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The 'blue economy' is slowly emerging as a catch-all concept that captures the goals of sustaining economic development opportunities while simultaneously maintaining ocean ecosystem health. However, identifying the scope and boundaries of the blue economy has proven to be a challenging task. The aim of this article is to provide a new approach to finding a practical definition of the blue economy. Social equity is noted as the legal component and balancing mechanism that operates between the economy and the environment. This legal compensation mechanism has so far only been rudimentarily elaborated on in governance texts and must be given concrete form through legal methods and, in particular, through the creation of an institutional and procedural framework. The article introduces the idea that an advanced legal concept for the blue economy can be realised by using existing administrative processes and by strengthening the participation of private actors within these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relationship between the business sector and the policymaking of Nakhon Si Thammarat City Municipality in Southern Thailand. We find that business influence on local policy remains highly limited. We argue that this is primarily due to two factors: political and economic centralisation which limits the capacity of the municipal government, and the limited economic opportunities for medium and large businesses within the municipal borders. The result is that medium and large firms tend to focus their attention on and cultivate links with officials at the provincial and national level. At the same time, small businesses have expanded in the municipality. However, their inability to coordinate to make collective demands limits their influence on municipal policymaking. Instead, small entrepreneurs individually lobby the local government through the same channels as the general public, appealing for allocations from the government's limited community service budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a global crisis with far-reaching impacts on various aspects of society, including labor migration and family dynamics. Among the vulnerable populations affected were transnational mothers who, having migrated in pursuit of economic opportunities, found themselves unexpectedly laid-off and compelled to return to their home countries. This phenomenological research endeavored to unravel the lived experiences of these laid-off transnational mothers as they navigate the complex journey of emergency return and reintegration during the pandemic. Drawing on a qualitative phenomenological approach, this study engaged in-depth interviews to explore the dimensions of these mothers' experiences. The research journey illuminated the challenges, coping mechanisms, and transformations that emerged as these mothers embarked on a journey of returning to rebuild their lives and identities. Findings revealed that the sudden job loss and subsequent return disrupted established life trajectories, leading to a profound sense of dislocation and ambiguity. The mothers' narratives captured the struggles of renegotiating roles within families and communities, grappling with economic instability, and confronting the intersections of gender, migration, and resilience. By bringing these individual stories to the forefront, the research underscored the urgent need for tailored support mechanisms, inclusive policy responses, and heightened awareness of the unique challenges faced by transnational mothers in crisis situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music Streaming Services (MSS) have recently emerged as the main format for showcasing and monetizing sound recordings by record labels and artists in the international recorded music sector. In the Caribbean, however, stakeholders have been slow to adopt and integrate these digital music platforms into their overall recorded music strategies. Within this context, this paper explores the key economic opportunities and challenges associated with the late adoption of the platform-based streaming music model. Using self-administered structured interviews with nine regional experts from the three major music markets, as well as an analysis of audio-visual and digital materials and review of documents, the information is derived using a qualitative research approach, supported by a grounded theory strategy of inquiry. The findings illustrate that on one hand there is cautious optimism with respect to the potential for the re-construction of revenue streams, due to stronger royalty inflows associated with new uses of music in the digital arena. The extent to which this is realized contends with the quantum of royalty payouts actually received by rights-holders and their overall willingness to licence their rights to MSS. Additionally, MSS provides the platform for rights-owners to reach glocal audiences. However, this is reliant on the content and user-friendly features embedded in the platforms and the readiness of regional artists to be discovered and monetized via third party playlists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to understand the determining factors of in-migrant population registration in various counties or cities in Taiwan. Panel data from counties and cities in Taiwan from 2000 to 2021 were adopted, and spatial econometric analysis was conducted using the spatial Durbin model. In terms of spatial spillover effects, the in-migrant population of each county or city is influenced by the fiscal expenditure and economic opportunity factors of neighboring counties or cities, such as (1) expenditure on education, science and culture, (2) number of employed population, (3) average annual regular income per household and (4) average disposable income per household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows student success in advanced-level science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs is connected to future educational and economic opportunities. Yet, Black students have been excluded from participating in rigorous mathematics courses that prepare them to engage in STEM majors and careers. This article reviews research on Black student mathematics participation at the pre-college, post-secondary, and professional levels. Three systemic barriers to Black student participation are limited access, limiting mindsets and beliefs, and lack of support. Eliminating these barriers can result in an increase in Black students' enrollment, persistence, and achievement in advanced mathematics courses. The article provides strategies proven successful in urban contexts to ensure equitable learning environments that maximize the full potential of Black students. Educational leaders must address systemic inequities rooted in racism, purposefully engage Black students in rigorous and extended learning opportunities, and provide them with peer and faculty support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines perceptions of China and contributes to the ongoing academic debate on Sinophobia in Central Asia. However, unlike existing studies, it specifically focuses on perceptions of those, who