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The China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, hereafter) has reenergized the Silk Road concept, with most literature focusing on the political and economic effects of the BRI. While certain aspects of the Digital Silk Road (DSR), digital component of BRI, have been researched, much less focus has been placed on the technological development, tech transfer and information diffusion aspects of the BRI. The aim of this study is to investigate the opportunities, issues and critiques that have arisen as a result of the Belt and Road Initiative’s implications on innovation, knowledge transfer and dissemination.

Research in its nature is descriptive. Literature reviews are a significant part of the development of a field. Therefore, secondary sources were considered.

The literature and the study have highlighted several opportunities, problems and criticism that decision-makers and the relevant agencies and institutions should take into account when deciding how to move forward with BRI and its digital component DSR.

This paper contributes to the research literature on BRI and its subset DSR’s impacts on innovation, knowledge transfer and information diffusion. In fact, the DSR’s primary aim is to strengthen international cooperation in the digital economy. Furthermore, digital platforms now play a significant role in global trade, emphasizing the necessity of DSR.

Commercial entities have recently expressed growing interest in commercialising indigenous knowledge (IK) due to its enormous economic and intrinsic value. As this happens, custodial communities must not be disadvantaged in the process. This paper aims to understand the legal framework of the commercialisation of IK to identify the opportunities and factors impeding or affecting the commercialisation of indigenous knowledge in Kenya.

The study used a qualitative research approach. An extensive exploratory literature review of existing legal instruments was done to establish the progress and gaps for commercialising indigenous knowledge in Kenya.

The study shows that the legal framework of IK in Kenya is inadequate. There are no well-established frameworks and policies to protect IK in Kenya, and thus, host communities are subjected to exploitation. The diversity of tribes and communities makes it challenging to have a clear framework, mainly because IK is a devolved function. The study identifies the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Act 2016, The National Museums and Heritage Act 2006 and the Natural Products Industry as the key milestones towards commercialisation of IK, while inadequate documentation of IK, communal ownership and inadequate legislation were identified as the main impediments to commercialisation of IK in Kenya.

Owing to the diverse cultures and tribal communities in Kenya, the research could not access all the literature on all traditional IK in Kenya, and very few case studies have been conducted in Kenya.

The gaps identified in the legal framework can form a basis for legislation, policy change, actions and research needed to improve the commercialisation of IK.

The paper underscores the importance of balancing economic empowerment with preserving cultural integrity and protecting indigenous rights in commercialisation.

Today, many industries are implementing creative approaches in response to increasing environmental awareness. It is of great importance to answer the question of whether the military sector, one of the most important sectors, can support renewable energy (RE) adaptation. This study aims to examine how military spending affects the supply of RE in 27 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations as well as the regulatory function of factors such as innovation, international trade and oil prices between 1990 and 2021.

The study examines the effects of military spending, income, green innovation, international trade, oil prices and the human development index on the supply of RE using various econometric approaches, which are the cointegration test, moments quantile regression and robustness test.

The findings demonstrate that all factors, excluding military spending, quite likely affect the expansion of the renewable supply. Military spending negatively influences the RE supply; specifically, a 1% increase in military spending results in a 0.88 reduction in the renewable supply. In addition, whereas income elasticity, trade and human development index in OECD nations are higher in the last quantiles of the regression than in the first quantiles, the influence of military spending and innovation on renewable supply is about the same in all quantiles.

OECD nations must consider the practical implications, which are essential to assess and update the military spending of OECD countries from a green energy perspective to transition to clean energy. Based on the study’s overall findings, the OECD countries should incorporate the advantages of innovation, economic growth and international trade into their clean energy transition strategies to lessen the impact of military spending on renewables.

The study aims to fill a gap in the literature regarding the role of military expenditures in the RE development of an OECD country. In addition, the results of the methodological analysis can be used to guide policymakers on how military spending should be in the field of RE.

In this study, to empirically test the relationship between ethical organizational climate, inner life (IL) and life satisfaction (LS) of employees, a field study was conducted on white-collar personnel working in the service sector in the Istanbul region. The main purpose was to extract an approach that could be applied to simultaneously boost LS and customer orientation for effective service delivery by organizations.

A two-wave time-lagged survey design was used to collect the data over a period of three months. Two sets of self-administrated survey questionnaires were developed for both waves, containing the details of the study and items for measuring variables. The questionnaires were developed in such a manner that the anonymity of the respondents and ethical considerations remained intact. In the first wave, data were collected for two variables, i.e. organizational ethical climate and IL. The measurement scale for organizational ethical climate was adapted from the study of DeBode et al. (2013) and for IL from the study of Fry et al. (2017). In the second wave, data on the remaining two variables (LS and organizational customer orientation) were collected. Direct effects and indirect effects in the hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling (SEM).

