Search Results (154)

Balancing food security with ecological sustainability is a critical challenge for global agricultural development. This research explores how China’s “three rights separation” reform influences the ecological efficiency of cultivated land use. This institutional innovation separates ownership, contract, and management rights to improve land resource allocation. Utilizing panel data from China spanning from 2005 to 2023, this study employs a super-efficiency SBM model to evaluate ecological efficiency, a continuous difference-in-differences (DID) framework to identify the causal effects of the reform, and a mediation effect model to explore the underlying transmission mechanisms. The results show that the “three rights separation” reform significantly improves the ecological efficiency of cultivated land use, with a regression coefficient of 0.632 that is statistically significant at the 1% level. The findings remain robust across multiple robustness tests. Mechanism analysis reveals distinct hierarchical transmission pathways through the promotion of non-agricultural labor transfer, the optimization of planting structure, and the advancement of agricultural technological progress. Among these pathways, agricultural technological progress emerges as the primary driver. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis indicates that the positive impact of the reform is more pronounced in non-major grain-producing regions, as well as areas characterized by higher levels of mechanization and land transfer. These results suggest that further deepening land tenure reform is essential, with careful consideration of regional disparities and the mediating role of labor factors, land resource allocation, and technological progress. Full article

Urban forestry research increasingly promotes proximity-based benchmarks, such as the 3–30–300 rule, to expand tree canopy, enhance access to nature, and support healthier and more climate-resilient cities. However, a growing body of evidence links green proximity to rising property values and residential displacement, raising concerns regarding green gentrification. These tensions suggest that proximity-based greening cannot be understood solely as an environmental or accessibility intervention; rather, its social outcomes are mediated by the broader housing system. This Perspective argues that the 3–30–300 rule operates as a value-generating urban forestry intervention whose distributive effects are conditioned by housing governance, tenure structures, and the presence of affordability protections. We advance a governance-conditional framework that reconceptualises the rule as a housing-conditioned greening strategy, illustrating how environmental improvements may translate into escalating housing costs and displacement pressures in contexts where housing regulation is weak or fragmented. The analysis highlights the institutional mechanisms through which environmental value is captured, retained, or redistributed across scales, without positing a deterministic relationship between greening and displacement. Aligning urban forestry initiatives with affordability measures and tenant protections is therefore essential if proximity-based greening is to contribute not only to greener and healthier cities, but also to more equitable ones. Full article

This study examines Millennial business students’ expectations of organizational career systems (OCS) to inform the design of work environments that attract and retain Millennial employees. It explores preferred OCS features, the role of personal value orientations (PVO), and potential cross-national differences. Data were collected through a cross-national survey of 284 business students in Canada and Germany. Variance analyses and group comparisons were used to assess differences in OCS expectations, and ordinary least squares regression examined the influence of PVO on preferences for four OCS features: internal recruitment, recognition of group contributions, formal promotion processes, and tenure-based advancement. The results show that Millennial business students favor OCS that emphasize recognition of group contributions and transparent, formal procedures, while placing less importance on internal recruitment and tenure-based advancement. PVO significantly predict these preferences: self-transcendence values are positively associated with preferences for formal procedures, whereas conservation values relate positively to tenure-based advancement. Canadian respondents exhibit slightly stronger preferences for formal procedures, group recognition, and tenure than German respondents, although overall cross-national differences remain modest. The study’s reliance on a convenience sample and self-reported data limits generalizability, highlighting the need for more diverse samples and qualitative approaches. By linking career system expectations to underlying personal values rather than generational labels, this study provides theoretical insight and practical guidance for designing fair and transparent OCS aligned with the career expectations of Millennial respondents. Full article

China’s farmland titling program aims to strengthen tenure security and promote agricultural productivity. This study examines whether land titling affects grain production capacity at the prefecture level using panel data from 30 cities over 2011–2021. We employ a staggered Difference-in-Differences (DID) design that exploits variation in the timing of titling milestones across cities. The results show no statistically significant average treatment effect on grain output, grain yield, or per capita grain production. However, the effect on grain yield exhibits substantial conditional heterogeneity: titling reduces yield in cities with weak agricultural infrastructure but increases yield in cities with high irrigation and mechanization intensity. Mechanism analysis indicates that land transfer intensity, irrigation, and mechanization correlate positively with grain yield, consistent with the hypothesis that titling requires complementary infrastructure to translate into productivity gains. These findings suggest that land tenure reforms alone do not guarantee food security improvements; coordinated investments in agricultural infrastructure remain essential. Full article

