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In the present era, women are recognized as successful entrepreneurs through their strong desire, qualities and capabilities for robust economic development. Due to such an important contribution of women in economic development, we propose to investigate the factors, which affect women entrepreneur’s success in Pakistan. Data collected through structured questionnaires from 181 registered SMEs operating in Pakistan. A conceptual model is developed, while SPSS and AMOS software’s are used for analysis. The results indicate that the internal factors; including the need for achievements, risk-taking and self-confidence and external factors including economic factors and socio-cultural factors have a positive and significant influence on the success of women-owned enterprises. This research recommends Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), policymakers and practitioners to encourage women entrepreneurs to run their businesses for the long term by providing a variety of incentives and supports related to those internal and external factors. Numerous studies have been conducted to test the different factors’ effects on women's entrepreneurial success, but our study investigated some psychological, cultural and religious factors that are still almost untouched especially in Pakistan. The current study also contributes to the existing literature through empirical shreds of evidence.

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence taxpayers to engage in tax evasion. The researcher used descriptive and explanatory research design and followed a quantitative research approach. To undertake this study, primary and secondary data has been utilized. From the target population of 4979, by using a stratified and simple random sampling technique, 370 respondents were selected. To verify the data quality, the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted for each variable measurements. After factor analysis has been done, the data were analyzed by using Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. The finding of the study revealed that the relationship between the study independent variables with the dependent variable was positive and statistically significant. The regression analysis also indicates that tax fairness, tax knowledge, and moral obligation significantly influence taxpayers to engage in tax evasion, and the remaining moral obligation and subjective norms were not statistically significant to influence taxpayers to engage in tax evasion.

In recent years, entrepreneurs have become key drivers of business growth worldwide, since that time, entrepreneurial education has subsequently been garnering an increased level of interest. Entrepreneurship is considered to be a combination of both art and science, used to create value when targeting customers; however, there appears to be a myth when it comes to the recipe required for success. It was discovered by The Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion that less than 10% of Thai small and medium entrepreneurial businesses were successful, while the global rate of success is close to 5 times higher than that of Thailand. Therefore, a better understanding of key success factors is necessary going forward. Typically, an entrepreneur’s journey starts with entrepreneurial intention, opportunity recognition, business initiative creation, and resource assembly, if they are to start their venture successfully. Entrepreneurial intention is a prerequisite to entrepreneurial behavior, based on the theory of planned behavior. Subsequently, scholars are interested in the key factors which drive entrepreneurial intention. While innovativeness has been proven to be one of the critical factors within certain groups of the population, there is little empirical data on the causal relationship between innovativeness and entrepreneurial intention amongst undergraduate students. As such, this study has two main objectives: (1) to explore factors influencing innovativeness, attitudes towards entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial intentions of undergraduate students, and (2) to understand the causal relationship between innovativeness and entrepreneurial intentions among undergraduate students. The population of the study is comprised of undergraduate students from public universities and 330 effective responses were received in the survey. Based on the findings from confirmatory analysis and multiple regression, the empirical data is consistent with the theoretical measurement model for both innovativeness and entrepreneurial intention and (2) innovativeness can effectively predict entrepreneurial intention among undergraduate students.

The article discusses the motivations for a holistic assessment of the digital economy. It outlines the pilot assessment program initiated by the World Bank Group and describes the assessment frameworks, tools and processes deployed in selected pilot countries. It identifies the common challenges faced and lessons learned from applying these assessments in different contexts. These challenges include: prioritizing digital diagnosis objectives, addressing inequality and poverty issues, securing participation and partnership of stakeholders, addressing implementation challenges, and integrating digital transformation strategy into country development strategy. Other challenges include: harnessing digital innovation and entrepreneurship, mobilizing local demand for the new technologies, engaging business in digital diagnosis, and adopting multi-disciplinary and whole-of-society approaches. The article addresses the implications of these challenges and draws broad lessons and practical recommendations for developing countries and aid agencies.

As an alternative to traditional venture capital investment, crowdfunding has emerged as a novel method and potentially disruptive innovation for financing a variety of new entrepreneurial ventures without standard financial intermediaries. It is still unknown to scholars and people who use crowdfunding services whether the crowdfunding efforts reinforce or contradict existing theories about the dynamics of successful entrepreneurial financing as well as the general distribution and use of crowdfunding mechanisms. This paper presents new results obtained from investigating the Kickstarter campaign data of over ninety-nine thousand projects totaling about 1 billion USD in pledges from 2009 until the most recent 2017 through dynamical spatio-temporal modeling. The funding level, the percentage of a project’s goal actually raised from online communities, is used as the outcome of interest in the modeling to associate with dollar pledged and backer count that reflect the signals of underlying project quality. Evidence from the results was found to support the dynamic impact of the geographic location of a Kickstarter on its success and the associations between the observed project traits and the success of the entrepreneurial effort in the presence of the unmeasured spatio-temporal confounding. These results offer further insight into the empirical dynamics of the emerging phenomenon of online entrepreneurial financing about the role the spatio-temporal component plays in both the type of projects proposed and the association of sociocultural traits of successful fundraising with the underlying quality.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine micro and small scale enterprises’ growth determinants operating in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State of Ethiopia as emerging region. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted an explanatory research design with arrangement of primary data collection via a cross-sectional survey questionnaire followed by mixed research approach. The sample of this study was 220 enterprises determined by Yamane’s formula and selected using proportional stratified random sampling technique. Findings The result of regression analysis revealed that initial investment, access to land, access to finance, location, sectoral engagement, market linkage, and business experience are significant in explaining growth in one hand. On the other side, however, gender, education, ownership, formal recording, and financial management practice are found to be insignificant variables in determining enterprises’ growth. Research limitations/implications More evidence is needed on micro and small scale enterprises’ growth determinants before any generalization of the results can be made. In addition, the empirical tests were conducted only on 220 entrepreneurs since 2018. Therefore, the results of the study cannot be assumed to extend beyond this group of entrepreneurs to different study periods. Practical implications The study might help the entrepreneurs in addressing the factors affecting growth to take actions toward developing their performance and in turn contribute to employment, export participation, poverty alleviation, and women empowerment. Originality/value This paper adds to the literature on the determinants of micro- and small-scale enterprises’ growth. In particular, it tests the impact of initial investment, access to land, access to finance, location, sectoral engagement, market linkage, business experience, education, ownership structure, and financial management practice on growth of enterprises.