This study has found that the organizational ethical climate strengthens the inner lives of employees, which is vital for the organizations from two angles: one, strong IL of an employee enhances his/her own LS and two, stronger IL accentuates customer orientation.

The fact that the context of this study is limited to Turkey and that the participants are selected from among white-collar personnel working in the service sector reduces the representativeness of the research result. In this sense, in the next stages, the model of the research can be retested in different industries or cross-cultural studies can be designed by comparing the study results with samples from different geographies, so that the validity of these relations for different cultures can be seen.

The implications of this study revealed that employees will enjoy their lives more when authorities in organizations adopt organizational policies supporting the inner lives of employees, feel respect for their private areas and make the organizational climate more ethical. Hence, with practices such as workplace spirituality or spiritual leadership that support the inner lives of employees, the motivation and satisfaction of employees can be increased.

This study revealed that inner life strength makes people comparative more ethical in their dealings, which gives them a sense of achievement and enhances work meaningfulness, boosting LS and customer-orientation. The findings of this study are vital for leaders, as they can achieve a conjoint elevation of the LS of their employees and enhance customer orientation for higher organizational performance.

This study is original in emphasizing the positive effect of spiritually powerful inner-life customer-orientedness in employees with empirical proof.

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the citrus trade in Indonesia, the effects of tariff and non-tariff policies on the industry and the welfare of producers and consumers.

The research used annual series data from 1991 to 2021 and employed inferential, simulation, and descriptive analyses. The two-stage least squares (2SLS) of 19 simultaneous equations were used to estimate parameters.

The results indicate that free trade policies and restrictions have influenced the citrus industry, leading to a reduction in Indonesian citrus imports, and increased consumer and producer prices. However, eliminating import tariff policies on citrus from China and import restrictions increased producer surplus while decreasing consumer surplus, government revenue, and total welfare. Therefore, trade policies should be combined with non-trade policies such as citrus region development policies and advancing cultivation technology.

This study provides empirical evidence for the Indonesian government to formulate effective citrus trade and development policies. It emphasizes the importance of carefully considering the impact of trade policy on the citrus industry and the need to implement non-trade policies such as citrus zone development policies and advancing cultivation technology to benefit both producers and consumers.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2023-0148

This article focuses on regional-level cooperation in higher education by examining the functional, organizational and political approaches (FOPA) framework for higher education regionalization and using supra-national regional universities as established and successful examples of regional-level higher education cooperation among countries.

A conceptual framework is used to provide the structure for analyzing the key approaches to higher education regionalization, followed by an analysis of supra-national regional universities to demonstrate the application of the model.

The FOPA framework for higher education regionalization includes three approaches. The first is the functional approach, which includes both collaborative academic and research activities among higher education institutions as well strategies and policies to help align systems across a region. The second is the organizational approach, which focuses on networks, organizations, institutions and programs, which facilitate partnerships. The third is the political approach, which includes regional-level agreements, declarations and strategic plans to promote higher education collaboration. Key higher education activities for each approach are discussed in generic terms, with examples provided from major regions of the world.

The research was based on desk research only. No interviews were conducted.

A conceptual analysis and a model were provided for the concept of regionalization of higher education and for regional universities, which can help readers locate their interests and research in the regionalization of higher education. Examples of three different types of regional universities were provided to give concrete illustrations of a regional university.

One of the rationales driving regional universities is to address and increase a sense of regional identify and to meet the social, economic and educational needs of the specified region.

Regional universities, such as the University of West Indies, Arab Open University and the Pan-Africa University, are an understudied phenomenon. Using them as innovative and sustainable examples of higher education regional cooperation and the FOPA model, this study illustrates how single-campus, multiple-campus and virtual regional universities are functioning to meet the diversified needs and priorities across a region through cooperation among countries.

This paper aims to examine and compare the export performance and competitiveness of Indian and Chinese textile and clothing industry in post-multifibre arrangement (MFA) era.

Balassa’s revealed comparative advantage Index is used to assess the competitiveness of Indian and Chinese textile and clothing exports.

The results indicate that China’s textiles and garments sector holds a greater proportion of the global market compared with India. India has a robust comparative advantage in silk, carpets and cotton post-MFA. Vegetable textile fibers, paper yarn and woven fabrics of paper yarn are also competitive. China had a strong comparative advantage in silk and fabrics; special woven fabrics, tafted textile fabrics, lace, tapestries, trimmings and embroidery in 2005. China also recorded comparative advantage in silk, man-made filaments: strip and the like of man-made textile materials, fabrics; special woven fabrics, tafted textile fabrics, lace, tapestries, trimmings and embroidery and fabrics; knitted or crocheted in 2021.

This study’s results and recommendations could assist the Indian and Chinese Governments develop policies to upgrade their garment industries.

