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Eco-entrepreneurship is a topical issue in academic and professional literature over the past decade. In Africa, it is a relatively new concept fast gaining momentum with wide applicability and acceptance given its benefits in promoting consumer adoption of sustainable lifestyles, resilient environment, economic empowerment, and a win–win balance in the ecology and economy nexus. Amidst the growing impact of climate change and environmental degradation, eco-entrepreneurship has become a necessity, with emerging opportunities being in urban waste management, recycling, and renewable energy technologies. Regardless of the benefits of eco-entrepreneurship, regulatory and governance structures inform the viability of any initiatives. This chapter presents how political ecology structures intersect and impact eco-entrepreneurship in Africa. Given that nations’ approaches can differ, this study provides a case study synthesis of two major African economies namely Nigeria and South Africa. The authors document the predominant political orientation and attitude toward eco-entrepreneurship. First, the authors argue that the political environment is indifferent to the potential of the eco-entrepreneurial framework, hence applying a one-size-fits-all approach. Second is that the attention to eco-entrepreneurship by policymakers is economically inclined, they focus mainly on economic growth opportunities; equally, that eco-entrepreneurship offers opportunities for the protection of social and environmental integrity cannot be ignored. Third, is the bandwagon effect associated with eco-entrepreneurship initiatives, where the need to align with international bodies and states drives a Eurocentric concern? The authors conclude that fostering enabling policy environment can help enhance the productivity of current eco-entrepreneurial initiatives as well as attract new ones needed to explore eco-entrepreneurship benefits.

This research is intended to assess the nickel smelter industry’s investment competitiveness in Indonesia and identify ways to improve its competitive advantage for the nation.

This research uses a sequential mixed-methods approach, expanding on a first qualitative phase with a second quantitative phase. Interviews are used in the qualitative phase to identify the underlying causes of issues and potential solutions to increase the competitiveness of the nickel smelter industry, while a system dynamics (SD) model is used to conduct the quantitative phase. This study uses the idea of a country’s competitive advantage from Porter’s diamond model (PDM). The model was tested and validated using SD simulation resulting in a new policy scenario, which was evaluated in metallurgy expert conferences and high policymaker discussion forums.

The results reveal the complexity of the nickel smelter industry in Indonesia and conclude that the integrated export duty beneficence policy is the most effective way to boost competitiveness. This policy gives a significant improvement both in the number of smelters and state revenue compared to the current policy. The industry’s investment competitiveness is enhanced by the six factors of the diamond model, with the first three factors being integrated strategy, limited export of excess production and export duty beneficence, while the remaining factors are metal price fluctuation, domestic demand and mineral supply which are related to mining conditions uncertainty.

The research creates a SD model to support Indonesia’s competitive advantage in the smelter industry. Despite limitations like interpretations and distorted semantic analysis, it provides a useful framework for exploring complex industry themes, excluding social factors due to limited data and knowledge requirements.

The findings of this research offer a framework for policymaking by the government to enhance the competitiveness of investments in Indonesia’s nickel smelter industry.

This study delves into Indonesia’s nickel industry competitiveness using PDM. Using a more detailed SD model with quantitative analysis, it goes beyond strategy development to provide a comprehensive approach to the nickel smelter industry.

This analysis examines the relationship between corruption and firm productivity in Vietnam.

The authors apply the system generalized method of moments estimation approach on a panel dataset constructed from comprehensive enterprise surveys covering all the sectors over the 2011–2020 period.

The results confirm a non-linear relationship between corruption and firm productivity. Where corruption is severe, leaving corruption alone tends to benefit firm productivity because efforts to control corruption are likely to cause greater delays. In less corrupt provinces, corruption appears to harm firm productivity while efforts to control corruption provide significant productivity gains. This U-shaped relationship is confirmed for small firms and those in the private sector sub-samples. Intriguingly, this study reveals that the U-shaped relationship does not apply to micro, medium, large firms, state-owned firms and foreign-invested firms because corruption is found to have no significant impact on productivity among these sub-samples. Changes in regulations after 2014 toward promoting a transparent business environment are shown to foster the positive impact of lowering corruption on firm productivity.

This study suggests that lowering corruption is beneficial for firm productivity at the micro level. However, where corruption is severe, monitoring corruption alone is likely to cause adverse effects on productivity due to increased bureaucratic delays. Institutional reforms might play an important role in leveraging the effects of lowering corruption on productivity in highly corrupt areas.

