• Energy Research
• social sciences close
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• 9. Industry and infrastructure close

Abstract This paper studies the impact of oil price changes on economic growth in Saudi Arabia to measure its dependency on the crude oil sector. To this end, an On/Off threshold regression is specified to allow the oil/GDP relationship to be asymmetric, nonlinear, and time-varying with regard to the business cycle phases. Further, we empirically test the diversification hypothesis put forward by the National Transformation Program (Saudi Vision 2030) to check whether the equity-energy investment initiative could boost economic growth in Saudi Arabia. First, our findings confirm the contribution of the oil sector to economic growth in the country, but also show that the oil/Saudi economy relationship exhibits nonlinearity and threshold effects, as the impact of oil price varies per regime depending on the state of the market. Second, in line with the Vision 2030 expectations, we are in favor of transforming the economy and opening its equity market. We also quantify a positive and significant impact of equity investment on the Saudi Arabian economy. Further, this diversification route will stimulate a beneficial oil effect on the real economy.

A variety of pipelines are distributed under urban roads. The upgrading of pipelines is bound to occupy certain road resources, compress the driving space of motor vehicles for a long time, aggravate the traffic congestion in the construction section, and then affect the traffic operation of the whole region. A reasonable layout of traffic signs for inducement to guide the traffic flow in the area where the construction section is located is conducive to promoting a balanced distribution of traffic flow in the regional road network, so as to achieve the reduction of automobile exhaust emissions and the sustainable development of traffic. In this paper, the layout optimization method of regional traffic signs for inducement is proposed. Taking the maximum amount of guidance information that the regional traffic signs can provide as the objective function, and taking the traffic volume, the characteristics of intersection nodes and the standard deviation of road saturation as the independent variables, the layout optimization model of guidance facilities is constructed, which can optimize the layout of traffic guidance signs in the area affected by the construction section, and achieve the goal that the minimum number of facilities can provide the maximum amount of guidance information. The results of the case study show that among the 64 alternative locations where traffic guidance signs can be set in the study area, eight optimal locations are finally determined as the setting points of guidance facilities through this model, and the effective increment of guidance information is the largest at this time. The model proposed in this paper can be used for reference to promote the sustainable development of traffic in the area where the construction section is located.

The global structural change, together with "the green revolution", caused the economic growth to be based on the service sector today, instead on the traditional economic sectors. The main focus of this paper is on the factors that affect the decisions of households in Serbia to participate in the tourism industry in the context of the sustainable development. In particular, a significant portion of the analysis is devoted to the constraints that can be induced by inadequate drinking water supply and its quality in households. These factors can be considered the main limitations to those households that decide to provide accommodation and food services to the tourists in their local touristreceiver communities. The empirical analysis is based on survey data that describe conditions in the households, whereas the econometric framework is employed in order to determine structural relationships. The null hypothesis that drinking water supply and quality do not affect the likelihood of the household participating in the tourism industry is tested and accepted based on the probit model estimates. The difference between the public urban and local water supply systems that provide drinking water to the households is statistically confirmed, but it does not affect the likelihood of the household participating in the tourism industry.

In the field of education for sustainability, there is a call to consider diverse livelihoods and world views beyond dominant anthropocentric, scientific, and ‘Western’ ways of understanding and living. For scholars and educators trained in ‘Western’ culture, this is complicated by how this dominant culture is infused in all our ways of thinking and being. This paper explores the authors’ journey to unsettle their ‘Western’ thinking through analysis of reflexive field notes taken during field research. Data is shared from the author’s doctoral study of Campesino-a-Campesino (CaC) as an anti-racist pedagogy. The paper tells a story of the unsettling of the author’s assumptions about research, race, development, and education prompted by field experiences and guided by critical educational ethnography. An interdisciplinary approach to analysis is used including scholars in critical race theory, TribalCrit, Indigenous education, decolonization theory, and post-development theory. Conclusions illuminate researcher reflexivity, understanding critical context, learning the history of research, and shifting which scholars are considered in the analysis as crucial in the process of decolonizing the study of anti-racist pedagogies for sustainability.

