IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i13p5968-d1690171.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Business Innovation of Consumer Choices and Challenges for Economic Sustainability Practices and Law

Author

Listed:
  • Linhua Xia

    (School of Economics, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen 518055, China)

  • Zhuiwen Lai

    (School of Law, Hainan University, No. 58 People’s Avenue, Haikou 570228, China)

  • Muhammad Bilawal Khaskheli

    (School of Law, Hainan University, No. 58 People’s Avenue, Haikou 570228, China)

Abstract

The intersection of digitalization and innovation has emerged as the most vital strategy to spur economic development and shape consumer choice. The study examines sustainable development, digital economic governance, and sustainable consumption, emphasizing the role of consumer awareness, tariff policy, and managerial practice in aligning business strategy with sustainable goals. Amidst global environmental challenges, a suitable tariff policy is of utmost significance to propel the digital economy and encourage sustainable development. This paper investigates how emerging tariff policies can advance trade competitiveness and environmental impacts and draws on a literature review and data collection for the period between 2000 and 2025. The article examines the disruptive function of digital technologies, AI, and big data in driving sustainable business practices and digitalization. It also discusses how such technologies can simplify tariff implementation, compliance, and stakeholder trust through behavioral insights drawn from secondary data analysis on a cross-country basis and official reports. The study identifies best practices in the coordination of tariff policy with international governance institutions. Empirical observation shows that innovative tariff approaches in digital economic governance can support long-term growth, increase international coordination, and guide global governance efforts in environmental sustainability and SDGs. The implications of the findings are relevant to policymakers, business leaders, and legal experts working on fast-paced global changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Linhua Xia & Zhuiwen Lai & Muhammad Bilawal Khaskheli, 2025. "The Business Innovation of Consumer Choices and Challenges for Economic Sustainability Practices and Law," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5968-:d:1690171
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5968/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5968/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xiao Liang & Shilong Yang & Zhichao Lou & Abdelrahman Ali, 2024. "The Impact of Japan’s Discharge of Nuclear-Contaminated Water on Aquaculture Production, Trade, and Food Security in China and Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Naudé, Wim & Cameron, Martin, 2025. "Retaliation Against Trump’s Trade War: Why and How the EU Should Find Alternative Export Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 17773, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Tchapo Gbandi, 2024. "Necessary evil: water treaties and international trade," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 160(4), pages 1329-1359, November.
    4. Muhammad Bilawal Khaskheli & Shumin Wang & Xiaoshan Yan & Yuehan He, 2023. "Innovation of the Social Security, Legal Risks, Sustainable Management Practices and Employee Environmental Awareness in The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-21, January.
    5. Xin Xiang & Jinlong Zhao, 2025. "Enhancing Sustainable Development Through Digital Service Trade Liberalization: Analyzing the Effects and Mechanisms on Bilateral Imports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-24, February.
    6. Tamar Gutner, 2005. "Explaining the Gaps between Mandate and Performance: Agency Theory and World Bank Environmental Reform," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 5(2), pages 10-37, May.
    7. Anderson, Robert D. & Kovacic, William E. & Müller, Anna Caroline & Sporysheva, Nadezhda, 2018. "Competition policy, trade and the global economy: Existing WTO elements, commitments in regional trade agreements, current challenges and issues for reflection," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2018-12, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    8. Shumin Wang & Xin Jiang & Muhammad Bilawal Khaskheli, 2024. "The Role of Technology in the Digital Economy’s Sustainable Development of Hainan Free Trade Port and Genetic Testing: Cloud Computing and Digital Law," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-20, July.
    9. Modan Yan & Haiyun Liu, 2024. "The Impact of Digital Trade Barriers on Technological Innovation Efficiency and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-19, June.
    10. Lijun Ren & Jingru Wang & Luoyi Zhang & Xiaoxiao Hu & Yan Ning & Jianhui Cong & Yongling Li & Weiqiang Zhang & Tian Xu & Xiaoning Shi, 2025. "Quantitative Assessment of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: Impacts on China–EU Trade and Provincial-Level Vulnerabilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-19, February.
    11. Fernandez, Linda & Das, Monica, 2024. "Does the World Trade Organization Enable Biosecurity and Trade for Importers and Exporters?," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(4), pages 448-473, October.
    12. Iqra Yaseen & Mohammad Shafi Sofi, 2024. "Anatomy of trade disputes: mapping patterns and trends of WTO dispute initiations (1995–2023)," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 51(4), pages 503-516, December.
