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Since the last decade, debates regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of the forms of transfer, i.e. in the form of in-kind or cash transfers, have been gaining momentum. This paper aims to explore the preferences revealed by the beneficiaries, the role of contextual conditions in moulding these preferences, factors associated with the transfer scheme that defines the preferences and the rationale behind such responses.

The study conducted involves primary data collected from an Indian state, Odisha. 308 beneficiaries of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) were interviewed concerning specific objectives in a rural district (Mayurbhanj) and another highly urbanised district (Khordha).

The comparative results show that the strength of the contextual conditions significantly influences the preferences of the beneficiaries in the rural district as compared to the effect on the beneficiaries of the urban district. Education seems to have an insignificant impact in rural areas. However, income and standard of living have positive significant effects on shaping the preferences for cash or in-kind transfers.

Examining the strength of the contextual conditions and emphasising beneficiaries' perspectives would stimulate a better understanding of the implementation of the proposed quasi-Universal Basic Income. The study would hence, be instrumental in dealing with the transition towards cash transfers in the Indian context where the co-responsibility of both stakeholders, the government and the beneficiaries, should be given equal weightage.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-03-2023-0158

This paper aims to define intergenerational housing support and assesses and synthesizes the existing literature on intergenerational support for housing to identify trends and possible areas for future research.

The methodology employed in this paper is a systematic literature review. A total of 32 articles were chosen for assessment. Upon thorough review, summary and synthesis, general trends and three specific themes were identified.

The review of 32 papers found that intergenerational support is a crucial strategy to help younger generations achieve homeownership. However, it also highlights the potential for social inequity resulting from unequal distribution of housing resources within families, especially regarding housing. Several potential gaps in the current research are identified, including the need for explicit attention to the provider's intention, exploration into the size and form of financial support for housing, understanding how parental housing resources differ in their transfer behaviors, and examining how parental motivations influence them to provide housing support.

This paper provides recommendations for further research on the topic, while also adding perspective to understand the micro-social mechanisms behind the intergenerational reproduction of socioeconomic inequality, especially in the housing market.

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) are exposed to a highly competitive environment in which they are forced to grow their commercial activity to acquire additional financial resources. This study aims to create an understanding of how NPOs involved in textile reuse as a revenue-generating programme manage their reverse supply chains (RSC).

The research involves an embedded single-case study of NPOs in Finland involved in post-use textile collection. The main data sources are semi-structured interviews and participant observations.

This study is inspired by the microfoundations movement and identifies the underlying microfoundations of the NPOs’ capabilities for managing RSC for textile reuse. The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating NPOs’ lower-level, granular practices and their adaptations for achieving quality outcomes in textile reuse.

The findings have context sensitivity and apply to the NPOs which operate in a context similar to Finland, such as in other Nordic countries.

This study continues the discussion on the adoption of “business-like” practices in the NPOs’ pursuit of additional revenue streams to finance humanitarian work. The findings of this study can also be transferred to the growing area of domestic textile circularity.

Using the case of NPOs in textile reuse, the study illustrates how RSC management can serve a social, non-profit cause and transform unwanted textile products into a source of fundraising for humanitarian work.

This enriches the understanding of NPOs’ practices within the scope of revenue-generating programmes by examining one of them – textile reuse through charity shops from an RSC perspective.

This study aims to understand the socioeconomic impact of flood events on households, especially household welfare in terms of changes in consumption and coping strategies to deal with flood risk. This study is based on Bihar, one of the most frequently flood-affected, most populous and economically backward states in India.

Primary data were collected from 700 households in the seven most frequently flood-affected districts in Bihar. A total of 100 individuals from each district were randomly selected from flood-affected villages. Based on a detailed literature review, an econometric (probit) model was developed to test the null hypothesis of the availability of consumption insurance, and the multivariate probability approach was used to analyze the various coping strategies of these households.

The results of this study suggest that flood-affected households maintain their consumption by overcoming various losses, including income, house damage and livestock loss. Households depend on financial transfers, borrowings and relief, and migrate to overcome losses. Borrowing could be an extra burden as the government compensates for house damage and crop loss late to the affected households. Again, there is no compensation to overcome livelihood loss and deal with occurrences of post-flood diseases, which further emphasizes the policy implications of strengthening the health infrastructure in the state and generating alternative livelihood opportunities.

This study discusses flood risk in terms of changes in household welfare, identifies the most effective risk-coping capabilities of rural communities and contributes to the shortcomings of the government insurance and relief model.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2023-0569

This study investigates the impact of international remittances on the economic growth of remittance-receiving countries, using data from 113 developing countries between 1990 and 2015.

The authors used a novel approach to address the potential endogeneity of remittances. The authors estimated bilateral remittances and use them to create weighted indicators of remittance-sending countries, which the authors then use as instruments for remittance inflows to remittance-receiving countries.

The results indicate that while remittances have a positive impact on economic growth in developing countries with high human capital, they do not contribute to growth in developing countries with low human capital. The authors also examined the channels through which remittances affect growth. The findings suggested that remittances do not impact labor supply in developing countries with high human capital, but they reduce labor supply in countries with low human capital. Additionally, remittances increase investment in physical capital in developing countries with high human capital, but they do not have an effect on investment in developing countries with low human capital.

