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The purpose of this paper is to analyze a case study of an ethical strategic alliance operating in a depressed territory belonging to the South of Italy, with the aim to investigate whether an alliance guided by ethic principles could be effective in recovering a territory while pursuing, at the same time, economic aims for the alliance itself and for the whole territory.

The paper uses a case study approach. The analyses of the case data, including in-depth interviews and documentary evidence, interpreted by the authors and supported by literature review, allow for the main research question to be addressed: “Could ethical networks contribute to recover a territory?”.

The case analysis delivers new insights into the relationships between business and ethics. The findings also provide evidence that it is possible, even in a depressed area, to conjugate ethics and business with reciprocal advantages for the organizations and the territory, in the light of the creed of the Magna Grecia, kalokagathìa (the good and the beautiful).

The findings of the GOEL strategic alliance provide evidence of the role that could be played by networks in supporting social innovations, thus highlighting clear implications for policy makers, as there is still scarce empirical evidence available to inform governments on how they can influence, support and facilitate the formation of networks.

This is one of the few studies adopting an ethical perspective in studying alliances and, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first study pursuing the aim to investigate how and whether an ethical network can succeed in recovering a depressed territory.

This paper aims to investigate whether the competitiveness of a certain territory may be developed and maintained in the context of a global economy through the exploitation of its intrinsic value. The paper contributes to managerial literature by embracing a systemic perspective using business models (BMs) and adapting the original Osterwalder and Pigneur’s (2010) framework (canvas) to the specific context of territorial development.

The paper proposes a conceptual framework placing the territory and its actors in a dominant position. This choice allows us to look at BMs as the instruments of success of an entire territory (instead of a single firm as typically assessed in managerial literature) – a cooperating system. To do so, the authors build on previous works on “triple” and “quadruple helix”, which, although primarily focused on technological innovation, may also be used for more general aims such as guiding the specialization of a specific territory and supporting its economic sustainability. The paper contends that a BM might be the instrument to orchestrate actors’ (helices) cooperation by combining the focus on territories with a systemic perspective. Through the implementation of a common BM, each system should be able to orchestrate policies implemented by the different leading forces of the territory to assist processes of economic development.

The paper extends the literature on BMs conceptually linking its roots to the existing managerial literature on territory governance and networks. It offers a dual range of outcomes: first, it provides public policy makers with useful guidelines with regard to political, institutional, educational and entrepreneurial choices to be implemented for the development of a given geographical area; second, it examines the relational network linking the various actors of a territory, which are key to its growth and success.

This paper offers a new way for recovering/sustaining economically depressed areas. To the authors’ knowledge, BMs have never been used at territorial level, but only at firm level. They believe that, through this new view of BMs, policy makers can help each territory to express its intrinsic and peculiar value. By combining BMs with the concepts of triple and quadruple helix, the authors offer a new way to look at how governments, educational institutions and firms can cooperate to help a territory in finding and improving its intrinsic specialization.

This study aims to understand how legislation and technology can enhance socio-economic development in low-density population territories, focusing specifically on the dynamics of local tourist accommodation over the past decade.

A case study was conducted for five municipalities in one of the most significant tourism regions of Portugal – the Algarve – based on a systematic investigation of relevant laws, regulations and electronic platforms. Official statistics were compiled and analyzed for the five territories’ registered local accommodation services, population, overnight stays and additional local services.

The results reveal that public entities’ regulations favor micro-entrepreneurship initiatives in local accommodation and that digital tools supported by online platforms have quite visible effects on low-density territories. The findings also reveal that the local tourist accommodation supply has experienced an especially dynamic, sustained growth over the past decade. This expansion has been accompanied by an increased supply of other services, suggesting that accommodation can positively influence the existing and/or future socio-economic development of low-density territories.

Further studies focusing on other areas with low-density populations are needed to determine more clearly how local accommodation influences socio-economic development.

Public regulations supported by digital platforms that favor micro-entrepreneurship initiatives in local accommodation can strengthen local development.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to analyze how local tourist accommodation can foster socio-economic development in low-density territories.

