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An attempt is made in this study aims to examine the extent to which the role of environmental agencies in Nigeria, i.e. DEPARTMENT for Petroleum Resources (DPR), National Environmental Standard and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), influences firms’ attributes on sustainability reporting.

Both primary and secondary data covers 2015-2019 were used to collate information for the analyzes. The analysis was done using Stata 13 to determine the moderating impact of policy administrators on the relationship between corporate attributes and sustainability reporting.

The findings showed a very low level of sustainability reporting (27.53%), with a high significant level. Moreover, a positive and significant relationship exists between the major corporate attributes and sustainability reporting. A highly significant moderating impact of environmental policy administrators exists on these attributes, except for board size.

The theoretical and practical implications of this study show that there is an indication of the inefficiency of the environmental policy administrators in Nigeria as the significance of the political economy theory as it affects the interactive impact on sustainability reporting. Further research is recommended on political-economic theory so as to know the economic implications of the effects of corporate attributes on environmental disclosure as it impacts governments and societies.

Results show that there is an indication of inefficiency by Nigeria’s main environmental policy administrators such as DPR, NESREA and NSE as it affects environmental, economic and social issues by listed firms.

This work emphasizes the moderating impact of environmental agencies on the relationship between firms’ characteristics and sustainability disclosure through the GRI4 framework standard. More so, it applied company attributes essential for a firm’s sustainable growth and development in the developing economies of sub-Saharan Africa.

In many societies, environmental problems have had some negative impacts on both social and economic features with issues like capital structure seriously affected. In this write-up, an attempt has been made to pinpoint the influence of the combined effects of integrated reporting and financial leverage on the value of a firm. In most emerging markets, investment is heavily dependent on foreign capital inflow which is mainly in the form of financial leverage. It is, therefore, necessary to know how this shapes the net worth of firms in which they are invested. Shareholders' fund is a major factor in determining the level of investment and economic stability of a nation and consequently improvements in sustainable development. Hence, the moderating role of financial leverage in the integrated reporting-shareholders’ funds relationship aims to warrant this research.

All listed firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as of 31st December 2021 were affected by this research. Filtering resulted in the use of 77 companies as a sample for the study covering a period of 12 years (2010–2021) with a total of 788 observations. Analyses of data were done through line graphs to show the trend and flow of disclosures between 2010 and 2021. Furthermore, linear regression was also applied to help determine the multiple effects of financial leverage and integrated reporting on shareholders' funds.

The outcomes showed that economic disclosure was 100% throughout the period of observation as opposed to environmental and social disclosures which, fluctuate throughout the period with an average of slightly over 55%. It was also discovered that a low but significant financial leverage moderated the interaction of integrated reporting on shareholders' funds.

Stakeholders and policymakers should, therefore, put in place rules, regulations, standards, structures and administrative networks to enable firms to comply with local rules, guidelines and upgraded standards of international worth on sustainability issues.

This research explores the problem of the effects of integrated reporting on investment capital as it affects developing economies. Results from this study could go a long way in narrowing the lack of interest in sustainability issues by prospective investors coupled with the low level of environmental and social reporting by firms in African economies that are mostly underdeveloped.

As one of the constituted main pillars of Islam, Zakah compliance (ZC) is mandated upon Muslims from all studies of life. Taking the disappointingly low compliance level in developing countries, including Yemen, as its backdrop, the purpose of this study is to investigate ZC behavior among entrepreneurs, drawing on the economic approach perspective.

The study adopted a cross-sectional design based on a survey of entrepreneurs in Yemen. It used primary data collected via self-administered questionnaires, involving a sample of 500 participants. A variance-based structural modeling equation-partial least squares were used to measure the instruments and assess the hypothesized relationships.

The findings affirmed the suitability of the economic factors approaches in the context of ZC in a developing country. Specifically, the study demonstrated that Zakah law complexity has a significant negative influence on ZC of entrepreneurs. It also found a significant positive relationship between religiosity and ZC among the study sample, whereas the study revealed that law enforcement has no influence on compliance behavior.

Policies and programs focused on Zakah laws and regulations could be formulated to make them less complex and simpler for acceptable levels of ZC. The result is further relevant to policymakers in Muslim communities to strengthen the religious faith of Zakah payers toward compliance with one of the fundamental religious obligations such as Zakah.

This study enriches the limited previous studies on actual ZC from the perspective of developing communities, especially Yemen. Most importantly, the value was added to the limited literature internationally from an economic aspect.

