Transformation Agenda Research Articles

Negotiating discord in sustainability transformations

Policy action for sustainability transformation faces inherent and ever-present sources of conflict, pushback, and resistance (i.e., discord). However, conceptual frameworks and policy prescriptions for sustainability transformations often reflect an undue image of accord. This involves simplified assumptions about consensus, steering, friction, discreteness, and additiveness of policy action, conferring an unrealistic view of the potential to deliberately realize transformation. Instead, negotiating discord through continuously finding partial political settlements among divided actors needs to become a key focus of policy action for sustainability transformations. Doing so can help to navigate deeply political settings through imperfect but workable steps that loosen deadlock, generate momentum for further policy action, and avoid complete derailment of transformation agendas when discord arises.

Queering the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality: Implications for humanitarian action, IHL effectiveness and gender justice

Abstract Institutions are often reluctant to openly engage on controversies around the patriarchal underpinnings of the humanitarian sector, or the hard questions around implementing rights-based approaches in spaces where the dominant social norms run counter to an enabling environment for principled humanitarian and development assistance. A reluctance to engage on these issues can lead to unintended suppression of gender justice efforts under the urgency and scale of needs-based humanitarian response. Pre-crisis unequal power relations can be visible or invisible, difficult to measure and even more difficult to address through humanitarian action. Engaging on root causes and drivers of human suffering is often viewed as “political” in contexts of closing civic space and restricted humanitarian access. This article will explore tensions and synergies between the humanitarian principles and the gender justice agenda with a view to helping humanitarian actors contribute to long-term goals of transforming social norms. The article applies a critical feminist lens to the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality, with a focus on the wider development agenda, the nature of the State in a State-centric global order, and the continuum of violence. Drawing on critical feminist theory and decolonization discourses, and building on gender analyses of international humanitarian law, this article looks to queer the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality within the context of the shifting aid system in which they are applied. The objective is help address some of the gaps in literature, identify ways in which aid actors can reduce unintended harm to the gender justice agenda, and help contribute to the more transformative agendas of gender justice.

On Colonial Monuments in the Post-colony: An Outline of the Problems of Populist Approaches in Managing Heritage in Southern Africa

What to do with colonial-era monuments has been a major challenge facing southern African nations ever since the demise of colonialism and apartheid in the subregion. To deal with the problem, governments in the region embarked on popular transformative agendas that included decontextualization and the removal of alleged problematic monuments from the public sphere. Such approaches have over the years received the backing of several scholars of heritage and history, who have often cited them as ones capable of offering ever-ending solutions to the issue. However, while recognizing the necessity of transformation, this article nevertheless argues that such a transformative agenda that is characterized by erasures of that which has been accepted as heritage in a particular phase of a country’s history is not a proper way of dealing with such symbols. First, such approaches create possibilities for heritage fundamentalism to filter into the domain of heritage. Second, such approaches were premised on the narrow argument that the notion of problematic heritage is only limited to cases of racial differences or between the former colonizers and the colonized. Instead, by using examples of case studies in one of the countries in the region, the article demonstrates that all heritage is subject to review, either by new political dispensations or by future generations. Hence, when dealing with symbols accepted as heritage, interpretation as opposed to decontextualization or destruction must be resorted to as a guiding framework. When this happens, heritage then ceases to be a platform of contestation and becomes one of continuity.

On tariff elimination, trade harmonization, and household well‐being: A study of the GST rollout in India

AbstractThe transformative research agenda encourages the pursuit of questions emphasizing societal welfare and well‐being outcomes rather than (just) focusing on narrow, incremental business‐related outcomes. This paper addresses that premise by examining those households at the social and economic bottom of the pyramid (BOP) that are intended to benefit most from the removal of trade barriers. The removal of these barriers should enable supply chains to yield commercial and welfare efficiency in terms of economic surpluses. The Goods and Services Tax legislation implemented in India in 2017 sought to do just that, serving as the experimental testbed for our investigation. Yet, as our analysis of more than 50,000 unique households in the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey data indicates, those at the social and geographic BOP see less benefit than others from the same policy intervention. This runs counter to the intended consequences of such policies. We employ a middle‐range theorizing approach grounded in the Theory of Customs Unions to inform and substantiate our hypotheses, which are tested using a stochastic frontier analysis and truncated regression. The results hold implications for policymakers and organizations seeking to elevate the efficacy of supply chains orchestrated by and serving BOP populations.