Innovation is a topic of intense interest and is seen as key to confronting the vast majority of issues facing humanity. To consolidate the knowledge about approaches promoting innovation, this study conducted a systematic review integrating an all-database (n = 375) search through EBSCOhost completed on April 6th, 2019 in addition to search engine use. Three hundred three studies were full-text reviewed yielding 82 final studies eligible for the inclusion in findings extraction. The findings were synthesized and then organized into the Expectancy–value–cost (EVC) motivation framework to isolate promotive and hindering factors. It is clear that there is an unbalanced primacy in the innovation literature in favor of business and corporate settings with very little representation from the arts or social justice sectors. There is also a common trend of using surveys of individuals in organizations within a single discipline, while interviews are rare. The paucity of studying costs of innovation in the literature is symptomatic of the primarily positive psychology approach taken by studies, rather than a framework like EVC which also considers detractive factors like costs. Numerous studies provide support for the notion that more internal motivations like intrinsic (e.g., interest) and attainment (e.g., importance, fulfillment) were more influential than external motivators like rewards as targets of strategies. Leaders should focus, whenever possible, on topics that engaged curiosity, interest, and satisfaction and, if they choose to use rewards, should focus their strategies to give related rewards; otherwise, they risk sundering the internal motivation to innovate for already interested workers.

Olive growing is the most important agricultural activity in Italy, representing, in 2010, 56% of Italian farms and 76% of land used for permanent crops. Producing high-quality products, such as healthy and socially responsible produces, while containing costs, is the current market challenge, and evaluation tools are of utmost importance to help farmers shaping management practices to obtain competitive prod-ucts. This study applies Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and social Life Cycle Assessment (sLCA) as evaluation tools to compare the socio-economic impacts of organic and conventional farming systems of the Italian olive growing. Results showed a similar level of economic profitability in both scenarios, due to the public subsidies for organic farming, which balanced higher production costs. From a social point of view, some differences have been highlighted: organic farming would be suitable not only to increase incomes but also to improve the occupational health of the people involved. ,, Falcone,, Bruno Francesco, Anna Irene De Luca

For a successful economy, the interaction between research and its application in practice plays a key role. The aim of this paper is to analyze the institutional factors of patent activity at universities in the Czech Republic. The following five factors were selected for detailed investigation: budget from government, number of employees: professors, associate professor, and assistant professor, number of researchers and other employees, number of students (PhD, master, and bachelor), technology transfer workers. The patent activity analysis used methods of retrospective data analysis in the field of R&D activities, unstructured interviews, and statistical data processing. Following from the basic characteristics of the collected data, patent activity is related to the nature of universities, where technical universities are in leading positions in the monitored period of industrial-legal protection. However, the importance of encouraging innovation activity across all disciplines is crucial. The result of monitoring the dependency shows that a relationship of efficiencies and patent output is influenced by the size of a university. Secondly, there can be observed that technology transfer efficiency contributes more to the patent output that research staff efficiency.

How are women entrepreneurs transforming and challenging traditional understandings of professional success in the 21st century, despite the multitasking whirlpool? What type of knowledge and skills are required in today’s digital world to develop professionally and succeed as an entrepreneur? What are the major barriers to successful entrepreneurship preventing women from realizing their full potential or stopping them from even beginning an entrepreneurial career? A current literature review (2011–2019) on women’s entrepreneurial initiatives, skills, characteristics, attributes, motives and leadership styles, documenting strategies for success and barriers confronted, indicates that not much has changed. Women entrepreneurs continue to face the multitasking whirlpool, along with the lack of financial resources, marketing skills and support services, including poor access to business networks, technology and digital markets. Despite the mass entry of women in exclusively male domains, glass ceilings have not been shattered. Then again, developed and developing nations have come to understand that women’s entrepreneurial activities contribute to socioeconomic growth and utilizing the full potential of all human resources is essential for sustainable development. Studies of the 21st century—as those of the late 20th century—continue to spotlight gender gaps in entrepreneurship as well as the so valued career–family balance, while still arguing that further research is needed. They also agree that successful entrepreneurship requires digital skills along with the drive for innovation. The successful entrepreneur, or to use a term and concept coined by Elias G. Carayannis and McDonald R. Stewart (2013), the “distinguished entrepreneur” regardless of gender, is an innovator; a visionary; a person who predicts and shapes the future; takes initiatives; accepts change, risk and failure; learns from it; and sees what others do not see, among other things. Accordingly, this study presents snapshots of lives changed and empowered. It includes the work and narratives of “distinguished” (Carayannis & Stewart 2013) women entrepreneurs who have made a difference. Is it not time to shed some light on inspirational role models, especially those who are excelling in the startup world, the Blue Economy and the Silver Economy? Keywords: Women, Entrepreneurship, Multitasking whirlpool, Gender participation gap, Gender pay gap, Gender leadership gap, Work–life balance, Digital skills, Degendering

Innovation-as-usual employs synthetic input as the key source of inspiration to bring about innovations, whereas unusual innovation is inspired by designs in nature. The use of nature as a key stimulus for innovation represents a fundamental shift in management and business studies. It involves the translation of natural designs into cross-domain and ad hoc synthetic designs. This paper examines and discusses the phenomenon of biomimetics and different examples of its application. Efficient translation of biomimetics involves the critical processes of exploration, explanation and exploitation. This paper discusses a practical case of biomimetic translation and identifies some critical and greatly understudied translational processes. The paper proposes techniques to correct existing translational imperfections and to establish theoretical bridging points to responsible management practices. Before concluding, research and managerial implications are briefly addressed.