The paper aims to provide a decision-support model to ensure a proper use of the limited resources, financial and not, for the enhancement of the cultural heritage and comprehensive development of small towns from sustainable perspective.

The assessment model is set up using a multi-criteria method that combines elements of linear planning with a performance indicators system that may represent the complexity of the territory’s cultural identity as a result of existing cultural-historical assets.

The model reliability is tested in a case study in a Municipality in southern Italy. The case study’s findings highlight the advantages for the public/private operators, who can consciously choose which preservation and restoration projects to fund while taking into account the effects those decisions will have on the economic, social and environmental context of reference.

Due to the suggested operational approach and the selection of variables for accounting economic, social and environmental impacts by the renewal project, the research findings may not be generalizable. Therefore, it is recommended that researchers look into the suggested theories in more detail.

The study offers implications for designing a user-friendly tool to help decision-making processes from a private–public viewpoint in a reasonable allocation of financial resources among investments for cultural property asset enhancement.

The suggested operational approach provides a reliable information apparatus to depict the decision-making process under small-town development in accordance with sustainability dimensions.

The conceptual foundations, principles, and mechanisms of territorial branding concerning the prospects of rural development in the Third World countries are the subject of the study. The systematization and study of the problems and experiences of territorial branding as a technology of development and overcoming of poverty in the agrarian society of Ukraine is the purpose of the paper. The socioeconomic condition of the modern agrarian society of Ukraine is analyzed with explaining the nature and extent of poverty in rural areas. The basis of the research was the thesis on the expediency of social stratification, including explanation of the causes of poverty by the criterion of economic behavior of individual groups of agents. The data obtained are available in adjusting further agrarian reforms, especially regarding its social orientation, where it should be involved: sociological stratification of groups of agents of each community to identify and stimulate an economically active society, analysis of the causes of the spread and nature of poverty in this rural area, determination of domestic sources of economic growth for local economy, and the implementation of these factors in the process of modernizing of economic relations.

The main method of research was the study of the unique experience of individual rural communities. The methodology of the study foresaw the study of the prospects of rural development of the post-industrial type through the determining role of the factor of territorial branding. Monitoring the potential of territorial branding for rural areas of Ukraine using SWOT analysis has shown the uniqueness of risks, limitations, and prospects. It has been established that the conditions of neutralization of weaknesses and risks are in the combination of economic (primarily investment) and cultural and political initiatives, where a significant role belongs to the effects of community self-organization. At the same time, the prospects are due to the presence of unique institutional assets, natural, climatic and economic conditions, and possible perception of the idea of the rural population as such, which does not contradict the basic cultural values. The emphasis is placed on the fact that the realization of rural development in Ukraine as a national policy should take into account that Ukrainian rural communities remain “difficult,” mostly depressed economies, where the level of economic activity is traditionally low and unemployment is high. At the same time, studying the experience of the effectiveness of territorial branding allowed to generalize and classify the factors of brand-forming content for the rural areas of Ukraine, which became (1) a unique institutional history; (2) landscape and recreational potential; (3) special economic behavior of local inhabitants; (4) investment attractiveness of the territory; (5) unique economic specialization of the territory; (6) tourism activity; and (7) the role of local government. Significant socioeconomic effect of these examples is fixed. The area of application of these results is, first of all, the activity of local authorities of rural communities, nongovernmental organizations, and universities, as well as regulatory policy in terms of decentralization.

Global lockdowns and restrictions linked to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have affected food environments and consumption patterns. Conflict-affected countries are disproportionately affected from economic and food security perspectives. In this regard, the Palestinian territories (namely West Bank and Gaza Strip), which face a number of issues such as Israeli military and economic control, overcrowded cities and refugee camps (especially in Gaza Strip), rising poverty and food insecurity, are an especially interesting case study. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the selection and intake of foods and drinks, as well as consumer behavior and attitude toward food in the Palestinian territories.

The paper draws upon an online survey in the Palestinian territories administered in Arabic through the Survey Monkey platform from September 15 to October 10, 2020, with 322 adults. The survey findings were analyzed using descriptive statistics and several nonparametric tests. Particularly, the U-Mann Whitney test was used in dichotomous, categorical independent variables (e.g. gender), while the Kruskal–Wallis test was run to analyze multi-choice responses (e.g. occupation).

