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1 – 10 of 115Andrew Ebekozien, Clinton Ohis Aigbavboa and Mohamad Shaharudin Samsurijan
Though alternative building technologies (ABTs) have been encouraged to address accessible and affordable issues in low-cost housing (LCH) provision, their adoption is still…
Abstract
Purpose
Though alternative building technologies (ABTs) have been encouraged to address accessible and affordable issues in low-cost housing (LCH) provision, their adoption is still overwhelmed with encumbrances. The encumbrances that hinder ABT adoption require an in-depth study, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. However, studies regarding ABT and its role in improving Nigeria's LCH to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 are scarce. This research investigates encumbrances to ABT adoption in Nigeria's LCH provision and suggests feasible measures to prevent or reduce the encumbrances, thereby improving achieving SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities).
Design/methodology/approach
This research utilised qualitative research and adopted a face-to-face interview as the primary data collection. The interviewees comprised ABT practitioners and end users in Nigeria who were chosen by a convenient sampling technique. The study's data were analysed manually through a thematic approach.
Findings
This study shows that stakeholders should embrace ABT in LCH provision to improve achieving SDG 11 in Nigeria. Also, it clustered the perceived 20 encumbrances to ABT adoption in LCH provision into government/policymaker, housing developers/building contractors, ABT users and ABT manufacturers-related issues in Nigeria's context. This study suggested mechanisms to mitigate encumbrances to ABT adoption in LCH provision, thereby improving achieving SDG 11.
Originality/value
This research adds to the limited literature by analysing ABT adoption encumbrances in Nigeria's LCH provision, which could assist policy formulation for the uptake of ABT in LCH provision and improve achieving Goal 11.
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Education to an international standard that can provide successful careers has arguably been the main drive of many parents to allocate scarce financial resources to the education…
Abstract
Education to an international standard that can provide successful careers has arguably been the main drive of many parents to allocate scarce financial resources to the education of their progenies. Competition for high-calibre degrees has seen an explosion of opportunity in the private education sector. As many Global South countries do not have the equivalent control of standards provided in the United Kingdom (UK) by the Quality Assurance Agency, this can lead to dissatisfaction with the qualifications received in the Global South. This chapter aims to explore the factors influencing participation in higher education in the Global North versus the Global South, particularly where these relate to or vary by locality, and the relative influence these have on the propensity of the learners living in these areas to progress into higher education in local universities. The conceptual framework and methodology provided in this chapter show the differences between transnational education (TNE) as primarily a standalone or independent activity supported by a UK higher education institution (HEI)/provider versus being a collaborative effort between a UK host university and a South/Southeast Asian HEI university partner. The methodology provides a strategy for UK host institutions to best provide carefully aligned independent or collaborative partnerships with the partner country regulatory bodies. The chapter concludes with the author’s personal reflections and recommendations based on decades of collaborative and independent university provision of TNE. These reflections are focused on design-based courses in selected South/Southeast Asian HEI partnerships with the College of Architecture and Design at Birmingham City University.
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Ewald Kuoribo, Peter Amoah, Ernest Kissi, David John Edwards, Jacob Anim Gyampo and Wellington Didibhuku Thwala
Prodigious teamwork is the basis for augmenting the level of productivity on construction projects. Globalisation of the construction market has meant that many practitioners work…
Abstract
Purpose
Prodigious teamwork is the basis for augmenting the level of productivity on construction projects. Globalisation of the construction market has meant that many practitioners work outside of their geographical spectrum; however, the multicultural dissimilarities of construction workforces within the project management team (and how these may impact upon project productivity performance) have been given scant academic attention. To bridge this knowledge gap, this paper aims to analyse the effects of a multicultural workforce on construction productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
The epistemological positioning of the research adopted mixed philosophies (consisting of both interpretivism and postpositivism) to undertake a deductive and cross-sectional survey to collate primary quantitative data collected via a closed-ended structured questionnaire. Census sampling and convenience sampling techniques were adopted to target Ghana’s construction workforce and their opinions of the phenomenon under investigation. Out of 96 questionnaires administered, 61 were retrieved. The data obtained were analysed by using mean score ranking, relative important index, one sample t-test and multiple regression. The reliability of the scale was checked by using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.
