The nighttime economy has always been an important part of tourism in Thailand. The alcohol industry contends that lifting alcohol restrictions will promote tourism and, consequently, generate additional income. Endogenous Growth Theory, however, emphasizes on investing in human capital, innovation, and knowledge as the most important factors that affect economic growth for a nation. Alcohol consumption incurs opportunity costs, as households lose financial resources and time that could be invested in children’s development. Relaxing control measures to promote alcohol consumption should impede economic development by diminishing the quality of human resources. The paper, therefore, aims to estimate the impact of alcohol consumption on economic growth by using 1990–2019 annual data from Thailand. By adopting Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach, the results reveal that alcohol consumption has significant and negative effects on economic growth in the long run. The statistic tests demonstrate no presence of serial correlation, heteroskedasticity, as well as, endogeneity problems. The finding has been corroborated in international studies, in which alcohol consumption contributes to substantial social and economic costs of the society.

Constructed wetlands have emerged as a sustainable alternative for decentralized wastewater treatment in developing countries which face challenges with urbanization and deteriorating infrastructure. This paper discusses the key factors affecting the implementation of constructed wetlands in developing countries. A case study research design was adopted, which focused on Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. A mixed-method approach was adopted for the study. Spatial analysis was conducted to identify potential sites for constructed wetlands in the city of Bulawayo. Semi structured interviews were conducted, with relevant stakeholders, such as town planners, civil engineers, NGO representatives, community leaders, and quantity surveyors. The findings reveal that political reforms, public acceptance, land availability, and funding are crucial for the successful implementation of constructed wetlands. Additionally, four sites were identified as the most favorable preliminary locations for these systems. The paper captures all the key factors relevant to the implementation of constructed wetlands (CWs) with a closer look at policy and the role it plays in the adoption of decentralized wastewater treatment systems. Formulating policy around the decentralized sanitation systems was considered imperative to the success of the systems whether in implementation or in operation. The paper adds to knowledge in the subject of sustainable wastewater treatment alternatives for developing countries. However, further research can be conducted with a different methodology to ascertain the applicability of the systems in developing urban cities considering other important aspects in the implementation of wastewater treatment systems.

The well-being of society can be realized through meeting basic needs, one of which is providing public infrastructure. This study examines the role of Natural Resource Revenue Sharing Funds (DBH SDA) on government investment in infrastructure in 491 regencies/cities in Indonesia. The testing in this research uses panel data regression analysis. The results show that per capita DBH SDA in Indonesia during the study period of 2010–2012 has a significant and positive influence on government investment in infrastructure. The selection of this period is based on the consideration that a resources boom has occurred, where there is an increased global demand for natural resource commodities followed by an increase in commodity prices, thereby positively impacting revenue for countries or regions abundant in natural resources. Despite DBH SDA having a significant and positive influence, regional spending on infrastructure tends to be more influenced by central government transfers such as General Allocation Fund (DAU), Special Allocation Fund (DAK), and Local Own-source Revenue (PAD). It was found that government investment in infrastructure tends to be influenced by transfer funds, indicating that the role of the central government remains significant in determining the infrastructure expenditure of regencies/cities in Indonesia.

The COVID-19 epidemic caused unexpected complications, complexities and challenges in higher educational institutions (HEIs). In order to promote and strengthen the role of women leadership, this study aimed to clarify the unique challenges faced by female leaders at Saudi HEIs during the epidemic, find possible solutions to these challenges, and provide policy as well as management implications. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted, examining 27 records (i.e., research papers, articles and conference studies). The data were qualitatively analysed and categorized based on themes like challenges faced, opportunities recognized, and solutions proposed. Findings highlighted women leaders in Saudi HEIs grappled with multiple challenges, including technological barriers, cultural constraints, and increased workloads. Merging challenges with solvable strategies offers a forward-looking perspective, advocating for systemic changes that can shape a resilient and inclusive future for HEIs in Saudi Arabia.

The creation of points where law, politics and education policies take intersection is a very complex and dynamic environment determined by philosophical shifts, economic problems, and social dynamics. This study dissects various complicated challenges facing the process of the framing of educational policies and their implementation which have become rampant due to the rapid political transformations. The researched evaluation is applied via both qualitative and quantitative methods, including juridical research, case and best practices studies and surveys, with the descriptive nature of the research as the main tool. The heart of the essay is three main themes - the contention between the rigidity of the academic standards and the holistic growth of students, its possible effects when students are too identified with a test-centric approach as their knowledge is sacrificed for their test scores, and the inclusion of rights and protections for underrepresented populations even when faced with a government’s resistance. Similarly, the research examines the perils of creating legislation too quickly, especially, because of unexpected side effects and interpretation conflicts. Findings show profound demographic differentials over districts which implies the designing and implementation of policies need to be modified accordingly. Unless a certain policy brings the best outcomes in the learning process, then nobody should choose it even if it means disrupting student well-being and decreasing their involvement. It is also emblematic of how cross-party cooperation and stakeholders’ understanding are important aspects of fairly dealing with complicated policy environments.

This study investigated the changing land use patterns and their impacts on ecosystem in the Teesta River Basin of northwestern Bangladesh. Although anthropocentric land use patterns, including agricultural land use, settlements, built areas, and waterbody loss, have been increasing in the Nilphamari district, by negatively affecting local ecosystems, they have not been identified by prior research. Limitations of contemporary literature motivated me to work on this crucial ground in the Teesta River Basin in Northwestern Bangladesh. This study applied a mixed research approach to identify the study objectives. Firstly, the land use and land cover (LULC) changes which occurred between 2000 and 2020 were detected using satellite imagery and supervised classification method. In addition to the detection of LULC changes, the study explored the people’s perceptions and experiences about the ecosystem changes resulted from the LULC changes over the last 20 years, conducting stakeholders’ consultations and household surveys utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire. The findings indicated that waterbodies in Nilphamari district have significantly decreased from 378 km² in 2000 to 181 km² in 2020. In the same way, the vegetation coverage has reduced 187 km² between the years 2000 and 2020. On the contrary, agricultural lands (croplands) have increased from 595 km² to 905 km² and settlements have increased from 81 km² to 206 km² between the years 2000 and 2020. From the chi-square test, it was found a significant association between ecosystem change and biodiversity loss. It was further identified that waterbody decreases have significant impacts on aquatic ecosystems. The results of this study also indicated that due to the introduction of foreign tree species, local and native species have been significantly decreasing over the time. This study emphasizes the non-anthropocentric and inclusive land use policy implications for protecting life on land and preserving the aquatic ecosystem in Bangladesh.