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Saudi Arabia is the main destination of religious tourism, as it has many spiritual places. With the passage of years, the figures for pilgrim visits are increasing, which is contributing to the economic growth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). However, pilgrims’ visits can create strong opportunity costs in the form of environmental degradation. Owing to these notions, this study aims to discover the impact of religious tourism on the quality of the natural environment of Saudi Arabia.

This study develops the empirical relationship between the variables by sampling the data from 35 years ranging from 1986 to 2020. The regression among variables was checked by using fully modified ordinary least square and dynamic ordinary least square models.

This analysis proves that religious tourism has a direct impact on the environmental degradation of KSA. The unceasing visits of pilgrims accelerate various economic operations and activities, e.g. assimilation and digestion of industrial products, that necessarily hamper the environmental quality. In addition, this analysis indicates a negative impact on financial development, foreign investment and renewable energy consumption while the positive impact of fossil fuels assimilation and economic expansion on the secretion of CO₂. The statistical findings are robust and verify the pollution halo hypothesis while rejecting the Environmental Kuznets Curve model in this region.

This analysis recommends restructuring the policies on hajj and Umrah visits. KSA Government should ensure green consumption by pilgrims. The limitation on pilgrims’ visits and the introduction of quotas are alternative policies to impede the pollution in this region.

By controlling the routine determinants, this study offers innovative thoughts regarding the consequences of religious tourism on environmental quality.

通过抽样1986-2020年35年的数据来建立变量之间的实证关系。采用完全修正的普通最小二乘(FMOLS)和动态普通最小二乘(DOLS)模型检验变量间的回归关系

由于沙特阿拉伯有很多精神场所, 是宗教旅游的主要目的地。随着时间的推移, 朝圣访问数据不断增加, 这为沙特阿拉伯王国(KSA)的经济增长做出了贡献。然而, 朝圣访问也可能造成巨大的机会成本, 如环境退化。由于这些观念, 本研究试图揭露宗教旅游对沙特阿拉伯自然环境质量的影响。

研究表明, 宗教旅游对沙特阿拉伯的环境退化有直接影响。持续增长的朝圣来访加速了各种经济运作和活动, 如工业产品的吸收和分解等, 这必然会影响环境质量。此外, 分析表明, 金融发展、外国投资和可再生能源消费受到负面影响, 而化石燃料吸收和经济扩张对二氧化碳的排放产生积极影响。统计结果具有较强的可靠性, 验证了污染晕假说, 同时否定了该地区的环境库兹涅茨曲线(EKC)模型。

本研究建议重构大朝和小朝的政策。沙特阿拉伯政府应该确保朝圣者的绿色消费。朝圣访问的限制和引进配额是防止该地区污染的替代政策。

通过控制常规决定因素, 本研究为宗教旅游对环境质量的影响提供了创新思路。

Se desarrolla la relación empírica entre las variables mediante el muestreo de los datos de 35 años que van de 1986 a 2020. La regresión entre las variables se comprobó empleando modelos de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios totalmente modificados (FMOLS) y mínimos cuadrados ordinarios dinámicos (DOLS)

Arabia Saudí es el principal destino de turismo religioso porque cuenta con numerosos lugares espirituales. Con el paso de los años, las cifras de visitas de peregrinos están aumentando, lo que contribuye al crecimiento económico del Reino de Arabia Saudí (KSA). Sin embargo, las visitas de los peregrinos pueden crear fuertes costes de oportunidad en forma de degradación medioambiental. A partir de estos indicadores, este análisis busca descubrir el impacto del turismo religioso en la calidad del entorno natural de Arabia Saudí.

El análisis demuestra que el turismo religioso tiene un impacto directo en la degradación medioambiental de KSA. Las incesantes visitas de los peregrinos aceleran diversas operaciones y actividades económicas, como la adquisición y consumo de productos industriales, etc., que necesariamente dificultan la calidad medioambiental. Además, el análisis indica un impacto negativo en el desarrollo financiero, la inversión extranjera y el consumo de energías renovables, así como el impacto de la asimilación de combustibles fósiles y la expansión económica en la emisión de CO2. Los resultados estadísticos son robustos y verifican la hipótesis del efecto halo de la contaminación, al tiempo que rechazan el modelo de la curva de Kuznets ambiental (EKC) en esta región.

