Vietnam agriculture modernisation faces headwinds

Subject Vietnamese agricultural modernisation. Significance Authorities on February 2 urged financial support for farmers hit by unseasonably chilly weather that has killed tens of thousands of poultry and fish. While no longer the dominant sector of an increasingly industrialised economy, agriculture remains Vietnam's backbone with most of the country's poor and near-poor living in the countryside. The government's bid to eradicate poverty and ensure that income disparities do not widen will depend in large part on developing the sector. Impacts Urbanisation and changing food buying practices will push agricultural modernisation, eventually. Modernising agriculture could run into land rights and ecological sustainability-related controversies. Equally, modernisation may also bring opportunities for investment in connected industries.

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (12) ◽  
pp. 2880-2902
Author(s):  
Rodney Graeme Duffett ◽  
Crystal Foster

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there is a difference in the development of shopping lists and use of advertisements as pre-store food-buying practices in terms of planned shopping by South African consumers who dwell in different socio-economic status (SES) areas. The paper also considers the influence of shopper and socio-demographic characteristics on pre-store food-buying practices in a developing country. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 1 200 consumers in retail stores in low, middle and high SES areas in South Africa. A generalised linear model was employed for the statistical analysis of pre-store food-buying practices within the SES area groups in a developing country. Findings South African consumers that reside in high SES area displayed the largest of shopping list development, while consumers who dwell in low SES areas showed the highest incidence of advertisement usage. Several shopper and socio-demographic characteristics were also found to have an influence on pre-store food-buying practices in different SES areas in South Africa. Research limitations/implications A qualitative approach would offer a deeper understanding of consumers’ pre-store food shopping predispositions as opposed to the quantitative approach, which was adopted for this study. A longitudinal design would also provide a more extensive representation of pre-store food shopping practices over a longer time frame than cross-sectional research. The survey was conducted on Saturdays, whereas consumers who shop during the week may have different shopping and socio-demographic characteristics. Practical implications Astute food brands, marketers and grocery stores could use the findings of this study to assist with their marketing efforts that they direct at consumers in different SES areas in South Africa and other developing countries. Social implications The findings of this study may assist consumers in developing countries, especially those who reside in low SES areas, with food-buying strategies to reduce food costs, make wiser purchase decisions and reduce shopping. Originality/value No study (to the best of the researchers’ knowledge) has considered shopping list development and use of advertisements’ pre-store food-buying practices in different SES areas in a developing country. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research analysing shopper and socio-demographic characteristics in relation to pre-store food-buying practices among different SES areas in developing and developed countries.


Significance Despite significant progress on reform, serious grievances persist among sections of the population. Meanwhile, an ongoing corruption case against former President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz presents challenges for the incumbent. Impacts Abdelaziz will remain in pre-trial detention after his lawyers failed in a fourth bid to secure his provisional release. Foreign coverage of Mauritania focuses on the Abdelaziz case, but domestically, social and economic justice matters at least as much. Addressing long-standing concerns, such as land rights and the legacy of past repression in the south, will require deep structural reform.


Significance This came after the government announced plans for a 4G spectrum auction in March 2021, after a five-year gap. There is growing speculation that this will be followed by an auction of 5G spectrum later in the year. Impacts Reliance’s lead on 5G will boost its broader digital business strategy. New financial support to indebted telcos will help to avoid further strain on public sector banks. Data tariffs are likely to remain competitive in India, even after a new floor price.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shafique Ur Rehman ◽  
Anam Bhatti ◽  
Sascha Kraus ◽  
João J. M. Ferreira

PurposeThe purpose of this study determines how environmental management control system (MCS) packages influence ecological sustainability and sustainable performance through the mediating role of environmental strategies. Furthermore, this applies organizational capabilities as moderating variables between environmental strategies, ecological sustainability and sustainable performance in a sample of 373 construction firms.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply quantitative questionnaire data from construction firm representatives (from project, sales and construction managers and contract managers, executive directors and engineers) to structural equation modeling and SmartPLS for our analysis.FindingsThe results demonstrate that recourse to environmental MCS packages significantly influence ecological sustainability, sustainable performance and environmental strategies. Additionally, environmental strategies and organizational capabilities significantly influence ecological sustainability and sustainable performance. Moreover, environmental strategies mediate between environmental MCS packages, ecological sustainability and sustainable performance. Organizational capabilities significantly moderate the relationship between ecological sustainability and sustainable performance.Practical implicationsThis research highlights the issue of how the management of construction organizations deploy environmental MCS packages, organizational capabilities and business strategies to measure ecological sustainability and improve their sustainable performance. This study fills a gap in the literature and facilitates the management of construction organizations in strengthening their internal resources in terms of environmental MCS packages, environmental strategies and organizational capabilities able to help improve their ecological sustainability and sustainable performance.Originality/valueThere are few studies building theoretical frameworks for incorporating environmental MCS packages, organizational capabilities, environmental strategies, ecological sustainability and sustainable performance into a single study. Although the influence of various types of intangible resources on ecological sustainability and sustainable performance receive considerable examination in the literature, there is a dearth of attention paid to understanding the role of environmental MCS packages, environmental strategies and organizational capabilities in determining the ecological sustainability and sustainable performance of construction organizations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1181-1203
Author(s):  
Qun Tan ◽  
Carlos M.P. Sousa