This research aims to investigate the influence of political instability, trust and knowledge on the zakat compliance behaviour of Algerian business owners. Based on the lenses of the ethical theory mainly and by reference to Zakat Core Principles (that originally inspired from the Basel Core Principles), the paper aims to provide an understanding of how these factors affect zakat compliance in the Algerian context from an ethical perspective.

A cross-sectional research design was applied. Using self-administered questionnaires, a total of 575 business owners in Algeria participated in this study. The hypothesised model was tested by using the partial least squares structural equation model.

The study results support that the ethical approach can explain zakat compliance among Algerian business owners. Specifically, the results revealed that political instability, zakat knowledge and trust significantly influence zakat compliance.

The results offer meaningful insights for the zakat institutions in Muslim societies to enable them to formulate zakat collection policies, assess the level of societal trust in the zakat authority, evaluate the influence of political instability on Muslim entrepreneurs’ zakat compliance and strengthen the entrepreneurs’ zakat knowledge on the exigency of paying zakat to the authority.

This study breaks new ground by exploring the effects of political instability, zakat knowledge and trust on zakat payers’ compliance ethical decisions in developing countries such as Algeria. More significantly, this research contributes to the existing literature of the ethical theory specifically by investigating the effect of political instability on zakat compliance among Algerian business owners.

This research aims to explore the moderating role of alms tax (zakat) knowledge in the relationship between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations (i.e. political instability, trust in institutions and service quality) and zakat compliance among businessmen in a Muslim developing country.

A final sample of 315 Algerian entrepreneurs randomly collected through a self-administered survey was analysed. Drawing on the social cognitive theory, estimation and analysis were done using structural equation modelling (Smart PLS).

The results indicate that all the hypothesised direct relationships are supported. Particularly, the knowledge-moderated interaction of political instability’s effect on entrepreneurs’ zakat compliance intention was significant, while its interactions with service quality and trust were not.

Findings that emerged from this study may serve as a reminder to zakat agencies and policymakers that varying degrees of knowledge about zakat can have a significant impact on shaping intentions to comply with zakat rules, particularly in an unstable political environment. Additionally, this work sheds light on the critical role of service quality delivered by zakat institutions and businessmen’s trust in such entities in shaping their zakat compliance intentions. Finally, it demonstrates how critical it is to strengthen the business sector’s social responsibility to support the zakat’s noble socioeconomic objectives.

This present work augments the scanty literature on zakat compliance because it validates a research model drawing on social cognitive perspectives. Additionally, the model blends the moderating role of knowledge into social cognitive perspectives of zakat compliance among businessmen.

While the causes and effects of begging are well known, solutions on how to eradicate begging are still elusive in many parts of the developing world. The purpose of this study is to examine the different ways through which community leaders at the local level can contribute to the eradication of begging in one of Ghana’s most densely populated suburbs in the city of Accra.

This study was undertaken using the qualitative approach, and primary data was collected through interviews, participants observation and focus group discussions with beggars, community leaders and officials of non-governmental organisations at Nima, a suburb of Accra.

Begging in the suburb of Nima is increasingly becoming a business venture. It is no more an activity that is the preserve of only the weak, the poor, the elderly, the physically challenged, the needy and the marginalised in society. This paper argues that the eradication of begging requires multiple approaches and that community-based leaders must play a central role. This paper identified the provision of alternative sources of livelihood, the naming, shaming and condemnation of unjustified begging in the community, strict boarder control, returning foreign beggars to their home countries, the formulation and enforcement of community anti-begging by-laws and regular sensitisation programs on begging as crucial in reducing or eliminating begging.

While focusing on one Muslim-dominated suburb in Accra ensures a detailed discussion of strategies of eliminating begging from a cultural and religious perspective, the findings of this study may not be applicable to non-Islamic settings and communities where cultural or religious leadership structures do not exist.

This study has demonstrated that the eradication of begging in society cannot have one-size-fit all solution. This paper shows that in societies where cultural and religious leadership structures exist, they must play important roles in the design and implementation of strategies that seek to reduce or eliminate religious begging in society. This implies that formal government agencies and their associated laws alone will not be enough to eradicate or reduce begging under such contexts.

Measures to eradicate begging have often ignored the role of community leaders. This paper contributes to our understanding on this by specifically examining the phenomenon of begging at the micro level and exploring the different ways community leaders can contribute to the eradication of begging in society.