C. Béné, A. Neiland, T. Jolley, B. Ladu, S. Ovie, O. Sule, M. Baba, E. Belal, K. Mindjimba, F. Tiotsop, L. Dara, A. Zakara and J. Quensiere
Although there exists a rich literature on fisheries traditional management systems in North and South America, Caribbean, Asia and Pacific islands, much less information is…
Abstract
Although there exists a rich literature on fisheries traditional management systems in North and South America, Caribbean, Asia and Pacific islands, much less information is available on inland African fisheries. Presents the first regional‐scale survey of traditional management systems operated within the Lake Chad Basin. The survey focused on the status and organization of the local (de facto) management systems and their interactions with the modern (de jure) regulations. The results show that fishing activities within the whole Basin are still largely under the control of the traditional local authorities. The few open‐access fishing grounds are areas that traditional authorities have never controlled or water‐bodies that they have had to “give up” in recent times due to the presence of armed groups. These areas are also areas where illegal taxation systems operated by non‐legitimated governement agents have developed, essentially as a consequence of the remoteness and political instability of the whole Basin.
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Nidhi Yadav, Dukhabandhu Sahoo and Naresh Chandra Sahu
This study aims to assess the recreational value of the National Chambal Sanctuary highlighting the potential benefits of conservation and the need for sustainable practices.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess the recreational value of the National Chambal Sanctuary highlighting the potential benefits of conservation and the need for sustainable practices.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the Individual Travel Cost Method to evaluate the expenses of individuals visiting the National Chambal Sanctuary.
Findings
The study reveals that the National Chambal Sanctuary has a significant recreational value, with an average visitor value of INR 35,335.69 or USD 434 and an annual value of INR 132,473,501.81 or approximately USD 1.62m, indicating substantial economic contribution.
Research limitations/implications
The study's limitations may stem from data collection constraints, visitor reporting biases or other factors affecting estimates' accuracy. Future research could explore socio-economic factors or factors affecting low tourist inflow in India's protected areas (PAs).
Practical implications
This study suggests raising entrance fees for the National Chambal Sanctuary to ensure financial sustainability, based on its high recreational value and average consumer surplus. This has practical implications for policymakers, conservationists and the tourism industry.
Social implications
The study underscores the significance of protecting PAs like the National Chambal Sanctuary, suggesting that public attitudes towards biodiversity conservation can be influenced by highlighting its economic and recreational value and promoting awareness of its significance.
Originality/value
The study evaluates the recreational value of a wildlife sanctuary in India, offering insights into conservation's economic benefits and sustainable practices and promoting further research.
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Mumtaz Ahmed, Naresh Singla and Kulwinder Singh
Wheat, which is one of the major staple food grain crops in India, continues to depict occasional fluctuation in the prices though Union government has adopted administered price…
Abstract
Purpose
Wheat, which is one of the major staple food grain crops in India, continues to depict occasional fluctuation in the prices though Union government has adopted administered price policy for wheat by intervening in its procurement at assured prices and distribution. Such fluctuations in prices are usually attributed to inefficient functioning of the agricultural markets. Since spatially separated markets also play an important role to determine efficiency of the agricultural markets, the study has used market integration as one of the tools to analyze the price transmission across the spatially separated markets to identify causes of price fluctuations and suggest ways to stabilize wheat prices.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilizes monthly wholesale prices for January, 2006 to May, 2016 for dara wheat. First, the study employs augmented Dickey and Fuller (ADF), Phillips and Perron (PP) and Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin (KPSS) tests to check stationarity in wheat prices. Second, Johansen's cointegration test is applied to assess the integration of wholesale prices between selected pairs of wheat markets to determine long-run relationship among them. Third, Granger casualty test is used to find the direction of causality between the wheat market pairs. Finally, threshold vector error correction model (TVECM) and likelihood ratio (LR) tests are employed to examine long-run adjustment of prices towards the equilibrium in selected wheat markets.
Findings
Since wheat wholesale prices for the selected markets are found to be integrated of the order one, that is [I(1)], Johansen's test of cointegration is employed and its findings reveal that the selected wheat market pairs exhibit cointegration and show a long-run price association among themselves. There exists a bi-directional causality among the wheat market pairs. Since LR test is in favor of threshold model (except for Etawah–Delhi pair), one and two threshold models were also performed accordingly. Findings show that wholesale prices of wheat in Delhi markets remain higher than the prices of all other regional markets as regional markets are found to adjust their prices towards Delhi market. Distance of the wheat markets from each other is directly associated with threshold parameters, which are analogous to the transaction costs. Geographically dispersed wheat markets incorporate high transaction and vice versa.
