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After a long observation of the high rate of rice importation and low productivity in Côte d’Ivoire, the certified rice seed was introduced and encouraged to be used by the local farmers. This study evaluates the profitability of rice production and the impact of certified seed usage on the yield and income of farmers in Côte d’Ivoire.

Data were collected from 265 rice farmers. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the challenges faced in using certified seeds. Profitability analysis was used to examine the profitability of rice production. To eliminate bias due to the counterfactuals, the endogenous switching regression was employed to investigate the impact of the certified seeds on income and yield.

The difficulties faced by the rice farmers in the procurement of certified seeds were the unavailability of seeds, the high cost of seeds and poor credit access. Furthermore, rice farmers using certified seeds get a higher net income (USD 263.74/ha) than those using farmers' seeds (USD 212.31/ha). The average treatment on the treated was 1.61 for the yield and 574.75 for the income. The average treatment on the untreated was 1.20 for the yield and 422.59 for the income. These indicate a higher yield and income among adopters of certified rice seed.

Certified rice seed usage is profitable and enhances the output and income of rice farmers. The study advocates the creation of a stronger relationship between the farmers and the extension agents to encourage the use of certified seeds and increase the profit of the farmers.

There is scant information on the profitability of certified rice seed usage and how it affect yield and income. Therefore, this study serves as empirical evidence for policymakers to develop strategies that are required to enhance certified seed usage, boost rice productivity and achieve food security.

This paper aims to examine whether China's grain price support policy has distorted the grain market price.

The time-varying differences-in-differences (DID) model is used to study the impact of support policies on grain prices, and it is combined with the event study method to explore the dynamic effects of price support policy. Panel data model is used to study the effect of the price support policy on price formation for national grain market prices. In addition, we apply the smooth transformation (STR) model to verify whether there is a distortion in the transmission of grain prices among different markets in China and from the international market to China’s market.

China’s grain price support policy plays a significant role in rising grain market prices, weakens the decisive role of the market mechanism in the formation of grain prices, hinders the spatial transmission of market price signals and decreases the effect of price transmission from the world market to China’s market.

In order to ensure both the stability of grain production as well as the market stability, and also to ensure that intervention policies do not distort the food market, the minimum purchase price of grain and market regulation policies should be adjusted as follows: (1) price support policy should be shifted to an income support policy and (2) reasonably determine the scale of reserves and implement a grain minimum purchase price policy in limited areas.

Our findings are relevant for understanding the effect of China's grain price support policies on the implementation regions and the price transmission effect, which provide reference experience for developing countries to implement food price policies.

Rice is the main cereal in Senegal. Despite efforts to improve the sector, consumers still prefer imported rice. Only one previous study conducted by the authors analyzed these preferences using a sensory analysis approach (Mané et al., 2021). This initial study showed that local rice can compete with imported rice if processing is improved. Based on these results, this study aims to identify the physicochemical parameters responsible for the sensory quality identified in Senegalese consumers.

In this context, the physicochemical and cooking properties of 12 rice samples were analyzed and the correlations between these physicochemical and sensory properties were studied.

The results showed that imported rice had a higher 1000-kernel weight, grain length and transparency values, whereas local rice had higher water uptake, swelling ratios, gelatinization temperature and iron and magnesium contents. Correlations have shown that positive descriptors such as “beautiful,” “white color,” “good taste,” “fragrant,” “fine grains,” “typical rice odor,” well-cooked” and “scattered” were correlated with varietal and technological criteria such as high 1000-grain weight, grain length, whiteness, transparency and absence of impurities in rice. In contrast, negative sensory descriptors such as “pasty” and “sticky texture” were associated with water uptake ratio, gelatinization temperature, rice breakage and cooking time.

These results show how to improve the quality of new rice varieties in the country based on the physicochemical parameters associated with the positive sensory properties cited above by consumers.