Carbon reduction and corporate sustainability: Evidence from low-carbon city pilot policy

The enhancement of corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance represents a crucial aspect of the broader green transformation agenda. Using a DID design, this paper examines the impact of China's low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy on the corporate ESG performance. Our findings demonstrate that the construction of LCCP exerts a positive influence on corporate ESG performance in pilot regions, particularly in industries and areas with high carbon emission intensity. Channel analyses reveal that LCCP policy heightens the environmental concerns of local governments and the public. Furthermore, LCCP policy has a crowding out effect with firms located in the surrounding cities. This paper responds to the calls for the determinants of ESG and enriches the understanding of policy impacts on corporate sustainability practices.

Reconfiguring dynamics of bordering/debordering in EU-Eastern neighbours’ relations: The EU as locus of resistance

EU relations with its eastern neighbours have been pursued with the goal of building a ‘ring of friends’ contributing towards security and stability-building, through reforms’ implementation and the development of closer relations. This transformative agenda met, however, some criticism and resistance from Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. Russia’s full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 changed profoundly the setting for these relations, including the accession requests coming from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, along with the cut off of relations with Russia and Belarus. The implied debordering and rebordering dynamics taking place show the complexity of material and symbolic bordering practices. Through a critical border studies approach, this paper seeks to unpack these bordering dynamics and how they are reconfiguring the European space, arguing the EU has become locus of resistance for countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia assuring their European identity.

BRICS as a Catalyst for Global Governance Transformation: Beyond Western Perceptions

Scholarship on global political economy and global peace and security governance often depicts BRICS members as emerging powers with relatively limited experience in international leadership. These depictions underscore their contested regional leadership and ambiguous institutional, political, ideological, and socio-economic capacities to influence and reshape the global governance system. However, this article challenges some of these characterizations of BRICS members as inaccurate and rooted in Western exceptionalism. Employing a qualitative secondary research approach, it aims to analyze the role of BRICS as a new model for global governance by examining key institutional and political initiatives undertaken by the bloc, as well as by each of its member states.The analysis reveals that institutional initiatives such as the New Development Bank (NDB) demonstrate the BRICS’ capacity to deploy a combination of hard and soft power tools, thereby contributing to the emergence of multipolarity in the global governance architecture. These initiatives have exposed the world's developing regions to new experiences, resources, and understandings of the priorities of emerging powers. Furthermore, political responses to crises, such as turmoil in Zimbabwe, Libya, and Mali, as well as nuclear issues in Iran, where BRICS members have assumed mediatory, supportive, or leading roles, have sparked renewed interest in understanding BRICS as an alternative to traditional conceptions of global peace and security governance. Significantly, BRICS’ soft power diplomacy plays a pivotal role in projecting the bloc as an advocate of alternative global governance architecture and in dispelling negative perceptions. This objective is achieved through the BRICS’ transformative agenda, which offers alternative pathways for attaining international public goods in developing regions with shared historical and ideological affinities.

A practical guide on strategic roadmapping for information and operations technology management: a case study on industry 5.0 transformation

ABSTRACT Strategic roadmapping is in realizing strategic visions and driving transformative agendas, but its methodology remains largely underdeveloped, particularly in the context of information and operations technology management. To address this gap, this study proposes a strategic roadmapping methodology to standardize and enhance its applicability in academia and practice. This methodology offers an approach to develop a strategic roadmap, involving defining the roadmap’s vision and boundaries, identifying critical initiatives, establishing priorities and contextual relationships, and highlighting the importance of continuous monitoring and updating. A case study focusing on Industry 5.0 transformation success is utilized to demonstrate the functionality and implications within the information and operations technology management context. The result allows manufacturers to effectively navigate the complexities and disruptions of Industry 5.0, fulfill its core objectives, and ultimately achieve digitalization success.