Findings
From the t-test analysis, 11 variables sourced from extant literature, and the null hypothesis for the study was not rejected and all factors (except high cost of training and improper gender diversity management) were affirmed as negative effects of the multicultural workforce on construction productivity. Using multiple regression analysis, six of the independent variables were shown to impact upon productivity. The goodness of fit was verified by collinearity and residual analysis. The model’s validation revealed a relatively high predictive accuracy (R2 = 0. 589), implying that the results could be generalized. In culmination, these findings suggest that the predictors can be used to accurately predict the effects of multicultural workforce on construction productivity performance.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that multicultural workforce/teams have a substantial effect on overall construction productivity in the construction sector; consequently, stakeholders must address this issue to enhance productivity across the sector.
Originality/value
The current study significantly contributes to our understanding of how multicultural workers/teams affect construction productivity in the construction business perspective and how to respond to the negative menace.
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Ephraim Zulu, Sambo Lyson Zulu, Mwansa Chabala, Neema Kavishe, Charles Chifunda and Innocent Musonda
While previous studies have highlighted the importance of incorporating environmental sustainability in building designs, there is a paucity of studies that assess the extent to…
Abstract
Purpose
While previous studies have highlighted the importance of incorporating environmental sustainability in building designs, there is a paucity of studies that assess the extent to which design teams in developing countries consider environmental sustainability at the building design stage. Therefore, using Zambia as a case study, this study examined the extent to which infrastructure design teams in a developing country consider environmental sustainability at the design stage.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a qualitative research approach using structured interviews because there are hardly any studies which have explored the extent to which designers incorporate environmental sustainability in infrastructure designs in developing countries. The data is analysed thematically using the ATLAS.ti software.
Findings
The results show that environmental sustainability is not an important design consideration because it is secondary to functional, technical and aesthetic considerations. Environmental considerations are also made in an ad hoc manner and when it is cost-effective for the project. Regulatory requirements pertaining to environmental protection are adhered to without any cost considerations. It was, therefore, theorised that building design teams in developing countries make technical, functional and aesthetic consideration during the infrastructure design stage ahead of environmental considerations.
Originality/value
There is a paucity of studies that have investigated whether building infrastructure designers consider issues of environmental sustainability at the design stage in developing countries. The findings have practical implications on how developing countries can foster environmental sustainability at the design stage and avoid generating a building infrastructure stock that will require environmental resilience adaptation in the future.
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Kabiru Kamalu and Wan Hakimah Binti Wan Ibrahim
This study examines the effect of digitalization on poverty and income inequality in developing countries. The study answers the question of whether digitalization is a way for…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the effect of digitalization on poverty and income inequality in developing countries. The study answers the question of whether digitalization is a way for developing countries to get out of poverty and income inequality.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses data from 17 developing countries with data from 2005 to 2021. The study employs fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), with an augmented mean group (AMG) for robustness. Digitalization, as the variable of interest, is proxied by the digitalization index (DI), constructed using principal component analysis (PCA). The dependent variables are poverty and income inequality, which are used in different models.
Findings
The evidence indicates that digitalization decreases poverty and income inequality in developing countries. These findings are justified when we use the AMG estimator, but the strength of the coefficients and significance levels are higher in the FMOLS and DOLS estimators. The results of the control variables also show that human development (LHDI), CO2 emissions and foreign direct investment (FDI) have decreasing effects on poverty and income inequality. Thus, digitalization is a good option for developing countries to get out of poverty and income inequality to achieve sustainable development goals (1&10).
