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The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this literature on developing countries by investigating the determinants of job satisfaction in Vietnam where the economics literature on this issue is virtually non-existent. The authors also contribute to the literature on income comparison by extending beyond the within-firm co-worker income comparison.

The authors estimate a generalized order logit model for job satisfaction as statistical tests suggest that the parallel-lines assumption, which is often invoked in previous studies using the standard logit model, does not hold.

For Vietnam, the authors find that absolute and relative incomes as well as human resource practices such as efficiency wage and training policy have an impact on workers’ satisfaction. Workers in the foreign direct investment (FDI) sectors behave a bit differently from their peers in the domestic sector.

Taking advantage of a unique matched employer–employee data set collected in 2008 by the North-South Institute (Canada) and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the authors are able to investigate the impact of a number of important job characteristics on job satisfaction such as absolute and reference incomes, wage policy, training plan for workers, union membership and job position, and, at the same time, to disentangle the possible differences in job satisfaction of workers in domestic vs FDI firms.

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are the backbone of economic development for every economy. They contribute to local economic development through household wealth creation, employment generation and poverty reduction. Despite this pivotal role, MSMEs lack access to finance, and scholarship on the enabling role of financial inclusion on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises' performance is scant. The authors contribute to closing the knowledge gap by examining the enabling effect of financial inclusion on MSMEs using the FinScope MSME 2017 survey for the Kingdom of Eswatini. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned objective.

The study used the re-centered influence function regression framework to estimate unconditional quantile regressions and the generalized ordered logit model to analyze the data.

The findings from the unconditional quantile regression revealed that small changes in access to bank accounts, saving for business, formal saving, stokvel and informal saving at the 50th and 75th percentiles have a positive and statistically significant effect on microenterprises' annual turnover profit. Conversely, small changes in formal insurance have a mixed effect on annual turnover profit. At the 10th and 25th percentiles, a small increment in insurance reduces annual turnover profit but increases microenterprise annual turnover profit at the 75th percentile. Meanwhile, the evidence from the generalized ordered logit model showed that financial inclusion reduces the likelihood of microenterprises being classified as least developed and increased the chances of microenterprises falling into emerging and developed business categories.

This study makes use of a cross-sectional survey dataset, as a result, it does not infer causal relationships over the long term, but rather an association between the independent and dependent variables.

Overall, formal and informal financial inclusion enhances the annual turnover profit for microenterprises, particularly at the 50th and 75th percentiles in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The authors recommend a specialized institution such as a micro, small and medium-sized partial credit guarantee scheme to improve the quality and affordability of credit for microenterprises, and a mix of financial and non-financial supports depending on the development stage to boost a sustainable microenterprises' sector.

The study uses two advanced cross-sectional techniques, the recentered influence function framework and the generalized ordered logit model to analyze the data. The paper is original and contributes to the discussion of the role of financial inclusion in enabling microenterprises' success in Africa, using the FinScope 2017 survey of microenterprises in Eswatini as a case study.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-10-2020-0689.

The study investigates whether there is an association between climate types and farm risk attitudes of principal operators.

The study exploits temperature variation in the diverse climate types across the US and defines hot- and cold-climate states. Ordered logit and generalized ordered logit models are used to model principal operators' farm risk attitudes, which are measured on a Likert scale. The study uses two datasets. The first dataset is a 2017 survey of US large commercial producers (LCPs). The second dataset provides a Köppen-Geiger climate classification of the US at a spatial resolution of 5 arcmin for a 25-year period (1986–2010).

The study finds that principal operators in hot-climate states are 4–5% more likely to have a higher willingness to take farm risk compared to principal operators in cold-climate states.

It is likely that farm risk mitigation decisions differ between hot- and cold-climate states. For instance, the authors show that corn acres' enrollment in federal crop insurance and computers' usage for farm business are pursued more intensely in cold-climate states than in hot-climate states. A differentiation of farm risk attitude by hot- and cold-climate states may help agribusiness, the government and economists in their farm product offerings, farm risk management programs and agricultural finance models, respectively.

Based on Köppen-Geiger climate classification, the study introduces hot- and cold-climate concepts to understand the relationship between climate types and principal operators' farm risk attitudes.

