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Effective modern conservation depends on active stakeholder participation. Although stakeholder engagement is increasing, the extent of this engagement and the successful application of outcomes to science and management varies regionally and among types of fisheries. A collaborative model that emphasizes knowledge coproduction with stakeholders better identifies research needs and conservation threats, and influences research and policy outcomes. Stakeholder integration can be facilitated by nongovernment organizations, such as boundary organizations. Bonefish and Tarpon Trust is a science‐based, conservation organization founded in 1998 by recreational fishers and fishing guides that focuses on marine recreational fisheries in the Caribbean Sea and western North Atlantic Ocean. The Trust engages fishers directly, incorporating their knowledge and perspectives to identify conservation concerns, shape research, contribute to data collection, and disseminate information, and work with resource managers and scientific researchers to address conservation and management needs. This approach is demonstrated in case studies that show integration of recreational fishers in science, assessment of conservation threats, and application of findings to management for the recreational flats fishery in the Caribbean Sea and western North Atlantic Ocean, in the context of broader efforts of stakeholder collaboration toward actionable science to inform management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Annual Operational Research Society Simulation Workshop in Worchester, UK, in 2010, a panel discussion entitled "discrete‐event simulation (DES) is dead, long live agent‐based simulation (ABS)!" was held. Subsequent debates on the topic have captured the interest of many simulation professionals and researchers. This study lends credence to the discourse with evidence. In January 2020, a global health crisis named coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) occurred, infecting and killing millions of people globally, leading to community lockdowns and travel restrictions, and bringing the world to a standstill. Scientists scrambled for quick, practical solutions to stem the tide. Operational research (OR) and management science (MS) techniques, including modeling and simulation, provide effective methods to make COVID‐19 infection forecasts, assign/optimize intensive care unit beds, initiate healthcare management/control strategies, and decision‐making. The global pandemic problems offer an opportunity to evaluate the discourse on DES's continuous relevance and potency as an OR/MS technique. Utilizing bibliometric performance evaluation and text analytics of publications addressing various COVID‐19 pandemic problems, the results show an extensive use, relevance, and impact of the DES technique across multidisciplinary domains, including medical/healthcare, social and behavioral sciences, business, molecular biosciences, and more. The intellectual structure highlights strong multidisciplinary collaboration among sources in decision sciences, healthcare, natural, behavioral, and social sciences. The social network analysis of the publications shows the contributions and collaborations among authors, institutions, and countries. The study demonstrates that DES is still alive and robust, notwithstanding the hype about ABS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the impact of covenant violation on corporate operational efficiency. Using an aggregate measure of operational efficiency developed by Demerjian et al. (Management Science, 58, 2012, 1229–1248), we provide strong empirical evidence that covenant violations hinder firms from achieving operational efficiency. Our finding is robust to alternative definitions of operational efficiency and various model specifications to address potential endogeneity issues. Further analyses show that lower operational efficiency is attributable to covenant‐violating firms' under‐investments in capital and labour. In addition, the negative effect of covenant violation on operational efficiency is not universally the same, and is less evident in violating firms with greater agency problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a lively debate between Haroon Bhorat and Michael Sachs at the University of Pretoria recently, Bhorat pleaded for supply‐side measures to alleviate poverty in South Africa, rather than demand‐side measures. (The debate took place during a session at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences' Inaugural Research Day on 8 September, 2023).Bhorat claimed that the SRD grants could not secure a solution to unemployment in a sustainable manner. In this paper, we use the UPGEM Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of the University of Pretoria to test the performance of wage subsidies in South Africa, in comparison to the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants of the same expenditure magnitude, and report on the differences between the two policy measures in terms of (i) unemployment alleviation, (ii) poverty alleviation and (iii) economic impact in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the lack of progress in the development and commercialization of microbial bioherbicides in cultivated crops. The authors organized a conference sponsored by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to address the barriers to the adoption of microbial bioherbicides. The conference included presentations from participants with diverse backgrounds and experiences in microbial bioherbicides. The articles in this issue of Pest Management Science cover various topics related to microbial bioherbicides, including the use of killed microbial preparations, the status of the bioherbicide market, nanotechnology in formulation, and the use of viruses and fungi as biocontrol agents. The conference aimed to facilitate collaboration among scientists and inform policy makers and funders to improve regulations and practices in weed management. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the changes that have occurred in the journal Pest Management Science in the past year. The journal had co-Editors-in-Chief for the first time, with one Editor handling entomological papers. The Editorial Board saw changes with the retirement of some editors and the addition of new ones. The co-Editors-in-Chief will now select an Editor's Choice paper from each issue, and the scope of the journal has been expanded to include papers on pest biology. The journal's Impact Factor decreased slightly, but efforts are being made to improve it in the future. The article concludes with gratitude to the Editorial Board and staff for their contributions. [Extracted from the article]