Mapping the barriers to socio-economic freedom in internationalisation of women-owned SMEs: evidence from a developing country

Internationalisation of women-owned firms is considered a new strategy for unlocking the full economic potential of a country. However, there has been a desultory work on gender and trade, particularly the epistemological and methodological approaches to explore this phenomenon, which has received inadequate attention. Drawing on the institution-based- theory and incorporating the feminist perspective, this study identifies barriers to socio-economic freedom as a multidimensional concept that influences the internationalisation of women entrepreneurship. Using mixed methods and based on findings from focus group discussion (study-1), in-depth interviews (study-2) and a survey (study-3) of SME women entrepreneurs, the study develops and validates a gender-specific model of barriers to socio-economic freedom that women entrepreneurs face in the internationalisation of their firms. The findings confirm that the additional barriers that women entrepreneurs face emerge from three dimensions (i.e. socio-interactional patterns, socio-psychological attachment and socio-cultural embeddedness) that influence the internationalisation of women-owned SMEs through the lack of foreign market knowledge and information and lack of international business experience. This study extends internationalisation and women entrepreneurship research by identifying novel dimensions of the barriers to socioeconomic freedom landscape. Implications of our findings for theory, methods and practice with limitations and future research directions are discussed critically

Changes in consumer purchasing behavior due to COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is facing historical challenges without prior preparation. Because of the unavoidable economic crisis for the shutdown of numerous trade and industrial activities the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered substantial modifications in the habits of consumers all over the world. The pandemic has led to key changes in consumers purchasing and consumption behavior as the result of lockdown, social distancing, and uncertainty about the future due to its infectious nature. This study investigated the impact of the pandemic outbreak on consumers’ purchasing and consumption behavior in a developing country such as Bangladesh. An online survey was conducted for collecting data about the changes in buying behavior through a structured questionnaire. The research targeted 200 respondents belonging to different age-gender segments, qualifications & occupations, and household monthly income. The 191 completed responses had received and analyzed among 200 distributed structured questionnaires. The Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) method was applied, with the Smart PLS software v.3.3.2 for analyzing the proposed theoretical model and to test the developed hypotheses. The outcomes of the research strongly indicate that the health and safety concern, imposed restrictions, financial condition, surrounding environment-people, and other realities caused a remarkable change in consumer buying behavior. The outcomes of this study provide significant guidance to policy interventions, marketing decisions, and strategies for doing business as usual during and after the pandemic and perhaps add to the understanding of this unprecedented and ongoing phenomenon

Is there a commercially viable market for crop insurance in rural Bangladesh?

The study aims to assess the commercial viability of a potential crop insurance market in Bangladesh. In a large scale household survey, agricultural farm households were asked for their preferences for a hypothetical crop insurance scheme using double bounded (DB) contingent valuation (CV) method. Both revenue and production cost based indemnity payment approaches were applied to assess the commercial viability of a crop insurance program assuming a partner-agent (PA) model of insurance supply. Crop insurance is found marginally commercially viable in riverine flood plain areas. The expected indemnity payable consistently exceeds the expected insurance premium receivable by the insurer for the households living in wetland basin and coastal floodplain. We conclude that a uniform structure of crop insurance market does not exist in Bangladesh. The nature of the disaster risks faced by the farm households and the socio-economic characteristics of the rural farm communities need to be taken into careful consideration while designing such an insurance scheme. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Culture practices of freshwater giant prawn in some selected areas of Mymensingh

A study was conducted to examine the culture practices of freshwater giant prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii in some selected areas of Mymensingh. Based on a sample of 100 farmers from three different upazila, namely Phulpur, Gouripur and Ishwargonj in Mymensingh district, 94% of farmers cultured prawn with fish in their pond. Only 6% of farmers cultured prawn, fish and dike crops for higher economic return. The culture period is typically nine months; hatchery produced post-larvae were stocked from May to June and harvested from November to January. Per hectare production of prawn, 375 kg/yr was very low because the farmers followed simple culture method. Most of the farmers made a profit of Tk. 68,403/ha/yr and the major costs incurred were for purchasing prawn seed and feed. The culture of prawn in pond system is technically possible under different conditions though expansion of small-scale prawn farming mainly depends on reduction of production costs. Future targets could be integration of pond prawn culture with other agricultural activities especially dike cropping and rice production in the monsoon

Short communication: Culture of Chlorella ellipsoidea in different inexpensive medium and used as food for production of rotifer, Brachionus calyciflorus

Rotifers are multicellular animals with body cavities that are partially lined by mesoderm. These organisms are valuable live food for larval fish and crustacean culture. Several characteristics of rotifers, including their nutritional quality, body size and relatively slow motility have contributed to their usefulness as good prey for active larvae. In general, rotifers have both nutrient content and a high rate of daily production. ... In the present study, we cultured Chlorella ellipsoidea in different media and used as food in powdered and fresh live form along with Backer’s yeast to mass production of rotifers

Digital transformation of higher education in Australia: Understanding affordance dynamics in E-Textbook engagement and use

This paper addresses digital transformation in higher education by exploring the engagement and use of e-textbooks through an affordance theory lens. Drawing on the insights from in-depth interviews (n = 18), focus group discussions (n = 15), a pilot survey (n = 83) and the main survey (n = 344) in Australia, we developed and validated an affordance actualisation model for the engagement and use of e-textbooks. The partial least squares (PLS) technique was used to validate the dimensions of affordance actualisation and its relationship with e-textbooks engagement and affordance effect. The findings indicate the efficacy of the two affordance constructs, as well as the significant mediating effect of engagement. An important lesson for the e-textbook industry is that firms need to consider affordance actualisation dimensions (i.e., portability, accessibility, searchability, highlighting, copying, browsing, hedonic and utilitarian value) when enhancing digital engagement and use of e-textbooks

Modeling the optimal mitigation of potential impact of climate change on coastal ecosystems.

Global warming is adversely affecting the earth's climate system due to rapid emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Consequently, the world's coastal ecosystems are rapidly approaching a dangerous situation. In this study, we formulate a mathematical model to assess the impact of rapid emissions of GHGs on climate change and coastal ecosystems. Furthermore, we develop a mitigation method involving two control strategies: coastal greenbelt and desulfurization. Here, greenbelt is considered in coastal areas to reduce the concentrations of GHGs by absorbing the environmental carbon dioxide (CO2), whereas desulfurization is considered in factories and industries to reduce GHG emissions by controlling the release of harmful sulfur compounds. The model and how it can control the situation are analytically verified. Numerical results of this study are confirmed by comparison with other studies that examine different scenarios. Results show that both control strategies can mitigate GHG concentrations, curtail global warming and to some extent manage climate change. The results further reveal that both control strategies are more effective than one control method. Overall, the results suggest that the concentrations of GHGs and the effects of climate change can be controlled by adopting sufficient coastal greenbelt and desulfurization techniques in various industries