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This research examines the impact of the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project (NRECDP) on poverty reduction and income growth in rural China.

The study develops a theoretical framework, which considers the role of geographical, technological, institutional and cultural factors for the e-commerce poverty alleviation (e-CPA) model. Empirically, this study applies the difference-in-differences (DID) model and the event study approach to evaluate the effectiveness of NRECDP on the basis of large-scale county-level and household-level panel data spanning 2010 to 2020.

The study found that the NRECDP, as a government-led, information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled, market-based program, has led to a significant increase in per capita output of primary industry employees, as well as in the disposable income of rural residents, especially those in national-level poverty-stricken (NP) counties. The interventions of the NRECDP achieved these positive outcomes through transportation and Internet infrastructure improvement, ICT adoption and human capital accumulation in impoverished towns and villages in remote rural areas. These effects are larger in the eastern region of China, followed by the central region, whereas the weakest effects were found in the western region. However, we found little evidence of the NRECDP increasing household developmental expenditure.

The study findings have important practical and policy implications for rural e-commerce development and self-sustained poverty alleviation solutions. The research revealed the significance of government NRECDP interventions for increasing rural income, reducing living costs, and empowering the rural population in its multiple social roles, namely, as consumers, producers, employees and microentrepreneurs. The local cultural context may also play a role in ICT adoption and entrepreneurship cultivation with a downstream effect on the effectiveness of e-CPA practices. Policymakers would need to ensure a supportive entrepreneur-friendly environment for rural e-commerce development and continue implementing progressive policies for poverty alleviation.

This study explores poverty alleviation issues in China by developing for the first time a multi-faceted framework that is subsequently tested by both county-level and household-level large-scale observations. Also, it is the first study to provide nationwide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of e-CPA in narrowing down the spatial and digital divides in China. In addition to the impact of geography, technology and governmental support, this study also sheds light on the role of culture in the adoption and diffusion of digital technologies and as a source of local entrepreneurial opportunities.

Edible flowers have traditionally been consumed for their nutritional and medicinal properties. Aponogeton distachyos is an aquatic flowering plant native to the Western Cape of South Africa (SA) that used to be a wild plant gathered during the winter months, but it is now considered to be underutilised and endangered. This study aims at gaining insights from different stakeholders into the activities across the plant value chain and their impact on the consumption of Aponogeton distachyos.

The study methodology involved the identification of different stakeholders in the plant value chain and conducting qualitative in-depth interviews during the data collection. Twelve study participants were selected via purposive sampling and interviewed using semi-structured interviews (face-to-face, telephone and online).

Nostalgic connection of the flower with local culture and heritage and its unique taste and flavour are key consumption drivers. Promotional and educational efforts by food advocates and at public events help raise consumer awareness, which is generally lacking. Limited geographic and seasonal availability, perishability, price and quality issues emerged, together with low awareness, as main barriers to more frequent and geographically spread consumption.

Although wild edible flowers have been consumed for centuries, there has been little attention to their nutritional value and journey to their final consumers. The present study identifies important challenges emanating at different stages of the food value chain to consumption of one particular neglected and underutilised plant, with certain implications for people's dietary quality, environmental sustainability and biodiversity of natural resources beyond Aponogeton distachyos and SA.

(1)Aponogeton distachyos is a neglected and underutilised aquatic flowering plant native to the Western Cape of South Africa (SA). (2)The plant offers benefits related to people's dietary quality, environmental sustainability and biodiversity of natural resources. (3)Flower's nostalgic connection with local culture and heritage emerge as a key consumption driver. (4)Its unique taste and flavour highly appeal to consumers. (5)Low awareness, limited availability, price and quality are main consumption barriers. (6)There is largely unexploited public policy potential for supporting dietary diversity through growing edible flowers.

Plant-based eggs have recently been developed to provide consumers with a healthier, animal-friendlier and more sustainable alternative to conventional eggs. The purpose of this paper is to investigate intrinsic and extrinsic attribute preferences for three prototypes of plant-based egg, namely the liquid, powder and egg-shaped.

Nine focus groups in the United Kingdom and nine in Italy were conducted, with a total of 180 participants. A thematic analysis of results was conducted.

In terms of intrinsic product attributes, consumers' preferences for colour, shape, taste, ingredients, nutrients, method of production and shelf-life for plant-based eggs were revealed. Regarding the extrinsic attributes, preferences for price, packaging, country of origin and product naming emerged. Similarities and differences between consumers from the two countries are also discussed. Differences in preferences also emerged between vegan and non-vegan consumers.