This paper sheds new light on the relationship between corruption and firm productivity in the broad existing literature and especially in the limited number of studies for Vietnam.

Drawing on the concept of superior resource, capability and processes of the resource-based theory of the firm, the purpose of the current study is to analyze the influence of firms’ winner-picking strategic approach on firm performance (FP) via a direct and indirect mechanism.

Using survey data of 104 diversified manufacturing firms, the current study analyzed the conditional indirect effect of firms’ strategic approach on efficient resource allocation with the help of Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) process macros.

The study found that firms’ choices of winner-picking approach can undermine the resource allocation efficiency when not perfectly blended with firms’ access to the resource. Furthermore, the effect of winner-picking strategy (WPS) on resource allocation efficiency via firms’ competitive advantage (CA) can be greater when both strategic choice and resources are employed adequately.

Despite making a unique contribution, the present study has a few limitations requiring researchers’ attention to be tackled in the forthcoming. This includes a little amount of data, a self-reporting technique and failure to include all the possible reasons that could lead to inefficient resource allocation.

The present research has potential applications for managers of the manufacturing industry in a period of sheer uncertainty [coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)]. First, the study alerts managers about the challenges of underinvestment and overinvestment while allocating resources. At the same time, this study provides an important implication for managing the importance of firms’ access to capital (AC).

The current study has made a sizeable impression in the literature on internal resource allocation and resource-based theory of the firm by recommending a model that augments the theoretical foundation of strategic management of the firms. As there are only a handful of studies on this grave issue in the context of developing economies, thus, closely considering these insights would be helping for the firms for allocating resources efficiently in the manufacturing industry.

This study aims to examine the phenomenon of climate variability and its implications for pastoralists and agro-pastoralists food security in Amibara and Awash Fentale districts of the Afar region, Ethiopia.

The study relied on meteorological records of temperature and rainfall in the study area between 1988 and 2018. Besides, literature on the topic was reviewed to make caveats on the literal picture that comes from quantitative data, and that is the contribution of this study to the existing debate on climate change and variability. The spatiotemporal trend was determined using the Mann–Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator, while variability was analyzed using the coefficient of variation and standardized anomaly index, and standardized precipitation index/standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index were applied to determine the drought frequency and severity.

The result reveals that the mean seasonal rainfall varies from 111.34 mm to 518.74 mm. Although the maximum and minimum rainfall occurred in the summer and winter seasons, respectively, there has been a decrease in seasonal and annual at the rate of 2.51 mm per season and 4.12 mm per year, respectively. The study sites have been experiencing highly seasonal rainfall variability. The drought analysis result confirms that a total of nine agricultural droughts ranging from moderate to extreme years were observed. Overall, the seasonal and annual rainfall of the Amibara and Awash Fentale districts showed a decreasing trend with highly temporal variations of rainfall and ever-rising temperatures, and frequent drought events means the climate situation of the area could adversely affect pastoral and agro-pastoral households’ food security. However, analysis of data from secondary sources reveals that analyzing precipitation just based on the meteorological records of the study area would be misleading. That explains why flooding, rather than drought, is becoming the main source of catastrophe to pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods.

The analysis of temperature and rainfall dynamics in the Afar region, hence the inception of all development interventions, must take the hydrological impact of the neighboring regions which appears to be useful direction to future researchers.

The research is originally conducted using meteorological and existing literature, and hence, it is original. In this research, we utilized a standardized and appropriate methodology, resulting in insights that augment the existing body of knowledge within the field. These insights serve to advance scholarly discourse on the subject matter.

The study addresses the critical need for a performance measurement model tailored to universities in fragile countries. It aims to identify and prioritise criteria and sub-criteria within the model, specifically designed to accommodate the unique challenges faced by the higher education institutions in fragile nations.

The study employs the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology, combining responses from respondents in four fragile countries: Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan and Chad. The absolute measurement approach of AHP was employed for the final ranking of 15 Somali universities.

The study unveils a comprehensive performance measurement model customised for fragile countries. It identifies the necessary criteria and sub-criteria to assess university performance in such challenging contexts. The findings also reveal the significant performance disparities among 15 Somali universities, shedding light on areas for improvement.

This study’s small sample of countries and response bias are its limitations. The study is limited to fragile countries and may not fully depict the complexity of issues experienced by all types of universities.

