Development Model in Economic Growth: Dynamic Cycle on Halal Tourism: Acces la Success

The development of sharia tourism in Indonesia has some extraordinary challenges and obstacles throughout 20202022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the 2019 gMtI data shows that by 2030, the number of Muslim tourists is projected to exceed 230 million worldwide. The opportunities, challenges, and obstacles shown in the development of sharia tourism require stakeholder follow-up as part of the growth of the sharia economy in the country. This study offers a theoretical framework for economic growth built on dynamic cycle theory because very few studies investigate it. Even though it is imperative to consider an analysis of economic growth with a dynamic cycle that focuses on the halal tourism sector because it is known to make a significant contribution that supports sustainable development conditions and vice versa. This study investigates one of the Islamic tourism development models originating from Ibn Khaldun's thoughts regarding the concept of the state relating to justice to obtain wealth in economic activity (through trade). The research method used is a literature study using content analysis that focuses on the thoughts of Ibn Khaldun as contained in his work entitled Muqadimmah and several relevant previous literatures. The findings reveal that there are two important points. First, Ibnu Khaldun proposes a framework to help countries face challenges of growth or problems of back-and-forth economic development including a dynamic cycle. The framework is based on a proposition of eight principles from a policy known as the eight wise principles or sentence hikammiyah consisting of sovereign power (al-mulk), sharia, human resources (ar-rijal), property (al-mal), development (al-imarah), justice (al-adl), a yardstick (al-mizan), and responsibility are cycles that occur with different durations. So in the end created three generations. Second, if Ibn Khaldun's thoughts about the eight principles of justice policy are embodied in sharia tourism development policies that are supported by the role of human resources, it will affect the reversal of sharia economic growth. It can be concluded that the dynamic cycle can support the development of sharia tourism and have an impact on sharia economic growth as long as the eight policy principles are implemented correctly according to sharia. Stakeholders need to consider the dynamic cycle for future sharia tourism development policies.

Evaluation Model of Business Sustainability: Analysis and Consolidation of Existing Approaches: Acces la Success

The concept and practicalities of sustainable business development attract increasing interest of general public, companies, legislators, activists, academics and many others. Our understanding of what constitutes sustainability is evolving, especially nowadays when the pandemic and digitalization caused major shifts globally. In such conditions, it is no wonder that managers and business owners may face difficulties in implementation and evaluation of sustainable practices. Therefore, The objective: of the paper is to examine theoretical foundations of the concept of business sustainability and propose an up-to-date model for its appraisal. The paper is divided into two primary parts in addition to introduction and conclusion. The first part is dedicated to the examination of the terms 'stability' and 'sustainability' universally and in business environment. The second part includes description of our suggested evaluation model of economic, social and environmental sustainability perspectives using relevant indicators. Methods/Analysis: the research includes review of academic literature and empirical research on the topic of business sustainability and analytical consolidation of existing approaches to its appraisal. Findings: theoretical contribution to perception and development of the conditions of business stability and sustainability, and evaluation model including specific indicators across the three primary sustainability directions. Application/Improvements: the research is useful to general public, but is of special interest to business leaders interested in implementation of sustainable practices.

Exploratory Factorial Model of Hydric Conservation in the COVID-19 era

Scenarios of scarcity, shortages, healthiness and scarcity are proposed to which HEIs would react, but with nuances according to the capacities of the areas of knowledge such as the case of health sciences and administrative economic sciences. [...]a Modeling is a mapping of the variables indicative of a behavior based on inclusion criteria such as the consensus of the literature regarding the SDG-6 and its observation in HEIs. [...]verifiability frameworks prevail in the biological and health sciences. [...]a comparison between different sources observing the same phenomenon generates the veracity of a data [9]. The IES only covers a few disciplines that respond to the development needs of the region, as well as the projected labor demand [10]. [...]the objective of this work is to contribute with empirical evidence to the SDG indicators: scarcity, drought, depletion, sanitation, purification, quality and floods [11].

