Marble is currently a commonly used material in the building industry, and environmental degradation is an inevitable consequence of its use. Marble waste occurs during the exploitation of deposits using shooting technologies. The obtained elements most mainly often have an irregular geometry and small dimensions, which excludes their use in the stone industry. There is no systematic way of disposing of these massive mounds of waste, which results in the occurrence of landfills and environmental pollution. To mitigate this problem, an effort was made to incorporate waste marble powder into clay bricks. Different percentage proportions of marble powder were considered as a partial substitute for clay, i.e., 5–30%. A total of 105 samples were prepared in order to assess the performance of the prepared marble clay bricks, i.e., their water absorption, bulk density, apparent porosity, salt resistance, and compressive strength. The obtained bricks were 1.3–19.9% lighter than conventional bricks. The bricks with the addition of 5–20% of marble powder had an adequate compressive strength with regards to the values required by international standards. Their compressive strength and bulk density decreased, while their water absorption capacity and porosity improved with an increased content of marble powder. The obtained empirical equations showed good agreement with the experimental results. The use of waste marble powder in the construction industry not only lowers project costs, but also reduces the likelihood of soil erosion and water contamination. This can be seen to be a crucial factor for economic growth in agricultural production.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effect of country- and firm-specific factors on foreign investment in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses time-series data for country-level determinants and uses panel data for 100 listed non-financial companies selected based on market capitalisation from 2005 to 2015.FindingsFindings suggest that the stock market returns and liquidity of the country significantly positively influence the foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in Pakistan. Whereas, economic growth surprisingly is negatively related to foreign portfolio investment. In addition, findings reveal that firm size, financial leverage, dividend yield and global depositary receipts (GDR) have a positive impact on the total foreign investment at firm level. Further, foreign institutional investors prefer to invest in those firms that are large, pay high dividends and issue GDR. Furthermore, findings suggest that foreign direct investors tend to invest in firms that are financially leveraged and have low capital gain yield.Practical implicationsAt the country level, this study recommends that stock market performance, economic growth and foreign reserves of the country should be maintained and improved to attract FPI. At the firm level, this study recommends issuance of global depositary receipts and high dividend payouts for those firms that are interested in institutional investment in Pakistan.Originality/valueTo the best of authors' knowledge, this study is the first that examines the effect of firm-level factors along with country-level factors on foreign investment in Pakistan.

The current study aims to provide an overview of the research on political risk using the Web of Science（WoS）database as well as summarize research results and put forward some suggestions for research directions of political risk in international construction projects. It is the first time scientometric analysis of political risk research is executed. In this regard, the papers related to political risk in the WoS database have been retrieved and the literature is sorted out by visual and content analysis methods. Visual analysis is used to analyze the research overview, knowledge base, and research hotspots of this field. The content analysis method is adopted to expound the current research focus from three perspectives inducing the influence of political risk, risk assessment, and risk management measures. The results show that in the political risk context, the number of publications has experienced an increasing trend in recent years. Based on the existing literature on political risk for all companies, this overview provides some suggestions to address the political risk in international construction projects in the future. The results contribute to the scholars understanding of the research overview, research hotspots, and future research directions of political risk research in construction projects.

The performance is analyzed from the perspective of the characteristics of overseas business of Chinese contractors and political risks. Based on the results of this research project, the funds and pricing model of Chinese Contractors Overseas Projects were further analyzed, as well as their ability to withstand political risks and coping strategies. The purpose of this study was to study the statistical analysis of risks in design systems and international activities within the framework of international construction projects. This research is based on one belt and one road. The questionnaire was distributed to 100 Chinese international contractors in the form of emails. Of the 100 contractors, 50 are in the top 225 of the 2017 ENR. Research was based on the projects, and for each project only a single questionnaire was filled in, for a total of 370 responses, and a recovery rate was 37%. Three hundred seventy respondents were from 46 Chinese international contractors, of which 28 (60.87%) are from top ENR225 enterprises and 18 (39.13%) are from other enterprises. This survey reflects the general situation of political risks of Chinese contractors in overseas project management. Generally speaking, Chinese contractors are facing higher political risks, and they do not attach enough importance to political risks, and their ability to deal with political risks. The study provides useful guidance on how to manage the political risks that international contractors create in this emerging market.

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