{"title":"NGOs’ responses to the challenges faced by orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Chegutu, Zimbabwe","authors":"Itai Kabonga","doi":"10.1111/issj.12473","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12473","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The present study investigates the role of non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) in addressing the multifaceted challenges encountered by orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in the rural Chegutu District of Zimbabwe. Employing a qualitative paradigm, a case study design was utilized to collect data through in‐depth interviews. Thematic analysis was used to present the study's findings. NGO selection and participant sampling were purposive in nature. The challenges faced by OVC in Chegutu District encompass various dimensions, prominently, including increased school dropout rates due to poverty. Those who continue attending school encounter shortages of essential items such as uniforms and stationery. Additionally, inadequate clothing poses a challenge for OVC. Broader climate change–related calamities have further aggravated food scarcity in households housing OVC. NGOs have responded to these challenges by providing OVC with school fees, stationery, accommodation and uniforms to address educational needs and enhance prospects. Climate change impacts have necessitated the drilling of boreholes to facilitate nutritional gardens, thereby mitigating food insecurity and income constraints. NGOs have also empowered OVC households through community saving initiatives like internal savings and lending schemes, fostering income generation, and addressing education‐, food‐ and clothing‐related challenges. Furthermore, psycho‐social support groups have been established by NGOs to address the psychological and social issues faced by OVC. Drawing on the basic needs approach, the study reveals that NGOs significantly contribute to fulfilling the basic needs of OVC. However, some gaps in their approaches were identified, highlighting the potential for further improvement and refinement.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"138 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135372244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The magnitude of intellectual capital research: A comprehensive bibliometric analysis","authors":"Diksha Sharma, Meena Sharma","doi":"10.1111/issj.12471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12471","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The purpose of this article is to map and explore in detail the development of intellectual capital (IC) literature with the help of bibliometric analysis. The research combines the IC literature from Scopus and Web of Science databases from 1985 to 2022, resulting in 2044 documents. Bibliographic coupling, co‐citation networks, content analysis and other techniques available under the Biblioshiny package were used to explore the database. The findings have demonstrated the four transition phases in IC research during 1997, 2004, 2011 and 2021. The results have revealed that the ‘Journal of Intellectual Capital’ and the ‘International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital’ are the core journals of the IC research. Further, it has been observed that Bontis, Dumay, Guthrie, Subramaniam and Youndt are some of the prolific contributors and pioneers of IC research. The conceptual structure unveiled that IC has been linked with its components, corporate governance, organisation performance and disclosures in the research undertaken so far. Reflecting upon the identified themes using the thematic evolution map, the research attempts to find future impediments. The bibliographic coupling of documents resulted in three clusters: disclosure, components and financial performance and VAIC. The co‐citation networks explored using content analysis resulted in four clusters: recognition and awareness of IC, measurement and development of IC, disclosure and reporting of IC and IC and corporate performance. Overall, the research is a comprehensive analysis of IC development over 38 years reflecting upon the present scenario and evolution of IC throwing light upon the niche themes requiring further exploration.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"30 3","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136316474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Giang Chu My, Yu‐Hsun Lin, Tram Dinh Thi Le, Quyen Phu Thi Phan, Thao Nguyen Van
{"title":"Helpfulness of online customer reviews for shopping goods and services: The perspective of signalling theory","authors":"Giang Chu My, Yu‐Hsun Lin, Tram Dinh Thi Le, Quyen Phu Thi Phan, Thao Nguyen Van","doi":"10.1111/issj.12469","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12469","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract To help customers get quality feedback from the huge number of online reviews, online retailers attempt to generate evaluations from consumers of how helpful product reviews are. Drawing on signalling theory, this study proposes a comprehensive model to examine the influence of factors related to the reviewer (signaller), the review (signal) and the users (readers of the signal) on online review helpfulness via e‐commerce sites and apps. This study also includes the moderating role of product categories (goods/services) in the model. Data were collected from 466 Vietnamese respondents. Using a Smart Partial Lease Square 3.0, the outcomes indicate that online review information quality, online reviewer information credibility and two dimensions of receivers (e.g. users’ attitudes towards information and information task‐fit) all have a significant influence on online review helpfulness; however, users’ need for information has no impact on the helpfulness of online reviews. Interestingly, the product type (goods vs services) has a moderating effect between online review information quality/attitude towards information and online review helpfulness. This study contributes significantly to signalling theory and online review helpfulness by comprehensively incorporating three attributes that are paramount to online reviews: the review, the reviewer and the users. Additionally, the information is enriched by the investigation of the moderating effect of product categories (goods vs services) on the context of online review helpfulness.