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In most Sub-Saharan African countries, a widely adopted policy to increase access to healthcare is the complete or partial removal of health user fees. This paper examines the effect of removing health user fees on the cognitive development of children in Ghana.

The study uses the Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey (GSPS) and a difference-in-differences method to analyze the impacts of free healthcare.

The findings show that improved access to healthcare enhances the cognitive ability of children. More importantly, children who received free healthcare in early life experienced significant improvement in their cognitive ability. The benefits are also huge for girls and children from low-income families. The findings further show that maternal health, the timely receipt of vaccinations and regular infant health visits are important operative channels through which improved access to healthcare affects children’s cognitive ability.

There are several studies on the effects of eliminating health user fees on various outcomes, but only a few focus on children’s outcomes. This study contributes to the literature by focusing on a vital child outcome, cognitive ability and exploring the timing and pathways through which abolishing health user fees affect cognitive development in children. Because cognitive ability is crucial for educational and labor market outcomes, the findings are useful for policymakers in determining the population to target and the timing of interventions that yield huge impacts when designing health intervention programs in developing countries.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-11-2022-0739.

A key meta-narrative of Employment Relations in the UK over recent decades has been that of labour market deregulation. However, governments have simultaneously introduced workplace rights legislation that juridified individual employment relationships. Within this process, employers and their representatives, Employers’ Organizations (EOs), are generally depicted as opposing the introduction of employment law or attempting to weaken its application. Contrary to this belief, our research identified a range of other responses to ask: how and why have EO responses varied?

This article draws on primary qualitative and quantitative data from three projects; one examined the totality of EOs in the UK while the others examined topic-specific behaviour of EOs and other actors. The main source is the first project and its 98 interviews with representatives of EOs and related organisations between 2013 and 2017.

We demonstrate that opposition is not the only EO response to individual employment law by identifying three others: compliance, advocating for law and going beyond legally stipulated requirements by promoting voluntary standards/best practice. The article argues that there are two explanations for this pattern. One is that individual EOs possess different sets of member interests, the other relates to differences in their organizational characteristics.

The article makes two contributions to the literature. One is that our identification of varying responses challenges more unitary accounts emphasising neoliberal and deregulatory patterns. The other lies in our identification of causal forces not previously identified. Both combine to illustrate how the neo-liberal order is not characterised by employer consensus as to regulation.

Despite the government’s efforts to protect domestic industries from foreign competition through tariffs, the industrial sector’s contribution to GDP continued to decline in Nigeria. Based on the scenario, this study assessed the symmetric and asymmetric effects of tariffs on industrial performance in Nigeria for the period 1988–2021. Tariff was captured with a tariff rate applied to the weighted mean of all products, while industry value added as a percent of GDP was used as a proxy for industrial performance.

Linear and nonlinear ARDL techniques were used for the analysis.

The symmetric (linear ARDL) results revealed that tariffs have a significant positive effect on industrial performance in both the short and long term. The asymmetric (nonlinear ARDL) results showed that a long-term asymmetry exists between tariffs and industrial performance. It revealed positive effects on industrial performance for both positive and negative tariff changes, with the negative change having a greater impact.

Generally, the results showed that the use of tariffs to protect domestic industries in Nigeria promotes industrial performance. The implication is that the declining contribution of the industrial sector to GDP in Nigeria is not a result of the tariff policy. It shows that the government should look beyond tariff policy to enhance the industrial contribution to GDP.

Nigeria should exercise caution in using tariff policies to protect domestic industries to avoid retaliation from their trade partners that could reverse the positive impacts.

Menstruation is a part of the female reproductive cycle that begins with adolescence. Menstruation is a natural change; it relates to several malpractices and misconceptions that may contribute to adverse health outcomes.

The authors have searched relevant papers using Google Scholar and PubMed to write this mini review.

During menstruation, poor hygiene maintenance can cause serious illness, which includes the urinary tract and reproductive tract infection. Menstruation management is a hygienic system, and it is essential for females because poor hygiene maintenance during menstruation can cause some infections and numerous sexually transmitted diseases. There are a few nanotechnology-based products that have come into the market to offer some relief to females during their periods.

This mini review will help researchers to design innovative female hygiene products that can relieve the discomfort caused to women during their reproductive age.

Breastfeeding bras are functional garments having specialised features to facilitate easy breastfeeding. The purpose of this paper is to design and develop breastfeeding bra prototypes with a focus on the needs of the user.

The method uses gathering breastfeeding user requirements through consumer surveys. The subsequent data analysis and a literature review provided the basis for feature selection for the breastfeeding bra designs. The bras were constructed using ultrasonic welding and bonding techniques. The mechanical properties of the fabric were measured. Lastly, the designed bras underwent a wear trial to evaluate their effectiveness.

The bra prototypes use non-restrictive designs and aesthetically appealing construction methods with smooth panel joints. The results of the wear trial demonstrated the successful incorporation of user requirements in the final product.

The insights from user-need mapping through consumer surveys and a literature review provided the basis for the new design of breastfeeding bras using stitchless technology. The developed bras have unique features that have not been explored earlier in this product category.

This study aims to use hexanediol, pentaerythritol and keratin as crosslinking agents on the acrylic fabric used as garments.

