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This study investigated the relationship between last-mile distribution or delivery (LMD) and commodity access through the mediating role of commodity availability and commodity security and the moderating effect of supply chain integration (SCI).

The study adopted the survey research design and employed the questionnaire instrument in collecting primary data from respondents in Eastern Regional Health Institutions in Ghana. The total number of valid responses received was 204. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was adopted to analyze the relationship between the study variables.

The findings showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between LMD and commodity availability as well as LMD and commodity security. Moreover, while the relationship between commodity availability and commodity access is positive and significant, that between commodity security and commodity access is positive but insignificant. Furthermore, there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between LMD and commodity access. The study discovered that the interaction between LMD and commodity access is insignificant and negatively affected by SCI.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous studies have empirically verified the effect of LMD on commodity access in the presence of mediating factors such as commodity availability and commodity security and SCI as the moderating factors.

This study aims to conduct a systematic review of existing literature on ageism among older informal workers, as most studies have focused on formal work settings. Specifically, it seeks to identify the scope and characteristics of ageism that older informal workers encounter and its influence on their work and well-being.

This paper follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) framework to conduct a systematic review. Eleven studies from six databases were included and thematically analysed.

The findings revealed four main themes: the contextual nature of ageism, dimensions of work-related ageism, navigating work-related challenges, and effects on well-being. These themes highlight that, despite being perceived as experienced and reliable, older informal workers face exclusion from work opportunities as they are perceived as unproductive and less capable of acquiring new skills. These negative perceptions significantly impacted their willingness to continue working and overall well-being.

The findings offer an overview of extant research and the direction for future research and policy interventions to address ageism among older informal workers. The findings are crucial for enhancing older workers' quality of life, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where population ageing is the fastest.

This study is one of the few to systematically explore and evaluate empirical evidence on ageism in the informal work sector. It thus expands existing knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon of ageism in a least explored context.

Inequality in the creative industries often serves as the starting point for public debates over culture in the UK. Academic literature has long recognised the precarious nature of the fashion industry. This chapter offers a critical review of the relationships of power existing in the support offered to ethnic minorities in disadvantaged communities in the fashion and creative sectors in the UK. In addressing these issues, a Foucauldian perspective is adopted. The chapter focuses on Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) fashion entrepreneurs’ challenges in promoting young designers from disadvantaged communities.

Our findings show that the BAME entrepreneurs are active agents who are essential in identifying and shaping new creative and talented young designers. The chapter contributes to the debate through a critical review of the relationships of power existing in the support offered to ethnic minorities in disadvantaged communities in the fashion and creative sectors in the UK.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the motivations of timber firms in Ghana to undertake environmental accounting and reporting (EAR) and the perceived benefits from it.

Survey method involving primary data from a census of 13 timber firms in Kumasi (Ghana) and descriptive statistics including Kendall’s coefficient were used to analyze the perceptions of practitioners on EAR.

The study offered support for the political economy, legitimacy and stakeholder theories generally applied to the study of EAR. Specifically, the study concluded that EAR is common to timber firms in Ghana. Pressure from government, media, shareholders’ influence and the existence of environmental committee or department in the company are perceived to influence timber firms’ level of environmental disclosure. Meanwhile, perceived benefits from EAR include fostering cordial relationship between timber firms and the society, preventing government fines and improving firm reputation.

The presence of biases in the responses of survey method studies can be difficult to eliminate. However, given the benefits associated with getting practitioners views on EAR and the reliability/validity procedures that the instruments and respondents were subjected to, this weakness was reduced to its barest minimum.

The study recommends that governments should adopt green tax policy to encourage EAR while regulatory bodies make EAR mandatory.

This study contributes to the discussion on EAR from the perspective of practitioners in the timber industry of Ghana, which has been neglected in previous studies.

In the past few years, researchers across the world have been attracted to corporate governance (CG) and sustainability studies in the banking space. However, inconsistencies remain, which have created a lack of alignment in existing research. To address this problem, this paper aims to re-examines the CG–bank sustainability relationship using a qualitative design, which has been underused in the field, to generate in-depth, useful and novel analysis and insights that may hide behind the numbers.

A qualitative inquiry was conducted using key informants in Ghana’s banking industry. This study made use of purposive and snowball sampling techniques, an interview guide and the thematic approach to qualitative data analysis.