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135617996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Transformation of investor attitude towards financial markets: A perspective on the Russia–Ukraine conflict","authors":"Emon Kalyan Chowdhury, Umme Humaira","doi":"10.1111/issj.12470","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12470","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has significantly affected global financial markets, requiring investors to adapt their attitudes accordingly. This study aims to explore the transformation of investor attitudes towards financial markets within the context of the Russia–Ukraine conflict. By analysing monthly data spanning from January 2021 to March 2023, including Standard and Poor 500 index, Bitcoin historical price, gross national income, US consumer price index and investor attitude index, various models such as regression, the vector error correction model, generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity and the granger causality model are utilized. The findings reveal a noteworthy and positive impact of investor attitude on returns in both markets. Positive investor sentiment is linked to higher returns and enhanced market confidence. Particularly, investor attitude's influence is particularly pronounced during wartime, as global net income exerts a significant negative effect on both markets. These findings emphasize the necessity of evaluating the financial health of industrial companies prior to making investment decisions amidst periods of conflict. Furthermore, the results provide remarkable guidelines for policymakers and investors, underscoring the necessity of tracking the investor attitudes during wartime and acknowledging their potential impact on investment decision‐making in financial markets.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135570200","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anupama Panghal, Akhila P, Priyanka Vern, Rahul S Mor
{"title":"Adoption barriers to green logistics in the Indian food industry: A circular economy perspective","authors":"Anupama Panghal, Akhila P, Priyanka Vern, Rahul S Mor","doi":"10.1111/issj.12466","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12466","url":null,"abstract":"Logistics is among the leading contributors to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and needs a paradigm shift to ensure sustainability. Green logistics is an initiative to reduce environmental, social and economic damage, create a positive brand image and ensure customer loyalty to the firm. Even though green logistics yields many benefits, several factors often challenge its successful implementation. Thus, the study aims to identify and group the adoption barriers to green logistics in the food industry. The barriers perceived by food industry professionals were collected through a survey, and exploratory factor (EFA) analysis was applied to identify and group the most significant ones. EFA grouped the 19 significant barriers into six factors: organizational, regulatory, supplier, technological, customer and financial. Identifying these adoption barriers can help organizations frame suitable strategies to overcome barriers in successfully implementing green logistics. The study also suggests strategies to address the barriers to green logistics in the food industry for the Indian economy. The study also highlights implications for practice and theory.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136034596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emmanuel Uche, Nicholas Ngepah, Joseph C. Odionye, Lionel Effiom
{"title":"Drivers of gender differentiated self‐employment in developing countries: The instances of finance and information and communication technology","authors":"Emmanuel Uche, Nicholas Ngepah, Joseph C. Odionye, Lionel Effiom","doi":"10.1111/issj.12467","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12467","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study unveils new insights into how financial inclusion and information and communication technology (ICT) influence self‐employment (aggregate and gender‐specific) in developing countries. The dearth of information in this perspective, particularly in the context of Africa, compels this fresh evaluation. Thus, on account of the annual panel series for 52 African countries from 2005 to 2019, the system‐generalized method‐of‐moments (sysGMM) and the novel method‐of‐moments quantile regression (MM‐QR), the following empirical narratives emerged. First, the estimates of both procedures demonstrate that self‐employment in Africa is self‐exacerbating. Second, the sysGMM demonstrates that financial inclusions could not influence self‐employment substantially; however, the estimates of the MM‐QR demonstrate varying significant positive relationships mostly at the upper quantiles for all categories of self‐employment. Third, the sysGMM reveals that ICT produced marginal positive effects on all categories except women's self‐employment. Fourth, the MM‐QR rectified a significant positive influence of ICT at the lower and middle quantiles for the aggregate, only at the lower quantiles (q10–q25) for men, and at the upper quantiles (q75–q90) for women. Lastly, it was revealed that although unemployment, GDP and inflation rates are not sufficient drivers of self‐employment, energy poverty constitutes a drag for self‐employment in the continent. Overall, the study is of immense relevance to policymakers, practicing and prospective entrepreneurs particularly in developing countries. More policy options have been provided within the study.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"36 (2017) 2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135766029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
María Ladrón de Guevara Rodríguez, Luis Alejandro Lopez‐Agudo, Oscar David Marcenaro‐Gutierrez
{"title":"Education policy reform and the impact of free preschool education on boys’ and girls’ reading competence","authors":"María Ladrón de Guevara Rodríguez, Luis Alejandro Lopez‐Agudo, Oscar David Marcenaro‐Gutierrez","doi":"10.1111/issj.12468","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12468","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Numerous authors have reported a positive relationship between preschool enrolment and academic performance in later years, even helping to reduce the academic gap existing between students from different socio‐economic backgrounds. In this context, this paper goes further by analysing the impact that early childhood education (from 3 to 6 years) has on Spanish boys’ and girls’ reading achievement when they are in fourth grade (10 years). For this purpose, we take advantage of the 2006 Spanish education reform that promoted free second stage preschool education by using data from Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2011 and 2016 and an instrumental variable approach, in order to get closer to causality than previous literature for Spain. We find that attending preschool has a positive influence on reading achievement, well above the impact found when using simple ordinary least squares estimates, being higher for girls than for boys.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135918227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Uju Regina Ezenekwe, Kingsley Ikechukwu Okere, Stephen Kelechi Dimnwobi, Chukwunonso Ekesiobi
