Micro-level Development Research Articles

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF ECONOMIES THROUGH TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND COMPETENCES

Digital transformation has profoundly impacted social and economic life by enhancing workforce competences, fostering innovation, and creating competitive advantages. Given that the driving force of digital transformation is technology, this study aimed to determine whether education and workforce competences are perceived as essential factors in the digital transformation narrative across diverse fields of socioeconomic development at both macro and micro levels. To achieve this, 528 abstracts from various scientific fields focused on digital transformation were analyzed using both manifest and latent content analyses, the latter ensuring a more objective interpretation of the outcomes derived from manifest content analysis. Frequency, word linkage, and concordance analyses of key concepts were used. The results indicated that education and workforce competences are viewed as vital for the digitalization of various sectors of the economy at both macro- and micro-level development. The findings suggest that technology drives digital transformation by delivering different types of value, including innovation and sustainability, while relying on education and technology-related competences. The results also revealed concerns about barriers to technology implementation, which could be overcome through education and competences. The originality of this research lies in its application of both manifest and latent analyses to identify the roles of education and technology in driving economic digital transformation. Keywords: digital transformation, education, workforce competences technology, macro-level development, micro-level development

The Changing Face of Journalistic Autonomy: A Case Study of De Standaard (1976–2020)

ABSTRACT Autonomy is considered a prerequisite for the press to function in service of the public. Over the past few decades, both journalism and society at large have been subjected to significant change and instability, potentially affecting journalists’ independent modes of production. We, therefore, argue that a re-evaluation of journalism’s institutional strength to perform the societal functions bestowed upon it by the public is imperative. This paper attempts to contribute to this re-evaluation by examining to what extent legacy media journalists act according to their own professional logic rather than being historically conditioned to act according to external logics imposed on the field of journalism. We adopt a qualitative historical approach grounded in the theoretical framework of field theory for our examination of the development of journalistic autonomy at Flemish newspaper De Standaard. Based on a rich body of source material that emphasizes the rarely considered perspective of chief editors, we reconstruct journalistic autonomy as a dynamic concept shaped by an intricate web of interconnected macro-, meso- and micro-level developments and interactions.

NOVICE EFL TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A NARRATIVE INQUIRY INTO MICRO-LEVEL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Educational researchers have made great strides in theorizing teacher professional development, though attention is still concentrated on isolated mental processes. This study therefore reports on a narrative inquiry aiming to find out micro-level development process that occurs in two novice EFL teachers and also to reveal the features of teacher’s change that appear to facilitate English language teaching and learning. A variety of data collection techniques including; narrative frame, field notes, semi-structured interview and stimulated recall interview are used to make teachers’ behavioral, attitudinal and intellectual component of micro-level development explicit. Two overarching themes that emerge in this narrative inquiry are; the route to be a good English teacher and rediscovering the passion to teach. The important key finding of this study is that the early year of teaching is sensitively crucial to EFL teachers’ micro-level development, which is characterized by a positive shift from constructive experiences and aspiration of better English language learning process to internalization of empathy, attentive and responsive manner. Another key finding of this study is that all the novice EFL teachers who spoke positively about implementing changes in their classroom practices, embraced most of the process of micro level development that occurred, based on intuition, without clear theoretical underpinning of pedagogy, and merely classroom-bound focus. However, this study contributes to the current knowledge in relation to the crucial role of three distinct patterns of PD; discontent, aspiration and without intention

Formation mechanism and sustainable productivity impacts of non‐grain croplands: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China

AbstractNon‐grain cropland is a typical phenomenon with some common characteristics globally. As the most populous country, China's non‐grain cropland threatens global food supply stability and affects food production sustainability under the current complex situation of international food security. This paper used Sichuan Province, China, to explore the formation mechanism of non‐grain cropland and its potential impact on sustainable productivity, given the regional environment complexity and socioeconomic representativeness. High‐precision land survey data were used to detect multiscale non‐grain influencing factors and discuss non‐grain impacts on soil state to fill the knowledge gap on microlevel development of non‐grain issues. Results show that rotation type is the region's most abundant and widely distributed cropland type, accounting for about 59.38% of the total cropland area; the second is abandonment type. Urbanization indicators are the common factors affecting the non‐grain spatial distribution on the global scale; environmental variables' impact on non‐grain shows significant differences in geographical locations on the local scale. Overall, cash type and intercrop type aim at improving production conditions. Rotation type and fallow type mostly occur in areas with low production capacity and are prominently driven by policies. Abandonment type is subject to terrain constraints, production conditions, and social economy. Additionally, non‐grain trends have not caused significant damage to soil sustainable productivity except for the positive promotion of field biodiversity. Non‐grain cropland can be divided into three clusters according to the corresponding average soil fertility state, rotation, intercrop, cash, abandonment, and fallow. Policymakers must implement specific policies for different cropland types and formulate more refined farming management plans.