Learning from the Future of Kuwait: Scenarios as a Learning Tool to Build Consensus for Actions Needed to Realize Vision 2035

This perspective is a qualitative meta-analysis study using a critical interpretive synthesis that narrates three future and equally plausible scenarios of social and economic development in the State of Kuwait over the next 15 years. The first scenario follows what we call the ‘Sustainable Growth' model as defined by the United Nations Development Goals and the Kuwait Vision 2035 presented by the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. As a polar opposite, the next scenario is what we call the ‘Mismanaged Resourced-Based Autocracy' model, a negative reflection of the worst-case scenario. The third scenario is in between these two, and we call it the ‘Equality of Outcome Between Societal Groups' model. So as not to lay blame for past actions or point fingers, which could prove counterproductive to a consensus-building process for needed actions, we chose to use the pasts of other countries for future projections for the State of Kuwait. Our search through recent socio-economic pasts revealed that Singapore was the best fit for the first scenario, Venezuela for the second, and Lebanon for the third. All these countries became fully independent at approximately the same time as the State of Kuwait and share many other similarities. The three future projections were used as input variables to the outcome, which was a bottom-up and top-down consensus-making process regarding utilitarian action for Kuwait to be used by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Think-Tanks, Development Agencies, the government and the parliament.

Beyond Mainstream Development: The Moral Economy Alternative

Calls for moral economy abound as evidence accumulates of growing social, ecological and racialized failings of mainstream development conceived as a Westerncentric/Eurocentric construct largely driven by the notion of 'economic growth' as basis of development. There is now a considerable and diverse literature on contradictions of the mainstream development, including questions of inequality, climate change vulnerability, white racism, modern slavery, child labor, terrorism, new nationalism, decline of multilateralism at post-Brexit Europe and more recently COVID-19 pandemic-which has exacerbated existing poverty and inequality in the Global South. Yet these growing concerns are neglected in mainstream development discourse. Importantly, the broader landscape within which climate change, modern slavery, white racism, ecological and human security is situated is increasingly changing bringing new challenges to the understanding and rational of mainstream development. In view of this context, this article makes a new contribution to the debate on the failures of the mainstream development in post-pandemic world order. Building on post development debate, it argues that there are several disconnects, tensions and contradictions between the economic growth model and more ethical and equitable treatment of development. It proffers a moral economy and what makes it an alternative model and draws new distinctions between development as economic growth, which inhibits an understanding of moral economy that can address more directly the underlying contradictions of mainstream development in an historically asymmetrical global system. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Forum for Development Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The Pandemic Waves' Impact on the Crude Oil Price and the Rise of Consumer Price Index: Case Study for Six European Countries

This study examines the response of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in local currency to the COVID-19 pandemic using monthly data (March 2020–February 2022), comparatively for six European countries. We have introduced a model of multivariate adaptive regression that considers the quasi-periodic effects of pandemic waves in combination with the global effect of the economic shock to model the variation in the price of crude oil at international levels and to compare the induced effect of the pandemic restriction as well and the oil price variation on each country's CPI. The model was tested for the case of six emergent countries and developed European countries. The findings show that: (i) pandemic restrictions are driving a sharp rise in the CPI, and consequently inflation, in most European countries except Greece and Spain, and (ii) the emergent economies are more affected by the oil price and pandemic restriction than the developed ones.

The digital revolution and religious fact in the context of lockdowns linked to the coronavirus

The acceleration of the transformations brought about by digital technology is profoundly disrupting society and the established economic models. This chapter analyzes the impact of lockdown on the spiritual lives of believers and the innovative contribution of digital tools for the maintenance and renewal of religious practices within communities, subject to strong restrictions of individual and collective freedoms imposed by the public authorities. Religion is the set of beliefs, feelings, dogmas and practices that define the relationship of human beings with the sacred or a deity. The concept of confinement in the religious sphere has been closely linked to the history of religious practices since the beginning. In Europe, during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918-1919, when the mechanisms of contagion were already well known, France severely restricted religious services. The tools most used during the Covid-19 lockdown were ultimately quite similar in both the professional and private spheres. © ISTE Ltd 2022.

The KAC-CSR Model in the Tourism Sector

This article carries out, for the first time in the scientific literature, an integrated analysis of the variables of knowledge, application, and communication of CSR in an economic sector (in this case, tourism), through the application of a novel model called KAC-CSR (knowledge, application, and communication of corporate social responsibility);this model interrelates the three concepts and the possible factors causing them. The objective is to identify the possible causal relationships among these CSR variables and their respective determining factors. In practice, this implies carrying out a first empirical verification of the proposed model, seeking to determine its viability as an explanatory tool. Applying the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach, using partial least squares (PLS), to a sample of 224 hotels in the Colombian Caribbean region, this analysis verifies the proposed model and specifies its characteristics. This study finds that a greater degree of advanced CSR knowledge lends itself to a greater degree of CSR application. This, in turn, positively influences CSR communication. Likewise, motivations have a positive influence on CSR application, particularly in economic and social activities, while obstacles have a negative influence on CSR application. Moreover, different characteristics of the manager and the hotels determine the levels of knowledge, application, and communication of CSR. The paper also provides evidence on the determining factors influencing the ‘knowledge–application–communication' sequence of CSR, an aspect not studied until now. Future research should consider more stakeholders and replicate the KAC-CSR model in other economic sectors and geographical areas.

