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Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful and promising technology that can foster the performance, and competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). However, the adoption of AI among MSMEs is still low and slow, especially in developing countries like Jordan. This study aims to explore the elements that influence the intention to adopt AI among MSMEs in Jordan and examines the roles of firm innovativeness and government support within the context.

The study develops a conceptual framework based on the integration of the technology acceptance model, the resource-based view, the uncertainty reduction theory and the communication privacy management. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling – through AMOS and R studio – and the importance–performance map analysis techniques, the responses of 471 MSME founders were analyzed.

The findings reveal that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and facilitating conditions are significant drivers of AI adoption, while perceived risks act as a barrier. AI autonomy positively influences both firm innovativeness and AI adoption intention. Firm innovativeness mediates the relationship between AI autonomy and AI adoption intention, and government support moderates the relationship between facilitating conditions and AI adoption intention.

The findings provide valuable insights for policy formulation and strategy development aimed at promoting AI adoption among MSMEs. They highlight the need to address perceived risks and enhance facilitating conditions and underscore the potential of AI autonomy and firm innovativeness as drivers of AI adoption. The study also emphasizes the role of government support in fostering a conducive environment for AI adoption.

As in many emerging nations, the AI adoption research for MSMEs in Jordan (which constitute 99.5% of businesses), is under-researched. In addition, the study adds value to the entrepreneurship literature and integrates four theories to explore other significant factors such as firm innovativeness and AI autonomy.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is embracing digital transformation and e-government services, aiming to improve efficiency, accessibility and citizen-centricity. Nonetheless, the country faces challenges such as evolving cyber threats. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing cybersecurity practices to ensure the reliability and security of e-government services.

This paper investigates the multifaceted dynamics of cybersecurity practices and their impact on the quality and effectiveness of e-government services. Five key factors explored include organizational culture, technology infrastructure, adherence to standards and regulations, employee training and awareness and financial investment in cybersecurity. This study used a quantitative method to gather data from 320 participants. The researcher collected 285 completed questionnaires, excluding unusable or incomplete responses, and analyzed the final data set using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The findings show that financial investment in cybersecurity, employee training and awareness and adherence to cybersecurity regulations significantly influence the adoption of robust cybersecurity practices. However, the relationship between organizational culture and cybersecurity practices is less straightforward. The research establishes a strong positive correlation between cybersecurity practices and e-government service quality, highlighting the role of security in fostering public trust and user satisfaction and meeting the evolving needs of citizens and businesses.

This research contributes valuable empirical evidence to the fields of e-government and cybersecurity, offering insights that can inform evidence-based policy decisions and resource allocation. By understanding the nuanced dynamics at play, Saudi Arabia is better poised to fortify its digital governance infrastructure and provide secure, high-quality e-government services to its constituents.

Digital platforms (DP) are transforming service delivery and affecting associated actors. The position of DPs is impacted by the regulations. However, emerging economies often lack the regulatory environment to support DPs. This paper aims to explore the regulatory developments for DPs using the multi-level perspective (MLP).

The paper explores regulatory developments of ride-hailing platforms (RHPs) in India and their impacts. This study uses qualitative interview data from platform representatives, bureaucrats, drivers, experts and policy documents.

Regulatory developments in the ride-hailing space cannot be explained as a linear progression. The static institutional assumptions, especially without considering the multi-actors and multi-levels in policy formulation, do not serve associated actors adequately in different times and spaces. The RHPs regulations must consider the perspective of new RHPs and the support available to them. Non-consideration of short- and long-term perspectives of RHPs may have unequal outcomes for established and new RHPs.

This research has implications for the digital economy regulatory ecosystem, DPs and implications for policymakers. Though the data from legal documents and qualitative interviews is adequate, transactional data from the RHPs and interviews with judiciary actors would have been insightful.

The study provides insights into critical aspects of regulatory evolution, governance and regulatory impact on the DPs’ ecosystem. The right balance of regulations according to the business models of DPs allows DPs to have space for growth and development of the platform ecosystem.

This research shows the interactions in the digital space and how regulations can impact various actors. A balanced policy can guide the paths of DPs to have equal opportunities.

DP regulations have a complex structure. The paper studies regulatory developments of DPs and the impacts of governance and controls on associated players and platform ecosystems.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of polarisation on trust in government.

The authors use the ordered probit technique to model trust as a function of polarisation and various control variables. The authors apply the instrumental variables approach to address potential endogeneity in polarisation, using ethnic diversity as an instrument.