This study adds to the existing knowledge on consumers' preferences for new plant-based food alternatives and identifies future quantitative approaches based on qualitative findings.

Results from this study can assist plant-based egg manufacturers in improving their products in line with consumers' expectations, which may help reducing risk of product failure.

This study is the first to investigate consumers' preferences, expectations and needs for new food products like plant-based eggs and provides information that can be practically applied by manufacturers, as well as suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of individualism and collectivism at an individual level, in the context of an emergent market economy of Eastern Europe. More specifically, the effects of the psychological constructs of independent/interdependent self on a number of clothing‐related consumer behaviour phenomena are examined.

Data were collected through a home‐based face‐to‐face survey of some 1,000 Bulgarian respondents.

Evidence was found supporting the notion that the relationship between individualism and collectivism is complex, and individualist and collectivist values do not characterise two opposing cultural dimensions. Additionally, being autonomous or being interrelated with important, others were found to play an important part in consumer preference for self‐ and social‐symbolic meanings of clothing artefacts, as well as on shopping attitudes held and actual purchase behaviour.

Conclusions and implications of the research are limited to the factors considered in the conceptual model. The use of face‐to‐face interviews can lead to the interviewer's intentional or unintentional influencing of the survey results. The use of self‐reporting measures in the structured interview can result in acquiescence.

Findings suggest that marketers and retailers will benefit from individualising their activities.

The paper develops further our understanding of the effects of the independent/interdependent self‐concept on diverse consumption phenomena and provides empirical evidence in support of the proposed conceptual model using a nationally representative sample.

To examine shopping motives and behaviour in shopping centres in Hungary, which has seen rapid and recent development in its retail structure. To explore whether the level of hedonic shopping value derived by consumers is less pronounced than in more developed market economies, and to develop a taxonomy of patterns of shopping behaviour which may establish a baseline for future research in the country.

The data were collected through a mall intercept survey of 355 shoppers at seven large shopping centres in five major cities in Hungary.

Hungarian consumers tend to approach shopping as work, despite the rapid development of the retail industry in the country. Four shoppers' segments are identified using cluster analysis: relaxed utilitarians, strict utilitarians, committed shoppers and browsers.

Given the emphasis of Hungarian consumers on product‐related shopping motives and that they make most of their purchase decisions prior to their mall visit, marketing campaigns should be focused on providing information about retailers' offers beforehand. Social and recreational appeals for attracting consumers to the mall may not work well.

The study contributes to the growing body of cross national research on shopping behaviour by shedding light on the shopping motives and experiences of Hungarian consumers. The consumer segments uncovered are of value to both local and international retailers.

The aim of this work is to determine the average surface temperature of a conical antenna. Its cooling is ensured by means of a nanofluid-saturated porous structure. The volume fraction of the H₂O–Cu nanofluid ranges between 0% (pure water) and 5%, whereas the ratio between the thermal conductivity of the used porous materials and that of water (fluid base) varies in the wide 4–41.2 range. The antenna is contained in a coaxial conical closed cavity with a variable distance between the cones, leading to an aspect ratio varying between 0.2 and 0.6. The axis of the assembly is also inclined with respect to the gravity field by an angle varying between 0° (a vertical axis with top of the cone oriented upwards) and 180° (a vertical axis with top of the cone oriented downwards).

Simulations have been done by means of the volume control method based on the SIMPLE algorithm.

Results of the numerical approach show that the cavity’s aspect ratio and inclination with respect to the gravity field significantly affect the thermal behavior of the active cone. Otherwise, the work confirms that the Maxwell and Brinkman models used to determine the nanofluid’s effective thermal conductivity and viscosity, respectively, are adapted to the considered assembly.

A new correlation is proposed, allowing the determination of the average surface temperature of the active cone and its correct thermal sizing. This correlation could be used in various engineering fields, including electronics, examined in the present study.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the ownership structure and the investment in research and development (R&D) for a sample of listed Spanish companies.

Following the agency theory and the socioemotional wealth (SEW) perspective, the authors propose that R&D investment is affected by ownership structure, specifically by the identity of the controlling owner (family firms and firms with an institutional investor) and the level of contestability by other shareholders. In order to test these hypotheses, the authors build an original database identifying, at a 10% threshold, the ultimate shareholders of a sample of 96 Spanish firms listed during 2008–2018 (1,002 obs).

