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Book part
Publication date: 6 December 2023

Chen Ying-Ting and Muhammad Ali

Due to its contribution to poverty reduction, which is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, inclusive finance is an issue of discussion. By using a…

Abstract

Due to its contribution to poverty reduction, which is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, inclusive finance is an issue of discussion. By using a bibliometric analysis approach, this study conducts performance analysis and keyword co-occurrences analysis under VOS viewer to synthesize the characteristics and essential dimensions of financial inclusion in Asia. This research studies 1,072 articles contributed by 1,928 authors, during the years 2005–2022. Numerous figures and networks are provided in order to comprehend publication trends, influential authors and their affiliations and countries, influential publications, and keyword occurrences. Six clusters were discovered, and financial inclusion is in the same cluster as financial literacy and financial service. This research will provide valuable insights for governments, regional authorities, and academic researchers, enabling them to enhance their comprehension of Asian financial inclusion and identify prospective avenues for future research. Ahead of this research, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of financial inclusion in Asian countries has not been conducted, as far as the authors’ knowledge goes. The study offers a comprehensive overview of financial inclusion in Asia and reveals insights into the field’s crucial messages. Future researchers can use this knowledge to obtain a deeper understanding of the field.

Details

Financial Inclusion Across Asia: Bringing Opportunities for Businesses
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-305-3

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 June 2023

Maria Dodaro and Lavinia Bifulco

The purpose of this paper is to explore two financial inclusion measures adopted within the local welfare context of the city of Milan, Italy, examining their functioning and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore two financial inclusion measures adopted within the local welfare context of the city of Milan, Italy, examining their functioning and underpinning representations. The aim is also to understand how such representations take concrete shape in the practices of local actors, and their implications for the opportunities and constraints regarding individuals' effective inclusion. To this end, this paper takes a wide-ranging look at the interplay between the rise of financial inclusion and the individualisation and responsibilisation models informing welfare policies, within the broader context of financialisation processes overall.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on the sociology of public action approach and provides a qualitative analysis of two case studies, a social microcredit service and a financial education programme, based on direct observation and semi-structured interviews conducted with key policy actors.

Findings

This paper sheds light on the rationale behind two financial inclusion services and illustrates how the instruments involved incorporate and tend to reproduce, individualising logics that reduce the problem of financial exclusion, and the social and economic vulnerability which underlies it, to a matter of personal responsibility, thus fuelling depoliticising tendencies in public action. It also discusses the contradictions underlying financial inclusion instruments, showing how local actors negotiate views and strategies on the problems to be addressed.

Originality/value

The paper makes an original contribution to the field of sociology and social policy by focusing on two under-researched instruments of financial inclusion and improving understanding of the finance-welfare state nexus and of the contradictions underpinning attempts at financial inclusion of the most vulnerable.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 44 no. 13/14
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 June 2019

Judith Irene Nagasha, Lawrence Mugisha, Elizabeth Kaase-Bwanga, Howard Onyuth and Michael Ocaido

Background: Climate change has been increasingly recognized as a global crisis with effects on gender roles. Recently, communities surrounding Lake Mburo national park, Uganda…

Abstract

Background: Climate change has been increasingly recognized as a global crisis with effects on gender roles. Recently, communities surrounding Lake Mburo national park, Uganda have been experiencing frequent severe droughts. It was against this background that the study was designed to understand the effect of climate change on gender roles.

Methods: This cross sectional study reviewed the effect of climate change on men and women's gender roles using a pragmatic research paradigm based on a thematic review model using participatory methods and a structured questionnaire.

Results: The study found that men and women's gender roles were altered during extreme dryness. Men played their roles sequentially focusing on one single productive role, while women played their roles simultaneously, balancing the demands of each role with their limited available time. Effect of climate change affected productive roles more in Kiruhura district than Isingiro district. There was migration of both men and women in search of water and pasture for livestock in Kiruhura district which distorted gender roles of women. Consequently, women and girl children had a heavier load and were the most people affected by climate change effects in these districts.