The results reveal that an increase in polarisation reduces trust in central government. However, trust in local government is non-responsive to this polarisation. The estimations controlled for government performance, and the authors found a positive association between government performance and trust in government, which, however, does not alter the relationship between polarisation and trust in government.

In ethnically polarised nations, policymakers should consider decentralisation measures. This can help sustain trust and development support, particularly in regions where citizens prioritise ethnicity over nationality.

The social implications of this research underscore the importance of promoting trust in government to foster social cohesion and stability, particularly in ethnically diverse societies.

The authors find that increased ethnic polarisation reduces trust in the central government, particularly among those prioritising their ethnicity over nationality. This adds a non-performance dimension to government trust literature, suggesting that policies focusing solely on performance may yield limited results. The research extends beyond central government trust to include local governments. Unlike central government, local government trust remains tied to performance attributes unaffected by polarisation. Hence, investing resources through local governments is a viable strategy for enhancing citizen support while mitigating polarisation’s adverse effects.

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of two types of external funds in terms of loan and government subsidy on the relationship between R&D investment and firms' innovation performance in emerging markets, as well as the contingent role of firm leader's international experience associated with the effects of loan and government subsidy.

The authors tested the hypotheses using a longitudinal dataset of 716 high-tech firms of Zhongguancun Science Park (ZSP) in China during 2008–2014, covering detailed information on the operations, financial situation and R&D activities, patents, etc. The authors finally identified an unbalanced panel of 2,430 firm-year observations. Considering the dependent variable is the countable data and non-negative values, the negative binomial regression with fixed effects was adopted to test the hypotheses.

The results show that the more loans or government subsidies the firm receives, the weaker the positive effect of R&D investment on firms' innovation performance in emerging markets. Furthermore, the findings reveal that firm leaders' international experience can mitigate the negative moderating effect of government subsidies, but strengthen the negative moderating effect of loans.

The study provides new insights into how loans and government subsidies as external funds influence the effectiveness of R&D in enhancing innovation performance, and the findings highlight the fact that more external funds can reduce firm R&D efficiency. Moreover, the authors also enrich the resource orchestration theory by revealing the critical role of firm leaders' international experience in the decision-making of resource configuration to mitigate the inefficiency of high subsidies in emerging markets.

The paper aims to explore the roles and impact of design in incubating and accelerating social enterprises. It aims to understand design’s influence on social enterprise ecosystems and in improving outcomes for social enterprises.

The study used an exploratory, qualitative approach, using case studies and interviews. The comparative case-study methodology was applied to evaluate the influence of design on the development of social enterprises in the UK and South Korea and identify critical issues in their utilisation of design. Empirical data included: in-depth case studies of design utilisation practices (UK = 6; South Korea = 15) and design applications (UK = 2; South Korea = 2) for the growth of social enterprise and its ecosystem; 27 social enterprise/design experts (UK = 17; South Korea = 10); and 22 social enterprises (UK = 12; South Korea = 10). Content and thematic analysis were used to synthesise the findings.

Findings demonstrate the differing influences of design on social enterprise, from improving products/services and business models to enhancing social enterprise ecosystem support and networks. Future directions are suggested for applying design for social enterprise growth, business stage development and systematising interactions between the social enterprise and design sectors.

The research is based on case studies from only two countries. Further, the adoption of working definitions of social enterprise in the countries may result in the research underestimating the heterogeneity of social enterprise.

The findings contribute to optimising efficient ecosystem development to improve social enterprise competitiveness and innovation.

This paper establishes a research foundation on design for social enterprise, offering theoretical and practical insights into its impact on growth.

Korea’s Institute for Basic Science (IBS), the first research institute dedicated to basic science in Korea, started ten years ago as part of a science policy called the Science Belt. It is noteworthy that Korea, with a short history of basic science, established such a research institute exclusively for basic science within a short period of time and made it one of the representative institutions of basic science in Korea. This paper aims to uncover the impetuses and constraints surrounding the policy of Science Belt, centering on the IBS.

Kingdon’s stream theory is used to clarify the factors that acted as impetuses or constraints for the Science Belt. For the analysis, in-depth interviews with the active policy participants were conducted in addition to the thorough literature review. The interviews enabled an in-depth understanding of the underlying factors for the Science Belt and the actual procedures of the policy decision.

This study found that the most powerful impetus in the Science Belt policymaking process was the President and a small group composed of a few scientists who played a leading role in the political stream. The constraint of the Science Belt was that the participation of scientist experts and governmental officials, the so-called invisible participants of Kingdon, was insignificant. In particular, there was no system in place to select policy alternatives for basic science through discussion between scientists and governmental officials.