Feasibility Tests of a Fish Farm Integrating the Breeding of Poultry and a Fly

A locally improvised poultry house built with pure local material called bamboo and covered with dried treated grasses (roof) known as sana which housed 300 laying birds was built near 20m X 20m earthen fish pond with an underground spring water as source of intake with a flow through system and stocked with an improved catfish clarias geripinus juveniles 2000 in number. The floor of the poultry house was cemented to prevent leakages of water and permanently coveted with thick nylon white rubber and layer were placed at high level above the floor on top of bamboo tree having gaps in between them. The usage of these gaps created was to allow layers (chicken) dropping directly on the rubber which eventually served as breeding places for maggot. The maggot was collected washed thoroughly and processed to serve as feed to the fishes. The processed maggot reduces about 40% of total cost of feed in raising the fishes. The birds produced 70piecers of eggs per day 7½ crates and a crate is sold for N2,700 per crate. The fishes were harvested after six (6) months of stocking with a total piece of 1,680 with an average of 800g (1344kg) and is sold at N1500 per kg. The revenue realized took care of both capital and recurrent cost with a working force of three (3) people. The experiment contribute significantly (P<0.05) in reducing the level of poverty and also contribute to food security, transformation agenda of Federal government of Nigeria.

Assessment of the Implementation of Pakistan's National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance in the Agriculture and Food Sectors.

The agriculture and food (agrifood) sectors play key roles in the emergence, spread, and containment of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Pakistan's first National Action Plan (NAP) on AMR was developed to guide One Health interventions to combat AMR through 2017-2022. To improve subsequent iterations, we assessed the implementation of Pakistan's NAP in the agrifood sectors (NAPag) in October 2022, using the Progressive Management Pathway on AMR tool developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The assessment tool addressed four crucial focus areas of the NAPag: governance, awareness, evidence, and practices. Each focus area contains multiple topics, which involve four sequential stages of activities to progressively achieve systematic management of AMR risk in the agrifood sectors. High-level representatives of the NAPag stakeholders provided information for the assessment through pre-event documentary review and workshop discussions. The assessment results showed that Pakistan's NAPag had an overall moderate coverage (59%) of the anticipated activities. Gaps were particularly notable in strengthening governance, good practices, and interventions in non-livestock sectors. Furthermore, only 12% of the evaluated activities were fully executed and documented, consistently remaining at the planning and piloting stages in the livestock sector across all the examined topics. Insufficient attention to non-livestock sectors, inadequate regulation and enforcement capacity, and resource constraints have hindered scalable and sustainable interventions under the current plan. This assessment provides valuable insights to strengthen the inclusiveness and contribution of the agrifood sectors in the next NAP iteration. In the short-to-medium term, strategic prioritization is necessary to optimize the use of limited resources and target the most critical gaps, such as improving awareness among key stakeholders and fortifying regulations for prudent antimicrobial use. In the long term, integration of AMR into the country's broader health, development, and agricultural transformation agendas will be needed to generate sustainable benefits.

Value-based healthcare implementation in the Netherlands: a quantitative analysis of multidisciplinary team performance.

Many hospitals worldwide have set up multidisciplinary Value Improvement (VI) teams that use the Value-Based Health Care (VBHC) theory to improve patient value. However, it remains unclear what the level of VBHC implementation is within these teams. We therefore studied the current level of VBHC implementation in VI teams. A questionnaire was developed based on the strategic agenda for value transformation and real-world experiences with VBHC implementation. The questionnaire consisted of 21 questions, mapped to seven domains, and was sent out to 25 multidisciplinary VI teams. Median scores for individual questions (scale = 1-5) and average scores per domain were calculated. One hundred forty VI team members completed the questionnaire. The overall average score is 3.49. The 'culture and responsibility' domain obtained the highest average score (µ = 4.11). The domain 'measure and improve outcomes' and the domain 'multidisciplinary team' obtained average scores that are slightly higher than the overall average (µ = 3.78 and µ = 3.76 respectively), and the domains 'strategy and organizational policy,' 'collaboration and sharing,' and 'IT and data' scored a little below the overall average (µ = 3.41, µ = 3.32, and µ = 3.29 respectively). The domain 'costs and reimbursement' obtained the lowest average score (µ = 2.42) of all domains, indicating that the implementation of this particular aspect of VBHC remains lagging behind. Our results indicate activity in each of the questionnaire domains. To bring VBHC implementation to the next level, more attention should be given to the financial aspects. Our questionnaire can be used in future studies to identify improvements or differences within VI teams.

