This study examines the influence of investor psychology on asset pricing within financial markets, with a focus on Bitcoin as a distinctive investment opportunity. It aims to quantify the interdependence of the constructed Bitcoin sentiment index with various financial assets, including stocks, bonds, the USDX, crude oil, and gold. The research also investigates the main transmitter and receiver of shocks in the financial market. This study employs the OLS regression model and the Forecast Error Variance Decomposition method by Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) to analyse daily data from January 1, 2014, to May 30, 2023. The findings suggest that the Bitcoin Sentiment has shown significant interconnectedness with other financial assets. However, Crude oil mainly transmits shocks, while the USDX is the primary shock receiver in various countries. However, Bitcoin sentiment is the primary transmitter in India, Argentina, the Philippines, China, and Pakistan, and the stock market is the leading receiver of the shocks in these countries. Moreover, the crude oil market has a significant influence on other sample financial markets. These findings are crucial for investors, policymakers, and portfolio managers in developing effective short- and long-term diversification strategies.

This article tries to find out the adoption and economic benefits of Mechanically Transplanted Rice (MTR) technology among rice-growing small farmers of the Gujranwala district of Punjab, Pakistan. Rice is a primary food and export crop, and any efforts towards increasing the efficiency of rice production are critical to the sustainability of the agricultural sector. The transplanting process is time-consuming as well as intensive labor, involving manual cleaning of the transplant housing; on the other hand, MTR provides a potential approach to alleviate the dependency on labor and optimize crop management. The information was gathered using structured interviews with 120 rice farmers, 60 adopters, and 60 non-adopters of MTR. Descriptive statistics, profitability analysis, and binary logistic regression were also used to evaluate the socio-economic differences, variations in profitability, and influential determinants when making choices regarding the adoption of MTR. The results show that the yields of MTR adopters were very high, the gross profit was significantly higher, and the labor cost was lower as compared to non-adopters. Regression analysis indicated that other variables that were significant in adoption included yield, female labor involvement, availability of machinery, labor cost, and access to training (p < 0.05). Even though there are such benefits, numerous farmers do not adopt due to a number of obstacles, such as the costs of machines, inexperienced operators, and the proximity of mat-type nurseries. The analysis of the study draws the conclusion that MTR possesses good prospects to enhance the productivity of rice and the income of farms in the area. To enable it to get wider uptake, some policy interventions that include the provision of training programs, rental subsidies, etc, and access to shared machinery services, particularly to small and medium-scale farmers, are necessary. Promoting MTR can help the modernisation of the Pakistan rice sector and rural livelihoods.

This study empirically examines the socio-economic conditions of employees working in food-related small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Hyderabad City during the COVID-19 outbreak. Recognising that employees’ working categories and SMEs are unevenly distributed across the city, we initially employed purposive sampling by selecting food-related SMEs, including food franchises, restaurants, wholesale shops, bakeries, dairies, and grocery stores. Later, using simple random sampling across different city areas under smart lockdowns, we selected respondents with high, medium, and low salaries and wages, including salespersons, service personnel, market vendors, and vegetable and fruit sellers, among others, with varying employment statuses in different small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For data collection, we conducted face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. We applied the ordered-logit model and investigated a series of hypotheses. Our results suggest that the income of medium- and low-category employees, such as waiters, salespersons, cooks, cashiers, and security guards, decreased due to SME closures during lockdowns and an increased likelihood of unemployment. Additionally, social distancing, which was strictly maintained through smart lockdowns, had an adverse impact on the income of employees working in various small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including international franchises, local restaurants, small markets, marts, and food companies. However, employees’ children did not drop out of school due to online classes, although their education suffered due to school closures.

Private companies in Pakistan must embrace AI-driven sustainability strategies to remain competitive while complying with environmental regulations. This study explores the impact of AI capability on sustainable performance, emphasizing the mediating roles of green absorptive capacity, green knowledge management, and green creativity. Data was collected from 425 people in private companies and analyzed using structural equation modeling in Smart PLS. The findings confirm that AI capability significantly enhances sustainability by optimizing knowledge-sharing processes, fostering green innovation, and improving organizations' ability to absorb and implement eco-friendly practices. By leveraging AI, private firms can enhance operational efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and drive sustainable development. This study contributes to the growing literature on AI-driven sustainability and provides a practical framework for businesses to integrate green knowledge management and innovation into their strategies. The results highlight the importance of AI in shaping the future of sustainable business practices, encouraging firms to adopt technology-driven solutions for long-term environmental, social, and economic benefits while gaining a competitive edge in the industry.

Pricing of a product is vigorous for marketing strategies, which has a significant impact on the buying behavior of customers and businesses. The objective of the study is to identify the influence of diverse quality attributes of mutton on retail prices from customers' perspectives when they purchase mutton. For this purpose, the primary data were collected using a pre-tested well-defined questionnaire from the consumers of four major metropolitan cities of Pakistan i.e., Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, and Islamabad. The revealed preference theory is applied in the present study. The study used the hedonic price model considering log-linear functional form to evaluate the influence of mutton attributes on the retail price. The outcomes of this study reveal that place of purchase, meat color, hygienic condition, aroma, meat cuts, texture, juiciness, fat contents, and abattoir`s stamp are key variables that have an affirmative and substantial effect on the price of mutton at the retail level. The results reveal that coefficients of hygienic condition, juiciness, and abattoir stamp have significant positive, whereas fat content has a negative effect on the price of mutton. The outcomes of this study will help the producers for product development with an appropriate mix of quality attributes of mutton. The implications of the outcomes have been conferred in the context of developing profitable strategies for the meat industry in an emerging country.