El análisis recomienda reestructurar las políticas sobre las visitas al hajj y la Umrah. El gobierno de KSA debería garantizar el consumo ecológico de los peregrinos. La limitación de las visitas de los peregrinos y la introducción de cuotas son políticas alternativas para impedir la contaminación en esta región.

Al controlar los determinantes frecuentes, este estudio ofrece reflexiones innovadoras sobre las consecuencias del turismo religioso en la calidad del medio ambiente.

The main purpose of this study is to test and verify return on investment (ROI) model proposed for academic libraries in Arab countries. The study assessed the value of AAU digital library resources and identified the value of the digital library in supporting the funded research projects.

The proposed ROI model is based on two phases and two different data. In Phase I, the authors calculated ROI based on the total downloads of full text to determine the total financial returns of the database subscription costs for the academic year 2019–2020. In Phase II, the authors examined the citations drawn from the Scopus database on a sample of 30 funded research projects for the College of Engineering during the year 2019.

Although the application of the proposed model has some challenges, it is relevant in measuring the ROI of academic libraries in Arab countries. The results of the study in Phase 1 revealed that the AAU gained $0.95 for every $1 spent on subscriptions to online databases. For Phase 2, the findings indicated a negative ROI of $−0.70 for every $1 spent on library subscriptions to the IEEE database.

This is a case study based on data collected from Al Ain University, United Arab Emirate (UAE). Therefore, the findings of the study may not be generalized, and other studies may find different results if more samples and data are used.

Although the proposed model has been cited by research papers indexed in the Scopus database, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Crossref and ResearchGate, none of these papers tested or verified the suggested ROI model. This study could be the first study testing the suggested model. The findings of the study may contribute to the application of the ROI model in the Arab countries, and particularly the academic libraries in the Arab world.

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis (IJOA) is a leading journal that has published high-quality research focused on various facets of organizational analysis since 1993. This paper aims to conduct a retrospective analysis of the IJOA journey from 2005 to 2020.

The data used in this study was extracted using the Scopus database. The bibliometric analysis, using several indicators, is adopted to reveal the major trends and themes of the journal. The mapping of bibliographic data is carried using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny.

The study findings indicate that IJOA has grown for publications and citations since its inception. Five significant research directions emerged, i.e. organizational diagnostics, organization citizenship behaviour, organizational commitment to employee retention, psychological capital and firm performance, based on cluster analysis of IJOA’s publications.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of IJOA. The study presents the key themes and trends emerging from a leading journal, considered a high-quality journal, for researching various facets of organizational functioning by academicians, scholars and practitioners.

The importance of modeling digital leadership in quickly digitizing countries, like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is inevitable for building leadership capabilities to lead, engage and motivate remote employees in the digital environment. Using Blake and Mouton Grid, the current study examines the behavioral approach used by the leaders from both public and private sectors while managing their workforce digitally in the period of the pandemic, when 70% of the workforce worked remotely for the first-time in the region.

An online survey was conducted by the managerial employees working in different firms using self-administered questionnaires and adopting the snowball sampling technique. In total, 476 respondents participated in the study from both the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The analysis using IBM SPSS and Smart PLS software reported that 9 out of 10 leaders positioned their digital leadership style well above the middle-of-the-road management style (5,5) oriented towards team management (9,9); with 7 out of 9 displaying high team management leadership style, while managing remote workers. However, millennials displayed higher task orientation when compared to generation-x leaders, who concentrated more on their relations with the workers.

The findings have implications for practitioners in technology driven regions. Also the results highlighting the task-oriented approach of millennials digital leaders have implication for owners and board of directors of the firms that seniority is not the only credible approach for leadership positions.

The study reveals the behavioral styles beneficial for digital leaders to develop their leadership capabilities and increase their effectiveness while managing the workforce digitally. Black Mountain Grid and its two-dimensional leadership matrix has been found to be a useful conceptual approach for understanding digital leadership behaviors, and based on study findings, recommendations have been provided to effectively improve its utilization for leading teams. The findings have implications for practitioners in technology driven regions as well as digital leadership field scholars.

There will probably be nine billion people on the earth by 2050, meaning food consumption will rise dramatically. Pakistan, the fifth most populous nation in the world, is rapidly expanding its population, making it difficult for the nation to sustain its food supply. Unfortunately, the country's focus on ensuring food security has not kept up with the demographic shifts in its population. However, innovative solutions are sorely needed in the face of several worldwide problems, especially in the crucial agriculture sector. This underscores the need to integrate sustainable financial practices. Considering these circumstances, this research thoroughly examines the intricate relationship inside Pakistan between financial stability (FS), agricultural subsidies, and productivity. Acknowledging the underlying intricacies and asymmetries at work, this study aims to analyze the complex relationships influencing the nation's agricultural production.

