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Article
Publication date: 25 June 2024

Ranran Yang, Zhaojun Liu, Jingjing Li and Jianling Jiao

Waste classification plays an important role in reducing pollution, promoting waste recycling and resource utilization. This paper aims to explore the multiple reasons that affect…

Abstract

Purpose

Waste classification plays an important role in reducing pollution, promoting waste recycling and resource utilization. This paper aims to explore the multiple reasons that affect the performance of waste classification governance.

Design/methodology/approach

Content analysis of the existing waste classification policies is conducted using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model. Based on this analysis, influencing factors are identified through the technology-organization-environment (TOE) research framework. The condition configurations and action paths that cause differences in governance performance are derived using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method (fsQCA).

Findings

The results show that there are spatial and temporal disparities in waste classification policies among different provinces/cities. In most situations, the implementation effect of policy combinations is better than that of a single type of policy, with mandatory policies playing a key role. Additionally, a single influencing factor cannot constitute the bottleneck of high governance performance. Policy topics coordinate with environmental and technical factors to influence governance performance. Finally, in light of China's actual governance situation, several targeted implications are proposed for the practical optimization of local government waste classification governance.

Originality/value

This paper presents a novel approach by integrating multiple heterogeneous data sources from both online and offline channels, adopting a public-government perspective and applying the fsQCA method to investigate the combined effects of technical, organizational and environmental factors on waste classification governance performance across 31 provinces and cities in China.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 December 2023

Bernadette Ekua Bedua Afful, Michael Addaney, David Anaafo, Jonas Ayaribilla Akudugu, Felix Kwaku Borkor, Elvis Oppong Yeboah and Joshua Sampana

Poor municipal solid waste management is a major characteristic of urban development in Africa. In Ghana, local governments are mandated to ensure the collection, treatment and…

Abstract

Purpose

Poor municipal solid waste management is a major characteristic of urban development in Africa. In Ghana, local governments are mandated to ensure the collection, treatment and disposal of solid waste. However, this has been a herculean task for local governments in Ghana, owing to inadequate resources and weak technical capacities. This has prompted calls for, and actual involvement of the private sector through public-private partnerships (PPPs) in municipal solid waste management, particularly in the urban areas. This study aims to assess the roles, effectiveness and challenges of PPPs in urban waste management in the Sunyani municipality of Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a case study design, the study used a qualitative research approach to provide in-depth insights into PPPs in municipal solid waste management in the Sunyani municipality of Ghana. Therefore, key informant interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted.

Findings

The study revealed that some policies and actions of the local government (Assembly) do not positively facilitate the effective functioning of PPPs in municipal solid waste management. There is also lack of effective stakeholder consultation, collaboration and grassroot inclusion in the PPPs which affect the effective management of the increasing volumes of solid waste being generated within the municipality.

Practical implications

To achieve the objectives of the PPP arrangements, local authorities should initiate steps to effectively coordinate all the involved private companies. There must also be ways of involving the beneficiaries in the design and implementation of PPPs on waste management to allow for effective grassroots and participatory monitoring and evaluation.

Originality/value

The uniqueness of the case study being a mid-sized and secondary city in a developing country enhances the value of the findings and the application of recommendations in cities with similar characteristics and initiatives in improving PPPs in municipal waste management.

Details

Journal of Property, Planning and Environmental Law, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9407

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 August 2024

Cassiana Maris Lima Cruz, Igor Grotto Bosa, Camila Kolling, Janine Fleith de Medeiros and José Luís Duarte Ribeiro

This study aims to understand the perception of young people regarding different communication strategies to promote proenvironmental disposal behavior. Based on the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to understand the perception of young people regarding different communication strategies to promote proenvironmental disposal behavior. Based on the attention-interest-desire-action (AIDA) model, the study analyses how university students react to different communication approaches used by a university aiming at the correct disposal of waste.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a qualitative exploratory research in two steps: (i) a narrative bibliographic review and (ii) a case study. The (i) bibliographic review was conducted about proenvironmental behavior and disposal of solid waste and response hierarchy models, with emphasis on the AIDA model. The (ii) case study was executed through an in-depth interview with a manager of the environmental sanitation area and a qualitative survey with undergraduate students from a university in southern Brazil.

Findings

The findings reveal that young people tend to prefer communication strategies related to triggers for long-term memory, especially when evaluating the cognitive stage of the response hierarchy. For example, the provision of bins identified with stickers and colors is a communication strategy that leads to a memory model of associative networks. By viewing a certain color or image of an object, the individual can quickly retrieve information already known about the act of properly disposing of waste. Additionally, convenience is a key factor for the behavioral intention of properly disposing of waste to become a reality.

Originality/value

Few studies have identified the most effective communication strategies to promote proper disposal behavior among young people in universities. This study addresses this gap, based on the AIDA model.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 May 2024

Vardges Hovhannisyan and Serhat Asci

We seek to quantify the relationship between urbanization and economic growth in China using recent advances in econometric techniques.

