The impact of national culture on COVID-19 pandemic outcomes

PurposeThis study aims to uncover the extent to which cultural traits may explain the puzzling international divergence in COVID-19 outcomes, and how those traits interact with state action to produce compliance with pandemic health policy.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical framework illustrates the surprising possibility that culture and state action may not reinforce each other but rather act as substitutes in eliciting anti-pandemic behavior. This possibility is tested empirically in two specifications: a cross-sectional regression that includes several novel COVID-related measures, and a panel model that controls for contemporaneous disease burden. Across these models, we use the measures of national culture developed by Hofstede (1984) and a newer metric developed by Schwartz (1990).FindingsIndividualism and egalitarianism have a positive effect on disease prevalence, while cultural heterogeneity was associated with a more robust public health response. Consistent with our model, we find that culture and state action served as substitutes in motivating compliance with COVID-19 policy.Practical implicationsThe results of this study imply that culture and state interact in determining the effectiveness of public health measures aimed at combating COVID-19; these results recommend culturally aware state intervention when combating pandemics.Originality/valueThis study offers several new contributions. First, it proposes a model to help contextualize the empirical analysis. Second, it examines a wider range of traits than previous studies, including cultural homogeneity and the Schwartz variables. Third, it employs a richer econometric specification that explores the interaction between state and culture in a panel context.

Validating second-order model for economic welfare scale: evidence from Nigeria

PurposeThe goal of this paper is to validate the second-order model for the economic welfare scale in the context of violence. This study also aims to assess the relationship between the dimensions of the economic welfare scale’ declining food consumption and loss of income and the overall latent construct and assess the second-order model’s goodness of fit using appropriate fit indices.Design/methodology/approachThe study is cross-sectional with a sample of 600 households from the violent zone, Northwest Nigeria. The data collected was used for confirmatory factor analysis, second-order model evaluation and model fit evaluation.FindingsThe second-order model for the economic welfare scale is valid and reliable; the dimensions significantly affect the formation of the overall construct. The model’s goodness of fit fulfilled the relevant fit indices.Research limitations/implicationsThe study offers researchers and policymakers practical insights into how each dimension influences the latent operational construct. It, therefore, encompasses replication in all the remaining modules.Practical implicationsThe findings offer practical insight to policymakers in designing policies for promoting long-term peace structures and developing mechanisms to assist those who have suffered the greatest economic welfare losses due to violence in Nigeria.Social implicationsThe findings form an essential tool to assess the economic welfare effect in violently affected territories at the micro-level.Originality/valueThe outcomes are ground-breaking by validating the second-order model for the economic welfare scale. And established dimension influences over the overall latent variable.

Income satisfaction among Millennials during COVID-19: the interplay among cognitive, noncognitive and financial factors

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine income satisfaction among Millennials during COVID-19. The authors explore the roles of cognitive factors: financial literacy and noncognitive factors: personality traits. Further, the authors also determine if financial status moderates the linkage between consumers' financial literacy and income satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe sample size of the study is 1754, and the data were collected from April to December 2020. The authors employ ordered logistic regression analysis in the study.FindingsThe authors find that financially literate Millennials report high-income satisfaction during the pandemic. However, the impact of the cognitive factor gets nullified after considering the role of noncognitive factors. Further, income moderates the linkage between financial literacy and income satisfaction such that financially literate consumers in the high-income category derived more income satisfaction.Practical implicationsConsumer financial education should become more pervasive, and the focus should be placed on high-income consumers as, without financial literacy, they may not report high-income satisfaction. Further, the marketers should also keep in mind that personality traits play an important role in consumers' overall satisfaction, so financial services and products should be designed considering consumer personality traits.Originality/valueThe primary contribution of the paper is to show the positive impact of cognitive and noncognitive factors on income satisfaction. Moreover, personality traits are stronger predictors of income satisfaction such that extroverted individuals have high satisfaction, whereas openness to experience and neuroticism is negatively related to income satisfaction among Millennials.