have first-hand China experience – Kazakh students/graduates of Chinese universities. Based on in-depth interviews with them, the article argues that those with first-hand China experience tend to reject the China threat theory, found to be widespread among the general population. Instead, China-educated Kazakh youth perceive China mostly as an economic opportunity for their own country. Yet, this does not necessarily make them Sinophiles in the sense that they still express certain concerns related to their country's potential over-dependence on China. But more interestingly, they see China as the "civilizational other." This perceived civilisational abyss even among the more-informed segments of the population appears to be one of the main causes of the alienation of China and the Chinese in Kazakhstan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Madagascar is among the 10 highest burden countries for malnutrition. Protein-energy malnutrition, anemia, and vitamin deficiencies are major public health problems. Hunger is exacerbated by an annual locust invasion. The current policy of large-scale government spraying of pesticides from planes is logistically complex, costly, and damaging to the environment. Objective: Our research aimed to study the feasibility of turning the locust invasion into a protein-rich food supply for families and an economic opportunity for youth. Methods: We conducted 20 focus group discussions (FGDs) with females and males aged 18–24 and 25 years or older and with female artisans in 6 swarm communes in Madagascar's south to understand enablers and barriers to collection, preparation, and consumption of locusts. Results: Enablers include consumption by all ages in Antandroy culture and perception of locusts as a delicacy, tasty, and free. Family members have different roles in the collection and preparation of locusts. Local technologies for mass collection include digging trenches in fields and entrapment via sisal netting. Common preparations include boiling in salted water, drying, skewering, frying, and grinding locusts into flour. Disablers include pesticide contamination of locusts and the view that locusts are a famine food. Conclusion: Our research provided a first step in demonstrating the feasibility of transforming locust infestations into economic and nutritional opportunities in a fragile environment with high levels of poverty and malnutrition. It contributes to advocacy in Madagascar to end the use of pesticides. It responds to the government desire to address the protein-energy malnutrition burden and youth poverty in an integrated way. Plain language title: Qualitative Research as a Basis for Transforming an Annual Plague Into an Economic and Nutrition Opportunity for Youths and Their Families in Madagascar: "From Harmful to Useful Critters" Plain language summary: Populations in Madagascar have limited access to animal-source foods. Protein-energy malnutrition is high and is among the major public health problems in the country. We studied the feasibility of reducing malnutrition and lowering unemployment among rural youth by turning the annual locust infestation into economic and nutritional opportunities. We looked at enablers and disablers of transforming the locust infestation into income-generating activities for youth and promoting the consumption of locusts as a natural source of protein. Our results will help to design and implement strategies to engage young entrepreneurs in the collection, processing, and trade of locusts and to train them for start-ups based on local technology and appropriate product development and marketing. Interest by government and donors in empowering vulnerable youth, in protecting the environment, in promoting food security/local resilience, and in the unique nutritional properties of insects is high. The Malagasy government has been searching for new approaches to its severe development problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study critically examines the impact of a rail network on mobility of residents in an urban area in the north of England. The research provides a ward-level analysis of rail commuting habits, social indicators and economic trends throughout Liverpool, in order to evaluate how access to the Merseyrail network reflects socioeconomic engagement and opportunity. Secondary sourced quantitative data is used in an exploratory data analysis of mobility and socioeconomic participation in Liverpool. Operating the Travel Time Application Programming Interface (API) furthers the research by generating a spatial analysis of rail accessibility. Initial results indicate that the rail line enables mobility throughout Liverpool. Wards served by the Merseyrail network demonstrate around 8%–12% of residents use the service. Findings highlight that the rail network is associated with socioeconomic opportunity, as eight of the ten wards served by the Merseyrail network represent the lowest unemployment rates. An inequality in rail accessibility is observed as all passenger routes converge on the city centre. Should the limitations to the network be addressed through the Liverpool City Region Long-Term Rail Strategy, new social, economic and cultural opportunities will open for the city and the wider city region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2020s have got off to quite a rocky start globally, and especially for Europeans. The ongoing crises, beginning with the Covid-19 pandemic, and followed by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, rising inflation and the energy crisis, have created an atmosphere of continual instability and uncertainty for European citizens. The Western Balkans region, in the EU's immediate neighbourhood and geographically close to Ukraine, has also been affected by all these challenges. This article examines the current most pressing issues in the region and the possible outcomes of them. As the countries in the region (i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo,1 North Macedonia and Serbia) are all aspiring EU members, this piece seeks to explore the possibility of addressing the current challenges and the role of the EU as a catalyst in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While several inclusionary economic development policies may appear similar to traditional economic development policies, they are different in focusing on four key concerns. First, they are more focused on creating greater economic opportunities for minorities and people struggling in poverty. Second, they promote policies that positively impact the economic and social well-being of future generations. Third, they encourage environmental and social sustainable development. Finally, the author argues that they should also concentrate on improving workplace conditions for all employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ascribed and achieved characteristics influence individuals' positions in a social hierarchy. I explore how status characteristics and status ideologies influence expectations about economic opportunities in the United Arab Emirates, a wealthy, highly diverse, and internationally stratified society where beliefs in meritocracy are nationally supported. In