System Analysis of Small Business: Structure Heterogeneity and Sustainability

The article provides system analysis of small business. The paper presents quantitative indicators of the development of the subjects of Russian small business contained in various statistical databases (Rosstat, Federal Tax Service), reveals the incompatibility of the data, which complicates the analysis of the considered sector of the national economy. It is concluded that the scale of development of small business is insufficient, which does not allow for the full implementation of its inherent functions. The necessity of supplementing the quantitative approach with a qualitative analysis of small business as a mesoscale system has been substantiated. The concept of heterogeneity of its structure is introduced, characterized by the presence of a triad of categories (“kids”, “genetic dwarfs”, “transformers”) and a triad of subcategories (“travelers”, “reorganizers”, “imago”) that determine the composition of “transformers”. Their system functions have been studied and it was concluded that the relationship between them, on one hand, determines the systemic stability of small business, and on the other hand, creates a “portrait” of small business in a particular state. Based on the proposed methodological principles, the specificity of the Russian small business model has been formulated, namely that the SME sector is currently not able to be the basis of a market economy, and the model itself is structurally unbalanced. Its distinguishing features include a low share of innovative oriented enterprises comprising “kids” and “dwarfs”, a significant number of small firms working in economic symbiosis with large enterprises, a relatively short life cycle of all categories of small businesses, a high share of imago and retiring due to the loss-making of small enterprises etc. The specifics of the implementation of micro-level development strategies of various categories of small enterprises is the use of credit resources of banks, increasing the stability of their functioning (including increasing their life cycle) have been considered. The necessity of a differentiated approach to the implementation of the mesoscale strategy of state support of small businesses has been substantiated. The conclusion has drawn on the importance of transforming the existing infrastructure to support Russian small business, and in particular – the importance of the role of state aid in times of crisis. Supporting measures for small enterprises in the context of the corona-virus pandemic in Russia and in foreign countries have been considered.

Planning for sustainable livelihood development in the context of rural South Africa: A micro-level approach

In South Africa, different spheres of government (national, provincial and municipal) have different responsibilities with respect to rural planning and development. Rural development strategies, however, are predominately developed by national and provincial government (centralised planning) such as, for example, the 2009 Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) and the 2018 draft National Spatial Development Framework (NSDF). These efforts from different spheres of the South African government are nevertheless still not having the desired effect in the development of sustainable rural livelihoods, according to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, similar to policies and efforts to implement them elsewhere in Africa. In addition to the appropriate planning and implemen-tation scale, the spatial dimension of rural livelihood within the South African context also requires a specific understanding of the extreme differentiation of areas within ‘rural South Africa’. Research regarding the impact of planning at village level (micro-level), as presented in this article, may provide valuable insights for realising sustainable rural livelihoods. This article aims, through an analysis of relevant literature, to examine the sustainable develop-ment discourse, in general, while addressing sustainable rural livelihoods and micro-level planning, in particular. The main research question concerns the way in which micro-level planning can contribute to ensuring sustainable rural livelihoods in South Africa. The article also discusses the complexity of ‘rural’ space and its understanding in the development planning framework of South Africa, providing the spatial context for sustainable rural livelihoods. Examples of micro-level planning approaches in Africa and South Africa are discussed to elucidate their applicability to sustainable rural livelihood development in South Africa. In conclusion, the analysis reveals that, while centralist policies are pursued in South Africa to support sustainable rural development, the actual realisation of sustainable rural livelihoods may well require micro-level development planning strategies. The implication for academics, planning professionals and politicians is that the support and development of microlevel sustainable rural livelihood planning should be pursued to attain the goals of the National Development Plan (2012) of eliminating poverty and to encourage citizens to be active in their own development.

