Journal of International Development最新文献

As global challenges related to environmental sustainability intensify, multinational corporations (MNCs) face mounting pressure to advance green technology innovation (GTI). Although substantial research on this topic exists in developed economies, significant gaps remain in understanding how corporate social responsibility (CSR) drives GTI in emerging markets such as China. To address this research gap, this study empirically examines the relationship between CSR and GTI within Chinese MNCs, utilizing data from 436 firms listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets from 2010 to 2020. The findings demonstrate that CSR activities positively influence GTI, with internal corporate governance and external media scrutiny serving to further strengthen this relationship. Additionally, increased research and development (R&D) investment and reduced financing constraints are identified as critical pathways through which CSR promotes GTI. These results remain robust across various statistical models, including zero-inflated negative binomial regression and Tobit model regression. This study offers valuable insights for MNCs navigating the complex dynamics of green and sustainable development, emphasizing the strategic importance of integrating CSR initiatives to drive innovation.

Access to credit is one of the essential factors in improving micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) performance, as it allows the enterprises to expand their operations, which in turn boosts their productivity. However, MSMEs often face limited access to finance, primarily due to the reluctance of banks and other formal financial institutions to lend to them. Despite the significance of this issue, its impact on MSMEs' growth trajectories has not been extensively studied. Most of the existing empirical research tends to overlook the diverse effects of various credit sources on firms' performance, leaving a crucial gap in the literature. This study attempts to bridge this gap by examining the impact of various credit sources—formal, informal and cofunding—on the performance of MSMEs in India. Using data from the NSSO survey (2015–2016) on unincorporated nonagricultural enterprises, our findings reveal that cofunding has a greater influence on MSME performance relative to the formal or informal credit sources alone. These results are found to be robust across using different model specifications and methods accounting for potential issues of endogeneity, reinforcing the reliability of the findings.

Although much attention has been paid to the effect of aid on educational enrolment at the country level, there is a clear knowledge gap at the subnational level. To fill this gap, we examine the impact on educational enrolment of geographical proximity to aid projects by combining individual-level information on education from six Nigerian Demographic and Health Surveys with spatiotemporal data from AidData on the precise location and timing of aid projects in Nigeria for the period 1990–2015. The results of our difference-in-differences estimates suggest that geographical proximity to active aid projects at school-starting age increases the probability that an individual will enrol in school, at both primary and secondary levels. The effect of aid on school enrolment is particularly pronounced for individuals from less wealthy backgrounds. We also find evidence for a clear selection effect: Aid disproportionately reaches areas with higher enrolment rates in the first place.

The agriculture sector employs about 40% of the total population in Bangladesh, and empowerment in this agriculture sector improves farm productivity, dietary diversity, household nutrition status and agricultural development. However, in the existing literature, farmer empowerment and its relevant indicators have not been explored much. Thus, this study aims to find out the determinants of empowerment in the agriculture index for both men and women, considering the trends of employment in major agriculture sectors, and examines how adequacy in different empowerment indicators differs due to relevant factors in both agriculture sectors in rural Bangladesh. Using the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) 2018–19, it found that the overall farmer empowerment remained low, with only 17.36% of surveyed farmers being empowered. Younger farmers (15–29) were most likely to be in the crop sub-sector, whereas middle-aged farmers (30–49) dominated the livestock sub-sector. Empowered farmers mostly had access to agricultural extension services and vocational training. Regression findings from Logit models indicate that women are more empowered in the livestock sub-sector, while men are more empowered in the crop sub-sector. Education, income, access to agricultural extension services and vocational training influence the overall empowerment and its domains notably. This study suggests strengthening agricultural extension services, increasing opportunities to acquire education and vocational training/education, and creating more opportunities to access credit and sell agricultural products easily that may make farmers, regardless of their gender, more empowered in these major agriculture sectors.

This article examines Triangular Cooperation, which is garnering popularity in the development sector and is purportedly devoid of the old hierarchies associated with international development. The article locates this emerging mode of cooperation in the context of discussions on decolonisation and turns attention to the need to update the registers used to critique international development. Through a critical discourse analysis of an array of project documents and a reflexive account of the author's experiences in the aid sector, it explores the subtle forms of power that play out when ‘pivotal’, ‘beneficiary’ and ‘facilitating’ partners enter a project. The article argues that such an enquiry helps nuance our examination of old hierarchies in contemporary times. It thereby calls for renewed attention to Triangular Cooperation in critical development studies that is currently preoccupied with South–South Cooperation.

This study presents a novel approach to COVID-19 impact analysis, delving into the correlation between the pandemic and the unemployment/NEET (youth not in employment, education or training) rates, labour productivity levels and practices regarding basic employee rights of UN member countries and the SDG. It juxtaposes two distinct periods: pre-COVID-19 (2017–2019) and COVID-19 (2020–2022). The study also evaluates the sufficiency/necessity levels of condition variables on SDG for both periods and aims to provide country-specific inferences. The data obtained from three different databases were analysed using symmetric (PLS-SEM) and asymmetric (fsQCA) methods to ensure that the findings are complementary to each other in order to increase the validity of the research. The study's findings unveil a significant negative relationship between NEET and SDG in both periods, with the strength of the relationship intensifying during the COVID-19 period. Importantly, the absence of NEET was identified as the sole necessary condition for the presence of SDG. These findings hold practical implications for policymakers and practitioners and enrich the sustainable development literature.

This study investigates the impact of digitization on multidimensional relative poverty in rural areas using provincial panel data from China. The findings reveal that digitization significantly reduces rural multidimensional relative poverty, with indirect effects through farmers' income structures, rural industrial revitalization and urban–rural integration. Moreover, digitization demonstrates a positive spatial spillover effect, reducing multidimensional poverty in neighbouring regions. The mitigating effect of digitization on multidimensional relative poverty is more pronounced in the Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zones, regions with relatively flat terrain, and the eastern parts of China. This paper provides valuable theoretical insights and practical implications for advancing sustainable rural development and promoting shared prosperity.