Financial markets have adopted measures aiming at strengthening insurance industry and digital financial assets. Efforts have also been made to strengthen the financial sector and expand lending opportunities in times of economic turmoil. The role of the central banks as a mega-regulator have played a crucial role in implementing coordinated policies and improving the stability of the financial sector. This review paper analyses 100 papers and proposes recommendations for policy makers. The results confirm the financial sector has shown positive performance indicators, and the capital market has become increasingly important along with non-credit financial institutions. However, the growing number of first-time investors in the capital market requires a renewed focus on consumer protection and financial literacy. In addition, the development of digital technologies has changed the landscape of financial services, forcing financial institutions to fight for continued customer loyalty.

The study aimed to demonstrate that Palestinian banks have the potential to increase green financing by enhancing public sector understanding instead of focusing solely on the private sector, in addition to providing insights from employees of Palestinian banks listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange regarding the key challenges and opportunities related to green financing in Palestine specifically. It posed two central questions: What are the opportunities and challenges in implementing green finance in Palestine, and what level of government and private sector support exists? The study used the descriptive analytical approach, through interviews and surveys, the study targeted 10 heads of credit departments and a non-probability sample of 350 bank employees. The findings revealed a strong commitment from the government to promote green finance. At the same time, the private sector showed reluctance to engage in external investments. Key challenges included political instability and limited financial resources, though international aid was a significant opportunity to advance green finance. The study recommended increasing public awareness and fostering stronger coordination between the government and private sector, possibly incorporating competition from neighboring countries to further develop Palestine’s green finance strategy.

Studies on the influence of public policies on the regional tourism sector are of high scientific and practical interest, as they offer inputs to guide public management towards strengthening the tourism development of the territories. Through the structural equation model, this study took a sample 99 companies in the tourism sector in Valle del Cauca, Colombia, addressing the relationship between public policy management (PPM) and regional tourism development (RTD), from the perspective of the rational model of business performance. The findings show that the capacity of the state and its entities to comply with the requirements of the organizations, as well as the rigor to take criticism and suggestions for improvement, as a basis to strengthen their management, are the factors that best explain the relationship between the PPM and RTD based on the performance of organizations in the sector, especially focused on increasing market share, productivity, and income. Other findings and practical implications are discussed.

This study aims to explore the perceptions of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) of primary and secondary school teachers in C City, China, as well as the challenges they face in developing these abilities. Through narrative inquiry involving five current teachers, the research collected their personal experiences in the development of teaching and academic abilities, with data gathered through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that teachers are primarily driven by external forces, professional identity, personal growth, and the need to improve teaching quality in their efforts to enhance teaching and academic abilities. However, they also encounter challenges such as teaching pressures, time management difficulties, insufficient school support, and declining energy. To overcome these obstacles, teachers have adopted strategies such as time management, task allocation, and cognitive enhancement. The study concludes by recommending that through the combined efforts of teachers, schools, and society, a strong professional belief system should be established, and a supportive environment should be created to collaboratively promote the development of teaching and academic abilities among primary and secondary school teachers, thereby fostering their professional growth.

The success of a city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) depends on a combination of interconnected factors that foster innovation, collaboration and growth. Urban planning, infrastructure management and an entrepreneurial culture are essential factors for the success of cities’ Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EEs). Land use and infrastructure management create opportunities for growth and industry expansion. EEs are local, social, business, institutional and cultural stakeholders that encourage and enhance the formation and growth of new businesses, which are supported by enabling infrastructure. The objective of this study was to investigate how urban planning affects EEs in the metropolitan region, Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB), South Africa. NMB is known for poor land use management, which hinders the management of diverse spatial needs, as well as bureaucratic processes for land rezoning for commercial activity. In order to better understand the fundamental issues, a qualitative case study was conducted. The data were collected from fifteen economic development role players from NMB using semi-structured interviews combined with secondary data from the NMB Integrated Development Plan (IDP). The data analysis included thematic analysis using Atlas.ti and Claude 2.0. In order to validate the findings, qualitative data were cross-referenced with secondary sources from the NMB IDP. The key themes that emerged effect the NMB metropole’s management of infrastructure to support the EE. These include, Land use issues, Poor oversight by metropolitan leadership, Lack of infrastructure maintenance and pushing out potential investment and economic growth. The results highlight that the NMB metropole fails to prioritise land use and infrastructure challenges, impacting the NMB metropolitan area’s economic development and worsening inequality among different groups. The findings from this study add to the current research on cities’ EEs and The Right to the City Theory, which supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals 8, 9 and 11.