Participation, Diversity, and Legitimation in U.S. Housing: A Rhetorical Analysis of Two HOPE VI Reports

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to consider: (1) how participatory rhetorics and methodologies can often invoke classed and racialized hierarchies and (2) the rhetorical strategies by which participatory processes in development contexts become co-opted for institutional means rather than for transformative outcomes.Method: Blending critical discourse analysis and rhetorical criticism, I read two influential federal U.S. housing reports associated with the HOPE VI housing program to derive legitimation strategies seemingly at work in divesting local residents of significant participatory input.Results: As suggested by analysis of the two reports, HOPE VI’s participatory rhetorics consisted of four key legitimation strategies that constrained participation as: participation-as-cultural narrative, participation-as-bio/necropolitics, participation-asdiversity, and participation-as-theodicy.Conclusion: The legitimation strategies reveal that participation is not a neutral framework. The methodology’s institutional privilege has the potential to iterate hierarchy and the reproduction of marginalization. Even in explicit invocations of diversity, race, and community, participation risks the entrenchment of otherization. These problematic qualities challenge organizational and institutional efforts to achieve a transformative agenda for diversity and inclusion.

Revitalizing Emergency Care Ecosystem in India through Comprehensive Transformation and Innovative Solutions

Emergency care is a critical pillar of healthcare systems, serving as the initial point of contact for individuals facing acute conditions. However, consistent access to prompt emergency care remains a challenge in many regions, particularly low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where a substantial burden of disease is attributed to emergencies. This paper explores the emergency care ecosystem in India, emphasizing the role of first responders, effective communication, ambulance services, and trained healthcare staff. It also highlights challenges, solutions, technological advancements, and the benefits of implementing an emergency surveillance system to improve emergency care services. The multifaceted approach includes strengthening pre-hospital care systems, equipping communities with basic first aid skills, optimizing ambulance services, strengthening formal education and training in emergency care, harnessing technological solutions, data-driven insights, innovative approaches, and telemedicine. These efforts collectively aim to establish a seamless continuum of care, minimize patient treatment delays, and ensure that healthcare professionals are both incentivized and adequately prepared for high-stress emergency environments. Additionally, addressing violence against healthcare professionals and ensuring equitable access to emergency care are crucial components of the transformation agenda. This transformation is not only essential for saving lives, reducing disabilities, and advancing universal health coverage but also addresses a critical gap in India's healthcare landscape by enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of emergency care services.

Critical Success Factors for Deployment of Primary Health Care Networks and their Impact in Kenya