Conclusion: Gender roles of communities surrounding Lake Mburo National Park were affected and altered by the effects of climate change. Therefore, institutions offering climate services to local communities should consider gender in decision making, access to resources, information and knowledge during participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Details

Emerald Open Research, vol. 1 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3952

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 May 2023

Grazia Calabro and Simone Vieri

The aim of this paper is to assess whether the current European target to increase the areas under organic farming to 25% by 2030 is attainable and whether the simple increase in…

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to assess whether the current European target to increase the areas under organic farming to 25% by 2030 is attainable and whether the simple increase in areas under organic farming may be sufficient to improve the sustainability of European agriculture.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis has been carried out through a simple data processing related to areas under organic farming, for the period 2012–2020 (Eurostat database), in order to highlight the trends of areas under organic farming and to verify whether the annual average change rates may be compatible with the stated target.

Findings

The analysis showed that organic farming has a productive weight not corresponding to the amount on the total of the areas under cultivation and a small impact on the total of food consumption. It is a plausible hypothesis, the one that shows the increase in areas under organic farming will engage forms of agriculture and farms that, already, are more sustainable, so the achievement of 25% target will not particularly impact the European potential productive and the less environmental sustainable forms of agriculture.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the debate, involving scientific community, policy maker and civil society, about the real contribution of organic farming to sustainability, and it will be developed in future research.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 126 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore barriers and pathways to a whole-institution governance of sustainability within the working structures of universities.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on multi-year interviews and hierarchical structure analysis of ten universities in Canada, the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Brazil, the UK and The Netherlands. The paper addresses existing literature that championed further integration between the two organizational sides of universities (academic and operations) and suggests approaches for better embedding sustainability into four primary domains of activity (education, research, campus operations and community engagement).

Findings

This research found that effective sustainability governance needs to recognise and reconcile distinct cultures, diverging accountability structures and contrasting manifestations of central-coordination and distributed-agency approaches characteristic of the university’s operational and academic activities. The positionality of actors appointed to lead institution-wide embedding influenced which domain received most attention. The paper concludes that a whole-institution approach would require significant tailoring and adjustments on both the operational and academic sides to be successful.

Originality/value

Based on a review of sustainability activities at ten universities around the world, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the governance implications of integrating sustainability into the four domains of university activity. It discusses how best to work across the operational/academic divide and suggests principles for adopting a whole institution approach to sustainability.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 24 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2024

Qiang Zhang, Brian Yim, Kyungsik Kim and Zhibo Tian

The aim of this study was (1) to investigate the relationship between destination image (DI), destination personality (DP) and behavioral intention (BI) in the context of ski…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was (1) to investigate the relationship between destination image (DI), destination personality (DP) and behavioral intention (BI) in the context of ski tourism and (2) especially the role of DP in the relationship between DI and BI among ski tourists.

Design/methodology/approach

We collected data using WJX.CN (N = 400) to test the hypothesized model. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the psychometric properties of the measurement model and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results show that DI directly affects DP and partially affects BI, while DP directly affects ski tourists' BI. In addition, the indirect effect of DP between affective image and BI was significant, showing full mediation, and the indirect effect of DP between cognitive image and BI was significant, showing a partial mediation effect.

Originality/value

The findings enrich the ski tourism literature, contribute to the development of ski tourism in destination cities and the strategic marketing of ski resorts and provide recommendations for ski tourism researchers and marketers.

Details

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1464-6668

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2023

Nathalie Clavijo, Ludivine Perray-Redslob and Emmanouela Mandalaki

This paper aims to examine how an alternative accounting system developed by a marginalised group of women enables them to counter oppressive systems built at the intersections of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how an alternative accounting system developed by a marginalised group of women enables them to counter oppressive systems built at the intersections of gender, class and race.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors draw on diary notes taken over a period of 13 years in France and Senegal in the context of the first author's family interactions with a community of ten Black immigrant women. The paper relies on Black feminist perspectives, namely, Lorde's work on difference and survival to illuminate how this community of women uses the creative power of its “self-defined differences” to build its own accounting system – a tontine – and work towards its emancipation.

Findings

The authors find that to fight oppressive marginalising structures, the women develop a tontine, an autonomous, self-managed, women-made banking system providing them with cash and working on the basis of trust. This alternative accounting scheme endeavours to fulfil their “situated needs”: to build a home of their own in Senegal. The authors conceptualise the tontine as a “situated accounting” scheme built on the women's own terms, on the basis of sisterhood and opacity. This accounting system enables the women to work towards their “situated emancipation”, alleviating the burden of their marginalisation.

