Smallholder cocoa producers often experience low productivity levels, partly due to their weak collaborative advantage (CA). CA enables businesses to optimize outcomes through effective collaboration within value chains. This paper aims at examining the effect of CA pillars (trust building, resource investment, and decision synchronization) on the productivity. This paper uses primary data of 406 samples from smallholder cocoa producers in Indonesia. The data is analyzed by using CDM (Crepon Duguet Mairesse) model that divides the CA process into three stages: effort, output, and productivity. In the first stage, our model shows that having motivation to collaborate positively affects collaborative effort expenditure to develop a CA. In the second stage, the study finds that the three pillars of CA have to some degree contributes to achieving a better access to finance, superior cocoa seeds, and cocoa processing technology for smallholder cocoa producers. In the third stage, acquiring the outputs of CA leads to productivity improvement. The findings underscore the significance of intangible factors in shaping robust Collaborative Advantage (CA) and influencing productivity. This enriches CA theory, which has traditionally focused primarily on tangible factors.

The women’s sector in the academe is one of the most affected profiles during the COVID-19 pandemic which directly ravages their livelihood and other economic activities. Thus, this research project investigated the economic situations of 30 private and public-school teachers who were displaced from their occupations or were forcibly deprived of income-generating activities. In-depth interviews as research instruments were employed in the study to extract responses on how the educators creatively apply adaptive economic strategies and how government should aid them during a global crisis. The research findings showed that the pandemic has affected the economic activities of the respondents including the loss of their livelihood and other economic sidelines. They responded to these economic effects through adaptive strategies using diversifying and analyzing trends, using digital technology resources, data-driven, acquiring new alternative skills, pricing strategy, and becoming an expert. Results dictated that government could support affected women by initiating training options, homepreneurship support, encouraging independent income-earners, financial management and tax breaks, and industry compatibility endorsement. This study is important to map out the specific economic effects of the pandemic and aid them with initiatives by providing them with concrete economic tools and programs.

Natural forests and abandoned agricultural lands are increasingly replaced by monospecific forest plantations that have poor capacity to support biodiversity and ecosystem services. Natural forests harbour plants belonging to different mycorrhiza types that differ in their microbiome and carbon and nutrient cycling properties. Here we describe the MycoPhylo field experiment that encompasses 116 woody plant species from three mycorrhiza types and 237 plots, with plant diversity and mycorrhiza type diversity ranging from one to four and one to three per plot, respectively. The MycoPhylo experiment enables us to test hypotheses about the plant species, species diversity, mycorrhiza type, and mycorrhiza type diversity effects and their phylogenetic context on soil microbial diversity and functioning and soil processes. Alongside with other experiments in the TreeDivNet consortium, MycoPhylo will contribute to our understanding of the tree diversity effects on soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across biomes, especially from the mycorrhiza type and phylogenetic conservatism perspectives.

This study analyzes the studies on project finance (PF) and renewable energy (RE) arena, employing a comprehensive scientometric analysis to illuminate the current research landscape, identify prominent scholars, and uncover emerging trends. Encompassing several analyses, we have charted the evolution of this domain from 1993 to March 2024 and showed the way for further research. We analyzed 80 studies selected from several databases by means scientometric tools. Despite decent citation rates, research in this relatively young field is surprisingly scarce. While geographically diverse, research leadership stems from the UK, USA, Australia, and Germany. Interestingly, a significant portion of the studies originates from broad energy and sustainability areas, highlighting a potential knowledge gap in finance and economics areas. Additionally, the prevalence of case studies points to a strong connection between theory and practice. The research also revealed prominent topics like the interplay between PF and RE, various renewable resources, infrastructure development, financial considerations, risk management, among others. While many themes exist, areas like technological advancements, diverse cost approaches, valuation methodologies, and policy considerations remain underexplored. Other results unveiled an unexpected finding: limited evidence of large-scale collaborations, with individual or small-group research efforts currently dominating the field. However, existing collaborative networks promise future advancements through the emergence of more formalized research groups, which can perform future research endeavors with a wide spectrum of unexplored topics.

Universities continue to provide solutions to private and public sectors of the economy by providing a skilled economy, increasing employment potentials, and improving employee performance. This study offered a theoretical model on the contributing factors to graduate employability among student entrepreneurs in Malaysian Higher Education and the mediating mechanism of perceived support and usefulness in social entrepreneurship to solve the graduate unemployment problem. We attained data using purposive and face-to-face sampling methods with acceptable data from 296 undergraduates and analyzed with the SEM software from respondents of various cultural backgrounds. Findings suggest a positive significant relationship between motivations, skills in social entrepreneurship, knowledge, and social elements on graduate employability. Similarly, perceived support explained skills, knowledge and social elements’ relationship to graduate employability except for perceived usefulness. The outcome further discovered the perceived support role for graduates of social entrepreneurship in fostering job crafting and future employability with various implications and recommendations. The results require the application of other research approaches to provide concrete implementations and social and economic solutions. Insightful results and proposals helpful to policymakers like higher education curricula developers and implementers, scholars, government and private universities of this study can help curb graduate unemployment through social entrepreneurship.

Disinformation can be defined as false information deliberately initiated to cause harm to a person, social group, organization, or country. Gendered disinformation then attacks or undermines people based on gender or weaponizes gendered narratives for political, social, or economic objectives. Gendered disinformation comes in different forms, such as harmful social media posts and graphics, sexual fabrications, and other forms of conspiracy theories. It is used in various situations and at different places. This research discussed the instances of gendered disinformation and harmful online narratives that are recognizable and visible. It sheds light on the potential direct and indirect impact on youth experiences. In this study, the young participants (aged 18–30) focused on the instances of the existing online narratives of gendered discrimination from Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Spain, and Türkiye. The research provided an initial analysis of what “gendered information and harmful online narratives” look like and some recommendations from youth perspectives on countering the issues. The study concluded that there is a need for more research, further harmonization of legal frameworks, and strengthened capacity to detect gendered disinformation, propaganda, and hate speech.