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Gender inequalities in higher education have attracted interest in the academic literature. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The author uses standardized high school final exam results and probit regression analysis to contribute to this highly important discussion.

Based on secondary, non-survey data, female students tend to outperform males in subjects requiring creativity. Consistent with this comparative advantage, female students also tend to be more affected by their abilities in choosing and preferring the related field of humanities as a higher education. In line with female students’ choices, the results presented in the paper confirm that men are more inclined toward exact and natural sciences, even though they do not prove to have stronger abilities in related subjects. In addition, men are also more influenced by their abilities in obtaining a professional higher education. The choice of social sciences is quite similarly affected by the academic abilities of men and women. The paper also provides evidence that, on average, individuals choose their field of study according to their academic abilities.

For evidence, a data set that makes it possible to relate quantitative measures of very different academic abilities to all major academic disciplines is used in the paper. This unique approach has so far been lacking in the literature due to data limitations. In other words, instead of concentrating on a specific area, such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the author takes a broader view.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the extent and content of the sustainability disclosure of public and foundation (private but not-for-profit) universities in Turkey.

Subsequent to a systematic literature review of six academic databases and the National Thesis Center, a content analysis using a combination of Global Reporting Initiative and campus assessment tools from previous studies is conducted on stand-alone sustainability reports and websites of a purposive sample of eight universities in Turkey.

Infrequent and unsystematic sustainability practice done through websites seems to be more prevalent than formal reporting through international initiatives. Research and practice diverge by focusing on different sustainability indicators. Sustainability needs to be integrated into teaching and curriculum through university policies and regulations. Foundation universities show greater effort in sustainability reporting than public universities.

The research is limited by the availability of mostly self-reported, dispersed and unaudited data by foundation universities in addition to framework-imposed specificities. Furthermore, there is only one public university with a formal sustainability report in the sample.

The findings offer suggestions for developing extra sustainability indicators and may assist local policy-makers and researchers in their efforts to improve sustainability reporting by local universities.

This comprehensive research effort is one of the few studies from a non-Western country perspective and the only study on Turkey in relation to universities and sustainability reporting.

The evolution of the not‐for‐profit organisation sector in the Israeli economy is described, combining economic theory together with history and ideology to provide a multi‐dimensional explanation of this important phenomenon. Why some activities are performed by not‐for‐profit organisations instead of, or in addition to, for‐profit firms and government institutions is outlined, and explanations for the existence of NPOs in various fields of public service are offered.

Mobile money, a service permitting monetary value to be digitally stored in a mobile phone and transacted to others through text messaging, is increasingly becoming available in several African countries including Eswatini. This study examines the factors associated with mobile money usage and the extent to which mobile money accelerates financial inclusion in Eswatini.

Data were collected from the nationally representative FinScope Consumer Survey for Eswatini conducted in 2014. The authors use a quasi-experimental method in propensity score matching (PSM) with bootstrapped standard errors to alleviate the possibility of selection bias associated with mobile money use and bank account ownership. As a sensitivity check, the authors calculate the average treatment effect (ATE) using kernel-based matching methods, as well as estimate a multilevel model that accounts for the hierarchical structure of data.

The authors found that higher education, entrepreneurship, being female, improvement in work situation in the past year and living in urban area and in the Lubombo region all positively influence the probability to use mobile money. The results also show that individuals who use mobile money are 19% more likely to own a bank account at a formal financial institution with a higher probability estimate observed amongst rural residents.

This study examines whether mobile money accelerates financial inclusion in Eswatini. On analysing data from the 2014 FinScope Consumer Survey, the results show that mobile money does not seem to be accelerating the reach of financial services to those who are structurally excluded from the formal financial system and suggest the need for ongoing review of the financial inclusion strategies of the country to enhance access to financial services in underserved areas.

The peer review history for this article is available at:https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2019-0723

With the increase in competition in the hospitality sector, manpower has become an increasingly important factor. The labour‐intensive aspect of the tourism sector has put pressure on all entrepreneurs to act according to the needs and expectations of internal customers (personnel) and external customers (customers, suppliers). This paper studies personnel policies, recruitment methods and resources, future developments and the reasons for job changes for sample hotels in the Antalya Region in Turkey. A questionnaire was designed for all four‐ and five‐star hotels and first‐class holiday villages which were open during the winter period (January‐March 1999). For the questionnaire evaluation the bio‐medical data process was used. Recruitment methods, popular departments of sample hotels, most‐needed qualifications for personnel, training methods and changes in qualifications and in departments over the next five years, etc. are all discussed in this paper.

