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Although the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) advocate, through SDG 4 and SDG 10, equitable quality education and the reduction of inequalities within and between countries, respectively, few studies have examined how inequalities in regional sustainability influence higher education. Therefore, this study aims to examine the relationship between regional sustainability and higher education in China using fixed-effects panel modelling. A systematic force framework showing how regional sustainability drives higher education was constructed from economic, social, and environmental perspectives, and the endogeneity in the process of how regional sustainability affects higher education was explored by introducing one-year lagged values as instrumental variables. Our results show that regional sustainability has a significant impact on higher educational attainment in China, with differing effects in the eastern, central, and western regions, respectively. In central China, economic sustainability plays a significant positive role in higher educational attainment; in the western region, economic and social sustainability have stronger positive effects, while environmental sustainability has significantly negative effects. In terms of policy implications, our findings can be used to support regional development policies to promote regional higher education.

Pakistan is an energy deficient country with depleting energy reserves and increasing energy demand. Due to excessive population growth, the domestic and commercial energy sectors are experiencing rising demand. To meet the requisite demand, renewables are favored rather than conventional counterparts. In this study, we model hybrid power systems using solar, wind and biomass resources for electrifying remote areas. The four locations are chosen for the study around a developing country, Pakistan, where each site is designed according to an isolated microgrid with maximum indigenous resources potential as per the requisite demands. A survey is conducted for the load demand and biomass availability. Optimization is conducted across objectives of minimum levelized cost of the generated energy, least the net present cost and lesser payback period. The optimal results were achieved in-terms of required objectives across southern sites as compared to northern counterparts. The cost of generated energy is comparable to grid electricity and ensures 24 h power supply without cut off and load shedding to the un-electrified rural area. The hybrid power system has a low carbon footprint across emissions due to the use of renewable resources. All the estimated load of rural communities is met with the available resources and mid-career impact has also been conducted across 10 years of the project life to fulfill the increasing load demand of the communities after installation. The results are validated via comparative analysis and show the effectiveness of the proposed study.

This study provides an in-depth analysis of the effects of academic mobility on higher education innovation through an empirical study on returned Chinese academics at two research universities in China. Based on data obtained through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with 15 academic returnees, this paper aims to examine the everyday interactions between individual returnees and their environment, with a focus on exploring how different institutional contexts affect returnees’ capacity for integration and innovation. It finds that returned academics play an important role in promoting higher education innovation in China through mobilizing their transnational capital and resources. However, their capacity to innovate is largely subject to their working environment. Evidence from the study suggests that differing institutional contexts make a substantial difference to the reintegration experiences of returnees and to their contributions to institutional changes. This paper provides a window into the changing institutional environment in China and the academic lives of returnees there. It also provides important implications for talent policy decisions.

The digital transformation of Chinese construction enterprises is crucial for achieving sustainable and high-quality development in the construction industry. However, there is still a lack of in-depth research on the impact mechanism of digital transformation in construction enterprises. The purpose of this study is to explore the multiple influencing factors and complex causal relationships of digital transformation in construction enterprises and promote the deep integration of digitalization and construction enterprises. To this end, based on the dual-effect perspective (net effect perspective of a single influencing factor and configuration effect perspective of multiple influencing factors), using the “technology–organization–environment” framework (TOE framework) to construct a research model of influencing factors for digital transformation in construction enterprises. A sample of 236 construction enterprise managers was surveyed, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) methods were used to empirically analyze the dual effects of influencing factors for digital transformation in construction enterprises. The results show that: (1) from the net effect perspective, there are seven factors that significantly impact digital transformation in construction enterprises; (2) from the configuration effect perspective, there are three paths that can achieve high-level digital transformation in construction enterprises, and one path that leads to low-level digital transformation; (3) from the dual-effect perspective, top management support and policy support are key factors for digital transformation in Chinese construction enterprises. The research results enrich the relevant research on digital transformation in construction enterprises and provide a reference basis for promoting digital transformation in construction enterprises.

We argue that social dilemmas structured as investment trust games are a dominant feature in social and economic life due to asymmetric information, incomplete contracts and non-overlapping competencies that are typical characteristics of business relationships. We therefore consider that borrowers living in geographical areas with higher interpersonal trust are more likely to overcome the coordination failures typical of this kind of social dilemmas, thereby creating higher economic value and reducing the risk of their economic activity. Our empirical findings support this hypothesis, showing that lenders charge significantly lower loan costs on borrowers living in areas characterized by higher interpersonal trust.

Orphan crops are those crops that did not receive the same attention of the research community as in the case of staples such as wheat, maize, or rice despite their regional and nutritional importance. A relatively recent trend has been promoting their research to improve their productivity and resilience to environmental shocks. However, their impact on consumers’ nutrition has been analysed only considering the crops individually and not in the context of the diet. This is important because an increase in the consumption of one product may trigger changes in the other products that conform to the diet. The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential impact, in terms of food choices and nutrition, of increasing the consumption of orphan crops (represented by millet) in the Kenyan diet. This is carried out using a microeconomic-based methodology, which augments the original consumer problem with a constraint regarding the amount of the orphan crop on the diet. To compute the required elasticities for the method, three demand systems—i.e., for rural, less affluent urban, more affluent urban households—were estimated using the 2015–16 Kenyan Integrated Household Survey and the two-step approach to address the zero consumption for some food categories; the second step was modelled using the Linquad demand model. The results indicate that although the orphan crops have the capacity to improve some of the nutrients (e.g., vitamins and minerals), in net terms, as measured by the aggregated nutritional indicator the improvement is somewhat limited, the improvements occur in the rural and the less affluent population.