Rural property rights reform is considered paramount for mobilizing land resources and promoting rural entrepreneurship. However, the outcomes of tenure clarification depend on the role of the land in household livelihoods. The study focuses on China’s homestead rights confirmation and examines its effects on farmer entrepreneurship. The analysis is based on data from 2337 households in Jiangsu Province from the 2020 China Land Economic Survey. The application of Probit and endogenous switching Probit models yielded the following finding: confirming homestead rights reduces the probability of farmer entrepreneurship by approximately 11.4 percentage points. This decline can be attributed to several factors, including a decrease in homestead utilization, a shift towards lower-investment-risk preferences, an increase in entrepreneurial risk perception, and a contraction in entrepreneurial social networks. Collectively, these factors contribute to a reshaping of households’ risk evaluation and asset allocation. The negative impact is primarily observed among households with higher dependency ratios, poorer housing conditions, older heads of household, and those residing in less developed areas. The findings indicate that the consequences of property rights confirmation are characterized by institutional and functional specificity, thereby underscoring the necessity for measures that promote land transfer, exit, and risk-sharing to harmonize tenure reform with entrepreneurship. Full article

In the context of rural sustainability and poverty alleviation within the developing world, a key dilemma facing the international community is to identify suitable strategies and mechanisms to bring multiple stakeholders together to work in efficient and sustainable ways. This paper focuses on the Public–Private–Producer Partnership (4P), a model that involves cooperation between government agencies, business firms, and small-scale producers to foster mutual trust and enhance collaboration through infrastructure development and capacity building in the agricultural value chain. Drawing on evidence from China, Indonesia, Rwanda, Ghana, and Nigeria, this study examines the impact of 4P on crop productivity, agricultural infrastructure, market access, stakeholder empowerment, employment, the land tenure system, and household income. This paper combines value chain analysis, Theory of Change mapping, and both qualitative and quantitative evaluation techniques to assess how the 4P model functions in different institutional and ecological contexts. While the model promotes inclusive growth, it also faces challenges such as price volatility, insufficient long-term sustainability, and limited integration of smallholder farmers into formal value chains. The paper discusses policy implications for improving the 4P model’s effectiveness in poverty alleviation and local economic development, highlighting the importance of better governance structures, financial mechanisms, and market stability. This paper sheds new light on inclusive, justified, and sustainable collaboration mechanisms for participatory agencies and individuals. Full article

Organizational productivity and workforce management are highly affected by employee attrition. Thus, an employee attrition prediction system may allow human resource management to enhance the workplace by minimizing attrition. This study proposes a new and interpretable ensemble learning framework for employee attrition prediction. The model integrates SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP)-based feature selection, Optuna hyperparameter optimization, and dual explainability using SHAP and Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations (LIME). Random oversampling (ROS) is used to address class imbalance. The proposed framework allows for both global and local interpretability, enabling actionable insights into retention drivers. It was assessed using two benchmark datasets: the Kaggle HR Analytics dataset (14,999 records) and the IBM HR dataset (1470 records). The results revealed that the most impactful factors on employee attrition are promotion history, tenure, job satisfaction, workload, average monthly hours, overtime, and financial incentives. Furthermore, the proposed model achieved exceptional performance on both datasets. On the Kaggle dataset, it reached an accuracy of 98.72%, an F1-score of 97.29%, and an ROC–AUC of 0.994, while on the IBM dataset, it produced an accuracy of 97.72%, an F1-score of 97.74%, and an ROC–AUC of 0.995. Moreover, the proposed approach shows high computational efficiency, demonstrating that it is suitable for real-world deployment. These findings indicate that integrating explainable AI techniques, resampling tools, and automated hyperparameter tuning can achieve robust, accurate, and actionable employee attrition predictions, supporting HR managers’ decision-making. Full article

Community-based tourism (CBT) is widely promoted as a route to inclusive growth and conservation in emerging economies, yet outcomes vary because the communities’ ability to create, scale, and sustain CBT enterprises depends on the surrounding entrepreneurial ecosystem. Building on entrepreneurial ecosystem theory and grand challenges scholarship, this article reframes CBT as a place-based entrepreneurial ecosystem that mobilizes local and external actors, resources, and institutions to advance the United Nations 2030 Agenda. The purpose of the study is to develop and illustrate an SDG-oriented CBT entrepreneurial ecosystem framework and identify the ecosystem mechanisms and boundary conditions associated with SDG contributions. Using a qualitative multiple-case design and structured document analysis of 42 public artifacts (peer-reviewed studies, program evaluations, organizational reports, and organizational webpages), three initiatives were examined: Namibia’s communal conservancies, Chi Phat community-based ecotourism in Cambodia, and Bolivia’s Chalalán Ecolodge. Cross-case synthesis showed that progress on SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)—with complementary contributions to SDGs 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, and 17—emerges when ecosystems combine: (i) enforceable community rights and benefit-sharing rules; (ii) bridging organizations that provide training, finance, market access, and quality assurance; (iii) accountable local governance for transparency and conflict resolution; and (iv) reinvestment mechanisms that fund conservation and community services. The analysis also identified boundary conditions (e.g., elite capture, value leakage, donor dependence, uneven tourism potential, and demand shocks) and specific policy levers (tenure security, adaptive concession policies, blended finance, and impact monitoring) to strengthen CBT ecosystems for SDG delivery. Full article