FORECASTING PERFORMANCE IN IRAQI STOCK EXCHANGE FOR THE OIL PRICE THROW THE GM (1,2) MODEL AND THE IMPACTS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH

Iraq's oil Industry Is the country's main source of income. Iraq's manufacturing sector has always been heavily dependent on the country's oil exports. Since the end of the Iraq War, Iraq has expanded its output and is currently the region's second-largest producer. For this investigation, the grey model was run using data on the monthly international price of Iraqi oil from October 2020 through September 2022. Researchers evaluated the MAPE and accuracy rate to choose which model to employ for oil price forecasting, and we found that the GM(2,1) model was the best fit for capturing the dynamics of the Iraqi oil market (precision rate = 96%, MAPE = 4%).

Academic freedom in Scandinavia: has the Nordic model survived?

The Scandinavian states have international reputations for promoting social democratic ideals, which have long been manifest in Nordic universities, e.g. legal protection for academic freedom and university studies free of charge. However, Nordic governments have made new h.e. laws, thereby changing university autonomy and management structures, leading to greater involvement by external personnel in university governance, and reduced academic freedom for academic staff. Utilizing legal data, and a survey of+5,000 academics from the EU states, this paper compares the protection for academic freedom in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The de jure analysis shows that a single Nordic grouping is not apparent, but that there are two distinct Scandinavian cohorts. The de facto analysis reveals differences between the Nordic nations and other EU states but does neither confirm the Nordic model nor substantiate two regional cohorts identified in previous research and in the de jure analysis.

Towards a Multidimensional Model for Evaluating the Sustainable Effect of FDI on the Development of Host Developing Countries: Evidence from Africa

This study aims to comprehensively evaluate the sustainable impact of FDI on the development of host African countries. Previous empirical studies seem to have overestimated the impact of FDI by limiting its effects to one aspect or sub-aspect of sustainable development. This study focuses on the sustainable/net effect of FDI on development in Africa. To achieve this, a multidimensional model that combines two opposing views (mainstream theory of economic development and dependent theory) was tested. Panel data of 35 African countries with the PMG/ARDL approach were used to probe the sustainable effect of FDI from 1990 to 2020. The key findings of this study reveal that the overall estimated sustainable effect of FDI on real GDP per capita is statistically minuscule for the entire sample. Thus, the effect of FDI on the development of host African countries is not inherently more important. The most striking result that emerged from the data is that environmental degradation is the dominant variable that adversely influences overall development in Africa. Another striking finding that emerged from the data is that income inequality, in general, has a significant negative impact on real GDP per capita in the long run. More importantly, the results of this study confirm that CO2, GINI, and GOV play important roles in the relationship between FDI and African development. Estimates of the error correction term for each specific country are negative and statistically significant. The fastest speed of adjustment was observed in Morocco, while the lowest was recorded in South Africa. Furthermore, this study presents different policy implications based on the long-term results.

Local, regional, and global adaptations to a compound pandemic-weather stress event

Global food security can be threatened by short-term extreme events that negatively impact food production, food purchasing power, and agricultural economic activity. At the same time, environmental pollutants like greenhouse gases (GHGs) can be reduced due to the same short-term extreme stressors. Stress events include pandemics like COVID-19 and widespread droughts like those experienced in 2015. Here we consider the question: what if COVID-19 had co-occurred with a 2015-like drought year? Using a coupled biophysical-economic modeling framework, we evaluate how this compound stress would alter both agricultural sector GHG emissions and change the number of undernourished people worldwide. We further consider three interdependent adaptation options: local water use for crop production, regional shifts in cropland area, and global trade of agricultural products. We find that GHG emissions decline due to reduced economic activity in the agricultural sector, but this is paired with large increases in undernourished populations in developing nations. Local and regional adaptations that make use of natural resources enable global-scale reductions in impacted populations via increased global trade.

