Type of the article: Research Article AbstractVietnam’s energy sector faces growing tensions between production expansion and environmental protection, making the economic consequences of ESG disclosure particularly important. Accordingly, this study examines the nonlinear associations between composite and pillar-level ESG disclosure on 30 energy firms listed on Vietnam’s stock exchanges during 2015–2024. Annual report data were extracted by optical character recognition, with a large language model supporting paragraph classification into predefined E, S, and G categories, then quantified into an ESG score and each pillar based on frequency score and coverage score on 300 firm-year observations. The feasible generalized least squares regression results, with cautious interpretation for the relatively small sample size, indicate that ESG disclosure exhibits a statistically significant, though not uniformly robust, inverse U-shaped association with return on assets (ROA) (β = 0.012; β² = –0.002), Tobin’s Q (β = 0.025; β² = –0.004), and return on sales (ROS) (β = 0.003; β² = –0.001) although the statistical evidence is stronger for ROA. The E pillar shows a significant nonlinear association with ROA (β = 0.006, β² = –0.001) and ROS (β = 0.003[HT1.1], β² = –0.001), but no statistically significant association with Tobin’s Q. Governance disclosure shows comparatively stronger associations, particularly with Tobin’s Q (β = 0.034; β² = –0.005), while social disclosure is significantly associated with ROA and ROS but not with Tobin’s Q. These findings are associated with stronger governance signaling for market valuation, suggesting that energy firms may benefit from weighing governance strength alongside environmental disclosure aligned with operational capacity.
Type of the article: Research Article Abstract Natural resource protection is vital for sustainable development in Albania, where land, water, forests, and biodiversity support rural livelihoods, agriculture, tourism, and local welfare. The purpose of this study is to analyze socio-demographic and economic correlates of individuals' stated willingness to change habits for natural resource protection in Albania. Primary data were collected through a structured and anonymous questionnaire completed by 250 voluntary respondents between December 2025 and February 2026. An audit of the archived raw dataset against the questionnaire showed that Item 15 contained three response categories: Yes, Not sure, and No. For the Binary Logit analysis, an affirmative response was coded WTC = 1, whereas Not sure and No were coded WTC = 0; 77.2% of respondents gave an affirmative response. Age, education, income, and information were re-specified categorically, sparse adjacent categories were combined where necessary to avoid complete separation, and robust standard errors were used. The re-estimated model is jointly significant (LR = 34.76, p < 0.001; McFadden R2 = 0.129) and shows acceptable calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow p = 0.449). Frequency of natural-resource use is positively associated with willingness to contribute (p < 0.001). Income categories are jointly associated with willingness to contribute (p = 0.023), but the pattern is not monotonic; gender, age, education, and information are not jointly significant. Probit and nonlinear-age sensitivity checks do not restore the previously reported negative age or information associations. The findings are interpreted as exploratory associations with stated pro-environmental intention, not as monetary willingness to pay or causal relationships. AcknowledgmentThe authors express their gratitude to all respondents who voluntarily participated in the survey and provided the primary data used in this study.
Type of the article: Research Article Abstract Rapid urbanization has increased pressure on urban systems, creating challenges related to resource efficiency, waste management, and environmental protection. These challenges are particularly acute for Kazakhstan, where cities differ substantially in their resource use, environmental conditions, infrastructure, and socioeconomic characteristics. This study aims to conduct a comparative assessment and identify the key characteristics of urban metabolic profiles and sustainable development in Kazakhstani cities. A simplified resource-flow assessment and a comprehensive urban sustainability assessment were conducted for 13 cities in Kazakhstan using 2021 data, the recent year with the most comprehensive and comparable city-level data for both assessment approaches. The results demonstrate substantial heterogeneity in sustainable development performance. The integral sustainability index ranges from 0.28 for Karagandy to 0.71 for Aktau. Five of the 13 cities demonstrate a moderately high level of sustainability (Aktau, Zhezkazgan, Pavlodar, Petropavl, and Taraz), while eight have a moderately low level. The environmental, infrastructure, and socioeconomic sub-indices range from 0.29 to 0.94, 0.25 to 0.75, and 0.00 to 0.86, respectively, indicating pronounced differences in environmental conditions, infrastructure, and socioeconomic capacity. The study of metabolic profiles and risks to sustainable development took into account the availability and quality of energy resources consumed, water consumption and availability, and air quality. The prevalence of precarious employment and wage levels were considered as indirect indicators of the intensity of metabolic processes. Groups of cities with limited access to cleaner thermal energy sources, industrial cities, cities with socioeconomic vulnerability, and cities with moderate water balances were identified. Based on these profiles, recommendations were formulated to support more integrated urban development. AcknowledgmentThis paper was prepared with the financial support of the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant AP26101517).
Type of the article: Research Article AbstractThis study examines the configurational causality among the shadow economy, corruption perception index, trade levels, population dynamics, urbanization, economic size and renewable energy use, and their impact on overall ecological footprints across the Digital Nations member countries and the seven emerging economies. To analyze the relationship, the study used annual data from 2012 to 2020, and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was used. While both groups show the absence of a necessary condition for high ecological footprints, there are instances of sufficient pathways across the Digital Nations groups. Based on the intermediate solution, digital grouping reveals a single pathway at a consistency threshold of 80% (consistency = 0.858, coverage = 0.2995), combining low shadow economy, high CPI, high GDP, low trade, high population, high urbanization, and low renewables. However, at the 70% threshold, there are two pathways, and the solution coverage increases to 0.423. Emerging economies yield no valid configurations via the intermediate solution, confirming heterogeneity. The results show how multiple factors, such as governance, demographics, and renewable energy adoption, can shape ecological footprints across economies with different digital, structural, and development statuses. These findings advance beyond traditional variance-based approaches by identifying precise causal recipes rather than net effects. The results offer policymakers targeted interventions prioritizing renewable energy deployment alongside strategic governance reforms to disrupt ecological footprint pathways across developmental contexts. AcknowledgmentThe authors would like to thank Modern College of Business and Science, Oman, for providing the financial support required to cover the article processing charges.
Type of the article: Research Article AbstractResearch on the relationships among green finance, renewable energy, and economic development has expanded rapidly in recent years; however, the intellectual structure, collaboration patterns, and thematic evolution of this interdisciplinary field remain insufficiently understood. This study addresses this gap by conducting a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny, the web interface of the bibliometrix R package. The analytical framework integrates performance analysis with science mapping techniques, including keyword co-occurrence, citation, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, thematic mapping, and thematic evolution analyses. The findings reveal substantial growth in scientific production and increasing international collaboration, while identifying an intellectual foundation primarily shaped by studies on econometric methodologies, the relationships between economic growth and environmental sustainability, and the integration of green finance with energy economics. Four major research streams emerge: green financial instruments and markets; the finance, growth, and emissions nexus; renewable energy transition and policy; and advanced quantitative modeling approaches. Thematic evolution further indicates that, although green finance, renewable energy, and sustainable development remain the core research themes, emerging topics such as digital finance and the digital economy are receiving increasing scholarly attention. By providing a comprehensive knowledge map of the field, this study contributes to a better understanding of its intellectual foundations, conceptual development, and future research directions, while offering valuable insights for researchers and policymakers seeking to promote sustainable finance, renewable energy transition, and long-term economic development.
