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1 – 10 of 55Marilu Fernandez-Haddad, Amanda Aguirre and Maia Ingram
This study aims to explore the role of community health workers (promotoras) as a vehicle to identify and involve stakeholders in cleaning the environment in two community-based…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the role of community health workers (promotoras) as a vehicle to identify and involve stakeholders in cleaning the environment in two community-based social marketing (CBSM) interventions.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper evaluates two CBSM interventions that used a promotora model to address city cleaning efforts; one in Puebla, Mexico and the other in San Luis, Arizona, USA. The qualitative methods included as follows: 25 in-depth and short interviews with managers, residents and promotoras and observational data on the sites with the cleanliness issues which were the focus of the interventions. Open-ended qualitative responses were analyzed for recurring themes.
Findings
This research advances in the area of CBSM by presenting the figure of the “promotora” as a key element that helped to involve diverse groups of stakeholders as active members in two CBSM interventions, and who also facilitated socialization, penetration and co-responsibility in the community in two cleaning interventions. Promotoras have the knowledge of community conditions and the skills necessary to engage community stakeholders in the objectives of a program with community level benefits.
Originality/value
This comparative analysis identifies that CBSM interventions that include promotoras can engage a diverse group of stakeholders achieving participation and co-responsibility in cleaning their environment.
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Sudha Arlikatti, Hassan A. Taibah and Simon A. Andrew
The purpose of this paper is to examine the information channels used by public and nonprofit organizations to communicate disaster risk information to Colonias residents in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the information channels used by public and nonprofit organizations to communicate disaster risk information to Colonias residents in Hidalgo County, Texas. It seeks to find creative and proactive solutions for organizations to improve risk education to these constituents.
Design/methodology/approach
Initially a snowball sampling technique was used to conduct six face-to-face interviews. This was followed by an online survey sent to 64 reputational referrals, of which 23 completed the survey, generating a response rate of 34 percent. A comparative analysis between public and nonprofit organizations and the Fischer's exact test were employed to analyze the data.
Findings
Channel preferences for providing risk information varied with public organizations using the television (TV) and the nonprofit organizations using bilingual staff for outreach. The television, radio, public events, and bilingual staff were considered to be the most effective while social media (Facebook, Twitter, and city web sites) was not considered at all by both groups. Lack of funding and staffing problems were identified as the primary challenges.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation is that the paper focusses on organizations serving Spanish speakers in the Texas Colonias. Future research needs to investigate how other localities at border sites where culturally and linguistically diverse groups might reside, receive and understand risk information. The role of cross-national organizations in creating internationally coordinated plans for disaster communication should also be explored.
Originality/value
It highlights the challenges faced by organizations in communicating risk, especially in border communities where culturally and linguistically diverse groups reside.
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Francisco Alberto Layrisse-Villamizar, Dariela Marina Parra-Elizondo and Gerardo Lozano-Fernandez
Social entrepreneurship (SE) has become the engine propelling the rapid expansion of the social/environmental sector; thus, the authors need to examine it from different…
Abstract
Social entrepreneurship (SE) has become the engine propelling the rapid expansion of the social/environmental sector; thus, the authors need to examine it from different perspectives. First of all, it is vital to understand the concept of SE in an attempt to understand the most basic question: what makes an entrepreneurship social and what makes a social initiative a SE? Second, it is important to know the tools to develop a SE such as the business model canvas and design thinking, among others, which are adapted to SE, as well as tools that are unique to the sector such as impact measurement and impact investing. Third, aspiring SEs have to understand the current ecosystem in order to take advantage of the enormous support that the SE ecosystem has to offer thanks to global players such as Ashoka, the Schwab, and Skoll foundations as well as prominent Latin American players such as New Ventures Group, ANDE, and collective company-driven initiatives such as Momentum led by BBVA Bank that have supported more than 10,000 SE all over the world. Finally, the authors will introduce the case of low-income house builders Hábtiva and a student challenge to ignite aspiring social entrepreneurs. This chapter provides a glimpse of the field SE by focusing in its importance in our current challenging world, its definition, some tools used in the field, the current ecosystem of SE, how to measure social impact, and some cases and challenges.
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Kathryn Connors, Dean V. Coonrod, Patricia Habak, Stephanie Ayers and Flavio Marsiglia
This chapter examines birth outcomes of patients enrolled in Familias Sanas (Healthy Families), an educational intervention designed to reduce health disadvantages of low-income…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter examines birth outcomes of patients enrolled in Familias Sanas (Healthy Families), an educational intervention designed to reduce health disadvantages of low-income, immigrant Latina mothers by providing social support during and after pregnancy.
Methodology/approach
Using a randomized control-group design, the project recruited 440 pregnant Latina women, 88% of whom were first generation. Birth outcomes were collected through medical charts and analyzed using regression analysis to evaluate if there were any differences between patients enrolled in Familias Sanas compared to those patients who followed a typical prenatal course.
Findings
Control and intervention groups were found to be similar with regard to demographic characteristics. In addition, we did not observe a decrease in rate of a number of common pregnancy-related complications. Likewise, rates of operative delivery were similar between the two groups as were fetal weight at delivery and use of regional anesthesia at delivery.
Research limitations/implications
The lack of improvements in birth outcomes for this study was perhaps because this social support intervention was not significant enough to override long-standing stressors such as socioeconomic status, poor nutrition, genetics, and other environmental stressors.
