Thomas N. Garavan, Harris Neeliah, Raj Auckloo and Raj Ragaven
The purpose of this paper is to explore human resource development (HRD) in Mauritius and the challenges and opportunities faced by organisations in different sectors in adopting…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore human resource development (HRD) in Mauritius and the challenges and opportunities faced by organisations in different sectors in adopting HRD practices.
Findings
This special issue presents four papers that explore dimensions of HRD in public sector, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and tourism organisations. It also reports on human capital development in the Mauritian economy generally.
Research limitations/implications
There is a paucity of knowledge and understanding on HRD in Mauritian organisations. There is significant scope to further explore the effectiveness of national policies and interventions in enhancing HRD and human capital capability.
Practical implications
The four papers highlight the important role of organisational champions and of the selection and implantation of HRD practices that are good contextual fit and which can contribute to organisation performance.
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Harris Neeliah and Boopen Seetanah
Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for Mauritius has averaged more than 5 per cent since 1970 and GDP per capita has increased more than tenfold between 1970 and 2012, from…
Abstract
Purpose
Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for Mauritius has averaged more than 5 per cent since 1970 and GDP per capita has increased more than tenfold between 1970 and 2012, from less than $500 to more than $9,000. It has often been reported that human capital, along with other growth enablers, has played an important role in this development. The purpose of this paper is to study this nexus.
Design/methodology/approach
A human capital augmented Cobb-Douglas production function is used, where output is also a function of capital and labour. One of the innovations of the present paper is the use of a composite index to proxy human capital. The authors investigate the impact of human capital on economic growth in a dynamic vector error correction modelling (VECM) framework.
Findings
The general results here show that stock, labour and human capital are all significant growth determinants, with human capital having a long-run output elasticity of 0.36. The VECM results generally validated the long-run output elasticity, although a relatively lower elasticity of 0.1 is obtained. Both sets of results tend to point to the fact that human capital has significantly contributed to economic growth in Mauritius.
Research limitations/implications
The current paper paves the way for future work, which can build on the composite HCI developed here and aggregate it with relevant variables representing tertiary education and training, to better analyze and further understand the role of human capital on economic growth in Mauritius.
Originality/value
Here, the authors posit that human capital is an aggregate of health, education and nutrition, and the authors use a composite index along with other contributing factors to study its impact on economic growth, within a VECM framework.
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Kolawole Ogundari and Adebayo Aromolaran
This study aims to investigate the causal relationship between nutrition and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the causal relationship between nutrition and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
A dynamic panel causality test based on the Blundell-Bond’s system generalized methods-of-moment was used. To make efficient inference for the estimates, the authors check for the panel unit root and co-integration relationship amongst the variables.
Findings
The variables were found to be non-stationary at level, stationary after first difference and co-integrated. The results of the causality tests reveal evidence of long and short-run bidirectional causality between nutrition and economic growth, which implies that nutritional improvement is a cause and consequence of economic growth and vice versa.
Originality/value
This is the first study to consider causality between nutrition and economic growth in the region.
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Kolawole Ogundari and Shoichi Ito
The purpose of this paper is to use cross-country data to investigate whether convergence process exists in per capital nutrient supply and also identify the determinants of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use cross-country data to investigate whether convergence process exists in per capital nutrient supply and also identify the determinants of change in per capita nutrient supply in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Design/methodology/approach
Annual time series data for 43 countries covering 1975-2009 that yields balanced panel were employed for the analysis. The convergence hypothesis is examined based on the neoclassical growth model using feasible generalized least square approach that is robust to autocorrelation and cross-sectional dependence.
Findings
The empirical results lend support to existence of convergence process in nutrient supply in SSA. Evidence of convergence in nutrient supply may have contributed to observed reduction in incidence of food-poverty in the region, which aligns with the argument in literature that recent Africa food security gains are due to food imports. The results of the determinants of change in nutrient supply showed that, global food trade represented by trade openness consistently increased growth in nutrient supply across countries in SSA significantly. Meanwhile, the speed of convergence of per capita nutrient supply, which measures how quickly growth in nutrient supply increases over time is very low, as this calls for urgent policy attention in the region.
Originality/value
The very first study to investigate convergence in food consumption and nutritional supply in SSA.
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Rajneesh Mahajan, Suresh Garg and P.B. Sharma
The purpose of this paper is to investigate perspective in explaining how global food safety can be created through stringent implementation of Codex and World Trade Organization…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate perspective in explaining how global food safety can be created through stringent implementation of Codex and World Trade Organization (WTOs) Sanitary and Phytosanitary food safety regulations and suggests the appropriate food safety system for India.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has been deployed a survey questionnaire using a sample of Indian Processed food sector. In order to collect data 1,000 supply chain professional were contacted for seeking their consent to be part of the survey. Whereas total responses collected were 252 from Delhi and NCR, with response rate 25.2 percent. The data collected was empirical tested using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, regression and ANOVA.
Findings
The results and discussions indicate that all the global food safety norms laid down by WTO such as goods manufacturing practices, good hygienic practice, hazard analysis critical control point, has been developed to embody principles of safe food processing sector globally. India has also developed their food safety norms as per laid down principles by WTO.
Originality/value
The present research work makes an important contribution to the body of literature on global food safety. The paper has important implications for the processed food sector since it tries to bring out practices which would help in successful implementation of global food safety standards. It is useful for academic food research as well as for processed food corporate.
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Fathi Fakhfakh and Felix FitzRoy
The purpose of this paper is to look at the effect of profit sharing (PS) on the ability of the firm to take care of the environment.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to look at the effect of profit sharing (PS) on the ability of the firm to take care of the environment.
Design/methodology/approach
In a large cross-section of French firms, the authors find strong associations between PS and various innovations with environmental benefits. With cross-sectional data from the Community Innovation Survey and FARE, the authors estimate simultaneous equations for these effects, with endogenous PS.
Findings
This relationship between PS and environmental innovation is plausible, since workers benefit more than outside owners from a better local environment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper provides the first empirical evidence, so the results suggest PS supports environmental policy, in addition to its other, better known incentive benefits.
Research limitations/implications
Further studies, using panel data, are needed.
Practical implications
Financial participation may be considered as an additional tool to protect the environment.
Originality/value
This is the first paper looking at the impact of PS on the ability of the firm to take care of the environment. In this critical period when policy makers are searching for ways to limit global warming and protect the environment, the authors have presented here the first evidence that financial participation helps to support these policies.