Niharika Mahajan and Baljit Kaur
This study aimed to analyze the role of community health workers (CHWs) called accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in improving maternal health outcomes in the rural…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to analyze the role of community health workers (CHWs) called accredited social health activists (ASHAs) in improving maternal health outcomes in the rural community of Punjab, India. The study also examined the expectations of these workers from the community and identified the problems faced by them in carrying out their roles.
Design/methodology/approach
Using multistage sampling, a total of 28 villages were selected from seven districts of Punjab, and from these selected villages, a total of 57 ASHAs working as the interface between the rural community and the public health system and 420 women who had delivered a baby were interviewed.
Findings
Desire to earn money was the most prominent reason for joining the community work program, but ASHAs felt overburdened and underpaid compared to their work commitments. Not only was the incentive paid to these workers was insufficient and irregular but they also suffered at the hands of medical staff at public hospitals.
Originality/value
While exploring the problems experienced by the CHWs, this study recommends opting for a mix of monetary and nonmonetary incentives for acknowledging the work of CHWs. The study is the first of its kind for the state of Punjab battling with a worsening maternal mortality rate (MMR).
Details
Keywords
Niharika Dayyala, Syed Kashif Raza Zaidi and Kallol Bagchi
This study aims to examine the diffusion pattern of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) into the countries and identifies the channels of diffusion.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the diffusion pattern of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) into the countries and identifies the channels of diffusion.
Design/methodology/approach
Data includes 98 countries that made a public commitment to IFRS adoption from 2000 to 2016. Adoptee countries are categorized based on Rogers’ adopter categorizations to understand country characteristics. Innovation diffusion models such as internal influence, external influence and bass diffusion that explain diffusion patterns are applied to the cumulative adoption of IFRS. Coefficients of internal and external diffusion are obtained using the models to explain the mode of diffusion pattern of IFRS. Further tests are done to identify the best model that explains IFRS diffusion.
Findings
Findings show that IFRS diffusion is a result of external influence through vertical communication from a centralized body (IASB) and internal influence due to imitation and interpersonal communication between countries. Imitation effect among the countries has a stronger effect on the IFRS adoption compared to the communication obtained from IASB.
Practical implications
Findings obtained can help standards-setting bodies, organizations and countries to understand the potential future of adopters and non-adopters. It facilitates the standard-setting bodies to manage IFRS diffusion by implementing measures to spread the word on the benefits of IFRS.
Originality/value
The study generates value by modeling a successive increase in the number of IFRS adoptee countries using empirical methods and identifies the reasons for the diffusion life cycle of IFRS.