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In response to multiple disruptions, the purchasing supply management (PSM) function in construction supply chain management (CSCM) has gained prominence due to stakeholder pressures, dynamic market conditions and the need to adhere to complex sustainability, safety and health regulations and standards. However, there is a noticeable absence of empirical research on measuring and mitigating PSM vulnerabilities, especially considering the distinct challenges faced by large engineer-to-order project-oriented manufacturers. To address these issues, the purpose of this study is to develop and test a novel method to assist companies in construction supply chains in assessing and managing risks associated with sustainable procuring and sourcing materials.

Grounded in the literature gaps on construction PSM and a real case supply chain, the research uses the design science research (DSR) approach to develop an integrated method for assessing PSM strategies in this sector. The method integrates three essential purchasing dimensions: supply risks, profit impact and sustainability risks of materials, supported by nine subdimensions. Empirical validation took place within a multinational European construction company based in Denmark.

Findings from the supplier–buyer relationships confirmed that the developed method allows for the identification of the key components that significantly impact supplier–buyer relationships, profitability and sustainability. The research further suggests that construction supply chain managers and purchasing practitioners can use the proposed method to evaluate PSM, thus enabling them to make more informed decisions.

Through the utilization of the proposed artifact, construction companies can take a more proactive approach to address PSM uncertainties, thereby enhancing their competitiveness in dynamic construction supply chains.

The research contributes to bridging the theory and practice, providing valuable assistance for construction companies assessing and managing the PSM and supply risks within global construction value chains. This paper provides original insights for the CSCM, aiding in adopting competitive PSM strategies to improve overall supply chain performance.

The importance of purchasing and supply management (PSM) for business performance has received considerable attention in recent years. However, research on PSM training and education is inadequate. This paper aims to present initial findings from PSM practitioners about current PSM training and education needs in Hong Kong.

An industrial survey of PSM participants was conducted. Of the 405 PSM practitioners contacted, 53 responded to the survey, for a response rate of 13.1 percent.

The study identifies current trends, skills and knowledge areas for PSM professionals. The results show that the trends of PSM focus on purchasing cost reduction, the skills focus on negotiation and communication, and the knowledge on supply analysis and relationship management. The study also finds that companies tend to adopt on‐the‐job training for PSM staff but lack a systematic PSM training approach.

The study suggests that human resource development for PSM staff must focus not only on tactical techniques, but also on managerial knowledge and skills. However, the sampled companies are weak at providing PSM training and measuring its results. As this study is limited by the small sample size and the nature of the surveyed region, more empirical research will be required to study the effectiveness of PSM training on business performance.

This study shows that companies are weak at staff training in the studied region. Most of the companies surveyed do not have formal training programs and training effectiveness measurements. Knowledge of this is essential for other similar organizations wanting to improve their PSM personnel.

This paper identifies current trends, skills and knowledge required for PSM in Hong Kong, which have not previously been reported in literature.

This paper aims to demonstrate how activity‐based pricing can be applied in a restaurant setting by combining the use of price sensitivity measurement with activity‐based costing.

Data are collected at a Hong Kong buffet restaurant, based on guests' price perceptions and the establishment's detailed cost structure. These data are analyzed by using price sensitivity measurement techniques and activity‐based costing methods, separately, and then combined to create an activity‐based pricing analysis of the restaurant's menu.

The use of activity‐based pricing techniques reveals that, although the guests are relatively price‐insensitive, drastic measures were needed to reduce costs for the restaurant to become profitable. Without the benefit of this study, the restaurant's management would not have been able to see clearly the nature of the challenges that they faced, since a single pricing study, or cost study, would have missed the combined cost and pricing effects that were captured by activity‐based pricing.

Activity‐based pricing is shown to be a powerful technique that can be applied effectively in a restaurant. Utilizing this method allows a restaurant truly to understand both its operating cost structure and the price perceptions of it guests. Since this study involved only a single buffet restaurant, further research should be conducted to confirm that activity‐based pricing can also be applied in other restaurant and hospitality industry settings.

