Non-productive Activities Research Articles

Effect of Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship Training on Entrepreneurship Intentions of People Living with Disabilities in Nigeria

People living with disabilities (PLWDs) are considered the most vulnerable segment of the population, and in most societies or countries neglected especially with respect access to education, health care, infrastructures, economic, social and political participation; thereby pushing them in to begging and other non-productive activities. Thus, there is strong need to pay attention to these categories of people in order to make them self-reliant, and engage them in to different forms of entrepreneurship activities. Therefore, the aims to examine the influence of financial literacy and entrepreneurship training on entrepreneurship intentions of PLWDs in Nigeria. Using a descriptive survey research, the population comprises all the PLWDs in the North West region of Nigeria, out of which a sample of 210 were conveniently surveyed using questionnaire. With the help of SPSS, the data collected was analysed using descriptive, correlation, and regression. The results revealed that entrepreneurship training was significant on entrepreneurship intention of the PLWDs, while financial literacy was not significant on entrepreneurship intentions. The study concludes that, while financial literacy does not determine entrepreneurship intention of the PLWDs, entrepreneurship training does. Hence, the research recommends that, emphasis be placed on different forms of entrepreneurship trainings in order to encourage the PLWDs to embrace entrepreneurial activities, while less attention be given to financial literacy as it has only little impact. However, the research further emphasized that PLWDs be integrated in to not only theoretical aspect of entrepreneurship, but also be encourage to acquire some forms of skills that translate in to real entrepreneurial ventures.

POSITIONING OF RUSSIAN REGIONS IN LONG-TERM AND MEDIUM-TERM ECONOMIC GROWTH RATINGS

In the article the author creates ratings of Russian regions according to criteria — ​long-term and medium-term real economic growth. An indicator of economic growth is the index of the physical volume of gross regional product. By the long-term period we mean the period from 1997 to 2021, by the medium-term period — ​the period from 2016 to 2021. The purpose of the study is to rank the regions according to these periods. Objectives of the study are following: to conduct a comparative analysis of the results of building two ratings; to show the spatial location of regions from the standpoint of long-term economic growth; to show the specialization of the leading regions. Specific research methods are the ranking method, comparative and correlation analyses, and the graphical illustration method. The leaders of both long-term and medium-term economic growth are three regions. These are St. Petersburg, the Moscow region and the Republic of Adygea. The absolute outsider according to both ratings is the Komi Republic. The industry specificity of the leading regions was obtained: all regions are characterized by specialization in manufacturing. Regions leading long-term and medium-term growth also specialize in non-production activities — ​wholesale and retail trade, real estate operations. The leading regions of medium-term growth specialize both in the extractive industry and in the fields of transport and communications.

Leisure Culture of Urban Residents in Khakassia in the 1930s.

The main types of leisure activities in the region are considered. Leisure culture was based on upbringing a “new Soviet man” and was aimed at acquainting residents with cultural events. The organization of leisure time, based on the ideas of socialism, has affected all segments of the population without age restrictions. The reconstruction of leisure culture in the era of industrialization is an urgent research for further study of the history of Soviet culture and its consequences in the post-Soviet period. The purpose of the article is to consider the process of introducing the Soviet model of leisure culture among the citizens of Khakassia in the 1930s. The principles of historicism, objectivity and consistency, as well as historical-systemic and retrospective methods were used in the work. The primary objectives of successful industrialization were to increase the educational and professional level of the local population. In non-production activities, great importance was attached to political education and indoctrination of citizens. Local authorities have managed to make some progress in organizing and conducting events aimed at the cultural, intellectual and physical development of urban residents. With regard to the younger generation, emphasis was placed on education based on the collectivist principles. Education and physical development became one of the priority forms of youth leisure. For the first time in the region, local authorities began to organize measures to improve the population’s health. Along with the obvious successes, shortcomings in the urban leisure culture were identified. The main difficulties in organizing and conducting cultural events were insufficient funding and lack of material resources. The poor condition of leisure facilities and the quality of their work prevented the successful improvement of urban residents’ cultural level. Initially, cultural events, organized by local authorities took into account the national specifics of the region, but gradually, facing current requirements, collectivist principles and ideas of upbringing a “new Soviet man” began to dominate in urban residents’ leisure culture. Learning from past experience is necessary for the successful implementation of modern state policy in the field of culture.