This paper draws on data from Uganda’s 2013 World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES), which comprises data on 762 firms across Uganda to assess the effects of the business environment, with particular interest on the impact of finance on firm growth by focusing on differences across firm size. Unlike past studies, we use firm level data that allows us to interrogate whether the impact of the business environment is unbiased across firm size. Most importantly, this paper mitigates the risk of the potential measurement error, omitted variable bias, and endogeneity. The results suggest that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Uganda benefit more from financial access than large firms. These effects are stronger and more sustained among medium firms. The paper interprets these results as evidence that MSMEs are more credit constrained relative to large firms. The paper also discerns that while informality and poor regulatory environment may help divert economic activity from large firms to MSMEs, informality increases the vulnerability of MSMEs to corruption to sustain their informal and invisible status. The policy implication on size, efficiency, and dynamism of the business sector in Uganda is that there is a need to increase not only financial inclusion of MSMEs but also improve the general business environment, particularly the formalization of micro firms.

Entrepreneurial culture has been an area of worth investigation in management research for many years since the growth in technology-based business ventures. In the context of businesses, entrepreneurial culture may be described as attitudes, values, skills, and power of a group or individual working in an organization that is characterized by risk. The prime purpose of this study is to examine the effect of openness to change and self-efficacy on entrepreneurial culture with the mediating role of creativity. We have used innovative culture as a substitute to measure the entrepreneurial culture of an organization due to its prognosticator power. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed through physical channel among employees of various firms engaged in the information technology business. Specifically, we collected data from all registered firms in the capital city of the Province Punjab, thus making an overall sample size of 300 and useable questionnaires that were returned filled for analysis were 225 (useable response rate 75%) employees of various private firms. For the analysis purpose and to explain the relationships among variables and mediational effects, we have used SPSS and AMOS for SEM. The findings clearly report that there are significant direct relationships among variables such that openness to change and self-efficacy have a positive impact on entrepreneurial culture, as well as in the presence of creativity as a mediator. The limitations of this study have been discussed with its theoretical and practical contribution. Future researchers can focus on longitudinal study and use qualitative methods for in-depth knowledge along with other variables in order to measure entrepreneurial culture in a broader way.

There is need for Kenyan small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular to focus concern on the orientation of business strategy toward global market strategy, market research geared at obtaining foreign market intelligence, innovation and technology, product adaptation, service orientation, collaborative ventures, and long-range vision as critical factors in making them successful in the international market. They also need to interact effectively with other firms in more or less tightly connected networks of shared production and innovation if they are to succeed in the current wave of globalization. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of global market strategy on the global expansion of Kenyan firms. The research study used descriptive and inferential design as a chosen design. The researcher used multiple/multivariate regression analysis to determine the functional relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The global market strategy variables considered include the following: market strategy incorporating: global advertising and promotion, external advisory services, foreign market specialization, competitive pricing strategies, and focus on quality products/services; foreign market intelligence on locating markets, trade restrictions, competition overseas, and market and investment opportunities; and logistics and distribution incorporating: handling of documentation, distribution coordination, warehousing, arranging transportation, and collaboration with large firms. A random sample of 205 firms was drawn out of 440 members of Kenya Association of Manufacturers, based in Nairobi, from the Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Exporters Directory of 2012. The senior management of selected firms was surveyed and 175 firms responded making a response rate of 85 percent. The key finding from the research is that there is a functional relationship between global market strategy and global expansion of SMEs. The implication for practice and policy is that there is a need for collaboration between industry and government in pursuing policies for global expansion and among SMEs and large enterprises particularly in developing capacity and collaboration in global marketing strategy, market intelligence gathering, export promotion and strengthening of foreign trade missions. An early-warning system to alert firms of changes that may lead to potential failure in their global business activities can be developed.

This paper estimates the association between innovation and employment growth among manufacturing firms in Africa. The paper uses a cross-sectional World Bank Enterprise Survey dataset in which innovation is categorised as product innovation and process innovation. Results from the pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation are more efficient compared to IV 2SLS. The pooled OLS results indicate that: (1) employment growth is positively associated with both process and product innovation, (2) a weak business environment especially intermittent electricity supply undermines the ability of innovation to induce employment growth and (3) relationship between innovation and employment growth is not conditioned on firm age although it is conditioned on firm size. Such findings suggest that employment growth in Africa could benefit from policies and programs that induce firms to embrace innovation. In addition, a strong business environment is necessary in complementing the potential of innovation to enhance employment growth in Africa.

This paper examines aggregate supply response of 19 selected crops in Algerian agriculture during the 1966-2018 period by employing cointegration analysis and error correction model (ECM). It tests whether there has been a long-run equilibrium relationship between agricultural outputs and prices, besides a confirmation about the responsiveness of agricultural supply to economic incentives (prices). Findings indicate that the long-run elasticities of all selected crops with respect to prices are statistically significant and mostly low, whereas short-run elasticities are lower, which appeals to the adequacy of adjustment to economic incentives. Furthermore, the results of the ECM confirmed the positive responsiveness to prices with differential rates of adjustment for selected crops, ruling out the applicability of a presumed perverse supply response in Algerian agriculture.