Abstract

Purpose

We seek to quantify the relationship between urbanization and economic growth in China using recent advances in econometric techniques.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a smoothed instrumental variables quantile regression (SIVQR) estimator to obtain consistent estimates of the effects of urbanization on economic growth in China. Our approach accounts for the differential impacts of urbanization across the conditional distribution of economic growth while allowing for an identification strategy that addresses the endogeneity of urbanization. Our main findings reveal that ignoring urbanization endogeneity leads to inconsistent estimates of urbanization effects. Further, we find a positive relationship between urbanization and growth resembling an inverted U-shape. This supports the hypothesis that the beneficial effects of urbanization intensify at initial stages while diminishing beyond a certain threshold, due perhaps to weakening scale economies.

Findings

Our main results indicate that the individual productivity gains brought by urbanization outweigh the negative effects thereof that impede productivity, thus contributing to the economic growth in China. Further, we find that ignoring differential impacts of urbanization underestimates the beneficial effects of urbanization for provinces whose quality of governance is in the vicinity of the center of quality distribution. Ignoring the endogeneity of urbanization generates inconsistent estimates of the elasticity of economic growth with respect to urbanization. Finally, we estimate an inverted U-shape resembling relationship between urbanization and growth.

Research limitations/implications

First, future studies would benefit from incorporating more data as provinces further east on the mainland become more urbanized and urbanization runs its course. Second, controlling the barriers to rural-urban mobility would contribute to the robustness of the estimated relationship between urbanization and growth once such data became available. Unveiling the impact of government-imposed barriers is key to designing optimal policies that help fuel economic growth in the country. Finally, future research could benefit from information on urbanization sources not considered here such as inter-provincial migration, as such data become publicly available.

Practical implications

Quantifying the beneficial effects of urbanization on economic growth can help guide the government in China to further fuel the growth through a set of relevant policy tools that promote urbanization.

Social implications

Rural-urban migration in China lays the groundwork for economic advancement in recipient cities and economies, as it may induce scale economies. This can benefit both the economy at large and the migrants.

Originality/value

The SIVQR estimator accounts for potential heterogeneous effects of urbanization across the entire conditional distribution of growth while allowing for an identification strategy that addresses the endogeneity of urbanization. An additional distinguishing feature of the current study is our use of the most recent novel, provincial-level data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics of China. Our focus on a single country allows sidestepping issues arising from the inconsistency of the definition of urban across different countries while accounting for intra-country urbanization drivers intrinsic to China, such as natural features and geographic characteristics. Therefore, our approach has the potential to sidestep the bias resulting from the differences in mechanisms behind urbanization-growth relationships across different countries.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 October 2024

Annie J. Murphy

This study examines the construction of essential labour during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Research questions include: (1) How have government…

Abstract

This study examines the construction of essential labour during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Research questions include: (1) How have government policies shaped designations of essential versus non-essential labour? (2) What are the consequences of these designations for essential workers? To address these questions, the author employs a case study of custodial services employees at Prairie University, a large public university in a major Texas city (Prairietown). The author begins with an examination of federal, state, and municipal guidelines about COVID-19 safety and critical infrastructure in order to understand the policy landscape within which custodial employees at Prairie University were formally deemed essential. Drawing on theories of non-nurturant care work, the author shows how government guidelines for essential work released during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic discursively invisibilized cleaning labourers. The author then demonstrates how this invisibilization contributed to Prairie University custodial services staff members’ exposure to COVID-19. The author concludes by considering the implications of the findings for future research on care work and the construction of essential labour.

Details

Essentiality of Work
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83608-149-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 July 2024

Smriti Shukla, Rinku Sanjeev and Priyanka Sharma

This study aims to investigate the influence of consumer value on women’s attitudes towards their intention to adopt menstrual cups. Drawing on consumer value theory, the research…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the influence of consumer value on women’s attitudes towards their intention to adopt menstrual cups. Drawing on consumer value theory, the research seeks to provide an empirical investigation of value-attitude-behaviour, an extant exploration of value concept in behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this study was collected through survey questionnaires administered to 304 Indian women and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.

Findings

The study’s finding indicate that emotional values (EVs) significantly predict women’s attitudes towards their intention to use menstrual cups. In addition, the desire for knowledge, price and quality considerations and awareness of the environmental impact were also found to influence women’s attitudes towards their behavioural intention to adopt menstrual cups.

Social implications

This study contributes valuable empirical evidence supporting the importance of consumer values in shaping attitudes and behavioural intentions towards menstrual cups in a social marketing context. By understanding the role of EVs, social marketers can design more effective campaigns to encourage the adoption of menstrual cups. Promoting the sustainable aspects of menstrual cups, such as reduced environmental wastage, can further facilitate behaviour change among women.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates the value-attitude-behaviour framework, which has been a subject of very little research in the context of menstrual cup adoption in a developing country.

Details

Journal of Social Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6763

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 July 2024

Luciana Londero Brandli, Giovana Reginatto, Amanda Lange Salvia and Pedro Henrique Carretta Diniz

This paper aims to describe the academic community’s perspectives about climate change learning and engagement opportunities by means of a case study at the University of Passo…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe the academic community’s perspectives about climate change learning and engagement opportunities by means of a case study at the University of Passo Fundo, Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of interviews and focus groups were conducted, and data collection focused on three main groups, namely, university students, professors and managers. The analysis was developed through content analysis of the individual interviews and focus groups.