In recent decades, profound transformations in work organization, employment conditions, and organizational change processes have intensified workers’ exposure to psychosocial risks, with significant consequences for occupational health and well-being. Despite the growing relevance of these risks, organizations often lack psychometrically robust instruments capable of capturing psychosocial stressors associated with change, Conflicts, and working conditions in an integrated manner. The purpose of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a questionnaire designed to measure psychosocial factors related to organizational changes, interpersonal Conflicts, and occupational well-being. An instrumental study design was employed, following international standards for the construction and validation of psychological instruments. The sample consisted of 350 workers with a mean age of 33.19 years (SD = 9.18; range: 18–66) and an average organizational tenure of 6.71 years (SD = 8.61). The initial 48-item questionnaire was refined to a final version comprising 24 items distributed across 7 scales: Organizational Changes, Work Program, Job Security, Promotion, Training, Interpersonal Conflicts, and Lack of Participation. Preliminary analyses indicated that the data adequately met the assumptions for factor analysis (KMO = 0.81; Bartlett’s test χ² = 4376.98, p < 0.001). The results supported a seven-factor structure explaining 72% of the total variance, with clear and interpretable factor loadings consistent with the theoretical model. Internal consistency was acceptable to excellent across scales (α = 0.72–0.91; ω = 0.84–0.95), including short scales with three items. Inter-scale correlations were low to moderate, supporting discriminant validity and indicating that the dimensions, while related, represent distinct constructs. Overall, the findings provide strong evidence for the instrument’s reliability and validity based on its internal structure, supporting its use for psychosocial risk assessment and research on organizational changes, interpersonal Conflicts, and occupational well-being. Full article

Agrivoltaics (AVs), the co-location of photovoltaic panels and agricultural production, is increasingly promoted as a strategy to enhance land-use efficiency and support renewable energy transitions. While numerous studies emphasize potential synergies, growing evidence indicates that AV systems also entail significant biophysical, ecological and socio-economic trade-offs. This review synthesizes published literature on the negative impacts and management challenges associated with agrivoltaics across diverse crops, climates and institutional contexts. A structured literature analysis was conducted, integrating findings from experimental field studies, ecological assessments, economic evaluations and policy analyses. The reviewed evidence demonstrates that panel-induced shading and altered microclimatic conditions frequently reduce photosynthetically active radiation, modify soil temperature and moisture regimes, and impair photosynthetic efficiency, yield stability, and quality in light-demanding crops. Open-field AV installations further alter understory vegetation, pollinator activity and soil arthropod communities, leading to functional biodiversity losses beneath panel-covered areas. Economic and institutional analyses reveal high investment costs, regulatory ambiguity and land-tenure constraints that disproportionately transfer agronomic and financial risks to farmers, while land-use conflicts may reduce food production and contribute to indirect land-use change. Overall, open-field AV outcomes are strongly context- and design-dependent. The review highlights the need for long-term, integrative assessments and governance frameworks that explicitly address trade-offs to ensure that AVs contribute to sustainable land-use transitions rather than undermining agricultural and ecological functions. Full article

Lean 5S programs are widely promoted to improve occupational safety and health, but quantitative evaluations in metal casting are scarce. This study examined whether a Lean 5S + Safety program was associated with changes in injury outcomes in an aluminum casting plant. Safety records from 2021 to 2025 for production and shopfloor support workers included injuries, lost workdays, and person–hours. Injury frequency (IFR) and severity (SR) rates per 1,000,000 person–hours were computed, and multivariable Poisson regression with log(person–hours) offsets estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) comparing the program period (2022–2025) with the pre-implementation year (2021); negative binomial models were also fitted. Over 3.53 million person–hours, 170 lost-time injuries, and 1848 lost workdays were recorded, and the annual IFR declined from 68.2 to 29.3 per 1,000,000 person–hours. Across model specifications, the program period was associated with 30–40% lower injury rates and roughly halved lost workday rates versus baseline. Injuries and lost workdays were concentrated in foundry and machining, and young short-tenure workers and those with lower secondary education had the highest rates; exploratory analyses suggested a late-summer shift in injuries from day to evening and night shifts. Overall, this multi-component Lean 5S + Safety-centered occupational safety and health (OSH) improvement program was associated with improved safety performance, while residual risk remained concentrated in specific departments and worker groups. Full article

