Cross-section Survey Data Research Articles

Social Support for Training Effectiveness: Mediating Training Transfer Motivation and Moderating Transfer Design

Organizations invest in training and development to enhance their productivity. But, evidence proved the low effectiveness of the training because of the poor training transfer. Thus, training effectiveness is a permanent issue in developing human competencies and organizational performance. This study examined the effect of social support, that is, supervisor and peer support on training effectiveness, that is, training transfer, training maintenance, and training generalization with the moderated mediation effect of training transfer design and training transfer motivation. This study followed positivist epistemology on cross-section survey data collected from banking employees using multi-stage sampling. Hayes’s approach was used to test hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed a significant positive effect of social support on training effectiveness. Results revealed that peer support is vital in comparison to supervisory support to enhance training effectiveness. Training transfer motivation mediated the effect of peer support and transfer motivation predicting training effectiveness. The study concluded that optimal positive support from peers and supervisors is essential to enhance training effectiveness; the higher training transfer motivation of trainees further supports the relationship. This study emphasizes the significance of workplace factors to increase training transfer effectiveness, providing practical and theoretical implications.

The predictable campaign: Theory and evidence

Are campaigns epiphenomena? The dominant answer in the US literature seems to be Yes. Outcomes are driven by ‘fundamental’ considerations in place before the campaign begins, such that dynamics within the campaign reflect the elimination of ‘accidental’ considerations. Multi-country comparisons, where they exist, tend to be fragmentary. Where they are not fragmentary, they are taken from so high an altitude that critical interpretive details are lost. Also fragmentary, surprisingly, is documentation of the US case itself. This paper identifies two overlapping but distinct claims: about frontrunners and about incumbents. We also identify an insufficiently recognized fact, that the very idea of a ‘fundamental’ is contested, and that this broadens the scope for potential within-campaign dynamics. We employ rolling cross-section survey data from the US, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and Canada.

The Influence of Entrepreneurial Education and Psychological Capital on Entrepreneurial Behavior Among College Students.

This research investigated the influence of entrepreneurial education (EE) on entrepreneurial behavior (EB) through psychological capital (PC). A cross-section survey data of 1,405 college students in China were used to test the proposed hypothesis based on human capital theory and PC literature. The research found that EE had direct effects on EB and on all four sub-constructs (hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism) of PC, and that only self-efficacy positively correlated with EB and mediated the relationship between EE and EB while the other three components of PC did not. These findings contribute to the understanding of both educational and psychological effects on EB. The study also has practical implications for policymakers, managers, and educators in entrepreneurial education.

Moving out of agriculture in Bangladesh: The role of farm, non-farm and mixed households

• The share of mixed households (with farm and non-farm jobs) in rural Bangladesh rose from 23 to 39% between 2000 and 2013. • The share of mixed households of the youngest cohort (those with heads age 15–30 years in 2000) increased from 17% to 30%. • In areas near cities, the share of pure farm households fell; the share of mixed households rose from 15 to 34%. This paper explores patterns of exit from agriculture in rural Bangladesh by utilizing nationally representative repeat cross-section and pseudo-panel survey data. Our analysis focuses at the rural household level where we focus on three types of households: (a) “pure” agriculture households in which all workers are employed only in agriculture; (b) “mixed” households in which some members remain in the farm sector and others pursue nonfarm activities, and (c) rural “nonfarm” households who are exclusively dependent on non-agricultural employment. We find that non-farm orientation has increased over the 2000 to 2013 period, and that nonfarm households rely more on salaried employment and less on unpaid work. Pseudo-panel data based on age-cohort of household heads from the Labor Force Survey (LFS) of 2000 and 2013 also shows a notable increase in mixed households formed by diversification of activities of formerly farm-only households. Employment patterns of younger households are changing especially rapidly: the share of mixed households among households with heads age 15–30 years increased from 17% to 30% in this period. Proximity to urban areas also is associated with a rapid shift in household employment patterns over time. In areas less than 2.5 kms from cities, the share of pure farm households fell from 46.5 to 30.3 percent of households, while the share of mixed households rose from 14.8 to 33.7 percent. Overall, our findings confirm a process of transformation involving a shift from predominantly agriculture employment to increased non-farm employment. We find that the structural transformation considered does not necessarily involve large-scale permanent migration to cities. Rather, much of the shift out of agriculture occurs within rural areas with especially rapid change happening in areas of close proximity to cities.

