Higher Returns Research Articles

Corporate ESG indices and stability during periods of deep concerns in financial markets

This study analyzes the dynamics of the high ESG-score companies' returns reflected in socially responsible indices selected from the FTSE4Good family across the European market during the COVID-19 Pandemic and war in Ukraine. The dynamics of these changes were assessed through the conditional variance derived from Markov Switching ARCH-type models with two regimes. The findings indicate that the effect of market disturbances on the high ESG-score companies from the FTSE4Good Europe index was slightly less persistent than the broad market. Meanwhile, the high ESG-score companies from the FTSE4Good UK index demonstrated similar behavior to their conventional peer, which may be attributed to the composition of the respective index.

Females have Higher Return to Sport Rate than Males Among Collegiate Athletes Following Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement Due to the Difference in the Type of Sports, Type of Impingement, Prevalence of Severe Cartilage Damage

To investigate the return to sport (RTS) rate and the sex-based difference of collegiate athletes following arthroscopic treatment for FAI. Patients who were collegiate athletes at the time of surgery and underwent hip arthroscopy for treatment of FAI between January 2009 and June 2020 were included. Patients were excluded if they were in their final year of eligibility, graduated, retired, or had plans to retire from collegiate play prior to surgery. Publicly available data was collected regarding each patient's collegiate team and division, and RTS status after surgery. Comparisons were made based on the RTS status and gender. Of the 181 hips (144 athletes) who met the inclusion criteria, 114 were male (63%) and 67 female (37%) hips with a median age of 20.4 (Range: 18.0-24.5). Eighty-six percent (155 hips) returned to sport at the collegiate level following hip arthroscopy. Males were significantly less likely to return to sport compared to females (82% vs 93%, OR = 2.8, 95% CI [1.003, 7.819], p=0.042). Males participated in more contact sports (26% vs 1.5%, p < 0.001) and had more mixed-type FAI (95.6% vs 80.6%, P=0.003) compared to females. In addition, males had more grade 3/4 chondral defects (28% vs 13%, p=0.023) and underwent microfracture more frequently (11% vs 3%, p=0.047). Further, males had significantly larger postoperative alpha angles (46.2 vs 43.6, p< .001). Collegiate athletes were found to have a high return to sport rate of 86% following arthroscopy for the treatment of FAI, however, males were less likely to return to sport compared to females. Sex-based differences were identified in the type of sports, type of FAI, prevalence of severe cartilage damage, and postoperative alpha angle. Retrospective case series, Level IV.

Arthroscopic Repair for Posterior Shoulder Instability is Associated with Favorable Outcomes and High Return to Sport or Work: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PurposeThe purposes of this systematic review and meta-analysis were to assess clinical outcomes of primary arthroscopic repair for unilateral PSI in all patients, to evaluate clinical outcomes in athletes, and to compare clinical outcomes between contact and overhead athletes. MethodsA systematic review was performed using PRISMA Guidelines. Included studies reported on primary arthroscopic treatment of PSI with at least 1 year of follow-up. Studies were excluded if they were not in English, included revisions/open procedures or anterior/multidirectional instability, had fewer than ten patients or no full text available, or were biomechanical analyses/descriptions of surgical technique. Primary outcomes were rates of return to sport (RTS), return to preinjury level (RTPL), recurrent instability, and revision surgery. Outcomes were evaluated in all patients and all athletes, with further subdivision for contact and overhead. ResultsOf the 1,504 screened studies, 30 met inclusion criteria (1,649 shoulders). Mean age at surgery was 23.3 years (range: 12.4-65 years), and mean follow-up was 35.5 months (range: 12-140.4 months). There were 1051 males and 196 females. RTS rates were 91.7% among all patients and 90.9% in all athletes, with no statistical difference between contact and overhead athletes (92.8% vs. 88.1%, P=.176). RTPL rates were 78.7% among all patients and 75.6% in all athletes, with no statistical difference between contact and overhead athletes (90.8% vs. 62.3%, P=.072). Recurrent instability rates were 7.0% among all patients and 8.0% in all athletes, with no statistical difference between contact and overhead athletes (7.3% vs. 7.4%, P=.981). Revision rates were 3.7% among all patients and 3.3% in all athletes, with no statistical difference between contact and overhead athletes (6.8% vs. 0%, P=1). ConclusionPrimary arthroscopic treatment of PSI is associated with favorable outcomes and high return to sport and work rates. Recurrent instability and pain were the most common reasons for revision. Level of EvidenceLevel IV: Systematic review and meta-analysis of Level II to IV studies

