• Energy Research

AbstractAs a prominent CO2 producer in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is taking steps to mitigate carbon emissions amid its rapid economic expansion. However, there remains a limited understanding of the complex relationships among various factors such as domestic credit (DRC), energy consumption, green technology policy (GTP), oil prices (OPs), and FDI in shaping CO2 emissions. This study addresses this gap by examining both symmetric and asymmetric impacts of these factors—FDI, renewable and non‐renewable energy consumption, OP, GTP, DRC, and gross domestic products (GDP)—on CO2 emissions in Malaysia, considering both short and long‐term effects. Our research, which combines block exogeneity causation with ARDL and non‐linear ARDL cointegration approaches, spans data from 1980 to 2021 and provides several significant discoveries. This study provides support for the Environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, highlighting the intricate balance between economic growth and environmental conservation. The symmetric findings reveal that factors such as high GDP, FDI, renewable energy consumption, and OP tend to increase emissions, while GTP and DRC have a mitigating effect on CO2 levels over both short and long periods. Moreover, FDI and OP show positive associations with CO2 emissions across various timeframes, whereas non‐renewable energy consumption displays a negative correlation with CO2 emissions. These findings have significant implications for Malaysia's environmental policies and strategies.

AbstractThe fashion industry has a significant impact on the environment, and sustainable fashion consumption (SFC) has become a pressing concern. This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing sustainable fashion consumption behavior (SCB) among Chinese adults, specifically the role of values, attitudes, and norms in shaping such behavior, using the value-belief-norm framework. The study used an online cross-sectional survey design to collect data from 350 participants recruited through a convenience sampling method using social media platforms and email invitations, and the obtained data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results of the study showed that biospheric (BV), altruistic (AV), and egoistic (EV) values significantly influenced the New ecological paradigm (EP), which, in turn, positively affected awareness of consequences (AC). Personal norms (PN) were positively influenced by EP, AC, and ascription of responsibility (AR). Social norms (SN) and trust in recycling (TR) were also found to positively influence sustainable fashion consumption intentions (SCI). Finally, the study found that SCI and TR were significant predictors of SCB, whereas the moderating effect of TR not statistically significant. The study’s originality lies in its comprehensive investigation of the interplay between various factors (particularly using norms in two facets; PN and SN) in shaping SCB, using a structural equation modeling approach, and exploring the moderating effect of TR. The findings of this study suggest that interventions aimed at promoting SFC should focus on fostering values and beliefs that prioritize the environment, encouraging individuals to take responsibility for their actions, creating an environment in which SFC is normalized, and increasing TR.

This study investigated the effect of economic vulnerability upon competitive advantages, performance, and sustainability of micro-enterprises owned and managed by micro-entrepreneurs who participate in varied development initiatives in Peninsular Malaysia. Upon adopting the cross-sectional design, data were randomly collected from selected 300 micro-entrepreneurs from the eKasih program (national poverty data bank) located in four states of Peninsular Malaysia. The quantitative data were collected by conducting structured interview sessions with the respondents held from September until November 2017. The findings revealed that the state of economic vulnerability among the respondents had a significantly negative effect on the aspects of competitive advantages, performance, and sustainability among micro-enterprises in Peninsular Malaysia. Despite of the widely acknowledged and empirically examined effects of socioeconomic antecedents upon micro-enterprise performance, the focus on the effect of a more comprehensive measure of socioeconomic condition, that is, economic vulnerability, among low-income households appears to be scant. Hence, the outcomes of this study are able to provide critical insights for development organizations pertaining to development programs and their effectiveness on economically vulnerable, particularly among low-income households in Peninsular Malaysia.

Conducting business nowadays has become much more challenging, and the importance of collective behavioral capacity is paramount regarding the behavior of employees along with internal information systems that form the backbone of many organizations in terms of competitiveness and survivability. This study, therefore, examined the effect of commitment, communication, competency, community, connection, consideration, and coordination on information system artifacts and the effect of information system artifacts on organizational resilience among Malaysian SMEs. To verify these statements and positioning, a sample of employees from registered organizations of the Malaysian Digital Economic Corporation Sdn Bhd (MDEC), participated in this study to examine a number of aspects. Quantitative data were collected from a total of 252 respondents through a questionnaire survey and data were analyzed using PLS-SEM. We performed the endogeniety assessment for the all the seven input variables and confirmed lack of endogeniety issues. The findings of this study constitute essential results that the commitment, communication, competency, community, connection, consideration, and coordination positively influenced the ISA. Furthermore, the mediating effect of ISA on the relationships of organizational resilience with commitment, communication, competency, community, connection, consideration, and coordination, had been revealed. The study concluded that a positive set of behavioral capital, if it exists inside organizations, enables the organizations to prosper and survive. Similarly, policymakers need to address the issue surrounding resilience in SMEs by establishing the correct benchmarking mechanism by introducing it as a formal activity to be undertaken regularly within the SMEs. Given the vast majority of employment in Malaysia and globally is provided through SMEs, if they become more resilient to change and to unforeseen events, then the employment of the vast majority of the working class can be secured across different nations.