With growing environmental and social issues worldwide, sustainability disclosures and reporting have become a focal point of discussion. This study aims to investigate the role played by gender diversity in sustainability disclosures in the context of India, over a period of eight years.

The study devises a unique sustainability reporting quality index and employs the generalized ordered logit model, which ensures that results are parsimonious even if the assumptions under a logit model are violated.

The results suggest that with an increase in the percentage of women directors and the number of independent women directors on board, the sustainability reporting quality is likely to improve.

The results of the study shall play a significant role for the corporate houses established in India, as it encourages them to modify their directors' selection process and ensure that women are able to break the “glass ceiling” to reach the upper echelon in the firms.

The study gives an insight into the role played by women directors in sustainability reporting quality aspect, and therefore, the regulatory bodies, as well as policymakers of the Indian economy, shall formulate such regulations which can advance the presence of women on the board and in the decision-making process.

This study is among the first to investigate the relationship between gender diversity and sustainability reporting quality using the generalized ordered logit model which is an improvement over the previously used techniques. Moreover, the unique cultural and institutional setting offered by India, which is an emerging economy, provides a fertile ground for understanding the role of women leaders in the workforce.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of life satisfaction in Turkey. Moreover, this study explores the effects of air pollution and crime problems on well-being.

The estimates are based on cross-sectional data from the health survey in Turkey during the years 2010 and 2012. Various econometric models are applied such as the ordered logit and the random-effects generalized latent class ordered logit. Moreover, using pseudo panel data created based on age and region cohorts adapted probit fixed effects and the “blow-up and cluster” estimators are applied. In addition, various estimates by sex, age group, urban and rural areas as well as between individuals with good and poor health status are followed.

The results show that the individuals who self-reported who are exposed to air pollution and crimes present on average 0.2-0.5 less satisfaction scores than those who are not exposed to air pollution and crimes. In terms of monetary values, they are willing to pay more than those who are not exposed to air pollution and crimes by 13-19 Turkish Liras per month. Moreover, the generalized latent class ordered logit shows that there is considerable heterogeneity among the most satisfied and least satisfied individuals.

The originality of the paper lies in the fact that this is the first study to provide an analysis of life satisfaction using micro-level data from Turkey. Moreover, various econometric approaches are applied to compare the results. In addition, examining the heterogeneous effects among individuals with different life satisfaction rankings, it is possible to examine the effects of various factors on well-being and how they differ among individuals. Finally, by examining exposure to air pollution and crimes in the neighbourhood and their effects on well-being, it is possible to control for characteristics of the deprived areas.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a national alcohol-prevention social marketing campaign in Thailand, investigating specifically the competing forces of the campaign vis-à-vis alcohol advertising.

Based on repeated cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the 2011-2014 Annual Survey of Buddhist Lent Campaign Evaluation (N = 10,133), a generalized ordered logit (partial proportional odds) model is used. The outcome of interest is self-reported alcohol consumption during the campaign period, compared to before. The main explanatory variables include exposure to the campaign and exposure to alcohol advertising.

Results show that exposure to the campaign and exposure to alcohol advertising positively and negatively influence alcohol consumption, respectively. Compared to those with one type of exposure and those without any exposure to alcohol-related messages, drinkers with exposure to both the campaign and alcohol advertising are estimated to have the highest probability of drinking reduction during the campaign period.

The paper highlights the importance of accounting for a countervailing force (in this case, alcohol advertising) in campaign evaluation studies. It also suggests that alcohol-control social marketing be continued and that the government should disseminate alcohol-prevention messages in a balanced manner, ensuring that both costs and benefits of alcohol consumption are well-understood by the intended audience.

Branching is one of the crucial strategic non-price actions for banks. Previous studies on the impact of state ownership upon banks focus on bank lending behavior. This paper aims to offer a novel investigation of how state ownership affects bank branching behavior by examining state-controlled commercial banks (SCCBs) in the context of the largest developing and transitional country China.

The two-part model (TPM) is applied to analyze the branching decision process. In the first stage, the dependent variable is the choice of bank branching dynamics and in the second stage the dependent variable is the number of new branches or the number of closed branches. For robustness check, the ordered probit selection model allowing for interdependence of the two stage decisions is also employed.