Reinforcement Learning-Based Multimodal Model for the Stock Investment Portfolio Management Task

Machine learning has been applied by more and more scholars in the field of quantitative investment, but traditional machine learning methods cannot provide high returns and strong stability at the same time. In this paper, a multimodal model based on reinforcement learning (RL) is constructed for the stock investment portfolio management task. Most of the previous methods based on RL have chosen the value-based RL methods. Policy gradient-based RL methods have been proven to be superior to value-based RL methods by a growing number of research. Commonly used policy gradient-based reinforcement learning methods are DDPG, TD3, SAC, and PPO. We conducted comparative experiments to select the most suitable method for the dataset in this paper. The final choice was DDPG. Furthermore, there will rarely be a way to refine the raw data before training the agent. The stock market has a large amount of data, and the data are complex. If the raw stock market data are fed directly to the agent, the agent cannot learn the information in the data efficiently and quickly. We use state representation learning (SRL) to process the raw stock data and then feed the processed data to the agent. It is not enough to train the agent using only stock data; we also added comment text data and image data. The comment text data comes from investors’ comments on stock bars. Image data are derived from pictures that can represent the overall direction of the market. We conducted experiments on three datasets and compared our proposed model with 11 other methods. We set up three evaluation indicators in the paper. Taken together, our proposed model works best.

Economic Feasibility of Ratoon Pigeon Pea under Different Levels of Irrigation, Fertilizers and Mulching

Background: Ratooning in pigeon pea is one of the unexplored options for increasing the production and income through more number of crops per year under adequate supply of inputs. Dearth of knowledge on the ratooning, its yield and economics in pigeon pea on which the current study aimed at providing the basic idea of its suitability for cultivation. Methods: The field experiment investigated during October 2020- February 2021 at University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru. The experiment was conducted with 2 levels of irrigation, 3 levels of fertigation and 2 levels of mulching under split-split plot design. Result: The experimentation of ratoon pigeon pea with varied levels of inputs revealed that ratooning was found to be an economically feasible option with higher returns and lower cost of cultivation. The study comprehensively covers and states the adaptability of the practice in terms of yield and economics.

Tourist Preferences for Hotels and Accommodation in Samosir Regency Based on Online Review

Purpose: This study aims to uncover tourist preferences for various accommodation types, including hotels in Samosir Regency. These preferences include attractiveness, facilities, and hospitality. Research methods: This study uses a qualitative approach through secondary research with data collection from online reviews. The sample consists of 50 accommodations in Samosir Regency based on Google Reviews with ratings &gt; 3.0 and more than 30 reviewers. Data was collected by searching on google.com/travel with a total search result or population of 118 items, and a sample of 50 was obtained using the purposive method with the provisions of the Google Review Summary where the Rating Review was &gt; 3.0; and the Number of Reviews &gt;30 reviewers. Data were analyzed based on the Component Review using a Likert scale for 3 elements of the tourism industry, namely (1) Attraction that consists of atmosphere, location, and property; (2) Facilities consisting of Amenities, Bathrooms, and Bedroom; and (3) Hospitality which consists of Service, Cleanliness, and Food. Result and discussion: The analysis result revealed that the element of attraction shows a very satisfying preference from tourists. In second place is a satisfying preference for hospitality elements. Meanwhile, the facilities element shows the lowest preference or is unsatisfactory. This description of preferences shows that among the elements of tourism, improving the quality of hotel/accommodation facilities can be the biggest priority in efforts to develop tourism in Samosir Regency in providing high satisfaction and return visits. Implication: As a tourist destination, Samosir Regency, which relies on the Lake Toba area, has experienced an increase in tourist visits from year to year, both foreign and local tourists. This is facilitated by the general public's access to information and locations using information technology and the Internet.

