In the competitive global market, innovation is vital to a firm’s longevity. To this end, organisations seek new and alternative ways to motivate employee innovation. This study examines the role of servant leadership as an antecedent to innovation. Drawing on the social identity model, this study examines the effect of servant leadership, team-member exchange (TMX) and perceived insider status on employee innovative behaviour. Primary data were collected from six manufacturing companies in Ghana. Using a sample of 213 employees and their immediate supervisors, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the discriminant validity of our measurement model. Hierarchical multiple regression was then used to determine direct and interaction effects, followed by bootstrapping tests to identify mediation and moderated mediation effects. The results showed that servant leadership and TMX are significantly related to perceived insider status. The bootstrapping indirect test and Sobel test demonstrated that perceived insider status mediates the relationship between servant leadership and innovative work behaviour. Moreover, the mediated relationship is only significant when TMX is low. This study empirically validated servant leadership as an antecedent to employee innovative behaviour. The findings demonstrated that perceived insider status is a mediating mechanism in this relationship, with TMX as its boundary condition. Full article

Conservation and management of forest ecosystems are currently largely conflicting goals in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome. At present, all parts of the Atlantic Forest are protected and commercial logging is highly restricted. However, sustainable forest management systems can offer significant income opportunities for landholders, and thereby actively support the process of ecosystem rehabilitation and protection of the Atlantic Forest. This research is intended to contribute to enhancing the development of environmentally sound forest management alternatives in the Atlantic Forest biome. Through a case study, the harvesting impact of a conventional harvesting method (CM) was evaluated and compared with an alternative and improved harvesting method (AM), performed by a well-trained professional chainsaw operator experienced in reduced impact logging techniques, and included the use of a snatch block and a skidding cone. Following a full pre-harvest inventory, 110 different tree species were identified. The harvesting impact on the residual stand was classified and evaluated through a successive post-harvest inventory. Damage maps were developed based on interpolation of tree damage intensities with the triangular irregular networks (TIN) methodology. Our results showed noticeable high rates of tree hang-ups, observed for both harvesting methods. Furthermore, the harvesting damaged trees mainly in the lower diameter at breast height (DBH) classes. In comparison to winching, the felling process caused most of the damage to remnant trees for both methods, at 87% (CM) and 88% (AM). The number of damaged trees (above 11.9 cm DBH) per harvested tree, for CM, ranged from 0.8 trees to 2.5 trees and, for AM, ranged from 0.6 trees to 2.2 trees. Improvements of the AM method (operator skills, skidding cone and snatch block) over CM allowed for a reduction of the damaged basal area, a reduction of the “high damaged area” per plot, and a reduction of the winching disturbed ground area. Nonetheless, a suitable harvesting system should consider further improvements in the felling technique, and additionally integrate the local knowledge of CM regarding forest and tree species with the technical improvements of AM. Full article

Due to the effects of global warming, extreme temperature events are posing a great threat to crop yields, especially to temperature-sensitive crops such as rice. In the context of disaster risk theory, exposure is central to disaster prevention and reduction. Thus, a comprehensive analysis of crop exposure is essential to better reduce disaster effects. By combining the maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) and a multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), this paper analyzed the global distribution and change in rice exposure to high temperature. The results showed the future states of rice after exposure to high temperatures. Our results are: (1) the areas of potential rice distribution zones decreased within the representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios RCP2.6 to RCP8.5 in MaxEnt, where the long-term (2061–2080) decreases are greater than those seen in the medium term (2041–2060). (2) In the future, the number of high temperature hazards in potential rice distribution areas increased. In the RCP8.5 scenario, the intensities of global high temperature hazards on rice were reduced because the total area of potential rice distribution zones decreased. (3) Through the view of barycenter shift, the barycenter of the global potential rice and high temperature hazard distributions showed a trend of backward motion, which meant the global rice exposure to high temperature was in a downward trend. With the background of global change, this paper has great significance for the mitigation of high temperature risk in rice and its effect on the potential security of future global rice production. Future research is warranted to concentrate on discussing more socioeconomic factors and increasing rice exposure change from the temporal vision. Full article