Studies 1 and 2, participants reported the extent to which they perceived various characteristics to influence an individual's salary. Participants whose nationality placed them higher in the economic hierarchy expected achieved markers of status to play a larger role than ascribed markers in determining pay. Across groups, the more participants believed in meritocracy, the more they expected achieved markers to play a role. In Study 3, participants predicted the economic success of individuals who varied in ascribed and achieved characteristics. Across participant groups, both ascribed and achieved characteristics were expected to influence an individual's economic success. Taken together, results suggested that both ascribed and achieved characteristics are expected to influence an individual's position in the socioeconomic hierarchy, but only differences rooted in achieved characteristics are legitimized. Group differences and implications for system stability are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can stakeholder theory contribute to opportunity theory? We suggest that stakeholder theory affords appropriate theoretical lenses for grounding the opportunity-actualization perspective more firmly within the real-world constraints of business venturing. Actualization departs from a strong focus on entrepreneurial agency to conceptualize how pre-existing environmental conditions determine what entrepreneurial action can achieve. We explain that stakeholder theory can strengthen the outward-looking orientation of actualization by (1) bringing the entirety of stakeholders centre-stage, beyond a narrow focus on market stakeholders, and (2) stressing the importance of noneconomic considerations for the actualization of economic opportunities. Our theorization culminates in the concept of 'strategic opportunity thinking' (SOT). We conceptualize SOT as a way of protecting entrepreneurs from the blind-to-stakeholders mindset that either sleepwalks them into the territory of non-opportunity or prevents them from the actualization of real yet difficult-to-actualize opportunities in the absence of stakeholder-centric thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research has documented how gun violence can affect mental and physical health outcomes among adults. Likewise, the literature is also beginning to reveal negative psychological effects related to distress and hypervigilance and sociological implications around diminished community engagement and economic opportunity. However, there remains a need to fully explore the role of fear related to the experience of gun violence. Through a qualitative inquiry consisting of community resident focus groups and community leader interviews, this study examined how participants’ perceptions of fear related to their exposures to and experiences of gun violence. The findings highlight the pervasive emotional experience of existing in a fearful, distressed, and/or anxious state within certain communities, and how civic disengagement, neighborhood disconnection, and economic disenfranchisement exist in communities that disproportionately experience violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-conflict North Waziristan is experiencing a fundamental shift in the political and economic environment at a very fast pace. This paper examines the complex political economy of post-conflict North Waziristan to assess factors promoting sustainable peace in the region. It identifies the multi-pronged official strategy that is significantly contributing to the transformation of the political and economic environment in the post-conflict setting. These steps include inter alia effective border management to counter illicit trafficking and cross-border terrorism, security sector reforms, improving the mechanism of governance, and diversifying 'formal' economic opportunities. The analysis suggests that post-conflict North Waziristan exhibits considerable improvements towards establishing and promoting conditions that are pivotal for sustainable peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An industrial strategy emerges from possibilities for structural change, that depend on material constraints and opportunities afforded by economic structure, the distribution of power in society and the institutional arrangements organized at the political level. Building on a structural political economy perspective, this article develops a structure–power–institutions conceptual framework to describe how economic structure, the distribution of power, and institutions interact through a 'circular process,' which is useful for analysing the historical transformation of industrial strategy. In this framework, an industrial strategy refers to the institutional arrangements through which the government manages emerging conflicts or agreements between different powers and influences structural change. As an illustrative case study, the structure–power–institutions framework is applied to analyse the historical transformation of US industrial strategy from the era of Alexander Hamilton to that of Donald Trump. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social exclusion is a dynamic process in which an individual or a group becomes isolated from an organization or community and deprived of their due rights and entitlements. This study analyzed a case of social exclusion and tourism conflict in Likeng village, Wuyuan, a rural Chinese community that is economically reliant on the tourism industry. Thematic analysis of interviews with 15 Likeng villagers across two time periods (2010 and 2016) revealed that residents experienced various dimensions of social exclusion. A lack of opportunities for effective participation in economic opportunities, political decisions, and community relationships related to the development of tourism in the community were key features of social exclusion, eventually leading to conflict. Linkages between local problems, policies, and community life should be established and opportunities for meaningful resident input in tourism development decision making should be utilized in order to decrease social exclusion and conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protection is now the modal motivation for gun ownership, and men continue to outnumber women among gun owners. While research has linked economic precarity (e.g., insecurity and anxiety) to gun ownership and attitudes, separating economic well-being from constructions of masculinity is challenging. In response to blocked economic opportunities, some gun owners prioritize armed protection, symbolically replacing the masculine role of "provider" with one associated with "protection." Thus, understanding both persistently high rates of gun ownership in the United States (in spite of generally declining crime) alongside the gender gap in gun ownership requires deeper investigations into the meaning of guns in the United States and the role of guns in conceptualizations of American masculinity. We use recently collected crowdsourced survey data to test this provider-to-protector shift, exploring how economic precarity may operate as a cultural-level masculinity threat for some, and may intersect