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This article focuses on children’s social quality. Social quality can be understood as the extent to which people can engage in the social, economic, and cultural lives of their communities, under conditions that strengthen their well-being and potential. This article has two purposes. The first is to develop a league table ranking 23 countries’ children’s social quality based on comparative data. The second is to examine the correlation between these countries' commitment to promoting children’s social quality and reducing the child care gap, where childcare is insufficiently covered by child care leave or Early Childhood Education and Care.

We analyse the findings obtained from the children’s social quality league table and the child care gap league table for the 23 countries.

The findings reveal mixed relationships between the children’s social quality league table and the child care gap league table. These findings indicate that we cannot assume that countries prioritizing the reduction of the child care gap automatically possess the capacity or willingness to promote other aspects of children’s welfare. They also highlight the significance of encouraging countries to enhance their children’s social quality as a way to promote children’s welfare rather than solely reducing the child care gap.

Children’s social quality is a new research area. To explore it, this article makes an innovative attempt by exploring the connection between social quality, children’s welfare, and the child care gap. The league table of children’s social quality this article developed is the first of its kind.

This study aims to discuss appropriate individual, organizational and macroleveled conditions when it is desired to foster intrapreneurship with nudge techniques.

Conceptual paper.

This paper aims to provide theoretical framework on the relationship between nudges approach and intrapreneurship and offer measurable propositions at different level of analysis for future research.

At the individual level it is theorized that nudges techniques on intrapreneurship will work when: “agents are aware of being nudged”, “choice architect is a well-recognized leader”, “perception of meaningful work is high” and “agents had former experience about being nudged”. At the organizational level it is claimed that the “number”, “type” and “frequency” of nudges plays the prominent role. Lastly, at the macrolevel it is postulated that “cultural adjustments”, “providing education” and “forming networks” sets the ground for pushing masses to intrapreneurial activities via nudges.

This study examines co-production during the Covid-19 crisis, characterized as a Black Swan event, with a specific emphasis on local professionals’ preparedness and response.

A qualitative approach combining deductive and inductive approaches was employed to gather data from professional coordinators of co-production processes in Israeli local governments. The study utilizes professionalism theory as a framework to examine such key elements as professional knowledge, autonomy, status and legitimacy. Additionally, open coding is used to investigate emerging themes.

The findings reveal that, despite preventive efforts by the central government, local professionals were unprepared to address the crisis. Traditional top-down approaches failed during the crisis, emphasizing the need for peer learning and collaboration among various stakeholders. Professionals' de facto autonomy, driven by quick decision-making and creative problem-solving, elevated their legitimacy and status. Inter- and intra-organizational collaboration was essential to maintain performance through co-producing public services. Finally, multicultural awareness proved vital; neglecting this may have severe consequences in routine times but especially during crises.

Using qualitative research, this study emphasizes the importance of understanding context in interpreting thoughts and actions. However, our approach has limitations. We collected data at a single point in time, which may not capture changes over time. Additionally, we relied on self-reporting from 19 public professionals in local municipalities, each managing the coproduction-based center within the respective municipality. However, this setup, where a single coordinator represents the entire co-production function of the municipality, has its limitations as only one voice is heard.

By shedding light on the multifaceted aspects of co-production, policymakers and professionals could learn about such substantial factors as professionals’ autonomy, inter-organizational collaborations and sensitivity to cultural nuances, which should be established first and foremost in routine times to prepare for crisis. In our case study, governmental preventive measures were inapplicable to crises, and experience of prior crises did not necessarily bestow an ability to prepare accordingly. This is where the role of the street-level professionals becomes significant: these are the actors who experience the crisis on the ground and may provide a quick and effective response. Their ability to take the reins, to be innovative and to generate knowledge while exerting their own professional consideration, proved extremely important.

This research contributes to our understanding of public service professionals’ effective leveraging of the contributions of co-producers in times of crisis. It shifts focus from top-down policy preparedness and implementation to the development of appropriate organizational structures and active and routine stakeholder engagement, thereby enhancing preparedness for crises.

This research was motivated by the recognition that the use of mobile-based agricultural extension services (AES) applications has become increasingly popular among the bottom of the pyramid segment in recent years. However, users’ adoption is determined not only by their perception of the technology but also by its perceived wealth. In other words, even though a technology may be perceived as advanced, if it does not fit users’ wealth perception benefits, they may not adopt it. Using an extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) perspective, this study aims to explore potential predictors of behavioral intention toward AES such as effort expectancy, performance expectancy, customer wealth (CW), social influence and perceived characteristics of innovation.