The research tries to shed light on the subtle processes at the intersection of financial stability, agricultural subsidies, and agricultural productivity through a comprehensive investigation of these multiple challenges. A non-linear autoregressive distributive lag (NARDL) technique is used, using a dataset from 1980 to 2022.

The results show that FS has a mixed impact on agricultural productivity, both positive and negative. Increasing FS_POS has a beneficial influence on agricultural output, linked to a notable 1.404% increase in output. On the other hand, increasing FS_NEG causes a significant 11.441% decrease in agricultural output, demonstrating its negative impact on output. Subsidies for agriculture also have asymmetric impacts; SUB_POS and SUB_NEG influence variations in agricultural productivity. A substantial 2.414% rise in agricultural output is shown by SUB_POS, demonstrating its noteworthy beneficial influence. Conversely, SUB_NEG adds a relatively small increase of 1.659% in agricultural output. However, the different amounts of each person's contribution show how subtle their effects are.

The current study is limited to the relationship between financial stability, agricultural subsidies, and agricultural productivity, considering the inherent complexity and asymmetries at work in Pakistan only. Further studies are required in Asian markets to have a bigger picture of the agricultural sector.

Considering these critical empirical findings, the report recommends strategic strategies to promote long-term agricultural growth in Pakistan. These include providing integrated financial services customized to farmers' needs, such as credit, insurance, and savings alternatives. Transparency and efficiency in procedural frameworks and the formation of efficient public-private partnerships should be prioritized. Furthermore, improving agricultural subsidy schemes emerges as a crucial priority. Targeting marginalized farmers more effectively and optimizing distribution through transparent, digitally driven systems can significantly improve program performance.

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine how the voluntary formation of a specialised investment committee (IC) and IC characteristics affect financial distress risk (FDR) and whether such impact is influenced by the level of investment inefficiency.

The authors use a large sample of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) non-financial companies during 2006–2016. A principal component analysis is done to aggregate and derive a factor score for IC characteristics (i.e. independence, size and meeting) as a proxy for the effectiveness of IC. This study also uses three measurements of FDR to corroborate the findings and partitions sample firms into overinvesting and underinvesting companies to examine the potential impact of investment inefficiency on the IC–FDR nexus.

Using feasible generalised least square estimation method, the authors document that the likelihood of financial distress occurrence decreases for firms with separate ICs. The authors also find that firms with effective ICs enjoy lower FDR. In other words, the probability of financial distress minimises if the IC is large, meets frequently and has a high number of independent directors. However, the authors find neither any moderation nor any mediation effect of investment inefficiency for the impact of IC and IC attributes on FDR. The additional analysis indicates the expected benefits of an actively performing IC are amplified for firms with risk of both over- and underinvestment. These findings are robust to alternative measures of FDR and investment inefficiency, sub-sample analysis and endogeneity concerns.

This study, to the best of researchers’ knowledge, is the first to provide evidence in GCC firms’ perspective, suggesting that the existence of an effective IC is associated with a lower risk of financial distress, and to some extent, the economic benefits of IC are aggrandised for companies with a high probability of over- and underinvestment problems. These results are unique and contribute to a small but growing body of literature documenting the need for effective ICs and their economic consequences on investment efficiency in the FDR environment. The findings of this study carry valuable practical implications for regulatory bodies, policymakers, investors and other interested parties in the GCC region.

Literature has widely discussed the relevant role of financial development in determining atmospheric quality. However, there has not been much discussion of how financial inclusion (FIC) plays its role in environmental quality. Thus, this research aims to unveil the role of financial inclusion in determining the CO₂ emissions which serve as a proxy of environmental quality. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of corruption control (CC) in the nexus of FIC-CC.

The empirical results were based on 22 years of annual data from five Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) economies, covering the years 1996–2017. The authors use the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to check regression among variables.

The empirical findings first disclosed the positive impact of FIC whereas CC had an inverse impact on CO₂ emissions. However, the moderating role of CC was observed in mitigating the adverse impact of FIC on ecological quality. In addition, the statistical analysis further showed an inverse impact of economic growth and foreign investment and a positive impact of trade volume and energy consumption on CO₂ emissions.

This analysis states an important policy regarding integrated FIC and green environmental requirements. Additionally, the negative externality of FIC can be controlled by improving the CC.

