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Despite India achieving many milestones under MGNREGA, the external and internal shocks result in below potential outcomes in employment demand and generation. This study examines how these shocks matter and how the migration-prone regions perform.

This study, employing district-level data from 2018 to 2021, investigates how climate change and COVID-19 have affected the employment demand and supply. We applied RE-GLS and IV-2SLS regressions to examine the effects of shocks on employment demand and generation, respectively. The difference in difference panel model is employed to test the spatial effects of the pandemic. Further, we used RE-GLS and extended regression model to examine how external shocks interacting with migration affect unemployment rates.

It was found that the pandemic increased employment demand and generation. This reflects the adverse effects of the pandemic and the swift action by the government. However, the responses were possibly different during climate shocks. The wage differential increased employment demand. However, demand decreased due to poor support from the support staff. The employment generation was higher in migration-prone districts, indicating that seasonal migration, being a lean-season phenomenon, continues to occur despite employment generation.

This study contributes to the literature in several ways. It captures spatial variations while examining the impact of climate change and COVID-19. It investigates the performance of MGNREGA in migration-prone areas. In effect, the findings provide policymakers with greater insight into the issues.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2024-0132.

Regulation is critical for sustainable microfinance sector growth. Under this premise, the study aims to examine the different regulatory noncompliance (RNC) practices prevalent in the operations of microfinance institutions (MFIs) at the ground level.

Both the quantitative and qualitative (observations, interviews and focus group discussions) techniques are used to extract the findings.

The study highlights the different RNC practices exercised by the loan officers at the field level in their microfinance loan disbursements.

This study is based on the primary data collected from microfinance clients. The arguments put forth for the RNC practices are extracted from direct personal interviews with the loan officers and the clients. The role of various dilemmas/circumstances of the loan officers and the beneficiaries that implicate the MFIs in RNC is highlighted.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the cost of microfinance intermediation on borrowers’ loan size. The identified transaction cost and credit risk factors tell about what a lender takes into accounts while screening and allocating loan amounts to the borrowers, where the lender has limited information about the client’s ability to repay.

The analysis is based on the primary data collected from a sample of 498 microfinance institutions (MFI) linked group clients covering two microfinance leading states of India.

Empirical findings suggest that the cost of microfinance intermediation has an impact on borrowers’ loan size. To reduce the cost, the MFIs lend big loans to clients having a high income, assets, land size, lower informal borrowings and having longer loan experiences. In MFI lending, the younger and less educated people are the ones who demand bigger loan amounts. The geographical distance of borrowers’ location from MFI offices, group size and interest rate are the other factors that influence the loan size.

The past empirical works seem to have not focused on how the cost of microfinance intermediation creates loan size variation among the borrowers in joint liability group lending. The endogeneity problem has not been resolved. The present article thus identifies the factors that influence the individual member loan size by using two-stage least squared regression to tackle the issue of endogeneity.

The welfare impacts of the food security on the beneficiaries can be understood from multiple dimensions. This paper, thus, examines the impact of the India's National Food Security Act (NFSA) on the welfare of the beneficiary households from a multidimensional perspective.

The study is based on a sample household survey covering three different states of India. The stratified random sampling technique was used to select the states, districts and blocks. Sample villages and households were selected purposively. A total of 1,523 households comprising 1,069 beneficiary and 454 non-beneficiary households constituted the sample. In order to find out the impact of the programme on different dimensions of welfare, the endogenous switching regression model is employed as it helps control for any absence of randomization and the unobserved heterogeneity bias. Propensity score matching is also employed to supplement the results.

The substitution effect and income effect of the food subsidy policy combined improve the overall welfare of the households presented through the subjective measures of food consumption behaviour, income transfer and educational achievements. The bargaining effect of the food subsidy programme is reflected in the enhanced social status and women's empowerment. The food security programme seems to augment the food consumption of the beneficiaries as observed from the food consumption score.

The food security policy has improved the overall welfare of the households and can play a major role in enhancing household welfare even further. The non-beneficiaries' welfare could have increased if they would have been included in the food security programme. The subjective assessment may, however, be subjected to personal biases, and there is also absence of a common reference point. Hence, the implications of the findings may be generalized with caution.

This study provides evidences of the impacts of food subsidy from a multidimensional standpoint considering both subjective and objective dimensions of household welfare.