Low sintering temperature, interface characteristic and microwave/terahertz dielectric properties of ternary-phase Nd2O3-P2O5 based ceramics for patch antenna application

In this work, LiF was chosen as a sintering aid to lower the sintering temperature required for monoclinic NdPO4 (NPO) ceramic. A comprehensive investigation was conducted to analyze the impact of LiF on the sintering characteristics, microstructures, phase compositions, crystalline structures, interface characteristics, and microwave dielectric properties of NPO ceramic. Structure-property relationships were discussed based on the density, crystallite size, and lattice strain. The complex impedance spectroscopy revealed the mechanism underlying the interface characteristics of LiF on NPO ceramic. Additionally, far-infrared reflectance spectra and THz time-domain spectra revealed the intrinsic dielectric properties of NdPO4–1 wt.%LiF (NPO1). Notably, 1 wt.% LiF effectively reduced the sintering temperature from 1300 °C to 850 °C, significantly improving densification and dielectric properties. Typical properties such as Q × f = 55,840 GHz (at 9.58 GHz), εr = 10.4, and τf = −43.1 ppm °C−1 were obtained for NPO1 ceramic after sintering at 850 °C. Furthermore, its compatibility with Ag was explored as a prerequisite for LTCC applications. Finally, the NPO1 ceramic was designed as a microstrip antenna with high gain (6.83 dB) and low return loss (−18.85 dB) at a centre frequency of 2.56 GHz, demonstrating its potential for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth applications. This work provides a theoretical foundation and practical guidance for developing orthophosphate ceramics.

Microstrip Patch Antenna Design for 5G and Beyond Wireless Communication Systems

This paper gives a theoretical evaluation on how feeder lengths are appropriate for distinct conductor materials using rectangular microstrip patch antenna shape with the help of finite integration techniques (FIT). In this study, the ground surface width is 5.6mm and the ground surface length is 4.65 mm for the rectangular microstrip patch antenna. The length of the patch is 3.44 mm while the patch width is 4.40 mm. The substrate thickness is at 0.20 mm, the patch thickness is 0.035 mm the additional inner feed length is 1.05 mm and the microstrip line feed width is 0.6 mm. Antenna of rectangular microstrip patch type has been designed to work in the 20 – 36 frequency band and working frequency of the proposed antenna is 28 GHz. Compared to the use of a single conductor on the surface of the designed patch antenna, three different conductor materials-copper, gold, and aluminum-were applied to the patch surface of the antenna. The return loss (S11), voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), bandwidth (BW), directivity and gain of the microstrip antenna parameters are studied using finite integration method Computer Simulation Technology (CST) based on nine different feed lengths in microstrip antenna design. When analyzing the feature of the simulation, the optimal S11 can be observed at the 28 resonant frequencies in the copper conductor. According to the analysis results, for copper conductor the best S11 was obtained at a resonant frequency of 28.03 GHz. The value of S11 is -31.19 dB and the BW value is 968 MHz. For the gold conductor the high return loss is achieved using the at the resonated frequency of 28.01 GHz. S11 value is -32 dB and the BW value is 972 MHz Aluminum conductor has the highest value of S11 with a resonant frequency of 28.01 GHz as shown in -33.29 dB and BW value is 976 MHz. Unsurprisingly, the characterization of the conductor deposition on each structure shows that aluminum conductor yielded the best S11 among all the conductor types. The VSWR is equal to 1.05 for copper conductor at resonant frequency of 28.03 GHz, 1.05 at gold conductor at a resonant frequency of 28.01 and 1.04 for aluminum conductor at a resonant frequency of 28.01 GHz. The maximum directivity values that have been attained in the three-dimensional (3D) representation of the copper conductor, gold and aluminum conductor antennas are nearly 6.99 dBi, respectively. The maximum values of the gain are obtained for the 3D representation of copper, gold and aluminum conductor antennas are 6.61, 6.60 and 6.58 dBi, respectively.

An adapted Black Widow Optimization Algorithm for Financial Portfolio Optimization Problem with cardinalty and budget constraints

Financial Portfolio Optimization Problem (FPOP) is a cornerstone in quantitative investing and financial engineering, focusing on optimizing assets allocation to balance risk and expected return, a concept evolving since Harry Markowitz’s 1952 Mean-Variance model. This paper introduces a novel meta-heuristic approach based on the Black Widow Algorithm for Portfolio Optimization (BWAPO) to solve the FPOP. The new method addresses three versions of the portfolio optimization problems: the unconstrained version, the equality cardinality-constrained version, and the inequality cardinality-constrained version. New features are introduced for the BWAPO to adapt better to the problem, including (1) mating attraction and (2) differential evolution mutation strategy. The proposed BWAPO is evaluated against other metaheuristic approaches used in portfolio optimization from literature, and its performance demonstrates its effectiveness through comparative studies on benchmark datasets using multiple performance metrics, particularly in the unconstrained Mean-Variance portfolio optimization version. Additionally, when encountering cardinality constraint, the proposed approach yields competitive results, especially noticeable with smaller datasets. This leads to a focused examination of the outcomes arising from equality versus inequality cardinality constraints, intending to determine which constraint type is more effective in producing portfolios with higher returns. The paper also presents a comprehensive mathematical model that integrates real-world constraints such as transaction costs, transaction lots, and a dollar-denominated budget, in addition to cardinality and bounding constraints. The model assesses both equality/inequality cardinality constraint versions of the problem, revealing that the inequality constraint tends to offer a wider range of feasible solutions with increased return potential.