Basin characteristics, river morphology, and process in the Chure-Terai landscape

The study aims to illustrate the basin characteristics, river morphology and river processes in the Chure- terai Landscape. The basin and morphological variables used in the study were derived from the satellite imageries available on Google earth, digital elevation models, and relevant maps. The cross-section survey and hydrometric data, incorporated in the study were obtained from the secondary sources, reports, and documents. The Bakraha River basin is underlain by the rocks of the Siwalik group in the south. The rocks are highly deformed and fractured and have the steep and variable slope and are subject to strong seismic shaking. The network of drainage is dense, with the predominance of colluvial streams that receive sediments from slope failure and erosion. The steep profile of the river demonstrates the ability to transport a huge sediment load during a high flood. The climatic regime and daily annual extreme rainfall between 100-300mm can initiate shallow landslides to large and deep-seated landslides. Landslides very large, small to shallow types are quite numerous, which indicates terrain highly susceptible to slope failure and erosion. The forest cover is above 84% but largely has been degraded and interspersed by agricultural patches and settlements with population dependent on agriculture and livestock. The lower catchment has dominant agricultural land use. The role of riparian vegetation for bank protection and flood control is limited. In the hilly areas, the river reaches are mainly sinuous to straight controlled by bedrock and in Terai, the reaches are straight, wandering to meandering towards the south. River slope is very steep, up to 15.2% in hills and mild in the meandering reaches in Terai decreasing to 0.1%. In the straight reaches, sediments are mainly boulders, gravels, bedrocks and sands in the hill, while in meandering reaches in Terai, sediments are sand and silt. The discharge varies 200-734 cusec from upstream (close to outlet) to downstream, (16.5 km away). The estimated sediment load transport during extreme flood events highly varies. Potential sediment load decreases from straight to meandering reaches, with some fluctuations in certain locations, owing to change in local morphological conditions. Bank erosion, bend scour, confluence scour, and protrusion scours, and avulsions are the river processes, which provide a source of sediments to the river. Change in planform and cross-section view of the river morphology indicate the river is unstable and dynamic due to the frequent shifts between accretion to erosion processes.

The determinants of point of sales system adoption perceived by micro small medium enterprises in West Java, Indonesia

This paper examines the determinants of a point of sales (POS) system adoption perceived by micro small medium enterprises (MSMEs) by using a cross-section survey data set of the largest population province in Indonesia, West Java. A binary logistic regression is employed to analyse the influence of subjective norms, images, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on POS system adoption. Valid and reliable questionnaires are used to collect data. This paper finds that image and perceived usefulness have an impact on the adoption. This result indicates that in the MSMEs context, image and perceived usefulness are factors that have a positive and significant impact on the adopters in terms of functionality.

The determinants of point of sales system adoption perceived by micro small medium enterprises in West Java, Indonesia

This paper examines the determinants of a point of sales (POS) system adoption perceived by micro small medium enterprises (MSMEs) by using a cross-section survey data set of the largest population province in Indonesia, West Java. A binary logistic regression is employed to analyse the influence of subjective norms, images, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on POS system adoption. Valid and reliable questionnaires are used to collect data. This paper finds that image and perceived usefulness have an impact on the adoption. This result indicates that in the MSMEs context, image and perceived usefulness are factors that have a positive and significant impact on the adopters in terms of functionality.

