Nurture

The food security drive and the preference for local rice consumption among households in south-west Nigeria

Ogunleke Ayodeji Oluwaseun — 2024-07-19

Purpose: It is imperative to enhance local production, accessibility and appeal of basic foods like rice to accomplish United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 2 aiming for the attainment of zero hunger worldwide. Therefore, the study explored households’ preferences for locally produced rice (Ofada) in south-west Nigeria.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Cross-sectional data were elicited from randomly selected 600 rice-consuming households in South-west Nigeria. The study applied the willingness-to-pay choice technique and a logistic regression model to analyze the dataset.

Findings: The findings revealed that the most desirable attributes influencing households’ consumption preferences for local rice were nutritional quality and taste. At the time of data collection, consumers were also willing to pay ₦4.26 ($0.012) and ₦2.80 ($0.008) respectively for every unit improvement in those attributes.

Conclusion: The study concluded that attainment of zero hunger in Nigeria is desirable and achievable by boosting local production of high-quality rice to attract sufficient demand.

Practical Implications: This study underscored the effort needed to improve local rice production in Nigeria which should be targeted at improving the desired attributes to make indigenous (Ofada) rice attractive to consumers. This can be driven by stepping up investment in the rice value chain with adequate attention given to the processing stage where quality control and standards remain a top-most priority.

Contribution to the Literature: This study presents a unique perspective by isolating and highlighting the desirable attributes of rice consuming households because these attributes played a critical role in the preference for local rice consumption.

Influencing factors on entrepreneurial intention: Intermediary role of achievement motivation, risk-taking propensity and innovativeness

Nguyen Ngoc Thuc — 2024-07-25

Purpose: This study examines the mediating relationships of achievement motivation, risk-taking propensity and innovativeness as well as the influencing factors of self-efficacy, family support, peer influence and institutional support on the entrepreneurial intentions of young individuals in Vietnam.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The research questionnaire was distributed to major universities in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, significant economic and political centres in Vietnam, and numerous leading universities. The author analyzed the impact of independent and mediating variables on the dependent variable, entrepreneurial intention using the PLS-SEM software and the 425 valid responses collected.

Findings: The research results indicate the positive influence of self-efficacy, family support and peer support on entrepreneurial intention through the impact of mediating variables, including achievement motivation, risk-taking propensity and innovativeness.

Conclusion: This study has highlighted the positive influence of self-efficacy, family support, peer support and institutional support on entrepreneurial intention through the mediating effects of achievement motivation, risk-taking propensity and innovativeness.

Research Limitations/Implications: Several managerial recommendations are proposed to boost the Vietnamese’ future entrepreneurial startup rate.

Practical Implications: This study supplements and refines the model of factors influencing entrepreneurial intention by examining the influence of mediating variables, namely achievement motivation, risk-taking propensity and innovativeness on entrepreneurial intention.

Contribution to the Literature: The study's limitations encompass convenience sampling which may affect representativeness and generalizability. Additionally, surveying only students may not fully represent young individuals in Vietnam.

Analysis of students' mental construction in understanding the concept of partial derivatives based on action-process-object-schema theory

Yerizon — 2024-08-09

Purpose: This study aims to examine the errors that students made when using the APOS (Action-Process-Object-Schema) theory to create their knowledge of partial derivatives.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The method used was descriptive-qualitative including data collection through tests, interviews and documentation. Triangulation techniques were used in data validity procedures to ensure the reliability of the data.

Findings: The results showed that high, medium and low ability students had an understanding of the action, process and object stages in determining the partial derivatives. However, medium-ability students experienced a deficiency in understanding the object stage while low-ability students showed shortcomings in understanding the process and object stages. Several mistakes were made in determining partial derivatives of algebraic and trigonometric functions including incorrectly selecting and using the procedures of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and chain rules as well as writing conclusions.

Conclusion: The dominant types of errors in determining partial derivatives were executive (ExE) and process skill (PE).

Recommendations: Future studies were expected to modify the genetic decomposition of partial derivatives and expand the classification of errors in data analysis.

Parenting program to strengthen the self-efficacy of mothers and caregivers of children with developmental disabilities in a rural district in South Africa

Nontokozo Lilian Mbatha — 2024-08-09

Purpose: This study investigated the change in self-efficacy and parenting stress of mothers and caregivers raising children with developmental disorders (DD) after participating in an intervention program to strengthen parents' self-efficacy.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The present study used a two-group pre-test and post-test design. Block randomization was used to assign participants who participated in the adapted confident parent program (n=11) and a control group that received routine rehabilitation services (n=8). A self-reporting questionnaire and two measure tools, the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC) and the Parental Stress Index (PSI-SF) were completed by participants to collect baseline and post-intervention data. A statistically significant difference between the groups was analysed using the paired sample t-test. An ANOVA was used to calculate the effect of the independent variable.