Originality/value
This study provides rigorous empirical evidence on the effect of digitalization on poverty and income inequality in developing countries. Unlike the previous studies on developing countries, this study used a DI to proxy digitalization. In addition, the authors use FMOLS and DOLS estimators, with an AMG estimator for robustness, to provide long-run coefficients.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2023-0586
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This paper aims to introduce a growth comprehensive pattern to explain the phenomenon of individual foreign investment, first at the global level and then at the regional level…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce a growth comprehensive pattern to explain the phenomenon of individual foreign investment, first at the global level and then at the regional level. The patterns are developed based on a number of main theories with grounded theory (GT) as the foundation, distributed on the two pull and push forces of international business theory and migration theory; simultaneously, it is classified on the three levels (attribute–consequence–value [ACV]) of means-end theory.
Design/methodology/approach
An embedded method is applied to generate two complementary datasets from two approaches: in-depth interviews and secondary data analysis.
Findings
In this structure, the investor plays a central role as the decision-maker based on the entrepreneur's motives for internationalization (economics-driven and psychology-driven factors) and the householders' motives for emigration (aspiration and access capabilities). The external forces considered are a push from the home country (structures) and pull from the host country (immigrant investment programs [IIPs]), in which the factor of (dis)trust/misconception as a moderator has an additional impact on this mobility. Demographic factors such as gender, region, generation/age, level of education, religion and occupation generally describe the characteristics of each specific target group.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is to develop a conceptual framework.
Originality/value
The results of this study, in addition to fulfilling its own objectives, will also serve as the foundation for further research in several scientific fields such as economics, sociology and politics.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2022-0786
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Tamer Koburtay and Zaid Alqhaiwi
Informed by the concept of well-being in Islam and the eudaimonic view of psychological well-being (PWB), and drawing on resilience theory, this study aims to understand (1) the…
Abstract
Purpose
Informed by the concept of well-being in Islam and the eudaimonic view of psychological well-being (PWB), and drawing on resilience theory, this study aims to understand (1) the implications of residing in conflict areas for entrepreneurs’ PWB, (2) the barriers facing entrepreneurs in these areas and (3) the implications of their religiosity for their PWB.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing an interpretative qualitative method, this study employed 22 entrepreneurs residing in conflict areas (Palestine and Libya). Thematic analysis was used to explore the participants’ experiences and insights.
Findings
The findings show that living in conflict areas enhances certain components of entrepreneurs’ PWB, such as self-acceptance and having a purpose in life and diminishes other components of their PWB, including environmental mastery, personal growth, the presence of autonomy and positive relations with others. Additionally, the findings suggest that religiosity, viewed through an Islamic lens, positively contributes to entrepreneurs’ PWB and identify societal (macro level) barriers faced by entrepreneurs in these areas.
Originality/value
The study is theoretically and contextually relevant and offers novel insights into the interplay between religion and well-being in conflict areas. It presents a reinvigorated awareness, opens specific research directions and permits the contextual applicability and possible extension of resilience theory.
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Devid Jegerson and Charilaos Mertzanis
In the evolving landscape of global remittances, this study systematically explores cryptocurrency's transformative impact on remittance services through a comprehensive…
Abstract
Purpose
In the evolving landscape of global remittances, this study systematically explores cryptocurrency's transformative impact on remittance services through a comprehensive literature review and bibliometric analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
Through meticulous PRISMA-guided analysis, the research identifies cryptocurrency technology as a pivotal force in enhancing remittance efficiency, reducing costs and broadening access contributing significantly to financial inclusion.
Findings
Findings revealed that cryptocurrency technology could significantly enhance remittance services, offering improved efficiency, reduced costs and increased accessibility. This suggests a transformative potential for financial inclusion, presenting a compelling case for broader adoption and regulatory support to leverage these benefits effectively.