The effect of political connections on the distribution of firm performance

Political connections have the potential to redistribute rents toward connected firms, and away from non-connected ones. In this paper, we show that this is indeed the case for Chinese listed firms during 2008–2015. Connected firms (as proxied by college ties between senior management and local leaders) have higher Return on Assets (ROA) and more government subsidies, while non-connected firms experience a significant decline in both ROA and subsidy when executive turnover or political rotation leads to the creation of connected firms in the city. The differential effects on non-connected firms within the same industry versus those in different industries suggest that non-connected firms outside the industry are more adversely affected due to leaders' attempts to mask favoritism with broad industrial policy.

An adaptive financial trading strategy based on proximal policy optimization and financial signal representation

Trading strategies play a crucial role in financial trading. However, due to the significant amount of noise present in financial signals, traditional trading strategies and those based on price prediction often fail to achieve optimal results in real market conditions. Nowadays, with the pervasive noise in financial signals, developing successful trading strategies to achieve high returns has become one of the most prominent and challenging research areas in modern finance. Therefore, an adaptive financial trading strategy, called proximal policy optimization based on financial signal representation trading strategy (FSRPPO), is proposed. This strategy employs financial signal representation technology (FSR), which combines complete ensemble extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) and modified rescaled range analysis (MRS), to accurately and robustly represent dynamic market states, enhancing profitability. Additionally, the designed reward function reduces trading frequency to lower costs, while the designed action space increases trading flexibility to reduce risks. The experimental results on real stock data demonstrate the outstanding profitability and good risk avoidance ability of our proposed trading strategy, which means that the proposed model can effectively filter out noise from financial signals, extract valuable information, and provide reliable decision support for investors.

Day-of-the-week effect: a meta-analysis

AbstractThis study conducts a meta-analysis on the day-of-the-week effect to shed more light on the replication crisis of this stock market anomaly. The findings confirm that Mondays and Tuesdays provide, on average, lower daily returns. In addition, Wednesdays and Fridays indicate higher returns, with an unexpectedly strong middle-of-the-week effect on Wednesdays. The study highlights the influence of study design on these findings and notes a more substantial effect in the 1980s and 1990s. While differences in empirical methods do not impact the anomaly, index choices affect findings on day-dependent returns. The real estate sector especially stands out with a stronger day-of-the-week effect. However, geographic differences are mostly insignificant except for Oceania. Cultural differences demonstrate a weak but significant effect on abnormal daily returns. From a meta-perspective, outliers remain an essential driver for this stock market anomaly, indicating that study design is not the only factor driving the replication crisis.

Risk and Return Analysis of Stocks of Nepalese Commercial Banks

This research article analyzes the impact of risk and return of Nepalese commercial bank stocks on portfolio returns to assist investors in making informed investment decisions. It aims to examine the effects of individual bank stock returns, risks, market return, and market risk (beta) on overall portfolio performance. The study utilizes a quantitative approach, employing descriptive statistics, comparative (trend) analysis, correlation analysis, and hypothesis testing. Secondary data was collected from 18 commercial banks in Nepal, including post-merger banks, covering the fiscal years from 2015/16 to 2021/22. Statistical tools such as SPSS and EViews were used for analysis. The findings indicate that investors seeking higher returns might consider Prabhu Bank, which offers high mean returns but also comes with higher volatility. In contrast, risk-averse investors may prefer banks like NMB and Nabil, which provide lower mean returns but more stable performance. Notably, this research contributes to the understanding of the risk-return relationship in the context of 18 Nepalese commercial banks post-merger, providing new insights for investors. This study highlights the importance of analyzing individual bank stocks and their associated risks for portfolio construction. By understanding the dynamics of risk and return, investors can optimize their investment strategies and enhance portfolio performance. Overall, this research fills a gap in existing literature by focusing on the Nepalese commercial banking sector and its implications for investor decision-making. The insights gained from this study can guide investors in navigating the complexities of the stock market, ultimately leading to more informed and strategic investment choices. Future research could expand on this work by exploring additional factors influencing stock performance and investor behavior in the Nepalese context.