Findings: The PSOC mean for the intervention group increased by 10.3 and was statistically significant (p=0.005, 95%CI: -16.97; -3.53) following the intervention program. The PSI-SF mean for the control group remained higher than that of the intervention group by 36.8 scores after the program and was statistically significant (p=0.000, 95%CI: 24.36; 49.39).

Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the confident parent program effectively increased parenting self-efficacy in parenting a child with externalized behaviour with positive effects on parental stress for parents and caregivers raising children with DD.

Research Implication: This study highlighted the need to adopt strategies that transform practice and enhance the quality of life of parents raising children with DD. It advocates for the introduction and implementation of parenting support programs designed to strengthen parental self-efficacy.

Impact of different levels of academic achievement on epistemological beliefs

Numan Al-Natsheh — 2024-08-13

Purpose: This research investigated variations in epistemological belief (EB) based on levels of academic achievement (excellent, very good and good).

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study sample comprised 319 university students from the University of Jordan and Al-Ahliyya Amman University across various majors with different levels of academic achievement based on their grade point average (GPA). Epistemological beliefs (EB) were evaluated using the epistemological belief scale.

Findings: The findings from the one-way analysis of variance indicated statistically significant differences in epistemological belief across academic levels favoring the excellent level over the very good and good levels in each dimension such as speed of learning, the structure of knowledge and ability to learn. However, no statistically significant variances were observed between students at the very good and good levels across any of the dimensions of epistemological belief.

Conclusion: The study concludes that students excelling academically tend to exhibit more advanced EB compared to their very good and good counterparts.

Practical Implications: These findings suggest that teachers may need to adapt their instructional strategies to the diverse epistemological beliefs of students with different academic achievement levels. This could involve providing more challenging learning experiences for excellent students while offering additional support and scaffolding for other students.

Contribution to the Literature: This study contributes to the existing body of research on epistemological beliefs by providing new insights into the relationship between EB and academic achievement levels. These findings have implications for understanding how students' beliefs about knowledge and learning influence their academic performance.

FDI, exports and labor productivity of Vietnamese enterprises with different levels of capital and labor-intensity

Vu Phuong Linh Dao — 2024-08-13

Purpose: This study aims to examine the differential impact of two channels of international technology transfer, namely foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports on the labor productivity of firms in Vietnam with varying levels of capital-intensity and labor-intensity. This study aims to provide empirical evidence for policies that enhance Vietnamese firms' labor productivity.

Design/Methodology/Approach: This study uses panel data and employs a fixed effects model (FEM) and a random effects model (REM) to examine the impact of FDI and the exports on labor productivity of both large firms, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using firm-level data from Vietnam in 2015 and 2016.

Findings: This study finds evidence that FDI has a positive impact on firm-level labor productivity while exports do not significantly affect labor productivity for labor-intensive industries (represented by the garment industry). Conversely, for capital intensive industries and firms operating in these industries (represented by the metal casting industry), FDI appears ineffective in improving labor productivity. Still, exports are an important factor influencing labor productivity for these firms.

Conclusion: Firms operating in industries with different labor and capital intensity require different strategies to enhance labor productivity. Appropriate policies need to be implemented to achieve the desired outcomes depending on the characteristics of each firm.

Research Limitations and Implications: This study only focuses on studying the relationship between FDI, exports and labor productivity with different capital levels and labor-intensity not mentioning the business field of the enterprise.

Practical Implications: The new findings of the study make a great contribution to promulgating policies to attract FDI, promote exports and increase labor productivity at enterprises in Vietnam.

Contribution to the Literature: The relationship between FDI, exports and labor productivity with different levels of capital and labor-intensity according to different business fields of the enterprise was examined.

Inference and reading comprehension in university students

Teófilo Félix Valentín Melgarejo — 2024-09-18

Purpose: The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between inference and reading comprehension. We sought to verify the relationship between inductive and deductive inferences in the comprehensive reading of Daniel Alcides Carrión National University Peru students majoring in communication and literature.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The correlational-explanatory research design was used since the correlation of the study variables was sought through scientific and specifically analytical, deductive and interpretive methodology on a population of 104 and the probabilistic sample of 83 students. Similarly, a 20-item questionnaire was used through survey, observation and recording techniques to collect the information. Therefore, the research was developed using a basic quantitative approach.

