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The resurgence of interest in public sector accounting has been evident in the significant growth of the literature concerning both developed and developing countries. Literature reviews in the area, however, have only focused on the former thus leaving a gap which has been overlooked for some time. This paper begins to respond to this lack in the literature by critically assessing research on public sector accounting and financial management in developing countries. The paper elaborates the various views expressed by writers in the field and also identifies omissions in terms of themes, methodologies, and methods. In particular, we argue that most of the mainly non‐empirical studies in the literature have been influenced to a very large extent by development economics thinking (including theories the relevance of which have been significantly questioned in that discipline). We conclude by offering some suggestions for future research in the area.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the existence of income shifting using the practice of transfer pricing (TP), not only in sales but also in purchase and management service transactions, in Asian developing countries. The paper also investigates the role of the specific anti-avoidance rules (SAAR) in preventing TP practices in various types of transaction.

The research employs panel data from a sample of 200 subsidiaries in ten countries over the period 2010–2014.

Different results were obtained from previous research on developed countries, which found that TP practice was proven in sales transactions. This study finds no evidence for TP practices in sales transactions, but that they do take place in purchase, management service fee and management services revenue transactions. The study also finds evidence that SAAR reduces the practice of TP in sales transactions.

The research investigates TP practices, not only those related to sales, but also to purchases, management service fees and management service revenue to related parties. The sample comprises multinational subsidiaries located in Asian developing countries that have rarely been investigated in previous studies. This research examines the effect of SAAR in preventing TP practices in various types of transaction and develops scoring based on an instrument that integrates each SAAR rule/requirement.

Large foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow is one of the most important features of China's economic reform and opening up to the outside world. Over the past 30 years, China has attracted over US$940 billion FDI inflows, making it the largest FDI recipient among the all developing countries. This chapter argues that FDI inflows into China have mostly come from developing economies, concentrated in China's east and southeast coastal regions, and biased toward the manufacturing sector. The large FDI inflows have greatly contributed to China's economic development. FDI has been playing an increasingly important role in China's economy in terms of capital formation, employment creation, export promotion, and integrating with the world economy. The global financial and economic crisis has had negative impact on FDI inflows into China. However, as compared to the large decline in FDI globally, FDI inflows into China have been resilient. China will continue to be one of the most attractive destinations for FDI in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in banking sector, its impact on banks employees and consumer behavior alike when buying financial services and the importance of (AI) for delivering social services in a western Asian developing country: Lebanon. The author tried to respond to the following problematics: Would AI be able to replace man power in customer service? and would AI change the job of the banker and render the bank more profitable?

The data collected and analyzed was used in a quantitative research-based models with the application of hypothesis regression models. The results obtained has helped despite the fact of its innovative framework, AI cannot replace the role of humans when it comes to client’s interactions with banks employees.

AI elevates the quality of banking transactions to an upper edge. Some of the technical banking jobs might be in jeopardy with AI, as the technology can be easily replaced with human resources, but when emotional intelligence is required for banks clients/employee’s relationship management, AI has been found with no ability to supersede.

Researchers in the future can also compare large banks called alpha banks to smaller banks in the same developing country to further test the possibility of adopting innovation and change through AI in different sizes of banks with larger number of employees, financial resources and corporate clients.

Fears regarding impact on employment were detected, AI could render many banks’ jobs obsolete in the coming years, asserting that AI and robotics “reduce the need for staff in roles such as back office functions. Data suggests that the proliferation of AI could be accompanied by a rise in banking jobs. It may also be the case that only the most mundane jobs such as data entry will be sacrificed for machine superiority. While a rise in job numbers associated with higher AI-adoption rates seems ideal, some evidence suggests that most financial institutions are not yet fully confident in how to effectively apply the technology for the best results but at the same time seemed to be receptive to using AI and machine learning in their organization.

This study was conducted and limited to one developing Asian country, it would be useful to stretch this study covering other countries in the region to dive into more diversified results that could trigger researchers to compare more the adoption of AI in Asian countries and evaluating its impact with respect to different countries size and/or level of development in addition to other demographics and criteria.