This study explored the effect of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influence, facilitating condition, lifestyle compatibility, and perceived trust on both the intention to use an e-wallet and the adoption of an e-wallet among adults by using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). This quantitative study adopted a cross-sectional research design to gather data from 501 respondents using a Google Form. The collected data were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). As a result, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influence, lifestyle compatibility, and perceived trust displayed a significant positive effect on both intentions to use an e-wallet and adoption of an e-wallet. This study evidenced the mediating effect of the intention to use an e-wallet on the correlations between the predictors and adoption of an e-wallet. Both the age and gender of the respondents moderated the effect of lifestyle compatibility on intention to use an e-wallet. The study outcomes serve to inform managers and policy makers to devise effective strategies that capture consumers’ intention to use and experience of using an e-wallet in the midst of a turbulent market. Ultimately, such carefully sculpted policies may promote the digital platform and web-based application, apart from encouraging higher rates of e-wallet adoption in developing countries.

The nursing profession is a much-demanded profession that requires the individual capacity to work under intense physical and emotional dynamics in the workplace. Work related factors cause burnout and need attention from scholars and professionals to reduce the effects of the burnout among nursing staff. This study aimed to examine the meditational role of psychological empowerment and work-life quality on the burnout experiences of nursing staff in Malaysia. This study investigated a sample of 432 nursing staff from 10 registered hospitals in the Selangor area that have been listed on the Malaysian Health Tourism Council (MHTC) website. The responses collected via a self-reported questionnaire, and the data was analyzed using partial least square regression structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings statistically support the argument that the provision of quality of work-life (adequate and fair compensation, constitution in the work organization, safe and healthy working conditions, social integration in the work organization, social relevance of work-life, and work and life span) could promote psychological empowerment among nurses. Psychological empowerment statistically resulted in reducing the burnout effects by mediating the effect of work-life quality (QWL) on burnout. This study contributes to the literature that QWL factors need to be studied separately, and its affects on psychological empowerment, and how psychological empowerment permits curtails the effects of the burnout among nursing staff providing the services to health tourists. This study also provided important implications for the management staff of the nursing industry to initiate the management of burnout with the provision of psychological employment. The present study contributed to the current literature of burnout management through the psychological empowerment provided by the factors of the quality of work life.

Climate change hinders economic growth across the globe, whereas green products and/or the adoption of green practices can effectively mitigate the deteriorating conditions of climate. A large proportion of the world population is living in remote areas with low income, and they should be included in the mitigation efforts to reduce the damaging effects of climate change. Therefore, this study intends to examine the intentions and behaviors towards green composting among low-income rural households to generate income, improve agricultural productivity, and reduce dependency on chemical fertilizers. This study adopted a cross-sectional research design and used structured interviews to collect quantitative data from 420 low-income households living in rural areas in Peninsular Malaysia. This study adopted the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and extended the TPB by embedding the constructs of perceived benefits and eco-literacy into the attitude towards the environment, normative beliefs by extending the subjective norms, and perception of startup resources by extending the perceived behavioral control. The study outcomes revealed that eco-literacy and perceived benefits had a significantly positive effect on attitude towards the environment; normative belief on subjective norms; perception of startup resources on perceived behavioral control; attitude towards the environment on subjective norms; perceived behavioral control on intention towards green composting; and intention towards green composting on green composting adoption behavior. The findings may serve as a guideline to policymakers for the adoption of composting, which can mitigate environmental issues in addition to generating economic activities for low-income residents in Peninsular Malaysia. The study’s limitations and future research opportunities are reported as well.