This study complements the existing literature on FIC and environmental quality by adding the moderating role of CC.

The present study aims to investigate the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) by exploring the role of various economic factors including economic development, foreign investment, human capital, energy dependency, financial development (FD), etc., in CO₂ emissions.

For empirical analysis, the samples for the years 2001–2019 of six GCC region countries that apply the fully modified ordinary least squares model were utilized.

The statistical results show that economic development, foreign investment, energy dependency, human capital and oil rents have a direct impact on CO₂ emissions, whereas trade liberalization and FD have an indirect impact. Nonetheless, the empirical analysis rejects the EKC hypothesis in the set of GCC region countries. The empirical findings in connection to the basic premises of the EKC model are found to be statistically constant for the linear relationship. The GCC region is rigid regarding CO₂ emission because of its reliance on main energy sources like oil and gas.

The current analysis directs the policy recommendations about environmental sustainability to environmental economists and other policymakers. The development of such policy instruments as the adoption of contemporary technology and reduced reliance on fossil fuels is advised to mitigate the negative externalities of multiple economic factors. Similarly, future studies should focus on trade liberalization and FD, both of which have a declining trend in CO₂ emissions.

The present study is innovative by means of testing the EKC model and exploring how other factors related to CO₂ emissions in the GCC region.

The purpose of this study was to understand knowledge-sharing behavior of nonacademic staff. In relation to the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the study investigated demographic characteristic differences in attitude, subjective norms, behavioral intention and knowledge-sharing behavior of nonacademic staff from India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The study used a survey method and questionnaire instrument to collect data from 467 participants. The participants were nonacademic staff working for two academic universities in India and the UAE. The two universities were Pondicherry University (266 respondents) and Al Ain University (201 respondents). The collected data were treated and analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS software for statistical analyses and frequency distributions.

The findings of the study showed that nonacademic staff from India and the UAE have a positive attitude toward knowledge-sharing, subjective norms and positive behavioral intention and are frequently involved in knowledge-sharing behavior. In addition, the study’s findings indicated statistically significant demographic differences in attitude, subjective norms and behavior intense knowledge-sharing behavior of nonacademic staff from India and the UAE. Nonacademic participants from India expressed a higher positive attitude toward knowledge-sharing and demonstrated more involvement in knowledge-sharing behavior than the respondents from the UAE. The findings of the study accepted 8 out of 20 stated hypotheses. The accepted hypotheses support the TRA theory and suggest the impact of age, job position, tenure of work and geographical diversity on attitude, subjective norms, behavioral intention and knowledge-sharing behavior. The study’s results suggested that nonacademic staff of 50 and above age groups are more likely to share knowledge than the nonacademic staff of 49 and fewer age groups. Likewise, the findings of the study suggested that nonacademic staff with a long tenure of work experience are more likely to share their knowledge with their coworkers than those with a short tenure of work experience.

Studies targeting knowledge sharing among nonacademic staff are scarce as compared to academic staff and students. Nonacademic staff are different from students and academic staff in attitudes and behavior. This study contributes to the expansion of knowledge sharing through the investigation of knowledge-sharing behavior of nonacademic staff. Moreover, the study expands the understanding of knowledge-sharing behavior through the use of demographic characteristics in relation to the TRA theory. In addition, most of the previous studies are based on data collected from one country, and this study is based on data collected from two countries.

This study aims to explore the impact of energy investment on economic growth. Specifically, the study investigates the impact of energy consumption, foreign investment, infrastructure development, tax revenue, human capital, international tourism revenue and trade volume on economic growth.

To achieve the aim, the authors sample the 24-years (1996–2019) financial statistics of BRICS countries. Given the econometric recommendations supplemented by the Johnsen cointegration test, the current study uses the fully modified ordinary least square model for regression analysis and checks the robustness through robust least square model.

The statistical analysis shows a direct impact of energy investment on economic growth. In addition, the statistical results indicate a positive impact of energy consumption, foreign investment, infrastructure development, tax revenue, human capital and trade volume on economic growth.

The results present practical implications for policymakers regarding the adequate investment in energy production that can further promote the economic growth in BRICS countries. Policy officials should enhance the volume of renewable energy production, foreign investment and tax revenue. Additionally, it is equally suggested to policymakers regarding the development of infrastructure and human capital to ensure economic growth.

This study supplements the novel and robust evidence on investment in energy-leading economic growth.