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I historically compare changes in institutional frameworks creating academic positions linked to temporary employment by analyzing university employment statistics in Chile, Colombia, Germany, and the USA. I find that temporary academic positions were institutionalized through the creation of previously inexistent academic categories called a contrata in Chile, de cátedra in Colombia, “junior professor” without tenure in Germany and “postdoc” in the USA; used in higher education and employment laws since 1989, 1992, 2002, and 1974, respectively. Under institutional frameworks demanding the maximization of students and research, universities have increasingly contracted academics through temporary contracts under rationales that differ between regions. In Colombia and Chile, public university leaders and owners of private universities contract such teaching positions to expand student numbers through lowering costs. In Germany and the USA, employment insecurity is mostly driven by temporary scientific positions under a main rationale of scientific expansion. The share of temporary positions has increased exponentially in Colombia and Germany in recent decades, whereas in the USA there has only been an increase since 2012. Moreover, in Chile, the share of permanent positions has decreased since 2012. The common trend is one of isomorphism of vertical academic structures sharing a pyramidal form, with a wide base of academics working under conditions of contractual insecurity. Such trends follow a rationale for maximization of student numbers as well as administration, and scientific production that is in tension with prioritizing wellbeing and improvement of academics’ working conditions. Yet, in these environments, the institution of tenure in the USA and recent Chilean regulations on accreditation represent mechanisms counteracting precarious employment.

Pakistan ranks third globally in terms of newborn deaths occuring within the first 24 hours of life. With a neonatal mortality rate of 42.0%, it carries the highest burden compared to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh (17%), India (22.7%) and Afghanistan (37%). While there has been a decline in neonatal mortality rates in Pakistan, the pace of this decline is slower than that of other countries in the region. Hence, it is crucial to conduct a comprehensive examination of the risk factors contributing to neonatal mortality in Pakistan over an extended period. This study aims to analyze the trends and determinants of neonatal mortality in Pakistan over three decades, providing valuable insights into this persistent issue.

The study focused on neonatal mortality as the response variable, which is defined as the death of a live-born child within 28 days of birth. Neonates who passed away during this period were categorized as “cases,” while those who survived beyond a specific timeframe were referred to as “noncases.” To conduct a pooled analysis of neonatal mortality, birth records of 39,976 children born in the five years preceding the survey were extracted from four waves (1990–2018) of the Pakistan Demographic and Household Survey. The relationship between risk factors and the response variable was examined using the Cox Proportional Hazard Model. Neonatal mortality rates were calculated through the direct method using the “syncmrates” package in Stata 15.

During the extended period in Pakistan, several critical protective factors against neonatal mortality were identified, including a large family size, improved toilet facilities, middle-aged and educated mothers, female children, singleton live births, large size at birth and longer birth intervals. These factors were found to reduce the risk of neonatal mortality significantly.

This study makes the first attempt to analyze the trends and patterns of potential risk factors associated with neonatal mortality in Pakistan. By examining a large dataset spanning several years, the study provides valuable insights into the factors influencing neonatal mortality.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2022-0604

The interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become burgeoning in the construction industry as firms are under constant pressure from socially conscious stakeholders to demonstrate their efforts to address various CSR issues. This study aims to unveil the key practices and impact factors (KPIFs) of CSR implementation in construction firms and the interrelationships among different key impact factors toward attaining CSR practices.

Mobilizing the integrated institutional, stakeholder and self-determination theories, a theoretical framework was first developed to elaborate the potential inter-relationships among the key impact factors toward CSR implementation. Data were collected from extra-grade contractors through an online questionnaire survey and was then analyzed by the partial least square structural equation modeling method.

The results show that construction firms' CSR practices could be classified into eight distinct key dimensions, e.g. shareholders' interests, government commitment and environment preservation. It is found that three groups of key impact factors – external institutional factors (especially coercive-normative factors), intrinsic factors (especially strategic business direction and organizational culture) and identified factors (i.e. the perceived importance of CSR practices) – have statistically significant positive impacts on most key dimensions of CSR practices.

The research findings have implications for top management to better understand CSR implementation, thereby helping them secure legitimacy to survive and advance in the competitive construction businesses.

The findings contribute to the theoretical body of knowledge in CSR by modeling and empirically demonstrating the influence mechanism of CSR implementation in construction within an integrated model.

In China, supply chain finance (SCF) has gradually emerged as a new service for the retail industry. This case systematically discusses how JD conducts product design and risk control of supply chain finance and related financial services, and analyze the impact of supply chain finance on JD's retail operations. The case also analyzes the relationship between JD supply chain finance and traditional financial institutions, and explore the future development of retail supply chain finance.

Zakat, one of the fundamental pillars of Islam, holds the potential to significantly contribute to fiscal consolidation, particularly in developing nations. However, the national-level potential of Zakat often remains unexplored. This study aims to explore the potential of national-level Zakat and the opportunity to integrate it into the fiscal framework.