Though vast literature reviews are available for textile and apparel export performance in India and China separately, there are few studies on comparisons. This study is a significant attempt to evaluate India and China’s competitiveness in the global market.

The paper provides a detailed historical account of Douglass C. North's early intellectual contributions and analytical developments in pursuing a Grand Theory for why some countries are rich and others poor.

The author approaches the discussion using a theoretical and historical reconstruction based on published and unpublished materials.

The systematic, continuous and profound attempt to answer the Smithian social coordination problem shaped North's journey from being a young serious Marxist to becoming one of the founders of New Institutional Economics. In the process, he was converted in the early 1950s into a rigid neoclassical economist, being one of the leaders in promoting New Economic History. The success of the cliometric revolution exposed the frailties of the movement itself, namely, the limitations of neoclassical economic theory to explain economic growth and social change. Incorporating transaction costs, the institutional framework in which property rights and contracts are measured, defined and enforced assumes a prominent role in explaining economic performance.

In the early 1970s, North adopted a naive theory of institutions and property rights still grounded in neoclassical assumptions. Institutional and organizational analysis is modeled as a social maximizing efficient equilibrium outcome. However, the increasing tension between the neoclassical theoretical apparatus and its failure to account for contrasting political and institutional structures, diverging economic paths and social change propelled the modification of its assumptions and progressive conceptual innovation. In the later 1970s and early 1980s, North abandoned the efficiency view and gradually became more critical of the objective rationality postulate. In this intellectual movement, North's avant-garde research program contributed significantly to the creation of New Institutional Economics.

This article provides an overview and analysis of 50 years of European policies, actions, and challenges to align its higher education and research, as well as lessons learned from this for similar initiatives elsewhere.

The study builds on a comprehensive overview and study of policy documents and scholarly literature to identify by decade the main policies and actions and the related challenges towards a European Higher Education and Research Area.

The findings make clear the key rationales, challenges, shifts and lessons to be learned from 50-year European policies for the alignment of higher education.

Its value lies in the historical overview and analysis of current initiatives, in particular the European Universities Initiative (EUI), to provide a historical and geographical context, which might give insight for similar initiatives elsewhere.

This study aims to further develop the CLC stage/path’s identification model that distinguishes between path’s emergence (emergence stage), path’s development (growth stage), path’s sustainment (maturity stage), path’s decline (decline stage) and path’s transformation (renewal stage), and by applying it, define the current stage/path of the Demarcated Douro Region (DDR) cluster. The Port wine industry, which is the dominant industry of the DDR cluster, is at the maturity/decline stage – is the same for the cluster itself?

It is a case study with a longitudinal perspective based on the analysis of the dynamics of the parameters of cluster evolution using available secondary sources (cluster identity/brand; number of firms; number of employees; network; innovation; policies and regulations; and external markets – exports), especially addressing the past decade, that represent the stage of maturity/decline of the cluster’s dominant Port wine industry.

The conclusion is that since the 1990s the Demarcated Douro Region has gone through a “path transformation” where during the following 20 years new “anchors” for the cluster were gradually introduced, such as Doc Douro Wines, new forms of consumption of Port wine, tourism and olive oil. Since 2010 the cluster has entered a growth stage/(new) path’s development, where these “anchors” are in steady growth. The Douro brand is becoming more internationally recognized and established, the number of firms and employees is increasing, the network is restructuring with the creation of cluster-specific official institutions, innovation is especially reflected with increasing heterogeneity through diversification of the clusters into new activities and regulations and policies are supportive for expansion – all these parameters are indicating the rise of the new cycle for the cluster. Thus, the DDR cluster represents an attractive business environment and requires attention from regional policymakers to support the cluster’s development. Especially institutions have been highlighted as internal factors driving clusters growth, European integration as an external factor and firms’ strategies of diversification and internationalization as an appropriate de-locking mechanism for new path’s development.

This research contributes to the CLC theory by further developing and applying a CLC stage/path identification model. It provides a better understanding of the dynamics of the DDR cluster that diverge from its dominant industry life cycle, which is relevant for regional policies and firms’ strategies. This study has its limitations. It provides an exploratory application of the theoretical framework proposed, and consequently, no general conclusions are possible yet. More empirical studies with different clusters in different stages are necessary to test the framework.

These findings are useful to policymakers when designing their policies for cluster development but also for clusters’ entities and actors when making their strategic decisions as it allows based on the verification of the established parameter of CLC to identify its current stage/path of development.

The paper presents a theoretically grounded model for CLC identification and for the first time to the best of the authors’ knowledge applies it to a cluster case – the DDR cluster. This case applies the proposed model and illustrates its usefulness. The model provides the tools for a better understanding of cluster dynamics.