En tant qu'alternative sûre aux produits agrochimiques dangereux, le compost de déchets alimentaires pourrait prévenir les risques pour la santé humaine et la dégradation de l'environnement. Le compostage des déchets alimentaires n'a pas suscité beaucoup de popularité parmi les agriculteurs étant donné leur seule dépendance aux engrais synthétiques pour des rendements élevés et des rendements commerciaux. Par conséquent, cette étude visait à identifier les facteurs influençant l'adoption par les agriculteurs du compostage des déchets alimentaires pour une utilisation régulière. Des données empiriques ont été recueillies auprès de 399 agriculteurs résidant dans différentes villes de deuxième rang en Chine par le biais d'entretiens en face à face à l'aide d'un questionnaire structuré. La modélisation de l'équation structurelle des moindres carrés partiels a été utilisée pour examiner statistiquement les modèles et construire des corrélations. Sur la base des résultats de l'étude, l'utilité perçue du compostage des déchets alimentaires, la sensibilisation aux conséquences, l'influence sociale, la culpabilité anticipée et l'attitude à l'égard du compostage des déchets alimentaires ont eu un impact considérable sur l'intention de compostage des déchets alimentaires. Curieusement, la valeur perçue de la durabilité et de l'attribution des responsabilités n'a pas eu d'impact significatif sur l'intention de compostage des déchets alimentaires, alors que l'intention de compostage des déchets alimentaires a considérablement influencé le comportement de compostage des déchets alimentaires. Les résultats de l'analyse multi-groupes ont révélé des différences dans la relation entre la conscience des conséquences et l'intention de compostage des déchets alimentaires entre les sexes et les niveaux d'éducation. Cette découverte intrigante offre de nouvelles voies pour la recherche future et offre de nouvelles perspectives sur les applications pratiques et la promotion du compostage des déchets alimentaires. Ces résultats amélioreront les aspects pertinents parmi les agriculteurs pour des pratiques agricoles respectueuses de l'environnement, innoveront dans les stratégies de gestion des déchets alimentaires et atténueront la détérioration de l'environnement résultant des produits agrochimiques dangereux. Cette étude élargit la littérature actuelle en fournissant aux régulateurs gouvernementaux et aux autres entreprises sociales des lois, des politiques et des lignes directrices efficaces pour l'élaboration de stratégies visant à adopter le compostage naturel à grande échelle et à améliorer la valeur nutritionnelle des aliments afin de prévenir les risques sanitaires imprévus causés par les produits chimiques toxiques. Como alternativa segura a los agroquímicos peligrosos, el compost de residuos alimentarios podría prevenir los peligros para la salud humana y la degradación ambiental. El compostaje de residuos de alimentos no ha ganado mucha popularidad entre los agricultores dada su dependencia exclusiva de los fertilizantes sintéticos para obtener altos rendimientos y rendimientos comerciales. Por lo tanto, este estudio tuvo como objetivo identificar los factores que influyen en la adopción por parte de los agricultores del compostaje de residuos de alimentos para su uso regular. Se recopilaron datos empíricos de 399 agricultores que residen en diferentes ciudades de segundo nivel en China a través de entrevistas cara a cara utilizando un cuestionario estructurado. Se utilizó el modelado de ecuaciones estructurales de mínimos cuadrados parciales para examinar estadísticamente los modelos y construir correlaciones. Con base en los resultados del estudio, la utilidad percibida del compost de residuos de alimentos, la conciencia de las consecuencias, la influencia social, la culpa anticipada y la actitud hacia el compostaje de residuos de alimentos afectaron sustancialmente la intención de compostaje de residuos de alimentos. Curiosamente, el valor percibido de la sostenibilidad y la atribución de responsabilidad no tuvieron un impacto significativo en la intención de compostaje de residuos de alimentos, mientras que la intención de compostaje de residuos de alimentos influyó sustancialmente en el comportamiento de compostaje de residuos de alimentos. Los resultados del análisis multigrupo revelaron diferencias en la relación entre la conciencia de las consecuencias y la intención de compostaje del desperdicio de alimentos entre géneros y niveles educativos. Este intrigante hallazgo proporciona nuevas vías para futuras investigaciones y ofrece nuevos conocimientos sobre