The objective of this study was to measure the efficiency level of Water Users Associations (WUAs) in the coastal oases of Gabes (Southeastern Tunisia) and to assess its main determinants. First, an input-oriented data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to measure the relative efficiency scores of WUAs and to evaluate the management and maintenance costs sub-vectors efficiencies separately through a mathematical modification in the initial DEA specification. In a second stage, critical determinants of sub-vector efficiency are determined by applying a Tobit model. A key finding of the study is that WUAs are clearly inefficient. Results show that on average, 36% of the used inputs (management and maintenance costs) could be saved if the WUAs operated on the frontier. The inefficiency found can be mainly attributed to the number of water pumping stations managed, the ratio of water losses and the WUAs’ age. The results also show a discrepancy between the technical efficiency values calculated under the CRS and VRS assumptions, resulting in a 20% scale inefficiency. The study also revealed that the sub-vector inefficiency of WUAs is linked more to engineering inefficiencies than to inefficiencies in their management.

The paper investigates the drivers of farm size and farm size growth in Slovenia during the period 2007-2017 using a farm-level Farm Accountancy Data Network dataset within a quantile regression framework. Farm size growth is measured by growth in utilized agricultural area per farm. The findings suggest that growth in farm land size is driven by initial farm land size and policy subsidy support. Contrary to expectations, human capital does not play an important role in either farm land size or farm land size growth according to quantile regressions. These findings from inter-quantile comparative analysis are important for farm-related structural and rural development policy.

We investigate the price dynamics between retail milk price and raw milk price in the Turkish fluid milk market. The study uses monthly fluid milk prices for 14 years between January 2003 and December 2016. We analyze the price adjustment in the fluid milk market through an asymmetric error correction model with threshold co-integration. We find that the transmission between the two prices has been asymmetric in both the long term and short term period. Differences between the farm milk prices and retail milk prices may exist due to marketing costs across the supply chain and pricing policies associated with the market structure. Results of the long-run analysis indicate a significant market power in the fluid milk market. Therefore, in this asymmetric case, the deviations are likely to be the reason for the market power of the processors/retailers and the reason for the oligopolistic market structure in the sector., NA

Agricultural parcels are often the subject of land valuation studies. This approach implicitly assumes that the real estate value of the land belonging to a farm is the sum of the values of the individual parcels that make up the farm. Nonetheless, the value of a whole can be very different from the sum of its parts. This study proposes a methodology for calculating the real estate value of the land belonging to a farm, by including parameters relating to the fragmentation of the land. Fragmentation increases production costs and reduces farmers’ incomes and by extension the real estate value of the farm. In our study area, the province of Jaen in Spain, figures for its most emblematic crop, the olive, show that fragmentation of the land reduces its value by between 51% for a 10 ha farm and 12% for a 30 ha farm as compared to the values set out in the bibliography. The reorganization of the ownership system or the promotion of systems for the common management of land could increase the profitability and therefore the value of land according to the ‘income capitalization’ approach.

Climate change is responsible for the negative effects in human life causing a decrease in agricultural products, biodiversity, soil fertility, and forest areas. In contrast, climate change increases plant diseases and pests, the cost of agricultural production and risk in food security. This study aims to determine whether climate change is a phenomenon via the analysis of the perceptions of the farmers in the Mersin province conducted over 251 questionnaires. Farmers primarily perceive climate change over production costs and the reduction in yield. Moreover, they are highly aware of its relation to natural events such as floods, drought, and storms. Nevertheless, inappropriate agricultural practices also lead to the negative consequences caused by climate change. In this respect, this study revealed that farmers with high cooperative partnerships and experience perceived climate change significantly.

Most employee satisfaction studies do not consider the current digital transformation of the social world. The aim of this research is to provide insight into employee satisfaction in agribusiness by means of coaching, motivation, emotional salary and social media with a value chain methodology. The model is tested empirically by analysing a survey data set of 381 observations in Spanish agribusiness firms of the agri-food value chain. The results show flexible remunerations of emotional salary are determinants of employee satisfaction. Additionally, motivation is relevant in the production within commercialisation link and coaching in the production within transformation link. Whole-of-chain employees showed the greatest satisfaction with the use of social media in personnel management. Findings also confirmed that employees will stay when a job is satisfying. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the effect of current social and digital business skills on employee satisfaction in the agri-food value chain.

The Puglia region is the most important producer of organic olives in Italy. The study aims at assessing the economic sustainability of a selected organic olive oil farm by adopting and testing the methodology based on a scientific approach designed by CIHEAM Bari, with the collaboration of a group of experts from national and international research organisations, used in the Programme “Agricoltura&Qualita” of the Puglia Region. A SWOT-analysis of quality schemes’ system in Puglia has been drawn. The case study concerns a traditional organic farm producing olive oil, table olives, and almonds in the Puglia region. The SWOT analysis highlights that Puglia has not a fully functioning system to ensure sustainability. However, the results prove the feasibility of the methodological approach to assess the economic sustainability of the farm. Therefore, the farm is economically sustainable and can use the “Economic sustainability” logo, in addition to the organic and PDO logos. Per hectare, almond is the most profitable crop with the highest revenue, variable costs are higher in table olives and inputs are higher in olives for oil. The growing interest in sustainability is an important opportunity to develop the agri-food sector

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of external factors on industry performance: in micro and small-scale enterprises. To achieve its objectives, the study employed a descriptive and explanatory research design and used quantitative research approach. The target population of the study was 395 MSEs owners working in manufacturing, trade, and service sectors. It used stratified and simple random sampling techniques and the required data have been collected from a sample size of 199 MSEs through standardized 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire. The study used both primary and secondary sources of data. For data analysis purpose, it employed descriptive and inferential statistical data analysis methods like correlation and multiple linear regression analysis. The finding of the study discovered the agreement of respondents to the positively significant relationship between external factors and industry performance in the study area. Specifically, marketing factors, financial factors, infrastructure, work premises factors, trade fair factors, and political-legal factors all have a positive effect on enterprises’ performance in the study area. In addition, the study result shows that financial factors, marketing factors, infrastructure, work premises factors, and trade fair factors have a positive significant effect on industry performance but political-legal factors do not significantly affect the dependent variable industry performance. From the predicting variables, infrastructure has more effect on industry performance than the rest of variables in the study area. The study recommends that the government/micro and small enterprises development offices should maintain different supportive trainings, decrease infrastructural problems, facilitate credit services, and create attractive environment to entice or create productive MSEs. In addition, the MSEs owners should design adoptive plans and programs with the external as well as internal environment to increase their performance.