Assessing the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program as a conditional income transfer: a search for a conceptual framework

Purpose Ghana has implemented different kinds of pro-poor program and policies since its independence to reduce poverty. The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) is one of such program. LEAP is a social cash transfer program and its implementation has been under the auspices of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection since 2008. It provides direct cash and health insurance coverage for extremely poor households across the country to alleviate short-term poverty and encourage long-term human capital development. This paper examines the LEAP program in terms of how it has achieved its aim and the opportunities for improvement.Design/methodology/approach Primary data were obtained from interviews of 110 beneficiaries of the program. The study proposes a conceptual framework that links poverty reduction and social policies to assist researchers analyze pro-poor or social cash transfer program.Findings The findings show that the program is challenged with administrative bureaucracies, irregular inflow of funds, perceived political interferences, inconsistent implementation strategies and low value of the cash transfer (which results in little or no impact on consumption). However, the data also show that LEAP has positive impacts on nonconsumption spending like children's schooling. The program' exit strategy does not impact much on beneficiaries to allow them exit without the tendency of being poor.Practical implications This paper discussed the LEAP program as a social cash transfer to the poor in Ghana. The study constructed a conceptual framework to help researchers and practitioners analyze the implementation of pro-poor interventions. This conceptualization allows for cash transfer program to empower beneficiaries and exits them to allow for other beneficiaries to enroll, ensuring reduction in poverty over time. Generally, the beneficiaries have benefited from the LEAP in the areas of consumption, education and healthcare with few beneficiaries being able to accumulate some few assets. The LEAP program has no exit plan.Originality/value This study adds to literature by offering a conceptual framework to help researchers and policy makers in dealing with social assistance policies to the poor. The study also gave an insight into how pro-poor policy strategies could be crafted.

Revisiting the food security system in India in the pandemic era: the case of a Southern Indian state

PurposeThe objective of this paper was twofold-revisiting the in-kind public distribution system (PDS) – India's flagship food security intervention and seeking beneficiary perspectives on its efficacy. The feasibility of cash transfers as an alternative mechanism is also examined, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachPrimary and secondary data from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were used. In-depth interviews with beneficiaries using phenomenology were conducted to evaluate their perception and willingness to shift to a cash-based PDS in the pre and post-pandemic periods. Secondary district-level data were also used to ascertain institutional preparedness for this shift.FindingsIn-depth interviews of 105 beneficiaries revealed valuable insights, which seem to have significantly changed post-pandemic. Beneficiaries in the post-pandemic period seem much more inclined toward cash transfers, though a combination of cash plus in-kind benefits seems to be strongly preferred. Secondary results pointed out to the lack of institutional preparedness in financial inclusion. The research suggested that while the existing PDS needs to be overhauled, policymakers should look at a model of cash plus in-kind transfers as a probable alternative to pure cash transfers.Originality/valueThere is a dearth of in-depth state-specific studies on beneficiary perception of PDS, and this is important since the economic and sociocultural milieu in each region is unique. Being the only state with universal food security, its experience could yield important insights for other states or even middle or low-income countries similar to India.

Participation in farmer organizations and adoption of farming technologies among rice farmers in Ghana

PurposeThe authors examine the factors influencing membership in farmer organizations (FO) and their effects on the decision to adopt farm technologies by rice farmers in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a farm survey of 900 households from Northern Ghana and a recursive bivariate probit (RBP) model that accounts for selection bias and endogeneity.FindingsThe results indicate that the household head’s decision to adopt machinery and row planting increases by 38.4 and 25.3%, respectively, upon joining a farmer organization. Membership in farmer organization is positively influenced by off-farm income, asset value, farmer organization location and farmer location in Upper West region but negatively by males, age and total livestock units owned. Machinery adoption is positively influenced by membership in farmer organizations and respondent being male but negatively influenced by the years of schooling, farm size, farm distance and location of a farmer in Ghana's Upper East and West regions. Similarly, row planting adoption is positively influenced by membership in farmers' organization but adversely by farm size, farm distance and a farmer's location in Upper East region of Ghana.Research limitations/implicationsIt can be concluded that membership in farmers' organizations significantly impacts farm household head’s decision to adopt machinery and row planting in rice production, which potentially enhance crop productivity.Practical implicationsThese results show the importance of agricultural stakeholders in encouraging the formation and strengthening of farmer organizations to support the adoption of modern farming technologies.Originality/valueDeveloping literature has demonstrated that farmer organizations promote the adoption of agricultural innovations. However, most of these studies have concentrated on conventional agricultural innovations and have used methods that fail to account for potential selection bias. This paper fills this important gap.

The neoclassical and Keynesian standpoint and policy implications regarding the Greek Financial Crisis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discover the contradistinctions between the neoclassical and Keynesian paradigms of economics regarding the Greek Financial Crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe answers to the questions and policies regarding the Greek Financial Crisis cannot be derived by using economic analysis alone; they also depend on the perception of social reality and ethical issues. Based on the assumptions about economic behavior, the answers and policies inevitably reflect the observer's assessment of each economic and non-economic performance dimension, as well as the significance assigned to those performance dimensions. Different views on “social reality” and “what is a good society?” are associated with distinct paradigms and a particular set of social values, which have implications for economic policy formulae. These give rise to alternative answers and policies to the Greek Financial Crisis, based on different assumptions, different methods of analysis and different goals.FindingsOverall, in contradistinction, the two paradigms recommend quite distinct policies tackling the Greek Financial Crisis, and at the end, both paradigms have different perspectives on ethics and moral fundamentals regarding debt.Originality/valueStudents of the global financial crisis will benefit from this unique approach in testing the two alternative paradigms, between the neoclassical and Keynesian, concerning the Greek Financial Crisis.

