Search results

As women perform most household chores and other nonproductive work, gender-based division of labor in the home has now been identified as a barrier to gender equality. The objective of this study is to assess the effects of gender distribution of housework especially for women and investigate the factors influencing the total hours spent on house chores in Bangladesh.

This study adopted a quantitative approach based on survey data obtained from 200 households in the Madaripur and Gopalganj districts of Bangladesh. To analyze the obtained data, the partial least squares (PLS) regression was used.

According to this study, demographic and socioeconomic factors of women, and gender are influencing the total hours spent in housework. Women were observed to have a positive relationship with empowerment but a negative relationship with social perception. Social perception was further observed to have a significant impact on the total number of hours expended by women on house chores.

The study suggests that the importance of sharing the burden of household work be taught in schools and community-based awareness programs so that it becomes ingrained as a social and cultural practice. Furthermore, the government should conduct a proper assessment that recognizes unpaid housework by women as an important factor in inclusive sustainable development.

Issues of inequality in the division of labor in household activities are barely recognized in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study collected primary data to assess the effects of gender on the distribution of housework. The findings of the study will help policymakers and academicians to better understand the gender-based division of household labor.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-03-2023-0195.

Considering the existing evidence on the impact of female board members on the default risks of an organization, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of board gender diversity, alongside institutional characteristics and macroeconomic factors, on the financing costs of microfinance institutions (MFIs).

This study collected unbalanced panel data of 1,190 unique MFIs between 2010 and 2018 from the World Bank. The collected data, which covers a total of 95 developing and emerging countries, was thereafter analyzed using the pooled ordinary least squares and random effects model. To overcome endogeneity and omitted variable bias (e.g. time-invariant variables), the authors have also used the generalized method of moments and fixed effects model, respectively. Different proxies of board gender diversity and sub-sample analysis by regions were further undertaken to examine the robustness of the obtained results.

The findings of this study revealed that board gender diversity has a statistically significant negative effect on the financing costs of MFIs. This suggests that a gender-diverse board can generate cheaper funding for MFIs by minimizing their default risks through effective monitoring and strategic management. Furthermore, the negative impact of board gender diversity on financing costs appears to be more pronounced when there is a minimum of two female board members in the boardroom of MFIs. The results of this study remain consistent and valid regardless of alternate model specifications (e.g. sub-sample analysis, use of alternative proxies of board gender diversity and application of different estimators) and endogeneity issues. Ultimately, the findings in this study reiterate the importance of promoting and implementing gender diversity in the boardroom to minimize the financing costs of MFIs.

This study investigated the relationship between board gender diversity and financing costs of MFIs by using relatively recent and global data. The minimum number of female board members required to significantly reduce the financing costs of MFIs was also identified.

In light of the rapid evolution of information and communication technology (ICT), every society is faced with many issues such as social exclusion, inequality and the digital divide. Hence, there is need to solve these complex challenges without comprising any development objective. A practical solution in this regard includes establishment of a sustainable model of community development. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the role of education in promoting the awareness on the use of ICT-based infrastructure among the general public to enhance their socioeconomic status. In addition, this study sets out to establish the nexus between socioeconomic status, ICT programme as well as the awareness of Kemaman Smart Community (KSC) development project.

This paper adopted a quantitative approach based on data collected through a survey on information literacy in KSC. The logit behavioural model and structural equation model were adopted as a quantitative technique to verify the objective of the study.

The result of the logit behavioural model showed that education, income and age have a positive impact on the KSC programme awareness. The SEM models revealed that income level and education (especially at the tertiary level) significantly enhance the awareness of KSC project. On the contrary, poverty remains regressive towards the community awareness of KSC programmess

Information literacy and knowledge-based programme promote a more inclusive development approach. Moreover, education, socioeconomic status, information literacy and knowledge-based programme are essential to develop a smart community towards achieving a high-income nation status. Future replication of smart community project in other parts of Malaysia may need to consider these factors for a comprehensive community development strategy.

KSC is the first smart city initiative by the government of Malaysia. Besides, primary data were used in this study. The findings of the study will provide academics and policymakers a better understanding of the smart city initiative.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) remains a global public health emergency as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO). The COVID-19 impacted educational institutions around the world, and they were shut down to minimize the fatalities and spread of the infection. Educational institutions around the world, including Bangladesh, started to conduct online classes as an alternative to physical classes. Therefore, this study assesses the effectiveness of online classes in terms of information and communications technology (ICT) readiness, online class assessment, online class participation, and convenience and flexibility for the educational institutions of Bangladesh.

To fulfill the objective of the study, data were collected from 817 teachers and students. Additionally, the partial least squares (PLS) regression method was adopted as a quantitative technique.

The study shows that online class participation, online class assessment, and convenience and flexibility have positive relationships with ICT readiness and the effectiveness of online classes. At the same time, the challenges of online classes have negative relationships with ICT readiness and the effectiveness of online classes.

The study suggests that the government should ensure stable internet connectivity access across the country so that both students and teachers can participate in online classes effectively. Moreover, educational institutional authorities should extend support to the institutions for developing proper ICT infrastructure.

ICT infrastructure readiness is the backbone for effective online education; however, before the COVID-19 pandemic, online education was almost non-existent at the educational institutional level in Bangladesh. The country started developing the ICT infrastructure only when online classes were scheduled to start, and the development is still ongoing. Hence, this study used ICT readiness as a mediator factor. Moreover, primary data are used in this study. The findings of the study will help academicians and policymakers to better understand the effectiveness of online classes.

Uncontrollable brain drain (employees’ turnover) has been found to hamper humanitarian and sustainable objectives of socially oriented organizations. Hence, this study aims to explore the roles of gender and organizational-level factors on the rate of employees’ turnover in microfinance institutions (MFIs).

The study used an unbalanced panel data of 235 MFIs spanning the period 2010–2019. Based on the availability of the required data set on the World Bank catalogue (in collaboration with Microfinance Information Exchange-MIX Market), this study covers four South Asian countries, namely, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Then, the authors analyzed the data using the conventional panel data regression techniques (e.g. fixed effects model and random effects model).

The regression results revealed that women leaders (board members) could significantly reduce the employee turnover rate of MFIs. Although the efficiency wage hypothesis is supported in this study, it depends on the profit orientation of the MFIs. This study also confirmed that financial sustainability and donations have helped MFIs to reduce their employees’ turnover, which reiterates the image and brand value effect of MFIs. Moreover, the overall gender development and legal status (e.g. Bank and Non-Bank Financial Institutions) have also been found to have an effect on employees’ turnover based on the sub-sample analysis.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is among the first to investigate the impact of gender and institutional characteristics on employees’ turnover based on a large and recent panel dataset from selected South Asian countries.

The purpose of this paper is to study the socio-economic condition of indigenous households involved in the production of palm oil and natural rubber in Peninsular Malaysia.

Discriminant analysis is used in this study.

This study finds that 49.70 percent of natural rubber plantation owners and 37.3 percent of the palm oil plantation owners live under the national poverty line. Discriminant analysis shows that natural rubber plantation size has a significant difference between income below the poverty line and above the poverty line. But palm oil plantation size is not significantly different between income below and above the poverty line, mainly because small-scale palm oil farms receive help from the government and other agencies. This study also finds that the majority of indigenous people do not have ownership rights to their land.

This study suggests that small-scale plantation holders should be provided with training to upgrade their skills to increase productivity. Furthermore, finding an appropriate land ownership model helps to understand the fundamental issue of poverty among the small-scale plantation holder of indigenous people in Peninsular Malaysia.

Primary data are used in this study. The results show different scenarios than the existing studies.