There has been a long debate about the role of industry structure in the literature on why some regions successfully achieve economic growth, while other regions stagnate or decline. This paper provides an empirical analysis in which we, based on a cluster analysis, develop a taxonomy for regional growth. In a second part of the study, we explore how specialization and entrepreneurship are meaningful to discriminate between the different types of regions. Our results suggest that regional entrepreneurship and industry diversity characterized by relatedness are key elements in understanding why some regions are leading while others lag behind. The suggested taxonomy is argued to contribute with a nuanced perspective that can enhance discussions about improvements of regional development policies and to further empirical analysis on the topic.

The main objective of this paper is to assess the determinants and challenges of economic achievement for women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia. The study used 698 sample women entrepreneurs selected randomly from a total of 2450 respondents. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression models. The results revealed that there is a high rate of challenges for divorced (30%) and widowed (41%) women entrepreneurs in the selected area. The results of multiple linear regression show that the educational level, family size, region (SNNP, Gambella, Harari, Dire Dawa, and Addis Ababa), parents’ educational level, number of financially dependent people, business experiences, and access to raw materials were positive predictors of the income of women entrepreneurs. It is also found that entrepreneurial area (Afar, Amhara, and Oromiya), marital status (divorced and widowed), entrepreneurship training, enterprise’s license, and lack of supporting institutions were negatively related with the income of women entrepreneurs. Therefore, improving entrepreneurs’ and parents’ education, providing entrepreneurship training, sharing business experiences, supporting entrepreneurs is the main instrumental in minimizing the factors affecting the income of women entrepreneurs. Moreover, it is advisable if the business participation status of women be assessed periodically to monitor the situation and to take appropriate measures for combating and preventing the challenges facing women entrepreneurs in economic growth.

Trust in organizations plays an essential role for efficient innovation implementation. However, trust between managers and employees is under-communicated in relation to innovation speed. Innovation speed is related to innovation adoption, concerning new ways of performing laboratory services within the health sector. The purpose of this case study is to investigate how trust mechanisms may enhance innovation speed by reducing employee decisions to perform defensive routines. The focus is related to trust as a social condition for enhancing innovation acceptance in the context of management and organizing styles subject to the Norwegian Work Life Model.The study found that a lack of employee participation and involvement may result in emotional tension, a sense of uncertainty, disconnect, and various defensive mechanisms towards management and the innovation. Consequently, employees’ attention, loyalty, and responsibility might be redirected away from the innovation.

Innovations and new technologies allow companies to function, work, and develop in an ever-changing environment. The article discusses the importance of innovative strategies and presents the results of research carried out on the role of each employee group (CEO, R+D department, other workers) in implementing innovations, depending on the size of the enterprise: micro company, mini company, medium company, and large company. A look not only through the prism of the size of the organization, but also by the groups of people (knowledge group) responsible for innovation is a novelty of the research and fills the gap in research on innovation of enterprises. Moreover, as an exemplification of theory which is used in practice, the article also presents innovations related to bamboo use in many enterprises from different sectors of the economy (energy, automobile, and textile). Bamboo, thanks to its mechanical and chemical properties, can become an innovative material widely used by various companies. Innovations based on the use of bamboo become eco-innovations that support eco-efficiency and the circular economy. The cognitive and utilitarian value of completed research lies in the possibility of a broad look at the innovation strategy (including bamboo as an innovative material) and in the possibility of its implementation and application in various enterprises operating on the market.

Purpose Based upon an extended SERVQUAL model, this paper attempts to contribute to the Islamic banking literature by examining the impact of digitalization, as a service quality dimension, on customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Two dimensions, i.e., digitalization and compliance, are added to the existing SERVQUAL model of five dimensions. Results are drawn from a self-completed survey of a convenience sample of 145 Tunisian Islamic bank customers for the year 2018. Factor analysis and regression analysis are used to determine factor structure and determine the impact of service quality dimensions, especially digitalization, on customer satisfaction in Islamic banking. Findings The factor analysis extracted five dimensions of service quality, i.e., confidence, compliance, digitalization, tangibles, and human skills. The paper demonstrates a positive and significant relationship between the main dimensions of customer service quality and customer satisfaction, except for tangibles. Research limitations/implications Although the outcomes lend support to the extended SERVQUAL model, the results are derived based on a relatively average sample size in one country (Tunisia). It might also be useful to enlarge the study sample for better generalization of the findings in other countries and include a comparison between Islamic versus conventional banking about service quality and customer satisfaction. Moreover, we can applicate another original method for the Measuring and Implementing Service Quality like the multicriteria method dubbed (MUSA). Managerial implications To remain competitive, Tunisian Islamic banks need to pay attention to the way the services are delivered and not take it for granted that customers are only focusing on compliance. Dealing henceforth with Generation Y customers, they must persevere in bringing their customer service into the digital era. Originality/value This study is one of the few which tries to investigate the drivers of customer satisfaction for Islamic banks in a Digital Era. It reveals that although customers pay special attention to Sharia laws, the way services are delivered matters to them too. From now on, digital banking must appear among the Islamic bank features to stay relevant in the Digital Era.