Cities are a major source of carbon emissions and should play an important role in reducing carbon emissions. This study applies the method of multi-scale input–output analysis (MSIO) to analyze the consumption-based carbon emissions of Tianjin in 2012. This method can estimate the carbon emissions embodied in imported products. The results reveal that the production-based carbon emissions of Tianjin were 1.52 × 10⁸ tonnes CO₂ in 2012, which had increased over 50% since 2007. Meanwhile, the consumption-based carbon emissions of Tianjin city were 2.55 × 10⁸ tonnes CO₂, 1.71 times higher than those in 2007 and 1.67 times the amount of production-based carbon emissions in 2012. Regarding the total embodied carbon emissions involved in the Tianjin economy in 2012, about 6% were from foreign countries, over 60% were from other regions of China, and only one-third were territorial-based or production-based carbon emissions. Correspondingly, Tianjin respectively exported 11% and 34% of the total embodied carbon emissions to foreign countries and other regions in China, while over half were embodied in the local final demand. Tianjin was a carbon budget importer in domestic trade and an exporter in international trade in both 2007 and 2012. However, when both domestic and international trades are considered, Tianjin had shifted from a carbon budget exporter in 2007 to an importer in 2012. Since 2007, the carbon nexus between Tianjin and other regions in China had become much closer (carbon emissions embodied in domestic trade increased 103.47%), but the connection with foreign countries became looser (carbon emissions embodied in international trade decreased 21.96%). Compared to Beijing in 2012, it is evident that there were less carbon emission transfer issues for Tianjin city. Full article

In the year 2017, about 89% of the total energy consumed in the US was produced using non-renewable energy sources, and about 43% of tenant households were cost burdened. Local governments are in a unique position to facilitate green affordable housing, that could reduce cost burdens, environmental degradation, and environmental injustice. Nonetheless, limited studies have made progress on the costs and benefits of green affordable housing, to guide decision-making, particularly in small communities. This study investigates density bonus options for green affordable housing by analyzing construction costs, transaction prices, and spillover effects of green certifications and affordable housing units. The authors employ pooled cross-sectional construction cost and price data from 422 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects and 11,016 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) transactions in Virginia. Using hedonic regression analyses controlling for mediating factors, the study finds that the new construction of market-rate green certified houses is associated with small upfront costs, but large and statistically significant price premiums. In addition, the construction of market-rate green certified houses has large and statistically significant spillover effects on existing non-certified houses. Existing non-certified affordable housing units show small and often insignificant negative price impacts on the transaction prices of surrounding properties. The study concludes that the magnitude of social benefits associated with green building justifies the local provision of voluntary programs for green affordable housing, where housing is expensive relative to its basic cost of production. Full article

Climate resilience is an important mix of climate mitigation and climate adaptation designed to minimize current and future disruption while promoting opportunity. Given the importance of the regional and local arena for consideration of impacts of climate change trends and needs for climate action, climate resilience in one community, Duluth, Minnesota, is considered. At the core of this project is the climate resilience question: what can we currently be doing in our communities to prepare for projected climate change while simultaneously improving life for current residents and visitors? Given the growing importance of outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism in Duluth, the role this sector may be able to play in climate resilience is considered. Using action research methodology, the research process of adjusting, presenting, and conducting follow-up from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Adaptation for Coastal Communities workshop is presented. The study takes a unique look at one workshop outcome, a Duluth Parks and Recreation planning tool. Specifically, a resilience checklist is presented as a useful sample outcome of the overall process. Beyond the study community, the role of outdoor recreation to serve climate resilience is explored and affirmed. Full article

This study proposes a new “three-stage technology–product–market” model to analyze the technology commercialization process. This model revises the technology acceptance model to more accurately consider the market potential of new technologies from a consumer perspective. This approach can be used to supplement developers’ own evaluations of technology. To test the model empirically, an online survey of 350 end users was conducted regarding their intention to purchase the “Wireless USB,” which uses “Zing” technology and was developed by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. The data was used to test the model using a structural equations approach. We indirectly confirmed the existence of gaps in the technology commercialization process by verifying the mediating effects of the productization stage. Results suggest that end users may not purchase a product, even if they perceive the technology to be innovative; the product purchase intention is significantly influenced by its perceived value. Therefore, developers must understand the concept of technology value for productization in order to refine a technology according to market demand. Full article

This paper explores the coupling relationship between land use and rural development to improve the environmentally friendly level of land use and attain accelerated rural revitalization. On the basis of the coupling framework, the quantitative study included the dimensionless method, the entropy method, and the coupling measure model with an empirical study in the Hainan province of China. Specifically, we evaluated levels of environmental friendliness and rural revitalization, and further calculated the coupling degree, coupling coordination degree, and the relative development degree between the two. Results demonstrated that (1) both the levels of environmentally friendly land use and rural revitalization showed an upward trend; (2) the coupling degree between environmentally friendly land use and rural revitalization was always at a high level; (3) the coupling coordination degree was improved from reluctant coordination to a quality coordination level; and (4) the relative development degree has changed since 2014, and environmentally friendly land use began to lag behind rural revitalization. This study contributes to the literature by integrating the coupling model into the relationship between land use and rural development, and the results of the article can provide a reference for China and other developing countries to coordinate land use and rural development. Full article

