This study provides a comparative analysis of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) ratings methodologies and explores the potential of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) to enhance transparency and comparability in ESG reporting. Evaluating ratings from different agencies, the research identifies significant methodological inconsistencies that lead to conflicting information for investors and stakeholders. Statistical tests and adjusted rating scales confirm substantial divergence in ESG scores, primarily due to differing data categories and indicators used by rating firms. Using a sample of 265 European companies, the study demonstrates that individual ESG agencies report markedly different ratings for the same firms, which can mislead stakeholders. It proposes that XBRL based reporting can mitigate these inconsistencies by providing a standardized framework for data collection and reporting. XBRL enables accurate and efficient data collection, reducing human error and enhancing the transparency of ESG reports. The findings advocate for integrating XBRL in ESG reporting to achieve higher levels of comparability and reliability. The study calls for greater regulatory oversight and the adoption of standardized taxonomies in ESG reporting to ensure consistent and comparable data across sectors and jurisdictions. Despite challenges like the lack of a standardized taxonomy and inconsistent adoption, the research contends that XBRL can significantly improve the reliability of ESG ratings. In conclusion, this study suggests that standardizing ESG data through XBRL could provide a viable solution to the unreliability of current ESG rating scales, supporting sustainable business practices and informed decision making by investors.

This research analyzes the relationship between political stability, renewable energy utilization, economic progress, and tourism in Indonesia from 1990 to 2020. We employ advanced econometric techniques, including the Fourier Bootstrap Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach and Fourier Toda-Yamamoto causality testing, to ensure the robustness of our results while accounting for smooth structural changes in the data. The analysis uncovers a long-term equilibrium relationship between tourism and its fundamental determinants. Our research reveals significant positive impacts of political stability and renewable energy consumption on tourism in Indonesia. A stable political environment creates a favorable climate for tourism development, instilling confidence in both domestic and international tourists. Promoting renewable energy usage aligns with sustainable tourism practices, attracting environmentally conscious travelers. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate a bi-directional causal relationship between these variables over time. Changes in political stability, renewable energy consumption, and economic growth profoundly influence the tourism sector, while the growth of tourism itself can also stimulate economic development and foster political stability. Our findings underscore the need for environmentally sustainable and politically stable tourism policies. Indonesia’s tourism sector can grow sustainably with renewable energy and stability. Policymakers can develop strategies with tourism, political stability, renewable energy, and economic prosperity in mind.

The integration of new technologies and digitalisation causing significant changes in the skills demanded, leading to skills shortages and skills gaps in digital context. Undoubtedly, the employees’ digital skills and knowledge need to be aligned with the ongoing technological changes. This study obtains inputs from the employers from professional services sector regarding the demand for digital skills and the existence of gaps in digital skill among the employees. The impact of digital skills and willingness to pay for the micro-credential on the employability was investigate. 308 responses from the employers reside in Klang Valley, Johor and Penang collected via online survey. The five areas of digital skills adopted from Digital Competence 2.0, and the pair-sample t-test in SPSS was used to identify the present of skill gaps. Besides, PLS-SEM was used to test the hypotheses with regard to impacts of digital skills and micro credential on employability. The findings indicate that problem-solving and safety skills were ranked as highly demanded digital skills in the future. The skill gaps were found in all areas of digital skills except information and data literacy. The employers agreed that digital skills did affect their decision in hiring the graduate employees and they are willing to pay for micro-credentials to address the skills gaps. Yet, willingness to pay for micro-credentials did not affect the employability directly and indirectly. This study provides insights into the demand of digital skills and the digital skills gaps. Implications of the study from theoretical and practical perspectives are discussed.

With the increasing climate change crisis, the ongoing global energy security challenges, and the prerequisites for the development of sustainable and affordable energy for all, the need for renewable energy resources has been highlighted as a global aim of mankind. However, the worldwide deployment of renewable energy calls for large-scale financial and technological contributions which many States cannot afford. This exacerbates the need for the promotion of foreign investments in this sector, and protecting them against various threats. International Investment Agreements (IIAs) offer several substantive protections that equally serve foreign investments in this sector. Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) clauses are among these. This is a flexible standard of treatment whose boundaries are not clearly defined so far. Investment tribunals have diverse views of this standard. Against this background, this article asks: What are the prominent international renewable energy investment threats, and how can FET clauses better contribute to alleviating these concerns? Employing a qualitative method, it analyses the legal aspects and properties of FET and concludes that the growing security and regulatory threats have formed a sort of modern legitimate expectations on the part of renewable energy investors who expect host states to protect them against such threats. Hence, IIAs and tribunals need to uphold a definite and broadly applicable FET approach to bring more consistency and predictability to arbitral awards. This would help deter many unfavourable practices against investments in this sector.

Investors and company managements often rely on traditional performance evaluation indicators, such as return on equity, return on assets, and other financial ratios, to explain changes in a company’s market value added (MVA). However, the effectiveness of these traditional measures in explaining market value fluctuations remains uncertain. This research aims to investigate the impact of various profitability measures, namely return on equity, gross profit margin, operating profit margin, and return on assets, on explaining changes in the MVA of pharmaceutical and chemical companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange. To achieve the study’s objectives, we analyzed the published financial statements of a sample consisting of 14 industrial companies out of a total of 53 companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange during the period from 2008 to 2022. Relevant financial indicators were extracted from these statements to serve the purposes of the study. Correlation coefficients were employed to measure the extent to which the independent variables (profitability measures) could interpret changes in the dependent variable (MVA). One of the most significant findings of the study is that three dimensions of profitability measures have a statistically significant impact on explaining changes in the MVA of pharmaceutical and chemical companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange, albeit to varying degrees. This suggests that traditional profitability measures still play a crucial role in influencing market perceptions of a company’s value, despite the potential limitations of these measures in capturing the full scope of a company’s performance and potential.