Farmers' Uptake of Animal Health and Welfare Technological Innovations. Implications for Animal Health Policies.

The paper analyses the uptake of animal health and welfare technologies by livestock farmers focusing on the identification of different behavioral patterns occurring in subpopulations of farmers and the assessment of the effect socio-economic and attitudinal factors have on these patterns. The technologies of interest include new genomic technologies, animal electronic identification (EID) for farm management, cattle surveillance, welfare qualitative behavioral assessment, anaerobic digestion, pedometers or activity monitors to detect oestrus and increase fertility/conception, and webcams/smart phones/tablets for animal husbandry. We use latent class analysis modeling and cross-section survey data to construct typologies of farmers based on technological uptake and heterogeneous characteristics. Our results suggest that, while three fifths of the farmers are “non-adopters,” a third is classified as “current adopters” of animal EID for farm management, and a twelfth as “future adopters” of either or more types of animal health and welfare technologies. Age, agricultural income, perceived difficulty to invest in new technologies, agri-environmental scheme membership, and frequency of access to information on animal EID for farm management and cattle surveillance through British Cattle Movement Service, are significant predictors of typology membership. The findings are policy relevant as they give quantitative evidence on the factors influencing technological uptake and, as such, help identify the most likely adopters and optimize the cost of targeting them. As information access was found to be among the factors influencing multiple technology adoption, policy instruments should include the provision of training as regards the implementation of technologies and their combined impact on farm. Farmers' adoption of interrelated innovations suggests the need to coordinate individual policies aimed at encouraging uptake of different technologies. As shown here, this would concern not only synchronizing animal health and welfare policies, but also their interaction with others such as agri-environmental ones. Moreover, the results show that animal health policies requiring regulatory compliance may lead to voluntary uptake of additional or complementary technologies which relate to not just meeting but exceeding standards of animal welfare and health practices.

Students’ use of digital learning resources: diversity, motivations and challenges

Purpose With the advent of ICTs, a large percentage of university students are shifting their interest and focus on digital learning resources from print ones. This study aims to examine the diversity, motivations and challenges students face in using these learning resources at Teofilo Kisanji University (TEKU) in Tanzania. Design/methodology/approach The researchers used elements of both quantitative and qualitative research approaches in a complementary fashion. The study draws upon cross-section survey data collected from students (n = 90) alongside follow-up key informants semi-structured interviews with library and academic staff (n = 10). Findings The study’s findings signify that internet resources are significantly deployed by students than other resources such as CD-ROM, e-books, journals, slides and audio clips. The findings further inform that the wide range of these resources and 24/7 convenient access are important motivating factors for their usage. On the other hand, the cost of internet services, limited searching competencies and limited subscribed databases inhibit effective and efficient usage of these by students at TEKU. Originality/value The present study clearly discloses students’ motivations for accessing and using digital learning resources.

Fractured lives: understanding urban youth vulnerability in Perú

ABSTRACTThe paper reports on a mixed methods study that sought to analyse determinants of youth labour market and educational disengagement in Peru. It begins by questioning the widespread focus on NEET – youth not in employment, education or training – as a measure of youth vulnerability in countries with extensive informal labour markets where labour precarity can be as problematic as unemployment for young people’s futures. A broader category of ‘urban vulnerable’ youth, including both NEET and precarious workers, is proposed and used as the basis for analysing the factors that influence young people’s trajectories. Key factors and shocks in youth trajectories are identified through qualitative life histories, and are tested using cross-section and panel survey data. Findings from the study have implications for the analysis of youth labour market vulnerability in the Global South, as well as for the policies that seek to address this problem.