Syndication or co-investment is a potent way of pooling resources among peer Venture Capital (VC) firms. This is even more vital for Foreign VC firms (FVCFs) when investing in destinations that are geographically distant from their countries of origin. Although FVCFs are relatively abundantly endowed in terms of financial capital, they are distinctly disadvantaged in terms of their social capital when investing in geographies that are distinctly different in terms of their institutions, norms, and culture from their own. One of the ways in which FVCFs overcome this impediment is by investing in human resources that serve as a bridge between their financial and social capital. Accordingly, the primary aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the resources of FVCFs and their syndication intensity. Using the technique of logistic regression, we arrive at several interesting findings. FVCFs with a greater proportion of investment executives with prior founding experience in India and those with lower proportions of professionals of Indian origin demonstrate lower syndication intensity. Similarly, the syndication intensity diminishes with the increase in size of the investing team. FVCFs with greater fund size demonstrate a lower need for syndication. Greater endowment of social capital as proxied by the age of the VC firm is seen to enhance the syndication intensity. Full article

Promoting longer lifetimes and efficient re-use of products has a significant potential to save resources and reduce adverse environmental impacts, especially for products that have large resource footprints related to extraction and production processes, as for instance automobiles. Remanufacturing is a product life extension strategy promoting the effective and efficient re-use of products by replacing worn-out components with used or end-of-life parts restored to “like-new” condition and functionality. For developing remanufacturing processes, it is important to take into account the consumers’ perception of remanufactured products, together with factors such as technology and operations management. Previous research has concluded that the perception of a product or service constitutes a critical factor in consumers’ decision-making. However, there is a lack of studies exploring consumers’ perceptions of remanufactured parts, especially in Europe. This contribution analyses the results of an on-line survey (n = 203) of Swedish consumers, concerning their familiarity with remanufactured auto parts and their perceptions on associated benefits and risks. The survey revealed that Swedish car owners have limited knowledge about remanufactured parts. On the other hand, they do recognise the benefits of using such parts, without showing a significant risk aversion in their purchase decision. The survey also explored consumers’ opinion on potential measures to bridge the identified gap in knowledge, revealing that although they would trust a quality certification scheme for remanufactured auto parts—preferably set up by an industry association—that would not be the most critical factor in their purchase decision. Concluding, the article points out the potential of policy interventions to raise consumers’ perception of remanufactured parts to create a market pull for expanding their uptake, and thus increasing the overall resource efficiency in the automotive sector. Full article

Inner Mongolia, as a fragile ecological zone in northern China, is prone to severe fires due to natural forces and intensive human disturbances. The development of a fire risk assessment system at the finer spatial scale is not sufficient in this region. In this study, we obtained the data of burned areas and fire hotspots numbers for Inner Mongolia from the Terra/Aqua Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data (MCD45A1 and MOD14A1/MYD14A1, 2002~2016). These fire maps were used to determine the fire spatial and temporal variability, as well as the interactions with environmental controls (climatic, vegetation, topography, and anthropic characteristics) derived in geographic information system (GIS) layers. Based on this, the fire-causing variables were selected as the dependent variables for model building, whereas data on burned area and number of fire hotspots were used for model validation. The fire risk assessment map was then generated in a 500 × 500 m grid cell using an analytic hierarchy process approach and a GIS technique. This work could be easily used for the ultimate aim of supporting fire management. Full article

Global interest in mitigating climate change effects is a driver for the development of renewable energy sources. In-stream tidal power, a type of marine hydrokinetic (MHK) energy uses tidal currents to generate electricity and is one example of developing a renewable energy industry. Effects and impacts on fishes in areas of tidal power development are a consideration, and presently there are many unanswered questions in this field of research. Knowledge of how fish use these areas before and after device installation is essential to informing regulators for decision-making. We attempted a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) study design to compare an index of fish density near and away from an MHK tidal energy device deployed in Cobscook Bay, Maine. The index was mean volume backscattering strength (S_v) obtained from 24-hour stationary, down-looking hydroacoustic surveys. Data were collected several times per year at an “impact” site within 50–75 m of a device and at a “control” site approximately 1.6 km away, both before and after turbine installation in August 2012. Fish density was lowest in March surveys and highest in May surveys at both sites. One of four comparisons (August 2011/before vs. 2012/after) indicated an interaction of fish density with turbine installation. Operational status of the installed turbine and on-water activity disturbances (e.g., industry vessel and diving activities) varied at the impact site and possibly influenced results. Lower fish densities were observed during installation and maintenance periods than during normal device operation. The effects of construction activities must be separated from the effects of a deployed device to effectively implement a statistically rigorous assessment that could separate the effects of these different activities. This parsimonious approach and results were used for permit licensing by federal and state regulatory bodies at this site and others and can be used to consider regulatory adjustments during different phases of device operation and maintenance. Full article