Hartslag Limburg, a cardiovascular diseases (CVD) prevention programme, integrates a community strategy and a high‐risk strategy. The present paper presents the evaluation design for, and baseline data from, the community intervention. The conceptual framework of the community intervention and its evaluation study were based on programme planning and evaluation models. Within this framework, community organization principles and methods and health education theories and methods were applied. Pre‐test/post‐test control group designs were used to study changes at the individual and the organizational level. The baseline results confirm the need to carry out a comprehensive CVD prevention community project, and the appropriateness of the conceptual model that is used for the development of interventions.

This paper aims to explore Hong Kong firms' training needs in the Pearl River Delta, a booming region in the fast growing People Republic of China economy, by resorting to a human capital approach. Also, to identify the training policies selected by those firms in order to cater for those needs.

A survey based mail questionnaire was sent to a large sample of Hong Kong firms (mostly SMEs) operating in the Pearl River Delta area. The questionnaire was designed in two parts: the first asked close‐ended questions about firm characteristics, knowledge needs of staff and recruitment policies; the other enquired about preferences for study training programs. Results are analyzed employing an Anova and Conjoint Analysis within the context of a human capital framework.

Finds that Hong Kong firms investing in PRD recruit their senior staff from Hong Kong, whereas junior and intermediate level staffs are hired from the Mainland. It also shows that intermediate and senior level staff benefit from most of the training investments, where unskilled are deprived of training altogether.

Obtains a practical insight on human capital management policies by foreign investors in fast‐growing emerging economies.

Provides an innovative study of an under‐researched area in the fastest growing region of the People Republic of China.

The development of digital inclusive finance appears to be able to solve the difficulty of traditional finance, which cannot completely cover agriculture and farmers and provides better financial services and products to Chinese farmers. Thus, it improves the farmers' enthusiasm for agricultural production. The purpose of this paper is to clarify whether this goal is indeed being achieved.

This paper theoretically analyzes the mechanism that influences the effect of digital inclusive finance on rural households' agricultural production decisions and conducts an empirical study based on a sample from the Chinese family database (CFD).

First, the development of digital financial inclusion in general can encourage rural households to reduce agricultural production. Second, the negative effect of digital inclusive finance on households' agricultural output is realized by widening the gap between the efficiency of non-agricultural economic activities and the efficiency of agricultural production. The wider the gap is, the lower the enthusiasm of households for agricultural production. Third, the mediating effect of “digital financial inclusion – difference in efficiency – agricultural output” has a significant negative effect on households with low agricultural production efficiency, but not households with high agricultural production efficiency. Digital inclusive finance has no significant effect on the difference in efficiency between the two economic activities of high-efficiency households, but a greater difference in efficiency between the two economic activities corresponds to higher enthusiasm of households for agricultural production.

To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to analyze the impact of digital financial inclusion on Chinese farmers' agricultural production. The findings of this study can provide policy-related insights to help local governments promote the development of digital finance in China's agricultural economy.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the trends of global automobile industry toward energy saving and smart application. The automobile industry has its own special supply, safety and reliability system. It combined with the legislations that progressive safety driving leads to increase automobile electronic (AE) facilities and enlarges the proportion of the electronic control for vehicles. Based on matured communication and semiconductor industries in Taiwan, the government assists these hi-tech industries in entering the AE domain by clustering relevant enterprises with assembly supply chains. Flagship IC packaging and LCD panels enterprises are located in the Kaohsiung Industrial Park which possesses advantages for the clustering of AE industry.

In this paper, a systematic investigation on establishing AE industry cluster in Kaohsiung Industry Park (KIP) is presented. First, 42 electrical and electronics enterprises are site visited and interviewed for operation and management preferential demands. Second, problems encountered in enterprises’ operation are identified through expert weight method. Third, the main factors involved in the operational management are then analyzed based on five flagship enterprises in KIP. The integration of industrial–university–government resources and assistance is demonstrated. Finally, the establishment of an innovative talents cultivation model is illustrated.

The developed systematic talent program is proposed to resolve the urgent demands in recruiting talents, operational costs and new products development.

This paper satisfies needs of research enterprise management. The establishment of an innovative talents cultivation model is illustrated.