Skills required to deliver energy efficient school retrofit buildings

PurposeThe prevailing literature argues the need for “new” skills to deliver energy-efficient buildings. The concept of new skills, however, has not been subject to empirical investigation. This paper aims to provide insight on the required new skills, and their development and application, for the successful delivery of energy-efficient school retrofit buildings.Design/methodology/approachThe research employed a case study approach of a school retrofit building project in the early stages of the adoption of energy-efficient measures. Through the application of the socio-technical network approach (STNA) as the data collection and analysis framework, data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and a review of relevant organisational documentation and were analysed using thematic coding.FindingsThe findings reveal key actors (i.e. the local authority, energy contractors and school end-users), their principal interests and the required communication, project management, energy management, technical and research skills during their interactions in the successful delivery of the school retrofit building project. The results further reinforce the crucial role of the local authority in driving energy performance improvement of school buildings.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates empirical evidence of the principal actors and skills required for the delivery of energy-efficient school retrofit buildings, contributes to new theoretical insights at the identification of key micro-level development of construction skills through the project network and evidences on how the STNA can be mobilised in construction skills research.

Human capital of the region as a factor of growth of its efficiency (on the example of Yaroslavl region)

Purpose: the main purpose of this article is to study human capital as a factor of its efficiency growth. To achieve this goal in the article it is necessary to solve the following tasks: to study the theory of human capital; to study the world and domestic practice of the effectiveness of the territories (subjects of the Russian Federation); analyze human capital and efficiency of the Yaroslavl region.Methods: this article is based on the analysis of statistical data on human capital in the regions of the Russian Federation, the analysis of statistical data on human capital in the countries of the world and the method of benchmarking (comparison of data on the effectiveness of the countries of the world and the human capital of the regions).Results: the most important direction of development of the regional economy is the development of human capital, knowledge management and digital economy. The success of solving these problems is possible when synchronizing at the micro, meso- and macro-levels. Macro- and meso-level strategy sets the vector of micro-level development, in turn, the micro-level is an indicator of the strategy implementation.Conclusions and Relevance: the materials presented in the article show the special role of human capital in the competitiveness of the territory. The research carried out in this article is the development of scientific ideas about modern methods of assessing the effectiveness of territories (subjects of the Russian Federation) in terms of human capital. The practical application of the results of the article will allow to assess the human capital of the regions, to compare the human capital of effective regions and outsiders, to identify weak and strong areas of the territory through which it is possible to influence the efficiency of the region.

Capturing moment-to-moment changes in multivariate human experience

In this article, we aim to shed light on a technique to study intra-individual variability that spans the time frame of seconds and minutes, i.e., micro-level development. This form of variability is omnipresent in behavioural development and processes of human experience, yet is often ignored in empirical studies, given a lack of proper analysis tools. The current article illustrates that a clustering technique called Kohonen’s Self-Organizing Maps (SOM), which is widely used in fields outside of psychology, is an accessible technique that can be used to capture intra-individual variability of multivariate data. We illustrate this technique with a case study involving self-experience in the context of a parent–adolescent interaction. We show that, with techniques such as SOM, it is possible to reveal how multiple components of an intra-individual process (the adolescent’s self-affect and autonomy) are non-linearly connected across time, and how these relationships transition in accordance with a changing contextual factor (parental connectedness) during a single interaction. We aim to inspire researchers to adopt this technique and explore the intra-individual variability of more developmental processes, across a variety of domains, as deciphering such micro-level processes is crucial for understanding the nature of psychological and behavioural development.

Why Lance Armstrong? Historical Context and Key Turning Points in the ‘Cleaning Up’ of Professional Cycling

The US Anti-Doping Agency published its evidence against Lance Armstrong in October 2012 after a lengthy investigation and a series of testimonies from his former US Postal Service teammates. This article aims to understand the development processes – local and global – that led eventually to his ‘confession’ in January 2013 on the Oprah Winfrey show. By taking a chronological approach from the 1980s onwards, the following key themes will be addressed: the doping state of play when Armstrong began his career; the incremental confessions of other cyclists that helped break down cycling's secret doping culture; the broader organisational changes in anti-doping; the reasons why Armstrong became the focal point of anti-doping efforts; and the implications for professional cycling and anti-doping in the near future. Thus, the aim is to synthesise macro- and micro-level developments to explain the outcomes, and to further understand the consequences of this ‘scandal’.

