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This study analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on agricultural production in South India by evaluating the influence of market channels and socioeconomic conditions on the production decisions of farmers during two key cropping seasons. We base our analysis on primary data from 200 marginal, small and medium farmers, primarily focusing on the key seasonal crops, namely paddy and black gram.

We studied the downstream supply chains of paddy and black gram crops in the district of Villupuram, situated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Using a Bi-Probit model, we analyzed the production decisions of marginal, small and medium farmers engaged in paddy and black gram cultivation. Various factors are considered, including farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics, gender, market channels accessed and the coping strategies employed.

After the easing of lockdown measures in June 2020, our research revealed substantial disruptions in agricultural production during the critical Kharif and Rabi seasons. Most farmers refrained from returning to their fields during the Kharif season; those who did produced millet as the main crop. Factors such as choice of market channels in previous seasons, economic status, access to all-weather roads, labor availability, gender and coping strategies played an important role in the return to production in the subsequent Kharif and Rabi seasons.

Our data revealed several interesting threads related to price volatility, irrigation and access to markets and their impact on food security. The role of intermediaries and market channels in providing liquidity emerges as an important aspect of farmers' choice of markets. The pandemic impacted all these factors, but a detailed analysis was beyond the scope of this study.

We also find that resilience to economic shocks varies not only by economic status but also by gender and social groups. Farmers with female members are more likely to be resilient, and marginal and small farmers primarily belong to social groups that are economically less developed.

This study contributes to the literature on factors influencing farmer choice and decision-making and provides nuances to discussions by analyzing crop-specific supply chains, highlighting the critical role of socioeconomic factors. It also highlights the role of demographics and infrastructural factors like access to all-weather roads and access to markets that influence farmers’ production decisions.

This paper showcases how the PAR embedded in posthumanist perspectives enabled us to navigate several complexities in the field through methodological situatedness and pluralism. It also attempts to critically outline the drivers and barriers that shaped our capacities to engage with the PAR.

The Tamil Nadu state in the Bay of Bengal along the southeast coast of India is one of the six regions in the world where severe tropical cyclones originate throughout the year. Storm surges in this region are well known for their destructive potential due to strong winds and heavy rainfall. This paper describes our participatory action research (PAR) journey towards strengthening grassroots action by providing access to safe and affordable housing for cyclone-impacted households (CIHs) in the Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, India. The PAR was guided by an adaptive innovation model (AIM) that draws inspiration from posthumanism, action research and reflective practice traditions.

The insights from the PAR insist that we must recognise and work with diverse knowledge systems and situated practices to develop meaningful disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate adaptation strategies. Our approach has to be rooted in the lived experiences of various vulnerable groups, their entanglements with nature and their everyday struggles of interacting with a complex social-ecological system.

This paper is an outcome of a PAR in a cyclone-impacted village in Tamil Nadu, India. The discussions and findings of the paper are original in nature and have not been published elsewhere.

The study aims to understand why women-owned microenterprises (WOMEs) in India experience a lower growth rate, where growth can be represented in increments in the venture’s size or scope. There is no conclusive understanding of the factors that affect the sustained growth of WOMEs in India.

What personal, social and economic factors support or hinder the choice, growth and sustainability of women-owned ventures? What role do institutional factors (government, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), self-help groups and microfinance institutions) play toward the sustainability of WOMEs? The answers to these questions were obtained through a qualitative design by interviewing 30 micro women entrepreneurs from Tamil Nadu, a Southern state of India and one of the largest hubs for WOMEs and their responses were content analyzed using NVivo 12 software.

The findings capture and apply the fundamentals of two key theoretical perspectives, resource-based view (RBV) and self-determination theory (SDT), in identifying the links between the individual, social and economic factors and their combined effect on the sustained growth of women-owned micro businesses. The findings add value in identifying the ingrained cultural norms and traditions and several internal and external factors that support or challenge the growth of WOMEs. This study highlights that the interventions by the government need to be strengthened for the growth and sustainability of WOMEs.

The study’s findings provide suggestions to policymakers, banks, funding agencies, financial institutions and NGOs to design applicable policies and schemes toward the sustained growth of WOMEs.

This study contributes toward a better understanding of the trends in the context of WOMEs from an Indian context. This topic has received little attention in the academic literature. Second, the study’s conceptual contribution is an application of SDT and RBV to understand and categorize the enablers and deterrents in the path of growth of WOMEs, which is a novel pursuit.

Solid, liquid and e-waste pose serious health hazards, environmental pollution and contribute to climate change. To address these issues of solid waste management (SWM), amidst many policy decisions, the Government of India roped in several institutions, including self-help groups (SHGs), into the Swachh Bharat Movement (Clean India Mission). This study aims to illustrate the significant contributions of SHG’s in tackling SWM, particularly the plastic waste menace in India, while fostering socio-economic values and sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Using a from-the-field approach, qualitative data were collected from 30 members of three SHGs to understand their significant contributions in mitigating plastic waste.