Tourism is crucial for a country's economic development, especially in emerging economies like that of the BRICS countries. The data for BRICS countries is collected from the World Bank and ICRG for 25 years. The econometric technique NARDL is used in this research to view the short and long-run effects of independent variables on tourism. The Panel NARDL analyses provide a comprehensive examination of the effects of environmental sustainability, sustainable development, and institutional performance on Tourism. They are a helpful tool for analyzing nonlinear interactions. To determine if the BRICS nations have achieved a tipping point in their environmental sustainability the point at which economic growth starts to favorably influence environmental quality and may have an impact on visitor numbers the study employs the increase in GDP as an independent variable. The results of this exhaustive study are crucial for the BRICS officials and stakeholders because they provide light on the connections between tourism, economic growth, sustainability, and institutional performance. Understanding these relationships can help policymakers promote environmental protection and sustainable development in these critical and vibrant businesses while promoting sustainable tourism growth.

Rice, a staple and cash crop in South Asia, is vital for small-scale farmers, but concerns about the profitability of organic farming challenge its adoption despite its environmental benefits. The present study was conducted in the Rice-Wheat zone of three South Asian countries to make a comparison of profit efficiency in rice production under organic and conventional farming systems and to examine factors affecting profit efficiency. A multistage sampling technique was employed to collect cross-sectional data. Profit efficiency was determined by employing Cobb Douglas's functional form of stochastic profit frontier. Results show that the mean profit efficiency of organic rice growers is 0.89 less than conventional rice growers (0.910) in Pakistan. The mean profit efficiencies of organic growers are higher than conventional growers in Nepal and Bangladesh. Education and the role of the extension department are important factors in increasing the efficiency of organic and conventional farming while access to credit and experience in rice farming are significant in reducing inefficiencies in conventional rice farming. The study concludes that the education of farmers, the role of extension services, and easy credit access are key policy variables to improve profit efficiency.

Inward forward remittances are an important source of foreign reserves for Pakistan and they are also conducive in maintaining the current account deficit at a manageable level. In this article, the author has attempted to gauge the impact of FATF grey listing on the inward foreign remittances of Pakistani workers employed abroad. The time series data spanning from 2001-2022 has been used to estimate these effects using the ARDL time series estimation method and bounds testing technique for cointegration. It has been estimated that no statistically significant effect of greylisting on workers’ remittances exists either in the short or in the long run. This is in tandem with various studies that have found that FATF listing does not necessarily have a conclusive or negative effect on the economic variable(s). However, the estimates suggest that there exists a statistically significant relationship between the exchange rates and the workers’ migration stocks in the short and the long run. The result(s) of the study adds to the existing literature because to the author's knowledge, no prior work has been done regarding the impact of greylisting on the workers’ remittances sent to the home country and this effect has not been studied individually in the case of a developing country like Pakistan. Furthermore, the available literature suggests that in general, not much work has been done to estimate the impact of greylisting or blacklisting on the country’s economy; the results available in the existing literature are also mixed; where some studies report unconclusive impacts whereas other studies report a negative impact of greylisting on the economic aspects they analysed.

This study is related to Corporate Governance (CG) and is an important research stream. One of the most noteworthy dimensions of CG is Board Gender Diversity (BGD). While there is a lot of study being done on BGD in developing and emerging market economies is still in the early stages of this field. This study attempts to answer the seminal question, of what matters most for Firm Performance (FP), CG attributes, or just BGD). So, this study investigates the relationship between BGD and CG attributes, on the FP. The existing literature lacks a comprehensive analysis of BGD and CG attributes on FP so this study fills this research gap. To meet the study's objective, data is collected for 50 non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, the data period is 2017-2022 which leads to a total of 300 firm-year observations. For data analysis, the technique of panel regression is used in this study. This study reveals that CG attributes employ mixed influence on FP, while BGD negatively impacts the FP, emphasizing the significance of border governance mechanisms. This research shows the need for the firm to prioritize more ethical governance practices, across different cultural and economic contexts instead of just diluting the board with more female directors. Exploring the role of other variables could provide deeper insights into the factors deriving these relationships.

The relevance of rational expectations has generated a renewed interest in assessing the accuracy of monetary policy declarations. Despite the enduring principles of the rational expectations theory, a remarkably dependable central bank can alleviate inflation by skillfully managing inflation expectations, thus avoiding adverse effects on employment. This paper explores the complex relationship between inflation expectations, target inflation rates, and the credibility of monetary policy, emphasizing the importance of rule compliance and transparent communication for establishing public confidence in central banks. While the estimation processes the study utilizes wavelet-based quantile regression by investigating data from 1990q1 to 2021q4, with variations across selected countries. The credibility index (CI) is employed to instrument the dependability of monetary policies. Nevertheless, the results of this study indicate that Policy credibility has a significant impact on inflation expectations in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, underscoring the importance of clear communication and institutional reforms. Different outcomes in India and considerable effects in Pakistan underscore the necessity of customized policy measures and communication strategies to address inflation and promote economic stability in South Asia.