Corporate performance is the key indicator of availing the economic performances in all economies. Especially for the emerging economy, it is the oxygen for smooth economic operations. The study aims to investigate the influence of board characteristics on the corporate performance of the listed pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector from a developing country, namely Bangladesh. This empirical study examines eight attributes of the board and four financial performance indicators of the businesses. Here, the annual reports of the DSE-listed pharmaceutical and chemicals companies are considered to examine the impact of board attributes on corporate performance. Based on panel data analysis, this empirical study concludes that the fixed effect regression model is suitable for all four models. Except board size, the results demonstrate that all board attributes are generally statistically significant. Furthermore, it confirms that all the significant characteristics of the board are positively associated with corporate performance, except for board independence. The research offers valuable insights for policymakers, investors, organizations, and scholars, promoting optimal board structures, innovative solutions, and an enhanced understanding of corporate governance matters. This research explores the challenges in board attributes, which enhances our understanding of corporate governance matters and their impact over the last decade in the listed pharmaceutical and chemicals sectors in Bangladesh.

The research aims to investigate the prospective implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on traditional media, and to elucidate the conceptualization of AI within the discourse of media professionals, governmental and private media stakeholders in Jordan, alongside media scholars and IT experts. Employing the focus group method, a specialized interview tool distinguished by its purpose, design, and procedures, two distinct cohorts were engaged: media practitioners and officials on one hand, and academics and experts on the other. The investigation revealed the absence of a universally agreed upon terminology concerning AI, attributable to its nascent nature and rapid evolution. Notably, AI, leveraging its diverse and highly proficient tools, demonstrates significant potential for transformative impacts across various facets of the media landscape. These encompass the facilitation of exceptional content production, the empowerment of journalists to express their creative capacities, and substantial reductions in time, labor, and procedural overheads in media product development. Concurrently, the integration of AI within media environments is anticipated to pose formidable challenges to existing institutional frameworks. Additionally, the imperative of curriculum development in academic institutions, both public and private, is underscored to acquaint students with AI methodologies.

This paper employs a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies spanning from 2011 to 2022 to empirically investigate the influence of climate policy uncertainty on the corporate cost of debt, based on the theory of financial friction. We find that climate policy uncertainty significantly increases the corporate cost of debt, and the result is supported by robustness tests. To avoid biases arisen from endogeneity, this paper introduces an instrumental variable approach and propensity score matching method for verification. The endogeneity test results support the baseline regression results as well. Finally, this paper also discovers that financing constraints are the potential mechanism behind the impact of climate policy uncertainty on the corporate cost of debt.

Inland Container Depots (ICDs) are inland multi-modal terminals where goods in intermodal loading units can be transferred directly to seaports. The contribution of ICDs to regions’ economic and social growth is undeniable. To achieve the sustainable development of ICDs, evaluating and improving their service quality is critical. This study aims to investigate the factors contributing to the service quality of ICD in a developing country. The data utilized covers some ICDs in the Red River Delta, Vietnam. Regarding analytic methods, descriptive statistics first were run to show the level of aspects of service quality of ICDs. Subsequently, attitudinal statements were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis before linear regression was applied to recognize the factors influencing the service quality of ICDs. Generally, the service quality of ICDs was evaluated at an acceptable level but far from the high one. The results suggested that the four influential service quality factors included location and accessibility, facilities, process and management, and labor. Based on the findings of contributing factors, managerial implications were proposed.

A logistics service company in Batam faces challenges related to warehouse load fulfillment and sorting inaccuracies. This study aims to identify proposed efficiency improvements to the goods distribution system using the cross-docking method. The research method chosen is cross-docking, a technique that eliminates the storage process in the warehouse, thus saving time and cost. The research findings show significant benefits, especially in achieving zero inventory efficiency. Data processing and discussion revealed that efficiencies were apparent by increasing the sorting tables from 1 to 6, with an output of 90,000 kg during aircraft loading and unloading (compared to approximately 77,000 kilograms). This efficiency arises from the larger output of the sorting tables compared to the input, eliminating the need for warehousing and adding ten trucks. As a result, the shipment can be completed in one trip, with no goods stored in the warehouse. The analysis shows that implementing cross-docking in the company increases efficiency in distributing goods to forwarding partners.

Concerns about public food safety are comparatively common in the Chinese food distribution industry. A dearth of expertise and scarce resources lead to frequent instances of incapacity and inadequate oversight, which negatively affect stakeholders in the circulation industry. The main challenges to food supervision are the need for more alignment between the technical specifications, comprehensiveness, and continuity of the existing food safety supervision legislation and the real circumstances facing the regulatory agencies. Despite the circulation field’s critical position in food safety regulation, its complex and variable characteristics make it challenging to implement and manage. There exist notable concerns over inadequate food safety standards and supervisory frameworks, vagueness in enforcing rules, and insufficient workforce and technical know-how in food safety supervision. The opportunities for regulating the food business with the government’s focus and attention considerably outweigh the obstacles that lie ahead. The growth of the food business needs to be viewed in the larger framework of the country’s economic development. Professional involvement and collaboration with technical departments can help regulatory bodies tackle non-compliant actions in the market circulation process in a timely way, resulting in a more evidence-based and responsive regulatory approach. Establishing a healthy equilibrium and elucidating the relationship between oversight and the food business will be crucial in the future.

Raising public awareness of maritime risk and disseminating information about disaster prevention and reduction are the most frequent ways that the government incorporates citizens in marine disaster risk management (DRM). However, these measures are deemed to be insufficient to drive the participation rate. This study aims to understand the participation trend of citizens in marine DRM. On the basis of the theory of citizen participation’s ladder, public participation within marine DRM is categorized into non-participation, tokenistic participation, and substantive participation. Using organization theory, the government’s strategies for encouraging participation are classified into common approach (raising awareness), structural approach (innovating instruments), and cultural approach (developing citizenship). Considering the vignette experiment of 403 citizens in a coastal city of China that has historically been subject to marine disasters, it was found that effectiveness of the strategies, from highest to lowest, are citizenship development, risk education, and instruments innovation. At the individual level, psychological characteristics such as trust in the government, past disaster experience, and knowledge of marine DRM did not significantly influence citizens’ participation preferences. At the government level, even when citizens are informed about new participatory mechanisms and tools, they still tend to be unwilling to share responsibilities. However, self-efficacy and understanding the beneficial outcomes of their participation in marine (DRM) can positively impact the willingness to participate. The results show that to encourage public participation substantively in the marine DRM, it is important to cultivate a sense of civic duty and enhance citizens’ sense of ownership, fostering a closer and more equitable partnership between the state and society.

To address the escalating online romance scams within telecom fraud, we developed an Adaptive Random Forest Light Gradient Boosting (ARFLGB)-XGBoost early warning system. Our method involves compiling detailed Online Romance Scams (ORS) incident data into a 24-variable dataset, categorized to analyze feature importance with Random Forest and LightGBM models. An innovative adaptive algorithm, the Adaptive Random Forest Light Gradient Boosting, optimizes these features for integration with XGBoost, enhancing early Online romance scams threat detection. Our model showed significant performance improvements over traditional models, with accuracy gains of 3.9%, a 12.5% increase in precision, recall improvement by 5%, an F1 score increase by 5.6%, and a 5.2% increase in Area Under the Curve (AUC). This research highlights the essential role of advanced fraud detection in preserving communication network integrity, contributing to a stable economy and public safety, with implications for policymakers and industry in advancing secure communication infrastructure.