Using a unique dataset of bank branches in China, this paper finds that the branching decisions of Chinese SCCBs are driven by both profit motivated factors including population size, population density, income level, financial development and banking competition and politically motivated factors as represented with the proportion of SOEs. As a comparison, branching decisions of joint-stock banks in China are fully determined by profit motivated factors.

First, this study is the first to explore the effect of state ownership on bank branching decisions, providing a new insight on the literature regarding to the impact of state ownership on bank decisions. Second, this study explores the potential effect of politically motivated factors on bank branching decisions, filling the gap in bank branching literature. Third, this study can contribute to bank branching literature by enriching the limited understanding of how SCCBs make branching decisions. Lastly, this study applies novel empirical strategies to analyze bank branching decisions, including the TPM and the ordered probit selection model.

This study adopts three dimensions of women’s empowerment: (1) relative education empowerment, (2) women's autonomy in decision-making and (3) domestic violence to examine the effect of women’s empowerment on household food security in Ghana.

The study employed the generalised ordered logit model (GOLM) and dominance analysis using a sample of 1,017 households from the seventh round of Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS7).

The findings from the study revealed that women’s empowerment proxied by relative years of schooling and women's decision-making were important indicators for improving household food security. Further, there exist varying dimensions of women’s empowerment in households, and these dimensions have a significant effect on the state of food security of households.

There are a number of studies on the effect of women's empowerment on food security. However, this study contributes to the literature by examining the varying effects of different dimensions of women’s empowerment on food security. This provides policymakers with a guide that looks at different levels of women’s empowerment and the combinations of women's empowerment dimensions that contribute for reducing food insecurity.

This study aims to examine the determinants of Sukuk credit ratings of issuing firms in Malaysia, and the rating changes from lower to higher rating and vice versa.

A total of 328 Sukuk issuances and 1,110 Sukuk rating announcements from 2009 to 2014 were analysed using generalized ordered logit regressions approach. Firm financial characteristics, corporate governance attributes, macroeconomic factors and Sukuk structures (debt or equity based) were among the important determinants used to explain the different Sukuk credit ratings.

The results indicate a positive association of Sukuk credit rating with issuing firm’s financial information, governance attributes and the Sukuk structure whilst the macroeconomic factors did not explain the changes in the Sukuk credit rating. Specifically, firm size, profitability and leverage characteristics had significant positive effect on Sukuk credit rating for listed firms whilst only firm’s profitability had a positive effect on Sukuk credit rating by unlisted firms. With regard to governance, the board structure which includes board size, board independence and CEO/Chairman non-duality is associated with positive Sukuk credit rating for listed firms. Only financial report audited by big four auditors is associated with positive Sukuk credit rating for unlisted firms. Equity-based Sukuk are associated with positive Sukuk credit rating for listed firms while for unlisted firms only the Ijarah Sukuk had a positive Sukuk credit rating.

Data on credit rating is scarce and had to be hand-collected from published reports. Furthermore, issues on the lack of standardisation of Islamic contracts in different geographical areas could constrain on the comparability of findings on determinants of ratings in different jurisdictions.

The findings provide some guide to the rating agencies to objectively assess the issuer’s creditworthiness that could mitigate default risk. Mitigating the default risk will boost investors’ confidence and credibility of credit rating agencies.

This study examines the determinants of Sukuk credit rating of issuing firms in Malaysia, which include not only the listed firms but also the unlisted firms.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the specific relationship between information and communication technologies (ICT) and high performance work practices (HPWP) at employee level, both generally and per job category.

Generalized ordered logit and logit models are estimated in relation to data from 31 European countries using the fourth European Working Conditions Survey.

This paper reveals a generally positive association between ICT use and HPWP participation by workers but different results when ICT and HPWP variables are analysed separately. Worker autonomy and participation in autonomous teams are linked to greater ICT use, but the cases of job rotation and task variety are not so clear. Additionally, the authors find how worker occupation conditions such links and note divergences between high and low-skilled positions.

The cross-sectional nature of the data does not allow the authors to report causal relations.

The results suggest that depending on the work practices to be considered, as well as occupation, some ICTs are more suitable than others.

Two main features make this paper novel. First, previous studies on the link between ICT and HPWP made use of indexes, rendering the generation of assorted results impossible. Thus, the authors study how different ICT variables are related to different HPWPs at employee level. Second, the authors test whether employee occupation is a moderator in such relationships.