Research limitations/implications
The study argues that there is need to improve rural infrastructure and connectivity of the agricultural markets and remove market asymmetries through unified market regulating mechanisms across the states. This will enable price adjustment process from primary wholesale markets (in production regions) to the secondary wholesale markets (in scarcity regions) quickly.
Originality/value
The contribution of the study in the existing literature lies in the fact that there are no empirical evidences in the context of India that use price transmission as a tool of market integration among spatially separated wheat markets using TVCEM as this model examines role of transaction costs in efficient functioning of the agricultural markets.
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Turhan Erkmen, Arzu Özsözgün Çalışkan and Emel Esen
The purpose of this study is to analyze whether whistleblowing is a fact among accounting professionals when there is a serious wrongdoing at the workplace and to investigate the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze whether whistleblowing is a fact among accounting professionals when there is a serious wrongdoing at the workplace and to investigate the differences between accounting professionals about whistleblowing intention according to demographic variables. This paper reviews whistleblowing behavior in the context of professional accounting in Turkey. This study discusses whistleblowing event and analyzes it by using the scenario technique.
Design/methodology/approach
Three whistleblowing scenarios were used and participants were asked to indicate the likelihood that the individual in the scenario would blow the whistle. Participants indicated blowing the whistle action on a seven-point likert-type of scale for the given scenario.
Findings
The main hypothesis is the differences between whistleblowing behavior of accounting professionals in relation to such demographic characteristics as working conditions, total tenure, gender, age, membership and number of customers according to the scenario. The findings support that accounting professionals' demographic factors are important to understand the whistleblowing behavior from their perspectives. Whistleblowing is experienced among accounting professionals above the average level for each scenario. There are no differences about accounting professionals' whistleblowing behavior in terms of their demographic characteristics (working circumstances, total tenure, age, membership and number of customers) with the exception of gender and age variables.
Research limitations/implications
This study's results come with some limitations. One limitation is the low response rate achieved in the data collection process. Another limitation is that this study is conducted among accounting professionals, so these finding results cannot be generalized to other different professionals in Turkey.
Practical implications
The findings of the study may get the board of directors' or managers' attention to the point that they should become aware of the importance of whistleblowing in their organizations to encourage employees to report the wrongdoings internally.
Social implications
When employees report these wrongdoings outside the organization, corporate reputation of the company can be damaged. This ethical issue should be solved in the context of the organization.
Originality/value
This study aims to make several contributions to the accounting and management literature. First, it extends the recent accounting literature on whistleblowing by examining demographic characteristics. Second, most of the studies use questionnaire to collect the data from the participants, but in this study, the authors used the scenario technique that reflects the whistleblowing behavior tendency in a work environment in order to learn accounting professionals' evaluations of whistleblowing behavior.
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Cheryl L. Burleigh, Margaret Kroposki, Patricia B. Steele, Sherrye Smith and Dara Murray
The purpose of this literature review was to identify best practices in coaching faculty within higher education and the subsequent benefits of effective faculty coaching programs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this literature review was to identify best practices in coaching faculty within higher education and the subsequent benefits of effective faculty coaching programs for the retention of quality faculty. In higher education, where an emphasis is on the delivery of curriculum for student learning, faculty performance reviews are not universally defined, nor are coaching practices consistently employed. Giving teaching performance feedback promptly to faculty may be a means to foster professional growth and enhance the implementation of progressive practices to benefit student learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors undertook a content analysis of current literature on the evaluation and coaching practices of higher education faculty that specifically addressed the quality and timeliness of feedback and gaps in practices.
Findings
Through this study, the authors gleaned recommendations for improving faculty evaluation, coaching, and feedback.
Practical implications
Developing coaching programs to include all higher education faculty may lead to improved teaching performance and alignment of the faculty with institutional goals. The insights from this study may provide the impetus to develop structures and processes for university-based professional development and coaching programs that could lead to positive student learning outcomes and better relationships among faculty.
Originality/value
This is the first review to use Cooper's systematic examination of current literature to explore the topics of faculty support, coaching, and development within higher education.
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Mercedes Villanueva-Flores, Mirta Diaz-Fernandez, Dara Hernandez-Roque and Marloes van Engen
This study aims to examine whether the psychological capital of male and female university students explains the intention to undertake entrepreneurism. Following Ajzen’s theory…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether the psychological capital of male and female university students explains the intention to undertake entrepreneurism. Following Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour, the aim was to study whether perceived behavioural control and subjective norms influence entrepreneurial intention and if subjective norms moderate established relationships, in both genders.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modelling and analysis of variance was applied to test the hypotheses amongst students at a Spanish university.