Patriotism is often described as the “love of country” that individuals display in the acclamation of their national community. Despite the prominence of this sentiment in various societies around the world, organizational research on patriotism is largely absent. This omission is surprising because entrepreneurs, human resource (HR) divisions, and firms frequently embrace both patriotism and patriotic organizational practices. These procedures include (among other interventions) national symbol embracing, HR practices targeted toward military members and first responders, the adulation of patriots and celebration of patriotic events, and patriotic-oriented corporate social responsibility (CSR). Here, the authors argue that research on HR management and organization studies will likely be further enhanced with a deeper understanding of the national obligation that can spur employee productivity and loyalty. In an attempt to jumpstart the collective understanding of this phenomenon, the authors explore the antecedents of patriotic organizational practices, namely, the effects of founder orientation, employee dispersion, and firm strategy. It is suggested that HR practices such as these lead to a patriotic organizational image, which in turn impacts investor, customer, and employee responses. Notably, the effect of a patriotic organizational image on firm-related outcomes is largely contingent on how it fits with the patriotic views of other stakeholders, such as investors, customers, and employees. After outlining this model, the authors then present a thought experiment of how this model may appear in action. The authors then discuss ways the field can move forward in studying patriotism in HR management and organizational contexts by outlining several future directions that span multiple levels (i.e., micro and macro). Taken together, in this chapter, the authors introduce a conversation of something quite prevalent and largely unheeded – the patriotic organization.

Within the student population, students who study sport at the university level represent a special cohort struggling with specific academic and developmental challenges. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that sports students are particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of their mental health. The aim of this study is to examine whether mental health (i.e. depression and well-being) among sports students changed during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the data before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current study compared 907 German sports students before the COVID-19 pandemic to 1,124 German sports students during the COVID-19 pandemic (55.7% BA students, 13.3% MA students and 29.4% PE students). Mental health was assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) (risk for depression) and the well-being index (WHO-5). To identify students at risk, a cut-off score of = 3 (PHQ-2) or of = 12 (WHO-5) was used.

The results show that across all study programs, the risk for depression was significantly higher and well-being was significantly lower during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period. Moreover, remarkably more sports students were at high risk for depression (11.1% vs 38.3%) or showed strongly decreased well-being (24.6% vs 57.3%) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period.

The results are comparable to those of other fields of study that do not involve physical activity. Implications for further research, for sports students’ mental health practice and for mental health professionals are discussed. It remains to be examined to what extent this impairment also has an impact on the further psychological development of the students after the pandemic.

This paper aims to explore how the expansion in cryptocurrency users affects the country's research and development (R&D) investments.

The analysis covers 53 countries over the period 2019–2022. The empirical methodology implements an instrumental variable approach to overcome endogeneity and omitted variable bias issues. In particular, this study introduces novel instruments developed from Google data, specifically related to trends observed in the cryptocurrency markets.

The results show that macroeconomic and institutional factors, as well as technology infrastructure affect the country's R&D expenditure, as previously noted in the literature. The country's R&D spending significantly responds to cryptocurrency expansions. Conspicuously, each 10% increase in cryptocurrency market users boosts the ratio of R&D to GDP by 1.35%. The countries that have imposed an adequate taxation policy on cryptocurrency gains experienced more improvement in their R&D budget, in contrast to those that forced aggressive tax brackets or did not apply adequate policies. Cryptocurrency dynamics affect both religiously regulated and nonreligious countries.

This study has three main contributions. First, it introduces the role of the cryptocurrency market as one of the leading global trends to affect the countries’ R&D budget. Second, this paper documents the importance of forcing an adequate tax policy on cryptocurrency capital gains. Third, the results of this paper serve as guidelines for governments to face the challenges raised by the cryptocurrency market.

The New Zealand city of Christchurch provides a leading example of post-disaster rebuilding in a Central Business District (CBD) area. In its rebuilding programme, the city has given emphasis to the greening of hospitality and traditional retail space through a combination of development of shared pedestrian spaces (with traffic exclusion and calming) and the integration of greening within the streetscape design. This paper aims to assess whether the development of greened pedestrian areas leads to higher retail spending and, thus, retail rental rates.

