Impact of environmental triggers on students' behavior to use ride-sharing services: the moderating role of perceived risk.

Ride-sharing services are a sustainable form of the transportation system that needs to be popularized among students by examining the crucial factors that determine the students' behavior to use the innovative service. Therefore, this paper attempts to explore students' behavior regarding the use of ride-sharing services by extending the "Technology Acceptance Model." The expanded model includes the current TAM structures and integrates contextual stimuli that may or may not affect the ride-sharing service's behavior. Moreover, the study focuses on determining the moderating role of perceived risk between the proposed relationships. The paper uses PLS-SEM to analyze the research model and determine the results of the hypotheses. The findings of this research are useful for ride-sharing service providers and policymakers who can promote the services among students by reducing the perceived risks and promoting the environmental benefits of ride-sharing. Furthermore, the limitations of this paper pose future research directions.

Financial development, international trade, and environmental degradation: a nonlinear threshold model based on panel smooth transition regression.

Environmental degradation has severely affected the natural cycle of ecosystem. It's high time now and humans should execute strategies effectively to protect the further degradation. Initially, we need to understand the ways that might affect the environment. Thus, existing research is designed to explore the nonlinear association between financial development (FD) and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) in the context of low-income countries by employing the yearly data of 1990-2016. The panel smooth transition regression model (PSTR) is applied, and the result confirmed that the nexus between the two variables are nonlinear. Moreover, it also shows that at a low regime, FD increases the CO2 emissions but as the economy of low-income states progress to the high regime, the association between the two variables becomes negative and significant. The study also confirms that FD can reduce CO2 emissions once it reaches a certain threshold point. Based on these findings, new insights are provided for the policymakers, and several policies are suggested to improve the environmental quality in low-income countries.

Residential energy environmental Kuznets curve in emerging economies: the role of economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and financial development.

The aim of the present paper is to determine residential energy environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in Next-11 and BRICS countries with the specific consideration on the role of economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and financial development from an era of 1990-2015. In order to determine the cross-section independence and to control the heterogeneity between cross-sections in the paper, we have applied unique and advanced techniques of econometrics panel data. Moreover, the following tests have been applied which are the CIPS unit root test, co-integration test, fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), and heterogeneous panel causality technique. The outcomes revealed that in the long run, all the variables are co-integrated. Moreover, there is a significant and positive influence of residential energy consumption, economic growth, and financial development on environmental degradation. However, in the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, essential role is performed by renewable energy. On the other hand, findings show great support for the residential energy EKC hypothesis in emerging countries.