Development of River Rating Curves for Simple to Complex Hydraulic Structure Based on Calibrated HEC-RAS Hydraulic Model, in Kwale, Coastal Kenya

Accurate and reliable river flow information is critical to planning and management for sustainable water resources utilization. Most of engineering activities related to hydrologic designs, flood, drought, reservoirs and their operations are heavily dependent on the river flow information derived from river rating curve. The rating curve for a given river section is normally developed from a set of direct stage-discharge measurements for different periods. This involves considerable labour, risk and resources, and presupposes a complex and extensive measuring survey. Extrapolating the rating curve beyond the measured range, as common in many cases, is fraught with errors and uncertainties, due to the complex hydraulic behaviour of the surface water profile in transition from section, channel, downstream and flood plain controls which are often poorly understood with direct measurements. Hydraulic modeling has recently emerged as one of the more promising methods to efficiently develop accurate rating curves for a river section with simple or complex hydraulic structures and conditions. This paper explores the use of a Hydraulic Engineering Center-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) model to review and develop river rating curves for three hydrometric stations on two rivers in Kwale, coastal Kenya. The HEC-RAS models were set up based on topographical (cross section and longitudinal) survey data for the reaches and engineering drawings for the hydraulic structures commonly used as section controls for flow measurement. The model was calibrated under unsteady state conditions against measured stage-discharge data which were captured using a Velocity Current Meter (Valeport) and an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) for both low and high flow. The rating curves were extracted from model results and the uncertainty associated with each rating curve analyzed. The results obtained by the HEC-RAS model were satisfactory and deemed acceptable for predicting discharge across the stage range at each river section.

Managing Sustainable Use of Antibiotics—The Role of Trust

Human overuse of antibiotics is the main driver of antibiotic resistance. Thus, more knowledge about factors that promote sustainable antibiotic use is urgently needed. Based upon findings from the management of other sustainability and collective action dilemmas, we hypothesize that interpersonal trust is crucial for people’s propensity to cooperate for the common objective. The aim of this article is to further our understanding of people’s antibiotic consumption by investigating if individuals’ willingness to voluntarily abstain from antibiotic use is linked to interpersonal trust. To fulfill the aim, we implement two empirical investigations. In the first part, we use cross-section survey data to investigate the link between interpersonal trust and willingness to abstain from using antibiotics. The second part is based on a survey experiment in which we study the indirect effect of trust on willingness to abstain from using antibiotics by experimentally manipulating the proclaimed trustworthiness of other people to abstain from antibiotics. We find that interpersonal trust is linked to abstemiousness, also when controlling for potential confounders. The survey experiment demonstrates that trustworthiness stimulates individuals to abstain from using antibiotics. In conclusion, trust is an important asset for preserving effective antibiotics for future generations, as well as for reaching many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Farm and operator characteristics affecting adoption of precision agriculture in Denmark and Germany

ABSTRACTPrecision Agriculture (PA) has been advocated as a promising technology and management philosophy that provides multidimensional benefits for producers and consumers while being environmentally friendly. In Europe, private stakeholders (farm advisors, farm equipment producers, decision support providers, farmers) and research institutions have been trying to develop, test and demonstrate adoption of precision agriculture solutions with governments financing big projects in these areas. Despite these efforts, adoption is still lagging behind expectations.Whether farmers adopt PA or not is likely to be influenced by several factors. This study intends to identify the main socio-economic determinants of adoption of precision agriculture in Denmark and Germany employing a binary logit model on a cross-section survey data. The results show that farm size, farmer age and demonstration and networking events like attending workshops and exhibitions significantly influence farmers’ adoption decision.

Drivers of reported electricity service satisfaction in transition economies

Since 1990, the power sectors in the countries of the Former Soviet Union have evolved from a context of central planning towards independent regulation. There is great heterogeneity in reform progress in transition countries, with consequences to service quality in utilities and also the view the population has of such services. This article analyses drivers of reported household satisfaction with the quality of electricity services in 27 countries using cross-section survey data from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Life in Transition Survey II, in a context of improving regulation and infrastructure. An ordinal Random Effects Logit model is estimated, showing that key drivers of reported satisfaction are the uses of electricity within the household and some characteristics such as age and economic conditions of the household. There is no strong evidence of the effect of the state of power sector reform on the opinion of households. However, customers in countries with fully independent regulation are more likely to report higher levels of satisfaction than those in countries with no independent regulation.