Role of Decision Making Models in District Scenario Planning

While a country is surging ahead from a developing country to the status of a developed nation, the term has a connotation, both in terms of macro-level or micro-level development. When referred at the country level it becomes macro-level development, while at districts, it becomes microlevel development. At the sub-state level, “District” is the basic unit for all administrative purpose and also consistent with the decentralized planning process prevailing at the grass-root. However, the planning and development at district level can be further subdivided into urban planning and rural planning. Urban planning basically focuses on urban areas for its planned development with proper land use. These activities are generally taken cared by respective Urban Development Authorities. Planning at rural level can further be zeroed down to village / habitation. As part of the Planning objectives, Rural Planning needs to reflect growth and social justice, as growth in the rural sector has been identified as the key to social and economic development. Development involves making decisions and informed choices amongst alternative possible development paths. Therefore, it is important that these decisions are made using the best information, methods and tools available in an effective manner. The information to be considered for planning may be of sectoral or non-sectoral in nature. Today’s scenario is focused on planning and each department plans for assigned limited sectoral development. However development of each sector is dependent on each other. For this purpose planners take decisions on the questions like Where, Why, How etc. When we talk about decisions, there are various decision models available to choose from depending upon the requirement. This paper deliberates the aspects of sectoral planning and the role of decision models in this planning process and its effectiveness with respect to planning. General Terms Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), Analytic Hierarchy Process, Goal Programming Data Envelopment Analysis.

Trade liberalization, antidumping, and safeguards: Evidence from India's tariff reform

This paper is the first to use product-level data to examine empirically whether countries use antidumping and safeguard exceptions to unwind commitments to lower tariffs in the face of domestic political–economic pressure. We focus on the case of India, a country that underwent a major exogenous tariff reform program in the early 1990s and subsequently initiated substantial use of safeguard and antidumping import restrictions. We first estimate structural determinants of India's import protection using the Grossman and Helpman (1994) model and provide evidence from its pre-reform tariff data of 1990 that is consistent with the theory. We then re-estimate the model on the Indian tariff data after the trade liberalization is complete and find that the model no longer fits, a result consistent with theory and evidence provided in other settings that India's 1991–1992 IMF arrangement can be interpreted as resulting in an exogenous shock to India's tariff policy. However, when we re-estimate the model on data from 2000–2002 that more completely reflects India's cross-product variation in import protection by including both its post-reform tariffs and its additional non-tariff barriers of antidumping and safeguard import protection, the significance of the Grossman and Helpman model determinant estimates is restored. We interpret these combined results as evidence that India unwound its commitment to reduce tariffs through use of antidumping and safeguard protection in the face of political-economic pressure. The estimates are also economically important and provide one explanation for separate results in the literature that the magnitude of import reduction associated with India's use of antidumping is similar to the initial import expansion associated with its tariff reform. Finally, we interpret the implications of our results for the burgeoning research literature examining the effects of liberalization on India's micro-level development.

Radical Innovation as a Multilevel Process: Introducing Floating Grain Elevators in the Port of Rotterdam

