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1 – 10 of 499Subhash C. Kundu, Purnima Chahar and Prerna Tuteja
The paper has intended to advance the research on the relationship between COVID-adjusted HR practices (CAHRP) and employees' stress (ES) by exploring the mediating role of…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper has intended to advance the research on the relationship between COVID-adjusted HR practices (CAHRP) and employees' stress (ES) by exploring the mediating role of employees' satisfaction from remote working (ESRW). Further, a consolidative moderated mediation model with HR pandemic readiness (HRPR) as moderator on the above-stated relationship has also been proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
A data set of 2266 respondents from 84 countries across six continents of the world was analysed using techniques like factor analyses, correlations and bootstrapping through PROCESS Macro in SPSS 23.
Findings
The results highlighted that ESRW significantly mediated the relationship of CAHRP and ES. Further, HRPR moderated significantly the indirect relationship between CAHRP and ES via employees' satisfaction. This relationship was found stronger at highest level as against lower level of HRPR.
Originality/value
This study has augmented empirical evidences to the existing literature of COVID-19 by presenting HRPR as a new dimension of HR and its role in handling the challenging situations of pandemics.
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Olatunji Shobande, Lawrence Ogbeifun and Simplice Asongu
This study aims to explore whether globalization and technology are harmful to health using a global panel data set of 52 countries over the period 1990–2019.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore whether globalization and technology are harmful to health using a global panel data set of 52 countries over the period 1990–2019.
Design/methodology/approach
The study focused on four continents: Africa, the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe. The authors used four advanced econometric methodologies, which include the standard panel fixed effect (FE), Arellano–Bover/Blundell–Bond dynamic panel, Hausman–Taylor specification and two-stage least squares (FE-2SLS)/Lewbel-2SLS approaches.
Findings
The empirical evidence highlights the significance of globalization and technology in promoting global health. The findings suggest that globalization has various impacts on global health indicators and that technology is useful in tracking, monitoring and promoting global health. In addition, the empirical evidence indicates that a truly health-centred process of globalization and technological innovation can only be realized by ensuring that the interests of countries and vulnerable populations to health risks are adequately considered in international decision-making regarding global economic integration.
Originality/value
The authors suggest that achieving the aspiration of global health will entail the use of globalization and information technology to extend human activities and provide equal access to global health.
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Ishrat Ayub Sofi and Aasif Ahmad Mir
This study aims to highlight the many distinguishing characteristics of open-access repositories that archive “Patents” in the Directory of Open-Access Repositories (OpenDOAR…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to highlight the many distinguishing characteristics of open-access repositories that archive “Patents” in the Directory of Open-Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) provided by Asian nations.
Design/methodology/approach
The OpenDOAR was chosen as a data collection tool that provides a quality-assured list of repositories indexed globally. The data was extracted on 28 March 2023.
Findings
The study found that only eight Asian countries contributed to open-access repositories on OpenDOAR, with China being the highest contributor. These countries mainly focused on institutional repositories, primarily using DSpace and English as the main language interface. Web 2.0 tools, especially RSS and Atom, were commonly used, along with some presence of social media platforms on the sites, although to a lesser extent. While many repositories followed the OAI-PMH protocol, a considerable portion did not adopt open-access policies.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first one that brings to light the different features of repositories archiving one of the important content types, i.e. “Patents” in the OpenDOAR by Asian countries.
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Armand Mboutchouang Kountchou, Ali Haruna, Honoré Tekam Oumbé and Muhamadu Awal Kindzeka Wirajing
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of Islamic finance on women empowerment in Africa between the periods of 1975 and 2021.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of Islamic finance on women empowerment in Africa between the periods of 1975 and 2021.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses secondary data for 27 African countries obtained from the World Development Indicators, World Population Review and the Varieties of Democracy databases. Four dimensions of women empowerment, namely, economic, social, political and household, are considered while Islamic finance is proxied by a binary variable with 1 and 0 representing the presence and the absence of Islamic finance, respectively. The two-staged least square estimation technique is used to control for the problem of endogeneity.
Findings
This study revealed that Islamic finance positively affects women empowerment in Africa. Specifically, Islamic finance has positive and significant effects on women political empowerment, women economic empowerment and women social empowerment in Africa but nonsignificant effect on home empowerment. These effects are more pronounced in middle-income than in low-income countries and in countries with higher penetration rate of Islamic finance.
Practical implications
Policymakers should put in place the necessary mechanisms for the promotion of Islamic finance such as the enacting of laws that ensures the creation of full-fledged Islamic banks, encouraging research in Islamic finance and Islamic economics. These policies should equally be backed by the creation of some accompanying measures such as the abolition of social norms that limit women’s ability to take part in decision-making.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study involving an Africa continent-wide analysis of the effects of Islamic finance on women empowerment.