Findings: The result of the study allowed us to obtain a correlation coefficient of 0.215 which was positive but moderate according to Spearman's Rho statistical statistician.

Conclusion: The process of inductive and deductive inferences is related to the reading comprehension of university students. Therefore, reading strategies must be implemented in university training institutions to develop inferences in a relevant way.

Practical Implications: The result of the study will allow university training centers to develop the inference process in the academic training of students.

Contribution to the Literature: Information is contributed about the theoretical underpinnings of inference and reading comprehension in this study.

Antecedents of graduate students’ preferences for online, blended, and face-to-face learning in Nigeria

Sunday Abidemi Itasanmi — 2024-09-24

Purpose: This study examined graduate students’ preferences for online, blended, and face-to-face learning and factors that may influence their preferences through the lens of Rational Choice Theory (RCT).

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study adopted a quantitative approach, and 3120 graduate students from the University of Ibadan participated in the study. A structured survey comprising four sections—demographic characteristics, technology self-efficacy (TSE), digital literacy (DL), and learning mode preference (LMP) was utilized as an instrument of data collection. Frequency counts, simple percentages, and Pearson’s Chi-square (x2) test of independence were used to estimate students’ learning mode preference and explore the association between demographic characteristics, TSE, DL, and LMP.

Results: It was revealed that blended learning was the most preferred instructional method among the graduate students, followed by online and face-to-face methods. Also, the study established that graduate students’ preferences for online, blended, and face-to-face learning modalities vary based on age, marital status, employment status, programme type, and levels of technology self-efficacy and digital literacy. Moreover, the research revealed that graduate students' preferences for online, blended, and face-to-face instructional delivery are mainly influenced by their employment status, programme type, and levels of technology self-efficacy and digital literacy.

Conclusion: This study highlighted the need for institutions and instructors to consider the identified factors to understand better why students may gravitate towards one mode of learning over others when designing and delivering instructional formats to meet the diverse needs and preferences of graduate students.

Unpacking cyberbullying: The influence of age, gender, and social media addiction

Happiness Okoka — 2024-09-24

Purpose: The quantitative study was aimed at examining the implications of age, gender, and social media addition on cyberbullying among senior secondary school pupils in Keffi Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study adopted survey design of the ex post facto type. The study selected a sample size of 373 students to participate. Two instruments were used to collect data: the Cyberbullying Questionnaire and Bergen Social Networking Addiction Scale. The multiple linear regression statistics were used to analyse the hypotheses in the study.

Findings: Results reveal that there was a significant relationship between age and cyberbullying among senior secondary students. Also, there was a significant relationship between gender and cyberbullying among senior secondary school student’s in Keffi Nasarawa State, Nigeria. However, there was no significant relationship between social media and cyberbullying among senior secondary school students in Keffi Nasarawa State, Nigeria.

Conclusion: The study concluded that age and gender are significantly correlated with cyberbullying among senior secondary school pupils, while social media addiction was not significantly correlated with cyberbullying among senior secondary school pupils in Keffi Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The researchers recognize the need for adopting a policy that would avoid the frequent occurrence of cyberbullying activities, since if a victim feels terrified and isolated among his/her colleagues, he/she may begin to acquire negative ideas, which will then damage his/her performance. Cyberbullying happens often in schools; administrators should take appropriate measures against the perpetrator(s).

Exploration on the use of learning strategies in writing for English major students

Yifan Pang — 2024-09-24

Purpose: This study delves into the intricacies of writing learning strategies and systematically assesses their use.

Design/ Methodology/ Approach: By using quantitative methods, which include systematic questionnaires and CET-6 tests (CET stands for “College English Test,” a standardized English proficiency exam in China), this study collected a large amount of data to gain an in-depth understanding of the overall use of writing learning strategies. The study also examined the use of these strategies in colleges and universities at different levels, as well as the differences in strategy use by learners of different genders.

Finding: The study reveals that English major students utilize cognitive, metacognitive, and social-affective strategies to enhance their writing skills, with metacognitive strategies like planning and self-monitoring being particularly effective. However, challenges such as time management, motivation, and lack of guidance hinder effective implementation.

Conclusion: Significant differences were found in the use of metacognitive strategies among Chinese students, indicating their infrequent use in English writing. These findings suggest the need for targeted interventions to improve strategy application.