A bibliometric analysis for remote sensing applications in bush encroachment mapping of grassland and savanna ecosystems

AbstractGrasslands and savannas are experiencing transformation and degradation due to bush encroachment (BE). BE has been monitored using restrictive traditional techniques that include field surveys and manual long-term observations. Owing to the limitations of traditional techniques, remote sensing (RS) is an attractive alternative to assess BE because of its generally high precision and return interval, cost-effectiveness, and availability of historical data archives. Furthermore, RS has an added advantage in its ability of acquiring global coherent data in near-real time compared to the snapshot acquisition mode with traditional surveying techniques. Despite its extensive application and vast possibilities, a critical synthesis for RS successes, shortcomings, and best practices in mapping BE in savannas and grasslands is lacking. Thus, broadly, the direction, which this type of investigation has taken over the years is largely unknown. This study sought to connect and measure the progress RS has made in mapping BE in grassland and savanna ecosystems through bibliometric analysis. One hundred and twenty-three peer-reviewed English written documents from the Web of Science and Scopus databases were evaluated. The study revealed 13.05% average annual publication growth, indicating that RS and BE mapping research in grasslands and savannas has been increasing over the survey period. Most published studies came from the USA, while the rest came from South Africa, China, and Australia. The results indicate that BE has been extensively mapped in grasslands and savannas using coarse to medium resolution data. As a result, there is a weak relationship (r² = 0.324) between the dependent variable (aerial images) and the independent variable (percentage of woody cover). This connotes the need to improve BE assessments in grasslands and savannas by integrating recent high-resolution data, machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence.

International governance of advancing artificial intelligence

AbstractNew technologies with military applications may demand new modes of governance. In this article, we develop a taxonomy of technology governance forms, outline their strengths, and red-team their weaknesses. In particular, we consider the challenges and opportunities posed by advancing artificial intelligence, which is likely to have substantial dual-use properties. We conclude that subnational governance, though prevalent and mitigating some risks, is insufficient when the individual rewards from societally harmful actions outweigh normative sanctions, as is likely to be the case with AI. Nationally enforced standards are promising ways to govern AI deployment, but they are less viable in the “race-to-the-bottom” environments that are becoming common. When it comes to powerful technologies with military implications, there is only one multilateral option with a strong historical precedent: a non-proliferation plus norms-of-use regime, which we call NPT+. We believe that a non-proliferation regime may, therefore, be the necessary foundation for AI governance. However, AI may exhibit characteristics that would make a non-proliferation regime less effective than it has proven for nuclear weapons. As an alternative, verification-backed restrictions on AI development and use would address more risks, but they face challenges in the case of advanced AI, and we show how these challenges may not have technical solutions. Perhaps more importantly, we show that there is no clear example of major powers restricting the development of a powerful military technology when that technology lacks a ready substitute. We, therefore, turn to a final alternative, International Monopoly, which was the preferred solution of many scholars and policymakers in the early nuclear era. It should be considered again for governing AI: a monopoly would require less-invasive monitoring, though at the possible cost of eroding national sovereignty. Ultimately, we conclude that it is too soon to tell whether a non-proliferation regime, a verification-based regime, or an International Monopoly is most feasible for governing AI. Nonetheless, a variety of policies would yield a high return across all three scenarios, and we conclude by identifying some of these steps that could be taken today.

Only strong short-term contrarian effect exists in Chinese stock market: The role of the T+1 trading mechanism

We use an alternative sorting method which groups stocks into return intervals rather than percentiles to test the relationship between the T+1 trading mechanism and the short-term contrarian effect in the China's A-share market. Our sample period is from January 2010 to December 2020. China's stock market exhibits a significant contrarian effect in daily, weekly, and monthly frequencies, while the momentum effect is not significant. This paper argues that the special T+1 trading mechanism of China's stock market is the reason for this typical anomaly. The essence of the T+1 trading mechanism is a marketability put option, and this paper takes the volatility as the core of the analysis. This study shows that stock market volatility has a significant impact on the overnight return, with higher volatility leading to a higher discount. Through different daily, weekly, and monthly frequency groupings, the study finds that the winner's portfolio would reverse significantly in the next period. Under the T+1 mechanism, the high return stock portfolio is also characterized by high volatility and high turnover. The contrarian effect of China's stock market is unique in that both the winner's portfolio and the loser's portfolio will fall, but the winner's portfolio will fall more. The reversal of the winner's portfolio dominates in the entire market. The paper provides a new explanation for the contrarian effect and adds a unique explanation to the study of worldwide contrarian effect.

