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Preferential market access is a pillar of the enabling clause in international trade, and as such has received scholarly attention in the recent past. This study aims to empirically examine intensity and utilisation of Uganda’s preferential market access.

Secondary data at the six-digit level of the harmonised system was sourced from the International Trade Centre’s and UN COMTRADE’s Trade Map database on trade flows to compute; trade intensity indices, Balsa’s revealed comparative advantage (RCA) indices and the existing potential trade. The time period was 2013–2022.

It is evident that Uganda is not taking full advantage of its preferential market access. The findings of the trade intensity analysis revealed that the strength of trade relations between Uganda and its preferential markets has been consistently weak in the period 2013–2022, while the intensity of trade relations with its FTA partners has been strong. The RCA results revealed that all Uganda’s agricultural exports to its preferential markets have a comparative advantage, with exports of roses reporting an exceptionally high RCA relative to other agricultural exports. The RCA results also show that the comparative advantage of Uganda’s coffee exports recovered after a significant fall in the period 2014–2022. The analysis of the existing potential for trade reveals a disproportionally low market share held by Uganda across all product lines, notably, only 2.3% of the US$29bn coffee imports in its preferential markets.

One limitation of this study is that it primarily relied on quantitative data from the International Trade Centre and thus lacks an exhaustive understanding of the circumstances at the export firm level. Qualitative data, such as interviews with exporters and policymakers, could provide deeper insights into the specific challenges and opportunities faced by Ugandan businesses in these markets.

This paper highlights the need for additional trade facilitation measures to address preferential market access bottlenecks such as stringent rules of origin and call for an aggressive government intervention in enhancing the export readiness of SMEs in Uganda. In addition, the paper is informative to Uganda’s exporters regarding the existing and potential increase in their exports to international markets.

The strength of Uganda’s trade relations with its preferential markets is empirically examined in this paper and provides useful insights for enhancing utilisation of preferential market access by beneficiary countries.

This chapter has briefly discussed the problems of defining development and underdevelopment, and Gustavo Esteva's opinion that ‘underdevelopment’ was invented. The Proposal for Action of the First UN Development Decade (1960–70), Mr Robert S McNamara's view (President of the World Bank in the 1970s) on development, the Western World's Perception of Development, the |Nature of the UN Institution for Socio-Economic Development in Developing Countries, the role of International Trade and Development have been discussed in this chapter.

This study aims to understand client food preferences and how pantry offerings can be optimized by those preferences.

This study develops and administers customized surveys to study three food pantries within the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwestern North Carolina network. This study then categorizes food items by client preferences, identifies the key predictors of those preferences and obtains preference scores by fitting the data to a predictive model. The preference scores are subsequently used in an optimization model that suggests an ideal mix of food items to stock based upon client preferences and the item and weight limits imposed by the pantry.

This study found that food pantry clients prefer fresh and frozen foods over shelf-friendly options and that gender, age and religion were the primary predictors. The optimization model incorporates these preferences, yielding an optimal stocking strategy for the pantry.

This research is based on a specific food bank network, and therefore, the client preferences may not be generalizable to other food banks. However, the framework and corresponding optimization model is generalizable to other food aid supply chains.

This study provides insights for food pantry managers to make informed decisions about stocking the pantry shelves based on the client’s preferences.

An emerging topic within the humanitarian food aid community is better matching of food availability with food that is desired in a way that minimizes food waste. This is achieved by providing more choice to food pantry users. This work shows how pantries can incorporate client preferences in inventory stocking decisions.

This study contributes to the literature on food pantry operations by providing a novel decision support system for pantry managers to aid in stocking their shelves according to client preferences.

In metropolitan areas experiencing rapid urbanization and housing production, the size of housing units emerges as a crucial factor to consider in housing policy formulation. This study aims to focus on Turkey, a developing country undergoing rapid urbanization and a construction boom in recent years, to examine households’ housing size preferences. Through a detailed analysis, this research delves into the causal relationships between income, education and housing size preferences.

