Achievement of sustainable food security requires safe water use in irrigation, through an establishment of effective policies and strategies related to water resources use.

Online shopping has grown significantly in recent years, but is yet to reach its full potential. Online shopping fears discourage consumers to shop online. Click only companies are providing heavy discounts to attract the consumers to shop online. Customers expect an integrated buying process including e-coupon, daily deals and loyalty programs. The purpose of the study is to analyse various factors, which influence the consumer while purchasing online discounted products. The study was conducted among 207 online shoppers who purchase discounted products in selected Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of a large and prominent state of India. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 16.0). Using factor analysis (principal axis factoring with varimax rotation), factors were extracted. These factors can be essential in understanding the behaviour of online consumers towards online discounts and can significantly contribute in converting non-online buyer into online buyer.

Retraction published on 15 December 2025, see Environmental Research, Engineering and Management 2025 81(4) In recent years, many companies have positioned efforts to decarbonize as a central issue in their environmental strategies. On the other hand, environmental management accounting has so far provided little effective consideration of the information and measures that support the realization of such strategies. Internal carbon pricing (ICP) has the potential to be one of the few management accounting methods that can directly address the above challenges. This study focuses on the importance of ICP as a new challenging issue in environmental management accounting that contributes to decarbonization management and examines the implications of using it and how to set it up. This work examines internal carbon pricing as a mechanism to encourage greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions within the framework of management accounting in order to evaluate the direction of the development of environmental management accounting in the decarbonization era. The paper explores the functioning of internal carbon accounting schemes and their impacts through the case of Microsoft Corporation and evaluates the influence on investment decisions of ICPs, which have gained attention in recent years as a tool to encourage GHG reductions. Additionally, the configuration and integration of ICP with management systems such as budgeting are studied. The study demonstrates that ICP provides a new path for environmental management accounting in the age of decarbonization based on these factors.

The research aims to analyse the impact of strategic signalling, artificial intelligence-driven decision-making systems, and regulatory uncertainty on tacit coordination within oligopolistic markets. With technological development, firms can coordinate effectively through observable signalling and automated actions without direct communication. Therefore, to tackle the problem, the paper develops a Dynamic Stackelberg Collusion Model that integrates theories of Stackelberg competition, Bayesian beliefs, regime switches, reputation dynamics, enforcement signals, and the probability of tacit collusion. Within this model, it is proposed that strategic signalling from leading firms, reputation, market concentration, Bayesian reasoning, and pricing automation systems considerably affect the probability of tacit coordination. The results of this research demonstrate how strategic interactions have become increasingly sophisticated in todays highly technological and competitive oligopoly, with simultaneous influences from innovation, AI, market concentration, and regulation on industry participants. The semiconductor logistics industry seems to be an appropriate example for analysing strategic interaction in modern markets, since it involves high entry barriers, substantial investment, and a high degree of operational digitalisation. The research has shown that phenomena such as strategic signalling, reputation formation, Bayesian games, and AI pricing mechanisms may affect the tacit coordination of market players even without explicit collusion agreements. In addition, dynamic changes in market conditions, especially during disruptive times, are important in shaping strategic decisions and coordinating firms incentives.

The study aims to identify the potential of United Payment System (UPI) as common interface for consumer payment solutions in India. India is one of the fastest-growing Fin-Tech marketplaces in the world. India is currently ranked fourth in terms of total fintech funding. A number of important elements contribute to India's status as a hub for the growth of fintech sector. The fintech market in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.7%, from a value of US$106.2 billion in 2024 to US$769.5 billion by the end of 2031. By 2025, the worldwide fintech market is expected to be worth $306 billion. With an impressive 14% of worldwide investment, India's FinTech industry is a major player on the international scene. The FinTech Market Opportunity is expected to reach an astounding $2.1 trillion by 2030, and the nation ranks second in terms of deal volume. The methods we use as customers to access our bank accounts, make purchases, and obtain loans are all undergoing significant change. In an effort to anticipate consumer demands, cater to existing clients, and stop fraud, financial institutions are also continuously changing and adopting UPI as most widely acceptable payment gateway.

In this paper, the authors explore the long-run energy efficiency determinants in the agricultural and industrial operation of China between the year 2005 and 2024. The Energy Efficiency Indexes (EEI) by sector are calculated by dividing the productivity by the sectoral energy use, and thus it creates the possibility to compare the efficiency across sectors. The four determinants analyzed are sectoral value added, urbanization, energy ratio (fossil fuels energy consumption to renewable energy consumption) and regulatory quality. The presence of I(0) and I(1) variables in stationarity tests is found mixed and hence reasons to use Fully Modified Least Squares (FMOLS) estimation to avoid losing the equilibrium information, and at the same time allow long-run relationships to be captured. Empirical findings reveal that energy efficiency generally improves substantially with increase in sectoral value addition both in the agriculture and the industry and that urbanization is positively related to increase in energy intensity with industry being the main contributor. Energy ratio is negatively correlated to EEI in both sectors indicating that the present fossil based energy system is relatively efficient at least compared to environmental targets. Although it has a negative sign, regulatory quality is insignificant in both models. Hansen Parameter Instability test demonstrates that cointegrating relationships are not unstable with time and therefore there might be a structural change of the determinants of energy efficiency. The results point to the necessity of sectoral policy interventions: a focus on technological upgrading and clean production in the industry, renewable-compatible mechanization in the agricultural sector, energy efficiency integrated into city planning, and enhanced sector specific regulations.