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Mario Gómez and Oluwasefunmi Eunice Irewole
Unemployment is one of the major challenges facing most countries, including Africa as a continent. Seeking how to reduce unemployment, debt, inflation and increase gross domestic…
Abstract
Purpose
Unemployment is one of the major challenges facing most countries, including Africa as a continent. Seeking how to reduce unemployment, debt, inflation and increase gross domestic product (GDP), foreign direct investment (FDI) and gross capital formation in the continent has been an agenda of governments, policy makers and economists to. This study examines the relationship between economic growth, inflation, debt, FDI, gross capital formation, labor force, population and unemployment in Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
An updated panel dataset of 29 African countries was selected from different regions from 1991 to 2019. These countries were selected based on their unemployment, population growth and inflation rates. The Pesaran cross-sectional dependence and panel unit root test (the Dickey–Fuller cross-sectional supplemented and the Im-Pesaran-Shin cross-sectional) were applied. Further, the panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model (Bounds test) and pooled mean group (PMG) estimator were utilized in this work.
Findings
This shows that economic growth, debt, labor force and population have a positive relationship with unemployment in the long run. Therefore, an increase in these variables generates an increase in the selected African countries' unemployment growth. In contrast, inflation, FDI and gross capital formation have a negative relationship with unemployment in the long run, which implies that an increase in these variables reduces unemployment in the selected African countries.
Research limitations/implications
This study has potential limitations because some data from the countries are not up to date and some years are missing from the data.
Practical implications
This study contributes to understanding unemployment and Okun's law in the African economy. This study shows that an increase in economic growth leads to a rise in unemployment, while an increase in inflation leads to a decrease in unemployment.
Originality/value
This paper provides an insight into the major factors that increase and reduces unemployment for government and policy marker to take the adequate measure.
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Abba Ya'u, Mohammed Abdullahi Umar, Nasiru Yunusa and Dhanuskodi Rengasamy
Most research on tax evasion focused on microeconomic variables revolving around perceptions and decisions of individual taxpayers. However, a new wave of research is now…
Abstract
Purpose
Most research on tax evasion focused on microeconomic variables revolving around perceptions and decisions of individual taxpayers. However, a new wave of research is now investigating the role of macroeconomic variables in inducing tax evasion. This study adds to the limited studies in this new direction of research. Previous studies found that inflation, low gross domestic product (GDP) growth and gross fixed capital formation causes recession, increases unemployment, raise interest rates, hurts both domestic and foreign direct investments. This study examined the relationship between these variables and estimated tax evasion in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a correlation research design with 2,300 data points collected from 23 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, tax to GDP ratio, gross fixed capital formation per GDP and the GDP annual growth report from each country for the period 2011–2020 was retrieved. Generalised least square regression technique was employed to analyse the data due to the presence of heteroskedasticity in the model and random effect was utilized based on the Hausman test. To avoid misspecification and biased result; therefore, all relevant test was conducted including the multicollinearity test.
Findings
The results indicate that GDP annual growth and gross fixed capital formation have a significant negative impact on estimated tax evasion in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings further indicate a negative but insignificant relationship between inflation and estimated tax evasion in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study concludes that both GDP annual growth rate and gross fixed capital formation negatively influence estimated tax evasion and the policy implications in the African continent were discussed.
Originality/value
The new findings on the effects of GDP annual growth, growth fixed capital formation and inflation on estimated tax evasion provide novel knowledge that is currently lacking in the current literature, specifically Sub-Saharan African continent.
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This study investigates the factors that influence citizens trust in public leaders [i.e. presidents, members of parliament (MPs) and local government leaders (LGs)] in 34…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the factors that influence citizens trust in public leaders [i.e. presidents, members of parliament (MPs) and local government leaders (LGs)] in 34 countries in Africa between 2019 and 2021.
Design/methodology/approach
Individual-level data with a sample size of 48,084 was obtained from the Afro-Barometer round 8 survey only and analyzed using multivariate binary logistic regression.
Findings
Several important and intriguing observations were made from this analysis: (1) the performance of public leaders influences citizens trust in their leaders; (2) the perceived corruption of public leaders and civil servants and the level of corruption influence citizens trust in public leaders; (3) perceived neighborhood problems (i.e. fear of violence, fear of terrorism and service delivery) influence citizens trust in their public leaders and (4) the socio-demographic characteristics of citizens (i.e. age, religion, education, location, employment and political party affiliation) influence citizens trust in their public leaders.
Originality/value
This study is exceptional in two ways: (1) it examines and compares citizens trust in public leaders across different levels, i.e. presidents, MPs and LGs in Africa and (2) it examines and compares the factors influencing citizens trust in public leaders in Africa comparatively.
Betty Jane Punnett, Lemayon Melyoki and Thomas Senaji
This paper presents insights on expatriates in Africa and sets out a research agenda for Africa’s expatriation. The objective of the paper is to provide background and context on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents insights on expatriates in Africa and sets out a research agenda for Africa’s expatriation. The objective of the paper is to provide background and context on expatriation in Africa and to stimulate and guide further research in this important area.
Design/methodology/approach
The reviewed papers were drawn from journals and other sources that reported on expatriation to/from African countries. It also incorporates an array of literature on contextual African issues, exploring conceptually how these relate to expatriation.