Financial institutions are increasingly using artificial neural network systems to detect fraud and charges that do not meet the standard. The AI is used to: organize transactions; keep accounts; invest in stocks; optimize portfolios, etc. Reducing the number of frauds and financial crimes in Lebanon by monitoring user behavior to detect abnormal changes or anomalies in addition to the possible rectification of human economic behavior in the Asian region, this could add a great value and high originality to the research.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of the applicability of employee engagement theories in a South Asian country, Sri Lanka, and determine whether engagement theories are universally applicable beyond the Western countries in which they have been developed and tested.

A heterogeneous sample of 451 private-sector employees in Sri Lanka was used. A mixed-method design was adopted; quantitative findings were compared with previous studies conducted in Western countries, and qualitative findings enabled a more nuanced understanding of employee engagement in the Sri Lankan context.

Despite cultural differences between Sri Lanka and Western countries, the antecedents of engagement did not manifest differently in a consistent way. Combined results suggest that the different manifestations of engagement in Sri Lanka cannot be attributed solely to cultural variance.

The authors used cross-sectional data and tested only four antecedents of engagement.

This study highlights the importance of multinational organisations' awareness of how employee engagement manifests across different contexts and going beyond cultural adaptation when developing context-specific engagement strategies.

This is among the first studies on an Asian country to examine whether cultural differences impact the antecedents of engagement to empirically test Kahn's (1990) theory of engagement and the motivational process of the job demands-resources theory in a single study and to use a heterogeneous sample and mixed-methods design. The authors challenge the centrality of national culture as a determinant of employee engagement and highlight the importance of considering other contextual factors when examining employee engagement in different countries.

Cambodian and Laotian students (CLS) are among the largest groups of international students in intra-ASEAN student mobility as well as in Vietnamese higher education institutions (HEIs). However, little has been researched on the factors influencing CLS’s decision to choose Vietnam as destination country. The purpose of this study is to investigate why CLS decide to go overseas and choose Vietnam as their host country among other opportunities as well as their perceptions of the decision.

Using qualitative methods and employing purposive sampling, data were collected by semi-structured interviews from CLS studying in a HEI in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The data were analysed against the push–pull framework to understand factors influencing the participants’ decision.

The findings show that CLS in the study were “pushed” by the perceived higher value of a foreign qualification and family encouragements. In terms of pull factors, they were attracted to choose Vietnam as the host country most observably due to scholarship opportunities. However other pull factors were also significant, especially the lack of certain skills in home countries and its congruence with Vietnam’s competitive strength in offering courses for those skills. In retrospect, the participants expressed a sense of optimism, though there was also certain reservation.

The small sample restrict the generalisability of the findings.

As an exploratory study, the findings can lay the ground for largerscale studies investigating CLS mobility in Vietnam and be employed for inbound student mobility policymaking reference for HEIs in Vietnam as well as in other developing countries.

This study investigates why Cambodian and Laotian international students decide to go to Vietnam, a developing country in the lesser-known part of international student mobility landscape. This is a topic that remains under-researched in the Asia-bound student mobility literature. Insights from the study can not only contribute to the scholarly gap but also offer implications for HEIs in Vietnam and other Asian countries.

This study explores impacts of innovation-adoption characteristics, food choice motives, segmentation and socio-demographics on consumer adoption of online-to-offline food delivery services (O2O-FDS) in a Western developed country – New Zealand – and an Asian developing country – China.

An online survey of 1,185 consumers provides data that the authors analyse using factor analyses, structural equation modelling and cluster analysis.

The following innovation-adoption characteristics and food choice motives have statistically significant effects on consumers' attitudes and/or purchase intentions towards O2O-FDS in the pooled sample and/or the samples of two countries: perceived incentive, perceived complexity, processed convenience, cheapness, taste appeal, safety-assured and purchase convenience. Three consumer segments are recognized: conservatives (26.6%), food-value seekers (40.8%) and pioneers (32.6%). Significant differences are found in marital status, age, household income, education level, household size, occupation, country and residential areas across the three segments.