This study examines the ethical and social consequences of the accelerated adoption of new technologies. An empirical approach is employed to explore the impacts of rapid technological integration on societal norms, ethical considerations, and individual behaviours. Responses from 305 participants are analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), focusing on perceived usefulness, ease of use, relative advantage, personal innovativeness, and fear of missing out (FOMO). The findings unveil intricate interactions between technological advancements and ethical–social dynamics, underscoring challenges and opportunities. This study offers critical insights for policymakers, technology developers, and society at large, aiming to encourage a more ethically informed and socially conscious approach to technology adoption.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis on the relationship between information technology (IT) adoption and its usage and firm performance (banking and software firm) in India. Firm performance was measured with the help of three important variables: efficiency, effectiveness and productivity. Each one of the above has been described with a set of pretested questionnaires. Banks in India, in particular are geared for comprehensive banking solutions with extensive branch networks. Result from statistical analysis was validated with that achieved from ANN modeling.

Survey instrument was pilot tested. The pilot survey was administered to 20 randomly selected Indian service firms, whose Standard Industrial Classification codes were 6,021 (nationalized commercial Banks) and 7,371 (software firms). A 50 percent response rate was received. Internal reliability using Cronbach’s α was carried out for the entire set of responses from the pilot study. In addition, qualitative follow up from respondents was done. Unreliable items were deleted and modifications wherever necessary were made.

The research finds two important results with respect to IT adoption and firm performance. The first result is that service firms who implemented IT tools and techniques early achieved more turnover thereby greater market share from innovation/adoption (world-first and, to some extent India-first). These firms are able to better commercialize their service even if their most important innovations/adoptions supported by vendor’s to some extent. The second result is that service firms, which introduce new services, even if the service is already on the national or international front, derived more commercial sales from innovation, thus achieving more firm performance. Therefore, late followers (firm-first) would have higher sales from innovation by introducing services with high original content.

Performance is measured due to IT adoption.

Existing literature has reported a barrier list that could affect the implementation of digital transformation in higher education, yet the research question of how to identify barriers remained unanswered. Thus, this study intended to address this gap.

The research design adopted a mixed-methods approach based on the problem-centered design science research (DSR) process model for the development and evaluation of framework.

This study proposed a systematic framework of three sets of components: (1) the initial set of barriers; (2) the barrier rating scheme and (3) the barrier scoring matrix. The three-component of the framework is to identify and prioritize barriers to the successful implementation of digital transformation in higher education.

The evaluation of the framework was only based on an expert opinion.

This study provided a direction to the policymakers for designing sensible strategies to increase the chances of a successful digital transformation in higher education.

This study contributes to the knowledge body by offering a more systematic understanding of barriers to digital transformation in higher education.

Women in Construction (WiC) professionally registered with the engineering and built environment councils in South Africa work in a male-dominated industry. Many of these women end their construction careers in less than five years. This study aims to establish the core motivating factors contributing to sustainable careers for professional WiC, drawing on self-determination theory (SDT) as a theoretical framework. The study contributes to sustainable development goal (SDG) 10, which seeks to reduce inequalities by addressing barriers to gender diversity.

A quantitative study was conducted utilising a questionnaire survey distributed to professional WiC. The South African Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions (SACPCMP) facilitated the distribution of the questionnaire. A total of 110 responses were received and analysed using descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis to interpret the research data and assess the dimensionality and reliability of the constructs.

The study revealed that family support, job satisfaction and job promotion are the primary motivating factors for professional WiC to benefit from sustainable careers. These factors are consistent with the psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness as identified by SDT, forming the basis of the study’s theoretical framework.

The study provides an understanding of motivating factors crucial for retaining professional WiC in South Africa’s construction industry. The study leverages SDT to offer strategies for fostering long-term career perseverance among professional WiC. This could inform policies and practices focused on promoting gender diversity, in line with SDG 10’s goal to reduce inequalities and support sustainability in different sectors.

Strategic human capital analytics (SHCA) has proven to be promising for improved organizational performance; however, research remains unclear about its influence on new venture performance. Building on the dynamic capabilities view (DCV), this study investigates the relationship between SHCA and new venture performance via generative capabilities with the moderating role of dual nationality founding members.

A quantitative research study has been carried out. Data was collected via a survey form from 313 founding members of new tech ventures and analyzed using Hayes process macro model.

Research results show that the generative capability mediates the linkages between SHCA and new venture performance. Whereas, the dual nationality of a founding member strengthens the linkages between SHCA and generative capability due to their diverse perspective, larger networks, cognitive flexibility, and resilience, which are important for generative capabilities and SHCA.

The originality of these results lies in the exploration of the linkages between dual nationality and generative capability, as well as the special elements, such as diverse perspectives, larger networks, cognitive flexibility, and resilience, which are highlighted as possible advantages of dual nationality in the context of SHCA and new venture performance.