Research limitations/implications
By integrating recent research, this work underlines the urgent need for broader adoption and regulatory support to leverage these benefits effectively. It offers novel insights for institutions and policymakers, highlighting the potential for technology adoption in remittances to enhance financial inclusivity.
Originality/value
More cryptocurrency studies are needed to concentrate on remittance markets. Thus, this investigation constitutes a unique addition to the field. Additional investigation in this domain presents significant possibilities for future exploration and progress.
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Muhammad Ayat, Azmat Ullah and Changwook Kang
The primary purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the unsolicited proposal (USP) and the performance of private participation infrastructure (PPI) projects…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the unsolicited proposal (USP) and the performance of private participation infrastructure (PPI) projects in developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The main data set for this study was collected from the World Bank database consisting of 8,951 PPI projects that occurred in developing countries from 1996 to 2020. Hierarchical logistic regression was applied for investigating the effects of USPs on project success. Three moderators, namely, control of corruption, presence of local sponsor and project size were also included in the model to test the impact of their interactions with the USP on the performance of PPI projects. Further, to assess the impact of the effect of USPs, the average marginal effect was calculated. The framework used in this study consists of 18 control variables, three moderators and one noncontrolled independent variable (the USP).
Findings
The results of hierarchical logistic regression indicate that USPs have a significant and negative effect on the success of PPI projects occurring in developing countries. The negative effect of a USP weakens with the presence of local sponsors and stronger control of corruption in the host country. However, contrary to the authors’ expectations, the results show that project size does not significantly affect the association between USPs and the success of PPI projects. Moreover, the results of average marginal effects show that the negative impact of USP on the success of PPI projects ranges between 2.4% and 3.8%.
Originality/value
This study quantifies the negative impact of USP on the success of PPI projects in developing countries, which will be helpful for the practitioners to understand the associated risk with USP projects. Furthermore, it also identifies the moderating roles of control of corruption and the presence of local sponsors on the relationship between USP and the success of PPI projects.
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently relaunched Nigeria’s cashless policy initiative which seeks to reduce financial crime and tax avoidance, decrease cash dependency…
Abstract
Purpose
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently relaunched Nigeria’s cashless policy initiative which seeks to reduce financial crime and tax avoidance, decrease cash dependency, advance the adoption of digital financial services (DFS), decrease the risks to the payment system and foster financial inclusion. This study aims to identify the unique challenges of going cashless in Nigeria, particularly in terms of infrastructural, exclusionary and cost implications of the policy on the average citizens.
Design/methodology/approach
The author applies a doctrinal research methodology to identify and reflect on key challenges of the cashless policy from the economic, regulatory and transactional perspectives.
Findings
The cashless policy initiative in Nigeria heralds value for financial integrity, financial policy regulation and user convenience. The mode of introduction, however, ushers in significant challenges and hardly considers Nigeria’s inadequate payment infrastructure, persistent financial exclusion, low levels of financial and digital literacy and capability, high cost of using DFS and pervasive proclivity for cash. As Nigerians adjust albeit inconveniently to the policy, the CBN can ameliorate the hardship by strengthening the payment infrastructure, particularly for digital payments, fostering consumer trust by safeguarding user funds and enabling consumer preferences.
Research limitations/implications
Research materials include the national regulator’s policy documents and newspaper articles that have not been published in formal reports but non-the-less adequately mirror the policy intention of the CBN and the lived experiences of Nigerians.
Practical implications
This study identifies the practical steps and regulatory measures that the CBN can take to improve acceptance and meaningful and sustainable adoption of the cashless policy by the majority of Nigerians.
Social implications
The recommendations that are proffered provide some rich insights to inform regulatory direction for the CBN to seamlessly phase-in the cashless policy and consequently drive down financial exclusion in Nigeria.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the policy discussion around the introduction of the cashless Nigeria project. The doctrinal research method highlights the policy intentions of the regulator in juxtaposition with lived experiences of Nigerians. This study offers recommendations to bolster financial inclusion, stability and integrity.
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