This is the first study to systematically understand significant influencing factors for the O2O-FDS adoption by using a sample set composed of both Eastern and Western consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore international buyer–supplier relationships in an emerging developing country context. The study examines a number of factors derived from internationalization process (IP) theory and their impacts in a novel research setting. The relational variables of trust and commitment, and their drivers, are integrated into a model examining importers’ perspectives of their supplier relationships.

This study applied a sequential methodological approach. Initially, a conceptual framework was developed from qualitative research and then quantitatively validated using structural equation modeling (SEM). The data for this study were collected conducting in-depth interviews and survey questionnaires. For empirical validation, the SEM technique was applied to assess the proposed model.

Importing firm managers perceived that the commitment of their suppliers bolstered their trust in the relationship, this contrasts with the conventional contention of a reverse relationship. The findings confirm cultural similarity facilitates communication, leading to increased knowledge and experience of importers, thereby contributing to an enhanced commitment to build trust in the relationship.

The conceptual framework developed in this study provides a direction to manage and enhance understanding of IP and relationship outcome. The findings have strategic implications for practicing managers in developing and supporting their importer–foreign supplier relationships.

This study is unique in assessing as well as validating key constructs of IP theory in an international exchange (importer–supplier) relationship. The study offers completely a new insight in relation to applying IP theory’s relational perspectives.

This paper aims to explore how Human Resource Management (HRM) practices were adopted to implement and manage remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify whether and how remote working would/should continue in the future, in a developing and a unique cultural set up in the Asian context.

The study was conducted using qualitative methodology with semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 26 Human Resource Professionals (HRPs) of different industries in Sri Lanka. The information was collected in two phases; at the initial stages of the pandemic during May–June 2020 and after one year and four months, in October–November 2021.

The findings explain the different HRM activities executed by HRPs, such as employee engagement activities, setting guidelines, employee support, performance management and training, to make remote working successful when it was implemented as an emergency and involuntary work arrangement with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. However, over time, the interest and interventions of HRPs appeared to have dwindled, and many companies are waiting to revert to on-site work when the pandemic situation settles. It appears that remote working will remain a transitory work arrangement to respond to crises or exceptional circumstances rather than a permanent work arrangement for many companies in Sri Lanka.

The study contributes to and expands the knowledge of HRM in managing remote working during and beyond the pandemic in a developing Asian country perspective and the suitability of remote working and HRM practices for specific national cultural contexts.

The Covid-19 pandemic encourages organized structures across health sectors to react to the outbreak and digital health technologies have been identified as promising pillars to respond to the outbreak across the globe. The purpose of this study is to address the scoping review aimed at identifying the innovative entrepreneurial opportunities in digital health-care ecosystems. The study highlights the barriers to digital health in developing countries. The study is a forum for the introduction of entrepreneurship prospects in the Indian sense through other foreign readers in developing countries.

This archival study highlights topical literature to explore successful ways of improving market potential in developed countries with respect to digital health. The research offers insights into how a digital health environment could be applied, provides a trajectory that concentrates on key skills and a creative approach.

Health service providers require developing their competency and skills to accelerate and enhance their entrepreneurial opportunities. Social network dynamics analyzes are particularly helpful in modeling pandemic trends and in tracking post-pandemic digital health needs. The acceptability of digital solutions has to be confronted across developing countries especially in rural areas and a collective public health benefit in form of entrepreneurship to serve the society.

The research temporarily indicates a creative solution to entrepreneurship in developed countries that can be applied in today’s digital arena.

To raise public understanding of the advantages of digital health systems in developed regions, health education and promotion campaigns should be focused. The idea analysis can be useful benchmarks for policymakers rather than digital health jurisdictions. The post-pandemic provides developed countries a great opportunity for advanced technology to expand connectivity and networking to digital health entrepreneurship.