Cassava’s adaptability to different agroecological conditions, high yield, as well as its ability to thrive under harsh climatic conditions, makes it an essential food security crop. In South Africa, the cassava value chain is currently uncoordinated and underdeveloped, with a couple of smallholder farmers growing the crop for household consumption and as a source of income. Other farmers regard it as a secondary crop and hardly any producers grow it for industrial purposes. Hence, this study sought to analyze the determinants of household participation in the cassava value chain in South Africa. The study employed the multivariate probit model to analyze the determinants of household participation in the cassava value chain in South Africa, using a primary dataset collected through a simple sample method from smallholder farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces. Results show that livestock ownership has a positive and significant effect on the likelihood of farmers participating in the value chain by growing cassava for household food consumption. Also, findings reveal that hiring labour in cassava production and an increase in the yield during the previous season increases the probability of farmers’ interest in selling cassava tubers along the value chain. Hence, the positive and statistically significant influence of hiring labour during cassava production in driving the farmers’ interest in selling cassava tubers and cuttings implies that the development of the cassava value chain presents great opportunities for creating jobs (employment) in the country. Also, policy interventions that ensure land tenure security and empower farmers to increase their cassava yields are bound to encourage further participation in the value chain with an interest in selling fresh tubers, among other derived products to generate income. Lastly, programmes that empower and encourage youth participation in the cassava value chain can increase the number of farmers interested in selling cassava products.

Presented article takes a study done by researchers Davari & Strutton in the US in 2014 and replicated the same approach and methodology in evaluating how green marketing mix elements (product, price, promotion, place) influence brand associations, grand loyalty, perceived brand quality, and brand trust, in the context of retail chain stores in Czechia. The reason for this is the fact that the issue of reconciling pro-environmental beliefs of consumers with their real behavior is still topical. Businesses need to be careful with their green claims and focus on authentic green marketing in order to attract and retain the trust of environmentally conscious consumers in the long term. The research employs quantitative data analysis, drawing data from the survey, which was run online for five weeks and collected 4700 responses. The respondents are people who live in Czechia and have shopped in one of five stores at least during the last month. The reason for focusing on the Czechia is primarily the fact that green marketing is basically only on the rise here, while greenwashing still remains a significant problem. Six hypothesis were formulated, and linear regression analysis was used to test them. Key findings of the research revealed that green products and promotions positively influence brand associations and perceived brand quality, while green promotions significantly enhance brand loyalty and trust. Additionally, there was observed influence of consumers´ environmental concerns and consideration of future consequences significantly moderating the relationship between green marketing and brand equity. The findings provide insight for businesses to integrate green marketing strategies to increase brand trust, loyalty, and perceived quality while environmentally conscious consumers.

The objective of this paper is to assess the influence of various types of crises, including the Subprime, COVID-19, and political crises, on corporate governance attributes, regulations, and the association with bank risk. The consecutive occurrences of crises have significantly impacted the global economy, causing substantial disruptions across various facets of the international banking system. Our hypothesis posits that these crises not only influence governance characteristics and regulations but also impact their correlation with the risk and financial distress experienced by banks. Our study is conducted within the Tunisian context spanning from 2000 to 2021, utilizing a GMM regression on a dataset comprising 221 bank-year observations. Our findings indicate that crises have a discernible effect on the relationship between corporate governance and bank risk, as well as between regulation and bank risk. Our results are strong in a range of sensitivity checks, including the use of alternative proxies to measure the bank risks and corporate governance metrics.