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1 – 10 of 20Raúl Armando Cardona-Montoya, Vivian Cruz and Samuel Arturo Mongrut
Our findings indicate that workers with more financial education were more prepared to face the negative effects on their finances from COVID. This ability reduces the probability…
Abstract
Purpose
Our findings indicate that workers with more financial education were more prepared to face the negative effects on their finances from COVID. This ability reduces the probability of becoming financially fragile and experiencing financial stress.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied a survey questionnaire to 856 Colombian adults and used principal component analysis to build an index for each factor. Then, the authors used a linear regression model with the indexes to test our hypotheses and verify our results using a structural equation model.
Findings
Our findings indicate that workers who have more financial education are more prepared to face the negative effects on their finances, which reduces the probability of becoming financially fragile and having financial stress.
Research limitations/implications
The authors found that there is no significant relationship between financial literacy and financial fragility, neither between financial literacy and financial stress, so a better financial education will not lower financial fragility and stress unless it is being applied by households through better financial preparedness.
Practical implications
It is important to highlight that the pandemic not only taught us to improve biosecurity measures but also that financial strength, ability to work remotely and income diversification were key factors in facing this adverse shock, the authors show that high levels of financial education have a positively relationship with the ability of individuals to manage their resources, so private and public institutions have to promote better financial education.
Originality/value
This is the first study that applies the four different indexes to an emerging country (i.e. Colombia), and the first one to create and use a financial stress index.
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Samuel Arturo Mongrut, Vivian Cruz and Daniela Pacussich
The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of private and public initiatives (financial literacy, entrepreneurship, remote work and government aid) on individual job…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of private and public initiatives (financial literacy, entrepreneurship, remote work and government aid) on individual job loss and decrease in income during the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used an unbalanced panel data analysis with the National Household Survey for 2019–2020. The hypotheses are tested with a probit panel data model since the dependent variables are binary.
Findings
The study findings indicate that financial preparedness reduced the probability of having a decrease in income, but only to informal workers in metropolitan Lima. Furthermore, entrepreneurship helped mainly female informal workers to reduce their probability of becoming unemployed in metropolitan Lima. Besides, the implementation of remote work as a substitute of face-to-face work was not enough to avoid the decrease in income in the case of informal workers and it was only effective to avoid unemployment in the case of formal workers in metropolitan Lima. Finally, public aid proved to be instrumental in mitigating the decrease in income, but only to informal workers in Metropolitan Lima.
Research limitations/implications
The study results only apply for the first year of the pandemic.
Practical implications
Policymakers should focus on increasing the financial preparedness of informal workers, especially in provinces.
Social implications
Policymakers must expand unemployment benefits, and design public aid programs targeting informal workers in provinces.
Originality/value
This is the first study that analyses the impact of private and public initiatives on the decrease in income and unemployment situation of Peruvian individuals during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Disraeli Asante-Darko and Vivian Osei
Academics and businesses alike have begun to recognise sustainability as a vital component of supply chain competitive advantage in recent years. Inconclusive results have been…
Abstract
Purpose
Academics and businesses alike have begun to recognise sustainability as a vital component of supply chain competitive advantage in recent years. Inconclusive results have been found in empirical studies of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) that have ignored contextual variables concerning the dynamic role of firm capability in favour of testing alternative assumptions about the effect of various elements of the triple bottom line (TBL) on firm performance outcomes. The present study examines whether and how firm capabilities mediate the connection between SSCM, from a TBL standpoint, and firm financial performance outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the stakeholder theory, the study employed 325 survey responses from firms operating in different industries in Ghana (a less-researched context but one that plays a key role regarding SSCM practices) and the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) technique to simultaneously assess the relationships amongst the variables.
Findings
It was discovered that the connections between all the TBL facets of SSCM practices and firm performance are positive and significant, and these relationships are mediated by firm capabilities.
Originality/value
By examining the underlying variables and relationships that contribute to the establishment of the rather complex relationship between SSCM practices from a TBL perspective and the performance of a firm, the research contributes to current knowledge on SSCM practices, firm capabilities and firm performance.
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In this time of severe national budget deficit, all programs are reviewed for trimming/downsizing and effectiveness. Just as educational systems are evaluated for trimming, so are…
Abstract
In this time of severe national budget deficit, all programs are reviewed for trimming/downsizing and effectiveness. Just as educational systems are evaluated for trimming, so are school and academic library services. This article will address why it is crucial to have close linkages between school and academic libraries through articulation programs to avoid duplication and waste of human resources, and explain how articulation can be initiated through precollege programs offered by colleges and universities. It will focus on why academic libraries participate in precollege access programs, highlight how collaboration between school and academic libraries helps the “town and gown” community relationship, and point out how precollege programs help minority students and university recruitment and retention efforts. As an example, it will describe the outreach program of the College Library at the University of Wisconsin‐Madi‐son. The article concludes by discussing the future goals of strengthening and broadening the participation of academic libraries in precollege access programs.