A discussion: Capitalist crisis and economic estrangement

I am grateful to the editors, Michaeline Crichlow and Dirk Philipsen, for inviting me to think alongside and reflect upon this archive of essays. It is a rare treat to read such a diversity of analyses that nonetheless cohere around a clear theme: the problems and possibilities of the moral economy of (neo)liberal capitalist markets in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic. Marisa Wilson offers what I found to be a useful explanation of the designation of capitalism as a moral economy: whereas the concept is more often associated with noncapitalist economic models, we need to acknowledge that market liberalism is an equally moralizing force, that ethical prescriptions for and judgments of the being, practices, and values of both individuals and groups are part and parcel of a capitalist mode of production. Arjo Klamer echoes this insight with his insistence that neoliberalism needs to be recognized as a perspective, that is, as situated, partial, and value-laden as any other. The authors agree that the pandemic has thrown into painfully sharp relief the multiple practical failures and ethical injustices that the entanglements within the label "racial, colonial, patriarchal capitalism” only begin to suggest. For example, as Maziki Thame notes, class and race are inextricable everywhere and carry profound consequences for the impact of the COVID crisis across the differentiated spaces of the postcolonies. Michaeline Crichlow, too, usefully steers our attention to "the fundamental articulations of racialization, gender, and economic deprivation.” Building on these insights, we could posit that race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and nation intersect to predict the particular manner of one's utility to and deprivation within this globalized system, whether, for example, this experience is best described in terms of which combination of dispossession, marginalization, informality, extraction, indebtedness, precarity, disposability, or exploitation. Again, the point of naming this a moral economy, as I understand it, is to underscore that the values of the economic system are an integral part of these intersecting axes of debility and subordination, including, as Dirk Philipsen describes them, the tragic "capitalist focus on self-interest rather than common good, on efficiency rather than resilience, on more rather than better, on the private over the public.”

An alternative interest-free home financing model

PurposeThis study aims to determine the relationship between the banking industry and home financing by conducting a regression analysis between the mortgage loan interest rates and the number of housing sales, and based on the results of the analysis, this paper proposes a new and alternative interest-free home financing model by directing the savings of the people in pension funds into real estate investment funds (housing fund), specifically established to provide a bank loan-free home financing solution. Diminishing Musharakah (partnership) is also integrated into the model from an interest-free and saving economy perspective. The model developed also provides opportunities to increase the size of the real estate investment funds and provide alternative investment tools to pension funds.Design/methodology/approachWhile the global financial crisis resulted from the mortgage crisis in the USA in very recent history, the world has been experiencing the evolution of a new health crisis, COVID-19, a pandemic that has been heavily affecting the global economy in the past two years. The housing sector is among one of the major industries that may be affected by this new global crisis because of the high dependency of the current home financing models on the banking industry, which is carrying the burden of the pandemic. The rapid increase in global debt volume, housing prices, inflation and interest rates are observed as bad signs that may increase the risks of the housing industry. A potential decrease in purchasing power because of high inflation rates may decrease the welfare of people and reduce the income level. While the total debt keeps increasing worldwide, and central banks are considering increasing the interest rates, any potential default in the repayment of the mortgage loans may trigger a new mortgage crisis as the bank loan-dependent financing system of the housing industry lacks alternatives. Thus, a relationship analysis between the banking and housing sectors is required to figure out the dependency of home financing on the banking industry, and a new sustainable home financing model is needed to protect the housing industry and the homebuyers from a negative effect of a new possible financial crisis.FindingsThe results of the analysis exhibit that there is a strong negative relationship between the mortgage loan interest rates and the total home sales. As a result, the new model is suggested and this new model is tested in an emerging country, Turkey, with the real housing sector and economic data where the interest rates are high and the home prices are booming. The results exhibit that the new interest-free home financing model provides a more economic financing solution compared with the high financing costs of bank loans.Research limitations/implicationsThe model proposed in this study is unique, and there is no such system that has integrated the pension funds, the real estate investment funds and diminishing partnership in one ecosystem. It is expected that the model may decrease the dependency of home financing on the banking industry and decrease the risks of the housing sector in the case a new financial crisis occurs.Social implicationsWhile providing a sustainable and alternative interest-free home financing tool, the model also provides individuals who do not prefer to use any bank loan because of religious or other concerns an opportunity to purchase their houses.Originality/valueThe model proposed in this study is a unique and original model that aims to provide a bank loan-free, sustainable home financing solution by integrating the pension funds, real estate investment funds and diminishing partnership in one ecosystem.

