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Urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has seen rapid growth in recent decades, resulting in significant changes to the region’s landscape and ecosystems, including wetlands. This study aims to examine the causes and effects of urbanization on wetlands. This study lays down the need to intervene to protect and restore wetlands in SSA.

The methodology used was a systematic literature review, supported by the VOSviewer software and the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews criteria, with data analyzed using abductive reasoning and content analysis.

This study found that a complex web of factors reflecting regional and global trends propels urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa. Urbanization is driven by population growth, economic development, infrastructure development and migration, leading to significant changes in the region’s ecosystems. The key effects include biodiversity loss, flooding and altered hydrology, water quality degradation and loss of livelihood. The study identifies sprawling urbanization, densification, informal settlement, fragmented urbanization and planned urban expansion as patterns of urbanization affecting wetlands.

This study offers practical recommendations for policymakers, planners and local communities to ensure long-term urban sustainability while conserving wetland ecosystems in SSA. Thus, there is a need for continued cooperation, technology and discovery sharing, and cooperative research funding initiatives with the global community. It also commends implementing green infrastructure, like artificial wetlands, to mitigate the adverse environmental effects and promote sustainable development.

This study used VOSviewer software visualization to uncover structural trends and research frontiers, focusing on wetland conservation in the context of urban areas in SSA, where rapid urbanization adds to wetland degradation.

In the Global North, affordable housing has evolved and thrived, and it is now gaining traction in the Global South, where governments have been vocal supporters of the concept. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the important criteria for selecting affordable housing units in Ghana.

A quantitative research approach was used, and a survey was administered to the residents. The data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The relative importance index technique was used to rank the important criteria, and the EFA technique was used to create a taxonomy system for the criteria.

The hierarchical ranking of the most significant criteria for selecting affordable housing includes community safety, waste management and access to good-quality education. Furthermore, the important criteria for selecting affordable housing are classified into two groups, namely, “sustainability criteria” and “housing demand and supply and social service provision”.

This study has implications for the real estate industry and construction stakeholders, as this will inform decision-making in terms of the design of affordable housing and the suitability of the location for the development.

These findings provide a baseline to support potential homeowners and tenants in their quest to select affordable housing. Furthermore, these findings will aid future longitudinal research into the indicators or criteria for selecting suitable locations for the development of low- and middle-income housing.

Using a discrete choice experiment (DCE), this study aims to better understand the job preference of postgraduate students studying at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology-Institute of Distance Learning, Ghana and also rank the attributes of a job they deem important.

The research adopted a positivist epistemological design contextualised within a deductive approach and case study strategy. Primary survey data was collected from a stratified random sample of 128 postgraduate students with multi-sectorial career prospects. Sample students were subjected to a DCE in which their stated preferences were collected using closed-ended questionnaires with 28 pairs of hypothetical job profiles. Respondents’ preferences from the DCE data were then modelled using the conditional logit.

The research reveals that: salary in the range GHC 2,800.00 to GHC 3,400.00 ($1 = GHS 5.3); supportive management; very challenging jobs; and jobs located in the city were the top attributes that were significant and had the most impact in increasing the utility of selecting a particular job. Interestingly, jobs with no extra hours workload were not significant hence, had a negative impact upon student preferences.

This novel research is the first to use a DCE to better elicit preference and trade-offs of postgraduate students in a developing country towards varying job characteristics that have an impact on their future employment decisions. Knowledge advancements made provide invaluable insight to employers and policymakers on the key criteria that should be implemented to retain the best candidate.

The resource-based theory (RBT) explains that the management control system (MCS) represents a resource that complements dynamic capabilities by steering employees toward strategies, leading to superior performance. This study aims to identify the impacts of the MCS and dynamic capabilities such as entrepreneurship, innovation, organizational learning and market orientation on financial performance.

The research sample included 200 managers from grain-producing agribusiness organizations in Brazil. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to conduct a symmetric analysis, while fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was applied for an asymmetric analysis.

In the symmetric analysis, the linear association model did not fully explain how the use of MCSs and dynamic capabilities drive financial performance. However, the findings indicate that diagnostic and interactive MCSs positively affect dynamic capabilities. In the asymmetric analysis, the results suggest that the high financial performance of the analyzed organizations can be achieved without considering the need for Entrepreneurship or Innovation.

The study broadens and complements the interpretive scope of previous studies and allows for comparisons.

MCSs must be used in a balanced and synergistic manner (diagnostic and interactive), with an emphasis on monitoring goals and discussions with managers. This is important and contributes to developing internal capabilities, which are embodied in decisions and actions, potentially impacting financial performance. These results are crucial for Brazilian agribusiness organizations, as they provide actionable insights into how the strategic use of MCSs can directly enhance financial performance. By revealing that the balanced and synergistic use of diagnostic and interactive MCSs fosters dynamic capabilities such as innovation and market orientation, the study offers practical guidance for managers aiming to boost organizational effectiveness. This research not only informs management practices but also positions Brazilian agribusinesses to remain competitive in a global market.