In August 1901 a delegation of the Verein deutscher Handelsmüller, an association of German grain mill owners, visited Rotterdam, the Dutch seaport that handled the largest share of continental Europe's grain imports, to promote the use of floating pneumatic grain elevators.1 The delegates stressed [End Page 51] the elevators' important advantages: unloading a ship by vacuuming the grain out of its hold was several times faster than unloading by hand, and pneumatic elevators also incorporated automatic weighing and cleaning functions. But the mill owners met with a lukewarm response; the traders considered the speed of the existing system high enough. A committee of the Rotterdam Chamber of Commerce said that the traders would much rather take their time in receiving grain from the seagoing vessels, and that "the forwarding trade does not desire a quicker dispatch either."2 Only one of the many middlemen in the Rotterdam grain business, J. C. Smalt, perceived a future for pneumatic unloading, and he would become the moving spirit behind the introduction of the new elevators into the port. In April 1904 Smalt founded a company that ordered two elevators from Germany, the first of which went into operation in August 1905. Unfortunately, its built-in scale malfunctioned, which created a credibility problem. Smalt returned the elevators to the factory and asked that the automatic scales be replaced with manually operated equipment. In the meantime, the workers who weighed the grain, whose jobs were endangered by this new development, organized and went on strike. Because the German grain importers were largely dependent on the port of Rotterdam, they settled with the strikers and promised not to receive grain from the elevators. After more than a year and a half of indecision, Smalt's company put the two elevators into operation again in March 1907. This time the dockworkers began a guerrilla war against the elevators that culminated in such violence against strikebreakers that in July 1907 the Dutch army had to restore order. Following that episode, the traders, ship agents, and stevedore firms joined forces against the workers, and within a couple of years they had managed to introduce the grain elevators in Rotterdam on a massive scale. In 1913 a fleet of floating pneumatic elevators unloaded 96 percent of the grain in Rotterdam.3 The elevators used in Rotterdam became the standard for continental European ports, although not all of them—Rotterdam's main competitor, Antwerp, was the most important exception—mechanized as rapidly. A new technological regime, as we will call it in this article, had emerged through a process of radical innovation.4 [End Page 52] In this article we will set out to explain this remarkably quick and complete mechanization process in the port of Rotterdam. Why did it happen when it did? Rotterdam had become the most important grain port in continental Europe without any significant technological innovations in cargo handling, and it appears that when pneumatic elevators were introduced there ships carrying grain could still have been unloaded manually without major problems. Because of the drama involved—the fierce resistance, the swift and radical transformation of the handling regime—this is a fascinating story in itself. The port of Rotterdam is a rich research site for bringing together labor and entrepreneurial perspectives. Moreover, port technologies are crucially important for any transport history and in a broader sense for any history of regional and world markets. Ports are local spaces where various streams of people and goods come together, needing to be coordinated and linked to each other. Global markets are coproduced and materialized in local harbor layouts, cranes, and other cargo-handling equipment. Yet the main reason to tell this story is methodological. This revealing case study will demonstrate how to combine macro-, meso-, and microlevel developments into one multilevel model, and we will argue that...

Bamboo livelihood development planning, monitoring and analysis through GIS and remote sensing

The North-Eastern region of India is endowed with rich bio-diversity. The total forest cover in the region is around 60% of the total geographical area. Bamboo accounts for approximately 7% percent of the total forest cover of the region [1]. Due to its inherent qualities and abundance in the region, it has become a part of the life of local communities. For sustainable micro-level development, scientific planning of bamboo resource is required. GIS and remote sensing are effectively used for bamboo resource management and planning in parts of two states of the region, i.e. Manipur and Tripura.

Rural System Model for Microlevel Development

A rural system model is presented for computing the output from various components of a rural system. This projection makes use of a set of technical coefficients that relate the inputs to and the outputs from individual segments of the rural production system. While some of the technical coefficients are based on previously published data, a very large number have been quantified on the basis of a careful survey of the rural segment of the Kanyakumari District. The usefulness of the model is illustrated by computing the rural system output.

Economic flexibility and society in Italy

There is a positive and stimulating aspect to the current attitude towards social solidarity, especially in a context of economic and social change. Where once the concepts of interest and solidarity were contrasted, micro-level developments of a corporatist nature are contributing to ways of achieving a link between economic flexibility and social solidarity. A greater amount of negotiation is occurring on a range of key industrial issues compromises are being made due to the awareness of a ‘common danger’. In Italy, developments along such lines point to a need to reassess the assumed language used for understanding the politics of industrial relations.

The Demise of the National Union in Italy: Lessons for Comparative Industrial Relations Theory

Using data collected during field research in Italy on the reorganization of the auto industry, the author analyzes recent changes in Italian industrial relations. Based on this case study, he argues for a new approach to comparative industrial relations research and theory. Instead of treating national systems as the basic unit of analysis and searching for macro-institutional features as the key dimensions to use in constructing comparative typologies of industrial relations systems, the author develops an approach focusing on micro-level developments and the politics of strategic choice to explain variation within nations. Two factors appear to be crucial in explaining this variation: local socioeconomic conditions that shape the strategies of unions and management in firms undergoing adjustment, and the choices unions make in reallocating responsibilities between local and national structures.