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Pickling or salt curing is one of the major traditional processes to increase the shelf life of bitter gourd in India. No information is available about optimization of salt curing of bitter gourd and the related changes in its quality. Moreover, specific investigations are needed to evaluate individual susceptibility of fruit and vegetables to osmotic dewatering with pre-treatment to obtain new minimally processed food products. The purpose of this study is to optimize the salt curing process with blanching as pretreatment for bitter gourd.

A study was conducted to optimize the blanching and other process factors of salt curing (solution concentration and treatment time) based on mass transfer and quality factors of bitter gourd using response surface methodology. Experimental design was made using central composite rotatable design with different time of blanching, solution concentration and treatment time. The colour, firmness, water activity and other mass transfer kinetic parameters were used for optimization.

Blanching had significant effect (p < 0.001) on water loss (WL), weight reduction (WR), solid gain (SG), water activity and firmness of bitter gourd. Mass transfer kinetic parameters like WL, SG and normalized solid content increased and normalized moisture content was found to decrease with increase in solution concentration and curing time. Relationships between process variables and quality factors were established in either quadratic or linear form with higher R² values. A 15 per cent solution concentration for the period of 5 h with the blanched samples at 800°C for 5.26 min was found to be the optimum condition for osmotic dehydration to achieve maximum WL and SG, minimum water activity and minimum changes in firmness.

The optimized combinations for the salt curing process would be more helpful for the processors and other stakeholders involved in the pickling process by reducing energy and other input resources.

Mostly in India, the pickling process is carried out at micro- and small-scale level and in an unorganized way. This study would help those involved to reduce their input resources and to organize the process, thus leading to more dividends to the stakeholders and optimum price to the end-users. For the medium- and large-scale processing units, this study would give insight to automate the whole process in an efficient manner.

This study was performed using sophisticated and higher-end instruments. The data were observed meticulously and analysed with proper statistical tools, increasing the credibility of the study. This study gives concrete results which are directly useful to the stakeholders.

Since finance is an efficacious instrument for economic development, social inclusion and women empowerment, the present paper examines the determinants of accessing institutional and non-institutional finance across male- and female-headed households in rural India.

Multinomial logistic regression is applied for categorizing households' accessing finance in four categories, namely Only Institutional Finance (IF), Only Non-institutional Finance (NIF), Both Sources of Finance (BF) and Neither Source of Finance (N). Both household and state-level determinants have been analysed. Household data set is sourced from the Situation Assessment Survey (NSSO, 70th round) and state-level data sets from Basic Road Statistics 2016, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2016, Rainfall Statistics of India 2014, database on Indian Economy RBI and Census 2011. Econometric regressions have been evaluated for female-headed households (FHHs), male-headed households (MHHs) and overall pooled households (HHs).

Four important findings emerge. First, FHHs have a lower probability of accessing IF and a higher probability of accessing NIF vis-a-vis MHHs. Second, in general, education levels, monthly household consumption expenditure, land size holding, irrigated area and penetration of scheduled commercial banks favourably influence FHHs accessing IF. Third, FHHs belonging to socially disadvantaged castes have a lower probability of accessing IF. Fourth, a substantial proportion of FHHs accesses neither IF nor NIF relative to MHHs.

The paper thoroughly addresses the issue of accessing finance by FHHs and MHHs, which will further assist policymakers in formulating holistic financial policies for rural India.

The paper recommends increasing women's access to financial services as an effective tool for reducing poverty and lowering income inequality in rural India.

This article contributes to the scant empirical literature on finance and gender.

An amalgamation of Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Analytical Network Process (ANP) has been performed to develop a decision-making framework for improving the overall performance of the microfinance institutions. A primary survey was conducted to collect real-time data from the heterogeneous stakeholders of microfinance institutions across India. The validation of the proposed framework is performed by comparing the results against the conventional method of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP).

This study identifies various dimensions and indicators for measuring the performance of Indian microfinance institutions. Additionally, the ranking and prioritisation of the performance dimensions and indicators is obtained by considering the mutual interrelation between them.

The study indicates that there exists a significant dyadic relationship between financial performance and social performance for improving the overall performance of the microfinance institutions. Governance is found to unidirectionally influence both financial and social performance. Among all the considered dimensions, financial performance of a microfinance institution is the most critical dimension for improving the overall performance. The top five performance indicators of the Indian microfinance institutions are funding source, borrowing and overhead cost, size of the firm, end-use of the money and depth of outreach.

The study was conducted in the context of Indian microfinance institutions; hence the scope of generalisation of the results is limited. This research considers both subjective and objective aspect of the performance dimensions and indicators from the perspective of multiple stakeholders (i.e. firm, society and regulator). The integrated framework is expected to aid in improving overall performance of microfinance institutions by focusing on the most critical (high prioritised) performance indicators.

An integrated DEMATEL-ANP framework is used in the domain of microfinance to assess the performance dimensions. This study is unique in terms of analysing performance of microfinance institutions from the perspective of heterogeneous stakeholders.

Women’s economic empowerment (WEE) has emerged as a key component at national and international policy-making agendas. The purpose of this paper is to examine and validate the antecedents of WEE for urban working women.

This study used a descriptive and exploratory research design. A total of 286 responses from women working in the formal sector of Delhi-NCR were collected through self-administered questionnaires on a five-point Likert scale using non-probability quota sampling technique. The sample was controlled for the employment sector, that is, healthcare, education and information technology. Exploratory factor analysis has been performed in the first step to test the data’s dimensionality with the goal of producing a set of items that reflect the meaning of the relative construct. Thereafter, confirmatory factor analysis has been used for data analysis.