Firstly, this research finds that while larger boards do not promote bank sustainability, those who are independent and have diversified expertise and experiences do. Secondly, CEO duality can boost bank sustainability only if the CEO is actively engaged and performing. Thirdly, this study finds that foreign-owned and managed banks make more profits only if they have good knowledge of the local market.

This research makes the call that upcoming researchers should replicate this research in other banking settings worldwide to validate the results.

Practical lessons for local and foreign-owned banks and their shareholders are discussed to advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 8.

This research shares novel insights that offer clarity to the literature and move the CG and sustainability fields forward.

Recent socio-economic trends have made Artificial intelligence (AI) a vital institutional force driving development among countries with optimal opportunities and costs. Among researchers in this domain, the benefit of AI is highly espoused, having been underexplored in Africa. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to strengthen the education sector, given that many schools have migrated their teaching and learning online. While face-to-face teaching was the norm, the transition to online teaching has brought about the need to rethink the use of Information Technology to strengthen teaching and learning. To proffer solutions for the implementation of AI in Africa, there is the need to understand the challenges. Therefore, in this chapter, we explore the possible challenges that hinder the implementation of AI in Africa. Further, we propose solutions for the implementation of AI in the education sector, especially in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic. The solutions stem from rethinking the role of AI in the education sector. Finally, a conceptual framework that synthesises the problems and the proposed solution is developed. We envision that the proffered solutions can mitigate the deepening misconceptions and challenges bedevilling AI implementation in Africa.

The Asian banking system has been appreciated with many distinct qualities including consistent in profitability. Many studies have examined the profitability of Asian banking sector from diverse perspectives. However, studies on bank profitability in connection to the capital structure, operating efficiency and non-interest income are only a few. This study investigates the influence of capital structure as estimated by leverage ratio and long-term debt, operating efficiency and non-interest income on the profitability of the banking industry in 28 countries of Asia.

This paper utilizes fixed effect regression model by involving panel data with sample of 492 banks from 28 countries of Asia for the time span of 15 years from 2004 to 2018.

The results confirm that an increase in total debt ratio increases the profit margin of the bank as supported by the agency cost theory, suggesting that the debt financing increases the profitability of the firm. In addition, the findings reveal that lowering the operating expenses and managing of costs effectively can boost the profitability of bank. Furthermore, non-interest income plays a vital role when the interest rates are lower. Hence the study suggests that a careful investment in this sector can generate income as well as increase the profit margin of the banking arena.

The paper examines the profitability of bank by including impact of leverage ratio and long-term debt as a measure of capital structure along with the influence of operational efficiency and non-interest income which contributes to the understanding of the existing literature.

This study aims to determine the number of companies involved in earnings manipulation. Additionally, this study has empirically investigated the common manipulation items among the companies.

Bangladesh's listed commercial banks are selected as a sample for this study, and financial data from 2009 to 2018 were collected. The likely and nonlikely manipulator Beneish model (1999) divides the sample into two groups. Based on the M-score of the model, the banks are put into two groups. To identify the most influential variables, an independent sample t-test was done with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

The findings show that banks in Bangladesh have an unstable trend in making manipulated financial reports. Results of the t-test reveal that overstating revenues, increasing intangible assets, lessening cost and accruals are the most appealing items for preparing a fraudulent financial report. The findings of this research work will help the investors take the right decision having the idea of manipulation in the banking sector of Bangladesh.

In the presence of many irregularities in the banking sector Bangladesh, very few studies have been carried out in forensic accounting and fraudulent financial reporting practices. Much research has focused on earnings management techniques. This research specifically focuses on identifying earnings manipulation in financial statements for micro-level variables like accounting accruals, intangible assets, etc. This will help policy-makers and financial statement readers to be proactive while reading financial statements and taking any investment decision.

This study aims to examine the strategies that can be adopted to enhance the practice of circular economy (CE) principles among built environment (BE) firms operating in the Ghanaian Construction Industry (GCI).

A structured questionnaire survey was used to solicit the views of 162 BE professionals working in construction, consulting, and developer firms on the issue under investigation. The questionnaire was developed through a review of related literature and complemented with a pilot review. Data were analysed by descriptive and inferential statistics.

The findings revealed four major categories of strategies (i.e. systems and technical related strategies, market orientation and operational strategies, knowledge dissemination and awareness-related strategies, and environmental and regulatory strategies) to promote the practice of the principles of CE among BE professionals in the GCI.

This study’s findings provide insights into an under-investigated topic in the construction industry, especially, in a developing country such as Ghana, and offer new and additional information and insights into the current state-of-the-art on CE implementation.