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In literature, it is recognized that there is no universal set of critical success factors (CSFs) applicable to all projects. The goal of this research is to validate a theoretical model which considers that CSFs’ influence on project success (PS) is configurational, that CSFs combine to influence PS.

The authors proposed a theoretical framework which operationalizes CSFs considering contingency and institutional theories' terms, as external contingencies, organizational resources and project strategies, which influence PS. The framework is validated through a qualitative approach on 18 social projects implemented by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Based on the conducted semistructured interviews with NGO managers or project managers, 91 instances when CSFs combine to influence PS were identified.

The dominant path reveals the combination of CSFs in terms of strategies adopted to face contingencies (70 instances), another as resources which moderate managers' strategies (14 instances), and in seven instances positive contingencies and resources combine and influence the PS. The results reveal that CSFs combine in reactive and dynamic ways to influence PS.

The research contributes to the vast literature on projects' success by adopting a different perspective. Configurational theory explains project management and projects' complexity better than the traditional approaches, which have a rather correlational perspective.

Motivations and access to resources for venturing differ between men and women. In developing countries, there has been an increase in businesses that do not have a specific location and persist in informality. This research aimed to evaluate, from a gender perspective, the moderating effect of the decision not to have a place in the relationship between human capital (education, experience and type of entrepreneurship) and business informality.

Using the National Household Survey 2014–2018, a sample of 50,313 Peruvian entrepreneurs was obtained − 23,314 women and 27,002 men – who have been in business for over three years. The data were analysed with logistic regression.

The results showed a moderating effect of entrepreneurship without a settled location on the relationship between education and informality in the case of women. And, for men, the moderating impact falls on the education, experience and reason for venturing that influences the formality of their businesses.

The problem of business informality of established companies with more than 42 months of operation is analysed. The moderating effect of the decision not to have a specific location on the relationship between human capital and informality is explored. This work extends business informality studies in Latin America developing countries, incorporating a gender perspective.

Las motivaciones y el acceso a recursos para emprender son diferentes entre hombres y mujeres. En países en desarrollo, se han incrementado los negocios que no disponen de un local específico y persisten en la informalidad. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar, desde una perspectiva de género, el efecto moderador de la decisión de no disponer de un lugar específico en la relación existente entre el capital humano (educación, experiencia y tipo de emprendimiento) y la informalidad empresarial.

Se utilizó la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares 2014–2018, donde se obtuvo una muestra de 50.316 microempresas peruanas −23.314 lideradas por mujeres y 27.002 lideradas por hombres— con más de tres años de operación. Los datos fueron analizados con la técnica de regresión logística.

Los resultados mostraron un efecto moderador de los negocios sin local específico sobre la relación entre la educación y la informalidad en el caso de las mujeres. Y, para los hombres, el efecto moderador recayó sobre la educación, experiencia y el tipo de emprendimiento que influye sobre la formalidad de sus negocios.

Se analiza la problemática de la informalidad en las empresas establecidas con más de 42 meses de operación. Se explora el efecto moderador en la decisión de no tener un local específico en la relación entre capital humano e informalidad. Este estudio amplía los estudios de informalidad empresarial en países en desarrollo de América Latina, incorporando una perspectiva de género.

Large numbers of women in prison report significant emotional and mental health problems, and there is evidence to suggest that the prison environment may exacerbate the incidence and severity of these issues (Armour, 2012). However, there has been limited exploration of the extent to which women’s mental health problems exist prior to incarceration, whether symptoms first occur in incarceration, and how incarceration affects this. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In-depth interviews were conducted with 43 women incarcerated in three English prisons and a thematic analysis of the data was conducted. Review of official prison records provided a form of data triangulation.

Analysis of the data revealed that while many women who experienced mental health issues in prison had experienced these issues in the past, a number of women reported first experiencing mental health and emotional problems only after entering prison. Although these problems often recede, this demonstrates the significant impact that entering prison can have upon the mental health of women. Unusually, the data highlighted many positive experiences of support within prison. However, there was some lack of consistency in the treatment and support offered to women.

