Search

Purpose: To provide novel empirical evidence on the role of advice in technological and non-technological innovation uptake decision-making processes from the perspective of European farmers, we develop the microAKIS (farmer microscale knowledge and innovation systems) framework. Design/methodology/approach: The MicroAKIS framework is expanded to gather empirical evidence built on quantitative data from a sample of 675 European farmers. Findings: Different types of innovation lead to different microAKIS, and farmers' involvement with innovation introduces new dynamics in advice supply. MicroAKIS supporting innovations tend to be small in size and diversity, suggesting the anticipated pluralism of advice resulting from advisory services privatisation across Europe did not work as expected, i.e. not translating into pluralistic microAKIS. Practical implications: Pluralism in advice for innovation is needed and could be enhanced by integrating different sources of advice: professional and non-professional, formal and informal, agricultural and cross-sectorial. Theoretical implications: We advance the scope of the AKIS concept by accounting for the temporal dynamics of innovation uptake decision-making and adopting multi-level analysis that combines micro (farm) and meso (region) scales. Originality/value: Empirical evidence at the European level, gathered from the common farmer's perspective on the dynamics of farm-level microAKIS and the role played by farm advisory, accounting for diversity of innovations and regional contexts.

Purpose: This study aims to understand how entrepreneurship education and training programmes (EETPs) influence the development of entrepreneurial competencies and creation of business ventures. Design/methodology/approach: The study included a questionnaire distributed to 103 EETP participants. The data were processed using SmartPLS software to construct a structural equation model. Findings: The results show, first, that the respondents' motivations have a positive impact on participation in entrepreneurship education programmes and company creation. Second, participation in these programmes positively influences individual entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial skills. The findings also include that the entrepreneurship education programme under study has strengthened its participants' capacities and competencies, making these people more autonomous and facilitating their creation of new businesses. Originality/value: This study sought to contribute to a fuller empirical understanding of how EETPs affect their participants' individual entrepreneurship orientation and capacities (human resource development), thereby fostering company formation and regional development. Theoretical and practical implications are presented, with an emphasis on what needs to be done to improve EETPs.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on individual entrepreneurial intention (IEI) by assessing the importance of entrepreneurship education to students in vocational training programmes and using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to analyse these students' entrepreneurial intentions. The family background of the students and their exposure to entrepreneurship subject matter were included as antecedents of TPB components and IEI. Design/methodology/approach: To test the research model, the primary data were collected with questionnaires distributed to students in their last year of vocational training programmes with and without entrepreneurship coursework, in a region of Northern Portugal. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings: The results show that TPB dimensions substantially contribute to explaining students' IEI. However, their family background makes only a minor contribution, and exposure to entrepreneurship education has no influence on IEI. Research limitations/implications: Given these results, the authors propose a broader discussion is needed of the importance of introducing business classes into the curricula of vocational training programmes. Originality/value: This research's results show that IEI models need to assign greater importance to variables related to previous exposure to entrepreneurial experiences through direct family members. The findings contribute to a fuller understanding of IEI and the factors that precede the formation of this intention among students in training programmes.

The influence of specific autism spectrum disorder (ASD) deficits in Intelligence Quotients (IQ), Indexes and subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III was investigated in 445 school-aged children: ASD (N = 224) and other neurodevelopmental disorders (N = 221), matched by Full-Scale IQ and chronological age. ASD have lower scores in the VIQ than PIQ. The core distinctive scores between groups are Processing Speed Index and "Comprehension" and "Coding" subtests with lower results in ASD. ASD group with normal/high IQ showed highest score on "Similarities" subtest whereas the lower IQ group performed better on "Object Assembly." The results replicated our previous work on adaptive behaviour, showing that adaptive functioning is positively correlated with intellectual profile, especially with the Communication domain in ASD.

Purpose: Based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the purpose of this paper is to approach entrepreneurial intention (EI) and the factors preceding the founding of EI among secondary students, both studying general academic and specific professional programs, and thereby establish causal relationships between psychological, demographic and behavioural factors. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of secondary students, both studying general academic and specific professional programs, was chosen. Data were collected through questionnaires and analysed with resource to structural equation models (SEM) to measure the causal relationships among different constructs. Findings: The results show that the EI of secondary school students is influenced by such demographic, psychological and behavioural factors. However, the hypothesis of becoming entrepreneurs in the future remains independent of the fact of whether or not students had already experienced engagement with entrepreneurship-related themes having no impact on EI. These results raise a series of pertinent questions and deserve being subject to a more profound reflection and not only among the scientific and academic community but also among political and government entities. Originality/value: The paper provides important evidence to expand entrepreneurship education specifically in the field of secondary school education. These students are already about to face choices over their professional careers. This remains valid whether or not students intend to proceed with higher education studies or to join the workforce. Therefore this research contributes towards meeting a better understanding of EI and the factors preceding the formation of this intention among secondary school students. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and identify its clinical characterization, and medical conditions in a paediatric population in Portugal. A school survey was conducted in elementary schools, targeting 332 808 school-aged children in the mainland and 10 910 in the Azores islands. Referred children were directly assessed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn), the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Clinical history and a laboratory investigation was performed. In parallel, a systematic multi-source search of children known to have autism was carried out in a restricted region. The global prevalence of ASD per 10 000 was 9.2 in mainland, and 15.6 in the Azores, with intriguing regional differences. A diversity of associated medical conditions was documented in 20%, with an unexpectedly high rate of mitochondrial respiratory chain disorders. (Contains 3 tables, 1 figure and 1 footnote.)