The authors investigated the impact of remittances on economic growth using a novel approach to address the endogeneity of remittances. Additionally, the authors examined the different indirect channels through which remittances can impact economic growth, such as their effect on labor supply and investment.

This study aims to build on the emerging understanding that small enterprise growth results from a confluence of different factors. This study seeks to provide additional insights into the nature of these factors and how they influence the growth process of small businesses in rural communities in Ghana.

This study undertook a qualitative investigation of 28 small enterprises in three Ghanaian rural districts. Interviews were conducted with owners of the businesses.

The results indicate that growth-enabling conditions such as entrepreneurial ambition, market demand and infrastructure combine with finance to define small enterprise growth trajectories in rural Ghana. However, finance may not always be the major factor driving the growth.

Most past studies about small enterprise growth in Africa have concentrated on firms in urban communities and see finance gap as the most serious constraint to growth. This study joins the few recent studies about rural enterprise growth in Ghana, showing that the growth of these businesses depends on an interplay of a variety of factors.

This study examined the impact of the Input Credit Scheme (ICS) by the Integrated Water Management and Agriculture Development (IWAD) on the productivity and food security of smallholder rice farmers in Ghana.

Cross-sectional data from 250 rice farming households in the Mamprugu Moagduri district of the North East Region obtained from a multi-stage sampling technique were used for the study. Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment (IPWRA), Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Kendall's coefficient of concordance were the methods of analysis employed.

Empirical results show that education, rice farming experience, dependency ratio, FBO membership, farm size and farm age were the significant factors influencing participation in the input credit scheme (ICS). Also, participants had an average rice productivity of 1,476.83 kg/ha, whereas non-participants had 1,131.81 kg/ha implying that participants increased their productivity by about 30%. In addition, the study revealed that participant households increased their household dietary diversity (HDDS) by 0.45 points amounting to about 8% diversity in their diets. High-interest rates associated with credit received, the short periods of credit repayment and the high cost of inputs provided under the scheme were the most challenging constraints associated with partaking in the ICS.

The available literature on agricultural interventions have predominantly emphasized input credit as a key factor for improving cropt productivity and food security of smallholders. This study provides compelling evidence that participation in ICSs can result in substantial benefits for agricultural development, as evidenced by increased productivity leading to improved food security. The significance of these findings is highlighted by the fact that, through participation in input credit schemes, smallholder rice farmers in many developing countries see substantial improvement in their capacity to access productive resources, thereby improving their productivity, while simultaneously reducing food insecurity.

Leveraging on the improved productivity of participants in the ICS, this study advocates that such input credit schemes should scale up to more food-insecure farming communities in Ghana.

The study uses a doubly robust econometric approach to evaluate the impact of ICS on smallholder rice farmers' productivity and food security in Ghana, making it the first of its kind. The findings offer a solid basis for future research and provide guidance for policymakers looking to boost agricultural development in Ghana.

This study aims to propose an analytical tool based on the activities–resources–actors (ARA) model to understand the coordination mechanisms in humanitarian action. The tool identifies the phases of humanitarian action and analyzes the underlying mechanisms that facilitate coordination among organizations.

This study uses a literature review to develop analytical grids and theoretical propositions based on the ARA model.

The ARA model is a useful tool for understanding coordination mechanisms in humanitarian action. The study identifies key elements of interaction systems and characterizes the phases of humanitarian action. Effective coordination among organizations is essential for successful aid delivery. The study provides four theoretical propositions.

Future research could validate the propositions formulated in this study through case studies.

The analytical grids proposed in this study can be used by humanitarian organizations to improve their coordination mechanisms and aid delivery processes.

Effective humanitarian action can help alleviate the suffering of individuals affected by crises and contribute to the overall well-being of communities. The analytical tool proposed in this study can improve the effectiveness of humanitarian action and ultimately benefit society.

This paper presents an original approach by leveraging the ARA model to develop an analytical tool for humanitarian action, which is useful for both practitioners and researchers. In addition, the paper attempts to overcome the siloed vision of humanitarian action by highlighting “emergency-development” aspect.

China is the only major economy in the world that has achieved positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2020. The paper aims to explore the effect of China's public policy restarting supply and consumption after coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).

Affected by the epidemic, global economic growth slowed down. Using the stock price data of Chinese A-share listed company, combining natural experiment and event study method, the paper examines the policy effects of work resumption and consumer vouchers.

Compared with demand capacity, the work resumption has a more significant role in promoting the supply industry. Issuing consumer vouchers can effectively promote local demand recovery, and the effect is mainly concentrated in the industries involved in consumption vouchers. At the same time, public management capacity and the income level of residents play an important role in restarting supply and demand.

Understanding China's public policies and effects are of positive significance to the restoration of economic development in other countries.

The study contributes to knowledge by empirically examining the effect of China's public policies against the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper also expands the scope of policy-oriented research based on the perspective of supply and demand capacity building.