Plain 1/1 acrylic fabric was produced with 14 and 11 weft yarn/cm using yarn count 28/2 Ne, then it was modified with different agents, and the effect of crosslinking on some of the inherent properties was determined. The color strength as well as washing fastness was evaluated. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy determined the changes that acted in the structure of the treated acrylic fabrics. Several physical and functional utility characteristics were studied such as stiffness, crease recovery, tensile strength and elongation, pilling, air permeability, absorbency and static electricity.

Polyacrylonitrile is one of the man-made materials used in the textile field; despite novel characteristics, it has some negative properties, especially in absorbency and pilling, which are improved after treatment.

The results presented that the different conditions that were used with cross-linkers enhanced the acrylic fabrics properties. Where analysis of variance test at P-value 0.05 and radar chart area offered that the treated acrylic fabric with 5% (w/v) keratin accomplished the highest preferable properties for end use.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Chinese female executives and corporate risk-taking the contingencies that affect this relationship.

A integrated theoretical framework was established, on the basis of which theoretical hypotheses were developed and tested using 20,315 firm-year observations collected from China’s publicly listed companies during the period 2005–2020. Data were collected from China's Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share Stock Exchanges and analyzed using a moderated regression analysis, PSM, 2SLS-IV and PSM-DID model.

The empirical results indicate a negative effect of the ratio of female executives in top management team on corporate risk-taking, and this negative effect can be weakened by the social capital of board directors and the regional marketization.

The paper contributes to research on the relationship between female executives and risk-taking by considering the effect of eastern culture on female executives’ business decision-making and examining the moderating factors inside and outside the firm.

The paper illustrates the active steps that corporations can take to enhance female executives' willingness and capacity to take firm-related risks so as to improve the firm value in the long run.

The paper explores how Chinese culture and Chinese traditional value affect female executives’ decision-making on risky projects or uncertain investments. In addition, our study for the first time examines the moderating effect of board social capital as an internal factor and marketization as an external one on the relationship between Chinese female executives and corporate risk taking. The research examines the gender inequality in the work and competitive environment facing female executives in the areas of different marketization level, which would affect female executives’ cognition and motivation in corporate risk taking.

This study aims to examine how veganism is “seen” by young adult non-vegan consumers and how prevailing attitudes reinforce or challenge stigmas around veganism.

Photovoice methodology was used to explore young non-vegan consumers’ attitudes and beliefs towards veganism. Data was collected from students studying advertising at a major university in Australia, who produced images and narratives reflective of their own attitudes towards veganism. Polytextual thematic analysis of the resulting visual data was then undertaken to reveal the dominant themes underpinning participants’ attitudes. Participant narratives were then reviewed to confirm whether the ascribed meaning aligned with participants’ intended meaning.

Participant images were reflective of first, how they saw their world and their place within it, which showed the interplay and interconnectedness between humans, animals and nature, and second, how they saw vegans within this world, with both positive and negative attitudes expressed. Interestingly, vegans were simultaneously admired and condemned. By situating these attitudes along a spectrum of moral evaluation, bounded by stigmatisation and moral legitimacy, participants saw vegans as being either Radicals, Pretenders, Virtuous or Pragmatists. For veganism to become more widely accepted by non-vegans, there is an important role to be played by each vegan type.

This study offers a more nuanced understanding of how and why dissociative groups, such as vegans, become stigmatised, which has implications for messaging and marketing practices around veganism and associated products/services. Future research could use a similar methodology to understand why other minority groups in society are stereotyped and stigmatised, which has broader social implications.

Taking instances from extant findings from the literature, the study aims to examine the community perception toward renewable energy (RE) off-grid (mini-grid/microgrid) intervention, the underlying rationales for engagement of communities in RE off-grid projects, the different alternatives/models to engage communities in various phases of RE off-grid project deployment.

The study has followed the structured literature review to explore the identified research question of the study.

Based on findings from the review, the framework for effective community engagement in RE mini-grid projects is suggested. Furthermore, the study also draws suggestions and implications for future research and practice.

Based on such understanding the present study offers the framework which suggests the steps for the engagement of the communities in the off-grid projects. The key steps are managing the perception of the community (including generation of awareness among the community), planning for the benefits of the community, linkage the sustainable development goals (SDG), planning for the inclusion of the community and measuring performance (in the line of social and economic criteria and SDG).

This study finds the gap in the literature on the nexus of community, off-grid energy projects and SDG. Following the findings from the scholars in this field, a few gaps in the policy and practice have been highlighted which could be useful for practitioners and policymakers in this area.

This study aims to examine the factors that affect individuals’ intentions of participating in waqf-based crowdfunding model in Kuwait.

This study adopted the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. The data were collected by online questionnaire survey based on 419 donors in waqf institutions in Kuwait. The data were analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique.

The results illustrate that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating condition positively affect behavioural intention towards waqf-based crowdfunding projects.

The paper presents an alternative source for waqf institutions to raise capital to develop waqf assets in majority and minority Muslim countries. The findings of this study hold significant implications for government officials and policymakers.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to explore waqf crowdfunding in Kuwait using the UTAUT model. There needs to be more research on waqf-giving behaviour in Kuwait, particularly concerning crowdfunding, which has become more popular recently. Thus, this paper aims to address this gap and contribute new insights to the field.