with marital/family status to shape gun attitudes and behaviors for both gun owners and nonowners. Results show that investments in stereotypical masculine ideals, rather than economic precarity, are linked to support for discourses associated with protective gun ownership and empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that in sub-Saharan Africa, independent transnational female migration is highly prevalent. Despite this prevalence, scholarship on those who are left behind in the migration process largely focuses on women, and there is little research focusing on transnational female migration and the families these women leave behind. Using a qualitative approach, with the push-pull theory and the new household economics of labour migration framework to examine female migration and its impact on left-behind families in Ghana, this study fills a valuable research gap in the migration literature. Twelve in-depth interviews were purposively held with men whose spouses were residing overseas. Findings from the thematic analysis revealed that independent female migration is a common occurrence in the Ghanaian context. Social, economic and cultural opportunities were some of the reasons the respondents identified for the prevalence of transnational female migration. While respondents associated transnational female migration with certain benefits, they explained that it has short-and long-term consequences, including reverse remittances, marital instability and effects on children's subjective well-being. While the results corroborate the key arguments of the push-pull theory and the new household economics of labour migration framework, which suggest that multiple factors trigger migration, they demonstrate the need for effective planning and careful decision making among spouses in the migration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the first of three reviews in which economic geography is viewed through the lens of crises. This article focuses on the resurgence of uneven development as a political problem, which has led to public policy debates and responses in which economic geography is an underpinning construct. The article focuses on the UK where public policy responses have engaged with the problems caused by uneven development. Arguments made over many years about the long-term damaging impacts of geographical inequalities in opportunity and income have broken through into the political mainstream and gained traction. The article explains how this happened, as an already unbalanced regional economy was exacerbated first through growth led by financial services and then austerity-led decline. There are opportunities for economic geography in this public policy conjuncture, although it will require an ability to engage competently and critically with mainstream economics, and a willingness to work with political actors and a challenging, frustrating, and uncomfortable political process. Moreover, it also requires that the problem of uneven development remains adequately defined and attended to, so that appropriate public policy responses may be formulated, and continues to garner sufficient political attention, to allow both time and opportunity for intervention in public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to calls by macromarketing scholars, this article introduces transformative branding to demonstrate how branding—a process traditionally conceptualised at the firm level to achieve marketing management outcomes—can contribute to both market and societal systems. We define transformative branding as a dynamic capability deployed by firms as a prosocial process to facilitate stakeholder co-created brand meanings that draw on hybrid market and social logics. We contend that transformative branding encompasses two market-shaping activities, which drive macro-level change according to hybrid logics: (1) leadership i.e., building a vision for transformation and (2) collaborative coupling i.e., implementing transformation with stakeholders. Shaping the market and society in this way creates opportunities for transforming economic, regulatory, socio-cultural, and political environments, whereby transformative branding works to challenge the dominant social paradigm from within the market system. We conclude with a cautionary note about the potential of branding as a force for good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tsunami of change triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed society in a series of cascading crises. Unlike disasters that are more temporarily and spatially bounded, the pandemic has continued to expand across time and space for over a year, leaving an unusually broad range of second-order and third-order harms in its wake. Globally, the unusual conditions of the pandemic—unlike other crises—have impacted almost every facet of our lives. The pandemic has deepened existing inequalities and created new vulnerabilities related to social isolation, incarceration, involuntary exclusion from the labor market, diminished economic opportunity, life-and-death risk in the workplace, and a host of emergent digital, emotional, and economic divides. In tandem, many less advantaged individuals and groups have suffered disproportionate hardship related to the pandemic in the form of fear and anxiety, exposure to misinformation, and the effects of the politicization of the crisis. Many of these phenomena will have a long tail that we are only beginning to understand. Nonetheless, the research also offers evidence of resilience on several fronts including nimble organizational response, emergent communication practices, spontaneous solidarity, and the power of hope. While we do not know what the post COVID-19 world will look like, the scholarship here tells us that the virus has not exhausted society's adaptive potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social scientists have long sought to understand what Islamic banking is. This study seeks to answer this question by exploring the neoliberalisation process of Islamic banking policies in Malaysia and identifying policymakers' logic behind this process. For this purpose, this study conducted interviews with actors associated with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the central bank of Malaysia. The findings demonstrate that, in the neoliberal era, BNM quietly and continuously pursued the goal of preferably giving economic opportunities to Malay Muslims by establishing institutional mechanisms rather than by offering preferential treatment in a straightforward manner. The Shariah nature of Islamic banking served to conceal this goal from the public. I define Islamic banking as an ethno-political tool rather than simply as a religious economy and contend that the philosophy of Islamic banking as a moral economy conceals an agenda of protecting Malay interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper expands upon a hitherto underexplored finding by Rich and Banerjee's 2015 model which finds that Taiwan has done comparatively better with non-democracies in Africa. The paper proposes that democratisation makes an African state more responsive to domestic economic imperatives and thus more