Infrastructure development policies have been criticised for lacking a deliberate pro-gender and pro-informal sector orientation. Since African economies are dual enclaves, with the traditional and informal sectors female-dominated, failure to have gendered infrastructure development planning and investment exacerbates gender inequality. The paper examines the effect of the infrastructure development index, the size of the informal economy, and the level of economic development on gender inequality. The paper applies the panel autoregressive distributed lag method to data on the gender inequality index, infrastructure development index, GDP per capita, and size of the informal sector for the period 2005–2018. The sample consists of 44 African countries. The research established that the infrastructure development index, its sub-indices, GDP per capita, and the size of the informal sector are crucial dynamics that governments need to consider carefully when formulating development policies to reduce gender inequality. The research found that investment in infrastructure in general, transport infrastructure, and energy infrastructure reduces gender inequality. infrastructure development has gender inequality increasing effects in some countries and gender inequality reducing effects in others. The pattern suggests that at the continental level a Kuznets-type patten in the relationship between gender inequality and infrastructure development, gender inequality and size of informal sector, and gender inequality and GDP per capita exists. Some countries are in the region where changes in these covariates positively correlate with gender inequality, while others are in the region where further increases in the covariates reduce gender inequality.

Disability inclusion is important to ensure everybody has the same opportunities in society, which is critical in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are one of the marginalized communities and most of them are living in poverty. Disabilities encounter many challenges internally and externally due to their disabilities. They are struggling to keep their jobs due to their own self-confidence and social stigma and entrepreneurship is said to be the best option for PWDs to gain economic liberation. However, many PWDs still depend on government assistance and public donations instead of starting their own business. This study investigates the mediating effect of entrepreneurial motivation on the relationship between internal and external factors of PWDs’ perceptions of entrepreneurship in Malaysia. A quantitative approach to the survey was carried out. A sample of seventy-seven PWDs was gathered using face-to-face and online surveys through purposive sampling. The data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. The results show that only internal factors influence PWDs’ entrepreneurial personal perception. Entrepreneurial motivation plays a crucial mediating role in the relationship between internal and external factors and entrepreneurial personal perception. The study is helpful for the relevant parties to assist PWDs in becoming financially independent through entrepreneurship by focusing more on their internal strengths. Proper training and coaching assist PWDs in being more resilient when facing adversity.

Despite the unpleasant conditions, such as lower and insufficient wages, higher working hours, longer length of service, total absence of casual workers union, indirect employment aided by the bank’s top directors, etc., casual workers are highly committed in performing their roles and achieving their organizational goals. Neoliberal theory and Equity theory were used for guidance in this study. The study employed qualitative analysis style; Total of ten banks were selected as a sample of the study involving sixty participants who were all casual workers; twenty-four female and the remaining thirty-six were male, have been selected using purposeful sampling. Content analysis was used as the method of data analysis. The study shows some of the functions performed by the casual workers of Nigerian banks include quick client service, amenability to work, client care services, opening of accounts, marketing, and timely task completion. Others include furnishing prompt client service, being prepared to work, and finishing assignments on schedule., thus, the study concludes that despite the outstanding performance of casual workers in achieving their organizational pretensions, they’re largely exploited. The recommendation of the study is that employment should be grounded on fair stipend, safety at work and protection for casual workers, in short, work should encompass fairness, equivalency, and freedom of association. Also, Payment of the benefit accumulated by the casual workers should be linked directly between casual workers and their associations.

The rise of digital communication technologies has significantly changed how people participate in social protests. Digital platforms—such as social media—have enabled individuals to organize and mobilize protests on a global scale. As a result, there has been a growing interest in understanding the role of digital communication in social protests. This manuscript provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the evolution of research on digital communication and social protests from 2008 to 2022. The study employs bibliometric methodology to analyze a sample of 260 research articles extracted from the SCOPUS core collection. The findings indicate a significant increase in scholarly investigations about digital communication and its role in social protest movements during the past decade. The number of publications on this topic has increased significantly since 2012—peaking in 2022—indicating a heightened interest following COVID-19. The United States, United Kingdom, and Spain are the leading countries in publication output on this topic. The analysis underlines scholars employing a range of theoretical perspectives—including social movement theory, network theory, and media studies—to identify the relationship between digital communication and social protests. Social media platforms—X (Twitter), Facebook, and YouTube—are the most frequently studied and utilized digital communication tools engaged in social protests. The study concludes by identifying emerging topics relating to social movements, political communication, and protest, thereby suggesting gaps and opportunities for future research.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, educational activities have faced significant disruptions, leading to a widespread adoption of online teaching and a transformation in the evaluation of teaching quality. Using CiteSpace visualization software, the study examines 1485 papers from the Chinese database of China Knowledge Network and 1656 papers from the English database of Web of Science (WoS) spanning the period from January 2013 to June 2023 as research samples. The findings reveal heightened activity in China and other countries research on teaching quality evaluation, moreover, research in both contexts predominantly comprises independent studies, supplemented by collaborative efforts. Notably, there is an increased focus on the exploration of online teaching quality evaluation, specifically delving into methodologies and systems. The emphasis has shifted towards students’ learning initiatives and a comprehensive evaluation of teachers’ work before, during and after class. While research in other countries has also identified new hotspots related to online teaching, the number of studies is comparatively limited. The study proposes the imperative need to update the evaluation criteria for online teaching and enhance the infrastructure of online teaching platforms. Additionally, it advocates for reforms in the evaluation systems of educational institutions and innovations of teachers’ instructional methods.

The allocation of funds in the local budget is a matter of concern for the governments and economic scholars. The study examines the influence of local budget expenditures on the GRDP per capita of 63 provinces and municipalities in Vietnam from 2018 to 2022. Regression analysis of panel data reveals that capital expenditure has a positive correlation with local GRDP per capita, whereas current expenditure has a negative correlation with GRDP per capita. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that the percentage of individuals aged 15 and above who are employed and the percentage of urban citizens have an equivalent influence as the GRDP per capita. Conversely, the average age and local Gini coefficient have contrasting effects on GRDP per capita. The author suggests several policy alternatives to assist localities in boosting their GRDP per capita based on the findings of the study model.