Implications: This study aims to provide a more in-depth and empirical understanding of writing education and to offer a strong basis for educational practice and policy-making. It seeks to offer practical writing teaching suggestions for educators to promote students' all-around development in writing.

Independent audit and non-economic factors affecting Vietnamese enterprises' enforced tax compliance behavior

Nguyen Thi Phuong Hong — 2024-09-24

Purpose: The study aims to examine non-economic factors such as independent audit, tax knowledge, tax awareness, tax morale, tax system complexity, and corporate brand in relation to enforced tax compliance of enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Design/ Methodology/ Approach: The study used questionnaires collected from survey subjects who are accountants, chief accountants, or chief financial officers. There were 482 enterprises surveyed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Findings: The research results have shown that there is no difference in enforced tax compliance behavior between enterprises with financial statements audited by Big 4 auditing companies and those with Big 4-audited financial statements. In addition, tax knowledge, tax awareness, and company brand have a positive impact on enforced tax compliance behavior. Meanwhile, tax system complexity has the opposite effect, and tax morale has no impact on the enforced tax compliance behavior of enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Conclusion: Based on this research, governments, tax authorities, and universities can come up with more suitable solutions to improve enterprises' enforced tax compliance behavior.

Research Limitations: This study only tested the impact of independent audit and non-economic factors such as tax knowledge, tax awareness, tax morale, tax system complexity, corporate brand on ETC. Future studies can examine additional economic factors such as tax rates, tax penalties, tax audits, tax compliance costs, and ETC.

Evaluating the impact of demographic characteristics on residential mortgage default risk: Evidence from Lebanon

Ali Mahmoud Antar — 2024-10-11

Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between borrower's demographic characteristics and default risk in mortgage loans to help financial institutions develop more effective lending policies.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Cross-sectional data were elicited from randomly selected 6743 individual accounts from Lebanese housing banks. This study applied the binary logistic and stepwise regression models to analyze the dataset using the Stata statistical software. Model diagnosis is performed using the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test, likelihood ratio test, model accuracy classification table and statistically significant test-ROC curve.

Findings: The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between residential loan default risk and borrower’s marital status, nature of job occupation, job economic sector, job location and loan purpose. The performance of the binary logistic regression analysis demonstrates the overall percentage who is correctly classified is 91.61%.

Conclusion: The log odds of default risk for widowed borrowers are about 90 percent higher than those of divorced borrowers and that of self-employed borrowers is about 54 percent higher than that of employed borrowers. Borrowers working in the banking and real estate sectors have lower default rates than borrowers working in other economic sectors. In addition, loans granted for renovation purposes have the lowest default rates compared to loans provided for purchase, under-construction and construction purposes.

Practical Implications: The empirical results help financial institutions to have early warning signals in detecting financial distress and to differentiate between a high- and low-risk group of borrowers, helping in the development of tailored risk mitigation strategies and adjusting the lending criteria.

The impact of foreign direct investment inflows on unemployment and economic growth in West Africa

Kingsley Success Ikani — 2024-10-14

Purpose: This study explores the short- and long-run effects of foreign direct investment inflows (FDI) on both the unemployment rate and economic growth in West Africa utilizing a panel dataset spanning from 1991 to 2022. The precise impact of FDI on these variables and the underlying factors shaping this relationship in West Africa has not been definitively delineated. Previous literature has not exclusively delved into the impact of FDI on the unemployment rate in this region. Consequently, our paper endeavors to address this particular gap in knowledge concentrating on the individual countries within West Africa.

Design/Methodology/Approach: We employ Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimators and fixed effects models for our analyses.

Findings: Our findings based on the PMG models unveil that FDI exhibits an insignificant positive long-term effect and a highly significant negative short-term impact on economic growth in West Africa. Similarly, we observe that the impact of FDI on the unemployment rate is negative both in the long- and short-term.

Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that various factors contribute to how FDI influences the unemployment rate and economic growth rate in West Africa.

Research Limitation: The results of these models analyses are subject to the considered

economic variables. Other economic variables could give different results.

Practical Implication: The research findings imply that FDI cannot be relied upon as a comprehensive strategy to either stimulate economic growth or alleviate unemployment in the Western Africa region.

The impact of socially responsible HRM practices on nurse performance

Maya Houri — 2024-10-16

Purpose: This paper investigates the impact of socially responsible human resource management practices on nurses’ performance in Lebanon’s healthcare sectors. It examines how certain HRM practices, namely training, compensation, performance evaluation, work-family balance and occupational health and safety affect nurses’ performance.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Survey data was collected from 389 public and private sector nurses. Structural equation modeling was used for analysis.