likely to form relations with the demographically and economically larger People's Republic of China because of the prospective trade, aid and investment gains to be made once such a switch is affected. Seven case studies conducted over the 2001–2018 period yield results which are in line with this hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic opportunity in the 21st century privileges people and places with the "right mix" of human capital to develop and apply digital technologies, and disadvantages those without. Increasing socio-technical, socio-economic, and socio-spatial polarization underscores inclusion as a critically important dimension of innovation. Workforce development and entrepreneurial ecosystems each have implications for "inclusive innovation" in restructuring cities, but understanding their realistic prospects requires attention to local institutional capacity as well as the broader multilevel policy contexts in which they operate. This study compares inclusive innovation programs in Saint-Etienne, France and Greensboro North Carolina, two mid-sized restructuring cities operating in two different macro-institutional settings. Highly variable but not entirely idiosyncratic dynamics emerge in each case; inclusive innovation is integral in Saint Etienne and incidental in Greensboro but not a resounding success in either city. "Top-down" and "bottom-up" dynamics interact in different ways to shape outcomes, but power matters most for local policy choice. The decisive factor is explicit linkage to a commonly accepted urban development agenda that is supported politically by local government. Intermediary organizations lack influence, and the private sector is disengaged. These findings suggest the need to rethink assumptions about the actor configurations that determine urban development priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Beijing has implemented urban renewal policies aimed at forcing out rural migrants to restrict the city's population. One such policy restricts their access to public schools. We use the demolition of the Beijing Sun Palace Farmers' Market to examine the long-term impacts of these policies on the educational status of migrant children in Beijing. Based on a survey and in-depth interviews with migrant vendors, we find that government-initiated urban remodelling campaigns have an enduring impact on their social mobility and the educational opportunities of their children. Despite severe limitations to their mobility and economic opportunities, many migrant vendors were still determined to stay in Beijing. Subsequently, their worsened living status significantly affected their children's prospects. Migrant children caught in this urban dynamic either struggle in substandard informal migrant schools in Beijing or are left behind in their hometowns, with little hope of a good education or improved social status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers perspectives on the framing of citizenship education in recent education policy reform in Morocco. Against a background of shifting conceptions of citizenship and citizenship education occurring both globally and regionally in the Middle East and North Africa, the article focuses on Morocco's Strategic Vision for Reform 2015–2030, offering an analysis of the main section of the policy targeting citizenship education, referred to in the document as chapter 3 ('For a school that develops the individual and society'), lever 18 ('Enact a society of citizenship, democracy and equality'). Drawing on policy analysis of these sections of the reform documentation, we examine the various recommendations that reference national Moroccan citizenship education, concluding that the discourse surrounding citizenship education tends to emphasize a disciplined conception of citizen formation, framing the student as apathetic and passive. Moreover, the article analyzes these recommendations within the social, cultural, economic, and political context of Morocco, offering insights on potential challenges in its implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a first step in examining reward-based crowdfunding in tourism as a socially responsible investment where individuals collaborate with projects that contribute to the development of their communities in economic, environmental, and/or sociocultural terms. Thus, the present study develops a model where social consciousness and perceived risk are postulated to influence individuals' attitudes toward and intentions to participate in a project of crowdfunding. Based on a simulated crowdfunding project of "enotourism" that contributes to the development of a region in Spain, results reflect that the main drivers of individuals' overall attitude toward crowdfunding are social consciousness and platform risk. Additionally, individuals' intentions to fund the tourism project are influenced by their specific attitude toward the project and their overall attitude toward crowdfunding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies, ENGINE (Empowering New Generations to Improve Nutrition and Economic opportunities) and Growth through Nutrition, were conducted in the same 4 regions of Ethiopia approximately 5 years apart. A similar protocol using a quantitative and qualitative survey of key informants at the subnational level was used to explore barriers and facilitators for implementation of the country's national multisector nutrition plan. Noticeable differences were observed, including a change in the perception of the nutrition problems in pregnant women and preschool aged children and greater awareness of the multisector plan. Poor coordination and collaboration were still noted in both time periods. A key issue highlighted was the need to keep up the momentum for multisector approaches to improve nutrition in the policy agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Donald Trump and the emerging ideology of 'Trumpism' are interpreted by drawing on perspectives from management and organization studies and related fields. The article begins by exploring key themes that emerge from a critical interpretation of Trump's business career. Beginning as a real estate entrepreneur in the 1970s and 1980s, Trump experienced a period of mixed fortune in the 1990s, before eventually becoming a popular celebrity via the reality TV show The Apprentice. This portrayed Trump as a decisive and successful business leader. Trump's approach to business leadership is critiqued. Emphasis is placed on seeking opportunity in economic decline, a zero-sum or negative-sum approach to profit-making and economic value, often benefitting at the expense of counter-parties. The article then explores how this approach to business was combined with previously marginal right-wing conservative ideas to project Trump as both critic and solution to bleak and troubling perceptions of American politics, economy and society. In turn this has led to a radical conservative agenda in office. