. The aim of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of the relationship between corporate social responsibility, consumer desires, and sustainability as a competitive advantage. I will first discuss the history and present factors surrounding environmental problems, in particular marine plastic pollution, we face today. I will define microplastics and marine plastics and …

Sustainability In Construction Practices As Emphasis On Environmental Investing In Esg Model Grows, Maddie Heal

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to emphasize the importance of growing investment on environmental initiatives in business ESG models in regard to sustainable practices in construction. The ESG acronym is known as the environmental, social, and governance efforts that businesses strive to incorporate in their models to increase the responsibility of operations.

Investors continue to seek out responsible businesses when choosing which ventures to pursue. The analysis of the current construction crisis, current investments in the right direction of Eco-friendly design regarding construction, and the threats and benefits incentivizing those investments elucidates the need to emphasize socially responsible investment …

Effects Of Economic Development Status And Eco-Product On Consumption Values: From The Perspective Of Us Consumers, Mostafa Zaman

Doctoral Dissertations

Consumers select a product based on numerous product characteristics. Numerous studies conducted earlier revealed that consumers in developing countries preferred products made in western or developed countries because their product quality is better than the quality of local products (Lee & Nguyen, 2017; Dao & Heidt, 2018; Rodrigo et al., 2019). Moreover, consumers are increasingly concerned about manufacturers’ environmental issues. Although ethical consumers believe that eco-products could save the environment, some consumers are not concerned about the eco-products and thus select products based on other product attributes (Joshi & Rahman, 2015). Hence, it becomes very challenging for retailers to select …

Big Business, Small Plastic, Hannah Johnson

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Online Atmospherics In Second-Hand Retail, Hope Manuel

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Within the retail sector, two sections have grown drastically with the help of each other in the past decade. Those two sections include online retail and second-hand retail. Online retail has grown remarkably due to the implementation of online atmospherics. This phenomenon led to the purpose of this study: to observe the online atmospherics present in online second-hand retail. To achieve this purpose, the literature related to online retail, target audience, motivations of consumers, reselling, and online second-hand apps was explored. For this study, five online second-hand retail sites were chosen. Eighteen of the most common online atmospherics were observed …

From Fast Fashion To Sustainable Slow Fashion, Isabel Agatha Millward-Pena

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to express a need for sustainability within the fast fashion industry, in the form of cultural movement that acts as alternative to the current means of production, consumption, and philosophies. Sustainability within current popular discourses is often human-centered and lacking authenticity, thus I aim to highlight an alternative that is opposite of that. In doing such, I bring to light the negative effects of the industry through a case study on the fast fashion company SHEIN, who claim to be making sustainable efforts. I analyzed SHEIN’s 2021 Sustainability and Social Impact Report (SSIR), focusing …

Nio's Battery-As-A-Service Strategy, Shantanu Bhattacharya, Lipika Bhattacharya

Asian Management Insights

A game changer in the EV industry?

Sustainability In Web Development Through Energy Efficiency, Hannah Bebinger

Honors Projects

As global internet usage expands, websites are growing in both size and complexity. Contrary to the common belief that the internet is immaterial and “environmentally friendly”, web pages have significant negative environmental impacts (Frick, 2015). Websites contribute to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and electricity consumption. Considering the current climate crisis, it is crucial that web developers be aware of the impact that their work has on the environment and actively work to improve site energy efficiency. With a lack of regulation and awareness, the environmental impact of websites has remained unchecked despite growing concerns for sustainability. Further research and …

Role Of Ngos In Skill Development And Promotion Of Micro-Entrepreneurship Among Women:A Study Of Allahabad District, Shefali Nandan, Anjali Kushwaha

Management Dynamics

Entrepreneurship is a catalytic agent for promoting economic independence among women. Skill development forms an important prerequisite towards entrepreneurship development. This case-based study makes an attempt to identify the role played by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in promoting micro-entrepreneurship among women through skill development. It identifies the type and the nature of skills imparted by NGOs to women and the types of economically viable activities started by these women after skill development. The paper also aims at identifying the role played by the NGOs in sustainability of these businesses. It is an exploratory, qualitative research, where multiple-case study method was used. …