Digital banking usage (DBU) has been identified as the most significant contributor to WEE.

Besides digital banking, government support has also emerged as a key indicator of WEE, necessitating a government policy review to improve WEE. Research findings indicate that, if WEE initiatives are to reach their full potential, they must individually address the extracted factors. This study offers a new framework for understanding and enhancing WEE for urban working women in India.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to use factor analysis to explore the multi-dimensionality of WEE using the novel dimensions of DBU, women’s agency and government support, in addition to the established variables of financial literacy, social norms and workplace human resource policies.

Recent development and democratization of digital technologies call for studying base-of-the-pyramid (BOP) consumers’ interactions with these technologies. This study aims to explore how BOP consumers interact with mobile information and communication technology (mICT) and improve their welfare.

Following an extensive literature review, content analysis of the reviewed articles and reports was conducted to build this article’s conceptual foundation.

This study has conceptualized five mechanisms in which mICT improves the lives of BOP customers through enhanced access and control of resources. In particular, the authors characterize a converging nature of mICT and related applications (social media, internet of things, artificial intelligence and sharing economy) as resources for social change. The authors find a striking contrast between BOP and affluent consumers regarding their motivations and barriers to adopting mICT-based applications. Implications to research, technology design and policymaking are discussed.

The intersection of mICT and BOP is under-researched. With this paper, we tried to address this research gap. Further, this study has brought out several important research questions in each application, serving as a springboard for future researchers.

This paper investigates the magnitude of financial inclusion in terms of ownership and usage of financial products across gender in Saudi Arabia based on the World Bank's Global Financial Inclusion (GFI) survey data.

This study derives the data from the GFI survey, covering 1,009 respondents from Saudi Arabia. The data on ownership and usage of financial products along with demographic characteristics of the surveyed respondents have been extracted for the analysis. The data have been analyzed with the help of statistical techniques, such as the chi-square test, and marginal effects for identifying the factors affecting financial inclusion across gender.

There is a significant association between financial inclusion and gender in terms of ownership and usage. About 82% of males have reported having a bank account with financial institutions, whereas only 60% females have reported ownership of a bank account in Saudi Arabia. The ownership and usage of financial products are comparatively more among males than females. The analysis of the marginal effect of gender shows a significant and positive impact on financial inclusion, implying that males are 10 and 13% more likely to own and use financial products, respectively, as compared to females. Further, marginal effect estimates for ownership and usage for males and females indicate that a set of independent variables related to age, level of education, occupation and income level of the respondents have a significant impact on financial inclusion.

Financial inclusion across gender is the first step of creating an inclusive society and empowering both males and females equally. Findings indicated an inclination of financial inclusion towards males. The research findings provide key policy insights for achieving the Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia by strengthening gender inclusion in its growth story and ensuring the participation of females at workplaces.

Most of the studies have included bank account ownership in a financial institution as an indicator of financial inclusion. The authors have included ownership and usage of a variety of financial products for assessing the determinants of financial inclusion across gender, which provides empirical evidence on the magnitude of financial inclusion.

The current study aims to analyze the linkage among bank competition, liquidity and loan price in an interconnected bank network system.

The study employs the Lerner index to estimate bank power; Granger non-causality for estimating competition, liquidity and loan price network structure; principal component for developing competition network index, liquidity network index and price network index; and panel VAR and LASSO-VAR for analyzing the dynamics of interactive network effect. Current work considers 33 Indian banks, and the duration of the study is from 2010 to 2020.

Network structures are concentrated during the economic upcycle and dispersed during the economic downcycle. A significant interaction among bank competition, liquidity and loan price networks exists in the Indian banking system.

The study meaningfully contributes to the existing literature by adding new insights concerning the interrelationship between bank competition, loan price and bank liquidity networks. While enhancing competition in the banking system, the regulator should also pay attention toward making liquidity provisions. The interactive network framework provides direction to the regulator to formulate appropriate policies for managing competition and liquidity while ensuring the solvency and stability of the banking system.

The study contributes to the limited literature concerning interactive relationship among bank competition, liquidity and loan price in the Indian banks.

Though many studies and reports have been published about the scale of identity fraud (IDF), no work has been done on developing models to measure IDF. The purpose of this paper is to propose a measurement model for IDF and test the validity of that measurement model.

After providing a background on the concepts of IDF, the paper discusses the related term, identity theft. Next, a measurement model is developed, based on the current practice of measurement of IDF in four countries. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used in identifying the indicators and factors of IDF. After the EFA is conducted, confirmatory factor analysis is employed to test the validity of the measurement model. These tests are conducted using the data collected from Canadian financial institutions.

The review of the current empirical studies suggests that IDF should be assessed using a measurement model with 33 indicators to measure five factors of IDF. However, the analysis of Canadian financial institutions suggests that a measurement model that includes 27 indicators and four factors is most appropriate for the data.

The measurement model developed in the present paper is based on an examination of a sample of financial institutions in Canada. Hence, the results of this paper cannot be generalized to organizations in other sectors of the economy. Further studies in other sectors of the economy are required to identify industry‐specific measurement model.

This paper is the first approach toward developing a model for measuring IDF.

This paper is the first study that attempts to scientifically identify and validate a measurement system in the area of IDF.

The global recession has strongly affected the credibility of the international banking system, damaging also the real economy.

Developing countries, not fully integrated with international markets, seem less affected and local microfinance institutions might also allow for a further shelter against recession, even if foreign support is slowing down and collection of international capital is harder and more expensive.

Intrinsic characteristics of microfinance, such as closeness to the borrowers, limited risk and exposure and little if any correlation with international markets have an anti-cyclical effect. In hard and confused times, it pays to be little, flexible and simple.