The results reveal that food attitudes and consumer behavior towards food have been widely affected. First, they reveal that Palestinians try to have healthier diets but ate more between meals (e.g. snacks). Second, the pandemic transformed respondents' shopping behavior and induced panic buying, negatively affecting food affordability due to increased prices of some foods (e.g. fruits and vegetables). Some food behaviors were shaped by negative psychological determinants (e.g. depression and anxiety). The pandemic effects are moderated by different sociodemographics (age, education and income). COVID-19 negatively affected food security but also opened a “window of opportunity” to trigger the transition towards more sustainable diets.

The paper results show that the eventual effects of COVID-19 will most likely vary from country to country, based not only on the epidemiological circumstances but also, among other factors, on the baseline socioeconomic situation and shock resilience. The findings contribute to the clarification and critical analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on food behaviors in the Palestinian territories, which would have several policy implications.

The paper aims to present the results of a study aimed at constructing economic and mathematical models used in decision-making in the management of budget procurement of a region, contributing to the efficient use of budget funds. One of the key problems in this area is the assessment of the quality of procurement

One of the key problems in this area is the assessment of the quality of procurement, the solution of which requires the application of economic and mathematical methods, models, tools and algorithms built into information systems for supporting decision-making. The introduction of these systems brings to a qualitatively new level the system of relations between subjects of budget procurement. The paper analyzes modern publications on the implementation of public procurement and related issues of efficiency (savings) of budgetary funds.

The indicators on the basis of which the evaluation of the quality of regional procurement is determined are proposed. The architecture of the information system for decision support in the evaluation of procurement quality has been developed. The system has the property of adapting to changes in the state of the environment through the constant accumulation of statistical data characterizing the procurement and adjustment of the parameters of the mathematical model in accordance with them. A mathematical model is built into the control loop that allows ranking the indicators of budget purchases by the degree of their influence on the effective attribute. The role of a functional feature is the quality of budget procurement. The mathematical model is based on the application of the mathematical apparatus of correlation and regression analysis. The impact of each of the factor attributes on the functional attribute has been assessed.

The mathematical model is based on the application of the mathematical apparatus of correlation and regression analysis. The impact of each of the factor attributes on the functional attribute has been assessed. Real statistics are given that characterize budget procurements carried out in retrospect. The coefficients of the linear regression model are determined based on the use of the STATISTICA application software package. The proposed decision support information system with a regression model built into it allows one to make scientifically and quantitatively sound decisions when assessing the quality of budget purchases of a region.

In order to iniestigate the problems of educational innovation in depressed rural communities, and the efficacy of strategies for change employed by state and federal authorities in the United States, data were gathered in four areas of rural Appalachia and three rural communities in New York. An analysis of these data, and a mien of other relet ant data, indicate that the assumptions underlying prevailing strategies for change are often poorly in tune with the social and political realities of depressed rural communities. These findings point to a need for more realistic innovation strategies as well as a need for more research on this problem.

In 1997‐98, a series of stochastic events in the Asia‐Pacific region contributed to the end of a long period of tourism growth and 1998 saw contractions in tourist numbers in several countries of the region. Extensive forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra prompted cancellation of many visits to the East Asia region, even to destinations unaffected by the resulting widespread havoc. The Chinese take‐over of Hong Kong had severe ramifications for tourist visitation to the former British territory, with heavy discounting evident in attempts to sustain tourist visitation. Subsequently, from July 1997, the most serious impacts began with the currency collapse in Thailand, the beginning of what is now referred to as the Asian Economic Crisis, affecting many countries in East Asia. Indonesia has been the most severely affected. Escalating economic and political crises there have seen the virtual cessation of inbound tourism outside Bali. Then the coup d’état in Cambodia effectively halted visitation to what had been the region’s second fastest growing destination country. Against all these factors, an era of growth has turned into a period of contraction, which is now presenting challenges for managers, investors and policy‐makers interested in tourism across the Asia‐Pacific region.