This study uses the Family Structure Survey in Turkey 2016 data set collected nationwide by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). To address potential endogeneity issues related to income and education levels in households’ choice of house size, an extended regression model is used. In addition, survey weights are applied to the statistical model to generalize the results of the study.

The study demonstrates that household income correlates with an increase in house size, while household education is associated with a decrease in house size. Variables such as household age, composition and vehicle ownership are found to impact the choice of house size. Particularly, one-person and couple-only households tend to prefer smaller dwellings compared to others. Lastly, the results reveal that the influence of household composition on dwelling size varies according to household age.

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the determinants influencing households’ housing size preferences within the framework of a developing country context, focusing on Turkey. It specifically offers insights into the causal impact of education and income levels on housing size preferences, as well as the intricate interplay between household characteristics in shaping these preferences.

There are calls for irradiated food labelling due to a significant need for food safety and extensive procedures to safeguard consumer health. Additionally, there is a strong push from producers for mandatory Country of Origin (COO) labelling. The study examines how the COO and Radura labels influence consumer behaviour and shows the interplay between these influences. Using Attitude-Behavior-Context theory, a conceptual model is proposed and tested to evaluate these factors. The use of multiple labels allows for more choices. How the information presented on labels corresponds to consumers' pre-purchase information search is tested on regular label users.

Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), Generalised Linear Modelling and Cluster Analysis were used to analyse the data on a sample of 322 Australian respondents.

The study revealed that COO labelling had a significant positive relationship with attitudes but a negative relationship with WTP, acting as a suppressed mediator between attitudes and WTP. Interestingly, while knowledge was not found significant, label confidence emerged as a significant factor. Furthermore, the research suggests that regular users may prioritize COO labels over Radura labels.

This research contributes novelty by being the first to address the interplay between COO and irradiated labels, complementing the growing body of literature on irradiation labelling. It also offers valuable insights for retail practitioners, providing an understanding that can facilitate the delivery of high-value multiple labels at the point of purchase.

The cyber-physical system (CPS) is a well proven technology for improving system performance, resilience, and interconnectivity. In emerging nations like India, the logistics industry lacks practices connecting logistical equipment with cyberspace. This paper aims to bridge this gap by identifying and evaluating the performance metrics of connectivity solutions. Its goal is to establish an appropriate infrastructure that enables seamless connectivity within the CPS-enabled logistics ecosystem.

A novel integrated decision method is employed to classify the optimal connectivity solution for CPS. It integrates Regret Theory (RT) and Preference Ranking for Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE-1) method in a Hesitant Fuzzy (HF) environment. This method considers the psychological traits of decision-makers and effectively incorporates their hesitancy for the classification.

The findings highlight security (c10) as the foremost critical performance metric, followed by cost (c6), scalability (c9), traceability (c2) and trustworthiness (c1) to build connective infrastructure for CPS. For extensive coverage scenarios, like freight transportation, cellular connectivity (a2) emerges as the most suitable connectivity solution.

This study provides a roadmap to logistics managers for selecting a suitable connectivity infrastructure to enhance seamless connectivity in logistics operations and processes. Technology providers can utilize the findings to develop the CPS infrastructure for effective freight logistics management.

This research introduces a novel decision-making tool for making choices related to advanced technology assessment. It holds significant value in facilitating well-informed decisions in the digital transformation era.

How can managers reduce information asymmetry in dyadic manager-external stakeholder relationships in a complex and evolving environment? Addressing this question has significant implications for firm survival, growth, and competitive advantage.

We have adopted a multiparadigm approach to theory building, known as metatriangulation. We integrate the dynamic capabilities, sensemaking, and evolutionary theory literatures to theorize how managers can relate to stakeholders in a complex and evolving environment.