COVID-19 pandemic disruption: a matter of building companies' internal and external resilience

This paper develops an integrated methodology aimed at diagnosing supply chain resilience in terms of (1) internal dynamic capabilities of an enterprise, and (2) resilience of its suppliers. In addition, unlike other research, it integrates the suppliers' resilience evaluation into the order size allocation plan. Multi-attribute decision making (MADM) algorithms were employed to quantify the relative importance to evaluate the internal and external resilience of an enterprise. Furthermore, the MADM output was combined with a multi-objective programming model formulated to solve the order size problem considering economic and resilience objectives. The applicability of the developed methodology is demonstrated via a dairy manufacturing enterprise that suffered from disruptions attributed to COVID-19. The results translate the enterprise's non-viable manufacturing due to its poor external and internal resilience profiles. It is emphasized that if an enterprise fails to develop internal capabilities such as readiness and sensing, the enterprise could also fail in managing external resilience. A resilient supply chain requires a blend of internal and external resilience. This work represents the first quantitative attempt to provide a unified methodology for identifying and measuring internal and external resilience.

Mathematical Analysis and Modeling of the Factors That Determine the Quality of Life in the City Councils of Chile

The quality of life index is an indicator published yearly since 2010 by the Institute on Urban and Territorial Studies and the Chilean Chamber of Construction, involving 99 municipalities and communes from the national territory. This research provides an approach to understanding how various dimensions and variables interact with quality of life in Chilean communes considering multiple factors and perspectives through information from public sources and social indicators. For the research, variables were analyzed considering demographic, sociodemographic, economics and urban indicators, where the model developed allows for an understanding of how the variables are related. In addition, it was discovered that education, own incomes, municipal spending and green areas directly relate to quality of life, while overcrowding and municipal funds negatively affect rates of communal welfare. Moreover, the variables chosen as explanatory variables allow for the development of an efficiency model. For this purpose, Cobb–Douglas and trans-logarithmic forms were tested, and it was found that Cobb–Douglas fits better to the data set and structures of the variables. The results of the efficiency model show that education, municipal funds and own incomes significantly affect efficiency, with a mean value of approximately 47%, minimum values close to 30% and maximum values of approximately 60%. Finally, a cluster analysis was developed through k-means, k-medoids and hierarchical clustering algorithms, where, in all cases, the results were similar, suggesting four groups with differences and variations in analyzed variables, especially in overcrowding, education, quality of life and wellness.

Near-real-time CO2 fluxes from CarbonTracker Europe for high-resolution atmospheric modeling

We present the CarbonTracker Europe High-Resolution (CTE-HR) system that estimates carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange over Europe at high resolution (0.1 × 0.2∘) and in near real time (about 2 months' latency). It includes a dynamic anthropogenic emission model, which uses easily available statistics on economic activity, energy use, and weather to generate anthropogenic emissions with dynamic time profiles at high spatial and temporal resolution (0.1×0.2∘, hourly). Hourly net ecosystem productivity (NEP) calculated by the Simple Biosphere model Version 4 (SiB4) is driven by meteorology from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis 5th Generation (ERA5) dataset. This NEP is downscaled to 0.1×0.2∘ using the high-resolution Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) land-cover map and combined with the Global Fire Assimilation System (GFAS) fire emissions to create terrestrial carbon fluxes. Ocean CO2 fluxes are included in our product, based on Jena CarboScope ocean CO2 fluxes, which are downscaled using wind speed and temperature. Jointly, these flux estimates enable modeling of atmospheric CO2 mole fractions over Europe.We assess the skill of the CTE-HR CO2 fluxes (a) to reproduce observed anomalies in biospheric fluxes and atmospheric CO2 mole fractions during the 2018 European drought, (b) to capture the reduction of anthropogenic emissions due to COVID-19 lockdowns, (c) to match mole fraction observations at Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) sites across Europe after atmospheric transport with the Transport Model, version 5 (TM5) and the Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT), driven by ECMWF-IFS, and (d) to capture the magnitude and variability of measured CO2 fluxes in the city center of Amsterdam (the Netherlands).We show that CTE-HR fluxes reproduce large-scale flux anomalies reported in previous studies for both biospheric fluxes (drought of 2018) and anthropogenic emissions (COVID-19 pandemic in 2020). After applying transport of emitted CO2, the CTE-HR fluxes have lower median root mean square errors (RMSEs) relative to mole fraction observations than fluxes from a non-informed flux estimate, in which biosphere fluxes are scaled to match the global growth rate of CO2 (poor person's inversion). RMSEs are close to those of the reanalysis with the CTE data assimilation system. This is encouraging given that CTE-HR fluxes did not profit from the weekly assimilation of CO2 observations as in CTE.We furthermore compare CO2 concentration observations at the Dutch Lutjewad coastal tower with high-resolution STILT transport to show that the high-resolution fluxes manifest variability due to different emission sectors in summer and winter. Interestingly, in periods where synoptic-scale transport variability dominates CO2 concentration variations, the CTE-HR fluxes perform similarly to low-resolution fluxes (5–10× coarsened). The remaining 10 % of the simulated CO2 mole fraction differs by >2 ppm between the low-resolution and high-resolution flux representation and is clearly associated with coherent structures ("plumes”) originating from emission hotspots such as power plants. We therefore note that the added resolution of our product will matter most for very specific locations and times when used for atmospheric CO2 modeling. Finally, in a densely populated region like the Amsterdam city center, our modeled fluxes underestimate the magnitude of measured eddy covariance fluxes but capture their substantial diurnal variations in summertime and wintertime well.We conclude that our product is a promising tool for modeling the European carbon budget at a high resolution in near real time. The fluxes are freely available from the ICOS Carbon Portal (CC-BY-4.0) to be used for near-real-time monitoring and modeling, for example, as an a priori flux product in a CO2 data assimilation system. The data are available at 10.18160/20Z1-AYJ2 .