This study estimates Zakat’s potential on national financial and economic components. The components include bank deposits, shares and securities, pensions (provident fund), industrial production and trade services, mining resources, Ushr on agro-crops and forestry, Ushr on livestock, Ushr on fishery, gross domestic product (GDP), national budget and national revenue. The study gathers data, ranging from FY2000 to FY2018, on national economic sectors from reliable secondary sources. The net value (NV) of each indicator is calculated as NV = TV − LA, where NV is the wage-adjusted net value after deducting the living adjustment (LA) value from the sectoral total. The proposed LA value, approximately 20%, is suggested to be deducted from the total sectoral value of each sector (excluding specific industries with preadjusted wages), equating to the Nisab value.

It is estimated that the aggregate potential of Zakat in Bangladesh was US$9,749m in FY2018, compared to US$809m in FY2000, revealing the value is 3.77% of GDP and 21% of the national fiscal budget. In FY2018, the service sector was the largest contributor (30%), followed by bank deposits (23%). Pension funds made minimal contributions, whereas shares and bonds, as well as the manufacturing sector, each made a 10% contribution to the estimated Zakat potential. Zakat on agriculture output accounted for 15% of the total. The aggregate potential Zakat in FY2018 was 12% higher than that in FY2000.

The paper highlights a novel contribution through its nuanced analysis of sector-specific Zakat on macrolevel data and its implications within the fiscal framework. The results suggest that Zakat has substantial potential to impact fiscal dynamics, providing valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to recognize the national-level Zakat for development plans such as the five-year plan. The study suggests piloting a central and independent national body to study the feasibility of national-level Zakat collection and its utilization in the fiscal budget. It will help the government reduce the burden of external debt and deficit budget and, instead, will promote revenue collection in collaboration with the National Board of Revenue.

Comparative studies have confirmed that the current types of cohabitation (defined as living together as a couple without being married) and the meanings attached to them differ across Europe. This variation could reflect differences in the levels of progress or the stages countries have reached in a common developmental process, as suggested by the theory of the Second Demographic Transition and Kiernan’s stage model of cohabitation. However, it may also indicate that countries are on different developmental paths, as suggested by path dependency theories. To examine whether changes in the prevalence of cohabitation follow a common script, this study analyses types of cohabitation within emerging family formation patterns over cohorts and across countries.

For this purpose, sequence methodology is applied to analyze cohort-specific family trajectories in France, western Germany, Norway, and Italy. In particular, using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) and the Generation and Gender Survey (GGS), patterns of union status and co-residence with (own) children between ages 15 and 35 among the 1935–1969 birth cohorts (for Germany, among the 1940–1974 birth cohorts) are compared.

Our findings provide some support for the claim that there were common patterns of change. However, also country-specific variations in family trajectory patterns were detected, which suggests that general processes of change were mediated through country-specific institutions (path dependencies). The empirical evidence for convergence as well as for divergence indicates that both theoretical strands add to our understanding of the spread of cohabitation in European countries.

This chapter presents empirical results of an analysis of the content of education reform globally in nine policy areas during the recent wave of neoliberal reforms between 1970 and 2018. It draws on data from the World Education Reform Database (WERD), the most comprehensive database to date of education reforms around the world. The results show a dramatic increase in policy reform discourse on improving educational quality compared to reforms in other policy areas between 1970 and 2018, with the pace accelerating from 1990 onwards. Expanding access to education remains an important priority. Access reform discourse slightly increases during the peak period of education reform from 1992 to 2009, before leveling off. The results also show a significant rise of reforms in policy areas related to accountability discourse. Overall, the descriptive trends presented in this chapter complement case study literature on neoliberal education reform and suggests directions further cross-national research.

This study illustrates the economic and financial dynamics of the sector, analysing the evolution of the main ratios of profitability and financial structure of 1,559 Italian real estate companies divided into the three macro-regions: North, Centre and South, in the period 2011–2020. In this way, it is also possible to verify the responsiveness to the 2020 pandemic crisis.

The analysis uses descriptive statistics tools and the ANOVA method of analysis of variance, supplemented by the Tukey–Kramer test, to identify significant differences between the three Italian macro-regions.

The study shows the increase in profitability after the 2008 crisis, despite its reverberation in the years 2012–2013. The financial structure of companies improved almost everywhere. The pandemic had modest effects on performance.

In the future, other indices should be considered to gain a more comprehensive view. This is a quantitative study based on financial statements data that neglects other important economic and social factors.

Public policies could use this study for better interventions to support the sector. In addition, internal management can compare their company's performance with the industry average to identify possible improvements.

The research analyses an economic field that employs a large number of people, especially when considering the construction and real estate services covered by this analysis.

The study contributes to the literature by providing a quantitative analysis of industry dynamics, with comparative information that can be deduced from financial statements over the years.