Research limitations/implications

This paper gives visibility to vulnerable women's agentic capacities through accounting. As no single story captures the nuances and complexities of accounting, further exploration is encouraged.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the counter-accounting literature that engages with vulnerable, “othered” populations, shedding light on the counter-practices of accounting within a community of ten Black precarious women. In so doing, this study problematises these counter-practices as intersectional and built on “survival skills”. The paper further outlines the emancipatory potential of alternative systems of accounting. It ends with some reflections on doing research through activist curiosity and the need to rethink academic research and knowledge in opposition to dominant epistemic standards of knowledge creation.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 October 2023

Mary Margaret Crowdle, Olivia McDermott and Anna Trubetskaya

This study aimed to bridge the gap between the financial measurement of process improvement ideas and Lean Six Sigma measurements. It was required to increase employee engagement…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to bridge the gap between the financial measurement of process improvement ideas and Lean Six Sigma measurements. It was required to increase employee engagement in process improvement initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

Through both a practical and theoretical application of the Design for Lean Six Sigma methodology, the researcher was able to design a process and a benefit measuring methodology that was acceptable by finance and aligns with the benefits expected from the elimination of the Lean wastes.

Findings

The project found that benefit measurement methodology is not understood by most employees, which leads to a lack of engagement in working on improvements. The result of the study was a model for employees to identify and quantify these benefits. This has resulted in a model for cost-benefit analysis aligning financial costs with non-value add waste costs and cost of poor-quality costs resulting in increased process improvement ideas and activity.

Research limitations/implications

While this study was limited to one company, applying this methodology could benefit any company experiencing the same difficulties.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to try and cost the benefits of LSS projects both from an organisational and generic viewpoint.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2023

Megawati Soekarno, Mohamad Isa Abd Jalil, Suddin Lada, Siti Hajar Samsu, Mohammad Zulfakhairi Mokthar and Shariff Umar Shariff Abd Kadir

The world after the pandemic of Covid-19 is looking at a different environment in teaching and learning and primarily being influenced by general online learning readiness…

Abstract

Purpose

The world after the pandemic of Covid-19 is looking at a different environment in teaching and learning and primarily being influenced by general online learning readiness. Perception towards the measurement of online learning readiness would also need to change. This study seeks to determine whether Malaysian undergraduate students are ready to study online if the Movement Control Order (MCO) is reimposed.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an online poll, this study analysed 299 undergraduate students from Malaysia's public and private universities. The collected data were then analysed using SmartPLS software to test the measurement model and structural equation modelling.

Findings

The findings of this study indicate that computer self-efficacy and self-directed learning have a substantially positive link with online learning preparedness among Malaysian undergraduate students.

Research limitations/implications

Findings in this study indicate that universities should draw comprehensive plans to enhance students' readiness in terms of indicators such as technology usage, technology availability, computer and internet efficacy, self-directed learning and attitude. One of the aspects that require change is online communication self-efficacy. Thus, there is a need for improvement, or this would affect undergraduates adversely, especially in the event of future MCO.

Originality/value

The originality of this article lies in the time frame this study was conducted, where cases of coronavirus infection are seen to increase around the world and there is a possibility that movement restrictions will be re-enforced. The findings in this study are expected to give insight to the government in the effort of the national higher education plan. By not undervaluing previous research models, this research model should give a new perspective to the academic literature on online learning among undergraduate students.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2023

Dimitrios Kafetzopoulos, Spiridoula Margariti, Chrysostomos Stylios, Eleni Arvaniti and Panagiotis Kafetzopoulos

The objective of this study is to improve the food supply chain performance taking into consideration the fundamental concepts of traceability by combining the current frameworks…

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this study is to improve the food supply chain performance taking into consideration the fundamental concepts of traceability by combining the current frameworks, its principles, its implications and the emerging technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

A narrative literature review of already existing empirical research on traceability systems was conducted resulting in 862 relevant papers. Following a step-by-step sampling process, the authors ended up with 46 final samples for the literature review.

Findings

The main findings of this study include the various descriptions of the architecture of traceability systems, the different sources enabling this practice, the common desirable attributes, and the enabling technologies for the deployment and implementation of traceability systems. Moreover, several technological solutions are presented, which are currently available for traceability systems, and finally, opportunities for future research are provided.

Practical implications

It provides an insight, which could affect the implementation process of traceability in the food supply chain and consequently the effective management of a food traceability system (FTS). Managers will be able to create a traceability system, which meets users' requirements, thus enhancing the value of products and food companies.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the food supply chain and the traceability systems literature by creating a holistic picture of where something has been and where it should go. It is a starting point for each food company to design and manage its traceability system more effectively.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 73 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

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