Supply Chain Sustainability In The Fashion Industry, Quinn Hanley

Honors Projects

Sustainability in the fashion industry has become an important topic recently for both retailers and consumers. Through my research I will be laying out what supply chain sustainability is, how it relates to the fashion industry, as well as how companies are doing it well or poorly. I will be using both scholarly pieces and other articles online to perform my research on the topic, to find a more in-depth understanding of how companies are affecting the world around us as well as the people around us. My goal with this research is to educate consumers about how supply chain …

Energy Literacy In Portugal: A System Map And Framework To Increase Energy Literacy Through The Renewable Energy Transition, Molly S. Fox

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Western society lives with a great dependence and an almost simultaneous ignorance of energy consumption (van den Broek, 2019). The systemic landscape of energy knowledge and dissemination is more critical than ever as Portugal races to meet decarbonization goals. This paper fills a knowledge gap by updating the current social landscape of energy literacy in Portugal through a comprehensive system map and framework to increase energy literacy levels through the renewable energy transition. By conducting a semi-systematic literature review, meta-narratives and themes were identified and used to create theoretical concepts, a framework, and a system map. This research found that …

Socio-Cultural And Economic Impacts Of Religious Festivals On Sustainable Local Community Livelihoods In Kerala: The Case Of Palakkad, Dr. Bindu V T Nair, Aiswarya Babu N

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Festivals depict the heritage, culture, and traditions of a particular region. They create a state of exhilaration and enthusiasm. Kerala is a state in southwest India with its own distinct culture and traditions. The state is also known for its religious pluralism. This study attempts to understand the perceived impact of religious festivals on the local community livelihoods in Palakkad, a district in central Kerala. Twelve temples in which religious festivals are held annually, with attendance in the range of thousands, were selected. The selected temples are famous for hosting specific religious festivals which attract a large number of visitors, …

Microfinance Sustainability In A Digitalised Economy, M. A. Adebiyi, T. S. Olusegun, J. Yakubu

Economic and Financial Review

The study examines microfinance sustainability in a digitalised economy using a panel dataset of 1,314 microfinance banks in Nigeria spanning 2012 to 2020. The results show that digitalisation poses significant threats to microfinance sustainability in Nigeria. The industry presently faces strong competition from commercial banks and Fintech companies, and is characterised by a low capital base, product innovation and market penetration, high transaction costs, and some idiosyncratic risks. The study suggests that microfinance institutions should leverage their large customer base by utilising digital innovations. Regulatory agencies should ensure that Fintech services are adequately regulated, affordable, and easily accessible to microfinance …

A Proposed Governance Model For The Adoption Of Geoparks In Australia, Alan Briggs, David Newsome, Ross Dowling

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: Good governance is crucial in establishing and managing geoparks and is a requirement by UNESCO if global status is to be achieved. Australia has three levels of government, government agencies and not for profit organisations that can assist in the reintroduction of geoparks to Australia. This paper examines a range of governance models used by UNESCO Global Geoparks. Design/methodology/approach: This paper explores mechanisms that could be applied in the reintroduction of geoparks into Australia and considers how future geoparks might be managed. The suggested model is based on a review of existing UNESCO Global Geopark governance and their management …

Beyond Fueling Our Bodies To Feeding Our Minds, Alicia Orea-Giner Dr., Francesc Fusté-Forné

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

Food consumption in tourism is linked with creating sustainable experiences and promoting a new way of being fed and eating. This research note analyzes the relationship between new trends in food consumption and food tourism. From a descriptive approach, it reveals the meaningful connection between producers and consumers. Food tourism stakeholders should consider applying segmentation techniques to personalize its offer and create unique food experiences. Further research is required, especially concerning the Gen Z lifestyles and its impact on the future of food tourism.