Vivian Sayuri Okina, Maria Rita Alaniz Porto, Tatiana Colombo Pimentel and Sandra Helena Prudencio
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of the probiotic addition (Lactobacillus paracasei ssp.) on the physicochemical characteristics and antioxidant capacity of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of the probiotic addition (Lactobacillus paracasei ssp.) on the physicochemical characteristics and antioxidant capacity of white grape juice during refrigerated storage (4°C/28 days). This paper also aims to evaluate the survival of the probiotic culture in the product and under simulated gastrointestinal conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
Two formulations of white grape juices were evaluated, one with 2 per cent of probiotic culture addition and the other of pure juice.
Findings
The addition of probiotic culture resulted in products with a darker-reddish coloration (L* = 30.6-30.8 and a* = 0.6-0.9) and a lower content of total phenolic compounds (599-697 µg EAG mL−1) (p = 0.05). However, it improved the color stability and maintained the antioxidant activity 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (p > 0.05). The viability of the probiotic culture (>109 colony forming unit · 200 mL−1) in the juice was maintained during 21 days of storage, but in simulated gastrointestinal conditions, the functional properties could be guaranteed during the 28 days of refrigerated storage.
Practical implications
The white grape juice is a suitable medium for incorporation of Lactobacillus paracasei.
Originality/value
The survival of the probiotic cultures to the simulated gastrointestinal tract may be significant, even if the product does not have the recommended minimum counts.
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Richard Kedzior and Douglas E. Allen
This paper aims to serve as an integrative literature review that organizes the burgeoning literature and findings related to possible impacts of the selfie phenomenon on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to serve as an integrative literature review that organizes the burgeoning literature and findings related to possible impacts of the selfie phenomenon on consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper.
Findings
The current empirical scholarly work supports two conflicting perspectives on the impact of selfies: the selfie experience as a source of empowerment and the selfie as embodiment of societal control and expression of existing power-relations. While the two perspectives are seemingly discordant, in fact, they pertain to different levels of analysis – individual and social, respectively.
Originality/value
While the empowerment aspect of the selfie experience has been well-documented in existing literature, the mechanisms of control and disempowerment have remained underconceptualized. This research paper offers a framework which addresses this omission and theorizes ways in which the selfie phenomenon perpetuates societal control and maintains power-relations.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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Carine Glaucia Comarella, Taísa Ceratti Treptow, Álisson Santos de Oliveira, Eliseu Rodrigues, Claudia Kaehler Sautter, Vivian Bochi and Neidi Garcia Penna
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ultrasound (US) treatment on the postharvest of “Isabella” grapes and the consistency of the obtained results regarding the…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ultrasound (US) treatment on the postharvest of “Isabella” grapes and the consistency of the obtained results regarding the composition of anthocyanins in grape juice over three successive harvest years using a combination of analytical techniques.
Design/methodology/approach
Juices produced from “Isabella” grapes sonicated for different durations (3, 5, 7 and 10 min) were analysed. The grapes were harvested and sonicated in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and each treated sample was stored for 1, 3 and 5 days in order to verify the time necessary for the development of the US response. The juices were analysed through physicochemical analysis (total monomeric anthocyanins). The anthocyanin profiles were quantified and identified using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array and mass spectrometry detectors (HPLC-PDA-MSn).
Findings
The results demonstrated the potential of US in improving the quality of grape juice. In all three harvests, it was observed that the treatments were effective in increasing the concentration of anthocyanins. For the 2013 harvest, the application of US for 5 min led to a 103% increase in juice pigments. However, the US response profile varied among the three harvests, indicating that the US effect was influenced by the ripening conditions of the fruit. In total, 33 anthocyanins were identified in the grape juice. For the first time, peonidin-3-p-coumaroyl glucoside-5-glucoside was identified in “Isabella” juice.
Originality/value
The results of this study validated US treatment as a simple and effective physical method that can be used as an alternative technology for improving the general quality of products such as juice by increasing the pigment concentrations that are linked to the colour and antioxidant potential of drinks. Moreover, the results demonstrate that US treatment may be less effective in the case of a sample with distinct phenolic maturation.
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Anthologies are an important contribution to literature from small presses. They are often collections with a theme used as a way of introducing new writers and new subjects…
Abstract
Anthologies are an important contribution to literature from small presses. They are often collections with a theme used as a way of introducing new writers and new subjects. Small presses usually showcase the work of a wide range of writers from many cultures. The anthologies in this column reflect this tradition.