The findings from this study suggest that activity‐based pricing may be a viable way for restaurant managers to gain a better understanding of both their guests' price perceptions and the true cost structure of their restaurants. Use of activity‐based pricing allows restaurant managers to set price levels that cover all operating costs and profits, while still meeting guests' expectations of value.

This study is the first of its kind in the hospitality literature, since no prior research has applied activity‐based pricing in a hospitality research setting. This study represents an important new addition to the existing body of hospitality cost and pricing literature.

The purpose of this paper is to assess how the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) renewable energy policy (EREP) affects energy intensity using the difference-in-difference (DID) and the propensity score matching methods (PSM). Based on the current debates on renewable energy policies (REP) and due to the fact that energy efficiency has been a challenge for ECOWAS member states. The authors set up a framework to assess the EREP effect on energy intensity.

Using the DID and PSM approaches the paper assesses the effect of EREP on energy intensity. The following three different paths are considered: Path 1 tests the EREP effect on electricity access. Path 2 tests the use of renewable energy sources as a factor to enhance the energy intensity. Path 3 tests whether or not use of renewable energy deployment has the potential to raise the total percentage of primary energy supply. The principle is to investigate if and to what extend the EREP increases the energy intensity.

The results indicate that EREP has a significantly positive effect on increasing the percentage of energy intensity in ECOWAS member states that has implemented the policy, resulting for a large percentage of the population to electricity access in treated groups. Empirical estimation results largely corroborate the three paths’ hypotheses. The result indicated that the EREP has increased the percentage of electricity access throughout the region.

The paper explores a more appropriate framework to examine the effect of EREP and enriches the literature on the impact of REP by combining a policy evaluation approach (PSM-DID) method. This paper is the first to the knowledge to estimate the EREP effect by using a non-parametric approach. The majority of previous studies have focused on using case studies, exploratory analysis approaches and econometric methods.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of using computers to obtain information on the farm household’s production and consumption based on a field survey of farm households in the northern China.

The most important methods applied are instrumental variable (IV) method and propensity score matching (PSM) method. Estimators of IV, PSM and nearest neighborhood matching approaches are considered together to check the robustness of empirical results.

This paper careful impact evaluation results suggest that the use of computer not only improves the size of arable land rented in but also reduces family labor input intensity and the probability of selling agricultural outputs at farm-gate markets. Moreover, it also stimulates transportation, garment, housing and insurance expenditures per capita.

The database of this research comprises cross-section data, which does not support a cross-time comparison.

These results imply that it is vital to expand the coverage of computer use in rural areas. This may suggest that the importance of improving computer access is crucial for stimulating rural consumption increase. Furthermore, the need for the expansion of internet network coverage in western areas is also of importance.

First, the authors directly estimate computer usage impacts on a broader range of production and consumption indicators by including land-relative investments, variable investments, labor input and household’s expenditure and provide rigorous impact evaluations on the impact of access to computer. Second, the authors use IV and PSM methods to correct self-selection bias, going beyond the single equation approach in other studies. This enables us to identify the causal relationship between computer usage and farmer’s production and consumption decisions.

This study aims to construct an evaluation system for farmers’ livelihood capital in minority areas and evaluate the impact of relocation in response to climate change on farmers’ livelihood capital.

According to the characteristics of Yunnan minority areas, the livelihood capital of farmers in minority areas is divided into natural, physical, financial, social, human and cultural capital. The improved livelihood capital evaluation system measures farmers’ livelihood capital from 2015 to 2021. The net impact of relocation on farmers’ livelihood capital was separated using propensity score matching and the difference-in-difference (PSM-DID) method.

The shortage of livelihood capital makes it difficult for farmers to resist climate change, and the negative impacts of climate change further aggravate their livelihood vulnerability and reduce their livelihood capital. Relocation has dramatically increased the livelihood capital of farmers living in areas with poor natural conditions by 15.67% and has enhanced their ability to cope with climate change and realise sustainable livelihoods.

An improved livelihood capital evaluation system is constructed to realise the future localisation and development of livelihood capital research. The PSM-DID method was used to overcome endogeneity problems and sample selection bias of the policy evaluation methods. This study provides new ideas for academic research and policy formulation by integrating climate change, poverty governance and sustainable livelihoods.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the most comprehensive and substantial international cooperation platform, creating a new market influenced by economic and political factors. In this paper, the authors aim to examine whether and how the BRI impacts the Chinese enterprises' corporate environmental responsibility (CER).