Quantifying the Impact of Natural Resources on Sustainable Growth in Developing Economies: Evidence from Panel Nonlinear ARDL Technique

The main purpose of current research is to analyze the impact of natural resource exploration on sustainable growth in developing economies. Annual panel data of 57 developing countries from 2000 to 2021 has been used for research analysis. First, this study uses a simple Panel Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) estimation technique to examine the long-run and short-run link among the variables. The results depict that in the long run natural resource exploration has a significant negative impact on sustainable growth. This finding supports the presence of the resource curse hypothesis. Besides this, the present study decomposes the policy variable (mining contribution index) into its two shocks i.e. positive shock and negative shock by applying a panel non-linear ARDL approach. The long-run outcomes depict that both the coefficients of partial positive and partial negative sums of natural resource rents are negative and significant. Furthermore, the research outcomes explain that financial openness and international trade have a substantial and positive impact on sustainable progress. The policy implications for current research are to avoid bad rent-seeking behaviors and to escape from non-productive activities to achieve sustainable development. Furthermore, there is a dire need to adopt and support environmentally friendly policies.

Quantifying the Impact of Natural Resources on Sustainable Growth in Developing Economies: Evidence from Panel Nonlinear ARDL Technique

The main purpose of current research is to analyze the impact of natural resource exploration on sustainable growth in developing economies. Annual panel data of 57 developing countries from 2000 to 2021 has been used for research analysis. First, this study uses a simple Panel Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) estimation technique to examine the long-run and short-run link among the variables. The results depict that in the long run natural resource exploration has a significant negative impact on sustainable growth. This finding supports the presence of the resource curse hypothesis. Besides this, the present study decomposes the policy variable (mining contribution index) into its two shocks i.e. positive shock and negative shock by applying a panel non-linear ARDL approach. The long-run outcomes depict that both the coefficients of partial positive and partial negative sums of natural resource rents are negative and significant. Furthermore, the research outcomes explain that financial openness and international trade have a substantial and positive impact on sustainable progress. The policy implications for current research are to avoid bad rent-seeking behaviors and to escape from non-productive activities to achieve sustainable development. Furthermore, there is a dire need to adopt and support environmentally friendly policies.

Effect of plant edges strips on the conservation soil properties in modern farming field.

The European Green Deal encourages the use of non-productive activities in agriculture. One of the measures is the cultivation of melliferous floral plants at the field margins. Their influence on soil compaction and other deterioration is due to heavy machinery, its inappropriate use and frequent driving on field margins, is little studied. Plants of a high environmental value though rarely grown by farmers were selected for melliferous plant strips: perennial grass swards (PGS), perennial legume swards (PLS), annual floral plats mixture (AEP) and natural grassland swards (NGS). The experiment was installed on a clay loam and loam Cambisol with the aim to determine the effect of different plant composition strips grown at the field edges on the physical and chemical soils parameters of with different granulometric structure. It was found that the highest amounts of roots and plant residues in the soil were left after cultivating sward strips of PGS and NGS compared to the field where cereals had been intensively grown. The amounts of root and plant residues produced by plants, soil rest increase the amount of organic carbon in the soil. During the five-year period, the plants edges strips improved the properties of the field margin top and subsoil.