This research identifies three major themes: economic value creation, social value creation and SDGs via collection and reduction of plastic waste landfills. Furthermore, several related subthemes are identified.

This study offers pragmatic solutions to deal with plastic waste at personal, community, institutional and governmental levels. Moreover, it recommends engaging SHGs to promote sustainable waste management practices such as segregating wastes at source, regulating plastic bag usage, advocating behavioural change towards waste generation and protecting the environment.

The authors consider a proven case of SHG’s contribution to protect the environment and emphasize the need to involve more such groups in waste management practices.

Logistics sector is recognized as one of the core enablers of the economic development of a nation. However, inefficiency in logistics operations impedes the achievement of intended targets by increasing the cost of doing business. Also, it is difficult to improve the efficiency of a country’s logistics operations without a metric for evaluating and understanding logistics capabilities and efficiency. Therefore, the present study has developed In-country Logistics Performance Index (ILP Index) to propose a benchmarking tool to measure the in-country logistics competitiveness, particularly in the setting of emerging economies, i.e. India.

This study has developed a unified index using principal component analysis and quintile approach. In addition, the proposed index relies on several dimensions that are developed and illustrated using quantitative secondary panel data.

The findings of this study reveal that the quality of infrastructure, economy, and telecommunications are the three most important dimensions that may significantly support the growth of the transportation and logistics sector. The results reveal that Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra are the top performers whereas, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir scores the least due to the insufficient logistics infrastructure as compared to other Indian states.

Given the extensive focus on international-level logistics index (like World Bank’s LPI) in the existing literature, this study intends to develop in-country logistics index to evaluate the logistics capabilities at the regional and state level. In addition, unlike prior studies, this study utilizes quantitative secondary data to eliminate cognitive and opinion bias. Moreover, this benchmarking tool would assist decision-makers in idealizing standard practices toward sustainable logistics operations. Additionally, the ILP index could serve the international investors in crucial decision-making, as it provides valuable insights into a country’s logistics readiness, influencing their investment choices and trade preferences. Finally, the proposed approach is adaptable to measuring the overall performance of any other industry/economy.

The study explores the possibility of developing a valid scale for integrated management of heritage sites to bring a holistic approach to heritage properties' conservation practices.

The study followed the exploratory sequential method. An in-depth interview was adopted for exploring indicators, and a questionnaire survey was administered for descriptive analysis.

Cultural resources conservation strategies have been analyzed from a tourist, local communities and stakeholder's perspective with local-specific indicators. The study indicates that a multi-dimensional approach that integrates tourists, local communities and other stakeholders-based indicators can be developed at the destination level for the integrated management of heritage properties. Tourist-centric, local community-specific and stakeholder-oriented approaches could act as catalysts for more pragmatic conservation practices in the local areas based on the site-specific indicators.

The study is limited to lesser-known heritage sites located in the southern provincial states of India. The technical conservation strategies on the structure and architecture are not part of the study. Theoretical implications on the study of this kind can contribute to the literature as it throws light on future studies seeking local-centric conservation and management practices of heritage sites hitherto less explored in the domain of conservation science. The scale provides insight into the appropriate form of intervention that the local communities, tourists and other stakeholders can do at the heritage sites, hence the possibility of garnering the attention of other discipline strivings towards the conservation of heritage sites and to apply along with other relevant variables. It is expected that the study might expedite the knowledge accumulation in conservation science.

The scale can be used in a similar context for the integrated management of heritage sites. The study can assist the policymakers and planners in seeking the support of stakeholders, local communities and tourists for the implementation of heritage conservation and management programs. Such a local-centric management strategy promoting responsible consumption and production could contribute to SDG 12. Further, the study can also contribute towards SDG 11.4, which calls for strengthening the effort to protect and safeguard cultural and natural heritage. This scale can be a tool for destination management organizations (DMOs) to understand the level of intervention of local communities, tourists and other stakeholders at the heritage site.

The integrated management approach of heritage conservation immensely helps the lesser-known heritage sites the world over as such structures are out of the focal point of government funding and other conservation efforts. The synergy of the integrated approach could protect lesser-known unfunded heritage sites, and thereby, the cultural reflections of the community concerned can be made available for future visitors’ consumption.

The study attempted to understand the conservation approaches for lesser-known heritage sites with the support of both demand and supply-side stakeholders. Such a collaborative approach is the first of this kind in the conservation of heritage sites in India.

