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This study examines the effect of institutional quality on renewable energy promotion in OECD economies. The study employs annual data from 1980 to 2014 on 18 OECD economies. The robust panel unit root tests show that all the considered variables have a similar order of integration, indicating that they are nonstationary at their levels but stationary at the first‐order differences. The panel cointegration test with structural breaks and cross‐section dependence confirms a long‐run equilibrium association between institutional quality, renewable energy consumption and control variables. The analysis of long‐run estimations displays that better institutional quality makes a unique and substantial contribution to promoting renewable energy consumption. Overall, the study findings offer important policy implications highlighting the importance of institutional quality for the growth of renewable energy and a sustainable world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southwest region of Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to a range of climatic threats, including cyclones, prolonged flooding, sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, drought, and riverbank erosion. The study investigates how these different drivers affect aquaculture systems and aims to provide critical insights for sustainable management. The survey work focused on the problems, vulnerabilities, migration, and adaptive strategies of communities of the southwest region of Bangladesh, that rely heavily on shrimp, fish, and crab production for their livelihoods. Data were collected from the 80 respondents across four unions (Atulia, Burigoalini, Gabura, and Bhurulia) in Shyannagar Upazila, Satkhira District, using a structured questionnaire survey and focus group discussions. Findings reveal that climate change events have significantly changed shrimp farming in enclosures, pond aquaculture, and crab point management, and negatively impacted livelihoods. Pond aquaculture appeared to be the most vulnerable to climate change conditions, followed by shrimp farming in enclosures and crab points. Furthermore, the adverse effects of climate change compelled human migration within the study area, primarily driven by the search for employment. This study provides evidence of the effects of various climate change stressors on shrimp, fish, and crab production systems and the adaptive difficulties of the communities dependent on aquatic ecosystems. As the natural calamity like cyclone cannot be prevented, understanding the impact of previous events may help people of the affected area as well as the policy makers to plan for better survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Question/Issue: We examine the role of board gender diversity in attenuating loan covenant violations. We also investigate whether the relationship is influenced by female independent directors. Finally, we examine the channels of this relationship. Research Findings/Insights: Drawing on gender socialization and diversity theories, our findings show that firms with gender‐diverse boards are less likely to violate loan covenants. We also find that boards with more female directors have a stronger impact on loan covenant violations than those with fewer female directors, consistent with critical mass theory. Our results also suggest that the negative relationship stems from female independent directors rather than from female executive directors. Our channel analyses indicate that the relationship is routed through covenant strictness, the financial performance of firms, and better corporate governance. Our further analysis demonstrates that the relationship is pronounced in female‐dominated industries and financially distressed firms, as well as in firms whose directors have greater experience. Our results are robust across a series of sensitivity and endogeneity tests. Theoretical/Academic Implications: We contribute to an emerging strand of literature that examines the link between board gender diversity and loan covenants. We fill a gap in this stream of literature by providing the first empirical evidence that female directors in the boardroom reduce loan covenant violations through their greater integrative bargaining skills during loan deals, improving firm financial performance, and ensuring good corporate governance. Our study also contributes to the growing literature on the differential effects on corporate policies of female directors (independent and executive) and critical mass. Practitioner/Policy Implications: This finding offers significant policy implications for managers, investors, and policymakers. Given the growing frequency of loan covenant violations, the presence of a gender‐diverse board should serve as a potent indicator to creditors who have a concern regarding loans. In addition, our study adds to the ongoing debate regarding the business case of board gender diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pollution reduction is one of the important challenges confronting contemporary business and society. Firms are largely responsible for undertaking sustainable business practices and initiatives as they are major contributors to global pollution. This study empirically examines how sustainable investment influences firm energy and carbon performance. Using a sample of 23,501 firm‐year observations from 2440 unique firms over the period of 2002 to 2018 in G‐6 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States), we demonstrate that sustainable investment leads to better energy and carbon performance without compromising financial return. Our findings are robust to alternative variables, sub‐samples, and different estimation techniques. This study contributes to the global discussion on sustainability and a low‐carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Left-leaning and right-leaning governments hold opposing views on economic policy, resulting in disparities in economic behaviours and outcomes. Given this context, we explore the effect of political ideology on domestic credit using an unbalanced panel data of 29 countries from 1960 to 2014. Our empirical analysis shows that left-leaning governments reduce total domestic credit allocations. Also, we find that right-leaning governments provide more credit to the private sector, while left-leaning governments prefer to boost domestic credit to the public sector. In a further analysis, we show that political parties and their domestic credit strategies remain unchanged even during electoral periods. Our novel insights, that are robust to alternative measures, samples, and a set of econometric identifications, contribute to the literature on partisan politics and lending behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]