The temporal scope of this study was limited to policy formation, that is, until the establishment of IBS. Therefore, future studies shall conduct a research on the implementation of the actual policy, IBS’s achievements and IBS’s impact of Korea’s basic science community.

This study applied both a theoretical framework and in-depth interviews along with the literature overview to understand a policymaking process from various angles.

The purpose of this study is to present an in-depth examination of stakeholder engagement processes in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from the perspective of NGO managers to enhance accountability and the effectiveness with which aid services are delivered. Specifically, demand-side (downward) accountability and the implications of an accountability system that is predominantly supply-side (upward) focused are explored.

This study draws on evidence gathered from 25 in-depth interviews with representatives of leading NGOs in Nigeria to explore and uncover the nature of stakeholder engagement and accountability processes in their respective organisations. This study shows prospects for entrenching organisational reform that balances power and influence that benefits the less economically powerful demand side of the stakeholders. A relevant aspect of stakeholder theory was used to frame the analysis.

The study reveals an overlay of a blanket engagement system and a seeming reluctance of NGOs to disclose critical information to the demand-side stakeholders (DSS), and suggests ways to meet sustainability demands and address the militating concerns. A perceived lack of understanding and prospects or outcomes of demand-side accountability are central to this; however, engagement outcomes that account for impact rather than output are explored and reported. The findings suggest that proper accountability involves adequate stakeholder engagement which is a prerequisite and paramount for sustainability.

This study primarily delineates NGO managers’ views on NGO engagement and accountability dynamics. Future research may explore the perspectives of downward stakeholders themselves. The study highlights the concern for NGOs to maintain a defined stakeholder engagement process that resists external forces that may impact on their operations and derail their mission, resulting in duplication of services.

The study shows the implications of donors’ influence on accountability practices which can be improved by re-structuring supply-side stakeholders to significantly include DSS accountability requirements in the key performance indicators of NGOs in developing countries. The authors present a nuanced perspective to aid delivery and access that ensures improved services and more effective, impactful and sustainable aid which is of practical relevance to NGOs and their accountability mechanism.

This study deepens the understanding of the dynamics of stakeholder engagement and accountability processes and shows that the most effective way to deploy aid funds to meet sustainability goals is to draw on the experiences and local knowledge of the DSS. This would require an effective and results-driven dialogue among all the stakeholders involved. The proposed engagement and management framework contribute to theory and practice by fostering multi-stakeholder cooperation, DSS accountability and the advancement of sustainable development

This study aims and tries to identify and examine the effect of the entrepreneurs' challenges factors (i.e. financial, governmental, personal, educational social and cultural, infrastructural, operational, ethical, and Covid-19) on entrepreneurs' business performance in Jordan country as an emerging economy. Further, try to clarify and identify the main critical factors that affect an entrepreneur's business performance.

A quantitative methodology was used by conducting web-based survey questionnaires with 178 useful responses out of 443 entrepreneurs listed in the Chamber of the industry of Jordan, representing a 40.2% response rate. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Sofware.

The results of this study confirmed the existence of an inverse relationship between entrepreneurs' challenges and entrepreneurs' business performance. The Covid-19 challenges and governmental challenges were found to be the most affecting on entrepreneurs' business performance, whereby the personal challenges had no impact on entrepreneurs' business performance.

The study provides a clear classification of entrepreneurs' challenges, which can be useful for both researchers and entrepreneurs.

This study developed some recommendations that emphasized the government's role in promoting entrepreneurship and supporting entrepreneurs.

This study attempts to define and clarify the impact of entrepreneurs' challenges on their business performance. In addition, this study can be used to promote entrepreneurship and an innovation-stimulating environment through decision-makers.

This paper aims to explore the rationale, the process and the outcomes and risks of place branding in rural China.

An in-depth case study analysis, including interviews, has been conducted.

Place branding in the case of China is practiced and dominated through administrative entities by using subsidies and regional development programs to coordinate, organize and promote local agricultural resources. Although this government-led place branding has effective effects on rural development, it is unsustainable and unstable because it lacks sufficient market and stakeholder participation.

The effectiveness of place branding in China has been examined and proved.

The government’s role in place branding in China should be adjusted. The government should position itself as a service and auxiliary role. Simultaneously, it should strengthen market-oriented operations and stakeholder participation in place branding.

This paper is one of the first contributions to examine the impact of place branding as a rural development policy tool in China, and the in-depth case study examines and proves the effectiveness of place branding in rural China.