Funding Illiquidity Implied by S&amp;P 500 Derivatives

Based on the typical positions of S&amp;P 500 option market makers, we derive a funding illiquidity measure from quoted prices of S&amp;P 500 derivatives. Our measure significantly affects the returns of leveraged managed portfolios; hedge funds with negative exposure to changes in funding illiquidity earn high returns in normal times and low returns in crisis periods when funding liquidity deteriorates. The results are not driven by existing measures of funding illiquidity, market illiquidity, and proxies for tail risk. Our funding illiquidity measure also affects leveraged closed-end mutual funds and, to an extent, asset classes where leveraged investors are marginal investors.

Integrating System Perspectives to Optimize Ecosystem Service Provision in Urban Ecological Development

System-based approaches are critical for addressing the complex and interconnected nature of urban ecological development and restoration of ecosystem services. This study adopts a system perspective to investigate the spatiotemporal drivers of key ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, water conservation, sediment reduction, pollution mitigation, and stormwater regulation, within the Yangtze River Delta Eco-Green Integrated Development Demonstration Area (YRDDA) from 2000 to 2020. We propose a novel framework for defining enhanced-efficiency ecosystem service management regions (EESMR) to guide targeted restoration. Our analysis revealed the complex interplay of 11, 9, 6, 6, and 10 driving factors for selected ecosystem services, highlighting the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of these drivers. By overlaying these key factors, we identified high-efficiency restoration priority areas for EESMR that ensure high returns on investment and the efficient restoration of ecosystem functions. This system-oriented approach provided critical spatial guidance for integrated ecological restoration, green development, and eco-planning. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and planners in the Yangtze River Delta and other rapidly urbanizing regions, supporting the formulation of effective land-use policies that balance environmental sustainability and urban growth.

Bio-Organic Inputs, Height of Tier and Stocking Density: Their Effects on the Production Performance and Egg Quality of HISEX Layer Chicken

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of using natural bio-organic supplements, varying cage heights, and different stocking densities on the egg-laying performance and egg quality of layer chickens at the Poultry Project for Layer Chicken of JRMSU- Tampilisan Campus in Zamboanga del Norte. The study involved 162 eight-month-old layer chickens divided into six groups and replicated thrice. These chickens were housed in cages of different heights and stocking densities to evaluate their impact on egg production and quality. The results demonstrated that providing chickens with fermented plant juice in their water, derived from madre de agua (Trichanthera gigantea), significantly influenced egg weight and resulted in higher returns above feed and supplement costs. Furthermore, maintaining the cages at a height of 3 feet proved optimal for egg weight. The number of birds in a cage also played a significant role, with four birds per cage affecting egg production and feed and water intake. Interestingly, cages housing three birds exhibited the best feed conversion ratio. Regarding egg quality, the natural supplements did not yield significant differences, but cage height influenced the weight of the eggshells, favoring the 3-foot height. Moreover, the number of birds in a cage impacted the thickness of the yolk. Overall, the study underscored the crucial role of natural supplements, cage height, and stocking density in achieving optimal egg production and quality from layer chickens.

Livelihood diversification and household economic well-being in rural Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT This study attempted to measure the impact of livelihood diversification on household economic well-being and to examine the socioeconomic determinants of various livelihood strategies. The study utilised primary data collected through a structured interview schedule as well as key informant interviews (KIIs) and focused group discussions (FGDs). Stepwise linear regression was used to find the contribution of livelihood strategies in household economic well-being, while logistic regression was applied to examine the determinants of livelihood diversification. The study concluded that diversification towards sectors with high returns was the most instrumental in enhancing household economic well-being. The other social group, large, highly educated, and landless households were more likely to adopt sectors with high returns. Women’s participation in the labour force was positively associated with household economic well-being. This study highlighted the need for immediate policy interventions by filling educational gaps and equalising economic opportunities in rural areas in Madhya Pradesh.