Can the New Left Deliver Change in Latin America?

The intense Latin American electoral cycle of 2020–22 coincided with deteriorating socio-economic conditions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing frustration with the status quo. Anti-incumbent sentiment coupled with demands for more inclusive and fair economic models prompted a pronounced shift to the left in the region, although with many different shades of ‘pink'. But an increasingly polarised and fragmented political and social environment is testing the ability of new governments to deliver change, as shown by the popular rejection of a new constitution in Chile. A more limited fiscal space is also constraining these governments' effectiveness. Nevertheless, political alignment among countries with important stakes in global climate-change mitigation and thwarting drug trafficking could produce more cohesive foreign-policy stances and increased regional leverage.

Statistical modelling of the impact of online courses in higher education on sustainable development

Purpose>The concept of sustainable development (SD) is a popular response to society's need to preserve and extend the life span of natural resources. One of the 17 goals of the SD is "education quality” (Fourth Goal of Sustainable Development [SDG-4]). Education quality is an important goal because education is a powerful force that can influence social policies and social change. The SDG-4 must be measured in different contexts, and the tools to quantify its effects require exploration. So, this study aims to propose a statistical model to measure the impact of higher education online courses on SD and a structural equation model (SEM) to find constructs or factors that help us explain a sustainability benefits rate. These proposed models integrate the three areas of sustainability: social, economic and environmental.Design/methodology/approach>A beta regression model suggests features that include the academic and economic opportunities offered by the institution, the involvement in research activities and the quality of the online courses. A structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis allowed selecting the key variables and constructs that are strongly linked to the SD.Findings>One of the key findings showed that the benefit provided by online courses in terms of SD is 62.99% higher than that of offline courses in aspects such as transportation, photocopies, printouts, books, food, clothing, enrolment fees and connectivity.Research limitations/implications>The SEM model needs large sample sizes to have consistent estimations. Thus, despite the obtained estimations in the proposed SEM model being reliable, the authors consider that a limitation of this study was the required time to collect data corresponding to the estimated sample size.Originality/value>This study proposes two novel and different ways to estimate the sustainability benefits rate focused on SDG-4, and machine learning tools are implemented to validate and gain robustness in the estimations of the beta model. Additionally, the SEM model allows us to identify new constructs associated with SDG-4.

Factors Influencing Students' Continuous Willingness to Use E-Learning Platforms in Higher Education

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed significant challenges on education worldwide, particularly in areas with limited online teaching experience. The research design is based on constructivism learning theory and the technology acceptance model. A questionnaire was also distributed to a university of finance and economics in China. Structural equation model was used to test the influence mechanism of social media interaction on college students' willingness to use e-learning platform continuously. The positive moderating effect of online teaching context on this mechanism is further analyzed. Therefore, the use of social media in the online teaching process in higher education institutions should be encouraged, and a good online teaching context should be fostered.