Kinerja Perawat Ruang Rawat Inap RSUD Tengku Sulung

The largest proportion of health workers in the hospital is nurses which is 50.79%. One of the performance indicators is seen from the provision of nursing care in the hospital, seen from the nursing care documentation for the last 3 years in 2020 by 30%, in 2021 by 40.3% and in 2022 by 50.8%. The purpose of this research was to analyse nurses performance in the aspects of quality, quantity, used of working time, teamwork and incentives. This research used a qualitative research approach method with a case study design. interviews, observation and documentation were conducted on 5 informants to produce accurate and complete data. Data analysis in this research was carried out by triangulation. The results of this research found that nurses' knowledge of SOPs was good. Incomplete documentation of the initial study on medical history was 40% and physical examination was 60%. Nurses’ activity time were still classified as low direct activities by 19.5%, indirect activities by 32.6%, personal activities by 28.9% and non-productive activities by 19.5%. Providing financial incentives in the form of Eid Mubarak THR, while non-financial incentives in the form of awards and praise have not been implemented. Teamwork is less effective due to the lack of pharmacists and nutritionists in collaboration. The performance of nurses in inpatient rooms are less effective because in the implementation of nursing SOPs there are still nurses who are not in accordance with SOPs, incompleteness in filling out the initial nursing review documentation, nursing activity time are still low, financial and non-financial incentives are not implemented and teamwork is less effective due to the lack of involvement between pharmacists and nutrition professionals in collaboration.

Work-life dynamics: Comparing time use of employees and self-employed individuals in Slovakia

This study aims to investigate the differences in work-life dynamics and time allocation between employees and self-employed individuals in Slovakia, focusing specifically on the balance between paid work, unpaid work, leisure activities, and other non-productive activities. Using detailed survey methodology, this research examines the time use patterns of 632 private sector employees and 116 self-employed individuals, segmented by gender and age groups. The findings reveal distinct differences in time allocation, such as male self-employed individuals spending less time on paid work during work-days but more during days-off compared to their employed counterparts. Female self-employed individuals also exhibit similar patterns, indicating a compensation mechanism for the dual burden of professional and household responsibilities. The study highlights the greater flexibility enjoyed by self-employed individuals, which, while beneficial for balancing personal and work life, often leads to extended working hours and blurred boundaries. Gender disparities in unpaid work persist, with women, particularly the self-employed, shouldering more household responsibilities. The research underscores the need for organizational policies supporting self-employed individuals, including enhanced access to social security and health benefits, and measures aimed at addressing gender disparities in unpaid work. These findings contribute to the literature on work-life balance, organizational behavior, and policy development, offering a foundation for future research.

Socio-Economic Consequences of Remittance on Households in Pokhara Valley

There has been a continuous discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of the continuously increasing remittance flows. On the one hand, few studies in different parts of the world have noted that remittances have increased conspicuous consumption and decreased the Labour supply for farming and agriculture. Instead, several others have shown how enhancing food, health, and education can help recipient households’ quality of life. Thus, this study aims to analyze the socio-economic consequences of remittance on households in Pokhara Valley Through the use of a structured questionnaire, data on how much money families who receive and do not receive remittances spend and invest on a variety of household activities, such as food, children’s health, education, consumer goods, and asset investment, were collected, compared and analyzed using various statistical tools like frequencies, mean, standard deviation and independent samples t-test. The association of the two categories of households of the study on involvement in agriculture and farming was examined using the chi-square test. The study has shown that the remittance income has increased the purchasing power of remittance-receiving households which has led to an increment in the spending capacity of those households. The results indicate that remittance positively affects the improvement of human capital as the remittance recipient households spend more on family members’ education and health services than remittance non-recipient households do. However, remittance has also resulted in conspicuous consumption and higher spending on non-productive activities. In addition, it has adversely affected the participation of recipient families on involvement in agriculture and farming, ultimately necessitating the importation of food grains. On this basis, it is recommended that the government should develop measures that can stimulate remittance recipient families on remittance investments in the development of the domestic economy, national output, and agricultural production rather than spending on unproductive activities.