Findings: The results show a positive impact of socially responsible human resources management practices, namely training, compensation, and occupational health and safety on nurses’ performance.

Conclusion: The findings draw attention to the important role played by SRHRM in evoking nurses’ performance.

Research Implications: At the academic level, it provides supplementary literature for the under-researched sector in Lebanon. It might thus open up additional research opportunities that aim to broaden the perspective of the topic. At the practical level, the findings offer hospitals the tools to be competitive in retaining nurses. It is also expected to aid policymakers and HR practitioners with means to ensure a better quality of service is provided for the patients.

Originality and Value: This research might be considered the first to investigate the mentioned topic.

A study on the analysis of satisfaction with liberal arts education based on core competencies of H University

Kim Yong- Ki — 2024-12-05

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the satisfaction of liberal arts education of H University students to identify the correlation between each other and to design a new liberal arts curriculum as an analysis result.

Findings: The purpose of this study is to design the general education of H University for the future year by analyzing the satisfaction with the general education of H University. First, in the results of analyzing major items of general education, the general education programs showed high satisfaction while the administrative area showed a bit low satisfaction. Second, students’ learning activities and professors of general education showed the highest satisfaction while the qualitative level of general education courses, guidance and advice of general education support facilities showed the lowest satisfaction in the results of analyzing detailed items of general education. Third, it is the demand for new general education courses. The new general education courses were classified into areas of progressiveness, coexistence and inquiry.

Conclusion: Therefore, H University has increased the satisfaction of the administrative domain, improved the quality level and developed a new curriculum based on demand.
There is a need for improvement in the opening.

Mapping the current state of financial inclusion and its impact on economic growth in the MENA region

Rabab Jaber Chehayeb — 2024-12-09

Purpose: This study aims to provide a comprehensive descriptive analysis of financial inclusion levels in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region and its impact on economic growth indicators.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Utilizing panel data regression models, including Fixed Effects and Random Effects, the research assesses how financial inclusion influences economic growth.

Findings: The results reveal that financial inclusion has a notable negative impact on economic growth in the MENA region, largely attributed to ongoing conflicts and political instability that disrupt economic activities. Additionally, variations in financial regulations and banking practices across the region complicate the assessment of financial inclusion's effects on growth.

Research Limitations/Implications: This analysis serves as a valuable resource for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners by illustrating the distribution of financial inclusion across MENA countries and its observable effects on economic growth. However, the study is limited by its inability to incorporate key indicators such as religion, digital banking, and corruption levels due to data constraints, and its exclusive focus on banks.

Contribution to Literature: This review enhances the literature on financial inclusion by offering an in-depth examination of its current status, providing insights for targeted policy interventions, and assisting financial institutions in identifying growth opportunities and areas needing support.

Conclusion: Financial inclusion's impact on economic growth varies based on measurement methods, leading to discrepancies in studies. Despite strong growth indicators driven by the energy sector in the region, structural rigidities and insufficient financial intermediation have limited the benefits of this growth.

Does contract farming improve the technical efficiency of urban and peri-urban dairy farmers? Evidence from Nekemte city, Ethiopia

Gemechu Mulatu — 2024-12-16

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of contract farming on the technical efficiency of dairy farmers in urban and peri-urban areas, specifically in Nekemte City, Ethiopia.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The research design employed to obtain the data was a cross-sectional study. For data analysis, both primary and secondary sources of information were gathered. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data. A simple random sampling technique was followed to select 181 sample dairy farm producers in urban and peri-urban areas of Nekemte city. The data analysis methods that were employed included descriptive analysis, Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier analysis, and the propensity score matching technique.

Findings: According to the Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier production function results, the most significant input in milk production is fodder, which has the biggest coefficient (= 0.353). The sum of the coefficients of all inputs is 0.512, and dairy farmers in the study area have been operating at decreasing returns to scale. The result of logistic regressions showed that the owner or manager's age, education, and experience are important factors that influence their decision to participate in urban dairy contract farming. The results of the propensity score matching technique showed that dairy farmers' technical efficiency increased by 0.150, or 21.52%, because of contract farming.

Conclusion: The results of the study highlight that contract farming helps dairy farmers in urban and peri-urban areas become more technically efficient.

Research Implications: The result of the study can serve as an input for policy formulation and serve as a stepping stone for other researchers.