Findings

The results showed that the academic community is trying to change their attitudes and behaviours, and students would like to learn more about climate change.

Originality/value

This investigation combines the views of different academic groups and indicates initiatives that could boost the university initiatives towards climate action and learning.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 May 2024

Santanu Mandal, Ritesh Kumar Dubey, Bhaskar Basu and Raghu Raman

While the COVID-19 pandemic has given many firms the importance of business continuity, restaurants have yet to realize the essential enablers. In this regard, the study explored…

Abstract

Purpose

While the COVID-19 pandemic has given many firms the importance of business continuity, restaurants have yet to realize the essential enablers. In this regard, the study explored the potential enablers that can help firms attain business continuity in the post-COVID-19 era for casual dining restaurants.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used an extensive literature review and further supported 28 restaurant managers with an average experience of 8.5 years to identify the potential enablers for ensuring business continuity for casual dining restaurants. Subsequently, this study used the interpretive structural modelling coupled with Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement (MICMAC) analysis to understand the context-specific inter-relationships as a hierarchical structural model.

Findings

Findings suggest that financial capability forms the key driver for other enablers in the hierarchy of business continuity for casual dining restaurants. Furthermore, manpower (local and outstation) are the second-level drivers of restaurant process control, digital presence, online reviews and feedback management, scalability, food quality, food delivery management, employee safety and hygiene. The third-level factors further help restaurants to achieve the dynamic capability required to provide customer value and ensure business continuity.

Originality/value

The study is the foremost to explore a business continuity framework in the new normal for casual dining restaurants in the country. Furthermore, several contextual inter-relationships exhibiting the hierarchy are also established for the business continuity of restaurants in the new normal.

Details

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-669X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 August 2024

Madhura Bedarkar, Gurudas Nulkar, Akriti Chaubey, Mahima Mishra and Komal Dhiwar

The purpose of this study is to learn what kinds of obstacles Indian businesses face when trying to make biodiversity protection a top priority as part of their corporate social…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to learn what kinds of obstacles Indian businesses face when trying to make biodiversity protection a top priority as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Interventions are proposed to elevate biodiversity protection to the ranks of CSR priorities among Indian businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies an interpretive phenomenological analysis strategy to glean information from in-depth interviews with leaders and professionals in CSR.

Findings

The findings of the study revealed that the main factors influencing Indian companies’ CSR area choices are existing processes and stakeholder pressures. Companies prioritise engaging with local communities and employees when selecting CSR activities. The major challenge is integrating biodiversity into business plans, with CSR heads struggling to secure investment due to long gestation periods and limited media coverage. Implementing agencies face issues with project deliverables, mainly due to land ownership and lack of local government support. Companies can also encourage employee involvement in pro-environmental behaviours. The study also provides practical solutions for Indian companies to enhance their CSR engagement in biodiversity conservation.

Research limitations/implications

The research only focuses on the opinions of CSR specialists and leaders, so it may only consider part of the situation’s complexity inside the organisation. The results may only apply to the business climate in India; hence, extra care is warranted when extrapolating them to other countries. Nonetheless, the study provides valuable insights into the interplay between CSR and biodiversity protection that might inform future studies and policy initiatives.

Originality/value

This research fills a gap in the literature by investigating an uncharted territory: the role of CSR in protecting biodiversity in India. Examining obstacles and variables affecting CSR objectives illuminates business involvement in biodiversity conservation. The recommended treatments have real-world consequences for improving CSR involvement in this critical area.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 July 2024

Nguyen Thi Hue and Pham Phuong Nam

The study aimed to determine the impact rate of the COVID-19 pandemic on Vietnam’s commercial housing demand as compared to other factors and proposes several policies to increase…

Abstract

Purpose

The study aimed to determine the impact rate of the COVID-19 pandemic on Vietnam’s commercial housing demand as compared to other factors and proposes several policies to increase housing demand as a result of the pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The study randomly investigated 400 homebuyers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The structural equation model, SPSS20.0 and AMOS24.0 software were used to determine the impact of factor groups on housing demand.

Findings

The COVID-19 pandemic has a second impact after housing prices on commercial housing demand, followed by 10 other factors. The impact rates of factors range from 3.45% to 15.74%.

Research limitations/implications

The study has only determined the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing demand in Hanoi city, so it is necessary to continue to study this issue in other provinces and cities of Vietnam. The proposed research method would be consulted when it is necessary to determine the factors affecting housing demand in other countries around the world.

Practical implications

The study proposes some implications related to commercial housing demand in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic such as fighting the epidemic, supporting housing investors; reducing loan interest rates; increasing the time to pay for housing; supporting enterprises to stabilize production; strengthening real estate brokerage and carrying out administrative procedures online.

Social implications

Investors and the State can use the implications to make the right housing decisions to provide housing for people and maintain social stability.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents for the first time a method to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on commercial housing demand in Vietnam. The paper also points out some specific factors affecting commercial housing demand that are different from those shown in previous research.

Details

Journal of Facilities Management , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-5967

Keywords

1 – 10 of 242