The data presented here are in many ways more positive than previous research and – as opposed to much of the existing literature that simply states the prevalence women’s issues in prison – provides insight into the lived experiences of women in prison. This paper documents how prison can present an opportunity for women to engage with treatment, but there is a need for a clearer understanding of women’s needs and consistent and appropriate support.

The paper validates the threshold argument in the informality–poverty nexus. Recent literature and policy have argued the existence of a threshold in the relationship.

The study adopts dynamic panel threshold analysis, estimated within the framework of system Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) to control for endogeneity and simultaneity. Data from 40 selected sub-Saharan African countries between 1991 and 2018 are used for the study.

Empirical results confirm the existence of an average threshold of 31% share of informality in GDP. Also, the paper finds that threshold of informality that addresses mild and severe poverty varies between 24.32 and 36.75%.

The work is limited to African economies. Evidence from other emerging and developed economies is suggested for further research.

Overall, the empirical results indicate a threshold in the informality–poverty nexus. Therefore, an excessive informality level does not benefit the African growth process. Policymakers and governments are advised to operate within the bounds of the threshold of informality that reduces poverty and improve the African economic growth process.

The paper is the first study to provide empirical findings on the nonlinear and threshold argument in the informality–poverty nexus, as far as the authors know.

The paper examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI), either greenfield investment or cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As), on domestic entrepreneurship.

This paper uses a panel dataset of 104 countries over ten years from 2006 to 2015 and multiple econometric techniques to control for potential endogeneity bias.

FDI, both in the form of greenfield investment and cross-border M&As, exerts positive spillover that encourages domestic entrepreneurial activities. While the benefit of greenfield investment in entrepreneurship is more pronounced in countries with higher levels of market capacity and institutional support, that of cross-border M&As is not influenced by these factors. On the other hand, human capital is important in promoting the positive effects of both types of FDI, and unless the level of human capital in the host economies reaches a certain threshold, greenfield investment can adversely affect domestic entrepreneurship.

Policies toward FDI need to focus on promoting the driving forces behind FDI spillover to counteract the potential negative crowding-out effect of FDI.

The paper contributes to the existing literature investigating the impact of FDI on domestic entrepreneurship by distinguishing between the two FDI modes of entry and taking into account the moderating effects of sociopolitical characteristics of the host economies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of remittances on informal employment in the migrants’ countries of origin, looking both at the remittance-receiving and non-migrant households.

Using data from a large survey conducted in six transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the determinants of three labour market outcomes – not working, working formally and working informally – are estimated in a multinomial probit model. The endogeneity of remittances is dealt with instrumental variables following the two-stage residual inclusion technique. To assess possible impact of remittances on non-migrant households, conditional correlations between the labour market outcomes of non-migrant households and the region-level share of remittance receivers are obtained.

Both correlational and instrumental variable analyses suggest that that receiving remittances increases the likelihood of working informally. At the regional level, high prevalence of remittances is associated with a higher likelihood of informal work among the non-migrant households. Migration and remittances may thus be contributing to informal employment in migration-sending countries.

The empirical analysis is based on cross-sectional data, which do not allow isolating the effects of unobserved respondent heterogeneity. To deal with this issue, future research could use panel data.

The study explicitly considers the effects of remittances on formal and informal employment of remittances receivers as well as people who do not receive remittances. It advances the understanding of what drives informality in developing and transition economies.

This paper aims to bring into surface two major socioeconomic problems of Greece, tax evasion and shadow economy.

It examines the determinants and the factors that led to the formation and expansion of tax evasion and subsequently of black economy. Empirical data and related research are used to provide a clearer view of the existing situation.

Tax evasion and shadow economy are proved to remain two of the most severe problems that torture Greek economy. The factors that contribute the most to the formation of these phenomena are the lack of tax awareness, the tax burden, the structure of the tax system, the role of the state, the level of approvement of public authority, self-employment, unemployment and the level of organization of the economy. Except from the negative characteristics, positive ones are also identified, and certain policies are suggested so as to combat tax evasion and black economy.