Microfinance institutions' risk and governance in Sub-Saharan Africa

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the impact of MFI-level governance on microfinance institutions' (MFIs’) risk in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).Design/methodology/approachThe study uses data from a sample of 151 MFIs operating in 21 SSA countries during 2005–2014. The Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) regression model is applied to investigate the relationship between MFI level governance mechanisms and risk.FindingsThe study provides new evidence that board characteristics have differential effects on for-profit (FP) and not-for-profit (NFP) MFI risk. Board independence reduces credit risk of NFP MFIs. Foreign director presence increases MFI failure risk. Furthermore, greater female director representation reduces (increases) FP (NFP) financial risk whereas female CEOs are associated with higher (lower) FP (NFP) financial risk.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to existing literature on microfinance governance and risk, by exploring the impact of governance on MFI risk based on MFIs profit orientation. In addition, the study uses three different risk measures unlike previous microfinance studies.

Adoption intentions towards improved vegetable varieties among commercial and subsistence farmers in Nepal

PurposeIn Nepal, not much is known about the adoption of improved vegetable varieties. Also, there are reasons to expect that the determinants of adoption may vary between subsistence and commercial farmers, given their different production/market orientations. Therefore, the paper aims to examine the adoption intentions of commercial and subsistence vegetable farmers.Design/methodology/approachA logistic regression model was used to empirically test the determinants of the intention to adopt and recommend improved vegetable varieties. The paper also uses propensity score matching (PSM) to assess the causal effects of production/market orientation on household dietary patterns. Cross-sectional data of 600 Nepalese vegetable farmers are analyzed.FindingsCompared to subsistence farmers, commercial vegetable farmers obtain seeds mainly from formal sources and use hybrid seeds. The most consistent covariates of vegetable adoption intentions were risk preferences and experience growing vegetables. Overall, adoption intentions were higher among commercial farmers, and commercial vegetable households tend to consume more vegetables.Practical implicationsConsidering that vegetable farming provides an important supplementary food production system for the household, adopting improved vegetable varieties is pivotal to increasing productivity and improving household level dietary diversity in developing countries. Actions to promote wider adoption of vegetable varieties and encourage healthier dietary patterns could be successful if these efforts also focus on subsistence farmers. The findings in this paper will be useful to policymakers to better prioritize dissemination strategies.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the differences in characteristics and adoption intention towards new vegetable varieties between subsistence and commercial farmers. The impact of commercial production on healthier household dietary patterns is accentuated.

Migrants and non-migrants' welfare on cocoa farms in Ghana: Multidimensional poverty index approach

PurposeThe study assessed welfare of migrant and non-migrant labourers on cocoa farms in Ghana, using multidimensional poverty index (MPI) with four dimensions (education, health, dietary diversity, living standards) and 21 indicators. Specifically, we examined and compared non-monetary welfare of migrant and non-migrant labourers on cocoa farms in Ghana by adopting MPI approach. Also, we explored the factors affecting labourers' welfare.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 400 labourers was used. Qualitative and quantitative data were used. Quantile regression was used to investigate factors affecting labourers' deprivation in the different domains of non-monetary welfare.FindingsLabourers on cocoa farms are generally deprived in all the welfare indicators. Apart from having low education, labourers were underfed and lived under poor conditions. Though both migrants and non-migrants were multidimensionally poor, welfare of the later was higher than the former. Welfare of migrants and non-migrants on cocoa farms are influenced by similar factors: secondary occupation, income, credit accessibility, nature of contract and distance to social amenities.Research limitations/implicationsFor migrants, permanent status improves welfare. To improve labourers' welfare for enhanced productivity, cocoa farmers should provide permanent/long-term contracts for labourers and government should provide social amenities in cocoa-producing communities.Originality/valueMost previous welfare studies focused on farmers, with little attention paid to welfare of labourers on cocoa farms. We examined and compared the factors that affect migrant and non-migrant labourers' welfare on cocoa farms in Ghana. Moreover, we adopted the MPI (non-monetary) approach to assess labourers' welfare, instead of the expenditure and income approaches prevalent in literature.