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The purpose of this paper is to understand whether or not factors that impact the performance–innovation nexus differ from one percentage level of performance to another among small- and medium-sized enterprises in regional Australia, with a specific focus on e-innovation by strategic and non-strategic firms in the agricultural sector and in other industries.

Researchers implicitly assumed that the performance–innovation relationship is uniform across high-level, mid-level and low-level performing small- and medium-sized enterprises. In this study, the authors analysed performance at different percentage levels.

The findings indicate that the levels of small- and medium-sized enterprises performance have a significant difference in terms of the factors influencing their performance. The industry may be a determinant of performance, which is similar in the case of the topmost performers in the non-agricultural sector. The major findings of this study are as follows: the performance–innovation relationship differs by the percentage level of small- and medium-sized enterprises performance; and Solow’s productivity paradox exists at the firm level.

The authors recommend that rural policies should target low-performing firms. Moreover, researchers should adopt methodologies that shed light on the differences in the performance–innovation nexus across performance levels rather than one-size-fits-all methodologies that are often adopted.

The major contributions of this study are that the performance–innovation relationship differs by the level of small- and medium-sized enterprises performance, and Solow’s productivity paradox exists at the firm level.

This paper aims to investigate and comprehend the nature of the relationship between e-government development and the digital economy.

A multidimensional research paradigm is developed on the basis of the technology adoption model and Fountain’s technology enactment theory. The model is empirically examined using a regional study of 20 Asian countries.

A positive two-way relationship between e-government development and the digital economy has been indicated by the findings. Moreover, along with social, economic, political, technological and demographic factors, certain national cultural characteristics have significant effects on the digital economy and e-government development.

One of the key limitations of the study is that it is based on publicly available secondary data. Therefore, some degree of caution should be kept in mind when making generalisations about the findings of this study.

The contribution of this study is that it provides a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the dynamic association between e-government development and the digital economy by providing aid to policymakers in understanding the nature of dynamic relationships between the digital economy, government organisations and citizens’ adoption of technologies.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have received much attention as a tool for development for several decades. One way in which ICTs were introduced in developing countries, particularly prior to the advent of smartphones, was through shared access and information centres. Many of these were established as pilots, but were unable to operate without external funding and were often declared failures. And some of them probably were, particularly those that focussed exclusively on ICT as a technology, rather than on how the centres could contribute to improving livelihoods. The purpose of this paper is to explore how some centres, namely “Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) Gonokendra” in three villages of Bangladesh, influenced socio-economic development.

This study was informed by the Heeks and Molla’s extended information chain model and Sen’s “development as freedom”. The field study was undertaken in three BRAC Gonokendras located in different villages in rural Bangladesh.

While the authors found that the centres contributed to socio-economic development, this contribution was limited by social constraints, hindering the well-being of individuals and families. Addressing social constraints thus remains a challenge in order for ICTs to contribute to development.

The extended framework to investigate ICT-led socio-economic development implies that ICT as a catalyst can promote development at micro/community level only by simultaneously addressing social constraints.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors which influence refugee migrants’ adoption of digital technology and its relevance to their social inclusion in Australia.

This research developed a conceptual framework keeping the “use” of digital technology as the centre-piece of the digital divide. The empirical data were derived from a series of focus group discussions with refugee migrants in an Australian regional city, Toowoomba in Queensland.

There is a digital divide among refugee migrant groups and it is based on inequalities in physical access to and use of digital technology, the skills necessary to use the different technologies effectively and the ability to pay for the services. The opportunities to use digital technology could support the social inclusion of refugee migrant groups in the broader Australian community.

Further research is required to examine whether this digital divide is unique in the regional context or common to Australian society and to confirm factors that might contribute significantly to refugee migrants’ social inclusion.

This paper determined the role digital technology can play in building social capital and hence social inclusion among refugee migrant groups. Many of the factors identified as influencing refugee migrants’ use of digital technology can inform the Australian government and the information and communication technology industry in devising supportive policies and plans to reduce the risk of social exclusion, alienation and marginalisation among refugee migrant groups.

This paper aims to examine rice farmers' selection of adaptation strategies to cope with and offset the effects of climate change and the determinants of those selections in Rajshahi, a severely drought-prone district of Bangladesh.