The paper highlights two major issues that constitute the deadly weakness of the Greek economy, providing a holistic view of the current situation, identifying the roots of the problem and suggesting specific measures.

Malaysia is considered to be a relatively young country as compared to other older countries such as Japan, China and Australia in terms of the ageing population. However, until 2035, Malaysia will be in the ageing group countries as 15% of the entire population will be above 60 years of age. This situation is quite alarming as more and more ageing care centres will be required to fulfill the ongoing demands of the ageing population. The elderly care centres in Malaysia are categorised as public (sponsored by the government), private, and charity based that comes under religious centres. Currently, there are about 365 registered elderly care centres working in the main states of Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak, two states of the East Malaysia. Due to the importance of ageing population issues, the present study is conducted to explore the demographics facet of Malaysian’s elderly care centres. The main reason behind that lies on the fact that many of these centres are still labelled as being not well equipped and lacking behind in trained staff, equipment and also suffering from severe financial constraints but some still capable of working on a sustainability basis.

Qualitative Research Strategy has been adopted, and 28 centres throughout Malaysia are included in this study. About 18 Operators from different centres and 15 caregivers were interviewed to get the holistic view of ageing care and facilities in their respective centres.

The results highlight that the majority of centres are not receiving any financial help from the government, and few centres are doing small business such as supplying consumable medical and non-medical items and providing renting and rehabilitation centres facilities to sustain. The caregivers are facing issues such as excess workload, less salary, peer conflicts and non-cooperative centre leadership.

The present study may help to provide useful information to the policymakers, which enables them to formulate the strategies for ageing care centres in Malaysia. As this study provides insight of components that have an impact on the overall wellbeing of elderly care centres, hence, it could help the care services providers to act as a rising star for Malaysian’s social life comfort.

This paper, the first one to use individual-level Turkish panel data, examines the labor market transitions in Turkey along the formal/informal employment divide. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the limited body of empirical evidence available on mobility and informality in the Turkish labor market.

Toward this end, the authors use Turkish income and Living Conditions Survey panel data for 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 to compute the Markov transition probabilities of individuals moving across six different labor market states: formal-salaried (FS), informal-salaried, formal self-employed, informal self-employed, unemployed and inactive. In order to examine the nature of mobility patterns in more detail, the authors then estimate six multinomial logit models individually for each transition adopting a number of individual and employment characteristics as explanatory variables.

The authors find evidence that mobility patterns are fairly similar across different time spans, the probability of remaining in initial state is higher than the probability of transition into another state for all the labor market states, except for unemployment, there is only very limited mobility into the FS state. Gender, education and sector of economic activity are observed to display significant effects on mobility patterns. The results reveal several relationships between the covariates and likelihood of variant transitions.

This study provides a comprehensive and detailed diagnosis of the Turkish labor market. The market is observed to display a rather static structure throughout the period considered. The results indicate that a well recognition of underlying dynamics may help policy makers to produce various effective tools for addressing informality.

First study to analyze labor market mobility across formal/informal sectors using newly available panel data.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that determine rural households’ access to finance provided by Islamic microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Indonesia.

A two-year panel data set with logistic regression is used to identify the determinants of access to finance by rural households. The study sample comprises of 289 Islamic MFIs’ clients and 140 non-clients from East Java, Indonesia. The clients consist of 111 rural households with profit and loss sharing (PLS) schemes, 162 clients with non-profit and loss sharing (non-PLS) schemes and 16 clients with both schemes.

The empirical results show that age, gender and income influence rural households to access finance provided by Islamic MFIs. The results show an increase in age and income increase the respondents’ likelihood to access finance. Further, male respondents are more likely to access finance from Islamic MFIs than females.

The empirical analysis is limited to data obtained from East Java province in Indonesia, and other provinces may show different results. However, this study is among the few studies that investigate access to finance from Islamic MFIs based on PLS and non-PLS schemes.

The novelty of this study lies in the unique financing accessibility between PLS and non-PLS schemes in Islamic MFIs. This study will be an important addition to the emerging literature on Islamic microfinance.