The Government of Kenya through the Bottom-up Economic Transformational Agenda (BETA) acknowledges Primary Health Care (PHC) as a cost-effective and efficient means to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The aim is to enhance equitable access to high-quality and affordable healthcare for all Kenyan citizens. Primary Health Care Networks (PCNs) are gaining traction as the main mode of achieving PHC in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, and Kenya is no exception. In Kenya, PCNs approach seeks to empower local communities at subcounty level through mobilizing resources and strengthening their decision-making authority to address context specific healthcare needs. The investment in PCNs is geared towards advancing equitable access to quality healthcare at the community level, mitigating fragmentation of health care services, strengthening preventive and promotive healthcare hence creating a more resilient and efficient healthcare system. The Ministry of Health in Kenya, in collaboration with County Governments and Development partners, initiated a Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) to deploy PCNs across the country in August, 2023. The goal was to establish 315 Primary Health Care Networks (PCN) across the 47 counties in Kenya. This was preceded by a Pilot phase in 3 Counties (Kisumu, Garissa, and Kwale) which was conducted in 2021. The pilot phase informed cost-effective approaches for the deployment and critical success factors for scale-up of PCNs countrywide. The nationwide deployment of PCNs followed a 10-step process of establishing PCNs as stipulated in Kenya PHC Guidelines. Data on experiences, progress in implementation and lessons learnt was abstracted from grey literature including reports from PCN establishment at County level, Stakeholder meetings through Accelerator and Sustainability taskforce and data from PCN observatory. The average time taken to establish a PCN was 3 weeks and costed approximately USD 34,000 for its full establishment. As at 20th December, 2023 (within 4 months of initiating the RRI), of the target of 315 PCNs, 93(30%) PCNs were fully established, 27(9%) PCNs were in progress and 195(62%) yet to start. Out of the 47 counties, 37(79%) counties have at least a fully established PCN, 4 Counties are in the process of establishing the first PCN and 6 are awaiting partner readiness. The eight main critical success factors for successful establishment included: County ownership and commitment, availability of Key Policy guidelines and strategies for reference, funding from development partners and donors, leveraging on existing National and County governance structures, multisectoral collaborations and partnerships, tracking of PCN establishment through National PCN observatory and Community engagement. Key process enablers to successful role out included: Meaningful engagement of development and implementing partners, Execution through County trained TOTs, Community engagement through Community Health Workforce and support from National Government. Over time, the Established PCNs in 3 pilot counties have demonstrated significant reduction in facility based maternal mortality, increased access to NCD screening services, coordinated health care workers through MDTs and improved forward and backward referrals. Additionally, incorporated innovation models within PCNs have improved access to medical supplies and specialized healthcare services at level 2 and 3 facilities. To achieve successful scale up of PCNs and sustainability for impact it is critical to contextualize PCNs to the County needs, establish sustainable primary health care financing mechanism for PCN activities, Strengthen PCN governance structures and utilise PCN observatory to continuously track PCN performance measurements and decision making. Adoption of a unified focus on PCN performance improvement including one PCN strategy, one action plan on how to optimally implement PCNs and one monitoring framework is critical. If implemented successfully, PCNs will contribute to long term social return on investments and improved health indicators for the Country

Teaching While Black: Black Women Millennials’ Experiences of Teaching in South African Universities

The South African government continues to work tirelessly to reverse the effects of apartheid by addressing social inequalities and transforming the higher education sector by dismantling structural, cultural, institutional, and interpersonal discrimination. Black 1 1 The use of the lowercase “w” for white or whiteness in this article is the author’s stylistic act of decentering whiteness to amplify African women’s experiences. South African women have fought for the right to access education as well as to pursue higher education to the top levels of teaching in these institutions. Traditionally, the custodians of knowledge have been older white men. Millennial Black women’s presence in these spaces of higher institutions is disruptive and continues to be a site of conflict and negotiation for younger Black women academics. This article argues that race, intersecting with gender, age, and class, influences their teaching experiences in universities and how students perceive Millennial Black women in postapartheid South African universities. Intersectionality underpins this qualitative study, which explores nine Black Millennial women’s teaching experiences in universities in South Africa. The findings suggest that these women’s experiences are influenced by the kind of university in which they teach. The narratives showed how Millennial Black women lecturers at historically white institutions experience more hostility, mostly from students who share their same race and gender. This contrasts with the experiences of Millennial Black women who teach at historically Black institutions. The study has implications for university and government transformation agendas.

Moroccan TV Advertising in 2023: Towards a Gender- Transformative Agenda

This study examines the contemporary landscape of Moroccan TV advertising in 2023, specifically focusing on its evolutionary trajectory towards the adoption of a gender-transformative agenda. Against the backdrop of heightened societal consciousness regarding gender equality and the imperative of inclusive representation across various domains, including the realm of advertising, this article delves into the concerted efforts undertaken by the Moroccan advertising industry to challenge entrenched gender norms and cultivate a more transformative paradigm. Traditionally, advertising has been culpable of reinforcing and perpetuating gender stereotypes, constraining men and women within narrowly defined roles. However, catalyzed by social movements advocating for equality and inclusivity, advertisers find themselves compelled to reevaluate their approaches, embracing a more encompassing and diverse framework. Given this, this paper employs qualitative content analysis to scrutinize a curated corpus of five Moroccan advertisements, investigating how they challenge prevailing gender portrayals and deviate from perpetuating stereotypical representations. The analysis of the findings reveals the extent to which the selected advertisements actively engage in the transformative representation of gender by challenging rather than nurturing gender stereotypes. It unveils the way the selected advertisements demonstrate a deliberate departure from the stereotypical depiction of women in domestic roles or as passive objects, to portraying them in diverse and empowered positions. Similarly, men are depicted beyond conventional masculine stereotypes, showcasing a broader spectrum of roles and expectations. Accordingly, this study not only provides insights into the current state of Moroccan advertising with regard to gender transformative practices but also contributes to the broader discourse surrounding the role of advertising in promoting gender equality and in

Structural Empowerment, Resilience, and Intent to Stay Among Nurses and Midwives in Obstetrics and Gynecology Departments: A Phenomenological Inquiry Study in Saudi Arabia.