AbstractEmbedding sustainability in day‐to‐day operations necessitates employees' proactiveness beyond compliance with standardised management practices. Exchanging information on safety and environmental issues is acknowledged as a component of workers' proactive behaviours for sustainability embeddedness, which is hardly promoted by codified procedures. Accordingly, identifying leverages to stimulate information exchange is a primary objective for academics and practitioners. The study investigates drivers of information exchange on safety and environmental near misses by examining five situation‐related antecedents: rewards/reinforcements, organisational boundaries, social proactiveness, stakeholder salience and connectedness. The study relies on a mixed method approach, by combining social network analysis and a questionnaire survey conducted among four large Italian companies. The findings partially support the hypothesis of the study, highlighting rewards/reinforcements and connectedness as relevant antecedents of information exchange, while organisational boundaries only partially relate with information exchange. Surprisingly, stakeholder salience and social proactiveness do not emerge as significant drivers of information exchange. The study contributes to the debate on extra‐role pro‐sustainability behaviours and provides implications for managerial practice.

This study integrated a focus on geographical, physical, and commercial characteristics to explore the commercial gentrification phenomenon and its related statistical summaries in the area of Garosu-gil in Seoul’s Sinsa-dong ward. In particular, this study first collected parcel and building data and corresponding attribute information and mapped the resulting datasets in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. We then examined gentrification issues per building and conducted statistical analyses to investigate spatial patterns of commercial gentrification, which were used to develop criteria for determining degrees of gentrification. Third, this study conducted correlation and regression analyses to quantify the strength of the linear relationship between pairs of variables associated with primary factors contributing to commercial gentrification, and used a geographically weighted regression model (GWR) to help understand and predict spatial relationships between significant variables. The results showed positive correlations between several variables and commercial gentrification in the study area, namely neighborhood-convenience facilities, building ages, store rents, new franchise and restaurant businesses, distance to subways, and the presence of multiple roads. Based on its finding, there are key contributions of this study as follows. The first significant contribution of this study is developing measurement of gentrification levels that can be used by policy makers at each of four stages of the gentrification process. Furthermore, this paper develops a comprehensive approach for spatially identifying gentrifying neighborhoods across multiple time periods in 2- and 3-dimensions. It eventually helps urban planners implement preventative or supportive programs to protect lower-income residents and small businesses and thereby engender more sustainable community development.

The objective of this paper is to analyze the factors influencing the success of real estate crowdfunding projects in Spain. This type of crowdfunding invests in real estate assets. We analyzed 60 projects published on the Housers platform, a kind of participative platform that uses the lending and equity crowdfunding modalities. These projects have involved around 36,623 investment decisions and have raised a total amount of almost 26 million euros. The empirical analysis is based on ordinary least squares and negative binomial regression. Our main findings reveal that success differs depending on the type of project; in fact, buy-to-sell projects are less successful than development loan projects. In addition, while total return has a positive impact on project success, in the case of risk level and project term, the impact is negative.

The manufacturing sector in South East Nigeria has many challenges concerning the incorporation of sustainability into the corporate strategies and operations of the industry, given its extractive nature and the numerous social and environmental impacts related to production activity. Attaining organizational sustainability requires the implementation of environmental management practice tools that create long-term value by embracing opportunities and managing risks derived from economic, environmental, and social developments. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of environmental management practice tools on the sustainability of manufacturing organizations. The goal of the study was to determine the relationship between environmental management practice tools and sustainability. A survey design was used for this study. A total of 363 questionnaires were distributed to the employees of the manufacturing firms, which included managers, supervisors, and line staff. The data collected were analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Primarily, the study established that environmental management practice tools were significantly and positively related to sustainability. Thus, the study concluded that environmental management practice tools contribute significantly and positively to firms’ social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Additionally, the result of this study underlines the significance to manufacturing firms of carrying out environmental management practices. The ramifications are that manufacturing firms attempting to assert sustainability through EMP should have related knowledge with EMP. Furthermore, their environmental advantages will not convert into sustainability. The study adds to the body of knowledge by giving experimental pieces of proof identifying the interrelationships between EMP and sustainability.