The Determinants of Banks’ Capital Adequacy Ratio: Some Evidence from South Eastern European Countries

The legal authorities set the minimum capital level for the banks. Recent studies have shown that variables used to explain capital structure of non financial firms, such as size, profit, leverage, liquidity and risk, could also be helpful in understanding banks’ capital structure. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of bank-dimensional and environmental factors on bank’s capital adequacy ratio in South Eastern European (SEE) region. Size, profitability (ROA), leverage, liquidity, net interest margin (NIM), and risk are used as bank-dimensional explanatory variables in a feasible GLS regression model. On the other hand, economic growth rate, inflation, real interest rate, Eurozone stock market volatility index, deposit insurance coverage, and governance indicator are added to the original model to control for environmental factors. Annual data from 71 commercial banks belong to 10 different countries in SEE region for the period of 2007 – 2012 is used. This region mainly consists of the “transition economies†which are still experiencing the difficulties of turning into efficient market economies with high economic potentials. The results of our study show that among the bank dimensional explanatory variables size, ROA, leverage, liquidity, net interest margin and risk have statistically significant effects in determining CAR for the banks in the region. Among the environmental factors, economic growth rate, Eurozone stock market volatility index, deposit insurance coverage, and governance have statistically significant effects in determining CAR for the banks in the SEE region

Revolutionizing Agriculture Through Digital Twins

The rise of digital twin (DT) technology is transforming the way businesses operate, with its applications and use cases expanding across various industries. This article focuses on the agriculture industry and explores how DT can enable intelligent automation. Through a comprehensive review of DT\u27s concept, evolution, and development, as well as a discussion of its key enabling technologies, trends, and challenges, the authors identify potential use cases for DT in agriculture. By presenting this analysis, this article aims to provide insights into how DT can streamline operations and enhance productivity in the agriculture industry

Analytic Hierarchy Process: An Application in Green Building Market Research

Sustainability has become a necessity in the building industry. In recent years, as the general public is more informed and aware of sustainability related issues, they are becoming major players in the decision making process regarding their built environment. However, there are still challenges with how sustainability is communicated to occupants and owners of buildings. As the global economic crisis is continuing, the marketing of green buildings needs to be refined to communicate the lifetime benefits of sustainability. One of the ways to develop effective marketing strategies, is to understand what the occupants value the most among many aspects of green buildings thus develop focused marketing solutions. Authors present a conceptual methodology using Analytic Hierarchy Process toward identifying consumer ranking and weights of a major green building rating system’s categories. Authors use sample non-representative data to illustrate the proposed methodology, while sharing preliminary qualitative data from the research in progress

Digital Twin: Benefits, use cases, challenges, and opportunities

Applications of Digital Twin technology have been growing at an exponential rate, and it is transforming the way businesses operate. In the past few years, Digital Twins leveraged vital business applications, and it is predicted that the technology will expand to more applications, use cases, and industries. The purpose of this paper is to do a literature review and explore how Digital Twins streamline intelligent automation in different industries. This paper defines the concept, highlights the evolution and development of Digital Twins, reviews its key enabling technologies, examines its trends and challenges, and explores its applications in different industries

Students’ environmental responsibility and their willingness to pay for green buildings

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore environmental attitudes and how such attitudes, when combined with a specific cost, can affect environmental behavior. Environmental attitudes are important to study due to the rising belief by building occupants that they are owed safe, healthy, environmentally responsible, and comfortable living environments. Universities around the world are responding to such demands as the majority of prospective college students and their parents claim that the environmental record is a determining factor in their selection of a university. Therefore, this study examines the environmental responsibility levels of a sample student population and to explore how these scores, along with gender, impact their willingness to pay for studying and living in green buildings. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey consisting of three parts was administered to undergraduate university students to measure environmental responsibility, willingness to pay and demographic variables. Statistical analyses including ANOVA, t-tests and correlation were conducted to explore relationships among variables. Findings – Results of statistical analyses show a direct correlation between environmental responsibility and willingness to pay for green buildings, as defined by a leading green building assessment system. Results also show that female students are more environmentally responsible than males. Practical implications – Successful generalizations of the findings of this research may lead to better marketing of green buildings to the general public. Originality/value – Findings present a unique opportunity for university administrations to develop more focused messages when communicating their environmental record with current and potential students

Designing the Curriculum for Interdisciplinary Study Abroad : Sustainability Studies in Turkey

Three professors from Roger Williams University explain how they fused together an interdisciplinary lesson plan during a three-week visit to Turkey. The three disciplines included communication, construction management and marine sciences

The Impact of Digital Twins on the Evolution of Intelligent Manufacturing and Industry 4.0

As the adoption of Industry 4.0 advances and the manufacturing process becomes increasingly digital, the Digital Twin (DT) will prove invaluable for testing and simulating new parameters and design variants. DT solutions build a 3D digital replica of the physical object allowing the managers to develop better products, detect physical issues sooner, and predict outcomes more accurately. In the past few years, Digital Twins (DTs) dramatically reduced the cost of developing new manufacturing approaches, improved efficiency, reduced waste, and minimized batch-to-batch variability. This paper aims to highlight the evolution of DTs, review its enabling technologies, identify challenges and opportunities for implementing DT in Industry 4.0, and examine its range of applications in manufacturing, including smart logistics and supply chain management. The paper also highlights some real examples of the application of DT in manufacturing

Exploring the Early Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Construction Industry in New York State

The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted many industries on a global scale. Expectedly, the construction industry was not left out as non-essential construction was halted, strict health and safety protocols were introduced, and businesses were disrupted. New York City was the epicenter of the pandemic at its onset in the United States, and the pandemic had different impacts on workers based on their work location and role. This study utilized a survey including twenty-five statements to explore the initial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction industry in New York State, analyzing its effects on sixty-one construction industry professionals, their projects, and firms, also considering their work location and role in the construction process. The most severe impacts were on construction schedules and in-person meetings. Those who worked in New York City had more difficulty complying with the increased health and safety regulations than those who worked outside the city. Those categorized as builders indicated significantly more contract performance issues. Furthermore, a set of recommendations were highlighted to strengthen the industry’s response to future similar disruptions. This study is significant in helping researchers and businesses build more resilient operations to address current and future pandemic-related challenges facing the construction industry

The status of emergency alert systems for construction project sites

Worker safety is of the utmost importance; consequently, construction project sites use alert systems to notify project team members of emergencies on the job site. Various emergency alert systems are available in the construction industry, from the simple air horn to the more complex remote and app-based systems. This research aims to improve construction safety by investigating emergency alert systems that notify workers of widespread emergencies on the project site. The objectives are to identify the types of emergency alert systems available in the construction industry, explore the industry professionals\u27 perceptions of the existing emergency alert systems, and identify any gaps in the market for new technologies or the potential for improving existing ones. This study utilizes a survey of 34 industry professionals to identify the most commonly used emergency alert systems on jobsites and their knowledge and perceptions of app-based and remote emergency alert systems. Results indicate that while the air horn is the most used method of emergency alerts, the construction industry may be willing to spend more on remote emergency alert systems than app-based emergency alert systems. The primary concerns of the construction industry are the overall cost, the reliability of the high-tech systems, and the potential for false alarms. It appears that if the construction professionals\u27 concerns are addressed, they would be willing to spend more on app-based systems