Loan Utilisation and Repayment Behaviour: Evidence from Farmers of Haryana

Abstract Subject and purpose of work: The present paper assesses the loan utilisation and repayment behaviour of loanee or indebted farmers in Haryana, India. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in Haryana state. The study is based on primary data that have been collected through schedules from a sample of 600 indebted farmers. Proportionate sampling was employed. Further, a percentage is used for data analysis. Results: The study found that about half of the loan amount was utilised by farmers in nonproductive activities that directly stimulate the debt burden on them, because this type of expenditure did not contribute to the earnings of farmers. Further, around two-fifth of the farmers were regularly repaying their loans, one fifth were defaulters and remaining two-fifth were paying their loan irregularly. Overall, Farmers’ repayment behaviour is not satisfactory. Conclusions: The non-productive usage of the loan amount is one of the main causes of their indebtedness. Reducing such expenditure is one of the main challenges for farmers without generating other sources of income.

Time perspective affects daily time use and daily functioning in individuals with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Results from the multicentric DiAPAson study

Time perspective (TP) influences various aspects of human life. We aimed to explore the associations between TP, daily time use, and levels of functioning among 620 patients (313 residential patients and 307 outpatients) with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD) recruited from 37 different centres in Italy. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Specific Levels of Functioning (SLOF) were used to assess psychiatric symptoms severity and levels of functioning. Daily time use was assessed using an ad hoc paper and pencil Time Use Survey. The Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) was used to assess TP. Deviation from Balanced Time Perspective (DBTP-r) was used as an indicator of temporal imbalance. Results showed that the amount of time spent on non-productive activities (NPA) was positively predicted by DBTP-r (Exp(β): 1.36; p .003), and negatively predicted by the Past-Positive (Exp(β): 0.80; p .022), Present-Hedonistic (Exp(β): 0.77; p .008), and Future (Exp(β): 0.78; p .012) subscales. DBTP-r significantly negatively predicted SLOF outcomes (p .002), and daily time use, in particular the amount of time spent in NPA and Productive Activities (PA), mediated their association. Results suggested that rehabilitative programs for individuals with SSD should consider fostering a balanced time perspective to reduce inactivity, increase physical activity, and promote healthy daily functioning and autonomy.

Purity is linked to cooperation but not necessarily through self-control.

Fitouchi et al. claim that seemingly victimless pleasures and nonproductive activities are moralized because they alter self-control. Their account predicts that: (1) victimless excesses are negatively moralized because they diminish self-control, and (2) restrained behaviors are positively moralized because they enhance self-control. Several examples run contrary to these predictions and call into question the general relationship between self-control and cooperation.

Quality Management and Corporate Governance of Romanian Industrial Companies Through Their Web-Based Communication

Contemporary quality management is a more complex issue than first impressions might suggest. In order to continuously assure a certain quality level, it is necessary, albeit far from sufficient, to create optimal technical conditions. Some non-productive activities can also be crucial in quality assurance. We considered the quality manager and the manager for public relations/social responsibility to be of particular importance in this issue. In our research, we examine to what extent the two roles are present in some Romanian organizations. The research sample is 158 companies, of which 92 are companies showing outstanding performance at the national level, and 66 are predominantly small and medium-sized local companies from Transylvania. The data show that there is little difference between the two types of company in the area of social responsibility, while there is a significant difference in the case of corporate governance based on OECD principles. While, at local level, the quality assurance details are somehow hidden, or less visible due to some kind of indolence, the lack of corporate governance is obvious, the companies -if they apply these principles- show transparency, accountability.

Needs for care of residents with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and association with daily activities and mood monitored with experience sampling method: the DIAPASON study.