Purpose: A psychiatric illness called burnout is caused by emotional tiredness, cynicism, and a decreased sense of personal accomplishment. For police officers to handle and adjust to difficult, stressful, and sometimes traumatic events, resilience or recovery during downtime are considered critical capacities. The study aims to investigate the association between resilience or recovery experiences and job burnout among police officers and to ascertain if recovery experiences during off-job time can lessen the harmful impacts of burnout.

Design/methodology: The data were gathered from police officers in the South zone of Kerala state using a structured questionnaire. The police force may have favourable effects on economic development if it embraces resilience-building concepts and develops into a more resilient enterprise. The study used convenience sampling, and the researchers received 300 responses. Karl Pearson correlation and simple regression analysis are used to test hypotheses.

Findings: Findings suggest an association between burnout and resilience or recovery experience measures during off-job time among police officers in Kerala. It is found that recovery experiences can buffer the adverse effects of job stress and burnout.

Practical implications: The results of this study could guide the design of initiatives and programmes that enhance police officers’ performance and satisfaction while also encouraging their general well-being. To further reduce police burnout, implement a programme that aims to improve occupational stress recovery at the organisational level.

Originality/value: It is crucial to evaluate police officers’ burnout and its relationship to resiliency or recovery in their spare time. This study offers unique insights into certain off-the-job behaviours or activities that link to lower levels of burnout; this information could guide programmes or interventions intended to help police personnel.

Purpose: Nikoletta Taylor and Close, (2022) asserts that a skill gap analysis can be used to determine the lacking skill and carry out recruitment based on that gap. It goes without saying that for a student, that would be their first employment, and with internships, there is no way to experience all aspects of the working world.

Need for This Study: When it comes to the recruiter’s expectations and the applicant’s skills, specifically among students, a gap still exists, leading to a need for practical exposure for applicants.

Study Design/Methodology/Approach: A quantitative study was adopted. A questionnaire was prepared with constructs and variables from the review and a total of 403 responses was collected from reputed institutions in Tamil Nadu.

Findings: This study reveals that skill development is needed; it is found that experiential learning through the gamification process is a suitable learning strategy. The experiential learning factors supporting skill development are self-efficacy, outcome expectation, interest, choice actions, and performance, followed by review, feedback, and continuous improvement.

Originality/Value: Learning all these factors through the gamification process would give students practical exposure to real-time scenarios of the corporate world. The proposed model gives students experience through gamification and learning activities.

The purpose of the study is to examine the available literature to comprehend what the underground banking system is, for what purposes this method is used and how policymakers should proceed to address this issue.

The approach involved conducting this study and combining it with a critical analysis of the available literature as well as the available historical data. The sources the study has explored include government documents, public hearings, academic articles, case studies and articles available on the internet.

The study revealed prevention of illegal proceeds is critical, still regulating one entity, is a phenomenon of Boyle’s law, “squeezing the balloon”. If one end of the balloon is squeezed, making the volume smaller, the pressure inside increases, making the un-squeezed part of the balloon expand out. The real issue is not how criminals transfer their illegal earnings; it is the criminals themselves. Hence, the policy decision on this issue needs to be carefully considered.

Due to the complexity of the operating system of Undiyal, this study had a number of limitations, as do many others. Firstly, there are no records of the Undiyal agents or the volumes of transactions publicly available. However, comprehending the scope of the underground operation that exists in the country is quite difficult.

The study contributes to the academic researchers grasping what type of future research should be focused on in this area according to the study.

From the point of view of its practical application, the study seeks to resolve social issues that the middle-class population experiences on a daily basis and that have a huge and adverse impact on GDP.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is an original contribution.

This study aims to examine individual-specific market orientation as an innovative approach and its relationship with marketing skills among artisan entrepreneurs in India.

The study adopted an in-depth interview to explore variables, a questionnaire survey to understand their latent dimensions through exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the relationship between constructs under study.

The interview result indicates that 20 variables explain factors affecting individual-specific market orientation with four latent dimensions: customer orientation, competitor orientation, external coordination orientation and personal selling orientation. There is a significant and positive relationship between customer orientation and personal selling orientation with the marketing skills of artisan entrepreneurs in India.

The study is confined to three southern states of India and weaving villages known for their endemic product specifications.

The study found significance in orienting artisan entrepreneurs of developing countries and equipping them with desired skills to meet the changing dynamics of the market and meet their livelihood needs. The study further supports policymaking in strengthening the capability of artisans to enter the market without mediators.

The model provides insight into other unorganized sectors to formulate innovative approaches to strengthen marketing skills and entrepreneurial ability.

As an exploratory study, examining individual-level market orientation as an innovative approach and their relationship with marketing skills among artisan entrepreneurs was unexplored in several unorganized sectors, including handlooms.