In recent times, despite the importance of historic urban quarters in the sustenance of ancient cultural heritage, planned modernization of urban areas usually neglects these culturally sensitive areas. Resulting in relocations and perceived dissatisfaction of its residents, this reported negligence is partly the result of a dearth of research exploring the multi-dimensional evaluation framework for assessing the long-term environmental, economic, social, and cultural aspects of residential satisfaction in historic urban quarters. Hence, the aspirations, needs, demands, and desires of the residents of historic urban quarters are not readily known to policy makers; neither is these needs, desires and expectations are well established in the residential satisfaction literature. The essence of residential satisfaction research is not merely to report the current living situation in a given residential environment, but also to pinpoint which facets the municipal governments must enhance to improve homeownership and rental rates, amongst others. Most of the studies on residential satisfaction merely focused on the social sustainability dimension, therefore, not acknowledging the salient roles, environmental, and economic concerns play in boosting the satisfaction levels of residents of historic urban quarters. Thus, this study aims to fill this gap between theory and application of the sustainability concept in addressing practical problems of relocations and perceived dissatisfaction amid residents of urban culturally sensitive areas. It fills this gap by assessing the perceptions of residents and non-residents on the importance of the determinants of residential satisfaction in a historic urban quarter. Regarding this, a comprehensive list of 32 potential sustainability performance factors (SPF) was determined through an extensive review of related literature, based on which a questionnaire administered to 245 households residing in the historic urban quarters of the Walled City, Famagusta, North Cyprus. Also, 167 households residing outside of the quarters, to assess their perception of the criticality of the identified factors, as well as examine the agreement levels in the opinions of the two participant groups. Using principal component analysis (PCA), the 32 different factors were narrowed down to eight. The study findings show that “Cost of housing” and “Suitable Management rules” are the most critical factors with relatively high overall scoring. Findings reveal that residents’ perceptions differ significantly based on participants’ ethnicity, while there is no significant difference based on the profile of residents/social class. This study argues that clearly understanding the criticality of the factors impacting satisfaction in housing and the residential environment is crucial for planning sustainable regeneration and revitalization programs in any HUQ. The findings of this study would be useful to housing policy decision-makers, urban planners, and municipalities to understand better the residents’ needs that could aid the sustenance of historic urban quarters. The authors suggest the adoption of the framework developed by this study as an analytical, research, and assessment tool in future housing satisfaction studies in different contexts. Full article

The greater competing demand for water requires an efficient use of water resources. Therefore, an optimum management is necessary in order to deal with the constraining factors. In African countries, irrigated agriculture is the largest user of surface water resources. Nevertheless, recent assessments in small-scale surface irrigation schemes resulted in poor performance indicators: Water use efficiency indicators of existing schemes are below 50 percent, owing to inadequate management modes. The paper sheds the light on the potential development of a decision-support system based knowledge with the Mapping System and Services for Canal Operation Techniques approach, merged with the MIKEHydro Basin model as a versatile and flexible framework conceived for a large variety of applications in small-scale irrigation. The model aims to improve water service, increase irrigation efficiency, comply with socio-economic objectives at country level. In order to address the prevailing heterogeneity of small-scale irrigation scheme, numerous variables are adjusted in the model, in terms of cropping patterns, climate data, and irrigation time. The evaluation of established water balance under different scenarios showed that tackling supply-driven scheduling and distributive issues significantly increases efficiency. Nevertheless, water allocation according to socio-economic objectives of food security and market security implies trading off the efficiency objectives. Full article

Public bike share (PBS) systems are meant to be a sustainable urban mobility solution in areas where different travel options and the practice of active transport modes can diminish the need on the vehicle and decrease greenhouse gas emission. Although PBS systems have been included in transportation plans in the last decades experiencing an important development and growth, it is crucial to know the main enablers and barriers that PBS systems are facing to reach their goals. In this paper, first, sentiment analysis techniques are applied to user generated content (UGC) in social media comments (Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor) to identify these enablers and barriers. This analysis provides a set of explanatory variables that are combined with data from official statistics and the PBS observatory in Spain. As a result, a statistical model that assesses the connection between PBS use and certain characteristics of the PBS systems, utilizing sociodemographic, climate, and positive and negative opinion data extracted from social media is developed. The outcomes of the research work show that the identification of the main enablers and barriers of PBS systems can be effectively achieved following the research method and tools presented in the paper. The findings of the research can contribute to transportation planners to uncover the main factors related to the adoption and use of PBS systems, by taking advantage of publicly available data sources. Full article