This study has generated new discussions based on possible combinations and interactions between MCSs and dynamic capabilities to predict high organizational performance. In practical terms, MCSs and dynamic capabilities can be designed in various manners to reach optimal performance levels.

This study aims to analyze the perceptions of smallholder farmers on climate change and events and further explores climate change adaptation strategies and associated challenges. The findings provide useful information for enhancing the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to adjust to climate-related hazards and improve their resilience and disaster preparedness in northern Ghana.

This study uses a multistage sampling procedure and sample size of 150 farmers, the Binary Probit Model (BPM), to identify and examine the determinants of climate change adaptation strategies adopted by smallholder farmers. Also, the constraints of adaptation were analyzed using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance.

The results from the BPM and statistics of Kendall’s coefficient revealed that the farm risk level, ability to adapt, farmer’s income, age, farming experience, climate change awareness and extension visits were factors that significantly influenced the adaptation strategies of smallholder farmers (in order of importance). The majority (60%) of the farmers ranked farm risk level as the major constraint to adopting climate change strategies.

The findings of this study enhance understanding on access to relevant and timely climate change adaptation information such as an early warning to farmers during the start of the farming/rainy season to support their adaptive responses to climate change.

The present paper offers a literature review on the application of institutional theory in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study aims to synthesize existing research on how institutional factors, both formal and informal, shape the strategic behaviors of SMEs through the lens of new institutionalism and its three strands – rational-action neoinstitutionalism (RAN), social-constructionist neoinstitutionalism (SCN) and mediated-conflict neoinstitutionalism (MCN). It also identifies critical gaps and proposes avenues for future research.

Employing the B-SLR’s multi-method framework, this study integrates bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review. The analysis examines 202 articles, categorizing them into four key research clusters related to the application of institutional theory to SMEs.

The literature on SMEs and institutional theory is framed around the following clusters: (1) institutional theory and innovation in SMEs, (2) institutional theory and the environmental sustainability of SMEs, (3) institutional theory and the internationalization of SMEs and (4) institutional theory and SME strategies in emerging markets.

This study represents the first literature review applying institutional theory to SMEs, offering a framework for understanding how institutional factors influence SME strategic decisions. The paper also identifies research gaps, proposing directions for future studies within each of the four clusters and contributes to bridging the fragmented research on SMEs and institutional theory.

Health shocks are among the factors that have impeded households from experiencing better welfare. To mitigate the consequences of these shocks, individuals have sought to enrol in a formal insurance scheme or borrow from banks. This study estimates the effects of health shocks on households' welfare while examining the mitigating role of social assistance in Ghana.

The study utilized the three-stage least squares and feasible generalized least squares to estimate the impact of health shocks on households' welfare.

The authors find that health shocks put households at risk, particularly disability and severe illness, which significantly limits individuals’ ability to smooth consumption to increase welfare. We further find that hospitalization due to illness significantly allows households to increase welfare through consumption. Finally, we find that social assistance has the potential to reduce these adverse effects of shocks conditioned on the type of shock and the outcome variable in question.

First, we only used cross-sectional data for the two waves and therefore lacked panel data across time for analyses. Second, the data do not provide information on the exact amount of cash received by beneficiaries, so it was quite impossible to measure the exact effect of social assistance on welfare. We could only track whether or not having such assistance could mitigate the effect of a health shock.

The practical implication of the findings is that Ghana needs to build a resilient health system in order to withstand the health shocks of individuals.

No study has attempted to investigate the differential effect of health shocks – hospitalization, disability and labour days lost due to illness in Ghana. Our choice is dependent on the fact that these shocks have been an issue for many households in Ghana, thus the need to examine their impact on individual well-being. Second, social assistance has been Ghana’s flagship social protection programme, but what is missing in the literature is whether this programme is capable of reducing the effect of health shocks faced by beneficiaries’ households in Ghana.

This study aims to assess gender-based differences on farmers’ perception of impacts and vulnerability to climate change and the implementation of adaptation strategies in the Pra River Basin of Ghana, while also providing lessons for other Sub-Saharan nations and regions with similar conditions.

The study used semi-structured interviews and questionnaires to collect data from 344 farmers, 64 participants in focus group discussions and 6 agriculture extension officers (key informants) from 10 districts in the Pra River Basin of Ghana.

Results showed several differences in how climate change is perceived and tackled by male and female genders. In the perception of male farmers, for example, they were found to be more vulnerable to increased temperature, and changes in rainfall and growing season, whereas female farmers on average were considered to be less resilient to floods and droughts for different reasons. Moreover, floods posed higher risks to farming than other climate change impacts. Gender roles had a significant correlation with the type of adaptation strategies practised. Men adopted agrochemicals more often than women, as an adaptation strategy.

Gender-differentiated interventions should be incorporated in the national climate change action plan for sustainable development in a rain-fed agricultural economy such as Ghana. The study recommends several actions to promote gender equity in the assessed region.

This research assessed the gender differentials in climate trends, impact, vulnerability and adaptation based on primary data collected between April and May 2019 and compared the results with climate data in the basin for the period 1991–2014. It is an empirical study focused on primary data analysis obtained in loco by authors, involving approximately 400 participants.