Nile water availability is one of the major constraints for agricultural development in Egypt. This study conducts a mixed multiplier analysis, under water and land constraints, to identify the seasonal agricultural activities with high output and income multipliers. It uses a 2008/09 SAM for Egypt with a detailed rep-resentation of Nile-related production factors employed by agricultural activities across irrigation seasons. The results demonstrate the significance of addressing Nile water constraints, not only for agriculture, but also for the overall economy. Policies that enhance water productivity, particularly in the winter season, generate outstanding increases in output, income, and employment through sizable multiplier effects. © 2021, Bononia University Press. All rights reserved.

The purpose of this study was to explore entrepreneurial intention and its determinants: in the case of Woldia University graduating students. To achieve its objectives, the study employed a descriptive and explanatory research design, and in the study, a cross-sectional study was conducted through a mixed research approach. The target population of the study was 223 regular first-degree 2018 graduating students of Woldia University, Management Department, and their instructors in the study area. The sample size was 143 respondents. The study result showed that majority of the respondents did not plan to start their own knowledge-based business. This was essentially due to the lack of competence in transforming ideas in to practice and commercializing it to create their own business. Correspondingly, prodigious attention should be given to have an entrepreneurial orientation in the contents and methods of teaching at all levels of education systems primary, secondary, and higher educational institutions and use different awareness-raising mechanisms in the country.

Food security issue is getting more attention in middle-income countries such as Tunisia after the revolution 2011, where many factors affecting its food security are multiplied. An econometric analysis of food security was done through the Vector Error Correction Model approach (VECM). The result of this approach shows that there is a significant long-term causality between the dependent variables and the explanatory variables. Some signs of variables like land under cereals assert the hypothesis of Ricardo’s land rent theory and also attract attention for the preservation of land fertility in climate change context. However, there is a short-term causal relationship between food security and independents variables like: land under cereals, inflation and food imports. These results confirm that the issue of food security in Tunisia is a question of threat in the short and long-term instability. So, it is important today to readjust some factors to ensure food security in Tunisia like controlling inflation and lowering the food importation as short-term measures and preserving and improving the fertility of land under cereals and adopting climate change as long-term measures.

This paper is the outcome of a reflection on the MIP report 2020, a collection of information and data used to describe the scenario on youth innovation and entrepreneurship in agrifood sector in Mediterranean countries. In particular, it highlights the need to study innovation in Mediterranean regions under the lens of social and institutional innovation. It is argued that social and institutional innovation are key drivers of the development of Innovation Ecosystems. The paper discusses the main findings - and relevant case studies - of the MIP report, with a specific attention to the role of the Innovation Support Organizations. It is noted that while in the field of institutional innovation there are signs of official activity, in the field of social innovation there is no or very limited attempt to embody social innovation into national policy frameworks. However, the article identifies interesting bottom-up initiatives that may constitute the basis for new policy initiatives.

The wine market is very heterogeneous and complex, being the knowledge of the behaviour and attitudes of consumers a key tool to design efficient marketing plans, namely in countries that are traditionally wine producers and consumers, such as Portugal. In this country, Port wine is an economic and cultural icon, but, in the last decade, total sales have been decreasing. Despite this trend the domestic consumption has been gaining relevance and therefore a focus to reverse the negative cycle of total sales. The main goal of this paper is to analyse the profile and behaviour of domestic Port wine consumers, identifying homogeneous market segments. For this purpose, an online survey was applied and random sample of 678 Portuguese Port wine consumers was collected. Using multivariate statistical techniques, three profiles of purchasers/consumers emerged: experienced, less experienced and inexperienced consumers. This segmentation shows that Port wine consumers can be grouped according to their involvement with the product, consumption occasion and price they are willing to pay. In addition to the academic contribution of wine market segmentation, the paper provides useful insights to be used in designing marketing plans, both by institutional stakeholders and wineries.

This paper analyses the technical efficiency of arable farms in Serbia and its determinants using a two-stage double bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach on the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data from 2014 and 2015 with special emphasis on the impact of agricultural subsidies on the technical efficiency of arable farms in Serbia. Bias-corrected DEA efficiency scores were first calculated and then regressed on a set of explanatory variables using the double-truncated regression approach. The estimates suggest that the share of rented land, land to labour ratio and financial stress variables are the main determinants of arable farm efficiency in Serbia. For the subsidies we found that area payments and input subsidies have some impacts on the technical efficiency of arable farms. In contrast, investment and other subsidies were found to have an insignificant impact on farm technical efficiency. These results suggest that the future potential shift of the Serbian agricultural support towards the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)-like area based payments is expected to have a minimal but likely positive impact on farms technical efficiency in Serbia.

Sustainable development is regarded today as a goal which has to be reached by all countries. Therefore cooperation for development is more than ever necessary to face the global challenges such as poverty, human health, food crisis etc. This work aims to study the regional disparity that may exist between provinces in the south of tunisia. To this end, a data analysis applied to a set of regional development indicators using the principal components analysis method (ACP) was conducted.

The Spanish olive oil sector is the world leader in terms of olive oil production. This sector primarily comprises companies in the social economy, especially cooperatives, which account for more than 75% of production. The emergence of second-tier cooperatives has enabled the implementation of one of the recurring recommendations by scholars, namely enhancing the commercialization of olive oil through greater concentration and integration of supply. This improved commercialization is made possible in part by the greater capacity of these companies to invest in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and human capital specialized in managing these ICTs. The use of the Internet gives these companies access to a market of unparalleled dimensions. In light of this situation, this study examines the factors that explain a higher level of online sales activity by these firms. To do so, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used. The results show that age, size, the management’s ICT training, social network activity, and outsourced ICT management are associated with greater online sales of olive oil by second-tier cooperatives.