Determinants of micro and small enterprises growth in Kenya

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of investment climate and firm-specific variables on the growth of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Kenya.Design/methodology/approachThe paper utilized a cross-section survey data of 2,536 MSEs in Kenya. Using the sales growth as the dependent variable, the paper tests the hypotheses that investment climate variables – entrepreneur perception of fairness and affordability of the courts in dealing with commercial disputes, access to formal credit, connections to utilities, crime incidences; and firm-specific resources affect MSE growth.FindingsPositive entrepreneur perception of the fairness and affordability of the courts, access to formal credit, connections to utilities, lower incidences of crime, entrepreneur education and experience positively affect MSE growth.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the context of the study is Kenya, the study has relevance to other developing countries especially Sub-Saharan Africa due to institutional similarities. The paper, however, uses cross-sectional data, which unlike panel data, do not allow for establishing dynamic relationships. This could be a potential area for further research.Originality/valueThe paper is among the first to establish effects of entrepreneur perception on MSE growth with regards the court system in dealing with business disputes in terms of fairness, timeliness, affordability and enforcement. The paper also extends limited extant research on MSE growth constraints with regards to incidences of insecurity, access to bank credit, connections to utilities and internal resources.

Use of Bathymetric and LiDAR Data in Generating Digital Elevation Model over the Lower Athabasca River Watershed in Alberta, Canada

The lower Athabasca River watershed is one of the most important regions for Alberta and elsewhere due to fact that it counts for the third largest oil reserve in the world. In order to support the oil and gas extraction, Athabasca River provides most of the required water supply. Thus, it is critical to understand the characteristics of the river and its watershed in order to develop sustainable water management strategies. Here, our main objective was to develop a digital elevation model (DEM) over the lower Athabasca River watershed including the main river channel of Athabasca River (i.e., approximately 128 km from Fort McMurray to Firebag River confluence). In this study, the primary data were obtained from the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency. Those were: (i) Geoswath bathymetry at 5–10 m spatial resolution; (ii) point cloud LiDAR data; and (iii) river cross-section survey data. Here, we applied spatial interpolation methods like inverse distance weighting (IDW) and ordinary kriging (OK) to generate the bathymetric surface at 5 m × 5 m spatial resolution using the Geoswath bathymetry data points. We artificially created data gaps in 24 sections each in the range of 100 to 400 m along the river and further investigated the performance of the methods based on statistical analysis. We observed that the DEM generated using the both IDW and OK methods were quite similar, i.e., r2, relative error, and root mean square error were approximately 0.99, 0.002, and 0.104 m, respectively. We also evaluated the performance of both methods over individual sections of interest; and overall deviation was found to be within ±2.0 m while approximately 96.5% of the data fell within ±0.25 m. Finally, we combined the Geoswath-derived DEM and LiDAR-derived DEM in generating the final DEM over the lower Athabasca River watershed at 5 m × 5 m resolution.

Calibration of channel depth and friction parameters in the LISFLOOD-FP hydraulic model using medium-resolution SAR data and identifiability techniques

