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The purpose of this paper is to examine parental career-related behavior (PCB) in relation to the vocational intentions of female nationals enrolled at higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates.

A conceptual framework was constructed to examine the interplay between the PCB factors of support, interference and lack of engagement, against context-relevant dimensions of gendered sociocultural barriers, public sector preferences and the likelihood itself of labor market entry. Survey data from face-to-face encounters (n=335) was collected.

Parental support was found to significantly reduce the perceived sociocultural barriers to workforce participation. Parental interference amplified these barriers and also increased public sector preferences. Those with educated fathers were more likely to seek labor market entry and consider atypical career paths, while those with a parent working in the private sector were more willing to consider this sector.

One limitation was a sample comprising only female students, nonetheless it implies PCB has an impact on “national” female labor force participation (FLFP). Therefore, seeking to engage parents as more active stakeholders in vocationally related HEI interventions would benefit from greater policy attention.

This paper is the first to consider parental influence on FLFP using the PCB construct. Its value is in the framework model presented and its contribution to the discourse on the Arabian Gulf’s labor market dynamics.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the regulation, awareness, compliance and performance of small and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs) in Cameroon's Central and Littoral regions, focusing on the manufacturing and retail sectors.

The full survey was conducted on 700 randomly selected SMEs which have identifiable business locations. From this, only 575 enterprises were retained for analysis after performing the coherence test.

Businesses registered for tax and those in the manufacturing sector see tax regulation as a burden. Those having opinions that regulation is rigid, inconsistent and that there is corruption also opine that regulation is negatively impacting on business. High compliance with customs and municipal regulations significantly negatively affect business development. On the other hand, high compliance with health and safety as well as trade regulations is good for SME development. Businesses registered with the Ministry of Trade tend to be more compliant, while those registered with the Municipality are not.

Overall, it is important that government should create an enabling environment for the development of the SMEs in Cameroon.

The number of studies focusing on the relationship between regulation and business performance in Africa is limited. Hence, the contribution of this paper is to enrich our understanding of this important field.