Care needs represent an essential paradigm in planning residential facility (RF) interventions. However, possible disagreements between users and staff are critical issues in service delivery. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) tracks experiences in the real world and real time. This study aimed to evaluate the care needs of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) in RFs and its association with daily activities and mood monitored using the ESM. As part of the DIAPASON project, 313 residents with SSD were recruited from 99 Italian RFs. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. Care needs, the severity of symptomatology and negative symptoms were assessed. Fifty-six residents were also assessed for 7 consecutive days using the mobile ESM. Descriptive, agreement, predictor and moderator analyses were conducted. The staff rated a higher number of total and met needs than service users (p < 0.001). Only a slight agreement between users and staff on unmet needs was found in self-care (k = 0.106) and information (k = 0.100) needs, while a moderate agreement was found in accommodation (k = 0.484), food (k = 0.406), childcare (k = 0.530), physical health (k = 0.470), telephone (k = 0.458) and transport (k = 0.425) needs. Older age (-0.15; p < 0.01), longer SSD diagnosis (-0.16; p < 0.01), higher collaboration (-0.16; p < 0.01) and lower symptomatology (-0.16; p < 0.01) decreased the number of unmet needs, while being a female (0.27; p < 0.05) and a shorter length of stay in an RF (0.54; p < 0.001) increased the number of unmet needs. A higher number of unmet needs was associated with a lower amount of time spent in leisure activities or reporting a positive mood: on the contrary, more unmet needs were associated with a greater amount of time spent in religious or non-productive activities. The associations between unmet needs rated by staff and users and momentary mood as assessed using the ESM were not moderated by the severity of symptomatology. Although care needs are fundamental in planning residential activities aimed at recovery-oriented rehabilitation, RF interventions did not fully meet users' needs, and some disagreements on unmet needs between users and staff were reported. Further efforts are necessary to overcome Italian RF limits in delivering rehabilitative interventions defined by real users' needs to facilitate users' productivity and progress towards personal recovery.

Rent-Seeking Behavior and Economic Justice: A Classroom Exercise.

Rent-seeking behavior is when individuals or firms acquire above-market returns by exercising economic and political power. We introduce an active-learning exercise, with discussion questions and extensions, to illustrate implications of rent seeking for efficiency, equity, economic justice, and democracy. Students act as corporate decision makers allocating resources among physical, financial, and political investment. Instructors use the results to highlight distinctions between productive and nonproductive activities, and ways in which individual firm incentives may differ from socially optimal firm behavior. This allows for discussions of broader issues, such as how rent seeking can undermine democratic ideals and perpetuate inequality.

To Be or Not to be Tied on Social Media? TTF Effect of Interpersonal Guanxi and SM Strategies

The adoption of boundary spanners’ social media (SM) strategies are controversial. On the one hand, managers are always concerned about boundary spanners’ heavy SM use in non-productive activities, which reduces their work efficiency. As a result, access to SM is discouraged. On the other hand, work-based SM encourages firms to advocate incorporating boundary spanners’ work-related tasks because SM can enhance communication and expand information exchange. To further clarify the different effects of work-based and social-based SM strategies and drawing on task-technology fit (TTF) theory, this study examines how SM strategies influence the efficacy of interpersonal guanxi by exploring the moderating effects of work-based SM strategies (WSM) and social-based SM strategies (SSM) in China’s emerging economy. We surveyed 550 valid respondents of industrial manufacturing firms in China to validate the research framework. The results of statistical analysis show that there exist TTF fit effects between interpersonal guanxi and SM strategies. Specifically, interpersonal guanxi is positively associated with interfirm coordination and exchange performance. Furthermore, work-based SM strategies strengthen the effects of interpersonal guanxi on interfirm coordination while weakening the effects of interpersonal guanxi on exchange performance. However, social-based SM strategies enhance the effects of interpersonal guanxi on exchange performance while deterring the effects of interpersonal guanxi on interfirm coordination. The findings endorse the importance of prior literature supporting the use of interpersonal guanxi. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed by the end.

English

Using a cross sectional survey, this study investigated variations in time spent between men and women in economic productive and non-economic reproductive activities in a rural environment in Morogoro District in Tanzania. The study investigated 323 married or cohabiting women between the ages of 15 and 49 who lived in six villages across three wards. To determine the time expenditure disparity between men and women, females and their male counterparts were interviewed. A standardized questionnaire and focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to obtain quantitative and supplementary qualitative data, respectively. IBM SPSS V22 was used for data analysis. Content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Women and men spent considerably different amounts of time engaged in productive and reproductive activities. Women spend 2.23 h less daily in economic production than males. Women spend 1.20 and 2.12 more hours daily on family care and child nursing, respectively. Aside from non-productive time, 64.8% of women devote 3 more hours to access maternal and child health services. Women spend more time in non-productive activities due to constrained access to social services and delivery at MCH clinics. &nbsp; Key words: Time, production, reproduction, women, poverty, Tanzania.