Potential causal connections between key UTAUT factors and users’ intentions to use the services are hypothesized. An integrated theoretical model was developed and tested against the empirical data collected from 336 AES users. A measurement model and structural equation model were tested using AMOS 22.0 and confirmed all 14 hypothesized relationships.

The results were consistent with the recent literature on mobile technology acceptance, confirming an unmoderated relationship between CW and the adoption of mobile-based AES. This research proposes a mobile AES user adoption model by integrating CW with the unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology (UTAUT).

This study establishes CW as an outcome of various relationships.

This paper aims to examine the effect of three types of health-related claims (health, nutrition and ingredient) and product healthiness on situational skepticism toward the claims that appear on the front-of-package of food products. The effect of situational skepticism on the purchase intention of the product is further examined.

Two experimental studies were conducted with a 3 (health-related claims: health claim vs nutrition claim vs ingredient claim) × 2 (product healthiness: healthy vs unhealthy) between-subjects factorial design. Study 1 investigates the effects within a single product category (Biscuits) and Study 2 the effects across product categories (Salad and Pizza).

The results demonstrate that situational skepticism is the highest for health claims, followed by nutrition claims and the least for ingredient claims. In addition, situational skepticism is higher for claims appearing on unhealthy products vis-à-vis healthy ones. Finally, situational skepticism mediates the relationship between claim type, product healthiness and product purchase intention.

This study contributes to the field of nutrition labeling by advancing research on information processing of nutrition labels through the lens of the persuasion knowledge model (Friestad and Wright, 1994). Specifically, this study contributes to a nuanced understanding of claim formats on how the language properties of the claim – its vagueness, specificity and verifiability – can affect consumer perception. This study finds that higher specificity, verifiability and lower vagueness of ingredient claims lead to lower skepticism and hence higher purchase intention.

Furthermore, this study incrementally contributes to the ongoing discussion about the claim–carrier combination by showing that health-related claims are better perceived on healthy compared to unhealthy products. Hence, managers should avoid health washing, as this can backfire and cause harm to the reputation of the firm.

From a public policy point of view, this study makes a case for strong monitoring and regulations of ingredient claims, as consumers believe these claims easily and hence can be misled by false ingredient claims made by unethical marketers.

The scope of research on skepticism has largely been limited to examining a general individual tendency of being suspicious (i.e. dispositional skepticism) in health-related claims as well as other areas of marketing. In this research, the authors extend the scope by examining how specific types of claims (health vs nutrition vs ingredient) and product healthiness jointly impact consumer skepticism, i.e. situational skepticism.

This paper aims to understand consumption values buying from informal retail markets (i.e., street vendor retailing). It also explores why consumers prefer daily necessary goods from the informal compared to the formal retail market (such as supermarkets, retail chain outlets and e-commerce).

Employing the qualitative research approach, this study collected data from nine respondents in two areas in Malaysia. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using the thematic analysis technique. Only representative verbatim codes were presented under five themes of consumption value theory.

Consumers are triggered by the convenience, ease, and exclusive products (conditional value), friendly and known relationship with informal sellers, as well as the availability of some particular food items (emotional value) and lower price and freshness of groceries (functional value) while buying from informal compared to formal retail vendor.

This study provides knowledge implications to the consumption value theory. Functional, emotional, and conditional values are the dominant components of purchase behaviour in informal compared to formal retail channels. Social values are common, whereas epistemic value is more substantial in formal retailing.

Findings are helpful for informal retail businesses to understand consumers' buying behaviour. Informal retail owners should ensure that commodities are fresh, highly affordable and available in the local communities. Building a friendly relationship with consumers would be a key to the success of this retail sector.

Authorities should support informal sellers to set up mobile retail stores in residential areas. This effort would offer greater convenience to both parties in informal businesses and ensure informal sellers' financial and social well-being.

Despite the widespread acceptance of buying goods from informal retail vendors, research on consumption value in informal retailing is largely overlooked. Previous research primarily deals with formal market phenomena due to their size and economic contribution. Consequently, current literature lacks an understanding of why consumers prefer to buy from informal retail vendors for their daily groceries when the formal retail channel could fulfil similar needs. Using a qualitative research design, this research uncovers consumers' buying motives from informal compared to formal vendors.

This study aims to examine the prevalence of transfer pricing and earnings management activities, and how they are impacted by corporate governance mechanisms.

Using the political cost theory, the study provides insights into how opportunistic managerial behaviours which have a strong link to profit shifting and tax evasion are driven by corporate governance using data from 16 listed firms for the period 2008–2020.