Abstract. Single satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are now regularly used to estimate hydraulic model parameters such as channel roughness, depth and water slope. However, despite channel geometry being critical to the application of hydraulic models and poorly known a priori, it is not frequently the object of calibration. This paper presents a unique method to simultaneously calibrate the bankfull channel depth and channel roughness parameters within a 2-D LISFLOOD-FP hydraulic model using an archive of moderate-resolution (150 m) ENVISAT satellite SAR-derived flood extent maps and a binary performance measure for a 30 × 50 km domain covering the confluence of the rivers Severn and Avon in the UK. The unknown channel parameters are located by a novel technique utilising the information content and dynamic identifiability analysis (DYNIA) (Wagener et al., 2003) of single and combinations of SAR flood extent maps to find the optimum satellite images for model calibration. Highest information content is found in those SAR flood maps acquired near the peak of the flood hydrograph, and improves when more images are combined. We found that model sensitivity to variation in channel depth is greater than for channel roughness and a successful calibration for depth could only be obtained when channel roughness values were confined to a plausible range. The calibrated reach-average channel depth was within 0.9 m (16 % error) of the equivalent value determined from river cross-section survey data, demonstrating that a series of moderate-resolution SAR data can be used to successfully calibrate the depth parameters of a 2-D hydraulic model.

Large-Scale Agricultural Investments and Smallholder Welfare: A Comparison of Wage Labor and Outgrower Channels in Tanzania

Summary This article evaluates household welfare effects of large-scale agricultural investments in Tanzania, one of the main recipients of such investments in Africa. Specifically, the article compares households participating in sugar and rice investments through outgrower schemes or as agro-industry workers with non-participants in terms of household income and income poverty. Building on primary household data, it is one of the first studies to empirically analyze ex-post impacts of large-scale agricultural investments in Africa. The analysis draws on cross-section survey data of 516 households collected in Kilombero District, a priority cluster for the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT). The results show overall positive household welfare differences between participants of the investments and the respective counterfactual. However, there are large differences between arrangements and subsectors. Estimated effects for outgrowers are largest, yet for land-rich outgrowers more so than for land-poor. Effects for agro-industry workers in the sugar investment are significantly larger than for those in the rice investment, though in both investments land-poor workers seem to benefit. Hence, the study results suggest potential benefits of outgrower schemes and potentials of agro-industry wage employment for the land-poor to escape extreme poverty. Yet, it also stresses particularly the need to address the constraints of land-poor outgrowers. Qualitative interviews, for example, pointed to growing risks for land-poor outgrowers in the context of rising elite capture by larger outgrowers.

The role of gender on malaria preventive behaviour among rural households in Kenya.

BackgroundMalaria remains a major health and development challenge in the sub-Saharan African economies including Kenya, yet it can be prevented. Technologies to prevent malaria are available but are not universally adopted by male- and female-headed households. The study thus, examined the role of gender in malaria prevention, examining adoption behaviour between male- and female-headed households in Kenya.MethodsThe study uses a recent baseline cross-section survey data collected from 2718 households in parts of western and eastern Kenya. Two separate models were estimated for male- and female-headed households to determine if the drivers of adoption differ between the two categories of households.ResultsThe findings from the study show that: access to public health information, residing in villages with higher experience in malaria prevention, knowledge on the cause and transmission of malaria significantly increase the number of practices adopted in both male- and female-headed households. On the other hand, formal education of the household head and livestock units owned exhibited a positive and significant effect on adoption among male-headed households, but no effect among female-headed households.ConclusionsThe findings from thus study suggest that universal policy tools can be used to promote uptake of integrated malaria prevention practices, for female- and male-headed households.

Responsive elections: The effect of public opinion on political campaigns

Political campaigns exist so that electoral candidates and parties can pursue votes, but what explains their content? It is clear that a lot of thought (and a lot more money) go into election campaigns, but the issues political actors focus on and those that they avoid are not well understood. In this paper we consider the responsiveness of the 2009 German Federal election campaigns to public priorities expressed through the “most important problem” survey question. Through the use of time series models of daily media reports of campaigns and rolling cross-section survey data on the attitudes of individual voters we find evidence that the 2009 German Federal election campaigns were responsive to public priorities and the attention of opponent campaigns. However, the focus of the campaign on the party or an individual candidate led to more and less responsiveness respectively. These results suggest that political campaigns dynamically respond to public opinion and each other, but that the nature of the campaign can lead to drastic changes in the level of responsiveness exhibited.