“A healthy outside starts from the inside”: A matter of sustainable consumption behavior in Italy and Pakistan

The aim of this research is to determine people's motives when purchasing organic food and how these motives are moderated by price sensitivity and ethical concerns in a cross-cultural setting. A highly structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from 673 Italian and 594 Pakistani consumers, using the convenience sampling technique. Based on the etic research approach, the measurement invariance tests were performed, and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that environmental concerns and health-consciousness are significant predictors of subjective norms and purchase attitudes among Italian consumers. Food safety concern proved the strongest predictor of purchase attitude and perceived behavioral control among Pakistani consumers. The results also confirm the moderating role of ethical concerns and price sensitivity in buying organic food in both cultures. In terms of originality, this study fills significant gaps in the literature, particularly regarding the roles of attitude, behavioral control, and subjective norms in consumer buying motives and purchasing intentions in cross-cultural studies but more importantly, the results validate that consumer concerns across the globe are related to the Sustainability Development Goals and the U.N. 2030 agenda, which aptly provides a blue print for the development and developmental goals and concerns across nations.     

“亮剑精神”与新生适应性教育

＂亮剑精神＂让人折服的,同时对于我们现实工作又具有借鉴指导意义。在新生适应教育教育中,面对多元化的社会思潮,新特点的学生群体,新生辅导员需要有＂面对挑战,敢于亮剑＂的精神、＂运筹帷幄,决胜千里＂的气魄,着眼学生实际,放眼学生长远发展地来开展好新生适应性教育,引导帮助学生尽快树立起远大的理想和奋斗的目标,迈好大学生活的第一步。     

Equity-Based Sukuk： Robust Performance of Musharakah and Mudharabah Contract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the robust performance of equity-based sukuk in Malaysia, that is, Musharakah and Mudharabah contract. Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions （AAOIFI）, as an international standard-setting organization for Islamic finance, raised an issue that 85% issuances of Musharakah and Mudharabah sukuk have breached the shariah rulings and do not comply with Islamic principles （AAOIFI, 2002）. Consequently, the performance of equity-based sukuk in Malaysia was affected. This study used a secondary data for size of issuances which are gathered from Bank Negara Malaysia （BNM）＇s Bond Info website and Securities Commission （SC） website. The performance of equity-based sukuk, either Musharakah or Mudarabah, is robust in the study year period of 2000-2012 as regards their sizes of issuances.