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While government housing can raise living standards for the urban poor, it has environmental impacts and contributes to urban resource consumption. In Gauteng Province, South Africa, government housing aims to improve quality of life, reduce poverty and inequality, and transform unsustainable urban forms. This paper draws on survey and interview data to explore the social justice and environmental sustainability outcomes of Gauteng's government housing programmes. The data reveal improved access to basic services and amenities. However, the developments tend to be poorly located with regard to economic opportunities, and residents are forced to explore other income generation opportunities. This paper highlights the complex interplay between justice and sustainability, where the outcomes are aligned in some instances and conflictual in others. It points to the need to move beyond linear, reductionist relationships between justice and sustainability to further the conceptual understanding of their interlinkages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to contribute to our understanding of China's soft power in Europe and the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in this regard. We conduct analyses of two leading newspapers in the United Kingdom, in Spain, and in Poland to discover how the BRI was framed there in the period from mid-2013 to mid-2017. The empirical results show that the media reported about the initiative quite positively – especially compared to the general media picture of China in Europe – and to a considerable extent followed Chinese narratives of economic opportunities while overlooking geopolitical and security worries. Theories of "journalistic routines" and linguistic "affective sticking points" will be suggested as possible explanations of these dynamics, highlighting both the fact that Chinese narratives outnumbered European ones in the initial period quantitatively, and were able to offer something that resonated with the audience qualitatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that tourism to a World Heritage Area generates economic opportunities in nearby rural communities, sufficient to reverse migration to the city. To carry out this test, we used an isolated region with a simple economic structure and a newly declared WHA, and analyzed economic constraints, opportunities, and decision processes at the micro scale of individual households, through qualitative analysis of interviews and on-site audits. Tourism triggered a switch from accelerating decline of rural villages, with closing schools and abandoned buildings and farmland, to accelerating recovery and reinvigoration, with new ecolodges and adventure tours employing household members and other local residents. The switch was assisted by low-interest ecotourism loans. It has also generated new economic opportunities for women specifically, and these have created much greater social freedom and self-determination, now also accepted by men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cruise industry is the fastest growing component of mass tourism and is a key contributor to overtourism. The cruise industry is having a very significant impact on the country of Iceland, as cruises take people to some of the country's most remote areas. In Iceland, the increase has been even more dramatic, with cruise ship arrivals increasing by over 91% (between 2015 and 2019) in Iceland's small northern town of Akureyri and its surrounding ports. This paper is critical of the expansion of cruise tourism in Iceland despite the potential economic impacts of cruise ship tourism. Scholars argue the need to consider economic gains alongside environmental costs and social consequences that disrupt communities. This in perspective paper considers current economic, environmental and social impacts of cruise ship arrivals in Iceland before outlining some recommendations that align with environmentally friendly practices for policy makers to consider going forward. The triple bottom line framework is widely considered in tourism planning, and this paper seeks to connect the economic, social and environmental dimensions of tourism in a sustainable way to look at the present situation in Iceland and address policy considerations going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Greek Cypriot internally displaced persons and their attitudes towards the island's reunification talks. We utilize quantitative data from two representative sample surveys, conducted in 2016–2017, which probed respondents on their views on territorial readjustments, property provisions and power-sharing. Contrary to the current findings in the literature, internally displaced persons status is associated with higher levels of support for a negotiated peace settlement. The article examines the impact of anticipated threats and economic opportunities accompanying a settlement and suggests a set of institutionalized mechanisms to incorporate the views of internally displaced persons and other disadvantaged groups in future reunification talks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent years, few areas of international development research have seen as much transformation as those relating to energy access and low carbon transitions. Ghana, amongst other African economies, has seen an increase in energy demand surpassing the supply of energy in the last decade. The incorporation of the incorporation of renewable energy into the mix is, therefore, seen as a significant role in addressing the energy needs by replacing conventional fuels with clean and reliable domestic electricity with the advantage of local economic opportunities. The country has adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG); SDG goal 7 targets ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services. This target presents a formidable challenge to Ghana because the country still relies mainly on non-renewable energy sources. The country has a huge potential for renewable energy that remains underexploited. This study, therefore, seeks to assess the current renewable energy resource situation, examine the trend in Ghana's energy consumption and undertake a comprehensive review and critical evaluation of Ghana's renewable energy drive and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the understood purposes of refugee education at global, national, and school levels. To do so, we focus on a radical shift in global policy to integrate refugees into national education systems and the processes of vernacularization accompanying its widespread implementation. We use a comparative case study approach; our dataset comprises global policy documents and original interviews (n = 147) and observations in 14 refugee-hosting nation-states. We analyze how the purposes of refugee education are understood and acted upon by actors occupying diverse positions across these nation-states and over time. We demonstrate that the articulated purposes of refugee education are oriented toward possible futures for refugees, and they presuppose refugees' access to quality education, social belonging, and economic opportunities. Yet we find that across nation-states of exile, refugees' access to these resources is tenuous. Our findings suggest reconceptualizing refugee education to reflect how refugees are simultaneously embedded within multiple national contexts