The results reveal that the transaction-based transfer pricing model is better than the index-based model and the accrual-based earnings management model suits the political cost theory more than the real earnings management metric. Board size and female CEO increase transfer pricing aggressiveness but board independence, CEO tenure, CEO nationality and female Board Chairwomanship reduce transfer pricing aggressiveness. The findings also reveal the role of multinational enterprise status, private ownership, industry type, firm size, financial leverage, asset tangibility and firm age. For accrual-based earnings management, board independence, CEO tenure, and female Board Chairwomanship significantly decrease earnings management. Other factors include private ownership, firm size, and firm age.

The findings of the study are relevant for shaping industry-level policies on earning management, transfer pricing and related-party transactions. Since these opportunistic managerial behaviours are the foremost drivers of tax avoidance and profit shifting, the findings of this study provide relevant insights for practitioners, tax and other regulatory authorities, policymakers and the academic community alike.

This is among the premier studies on the transfer pricing and earnings management nexus with corporate governance factors using the political cost theory, especially in the developing country context. It also reveals the significant impact of gender and suggests the need for gender diversity in corporate management.

This essay focuses on an argument that challenges the notion of market reform as a desirable idea. It examines how market requirements, accounting practices, political intervention and organizational conditions interact and create conflicts in the implementation of market reform. In our case study, we aim to elucidate the detrimental effects of expanding pricing mechanisms into areas typically untouched.

The essay adopts a critical perspective toward the marketization in the public sector organizations based on the authors' previous studies and observations of the reforms in Swedish schools over the last 30 years. The case is conceptualized within Callon’s framework of the sociology of worth.

The paper provides an example of market dynamics introduced without the presence of pricing and qualification mechanisms, resulting in a trial-and-error situation. In this context, we document and problematize a trend toward marketization that has had negative consequences for Swedish schools. In doing so, the paper shows how market requirements, accounting practices, political interventions and organizational conditions interact and create conflicts during the implementation of market reforms. The case shows the emergence of a new economic entity and its underlying rationale, the quantification/pricing mechanism, with a special emphasis on the role of accounting and the repercussions on subjectivities as values shift.

This paper follows up on the New Public Financial Management (NPFM) global warning debate on the emergence of pricing/charging mechanisms in public services. It provides a critical overview of the diffusion and relevance of accounting evaluation processes to sustain continuous reforms, despite claimed criticisms, limitations and (un)intended consequences. The paper also provides some reflections on new avenues for further research and some possible ways out for accounting studies.

This paper aims to propose a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model for the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to assess the response from the household sector to monetary policy shocks through the consumption function. Moreover, the transmission from monetary policy to household consumption and income distribution is experimented with through the vector autoregression (VAR) model.

In this study, the authors used the maximum likelihood estimation to estimate the DSGE and VAR models with the sample from 1996Q1 to the end of 2021Q4 (104 observations).

The DSGE model’s results show that the response of the household sector is as expected in the theory: a monetary policy shock occurs that increases the policy interest rate by 0.29%, leading to a decrease in consumer spending of about 0.041%, the shock fades after one year. Estimates from the VAR model give similar results: a monetary policy shock narrows income inequality after about 2–3 quarters and this process tends to slow down in the long run.

Based on the research results, the authors propose policy implications for the SBV to achieve the goal of price stability, and stabilizing the macro-economic environment in Vietnam.

The findings of the study have theoretical contributions and empirical scientific evidence showing the effectiveness of the implementation of the SBV’s monetary policy in the context of macro-instability, namely: flexibility, caution and coordination of different measures promptly.

Developing economies often lack sufficient state regulation to encourage corporations to engage with environmental sustainability challenges. Environmental NGOs fill this vacuum but this relationship is fraught with challenges, linked to each party’s competing interests. This paper examines how an environmental NGO operating in a developing country manages such challenges.

A longitudinal case study, from 2017–2022, based on semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis, with the main periods of field work in 2017 and 2020.

We unravel nuanced dynamics of accountability within an NGOs collaborative ecosystem. Our findings reveal a web of interlinked obligations and expectations, strategically adopted to reconcile environmental and CSR logics fostering trustworthy partnerships with firms. Despite aiming for transformative change, the NGO made gradual initiatives, to meet the challenges of fostering systemic change in developing nations. Institutional logics of professionalism and development allowed NGO members avoid mission drift and realign upward accountability relations into lateral ones.

The study provides insight into successful NGO-corporate partnerships and illustrates how accountability is negotiated, upheld, and reconceptualized in such collaborations.