This paper analyzes the mechanism through which natural resource abundance leads to a poor agricultural performance and a rapid urbanization in African countries. We conducted a static and dynamic panel data analysis for a panel of 39 African countries during the period 2000-2013. Our findings show that natural resources rents have a negative impact on agricultural performance and a positive impact on food import dependency. In addition, the results show a significant positive impact of resource rents on rural-urban migration and on urbanization rate. We argue that these findings can be explained by the government choice to specialize in primary commodities to the detriment of the development of other productive sectors, especially agriculture. Because policy makers tend to invest resources rents in developing infrastructures, mostly in cities, this inevitably creates some pulling factors for rural population in search of a better life. Consequently, we observe a rapid urbanization associated with serious problems (Expansion of urban slums, limited access to improved water and sanitations facilities) in many African countries, highly dependent on natural resource rents.

The agricultural population in Turkey declines year by year due to rural-urban migration and, consequently, the number of young farmers is on the decrease in Turkey, like in some developed countries. The Young Farmer Grant Project was launched for encouraging young people in rural areas in 2016. This study was conducted to determine the tendency of the youth who study agriculture to invest in agriculture and their opinions and suggestions on the Young Farmer Grant Project. Data was collected by the survey from 480 students who studied agriculture at Ege University and Kocaeli University. Five-point Likert scale was used to determine the opinions, tendencies and expectations of the students. At this stage, chi-square tests and analysis of variance were also applied. Logistical regression was performed for determining of factors affecting the probability of students benefiting from the Young Farmer Grant Project. According to results of logistical regression, age, the situation of being a farmer in the family and having a family-owned farmland positively affect the probability of students benefiting from the Young Farmer Grant Project.

In today’s world, many digitally enabled start-ups are budding all over the globe because of the fast enhancement in digital technologies. For the establishment of new business, it is necessary to adopt a proper business model which needs to define the way in which the company will provide values and the ways in which the customers can pay for their services. This paper aims to study the various business models being used in today’s marketplace and to provide a better understanding for these business models by having an insight on the attributes.

Good management of water resources requires a good allocation of their availability, especially in public irrigated schemes in Tunisia. This paper contributes to a better reallocation of available water resources at the farm and regional levels. A case study was discussed in the Kalâa Kebira region, in the center-east of Tunisia. Regional models based on aggregation and the possibility of water transfer between two irrigated schemes was tested. The results show that a good seasonal allocation is possible with a total regional exchange of 9.60% m3 of water available between these two schemes. This reallocation is beneficial at the regional level, recording an increase of 2.12% in agricultural income and less beneficial, except for farms that are less competitive, in terms of use of water resources. This reallocation also allows for cultural diversity and specification of agricultural farms. Competitiveness in the water use, diversification and specification of agricultural production systems help to preserve natural resources but they also help to satisfy demand of the regional market.Good management of water resources requires a good allocation of their availability, especially in public irrigated schemes in Tunisia. This paper contributes to a better reallocation of available water resources at the farm and regional levels. A case study was discussed in the Kalâa Kebira region, in the center-east of Tunisia. Regional models based on aggregation and the possibility of water transfer between two irrigated schemes was tested. The results show that a good seasonal allocation is possible with a total regional exchange of 9.60% m3 of water available between these two schemes. This reallocation is beneficial at the regional level, recording an increase of 2.12% in agricultural income and less beneficial, except for farms that are less competitive, in terms of use of water resources. This reallocation also allows for cultural diversity and specification of agricultural farms. Competitiveness in the water use, diversification and specification of agricultural production systems help to preserve natural resources but they also help to satisfy demand of the regional market.

The objective of this paper is to analyse the olive oil value chain (OVC) in the Governorate of Medenine (south-east of Tunisia) and the relationships between its main operators for an effective involvement and better performance and resilience of olive sector. Based on semi structured interviews and participatory multi-stakeholders’ workshops, OVC has been analysed and described. MACTOR approach has been applied to establish linkages among chain operators and activities in a partnership approach. Innovative interventions were proposed to strengthen farmers’ organizations to increase profitability of OVC. Empirical findings suggest that public-private-civil society partnerships are essential for the development of pro-poor approaches for uncovering technological and institutional innovations which may involve more inclusive olive oil value chains. The underpinnings of our argument will be of interest and value to both development practitioners and the research community engaged within Tunisia, and the wider region more generally, on initiatives aimed at fostering effective, inclusive and contextually relevant processes for agricultural innovation. ---- , , ,.

This paper examines the world commodity prices pass-through to food inflation in Morocco, over the period 2004-2018, by using Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model on monthly data. Several interesting results are found from this study. First, the impact of global food prices on domestic food inflation is shown significant, which reflects the large imported component in the domestic food consumption basket. Second, the transmission effect is found to vary across commodities. Consumer prices of cereals and oils significantly and positively respond to external price shocks, while those of dairy and beverages are weakly influenced. Third, there is evidence of asymmetries in the pass-through from world to domestic food prices, where external positive shocks generate a stronger local prices response than negative ones. This situation is indicative of policy and market distortions, namely the subsidies, price controls, and weak competitive market structures. Our findings suggest that food price movements should require much attention in monetary policymaking, especially that the country has taken preliminary steps towards the adoption of floating exchange rate regime.

This study is about the level and factors of informality concerning the fresh meat market in the prefecture of Tirana-Albania. Sample data for 200 households have been used to carry out the study. Descriptive statistics, linear and logistic multinomial econometric modeling techniques are used to analyze the data. The level of informality is 34%, while its major factors are the level of price, as well as safety and quality of meat. Other determinants are household’s income and consumption quantity and ineffective public monitoring system, while the education of the household’s header seems of dubious effect. Important policy implications would be improving the legislation, regulations and the tax system performance. Other recommendations would be improving the rule of law to prevent informal selling and stimulate legal trade. Design and maintain a pro-poor business policy for a positive investment climate encouraging employment and income generation is a priority. Rigorous control of production standards and stimulation of good farming practices as well as improving detection and the use of repressive measures would be some necessities but also tough challenges for the future.

