Although the problems created by exceeding Earth’s carrying capacity are real, a too-small population also creates problems. The convergence of a nation’s population into small areas (i.e., cities) via processes such as urbanization can accelerate the evolution of a more advanced economy by promoting new divisions of labor and the evolution of new industries. The degree to which population density contributes to this evolution remains unclear. To provide insights into whether an optimal “threshold” population exists, we quantified the relationships between population density and economic development using threshold regression model based on the panel data for 295 Chinese cities from 2007 to 2019. We found that when the population density of the whole city (urban and rural areas combined) exceeded 866 km⁻², the impact of industrial upgrading on the economy decreased; however, when the population density exceeded 15,131 km⁻² in the urban part of the cities, the impact of industrial upgrading increased. Moreover, it appears that different regions in China may have different population density thresholds. Our results provide important insights into urban economic evolution, while also supporting the development of more effective population policies.

This article examines the overseas corporate social responsibility (CSR) patterns of Chinese international contractors (CICs). Adopting an institutional and political economy approach, a unique dataset is constructed with country-specific contents drawn from CSR-related reports and website information of 50 top CICs. This dataset provides a foundation for systematic content analysis of CICs’ overseas CSR practices, revealing that both political legitimacy-seeking and strategic competitiveness-seeking motivations drive CICs’ CSR activities abroad, characterized by the prioritization of customer and community engagement. The findings highlight the coexistence of the exogenous pressures for the national image-building purpose and the endogenous awareness of CSR strategic importance for corporate internationalization. The hybridization of political and economic rationales is presented as the defining feature of CICs’ current overseas CSR patterns, with the balance between them being determined by stakeholder type and internal business needs influenced by corporate internationalization experience.

Low enrollment intention threatens the funding pools of rural insurance schemes in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate how social capital enhances the enrollment of health insurance among rural middle-aged and elderly. We propose that social capital directly increases health insurance enrollment, while indirectly influences health insurance through health risk avoidance. We used data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (wave 4) dating the year of 2018, instrumental variable estimation was introduced to deal with the endogeneity problem, and the mediation analysis was used to examine the mechanism of social capital on insurance enrollment. The results show that social capital is positively related to social health insurance enrollment, and the relationship between social capital and social health insurance enrollment is mediated by health risk avoidance.

Low-cost housing homeownership funding for junior staffers is challenging in private sector organisations, especially in developing countries. Motivating private sector investment in junior staffers’ homeownership via a developed expanded corporate social responsibility (ECSR) may promote achieving Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11). Therefore, the study investigates the role of the ECSR framework in improving Nigeria’s private sector junior staffers’ homeownership and achieving SDG 11. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews with selected participants in six of Nigeria’s geo-political zones. The study adopted thematic analysis to analyse the collected data. Six variables emerged from the 18 re-clustered sub-variables. This includes institutionalising ECSR in low-income homeownership, housing finance for junior staffers’ homeownership, and housing incentives and stakeholders’ participation for low-income earners. The research employed six variables and 18 sub-variables to develop the improved private sector’s junior staffers’ homeownership via ECSR and achieving SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and their targets. The research presents a novel approach by attempting to integrate SDG 11 with Corporate Social Housing, an extension of corporate social responsibility, especially to align the SDGs with evolving perspectives on Expanded Corporate Social Responsibility in Nigeria.

One of the most important factors for raising living standards is the drivers supporting water conservation and water management. Individual’s attitude and emotional factors with social cognitive behavior will play an essential role. This empirical study utilizing mixed methods was carried out in Malaysia with the Y generation. The focus group consisted of 52 participants (18 men and 34 women). As for the quantitative study, 607 respondents from the Generation Y population were used with the convenience sampling method. The finding revealed that the outcome expectancy of Generation Y significantly improves water conservation with appropriate water management. Environmental factors, personal factors, and perceived self-efficacy all predicted the result expectancy, which is confirmed by identifications of reciprocal determinism.

This study examines the interplay between eco-friendly behaviour (Eco-FB) at multiple systemic levels, addressing the complexity beyond the scope of single-level models. We propose a comprehensive model incorporating traditional individual, organizational, and relational level concepts and a situational construct exemplified by Bali Island Recognition. This model was tested in Bali Island’s tourism firms through online and offline surveys of 500 tourism-related employees and their gateway communities across Bali Island. The research investigates the differences in pro-environmental conduct between two destinations’ social accountability (DSA) groups categorized as high and low DSA clusters. It further explores how ecological value, green intelligence, DSA, and sustainable travel affect public and private Eco-FB. The findings indicate that green intelligence has a strong positive connection with Eco-FB, and high DSA significantly impacts eco-friendly behaviour. This research enhances our understanding of Eco-FB by presenting a multilevel model incorporating the Bali Island factor, revealing distinctive impact mechanisms for both public and private Eco-FB.