Food security and income generation remain a critical issue for small-scale farming households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) due to population growth, climate change, and market instability. Indigenous leafy vegetables (ILVs) offer high nutritional value and have the capability to mitigate food insecurity but are underutilized due to social stigma. This review aims to systematically analyze the food and income contribution of cultivation and utilization of ILVs by small-scale farming households in Sub-Saharan Africa. This review analyses the literature on the role of ILV cultivation in enhancing food security and household income over the past two decades. A systematic search across five databases was conducted and identified 53 relevant studies. Findings indicate that ILVs contribute significantly to household nutrition and income through consumption and surplus sales. However, ILV cultivation faces barriers such as climate change, pest infestations, land degradation, water scarcity, insecure land tenure, limited agricultural training, poor communication networks, and restricted market access. Policy interventions are necessary to support small-scale farmers in ILV cultivation by providing agricultural extension services, promoting sustainable farming practices, and integrating ILVs into food security strategies. Further research should examine policy frameworks and supply chain mechanisms to enhance farmer participation and economic benefits from ILV production. Full article

This study aims to explore how industrial heritage regeneration spaces influence employees’ physical and psychological health through restorative perception. With the rapid urbanization and increasing emphasis on sustainable development, the adaptive reuse of industrial heritage sites has become a vital strategy in urban renewal. However, the impact of such spaces on people’s health remains underexplored, especially in terms of how the work environment and restorative psychological mechanisms interact. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data from 486 employees in adaptive reuse projects across major cities in China were analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Employees were chosen as the target population because they represent a group with stable, repeated, and long-term exposure to the regenerated environment during daily routines. Compared with visitors, whose exposure duration, activity purposes, and spatial routes are highly variable, employees provide a more consistent context to test the proposed restorative mechanisms. The results revealed that industrial heritage attribute perception (IHAP), including scale, materiality, historical presence, and functional transformation, significantly predicted restorative perception (β = 0.546, p < 0.001), which in turn positively influenced both psychological health (β = −0.647, p < 0.001) and physical health (β = 0.688, p < 0.001). Instrumental variable analysis using “building age” and “green coverage rate” confirmed the robustness of these findings, showing that restorative perception still significantly improved mental (β = −2.295, p < 0.001) and physical health (β = 0.528, p < 0.001) after addressing endogeneity issues. Furthermore, individual differences such as work tenure (β = 0.239, p < 0.001) and environmental sensitivity (β = 0.054, p > 0.05) moderated these effects. This study extends Attention Restoration Theory (ART) by applying it to historical industrial environments, offering both theoretical insights and practical guidance for designing adaptive reuse spaces that promote employee well-being. Full article

This study analyzes the relationship between family control and the internationalization of family firms in Mexico. Grounded in the resource-based view and socioemotional wealth theory, it addresses the theoretical problem of how familiness and governance mechanisms influence strategic decisions in emerging markets. Based on 326 observations of family businesses (51) listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) from 2009 to 2016, and using a probit regression model, five hypotheses are tested regarding the effects of family directors, board independence, CEO duality, tenure, and ownership concentration on internationalization. The results show that board independence and chair tenure foster internationalization, while ownership concentration and family directors discourage it. The findings contribute to understanding the need for governance reforms that promote more independence and leadership stability to foment internationalization strategies among family businesses in emerging markets. Full article

Understanding how land tenure and socio-economic pressures shape landscape transformation is critical for sustainable management in biodiversity-rich regions. This study examines three decades (1987–2017) of land use and land cover (LU&LC) change in the Ngerenyi area of the Taita Hills, Kenya, by integrating multispectral Landsat analysis with household survey data. Harmonized pre-processing and supervised classification of four LU&LC classes, agriculture, built-up areas, high-canopy vegetation, and low-canopy vegetation, achieved overall accuracies above 80% and Kappa values exceeding 0.75. Transition modeling using the Minimum Information Loss Transition Estimation (MILTE) approach, combined with net-versus-swap metrics, revealed persistent decline and fragmentation of high-canopy vegetation, cyclical transitions between agriculture and low-canopy vegetation, and the near-irreversible expansion of built-up areas. Low-canopy vegetation exhibited the highest dynamism, reflecting both degradation from canopy loss and natural regeneration from fallowed cropland. Household surveys (n = 141) identified agricultural expansion, charcoal production, fuelwood extraction, and population growth as the dominant perceived drivers, with significant variation across tenure categories. The population in Taita Taveta County increased from 205,334 in 2009 to 340,671 in 2019, reinforcing documented pressures on land resources and woody biomass. As part of the Eastern Arc biodiversity hotspot, the landscape’s diminishing high-canopy patches underscore the importance of conserving undisturbed vegetation remnants as ecological baselines and biodiversity refuges. The findings highlight the need for tenure-sensitive, landscape-scale planning that integrates private landowners, regulates subdivision, promotes agroforestry and alternative energy options, and safeguards remaining high-canopy vegetation to enhance ecological resilience while supporting local livelihoods. Full article