Originality/value of chapter
This study was set in an inner-city, urban hospital with a large percentage of patients being of Hispanic descent. The study itself is a randomized controlled clinical trial, and data were collected directly from electronic medical records by physicians.
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Quentin Wodon, Benedicte de la Briere, Corinne Siaens and Shlomo Yitzhaki
Confronted with rising poverty after an economic crisis in 1995, the Government of Mexico changed its social policy. It terminated universal subsidies for tortilla and funded new…
Abstract
Confronted with rising poverty after an economic crisis in 1995, the Government of Mexico changed its social policy. It terminated universal subsidies for tortilla and funded new investments in human capital through PROGRESA, an innovative program providing school stipends to poor children as well as health and nutrition benefits. After reviewing the main features of PROGRESA, we use the Gini income elasticity to compare the marginal impact of PROGRESA on income inequality with the impact of other social programs. PROGRESA’s impact appears to be larger than the impact of these other programs. The Gini income elasticity for each program is decomposed into two components to measure the targeting performance of each program (i.e. who is participating and who is not), and the impact of the allocation rules for the distribution of the benefits among program participants. Sensitivity analysis is performed with the extended Gini income elasticity. Beyond the impact on inequality of the cash transfers provided by PROGRESA and other programs, we also discuss the programs’ long-term impact on social welfare. Finally, we propose some areas of improvement in the design of PROGRESA and similar programs.
Rafael Robina-Ramírez, Ángel Pizarro-Polo, José A. Folgado-Fernández and Agustín Santana-Talavera
The heritage and tourist attractiveness of Heritage Cities have aroused interest in establishing mechanisms to enhance their value based on the development of sustainability…
Abstract
Purpose
The heritage and tourist attractiveness of Heritage Cities have aroused interest in establishing mechanisms to enhance their value based on the development of sustainability policies. The socioeconomic and socioenvironmental valuation of these heritage sites has become a necessary tool for decision-making.
Design/methodology/approach
Following the recommendations of International Council on Monuments and Sites – ICOMOS, this paper proposes a series of indicators and an exploratory model to define the factors that contribute to their valuation. Following the partial least squares structural equation modelling methodology, information was obtained from 363 intramural residents in the three Heritage Cities that currently have management plans in Spain.
Findings
The results show the importance of specifying indicators of sustainable mobility and socioeconomic and socioenvironmental sustainability for an adequate valorisation of heritage sites.
Originality/value
To this end, it is necessary to follow the guidelines of international bodies such as ICOMOS in relation to the management plans.
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Nuno Baptista, Helena Alves and José Pinho
This paper aims to reinforce the arguments for applying the social support concept in social marketing.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to reinforce the arguments for applying the social support concept in social marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper aims to conceptually outline the potential positive contribution of social support for social marketing practice as a tool to induce behavior change.
Findings
This paper focuses on the philosophical principle of social exchange, highlights the consumer-centered perspective of social marketing, which implies the natural evaluation of the social networks of influence and support and presents social support as a mechanism to induce long-term behavior change.
Research limitations/implications
No empirical (qualitative or quantitative) investigations were used to test the application of the concept in practical interventions.
Practical implications
This paper provides significant insights for intervention developers that can be used to program and theoretically justify future social marketing interventions applying the social support concept.
Social implications
Empirical research concluded for a positive relation between social support and human health and well-being. Thus, increasing the use of the concept in social marketing can serve to attain these social goals.
Originality/value
The concept of social support has gained considerable interest in the areas of behavioral medicine and health psychology. Despite such interest, it is still not clear how it can be approached in social marketing as there is a lack of conceptual literature discussing social support from a social marketing perspective, the number of social marketing interventions operationalizing the concept is limited and, till date, no research has focused in comprehensively establishing a theoretical rationale to operationalize the concept in social marketing.
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Héctor Alonso Olivares Aguayo and Ana Laura Medina Conde
The purpose of this research is to reveal the behaviour of the main Mexican exporting companies during the 2018-2020 period, which covers part of the COVID-19 pandemic phase. The…
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to reveal the behaviour of the main Mexican exporting companies during the 2018-2020 period, which covers part of the COVID-19 pandemic phase. The results indicate that it is not viable to invest in this type of companies for the time being, and this is shown empirically through the traditional Markowitz investment portfolio selection methodology and its extension through the Sharpe model.
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The chapter covers the legal landscape and roadmap of legal aspects for venture capital (VC) investments and financing.Mexico’s VC industry is composed by 63 Mexico-based fund…
Abstract
The chapter covers the legal landscape and roadmap of legal aspects for venture capital (VC) investments and financing.
Mexico’s VC industry is composed by 63 Mexico-based fund managers plus another 50 foreign firms that have done at least one transaction on the past four years. In sum, they have committed over $1.64 billion USD to be invested in the venture space, distributed over a diverse pool of VC stages and industries. As many of 46 funds are focused on seed capital, leaving the rest for later stages.
Regarding deal activity, AMEXCAP has record of 782 VC transactions for a total of $834 million USD invested from 2010 to September 2017. The industry saw its best year in its history in 2016 with the largest number of transactions with 182, representing $209 million USD of capital invested. Of these, 55% of all deals were in the seed stage, 40% in series A and B, and 5% were in later stages.
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