This study examines how institutions in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Nepal, and Sri Lanka affect migrant earnings, remittance stability, the choice of transfer channels, and the use of remittances for development. This study uses a mixed‑methods approach that integrates institutional mapping, policy tracing, comparative case studies, and quantitative analysis of remittance flows (2019–2024). Migration corridors with stronger institutions are associated with fewer wage disruptions, more stable remittances, and greater use of formal transfer channels, conditional on the observed macroeconomic factors. This study introduces a corridor-level three-pillar institutional framework linking destination wage protection systems (WPS), origin recruitment/welfare, and financial infrastructure to measurable remittance outcomes. It also combines institutional mapping with remittance data (2019-2024) and uses COVID-19 as a natural stress test to produce policy-relevant quantitative effect sizes. Policymakers should prioritise coordinated reforms across these three institutional pillars. The three-pillar institutional capacity index was validated through inter-rater reliability (Cohen's k = 0.81; ICC = 0.86), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83), and convergent validity against the Worldwide Governance Indicators (r = 0.78, p < 0.01).
This study examines how Moroccan entrepreneurs use crowdfunding as an alternative source of finance in a context characterized by limited access to traditional funding. Based on a qualitative multi-case design, the research draws on semi-structured interviews with ten entrepreneurs from different sectors and regions in Morocco. The study mobilizes Signaling Theory and Social Capital Theory to explore how entrepreneurs build trust and legitimacy throughout the crowdfunding process. The findings show that crowdfunding is perceived not only as a financing mechanism, but also as a way to overcome banking constraints and institutional limitations. Entrepreneurs rely on personal networks, storytelling, transparency, and online engagement to strengthen credibility and attract contributors. The study introduces the concept of Relational Validation to explain how trust-based relationships and credibility signals interact in an emerging crowdfunding ecosystem, capturing a dynamic and collective process of legitimacy-building that is analytically distinct from trust, reputation, or social capital as conventionally conceived. This research contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial finance in emerging economies by providing empirical evidence from the Moroccan context and offering practical implications for entrepreneurs and policymakers interested in developing crowdfunding ecosystems in North Africa.
This study investigates the factors influencing customers’ intentions to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) banking services in Tunisa. Building on an integrated framework combining the Technology Acceptance Model, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, Theory of Planned Behavior, Perceived Risk Theory, and Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the study investigates how perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use (, awareness, knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, trust, and perceived risk influence AI adoption intentions. Using survey data from 400 Tunisian retail banking customers and applying regression analysis, the findings show that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norms, and trust positively and significantly affect customers’ intention to adopt AI banking services, whereas perceived risk exerts a negative effect. In contrast, awareness, attitude, and knowledge do not appear to significantly influence adoption intentions. The results suggest that functional benefits, ease of interaction, social influence, and confidence in AI systems are more decisive drivers of adoption than cognitive familiarity in an emerging market context. In addition, analysis of variance (ANOVA) results indicate that age and educational level significantly moderate AI adoption behavior, highlighting the importance of demographic heterogeneity in shaping AI acceptance. This study offers valuable insights for banks and policymakers seeking to accelerate digital financial innovation
This paper assesses the short-term shock-absorption capacity of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAAP) using the Policy Space Index (PSI). The PSI integrates fiscal, monetary, and reserve indicators and adjusts them for institutional constraints to measure nominal and effective shock-absorption capacity. The key finding is that MENAAP effective policy space averaged about 11 percent of GDP in 2024, roughly half the global average and heavily concentrated in oil exporters. The constraints lie in MENAAP's institutional arrangements and insufficient fiscal discipline. Easing them requires fiscal consolidation alongside structural reforms to address the institutional bottlenecks.
Inclusive economic growth in high-income European economies remains contested despite strong institutions and advanced tourism sectors, with limited understanding of how institutional quality and gender-inclusive governance condition the tourism–inclusivity nexus. This study examines the independent and interactive effects of tourism development, institutional quality, gender-inclusive governance, digital infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and income inequality on inclusive economic growth across 15 European countries over 2000–2024. Using World Bank and WGI data, a panel ARDL framework, supported by FMOLS robustness checks is applied to capture dynamic long- and short-run relationships among mixed-order integrated variables. Results indicate that tourism development (β = 5.351, p < 0.001) and institutional quality (β = 8.029, p < 0.001) decisively enhance inclusive growth, yet their interaction exerts a significant negative effect (β = –5.271, p < 0.001), suggesting over-regulation may dampen tourism’s inclusivity potential. Environmental sustainability also contributes positively (β = 0.164, p < 0.001), while income inequality shows a counterintuitive long-run positive association (β = 0.026, p < 0.001). Gender-inclusive governance has a small but significant positive effect (β = 0.005, p = 0.004), whereas digital infrastructure is statistically insignificant. These findings extend institutional economics and endogenous growth theory by revealing governance flexibility as critical to unlocking inclusive tourism benefits, and they inform SDG 8 and 10 policies by advocating balanced regulatory frameworks, renewable energy investment, and targeted redistributive mechanisms in advanced economies.
