Tomato Value Chain Analysis in Yayo And Hurumu Districts of Ilu Aba Bor Zone, Ethiopia

Background: Tomato is one of the most important and widely grown vegetable in Ethiopia. This study was aimed at analyzing tomato value chain in Yayu and Hurumu districts of Ilubabor zone. The specific objectives of the study were to identify actors and their roles in the value chain, to estimate marketing margins of each actor and identifying determinants of market participation decision and level of participation of farm households in tomato market.Methodology: The study used both primary and secondary data. Descriptive statistics, value chain analysis and Heckman two-stage selection model were used to analyze the data.Results: The major tomato value chain actors in the study area are input suppliers, producers, collectors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. Producer received the maximum profit when they sell directly to consumers. The Heckman first stage model result showed that four variables such as family size, production experience, participation in non-farm activity and quantity produced significantly affect the tomato market participation decision. Heckman second stage model indicated that extension contact, quantity produced and perception of lagged price significantly influence the tomato level of market participation.Conclusion: in the study area Tomato is produced mainly as a source of food and income and it is one of the most important and widely grown vegetable. The market participation decision of the farmers is influenced significantly by family size, production experience, participation in non-farm activity and quantity produced. Similarly, extension contact, quantity produced and perception of lagged price were among determinants which affect significantly tomato producer’s level of market participation. Hence, these significant factors need to be intervening so as to enhance the possible gain that could be drawn from tomato value chain in the study area.

Retired Seniors’ Willingness, Behavior, and Influencing Factors of Labor Supply and also on the Importance of Reducing Smoking

Active aging is not only an effective strategy to deal with population aging but also an important method to increase the effective labor supply. The health, education and age of the retired are obviously affect labor supply. Using a typical sample survey, this paper analyzes the willingness and behavior of retired seniors to supply labor, via a labor participation model and a labor supply model. It verifies the direct effects of various factors of active aging on the labor participation decision and the level of labor supply of retired seniors. The results show that age, pension, health, and other income are the main factors that affect the labor participation decision of retired seniors while education level, health, pension, other income, the number of family members in need of care, and the interaction term of health and age are the main factors that affect the level of labor participation of retired seniors. The government should build a policy to tap the labor supply potential of retired seniors, such as proposing legislations to reduce cigarette smoking thus enhancing health of retired people.

Enhancing the role of tourism governance to improve collaborative participation, responsiveness, representation and inclusion for sustainable community-based tourism: a case study

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore under-addressed issues of collaborative participation, decision-making, representation and inclusion in tourism governance in the twin cities of Bryan-College Station in Texas, USA. The study demonstrated that improved tourism governance has the potential to address underrepresented issues and contribute to sustainable community-based tourism (SCBT) success. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 40 tourism business owners/managers, key persons in cultural/community organizations, tourism associations, government officials and backstage staff (mainly ethnic minorities) to explore key issues relating to governance, collaborative participation and responsiveness relating to tourism development. Findings It was found that a collaborative decision-making process existed with significant opportunities for listening to various stakeholders with the majority being happy with how the governing agencies responded to them. However, some expressed concerns regarding participation in decision-making processes, the inclusion of their voices and issues of low job representation. These suggest the need for enhancing collaborative participation, representation and decision-making. Guided by the theory and results of the study, recommendations for more collaborative, responsive and inclusive governance have been suggested. Originality/value As one of the few studies exploring the under-addressed issues in tourism governance in SCBT operations, the study is believed to hold significance from the perspectives of sustainable tourism development.

From Public Participation to Co-Creation in the Cultural Heritage Management Decision-Making Process

According to the ongoing discussions of researchers, practitioners, and international legislation, the prioritization of top-down decision-making processes in public participation is questionable due to their ambiguous outcomes in various contexts associated with the management of cultural heritage. The main aim of this paper is to highlight and identify co-creation as a sustainable and significant bottom-up methodology that has a wide range of applications, especially in the domain of Cultural Heritage Management (CHM). It is presented as an alternative to the already existing, less democratic, and passive public participation decision-making processes. Examining the evolution of the terms and the processes, together with the common aspects and differences between public participation and co-creation is another goal of this paper. Based on these aims and goals, after conducting case study analyses in various contexts and comprehensive theoretical reviews of the international charters and ongoing practices associated with both key terms, “public participation” and “co-creation”, this paper introduces results that have the potential to solve the existing problems in public participation models and frameworks and successfully integrate communities into the CHM decision-making process through the implementation of the co-creation methodology.

DEMOGRAPHICS, KNOWLEDGE AND SMOKING: AN INSTRUMENTAL VARIABLE APPROACH

Smoking is one of the main factors that causes various diseases. The objective of the present study is to investigate factors determining smoking behaviour among adults. The present study used instrumental variable (IV) regressions to estimate the effects of demographic and knowledge factors on participation decision and amount decision of smoking. Nationally representative data of a developing country (Malaysia) was used. Contrary to popular belief, knowledge was found to be positively associated with the propensity to smoke, as well as the amount of smoking. Age, gender, wealth index, educational level, ethnicity, marital status and house locality were significantly associated with smoking. Males were more likely to smoke and smoked more than females. Educational level reduced the likelihood and amount of smoking. Malays and married individuals were less likely to smoke than non-Malays and unmarried individuals. Urban dwellers smoked more cigarette relative to rural dwellers. In terms of policy implication, it is suggested that intervention measures directed toward reducing the prevalence of smoking should not pay too much attention to improving the knowledge of health effects of smoking among Malaysian adults. Anti-smoking policies must be designed carefully by taking into account of the demographic factors which are correlated with the likelihood and amount of smoking. The present study is the first of its kind that includes knowledge as a separate variable for analyses and uses IV regressions to analyse participation decision and amount decision of smoking.

Regularized Orthogonal Machine Learning for Nonlinear Semiparametric Models

This paper proposes a Lasso-type estimator for a high-dimensional sparse parameter identified by a single index conditional moment restriction (CMR). In addition to this parameter, the moment function can also depend on a nuisance function, such as the propensity score or the conditional choice probability, which we estimate by modern machine learning tools. We first adjust the moment function so that the gradient of the future loss function is insensitive (formally, Neyman-orthogonal) with respect to the first-stage regularization bias, preserving the single index property. We then take the loss function to be an indefinite integral of the adjusted moment function with respect to the single index. The proposed Lasso estimator converges at the oracle rate, where the oracle knows the nuisance function and solves only the parametric problem. We demonstrate our method by estimating the short-term heterogeneous impact of Connecticut’s Jobs First welfare reform experiment on women’s welfare participation decision.

Dinámica de participación en esquemas de pago por servicios ambientales urbanos: análisis de la intención

This work aims to understand landowners’ participation decision dynamics in an urban Payment for Environmental Services scheme under different payment scenarios. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, we formulated a simulation model at the individual level with interaction graphs, conformed by diverse agents in attributes, and parameterized with data of a Colombian Andes zone. The results confirm the relevance of the differentiation processes in the payment offer. This work constitutes the first approach to simulate participation in PES schemes in an urban context.