We propose, via a conceptual framework and three propositions, “evolutionary sensemaking” as the managerial metacognitive dynamic capability that helps managers hone their understanding based on the evolutionary changes in the stakeholder’s interpretations of information quality preferences. The framework unfolds across three evolutionary stages: sensing preferences' variation of the stakeholder, seizing preferences, and transforming for complexity alignment and retention. The propositions focus on managing complexity in stakeholder information quality preference, employing cognitive capabilities to simplify, interpret, and align interpretations for effective information asymmetry reduction.

To develop the metacognitive dynamic capability of evolutionary sensemaking, managers need to train for and foster the underlying complex cognitive capabilities by enhancing their (1) perception and attention skills, (2) problem-solving and reasoning skills, and (3) language, communication, and social cognition skills, focusing specifically on reducing the complexity embedded in stakeholder cognition and diverse stakeholder preferences for information quality. Contrary to the current advice to “keep things simple” and provide “more” information to the stakeholders for opportunism reduction, trust-building, and superior governance, our framework suggests that managers hone their cognitive capabilities by learning to deal with the underlying complexity.

The proposed framework and propositions address research gaps in reducing information asymmetry. It enriches the dynamic capabilities literature by recognizing complexity (as opposed to opportunism) as an alternative source of information asymmetry, which needs to be addressed in this stream of research. It extends the sensemaking literature by identifying the complexity sources – i.e. stakeholder preferences for diverse information quality attributes and the associated cognitive preference interpretation processes. The article enhances evolutionary theory by delving into microprocesses related to information asymmetry reduction, which the existing literature does not thoroughly investigate.

This study explores the viability of incorporating more expensive organic wheat flour into speciality bakery products, which are of superior quality, thus justifying the higher cost. As consumers may be reluctant to purchase organic speciality baked goods due to unfavorable taste associations with organic foods, particularly those consumed as a treat or for pleasure, this study investigates the impact of providing taste assurances and origin information on consumer acceptance and WTP for organic speciality bakery products.

Using data from an online survey of US consumers, random parameter logit models were estimated and willingness-to-pay (WTP) values were calculated.

Study results show that the use of more expensive organic flour is justified for speciality bakery products when favorable taste assurances are provided or for consumers who value organic foods. Freshness indictors were only important in the case of speciality breads, but not for other products. Finally, improving consumer awareness of organic labeling standards does not significantly impact their organic product preferences or taste perceptions.

This analysis aims to identify the product information likely to increase the consumption of organic speciality bakery/pastry products and thus support the incorporation of organic wheat flour into these higher-value products.

While previous choice experiment studies have extensively examined consumer preferences for organic products, few have evaluated the impact of providing taste and freshness indicators, particularly in the context of vice goods. This study examines the impact of providing taste and freshness indicators on consumer acceptance and WTP for various organic speciality bakery/pastry products in stated choice experiments, where consumers to not have the option to taste the product. Specifically, we examine if taste and freshness assurances reduce potential negative organic product taste biases.

Entrepreneurial action under uncertainty has captured the interest of scholars and practitioners alike. However, this growing body of research has yet to connect entrepreneurial action with actual actions of entrepreneurs. We combine insights from effectuation theory and the psychology of entrepreneurship to investigate drivers of entrepreneurial actions involved in starting and running ventures, particularly optimism, self-efficacy and the use of causal and effectual logics.

The study employs a unique mixed-method approach combining a survey with experience sampling data. After measuring demographics, preference for effectual or causal logics and psychological variables, the 197 US entrepreneurs sampled entrepreneurs logged their daily actions in the form of asks during 60 consecutive days.

Results suggest that self-efficacy and causal logics are key drivers of entrepreneurial actions, while optimism serves as a deterrent. Interestingly, the impact of self-efficacy on actions is moderated by the entrepreneur’s experience level, measured both in years and past asking experience.

The potential of the ask as the basic mechanism for entrepreneurial actions is explored. Based on the findings, the authors offer new and fertile insights by linking psychological traits to entrepreneurial actions, causal and effectual logics and entrepreneurial expertise development.