The results show that there is no significant relationship between the ownership concentration and the R&D investment. Only when the authors consider the nature of the main shareholder, the authors find that in family firms there is an inverted U relationship between ownership and R&D, so that at low levels of ownership, the R&D increases, while at high levels of ownership (that we compute around 54%) the R&D decreases. Also, when the main shareholder is an institutional investor, the greater its ownership, the higher the R&D investment. Finally, the authors test that, contrary to what mainstream suggests, contestability in family firms is higher when ownership in the hands of other family shareholders increases.

The work uses an original database to test a nonlinear relationship between ownership and R&D investment in family firms. Also, the study addresses a topic hardly ever discussed in the literature about R&D as it is the role of the contestability by other controlling shareholders.

El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar la relación existente entre la estructura de propiedad y la innovación corporativa para una muestra de empresas cotizadas españolas.

Utilizando los planteamientos de la teoría de la agencia y de la perspectiva de la riqueza socioemocional proponemos que la I+D empresarial está relacionada con la estructura de propiedad, específicamente con la naturaleza del accionista de control (empresas familiares y empresas con un inversor institucional como principal accionista) y con el grado de contestabilidad por parte de otros accionistas significativos. A fin de testar nuestras hipótesis, construimos ad hoc una base de datos de propiedad original en la que identificamos, al umbral del 10% de propiedad, a los accionistas últimos de una muestra de 96 empresas cotizadas españolas para el periodo 2008–2018 (1.002 obs).

Nuestros resultados muestran que no existe relación significativa entre la concentración de propiedad y la inversión en I + D. Solo cuando consideramos la naturaleza del principal accionista encontramos que en las empresas familiares la relación entre la propiedad de la familia y la innovación corporativa adopta una forma de U invertida, tal que a bajos niveles de propiedad la I + D crece, mientras que a altos niveles de propiedad (que computamos en torno al 54% de propiedad) la inversión en I + D decrece. Asimismo, en las empresas con un inversor institucional como principal accionista, cuanto mayor es la propiedad de este inversor institucional, mayor es la I + D de la empresa. Finalmente testamos que, en contra de la corriente dominante, en las empresas familiares la propiedad en manos de otras familias incrementa el grado de contestabilidad a la familia controladora respecto a su inversión en I + D.

El trabajo utiliza una base de datos de propiedad original para testar una relación no lineal entre concentración de propiedad e innovación corporativa en las empresas familiares. Asimismo, el estudio aborda un tema apenas analizado en la literatura de I + D como es el papel de la contestabilidad al accionista de control.

An introduction to edupreneurship, which combines the terms education and entrepreneurship, is a concept that cannot be broken down into its component parts for the sake of simplicity. Together, these two form one unit since their process is an example of what entrepreneurship education is all about: teaching someone to create something that’s worth selling and then making use of it for themselves or their community. When it comes to the purpose of the implementation of this edupreneurship, it is in line with Law No. 20 of 2003 on the System of National Education, which states that ‘National Education works to develop skills and shape the character and civilisation of a dignified nation in order to enrich the life of a nation’.

Aim: Aimed at developing potential students to become humane, those who have good life skills can deal more effectively with life’s demands and obstacles because they can adapt and behave positively. It’s important to have a diverse set of life skills because there are five main categories: self-awareness abilities, thinking abilities, social abilities, academic abilities and occupational abilities.

Procedure: The research was carried out in the Indonesian region of West Sulawesi at Universitas Al Asyariah Mandar. This study was conducted at a university since the primary goal was to develop students’ life skills in a way that incorporates entrepreneurship education as a means of improving entrepreneurial skills. For the purpose of selecting the sample, purposive sampling was used. This study used Google Forms to collect the research data. It was all done online. This study employed a qualitative research design to gather data and analyse the findings. A purposive sampling technique was employed for the sampling, that is, determining sampling with particular considerations based on the fact that the sample in this study is the sixth-semester students of the 2021/2022 academic year who have completed practical work in the Entrepreneurship education course at the teacher training and education faculty (FKIP), totalling 97 students, but only 39 students accepted the online questionnaire.

Findings: Entrepreneurship simultaneously develops students’ life skills such as communication, interpersonal skills, decision-making, problem-solving, negotiation, creative thinking, critical thinking, self-awareness, empathy, self-control, resilience and organising skills.