The livelihood of ethnic minority households in Vietnam is mainly in the fields of agriculture and forestry. The percentage of ethnic minorities who have jobs in industry, construction, and services is still limited. Moreover, due to harsh climate conditions, limited resources, poor market access, low education level, lack of investment capital for production, and inadequate policies, job opportunities in the off-farm and non-farm activities are very limited among ethnic minority areas. This paper assessed the contribution of livelihood diversification activities to poverty reduction of ethnic minority households in Son La Province of Vietnam. The analysis was based on the data using three stages sampling procedure of 240 ethnic minority households in Son La Province. The finding showed that the livelihood diversification activities had positively significant contribution to poverty reduction of ethnic minority households in Son La Province. In addition, the factors positively affecting the livelihood choices of ethnic minority households in Son La Province of Vietnam are education level, labor size, access to credit, membership of associations, support policies, vocational training, and district. Thus, improving ethnic minority householder’s knowledge through formal educational and training, expanding availability of accessible infrastructure, and enhancing participation of social/political associations were recommended as possible policy interventions to diversify livelihood activities so as to mitigate the level of poverty in the study area.

Green Human Resource Management (HRM) is considered an emerging field of management that evaluates and ensures green performance and outcomes in organizations. In today’s dynamic business environment, work-life balance has become one of the key issues faced by many employees all over the world. Maintaining work-life balance is an issue increasingly recognized as of strategic importance to the organization and significance to employees. In doing so, the present study introduced independent and dependent variables to explain the underlying mechanisms of green HRM and work-life balance and its impact on employee performance. A total of 90 employees of the calibration services company have completed a set of questionnaires through Google Forms to provide data for the analysis. This study is using census method as one of the best probability sampling techniques to be used it’s a systematic method that collects and records the data about the members of the population and is suitable when the case-intensive study is required or the area is limited. This study has adopted the quantitative method in this research as the method allows the researcher to focus on the research. The data were analyzed through SPSS which facilitates descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regressions. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses in this research. The findings showed that green HRM and work-life balance were the significant variables influencing employee performance in the study. In addition, the significance of the study included providing new knowledge from the theoretical perspective, obtaining a better understanding of the importance of green HRM and work-life balance from the perspective of employee performance, and contributing to the efforts made by the government to improve the probability of green culture in organizational and balancing professional life and family life employment of employees through policies from the perspective of the government. Lastly, recommendations for employers, employees, government, and future research are made to improve employee performance.

While there has been much discussion about the large infrastructure needs in Asia and the Pacific, less attention has been paid to public expenditure efficiency in infrastructure services delivery. New constructions are not the only solution, especially when governments have limited capital to invest. Globally, new infrastructure projects face delays and cost overruns, leading to an inefficient use of public resources. The root causes include the lack of transparency in project selection, the lack of project preparation, the silo approach by public entities in assessing feasibility studies, and the lack of public sector capacity to fully develop a bankable pipeline of projects. To tackle these issues, governments need a smarter investment approach and to do so, enhancing public service efficiency is very crucial. The paper suggests a “whole life cycle” (WLC) approach as the main strategic solution for the discussed issues and challenges. We expand the definition of WLC to include the entire life cycle of the infrastructure asset from need identification to its disposal. The stages comprise planning, preparation, procurement, design, construction, operation and maintenance, and disposal. This is because we believe any efficient or inefficient decision throughout such a wide life cycle influences the quality of public services. Hence, in this holistic approach, infrastructure life cycle consists of four phases: planning, preparation, procurement, and implementation. Governments could enhance public efficiency and thus improve access to finance throughout the WLC by several solutions. These are (i) preparing infrastructure master plan and pipelines and long-term budgeting during the planning phase; (ii) establishing framework and guidelines and improving governance during preparation phase; (iii) promoting standardization, transparency, open government, and contractual consistency during the procurement phase; and finally (iv) continued role of government and total asset management during the implementation phase. In addition to these phase-specific means, key WLC solutions include proper use of technology, capacity building, and private participation in general and public-private partnership (PPP) in particular.

A panel data analysis of nonlinear government expenditure and income inequality dynamics in a macroprudential policy regime was conducted on a panel of 15 emerging countries from 1985–2019, where there had been a non-prudential regime from 1985–1999 and a prudential regime from 2000–2019. The paper explored the validity of the nonlinearity between government expenditure and income inequality in the macroprudential policy regime as well as the threshold level at which excessive spending reduces income inequality using the Bayesian spatial lag panel smooth transition regression (BSPSTR) and fix effect models. The BSPSTR model was adopted due to its ability to address the problems of heterogeneity, endogeneity, and cross-section correlation in a nonlinear framework. Moreover, as the transition variable often varies across time and space, the effect of the independent variables can also be time- and space-varying. The results reveal evidence of a nonlinear effect between government spending and income inequality, where the minimum level of government spending is found to be 29.89 percent of GDP, above which expenditure reduces inequality in emerging countries. The findings confirmed an inverted U-shaped relationship. The focal policy recommendation is that fiscal policy decisions that will reinforce the need for more emphasis on education and public expenditure on education and health, as important tools for improving income inequality, are crucial for these economies. Caution is needed when introducing macroprudential policies, especially at a low level of government expenditure.

Olive production is threatened by a fungal pathogen, Armillaria mellea (Vahl. Fr.) P. Kumm.,causing decline in trees worldwide. Effectiveness of once and twice applications of fungicides hexaconazole, propicoconazole and thiophanate-methyl and application of biological agent (Trichoderma harzianum) to control A. mellea was studied at orchard scale during four years. T. harzianum inhibited the pathogen growth on agar media. This antagonistic fungus provided a 25% control efficiency of A. mellea on olive trees younger than 15 years which was the same as control efficiency of once application of hexaconazole. Control efficiencies as perfect as 100% were determined on younger (<15 years old) diseased olive trees treated with once applications of thiophanate-methyl and hexaconazole, and twice applications of thiophanate-methyl. Moreover, olive tree age was significantly effective on fungicidal control efficiency. Hence, this four-year research advanced our understanding of sustainable olive production in study region and other geographical areas with similar agro-ecological characteristics.

There is a growing trend among elderly people to live alone and this trend is expected to increase in the future. Social isolation and limited support can have a negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of older adults. The increasing life expectancy and expanding geriatric population necessitate the development of innovative solutions to support their health, independence, and autonomy. This article addresses the key challenges and issues confronting the elderly and analyzes various IoT technologies and solutions proposed to enhance their lives. Smart home technologies improve the quality of life and enable older adults to live independently in their own homes while their adult children are at work. This article presents a smart home model for the elderly in Kazakhstan, based on their needs, concerns, and financial capabilities. The proposed prototype will be developed using an accessible, open-source intelligent system that includes health monitoring, medication adherence monitoring, alerting family members in case of falls or deteriorating health indicators, and video surveillance. Another advantage of this system is the automation of processes such as automatic lighting control, voice command functionality, home security, and climate control. Preliminary testing of the hardware model shows promising results, with plans for continuous improvement and evaluation as it is deployed. Key criteria for its implementation include affordability, accessibility, and feasibility. Based on Kazakhstan’s unique socio-cultural and economic context, this paper proposes a sophisticated smart home model tailored to the specific needs and financial capabilities of elderly Kazakhs.