{"title":"Balancing the scales: Does public debt and energy poverty mitigate or exacerbate ecological distortions in Nigeria?","authors":"Uju Regina Ezenekwe, Kingsley Ikechukwu Okere, Stephen Kelechi Dimnwobi, Chukwunonso Ekesiobi","doi":"10.1111/issj.12465","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12465","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Amid Nigeria's economic growth and energy challenges, the escalating public debt (PB) levels and persistent energy poverty (EP) raise critical questions about their potential impacts on the environment. Given the potential conflict among economic development, EP alleviation and ecological conservation, it becomes pertinent to understand whether increased PB and efforts to address EP inadvertently contribute to or alleviate ecological imbalances within the country. Hence, this research investigates the effect of PB and EP on the load capacity factor (LCF) in Nigeria. Using the STIRPAT model and annual data from 1990 to 2021, the study explores the relationships among total PB, EP, gross domestic product per capita, urbanization and LCF. Descriptive analysis, correlation assessments and unit‐root tests precede the data analysis conducted with the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and dynamic ARDL (DARDL) technique. Key findings reveal significant negative effects of urbanization and EP on LCF. Additionally, the ARDL and DARDL procedure highlights a positive long‐term relationship between PB and LCF. Both ARDL and DARDL analyses show a negative short‐term relationship between GDP growth per capita and LCF, signalling the need for sustainable economic practices. The study concludes with policy recommendations that aim to promote sustainable development and address ecological imbalances by tackling EP and PB challenges in Nigeria.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"249 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136014124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rise in income inequality due to pandemic in developing economies","authors":"GulRukh Zahid, Hamna Nasir, Ambreen Fatima","doi":"10.1111/issj.12462","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12462","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic (COVID‐19) has severely affected global economies and Pakistan. The core focus of this study is to analyse income inequality before and after the pandemic in developing economies and other urbanised areas of Pakistan. Gini coefficient has been employed to estimate income inequality for developing economies and Pakistan, whereas the Theil index is assessed across the regions, provinces and other urban areas of Pakistan. For that purpose, the study has worked on ‘special survey evaluating the Socio‐economic Impact of COVID‐19 on the well‐being of people’ published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. This study focuses on seeing the consequences of COVID‐19, especially in the context of income inequality caused by the lockdown imposed in the countries in hand. Further, determinants of income inequality are estimated before and after the pandemic. This study anticipates that fair income distribution is the only solution to decrease disparities. Moreover, to achieve goal 10 of Sustainable Development Goal, it is significant to work on provision of opportunities that help in increasing the income opportunities for the underprivileged segment of society. This solution is achievable only if the provision of education and employment increases, eventually reducing the ever‐increasing wage gap in the long run. So far no study has empirically evaluated the impact of income inequality caused by the pandemic in Pakistan on the district level. The novelty of the study is that it has assessed the impact of income inequality before and after the pandemic in developing economics and than evaluated the urbanized areas of Pakistan on the basis of income inequality post and pre‐pandemic situation, hence fill the research gap as no study so far has been done on it.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"78 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136012617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring digital banking adoption in developing Asian economies: Systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis","authors":"Ela Tuli","doi":"10.1111/issj.12463","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/issj.12463","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Consumers’ comfort and familiarity with digital interactions are helping drive the rise of digital banking. Banks are responding to customers’ demands by introducing cutting‐edge digital services designed to improve customers’ quality of life and cut costs. To better understand the obstacles preventing the widespread adoption of digital banking in developing Asian economies, we conducted a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis for this study. The data is extracted from the Scopus database, which initially contains 4211 articles, from which 152 articles were selected using PRISMA 2020 criteria for bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software, and 85 papers were subjected to full‐text review. The review, limited to the Scopus database, uncovered essential themes, theories and methodologies used in prior research. We discuss constraints, difficulties and research gaps, illuminating critical regions of the field. Our findings offer helpful information for developing strategies to encourage the use of digital banking. The unexplored areas of crowdfunding, Robo‐advisors, payment apps, neo banks, P2P lending apps and investing apps were highlighted as future research directions.","PeriodicalId":35727,"journal":{"name":"International Social Science Journal","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136213428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}