Findings
The results showed that gender differences in psychological capital, in perceived behavioural control and in subjective norms existed between the male and female population, which explain gender differences in entrepreneurial intention. Similarly, subjective norms acted as a moderator in the relationship between psychological capital, the perceived behavioural control and entrepreneurial intention, with the moderating impact being higher on the female population.
Practical implications
The results obtained in this paper indicate that developing perceived behavioural control and the psychological capital of university students in training programmes of male and female students helps to promote their entrepreneurial intention. Similarly, the results suggest that building a support network, for instance of family and groups of friends is key to fostering entrepreneurial intention, particularly for women.
Originality/value
Entrepreneurship is key to the successful employability of current and future generations in the labour market. This study examined key antecedents of student’s entrepreneurial intention and how these are gendered. For both men and women (investing in) psychological capital is important. Informal social support was shown to play a key role in women’s entrepreneurial intention.
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Ray Qing Cao, Dara G. Schniederjans, Vicky Ching Gu and Marc J. Schniederjans
Corporate responsibility perceptions from stakeholders are becoming more difficult to manage. This is in part because of large amount of social media being projected to…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate responsibility perceptions from stakeholders are becoming more difficult to manage. This is in part because of large amount of social media being projected to stakeholders on a daily basis. In light of this, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate responsibility framing from the social media perspective firm’s performance as defined by abnormal-return (defined as the difference between a single stock or portfolios return and the expected return) and idiosyncratic-risk (defined as the risk of a particular investment because of firm-specific characteristics).
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses are developed through agenda-setting theory and stakeholder and shareholder viewpoints. The research model is tested using sentiment analysis from a collection of social media from several industries.
Findings
The results provide support that three corporate responsibility social media categories (economic, social and environmental-framing) will have different impacts (delayed, immediate) on abnormal-return and idiosyncratic-risk. This study finds differences between immediate (one-day lag) and delayed (three-day lag) associations on abnormal-return and idiosyncratic-risk.
Originality/value
This study also suggests differences between the amount and sentiment of corporate responsibility social media framing on abnormal-return and idiosyncratic-risk. Finally, results identify interaction effects between different corporate responsibility social media categories.
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Nageswara Rao Eluri, Gangadhara Rao Kancharla, Suresh Dara and Venkatesulu Dondeti
Gene selection is considered as the fundamental process in the bioinformatics field. The existing methodologies pertain to cancer classification are mostly clinical basis, and its…
Abstract
Purpose
Gene selection is considered as the fundamental process in the bioinformatics field. The existing methodologies pertain to cancer classification are mostly clinical basis, and its diagnosis capability is limited. Nowadays, the significant problems of cancer diagnosis are solved by the utilization of gene expression data. The researchers have been introducing many possibilities to diagnose cancer appropriately and effectively. This paper aims to develop the cancer data classification using gene expression data.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed classification model involves three main phases: “(1) Feature extraction, (2) Optimal Feature Selection and (3) Classification”. Initially, five benchmark gene expression datasets are collected. From the collected gene expression data, the feature extraction is performed. To diminish the length of the feature vectors, optimal feature selection is performed, for which a new meta-heuristic algorithm termed as quantum-inspired immune clone optimization algorithm (QICO) is used. Once the relevant features are selected, the classification is performed by a deep learning model called recurrent neural network (RNN). Finally, the experimental analysis reveals that the proposed QICO-based feature selection model outperforms the other heuristic-based feature selection and optimized RNN outperforms the other machine learning methods.
Findings
The proposed QICO-RNN is acquiring the best outcomes at any learning percentage. On considering the learning percentage 85, the accuracy of the proposed QICO-RNN was 3.2% excellent than RNN, 4.3% excellent than RF, 3.8% excellent than NB and 2.1% excellent than KNN for Dataset 1. For Dataset 2, at learning percentage 35, the accuracy of the proposed QICO-RNN was 13.3% exclusive than RNN, 8.9% exclusive than RF and 14.8% exclusive than NB and KNN. Hence, the developed QICO algorithm is performing well in classifying the cancer data using gene expression data accurately.
Originality/value
This paper introduces a new optimal feature selection model using QICO and QICO-based RNN for effective classification of cancer data using gene expression data. This is the first work that utilizes an optimal feature selection model using QICO and QICO-RNN for effective classification of cancer data using gene expression data.