las aplicaciones prácticas y la promoción del compostaje de residuos de alimentos. Estos resultados mejorarán los aspectos relevantes entre los agricultores para las prácticas agrícolas ecológicas, innovarán las estrategias de gestión de residuos alimentarios y mitigarán el deterioro ambiental resultante de los agroquímicos peligrosos. Este estudio amplía el cuerpo de literatura actual al proporcionar a los reguladores gubernamentales y otras empresas sociales leyes, políticas y pautas de desarrollo de estrategias efectivas para adoptar el compostaje natural a gran escala y mejorar el valor nutricional de los alimentos para prevenir riesgos imprevistos para la salud causados por productos químicos tóxicos. As a safe alternative to hazardous agrochemicals, food waste compost could prevent human health hazards and environmental degradation. Food waste composting has not garnered much popularity among farmers given their sole dependence on synthetic fertilizers for high yields and commercial returns. Hence, this study aimed to identify the factors influencing farmers' adoption of food waste composting for regular use. Empirical data were collected from 399 farmers residing in different second-tier cities in China through face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. The partial least squares-structural equation modelling was used to statistically examine the models and construct correlations. Based on the study outcomes, the perceived usefulness of food waste compost, awareness of the consequences, social influence, anticipated guilt, and attitude towards food waste composting substantially impacted food waste composting intention. Intriguingly, the perceived value of sustainability and ascription of responsibility did not have a significant impact on food waste composting intention, whereas food waste composting intention substantially influenced food waste composting behavior. The results of the multi-group analysis revealed differences in the relationship between awareness of consequences and food waste composting intention across genders and educational levels. This intriguing finding provides new avenues for future research and offers novel insights into the practical applications and promotion of food waste composting. These results will improve the relevant aspects among farmers for eco-friendly farming practices, innovate food waste management strategies, and mitigate environmental deterioration resulting from hazardous agrochemicals. This study expands the current body of literature by providing government regulators and other social enterprises with effective laws, policies, and strategy development guidelines for adopting natural composting on a large scale and enhancing the nutritional value of food to prevent unforeseen health risks caused by toxic chemicals. كبديل آمن للكيماويات الزراعية الخطرة، يمكن لسماد نفايات الطعام أن يمنع المخاطر الصحية البشرية والتدهور البيئي. لم يكتسب تسميد نفايات الطعام شعبية كبيرة بين المزارعين نظرًا لاعتمادهم الوحيد على الأسمدة الاصطناعية للحصول على غلات عالية وعوائد تجارية. ومن ثم، هدفت هذه الدراسة إلى تحديد العوامل التي تؤثر على اعتماد المزارعين على سماد نفايات الطعام للاستخدام المنتظم. تم جمع البيانات التجريبية من 399 مزارعًا يقيمون في مدن مختلفة من الدرجة الثانية في الصين من خلال مقابلات وجهاً لوجه باستخدام استبيان منظم. تم استخدام نمذجة المعادلة الهيكلية للمربعات الصغرى الجزئية لفحص النماذج إحصائيًا وبناء الارتباطات. بناءً على نتائج الدراسة، أثرت الفائدة المتصورة لسماد نفايات الطعام، والوعي بالعواقب، والتأثير الاجتماعي، والشعور بالذنب المتوقع، والموقف تجاه سماد نفايات الطعام بشكل كبير على نية سماد نفايات الطعام. ومن المثير للاهتمام أن القيمة المتصورة للاستدامة ونسب المسؤولية لم يكن لها تأثير كبير على نية تحويل نفايات الطعام إلى سماد، في حين أن نية تحويل نفايات الطعام إلى سماد أثرت بشكل كبير على سلوك تحويل نفايات الطعام إلى سماد. كشفت نتائج التحليل متعدد المجموعات عن اختلافات في العلاقة بين الوعي بالعواقب ونية تحويل النفايات الغذائية إلى سماد بين الجنسين والمستويات التعليمية. توفر هذه النتيجة المثيرة للاهتمام طرقًا جديدة للبحث المستقبلي وتقدم رؤى جديدة حول التطبيقات العملية والترويج لتسميد نفايات الطعام. وستؤدي هذه النتائج إلى تحسين الجوانب ذات الصلة بين المزارعين من أجل الممارسات الزراعية الصديقة للبيئة، وابتكار استراتيجيات لإدارة نفايات الأغذية، والتخفيف من التدهور البيئي الناجم عن الكيماويات الزراعية الخطرة. توسع هذه الدراسة المجموعة الحالية من الأدبيات من خلال تزويد المنظمين الحكوميين والمؤسسات الاجتماعية الأخرى بقوانين وسياسات وإرشادات تطوير استراتيجية فعالة لاعتماد السماد الطبيعي على نطاق واسع وتعزيز القيمة الغذائية للغذاء لمنع المخاطر الصحية غير المتوقعة الناجمة عن المواد الكيميائية السامة.