Farm-level micro data were obtained from 550 rice growers in the 2010-2011 farming season. A multinomial logit (MNL) model was utilised to assess the determinants of adaptation strategies practised by farmers in response to climate change.

Results from the MNL model indicate that gender, age, education of household heads, household assets, annual farm income, farm size, tenure status, farmer-to-farmer extension, access to credit, access to subsidy, and access to electricity, all affect farmers' selection of adaptation strategies for climate change.

This is the first study of its kind to analyse the determinants of adaptation strategies for climate change by farmers in drought-prone areas of Bangladesh. This study provides direction for policy makers in order to strengthen the adaptation strategies of farmers and guide policies accordingly. These strategies have the potential to minimise the adverse effects of climate change.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of the judiciary in ensuring legal accountability of government officials and its impact on governance in the context of Bangladesh. Although, the judicial system of Bangladesh comprises Supreme Court, subordinate courts and tribunals. However, this study focuses Supreme Court only to keep the study in a manageable extent.

The study is qualitative in nature and based on content analysis. Dhaka Law Report (DLR), which is a monthly published report on case laws[1] decided by the Supreme Court has been selected as content for this study. Some case laws selected from DLR (2004‐2008) were analyzed using purposive sampling method, with a view to evaluating the effectiveness of judiciary (as an external but formal mechanism of accountability) in accountability of government administration and management and its impact on overall governance.

The most important finding of this paper is that the judiciary is very effective for ensuring legal accountability of government officials, which ultimately contributes to human rights and good governance. However, a major problem found was that until and unless an affected person files a case against a government authority, maintaining the required procedures of judiciary, it (the judiciary) has no scope to settle any disputes. Though there is a provision of Suo Muto (by own initiative) rule of the Supreme Court, this practice is very rare in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the executive is responsible for implementing the verdict of the judiciary. Therefore, if the government has not enough respect for, or does not care to implement judiciary's verdict, justice and rule of law will not be ensured. This study also found some cases like this.

This work does not address detailed issues of governance and is not based on empirical data.

This is a mixed study of judiciary and public administration, which is very rare in Bangladesh. Therefore, it will be brought into line with current practice by the concerned researchers and policy makers in public administration and judiciary.

This paper will be of interest to legal practitioners, policy makers, academicians and those in the field of governance.

The purpose of this paper is to outline and examine existing economic findings about the effects of information and communication technology on economic productivity, welfare and social change.

Initially, existing findings about consequences of ICT for macro-level economic activity and productivity are outlined, and then this is correspondingly done for firms and for industries before a variety of welfare and social consequences of ICT are discussed. The industry-level discussion includes empirical data as well as analytical material.

Most studies indicate that ICT has significantly added to GDP and has been growth enhancing but these effects vary considerably between economies. The elasticity of aggregate production in relation to investment in ICT has risen with the passage of time. Reasons for this are suggested. The contribution of value added to the output of different industries varies substantially. At the micro-economic level, it is shown how ICT can increase technical and allocative efficiency, and how it can increase consumers’ surplus and producers’ surplus by lowering market transaction costs. Socioeconomic inequalities and concerns arising from the supply of e-commodities are discussed.

Provides a comprehensive but short overview of economic findings about the impact of ICT and brings attention to socioeconomic issues that have been overlooked or downplayed in that discussion. Includes new micro-economic analysis of the distributional impact of ICT and indicates areas requiring social policy intervention.

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of cloud accounting (CA) in Oman’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The research model is developed based on relationships between technology, organisational and environmental contexts.

This study used a questionnaire to collect data from a sample of SMEs in Oman’s information and communication sector. In total, 300 enterprises were selected, and the questionnaire was distributed to the executives. The questionnaires valid for analysis were 159. The collected data were analysed using structural equation modelling through analysis of a moment structures software.

This study tested seven factors, namely, support from top management, firm size, infrastructure (technology readiness), security and privacy, compatibility, competitive pressure and relative advantage. The results revealed that compatibility has a significant impact on the adoption of CA.

This study suggests the mangers in SMEs should play a more decisive role in identification of technological, organisational and environmental factors that affect the success of implementing CA in a comprehensive model.

This study constitutes a management strategy that helps the enterprises in light of limited economic resources and concerns about the use of cloud services to make the appropriate decision in adopting CA.