Based on China's listed firms' database from 2011 to 2018, the authors use the PSM-DID method, an econometrics method combined with propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID), to conduct causal inference between the BRI and Chinese enterprises' CER and conduct a series of robustness analyses. Moreover, the authors explore the mechanisms underlying the main effect from both market and non-market perspectives.

The results suggest that the BRI significantly increases Chinese enterprises' CER. Further analyses show that market competition and government support are two possible mechanisms through which the BRI has an effect on the enterprises' CER.

The research study supplements existing work on the environmental effects of the BRI at a microlevel and adds to the literature on the drivers of CER. The findings offer valuable insights into governments and scholars by demonstrating that CER is a crucial tool for Chinese enterprises to gain a competitive advantage in the increasingly competitive markets along the BRI.

Carbon reduction in the construction industry is related to the achievement of carbon emission peaks and carbon neutrality targets. Therefore, exploring the influence of current carbon reduction policies on the construction industry is necessary. China’s low-carbon pilot (LCP) policy has been extensively studied, while LCPs mechanism and effectiveness on carbon reduction in the construction industry remain to be explored.

This study selected four provincial LCP regions as case studies and adopted the grounded theory method for case studies to analyze the implementation mechanism of the LCP policy on carbon reduction in the construction industry. Then, this study adopted the propensity score matching and difference-in-differences regression (PSM-DID) approach to evaluate the influence of the LCP policy on carbon intensity (CI) in the construction industry by using panel data taken from 30 provinces in China between 2008 and 2017.

The authors found that (1) the LCP policy promotes carbon reduction in the construction industry through the crossing implementation mechanism of five vertical support approaches and five horizontal support approaches. (2). The LCP policy can significantly reduce CI in the construction industry.

The study not only explored how is the LCP policy implemented, but also examined the effectiveness of the LCP policy in the construction industry. The policy implications of this study can help policy-makers better achieve low-carbon development targets in the construction industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of e-wallet on farmer’s welfare in Nigeria.

Primary data were used to collect information on 81 users and 123 non-users of e-wallet system. Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) analysis was used to profile farmer’s poverty status, while propensity score matching (PSM) was used to assess the impact of e-wallet on welfare using per capita expenditure as its proxy.

The FGT analysis shows that poverty incidence, depth, and severity were found to be higher among non-users of e-wallet than its users. The PSM analysis showed that e-wallet had a positive impact on welfare; Rosenbaum sensitivity analysis revealed that the findings are sensitive to hidden bias due to unobserved characteristics.

The relevance of matching method depends on data availability for the specific policy problem. Hence, the study is limited to the use of the PSM because of the limitation of household data availability to only a sample of farmers in Oyo State.

This paper examines the impact of the new system of input distribution (e-wallet) on farmer’s welfare.

Production credit is essential for enhancing the technical efficiency (TE) and the welfare of smallholder farmers in Africa. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of credit on smallholders’ TE using cross-sectional data from 223 maize-producing households in Northern Ghana.

Due to the exogenous assignment of credit and assumption of homogeneity in farm technologies, the propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to compare the average difference in TE between farmers that had received credit and those that had not.

The results revealed that production credit impacts positively on smallholder farmers’ TE. Access to production credit is significantly influenced by access to markets and extension services, distance to market, asset index and land fragmentation. The provision of credit enhances the timely purchase and efficient allocation of farming inputs to produce the maximum possible output. Per capita income and land fragmentation also play important roles in reducing smallholders’ TE.

To increase efficiency gains, credit programs for agricultural interventions should target resource-poor smallholder farmers. The efficiency gains can be sustained through stronger partnerships with financial institutions. Policy interventions aimed at increasing smallholder farmers’ access to production credit (e.g. through the creation of a conducive investment environment that lowers the lending rate and collateral requirements) must be vigorously pursued.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is one of the only recent studies to examine the impact of credit on the TE of farming households by applying the translog stochastic frontier production function and the PSM approaches.