Africa has experienced unprecedented growth across a range of development indices for decades. However, this growth is often at the expense of Africa’s biodiversity and ecosystems, jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of people depending on the goods and services provided by nature, with broader consequences for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Encouragingly, Africa can still take a more sustainable path. Here, we synthesize the key learnings from the African Ecological Futures project. We report results from a participatory scenario planning process around four collectively-owned scenarios and narratives for the evolution of Africa’s ecological resource base over the next 50 years. These scenarios provided a lens to review pressures on the natural environment, through the drivers, pressures, state, impacts, and responses (DPSIR) framework. Based on the outcomes from each of these steps, we discuss opportunities to reorient Africa’s development trajectories towards a sustainable path. These opportunities fall under the broad categories of “effective natural resource governance”, “strategic planning capabilities”, “investment safeguards and frameworks”, and “new partnership models”. Underpinning all these opportunities are “data, management information, and decision support frameworks”. This work can help inform collaborative action by a broad set of actors with an interest in ensuring a sustainable ecological future for Africa.

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is advocated for achieving sustainable transportation through development around transit stations. TOD’s global implementation revealed varied outcomes, with many cities failing to achieve the intended objectives. TOD implementation in the Jakarta Metropolitan area still in its infancy. Through a geospatial information system and a survey of 400 commuters who live inside the 1 km radius of planned TOD, this longitudinal study aimed to examine an eight-year lapse between 2013 and 2020 of changes in two aspects, specifically land-use and spatial distribution as well as commuters’ travel behavior and preferences in TOD implementation and travel changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Key findings are as follows: increased diversity in the residential function around planned TOD areas in the Jakarta capital and a decrease in the suburbs, reflecting the commuters’ improved readiness to reside in planned TOD areas. Furthermore, kinship relations were the commuters’ main reason when selecting house locations, with no capacity to change their workplaces. A significant increase in public facilities at the expense of green open space (GOS) indicates that TOD implementation was conducted by the government with the sole authority to manage GOS, lacking private sector involvement. The cost factor was the most dominant reason for the commuter’s use of public transportation, instead of new transport modes such as MRT and LRT. Moreover, the commuter’s travel behavior in all studied transit stations, whilst it showed evidence of changes in time and frequency, was not greatly influenced by the COVID-19 related restrictions.

Small to medium-sized enterprises suffer from loss of competitive advantage, low productivity, and poor performance because of inadequate competencies. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to examine the effect of selected motivational dimensions (i.e., self-improvement, self-confidence, openness to change, pull factors, and the need for achievement) on entrepreneurial competency among micro-entrepreneurs. We used a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from 403 micro-entrepreneurs in Malaysia using random sampling. SEM-PLS was used for data analysis. The findings revealed that self-confidence, openness to change, and pull factors positively influenced entrepreneurial competencies. Moreover, there was a positive effect of self-confidence, pull factors, need for achievement, and entrepreneurial competency on enterprise sustainability performance. Furthermore, entrepreneurial competencies significantly mediated the effect of self-confidence, openness to change, and pull factors on enterprise sustainability performance. Apart from extending the lens of a resource-based view, this study enriches enterprise sustainability literature from emerging nations’ perspective. Policymakers can strengthen their programs and policies to improve the entrepreneurial competencies of micro-entrepreneurs and their business sustainability.

Applying the circular economy (CE) concept is crucial for achieving sustainable development goals. A transition towards a CE requires new tools to clarify the interdependency among systems and assist policy-makers in their decisions, particularly in the risk assessment field. This paper analyzes the systemic effects and interdependencies of several risks in the context of a CE. The developed tool helps adopt proactive strategies that consider the four aspects of sustainability (economic, environmental, social, and technological). The adopted tool improves strategic thinking for a circular economy concept and supports organizations with respect to assessing risks. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive and novel model to quantify the priority weights of the sustainability risk indicators to provide guidelines for supporting the policy formulation process for decision-makers. In this paper, the taxonomy of various risk indicators has been proposed, and we have identified and adopted 40 risk indicators for the CE. This paper focuses on understanding how risks can be constructed and how they affect the performance of power plants over time in terms of availability, efficiency, and operational and maintenance cost. The causal loop diagram (CLD) model is built by deploying various risk quantifications, and the adopted tool was tested and validated to assess the CE risks relevant to the environmental perspective in power plants in the Middle East. The risk indicators under the concept of the CE model and the system thinking approach can help policy-makers in their strategic and operational decision-making process for achieving a better understanding of the risk assessment process. The taxonomy of risk categories and its linking with the system thinking approach will help in the successful and effective implementation of a CE in the energy sector in the long-term. The proposed model offers a tool for policy-makers to design policies when planning a CE.