Managing Global Transitions

Abstracts in Slovene

2024-07-04T09:44:48+02:00

State Antiquity and Early Agricultural Transition as Deep Roots of Economic Development in Africa

2024-06-24T11:12:33+02:00

The study seeks to provide insights into the deeper causes of differences in income levels amongst African countries by examining whether state history and agricultural transition, as proposed deep roots of economic development, can explain modern income levels in Africa. We estimated cross-sectional growth regressions between modern per capita GDP levels,
deep root factors and other controls for a sample of 49 countries. We further estimate two-staged least squares (2SLS) regressions to examine whether early technology serves as a possible transmission channel from early states and agricultural history to modern growth. Our results show a U-shaped relationship between agriculture history and income levels in which countries that transitioned more than 4,000 years ago were able to take advantage of early technology to gain a development head start. Countries which transitioned at later dates could not take advantage of early technology and experienced a ‘reversal-of-fortunes’ effect.

Examining the Determinants of Renewable Energy Consumption in the Southern African Power Pool

2024-06-24T11:29:39+02:00

The main factors influencing the Southern African Power Pool’s (SAPP) usage of renewable energy are examined in this article. The 12 nations that constitute the SAPP are the sources of the data from 1988 to 2018. The effect of GDP, gross fixed capital formation, labour, trade, and non-renewable energy on renewable energy in SAPP is estimated using the panel ARDL method. The empirical findings suggest that, in the long run, all coefficients of explanatory variables have positive signs, except for gross fixed capital formation and non-renewable energy, which have negative signs. Furthermore, all results were statistically significant at one to five percent. This implies that the reduction in renewable energy in the SAPP is caused by non-renewable energy and gross fixed capital formation in the long run, but not by any other explanatory variable. The results also showed that each SAPP member country’s impact on renewable energy was varied. The SAPP could, therefore, encourage the adoption of renewable energy sources through the results presented in this report. Based on these findings, the study suggests that economic policies that hasten economic development and growth will increase renewable energy consumption.

Work-Related Alcohol Consumption: An Analysis of Motivators and Responses across Cultures

2024-06-24T11:35:46+02:00

While research into alcohol abuse is abundant, the science of how differing cultures view and respond to mild work-related alcohol consumption has been scientifically neglected. This article displays results from surveys conducted over a 7-year period and pivots around the cultural dimensions ‘Power distance’, ‘Individualism’, Indulgence’ and ‘Interpersonal trust’ which are correlated with motivators, responses and acceptance levels of mild work-related alcohol consumption. The strongest motivator for participating in mild work-related drinking was ‘To celebrate with colleagues’, which achieved significance with all cultural dimensions except power distance, which in contrast, achieved significance with the motivator ‘To bring out the real character’ of the counterpart. Power distance also correlated strongly with negative emotions regarding the refusal of a drink when offered by a senior. Altogether, 52 correlation tests were conducted of which 18 achieved significance. We believe that a better understanding of this topic will increase the likelihood of obtaining a harmonious workplace that lessens employee misunderstandings and conflict.

The Impact of Social Media on Business Performance of Women Entrepreneurs and their Empowerment: A Mixed Methods Study in the Context of Sri Lanka

2024-06-24T11:45:47+02:00

The impact of social media on business performance of women entrepreneurs and their empowerment is examined in this research. Focusing on Sri Lanka, two research questions are addressed: (1) How are social media platforms empowering women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka today, and (2) How can the use of social media be improved to support women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka? A mixed-methods approach was used, with a survey (157 responses) and an online focus group (5 respondents) discussion. The statistical findings showed that business performance of women entrepreneurs mediates the relationship between use of social media and women’s empowerment. Qualitative analysis revealed that the use of social media transforms mindsets, facilitates knowledge sharing, provides motivation, supports business operations, promotes gender-neutral branding, and enables networking for women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka to enhance the performance of their businesses, leading to empowerment. To enhance support, social media platforms should prioritize motivation, targeted networking, professional courses, and robust security measures.