and to address the exclusions they face within each one. This study of refugee education has implications for understanding the purposes of education in other ever-more-common contexts of uncertainty, including the rapid economic and social changes brought about by migration, globalization, and technology. Empirically, understanding the purposes of refugee education is critical in a time of unprecedented forced migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of tax increment financing (TIF) remains a popular, yet highly controversial, tool among policy makers in their efforts to promote economic development. This study conducts a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of Missouri's TIF program, specifically in Kansas City and St. Louis, in creating economic opportunities. We build a time-series data set starting 1990 through 2012 of detailed employment levels, establishment counts, and sales at the census block-group level to run a set of difference-in-differences with matching estimates for the impact of TIF at the local level. Although we analyze the impact of TIF on a wide set of indicators and across various industry sectors, we find no conclusive evidence that the TIF program in either city has a causal impact on key economic development indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis examines the opportunities and challenges facing the United Kingdom (UK) government in building a closer economic partnership with China beyond Brexit. While showing how the goals of each side overlap in key areas of mutual interest, evidence is presented to explain how fundamental imbalances persist in trade and investment relations due to China's economic management system. The authors further argue that political constraints imposed on the UK by the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) as economic partners will constrain the British government's room for manoeuvre when negotiating with the Chinese. The analysis identifies potential modalities for achieving some improvement in UK-China bilateral links by drawing on the outcome of the Switzerland-China Free Trade Agreement but concludes that political factors will continue to limit outcomes and that a major transformation of UK-China economic relations is not a realistic prospect for the foreseeable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper used a bootstrapped linear regression model to examine the role of amenities and economic opportunities in migration patterns in China based on the 2010 census at the city level. The results reveal that striking disparities characterize migration at the city level in China. Most migrants tend to move into several major cities in urban agglomerations in the eastern coastal region and provincial inland capitals. The cities farther away from provincial capitals have weak inflows and even suffer from serious population loss. The results suggest that job opportunities and wages contribute to the uneven pattern of migration in China even as amenities have also become important pull factors of migration. Regarding amenities, migrants prefer to move into cities with warm winters, less-humid summers, clean urban environments and friendly and open social climates. Social services, including facilities for education, recreation and commuting, also play an important role in attracting migrants. Findings from the study improve our understanding of China's internal migration and contribute to the debate on the role of economic opportunities and amenities in migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mexican Americans confront numerous challenges pursuing social mobility, including low rates of college graduation and high rates of poverty. Understanding these challenges is critical for developing effective strategies to promote opportunity and enhance the health and well-being of Mexican American youth. To gain an enhanced understanding of where mobility is "placed" and how mobility paths are navigated, we engaged 25 second-generation Mexican American youth in a participatory photo mapping study that collected and analyzed qualitative, visual, and spatial data. Key themes emerged regarding mobility barriers and facilitators experienced by youth. We found that youth experience mobility on a neighborhood level while fundamental aspects of mobility are shaped and sustained at a regional level. Youth actively and strategically leverage social and community networks to access mobility opportunities. These findings extend our knowledge by (a) pointing to an emerging reactive mobility as youth identify and avoid missteps, (b) illustrating the regional aspect of opportunity, and (c) highlighting how external indicators of opportunity may not accurately represent the presence and accessibility of mobility ladders for Mexican American youth. These findings underscore the need for upstream solutions focused on creating place-based access to opportunity as well as building regional mobility ladders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Exchanges commentary is concerned with the health of Economic Geography as a sub-discipline, and economic geography (as a wider community of practice) in one of its historical heartlands, the UK. Against a backdrop of prior achievement, recent years have witnessed a noticeable migration of economic geographers in the UK from Departments of Geography to academic positions in Business and Management Schools and related research centres. For the first time, a new (2018) research report by the Economic Geography Research Group of the RGS-IBG – We’re In Business! Sustaining Economic Geography? – has empirically evidenced this trend since 2000 (see supplementary material). In this parallel commentary, we summarise the major findings of that project in order to identify: the scale of this cross-disciplinary labour mobility; its operation at different levels of the academic career hierarchy; and the underlying motivations and variegated outcomes experienced by those making the transition. We then move to consider the wider implications of this ‘Economic Geography Diaspora’ for sustaining Economic Geography teaching, research and knowledge production. While economic geography clearly has a healthy appeal to Business and Management as an interdisciplinary community of practice, we raise multiple concerns around the largely uni-directional nature of this ‘movers’ phenomenon in UK universities. We make a number of suggestions for possible interventions to effect positive change and to prompt a larger conversation that benchmarks this UK experience against other national contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vocational and workforce education provide economic opportunity but often exclude or limit the participation of women. Here, we lay the foundation for developing workforce programming from a feminist perspective and building inclusion efforts within academic institutions for vocational education students and practitioners. Based on a systematic review of the literature, we present findings pertaining to three aspects of feminist pedagogy--career choice, care, and multiculturalism--as the basis for identifying the best practices for a feminist pedagogy of