    13. Muhammad Bilawal Khaskheli & Yongchen Zhao, 2025. "The Sustainability of Economic and Business Practices Through Legal Cooperation in the Era of the Hainan Free Trade Port and Southeast Asian Nations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-26, February.
    14. Kimberly A. Clausing, 2024. "US International Corporate Taxation after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 89-112, Summer.
    15. Suzanne Zhou, 2016. "Challenging the Use of Special 301 against Measures Promoting Access to Medicines: Options Under the WTO Agreements," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 51-86.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Reinsberg,Bernhard Wilfried & Michaelowa,Katharina & Knack,Stephen, 2015. "Which donors, which funds ? the choice of multilateral funds by bilateral donors at the World Bank," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7441, The World Bank.
    2. Jianbo Hu & Wenxin Cai & Yu Shen & Faustino Dinis, 2025. "How Does Digital Trade Affect a Firm’s Green Total Factor Productivity? A Life Cycle Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-27, July.
    3. Sierra, Jazmin & Hochstetler, Kathryn, 2017. "Transnational activist networks and rising powers: transparency and environmental concerns in the Brazilian National Development Bank," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 79089, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Axel Michaelowa & Katharina Michaelowa, 2011. "Climate business for poverty reduction? The role of the World Bank," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 259-286, September.
    5. Buntaine, Mark T., 2011. "Does the Asian Development Bank Respond to Past Environmental Performance when Allocating Environmentally Risky Financing?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 336-350, March.
    6. Bence Márk Szeszák & István Gergely Kerékjártó & László Soltész & Péter Galambos, 2025. "Industrial Revolutions and Automation: Tracing Economic and Social Transformations of Manufacturing," Societies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-31, March.
    7. Kimberly A. Clausing, 2024. "US Presidential Election 2024: Consequences for Fiscal Policy," EconPol Forum, CESifo, vol. 25(05), pages 13-17, September.
    8. Maria J. Debre & Hylke Dijkstra, 2023. "Are international organisations in decline? An absolute and relative perspective on institutional change," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(1), pages 16-30, February.
    9. Helen Milner & Dustin Tingley, 2013. "The choice for multilateralism: Foreign aid and American foreign policy," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 313-341, September.
    10. Loredana Larisa Văduva (Ene) & Ana-Maria Nedelcu & Daniela Stancu (Zamfir) & Cristinel Bălan & Ioan-Matei Purcărea & Mihaela Gurău & Daniel Alin Cristian, 2023. "Digital Technologies for Public Health Services after the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Risk Management Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-14, February.
    11. Sara Majid & Xin Zhang & Muhammad Bilawal Khaskheli & Feng Hong & Patricia Jie Hung King & Imran Haider Shamsi, 2023. "Eco-Efficiency, Environmental and Sustainable Innovation in Recycling Energy and Their Effect on Business Performance: Evidence from European SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-30, June.
    12. Bernhard Reinsberg & Christian Siauwijaya, 2024. "Does earmarked funding affect the performance of international organisations?," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(1), pages 23-39, February.
    13. Alexandra Lindenthal & Martin Koch, 2013. "The Bretton Woods Institutions and the Environment: Organizational Learning within the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-36, October.
    14. Volman, Lucas, 2018. "The TRIPS Article 31 Tug of War Developing Country Compulsory Licensing of Pharmaceutical Patents and Developed Country Retaliation," LawRxiv 6cxaj, Center for Open Science.
    15. Humphrey, Chris & Michaelowa, Katharina, 2013. "Shopping for Development: Multilateral Lending, Shareholder Composition and Borrower Preferences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 142-155.
    16. Ana Maria Santacreu & Ashley Stewart, 2025. "The Impact of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on U.S. Multinationals' Intangible Assets," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 107(4), pages 1-16, March.
    17. Jinxiang Zang & Neilson Teruki & Sharon Yong Yee Ong & Yan Wang, 2025. "Does the Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Improve the Technological Innovation Capabilities of Enterprises? Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-21, March.
    18. Ralph Luken, 2009. "Greening an international organization: UNIDO’s strategic responses," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 159-184, June.
    19. Eugenia C. Heldt & Thomas Dörfler, 2022. "Orchestrating private investors for development: How the World Bank revitalizes," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 1382-1398, October.
    20. Michaelowa, Katharina & Humphrey, Chris, 2011. "The Business of Development: Trends in Lending by Multilateral Development Banks to Latin America, 1980-2009," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 57, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5968-:d:1690171. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.