Staff turnover is a major obstacle to the success of Saudi Arabia's health transformation agenda and the realization of Saudi Vision 2030. Nurses' and midwives' intentions to remain with the organization are heavily influenced by their sense of structural empowerment and resilience. To gain insight into the perspectives of nurses and midwives working in the Obstetrics and Gynecology departments of a selection of Saudi Arabian governmental hospitals about structural empowerment, resilience, and intentions to stay in their current positions. Qualitative Descriptive Phenomenology. Purposive sampling was used to choose eighteen nurses and midwives working in the OB/GYN department in three government hospitals in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather the participants' perceptions. Colaizzi's steps were used as a data analysis method. The narratives of the selected participants generated five major themes: (a) "nurturing physical and physiological," (b) "developing psychological," (c) "managing financial," (e) "restructuring organizational," and (f) "enriching professional and occupational." The emerging major themes highlighted the perceptive elements of nurses and midwives that keep them empowered, resilient, and determined to stay in their organization. A failure to fulfill any one of these elements will affect the others. To improve organizational outcomes, empowerment and resilience must be obtained.

Corporate Social Responsibility 2.0 Towards a socio-transformative paradigm for business

The South African business fraternity is expected to contribute to and foster the government’s social transformation agenda. This contribution should be directed by businesses’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) intentions and organizational arrangements. However, companies’ efforts in this regard are being increasingly criticized due to the absence of a socio-transformative agenda. In other words, CSR praxis is perceived to be inadequately positioned in businesses to act as a core strategic function aimed at benefiting society. The purpose of this article is to outline the perceived failures of conventional CSR praxis and to propose a framework for businesses to adopt a socio-transformative CSR paradigm. A generic qualitative research design, utilizing document analysis and a literature survey, was followed in this study. The findings indicate that businesses do indeed need to adopt a socio-transformative business model to comply with national and international driving forces for change. Recommendations are proposed to guide businesses towards such a transformative management approach utilizing the principles of McKinsey 7-S model for business readiness and Kotter’s 8-step change management model. The study encourages corporations and firms to adopt a socio-transformative paradigm by utilizing established business readiness and change management models.

Law and the political economy of AI production

Abstract The governance of artificial intelligence (AI) is at a historical juncture. Legislative acts, global treaties, export controls, and technical standards are now dominating the discourse over what used to be a predominantly market-driven space. Amidst all this frenzy, this paper explains why none of these projects will achieve ‘alignment’ of AI with the prospect of a sustainable model of production authentically committed to the rights and freedoms of people and communities. By reflecting on the role of law in consolidating the visions and logics of few multinationals in the global value chains of AI, it warns against the peril of regulating AI without looking at the methods and logistics of its material production. Following a detailed overview of the various (techno-)legal ways through which law enables the flow of materials, capital, and power from Global South to Global North, and from small players to lead firms, the paper concludes with some preliminary thoughts on a transformative agenda for the transnational regulation of infocomputational production.

Can enterprise digital transformation reduce the reliance on bank credit? Evidence from China

Academics are inconclusive on whether enterprises' digital transformation can reduce their reliance on bank credit. We examine this question using a Chinese sample of 2325 A-share-listed companies from 2007 to 2021, finding a significant negative correlation between a firm's digital transformation and reliance on bank credit; the results remain robust after a series of endogeneity tests. Digital transformation alleviates bank credit dependence mainly by easing firms' financing constraints and reducing information asymmetry. Specifically, the alleviation effect of enterprise digital transformation is stronger among enterprises with private ownership and smaller asset sizes. In addition to the nature of firms, increased competition in the banking sector and a favorable business environment contribute to curtailing bank credit dependence. This paper's findings point to companies' digital transformation agenda, confirming that financial development supports economic growth.