vocational education. We conclude with a discussion of the impact of the findings on the personal/social and political/structural qualities of education programs and provide an extensive and concrete checklist for vocational and workforce program administrators and educators to use when evaluating and modifying their programs for inclusive practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: About 16,000 families residing in Chicago's public housing have been relocated over the last two decades through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere (HOPE VI) redevelopment initiative. We situate this paper within a larger conversation about the presence and utilization of community ties within public housing despite the territorial stigmatization of traditional public housing. Utilizing in‐depth interviews with 20 Black caregiving grandmothers relocated from Chicago public housing we explore how women charged with performing the lion's share of the kinwork needed to ensure family stability experienced and created a sense of community while living in public housing. We show that by providing (1) safety nets for multiple generations, (2) social support and connections to neighborhood institutions, as well as (3) opportunities for Black activist mothering, these women, often at the heart of vertical lineages, created a sense of community amidst the problems in their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This ethnographic study, conducted at the Ecovillage at Ithaca, illuminates how spatial design configurations of a community shape the ongoing project of sustainable living. To articulate the ideological transformations of the community, actor-network theory is employed as the theoretical framework that facilitates further understanding of the sociomateriality of space and the roles spatiality plays as an actant in the network of sustainability. Soja's spatial theory, with a focus on the agencing of space, strengthens this analysis. We demonstrate how spatial design principles create opportunities and challenges for the community members as they pre(pro)scribe privacy issues, responsibilize actors, and segregate the community from the mainstream. Amid this dynamic process for achieving sustainability, we observe and document performativity of space in the actor network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge, skills, and attitudes to manage sustainable development have become significant components of different career paths. Previous research has explored which competencies are needed for future change agents in the field of sustainable development. Sustainable entrepreneurship can be seen as a promising work context in which these competencies are truly at the forefront and enacted. Several researchers have compiled frameworks of key competencies. However, their work is exploratory in nature and a more in-depth analysis of these frameworks is called for. In this study, an existing competence framework for sustainable entrepreneurship was tested in terms of construct validity, among 402 would-be entrepreneurs. The results suggest the inclusion of six competencies, which constitute a competence framework with a good model fit. Furthermore, a new combination of two existing competencies is proposed. This study has important implications for the debate on which competencies for sustainable entrepreneurship are essential on theoretical and empirical grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst recent years have seen increasingly ethnographic-focussed writings in Organisation Studies, similar developments have not been mirrored within Leadership Studies, where the field is still dominated by positivistic approaches. Various theorists have noted problems with this, often pointing toward ethnography as a way of investigating leadership from new angles. However, to date it remains underrepresented. Potentially, this could be due to the fact that leadership is an ill-defined concept, and this paper suggests developing a clearer understanding of the phenomenon – building on the work of Smircich and Morgan and Fairhurst. That is, understanding leadership as constituted by meaning-making and reality definition, which is performed through discourse (or: intersubjective talk, communication, language and interaction) as well as being influenced by Discourse (or: extrasubjective frames of reference). This paper suggests that ethnographic methodologies are apt for studying both, and may be able to shed new light on leadership practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Context: Creativity is an indispensable force in intellectual, social, cultural, and economic development. Yet societal forces conspire to erode it. Educators have despaired for many years over how schools often fail to encourage creativity, but society as a whole is just as guilty. But how do schools and society fail to encourage, or actually even erode, creativity? This essay addresses this question. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The goal of our research was to specify the specific societal forces that erode creativity. We have labeled these forces ERODE: Education, Resources, Opportunities, Diffusion, and Exaggeration. The bottom line is that, although our society claims to want creativity, it most wants it when no one is negatively affected. Because creativity almost always negatively affects some people and groups, society tends to be much more supportive of creativity in theory than in practice. We show why. Research Design: Our research design is an analysis of the forces in society that erode creativity. We used historical analysis, media analysis, and analysis of educational practice to draw our conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Clean Air Act (CAA) relies on a traditional inter-government partnership, new initiatives from local governments that fall outside of the conventional implementation strategy have created a unique public service delivery network by adding layers to the implementation scheme. Using both logistic and multinomial logistic models and a data set of 497 Metropolitan (MSA) and Micropolitian (µSA) areas, this research tests a model of network membership for local governments based on internal organizational and external network factors. Findings indicate policy problems, perceptions of resource availability, network density and structure, and socio-economic and political factors affect local initiative to expand networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Economic inequality – the income gap between the wealthy and the poor – is increasing. Educational inequity has also increased with low‐income students less likely to complete college than their wealthier counterparts. As the gap widens between the education “haves” and “have‐nots,” those with inadequate education are faced with reduced career opportunities in low‐wage jobs. This paper proposes that a self‐perpetuating cycle exists among the problems of economic inequality, educational inequity, and reduced career opportunity. It proposes strategies for breaking the cycle and concludes by identifying areas of responsibility for further research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]