The Coronavirus pandemic has revealed the fragility of our food systems, affecting all dimensions of food security and nutrition across the world. It has highlighted how deeply our world is interconnected and the importance of better recognising and understanding the interconnections that are intrinsic to these systems and their key role in pursuit of the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. There is now, more than ever, a stronger need for a “route change” towards a common action on food systems transformation. Dialogues among all stakeholders to redesign the future of tomorrow’s food systems are needed to trigger collective, multi-stakeholder actions on the ground, at local, regional and global level, towards more sustainable food systems, linking sustainable food production to more healthy and sustainable food consumption. In this context CIHEAM, FAO, and the Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat (UfMS) initiated in 2019, a joint collaborative effort for the establishment of a multi-stakeholder platform on Sustainable Food Systems in the Mediterranean to accelerate the shift towards the Agenda 2030 in the Mediterranean region, with the Mediterranean diet acting as a driver.

This study assesses methodologies used during the selection of pilot products for the support to development of sustainable geographical indication projects by using the FAO/EBRD project as a case study. Relevant pilot products are essential to provide stakeholders with concrete experience, demonstrative effects and lessons learned in order to disseminate bets practices and facilitate scaling-out of sustainable GI processes. Qualitative data were transformed to quantitative data for product selection because data for local products were insufficient, and standard data were unavailable for each product. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP), simple scoring and geographical indication assessment form were used together as product selection methods. Gemlik Olives, the first registered geographical indication product in the Bursa province, was included during assessment as a control group. Six local products with a potential for GI registration were considered for pilot product selection to serve as demonstrative process. Results suggest that the most important selection criteria were “reputation of the product” and “power of the organisation” and first two ranked products selected for the project were Bursa Black Figs and Bursa Peaches.

Industrial houses and governments of different countries and groups spend a sizeable amount of their earnings upon research and development activities to create new products and obtain patents for them. The short-run motive is to get patents, and the long-run motive is to influence income growth of the countries. The empirical findings so far are skeptical on the effects of research and development (R&D) spending. The present study further investigates the long-run associations and short-run dynamics among R&D spending, number of patents and per capita income growth in the panel of countries and groups for the period 1996–2017. Using VAR model for the panel data, the study observes that R&D spending, number of patents and per capita income growth have no long-run equilibrium relations but in the short-run, income growth and number of patents make a cause to R&D spending. However, there are weak causation from patents and R&D spending to income growth rates. The study thus recommends for controlling unfair competition on spending on R&D head and getting patents since it increases the magnitudes of social cost.

Collective action by farmers including the development of cooperatives is regarded as one of solutions to overcome low productivity. This study investigates the impact of agricultural cooperative on technical efficiency (TE) and total factor productivity (TFP) of olive farms in the West Bank of Palestine. Using cross-section data of olive-growing farms in Jenin governorate, we estimated a stochastic frontier production function with inefficiency components. TFP was also estimated by residual approach. We employed propensity score matching to reduce self-selection bias in becoming a member of the cooperative. Results suggest that cooperative membership has a positive impact on TE and TFP, as joining a cooperative raises the TE by 10.16 to 10.52 percentage points. We interpret access to credits, land and productive olive seedlings, and extension services provided by cooperatives are possible pathways that affect TE and TFP. Due to the existence of huge inefficiency and low land productivity of olive farms in Jenin, we imply participation in cooperatives is an effective strategy for them to catch up with productive farms in the Mediterranean region.

This paper examines stakeholders’ preferences concerning diversification of small scale fishery activities, which has become a necessity for many small-scale fishermen in order to provide additional sources of income, as their income is often inadequate. It’s looks at participatory modelling as a potential tool to enhance mutual understanding and legitimacy. Fisheries stakeholders and those with an indirect interest in diversification of their activities were invited to participate in the process of framing the management problem and to give input and evaluate the scientific models that are used to provide suggestions to decision makers. We followed a number of different strategies to investigate the role of participatory knowledge development. The study empirically integrates the traditional models of multicriteria decision aid approach with the deliberative mapping perspective. We conclude that participatory modelling has the potential to facilitate and structure the deliberative process within a dialogue between scientists and stakeholders about uncertainties and the quality of the knowledge base. It can also contribute to collective learning, increase legitimacy, and advance scientific understanding

PurposeThe underlining study’s main objective is to examine how networking structure (density and centrality) affects sustainable competitive performance in Pakistan’s SMEs.Design/methodology/approachHence, small enterprises a significant source of economic development, employment, and value creation. Therefore, on the base of previous literature, we developed hypothesis related government financial support and network structure, and data collected through structured questionnaires from top management of SMEs.FindingsThe results indicate that density has a positive and significant effect on sustainable competitive performance, while centrality has an insignificant impact on SCP. Furthermore, government financial support strongly and significantly supports the relation between networking structure and SCP in Pakistan.Practical implicationsThis research has several recommendations for the government to adequately support small enterprises because owners have a networking system at the local and international level but have a lack of environment.Originality/valueGovernment plays a crucial role in small- and medium-sized enterprises boost performance and economic growth because it creates employment opportunities, poverty reduction, and economic development. Nevertheless, from the last decades, due to some organizational policies and environmental flexibility, SMEs face a lot of challenges which became a barrier such as lack of government subsidies, incentives, and taxes in emerging economies. To bridge the above challenges of SMEs, the current study is conducted because before this there was no such literature who underline the current challenges in emerging economies.