Findings
The review confirmed that there is little research on the topic, particularly with respect to outward expatriation and the studies that exist are one of a kind and stand alone. There has been no attempt to build systematic theory or develop a wholistic picture. This means that the field is wide open for more research. The data provide a picture of the current expatriate situation, including numbers, demographics, host/home locations, success rates and so on, and are provide a basis for further research developing and testing hypotheses regarding individual, organizational and country/national characteristics and how these influence and relate to expatriate experiences and outcomes. Researchers can also draw on the existing expatriation literature from around the world for replication studies to identify uniquely African issues as well as similarities with other locations. As Selmer (2016) noted, replication research is widely used in the sciences and is at the core of the scientific method and thus should be considered for expatriation research.
Research limitations/implications
Limited previous research means there is a need for further research.
Practical implications
Expatriation is a critical aspect of companies operating internationally and companies are increasingly interested in doing business in African countries. Africa's economic growth and development are strong and foreign direct investment (FDI) into Africa is growing with consequent increases in the number of expatriates going to Africa. Understanding expatriation in the African context is thus very important to a variety of companies.
Originality/value
Management literature focusing on Africa is limited and this is true regarding expatriation. This means there is a need for researchers and practitioners to understand expatriation issues in this context, particularly considering economic growth on the continent, increasing interest in doing business there, along with increasing FDI and use of expatriates, as well as the expansion of African companies. This paper provides a research agenda as a guide on which researchers, including those in Africa, can build.
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The purpose of the perspective article is to review relevant literature on family business and ethnic fashion and establish links across identity (defined as culture, tradition…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the perspective article is to review relevant literature on family business and ethnic fashion and establish links across identity (defined as culture, tradition, heritage and status) and fashion (color, design, pattern and fabric/texture) and internationalization (foreign market entry), and develop a conceptual model using the identity theory and qualitative method.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative study by design. We used a systematic research and ethnographic method for this study. Specifically, the author used the participant observation aspect of ethnography to collect information and images relating to ethnic fashion. Ethnography is a well-established methodology widely used in social sciences research, including fashion.
Findings
The study's conceptual model proposes that (1) ethnic fashion mediates the identity-internationalization relationship, (2) knowledge transfer moderates the identity-ethnic fashion relationship and (3) family business size moderates the ethnic fashion-internationalization relationship. It is also revealed that a person's status can be judged by their dress and fashion in under two minutes.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to the African continent, though it has 54 countries with a current population of about 1.5 billion people, which is expected to be roughly 2.5 billion by 2050.
Practical implications
Implications of the study for the entrepreneurs and family businesses are that they should realize the opportunities presented by ethnic African fashion and tap into the most crucial key to success—local design, color, fabric and patterns associated with meaning and messages. Cross-cultural collaborations and digital innovations can help the internationalization of African fashion while preserving local heritage and identity. Another implication is that quality and consistency in branding are equally essential to be on par with intentional luxury brands.
Social implications
The social implication of the study is that culture and fashion are correlated and influence designers' creations, reflecting and conveying identity, status and societal values. Fashion allows people to express their identity, individuality and values. The proper fashion and outfit can boost mood, self-esteem and confidence, resulting in healthy social interaction and mental health. Fashion can also raise social issues (e.g. inclusiveness, diversity and gender by featuring various models and designs) and environmental issues (e.g. sustainable practices local and ethical production).
Originality/value
The paper synthesizes ethnic fashion in the context of family businesses in Africa, highlights specific examples of ethnic fashion of African people with the potential for internationalization and proposes future fashion perspectives for family businesses. It adds value in that it focuses on fashion family businesses in the African continent.
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Paraskevi Gatzioufa and Vaggelis Saprikis
Despite the fact that chatbots have been largely adopted for the last few years, a comprehensive literature review research focusing on the intention of individuals to adopt…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the fact that chatbots have been largely adopted for the last few years, a comprehensive literature review research focusing on the intention of individuals to adopt chatbots is rather scarce. In this respect, the present paper attempts a literature review investigation of empirical studies focused on the specific issue in nine scientific databases during 2017-2021. Specifically, it aims to classify extant empirical studies which focus on the context of individuals' adoption intention toward chatbots.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on PRISMA methodology, which revealed a total of 39 empirical studies examining users' intention to adopt and utilize chatbots.
Findings
After a thorough investigation, distinct categorization criteria emerged, such as research field, applied theoretical models, research types, methods and statistical measures, factors affecting intention to adopt and further use chatbots, the countries/continents where these surveys took place as well as relevant research citations and year of publication. In addition, the paper highlights research gaps in the examined issue and proposes future research directions in such a promising information technology solution.
Originality/value
As far as the authors are concerned, there has not been any other comprehensive literature review research to focus on examining previous empirical studies of users' intentions to adopt and use chatbots on the aforementioned period. According to the authors' knowledge, the present paper is the first attempt in the field which demonstrates broad literature review data of relevant empirical studies.
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