This study uses pedestrian movement data collected from several CBD locations, as well as spending data on retail and hospitality, to assess relationships between pedestrian movements and spending. This study explores retail spending in greened pedestrian shared spaces, and explores how this differs from retail spending in traditional street areas within the Christchurch CBD.

Spending patterns are location-related, depending on the characteristics of pedestrian space in the selected area. Greened shared pedestrian areas have the highest spending per measured pedestrian for retail and hospitality, whereas traditional street areas have lower spending for retail and hospitality per measured pedestrian, demonstrating the benefits in redeveloped central city areas.

The scope of smart data continues to develop as a research area within urban studies to develop an open and connected city. This research demonstrates the use of innovative technologies for data collection, use and sharing. The results support commercial benefits of greening and pedestrianisation of retail and hospitality areas for CBDs and providing an example for other cities to follow.

The study uses the meaning transfer model to integrate celebrity advertising and branding under the broad paradigm of celebrity–brand communication. Specifically, the paper aims to examine the influence of celebrity attributes (authenticity and identification) on brand advocacy and purchase intention through brand personality appeal and brand identification.

The study adopts two scenario-based research designs (involving nonfictitious and fictitious celebrities) for a cross-sectional structural path analysis.

Celebrity authenticity, celebrity identification and celebrity–brand congruency significantly influence brand advocacy and purchase intention, with brand personality appeal and brand identification emerging as effective mediators.

The study highlights how vital brand personality appeal and brand identification are in transferring positive perceptions about a celebrity endorser into brand advocacy and purchase intention. These results will allow marketers to realize the relative influence of celebrity attributes on the partnered brand.

The aim of this study is to examine the behavioral intention (BI) to adopt the Coinbase Wallet by Spanish users.

A survey was administered to individuals residing in Spain between March and April 2021. There were 301 questionnaires analyzed. This research applies a new predictive model based on technology acceptance model (TAM) 2, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model, the theory of perceived risk and the commitment trust theory. A mixed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)/fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) methodology was employed for the modeling and data analysis.

The results showed that all the variables proposed have a direct and positive influence on the intention to use a Coinbase Wallet. The findings present clear directions for traders, investors and academics focused on improving their understanding of the characteristics of these markets.

First, this study addresses important concerns relating to the adoption of crypto-wallets during the global pandemic. Second, this research contributes to the existing literature by adding electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), trust, web quality and perceived risk as new drivers of the intention to use the Coinbase Wallet, providing unique and innovative insights. Finally, the study offers a solid methodological contribution by integrating linear (PLS) and nonlinear (fsQCA) techniques, showing that both methodologies provide a better understanding of the problem and a more detailed awareness of the patterns of antecedent factors.

Organizations increasingly promote the health and well-being of their employees. There is a growing need for organizations to develop a long-term humanistic approach towards their workforce. This study aims to examine how self-esteem influences the organization, the employee and society within the context of higher education institutions.

The research has been carried out among the teaching and research staff of a higher education institution in Spain. For this, a structured questionnaire was used. Data analysis was conducted using 272 valid questionnaires. A linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between self-esteem and the variables of the model.

We identified a positive correlation between self-esteem and productivity, job satisfaction and altruism, where significant differences were observed according to gender, age, seniority and professional category of the teaching staff. The results revealed that teachers with high self-esteem are more productive, satisfied and participate in more altruistic activities than their counterparts with low self-esteem.

This study reveals the importance that worker self-esteem has on their behavior in the work environment and in society as a whole, to improve the overall results of the organization. We identified self-esteem as an attribute that improves productivity, job satisfaction and altruism, that can be used to reduce job turnover intention and improve job retention levels, positively affecting the organization. We also contribute to the achievement of some Sustainable Development Goals. This study offers a theoretical contribution by extending the application of social learning theory to the context of self-esteem within higher education institutions.