Suburbanization within City Limits in Hungary—A Challenge for Environmental and Social Sustainability

Suburbanization is one of the most prominent processes of post-socialist urban development, leading to the deconcentration of people, capital, as well as productive and non-productive activities within the functional urban area. This phenomenon also has a significant impact on the traditional rural landscape and leads to environmental and social sustainability challenges. Outmigration from the city center to the rural municipalities of the agglomeration ring is already a thoroughly studied topic. However, less attention is given to migration processes not crossing municipal borders. In Hungary, a significant fraction of them is driven by similar motivations as “traditional” suburbanization. Such movements include flows to built-up residential areas that are physically separated from the urban core. Due to their peculiar development path, the inhabited outskirts can also become destinations for within-city migration. This kind of mobility can be considered suburbanization within the city limits. Because of the general lack of data, this phenomenon is seldom researched. However, this study attempts to address this gap. The prevalence of this process in Hungary is explored by analyzing national statistical data sources. Four case studies are selected for detailed examination—Győr, Zalaegerszeg, Kecskemét, and Szeged. GIS methods, field examinations, surveys, and expert interviews are used to get a detailed picture of the demographic and land cover change processes, as well as the distinctions between the destination areas of the case studies. A comparison of the results drawn from the different methods reveals that land use change in the study area is more widespread than what the land cover datasets indicate. The findings indicate that the Corine Land Cover categories describing mixed land use—especially complex cultivation patterns—are not able to capture the drastic function shift caused by intense suburbanization. Different environmental and social sustainability issues are identified depending on the economic status of the outmigrants. This paper also sheds some light on the urban planning considerations of this emerging challenge.

Work Analysis of Wire Handling Process Using Work Sampling Method and Standard Time Determination

Productivity is one of the main factors in the company where productivity will affect the production output. This research was conducted on the wire handling process and the method used was work sampling and standard time determination, where previously statistical calculations were carried out to see the uniformity of the data and also the adequacy of the data. The method used in this study is the work sampling method, where time data sampling is done using a table of random numbers. In addition, standard time calculations are also carried out. The results obtained are productive activities as many as 160 out of 200 observations or by 80% and non-productive activities by 40 out of 200 observations or by 20%. Statistical testing for data uniformity shows that the observation data from the first day to the fifth day are (1) 0.80 (2) 0.80 (3) 0.825 (4) 0.80 (5) 0.775 still within the upper control limit and the lower control limit, which are 1.1 respectively. and 0.5. Sampling of the work that has been done can be concluded that with a 95% confidence level the percentage of working time that can be used productively by workers is 80% with a conclusion error rate of 10%. The standard time calculation obtained is 125.12 minutes for the wire handling process where this can still be improved if the operator is given training.

Work Analysis of Wire Handling Process Using Work Sampling Method and Standard Time Determination at PT. YMH

Productivity is one of the main factors in the company where productivity will affect the production output. This research was conducted on the wire handling process and the method used was work sampling and standard time determination, where previously statistical calculations were carried out to see the uniformity of the data and also the adequacy of the data. The method used in this study is the work sampling method, where time data sampling is done using a table of random numbers. In addition, standard time calculations are also carried out. The results obtained are productive activities as many as 160 out of 200 observations or by 80% and non-productive activities by 40 out of 200 observations or by 20%. Statistical testing for data uniformity shows that the observation data from the first day to the fifth day are (1) 0.80 (2) 0.80 (3) 0.825 (4) 0.80 (5) 0.775 still within the upper control limit and the lower control limit, which are 1.1 respectively. and 0.5. Sampling of the work that has been done can be concluded that with a 95% confidence level the percentage of working time that can be used productively by workers is 80% with a conclusion error rate of 10%. The standard time calculation obtained is 125.12 minutes for the wire handling process where this can still be improved if the operator is given training.