PurposeTo help firms with their international operations, governments often create policies and support mechanisms, but its influence on the firm's exit decision has so far been ignored. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of home-country governmental support on the firm's exit decision.Design/methodology/approachThe authors test their conceptual model using multiple informants as well as secondary data from China. The sample consists of 360 valid questionnaires from 180 firms. Binary logistics regression is used to test the conceptual framework.FindingsBy demonstrating that resource-based and institutional constructs are highly dependent, the authors show how home-country governmental support interacts with the foreign affiliate's past performance to explain the decision to remain or exit a foreign market. The results indicate that while governmental financial support reduces the likelihood of exiting a poorly performing business in the foreign market, governmental non-financial support surprisingly has an opposite effect.Originality/valueWhile there has been an increasing number of firms exiting foreign markets, this area of research is still limited. The study also contributes to the literature by focusing on home-country governmental financial and non-financial support to explain the firm's exit decision – an issue that has been ignored and is expected to be particularly relevant for firms from emerging economies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1368-1388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pekka Stenholm ◽  
Mette Søgaard Nielsen

Purpose Recent research acknowledges entrepreneurial passion’s outcomes, but far less is known about how entrepreneurial passion comes about. In this study, the authors are interested in the emergence of entrepreneurial passion, and how competences and social network are associated with entrepreneurial passion. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The authors investigate whether entrepreneurial passion emerges out of socialisation, entrepreneurial experience or various combinations thereof. The authors tested the hypotheses on a data set of entrepreneurs who started their businesses with government financial support (n=1150). Findings The findings show that within a social environment, perceived emotional support is positively associated with entrepreneurial passion. Moreover, entrepreneurs’ task-related competence moderates this relationship positively. By investigating the emergence of entrepreneurial passion, the authors contribute to prior passion literature, which has mainly focused on its consequences. Originality/value The findings demonstrate both how entrepreneurial passion is associated with and how perceived emotional support can stem from unexpected sources, such as from a government-based start-up grant. For entrepreneurs, an increased awareness of passion’s emergence could better encourage them in their entrepreneurial endeavours. To people who are engaged in promoting entrepreneurship, our findings emphasise the symbolic and emotional aspects of instruments intended to support entrepreneurship.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sander van Kempen ◽  
Anne van den Dool ◽  
Pirkko Lindberg ◽  
Leena Parviainen

PurposeThis paper aims to provide an overview of the current situation as it relates to library acts and prominent usage trends in public libraries in The Netherlands and Finland.Design/methodology/approachThe approach takes the form of a review of the relevant legislation, as well as statistical analysis from national library data in The Netherlands and Finland.FindingsThe findings suggest that while we can see a decrease in physical lending and literacy, we also see an increase in the number of visitors, digital lending as well as activities and events. In addition, in The Netherlands, financial support is decreasing, while in Finland, expenditures of public libraries are growing.Originality/valueThe paper draws upon various viewpoints from public libraries in The Netherlands and Scandinavia, focusing on Finland.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Zekic ◽  
Brian Weselowski ◽  
Ze-Chun Yuan

ABSTRACT Here, we report the complete genome sequence of the phosphate-solubilizing bacterium Burkholderia cenocepacia CR318, consisting of three circular chromosomes of 3,511,146 bp, 3,097,552 bp, and 1,056,069 bp. The data presented will facilitate further insight into the mechanisms of phosphate solubilization and its application for agricultural and ecological sustainability.


Significance The United Arab Emirates (UAE) economy is increasingly diversified, not least with the imposition of VAT since January 1 -- albeit at a low initial level of 5%. Fiscal transparency has not necessarily kept pace, especially in ad hoc financial support both among the emirates and externally to Gulf neighbours. Impacts Any reduction in financial support from Abu Dhabi through GCC funds might endanger Bahrain’s currency peg. Increased clarity on UAE commitments could help to stabilise weaker economies in Bahrain and Oman. The federal government is likely to convert its current deficit to a surplus of around 2% in 2018. Fiscal reforms and innovations will not challenge Abu Dhabi’s financial dominance among the seven emirates. Plans to privatise state-owned firms will create further pressure to boost transparency.


Subject Sri Lanka's stalling constitutional reforms and Tamil politics. Significance The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is resisting overtures from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to join a new ‘national government’ led by his United National Party (UNP). Sri Lanka’s recent constitutional crisis, which saw President Maithripala Sirisena replace Wickremesinghe before eventually reinstating him, saw the TNA playing a key role in the balance of legislative power. More generally, a process to reform the constitution and promote reconciliation between Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority has stalled. Impacts A delay in procuring financial support from the Bank of China could increase pressure on Wickremesinghe’s government. The country will likely see bouts of anti-Muslim violence ahead of the next provincial council elections and parliamentary poll. Sri Lankan tourist numbers will likely rise after missing last year’s annual target due to the constitutional crisis.


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