This research provides a practical guide for universities in fragile countries to enhance their performance in the face of unique challenges. The model offers a framework for fostering quality practices, improving education quality and enhancing overall performance. Decision-makers and educators can leverage this model to drive changes within their institutions.

This research pioneers a performance-measuring model for fragile countries, filling a long-standing gap in the literature. It provides novel insights into the challenges of judging university performance in demanding contexts and is useful for academics, policymakers and top management of institutions.

This study examines the drivers of marketing channel participation amongst smallholder rice farmers in the northern region of Ghana.

Using a sample of 397 smallholder rice farmers drawn from a multistage sampling procedure, the study employed multivariate probit (MVP) model in the empirical estimations. In this context, the model assumes that a rice farmer should at least participate in one market channel.

The study reveals that the wholesaler market channel is the most commonly used channel among farmers, followed by the aggregator channel. However, the processor market channel is the least patronized one in the study area. The results also show statistically significant correlation coefficients in four out of the six possible combinations, implying that market channel participation among smallholder farmers is not mutually exclusive. Rice market channel participation is positively and significantly influenced by age, gender, household headship, access to credit, extension service, irrigation, improved seed and access to price information.

This study is limited in extending the analysis to include the impact of market channels on some outcome measures. This is due to data limitation.

The findings of this study add to the growing literature on smallholder market channel participation in Ghana.

The paper aims to examine the state of electronic service delivery in Bangladesh. It reviews the structure and operation of the “e-service” centers at the district, sub-district (upazila), and union levels by taking an inventory and assessing their contributions.

The paper is based on a review of the functions and operations of the service delivery agencies with reference to the claims made by the government. It is based on secondary materials obtained from academic studies, government documents, relevant websites, and media reports.

Electronic delivery of public services in Bangladesh has not been effective as planned. There are issues regarding channels of communication, the competence of public officials, human and financial resources, and political will to support the agencies delivering public services.

The paper examines the arrangements, practices, and problems of delivery of public services in Bangladesh through e-service centers at the local levels to determine the progress and potentials of employing digital technology for addressing problems. It proposes the strategy for public service delivery by using digital technology in the country.

Although the extant literature has already recognised the negative impact of homebound responsibilities on women's entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is yet to know whether and how the family has any other role in women's businesses during this critical period. This research aims to explore the patronising and patriarchal roles of the family regarding women's small businesses in a developing nation during the pandemic.

This feminist study is based on the interviews of women business-owners of a highly patriarchal developing nation, Bangladesh. During the period of the interview, Bangladesh was one of the top ten regions of the world in terms of the identified coronavirus cases.

The research unveils work-family enrichment by illustrating the help of family members in meeting the challenges of the pandemic period regarding women's certain business activities, such as the innovative production process. Besides, the study reveals the assisting and, in some cases, the non-cooperative approaches of family members concerning additional homebound responsibilities that affect work-family conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whereas the existing literature on women's entrepreneurship regarding the family revolves around work-family conflict due to maternal or caregiving responsibilities during the COVID-19 period, this feminist study substantially contributes to the understanding by revealing how family members help women by getting involved in business activities. It further enriches the prevailing knowledge regarding assisting or hindering activities of family members concerning domestic activities that affect women's businesses during the pandemic.

This work examines the impact of institutional agricultural credit on crop productivity of some major crops such as paddy, cotton, wheat and pulses for small and marginal farmers across various social groups.

The cross-sectional field data on socio economic variables was collected from three Indian states from about 400 small and marginal farmers across various social groups using multi-stage stratified random and purposive sampling through a structured questionnaire by interviewing. The method of propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to calculate average treatment effect (ATE) and average treatment effect on the treated (ATET) by categorising sample farmers as treatment group and control group where crop productivity was considered as outcome variable and access to institutional credit was considered as treatment variable.

The PSM estimates reveal that ATE and ATET for all the selected crops are found to be significantly higher for the treated group vis-à-vis non-treated group suggesting that institutional agricultural credit has a statistically and significant positive impact on the crop productivity.

Similar study can be extended for more crops and across regions in India for a universal coverage.

The agricultural credit policy of India has been to increase the access and availability of institutional farm credit. This has led to in general increase in the flow of formal farm credit to agricultural sector. However, the impact of institutional credit and crop productivity especially for small and marginal farmers across social groups is not well recognized in India using field data. Accordingly, this field data study contributes to the existing research by providing fresh evidence from field across social groups for both kharif and rabi crops using recent survey data from small and marginal farmers which has important policy implications.