Search results for " economy."
showing 10 items of 1490 documents
Women entrepreneurship in small service firms: motivations, barriers and performance
2012
This article presents an exploratory study on the characteristics of women entrepreneurs and the businesses they run in the Valencia region. Following a close look at the evolution of literature on women entrepreneurs, the study shows how different internal and external factors affect the motivation, obstacles and performance of firms created by women. These results contribute towards a better understanding of business creation by women as they provide an empirical contrast of these variables (motivation, barriers and performance). Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of women entrepreneurs and the businesses they run in the Valencia Region of Spain, in order…
Factors affecting the performance of entrepreneurial service firms
2008
In the current climate, the importance of the role played by entrepreneurship as a palpable reality that enables economic growth at a macroeconomic level, and as a factor that favours the progress of companies at a microeconomic level, has made it the subject of continual analyses from many different perspectives and in a variety of contexts by researchers from around the world. In this study, Spanish entrepreneurial firms in the service sector are analysed in order to determine the factors that influence their performance.
What Do Chinese Entrepreneurs Think about Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of Popular Essays on Zhisland
2020
Entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly essential in this current era of the knowledge economy. It contributes to the innovation of products and services as well as improved processes. In the long-run, it can also improve the sustainability of the economy by depicting better efficiency and social goals. To stimulate entrepreneurship, it is essential to investigate the thinking behind entrepreneurship or what entrepreneurs think about entrepreneurship. Such investigations should encompass the mental images of entrepreneurs. In this regard, content analysis, based on the popular Zhisland essays, may be applied to elicit opinions from Chinese entrepreneurs about activities, critical factors …
Influence of volatile solids and pH for the production of volatile fatty acids: batch fermentation tests using sewage sludge
2021
The aim of this work was to study the effect of volatile suspended solid (VSS) and pH on volatile fatty acids (VFA) production from waste activated sludge (WAS) fermentation by means of batch tests. The final goal was to gain insights to enhance VFA stream quality, with the novelty of using WAS with high sludge retention time. Results revealed that the optimum conditions to maximize VFAs and minimize nutrients and non-VFA sCOD are a VSS concentration of 5.9 g/L and initial pH adjustment to pH 10. The WAS bacterial community structures were analysed according to Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of 16S rDNA amplicons. The results revealed changes of bacterial phyla abundance in comparison wit…
Introduction of the circular economy within developing regions: A comparative analysis of advantages and opportunities for waste valorization
2018
The introduction of effective solid waste management strategies in developing countries should be considered for improving sustainability at global level. Many barriers should be overcome, concerning the introduction of environmental policies, effective investments, social inclusion and public awareness, which are significant issues in low-middle income countries. The Circular Economy could represent the answer for improving current solid waste management activities worldwide, since denote the principle of waste valorization and recycling for boosting developing economies. This paper is focused on this theme, analyzing main opportunities for improving the current state of solid waste manage…
Water reuse from wastewater treatment: The transition towards circular economy in the water sector
2022
Water is crucial for economic development since it interacts with the agricultural, production, and energy sec-tors. However, the increasing demand and climate change put pressure on water sources. This paper argued the necessity of using reclaimed water for irrigation within the scope of a circular economy. The barriers (i.e., technological and economic, institutional/regulatory, and social) to water reuse practices were revealed. Lessons on how to overcome the barriers were learned from good practices. The roadmaps adopted in the European Union for the transition towards the circular economy were reviewed. It has been observed that these roadmaps are generally on the circularity of solid …
Economic development and agriculture: Managing protected areas and safeguarding the environment
2017
Abstract The establishment of protected areas has been one of the most important interventions to protect biodiversity from the threat of human activities and in particular from the agricultural traditional activities where they have been restricted at the expense of the economy of the territory sparking in literature a heated debate between those who argue the these hinder the socio-economic development and on the other hand are those who argue that is able to advance social welfare. On the basis of these considerations, the weight of agricultural sector of a country is highly linked to the percentage of protected areas even though the trend of the weight of agriculture in the overall econ…
Strawberry fields forever: That is, how many grams of plastics are used to grow a strawberry?
2020
Abstract In important areas of the agricultural sector, plastic is one of the most important tools for improving the managerial and economic performance of companies. Horticultural production under protected cultivation, in particular, makes abundant use of plastic polymers—polymers that mostly turn into waste. This study aims to identify similar organisational models among farmers operating in the strawberry production sector in relation to their intention to recycle plastic material and which factors characterize these models (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and socio-demographic characteristics) and to quantify the plastic used in relation to the different typ…
A multifunctional plant for a sustainable reuse of marble waste toward circular economy
2021
The marble processing cycle involves the production of large quantities of wastes whose disposal represents an economic and environmental concern for marble companies due to the difficulty of identifying suitable landfills and the high transfer costs. In this context, the design of a sustainable industrial plant that allows the reuse of the calcium carbonate (CaCO3) contained in the marble waste is extremely challenging. With this recognition, the main industrial applications of CaCO3 are firstly analyzed in the present work to identify the physical–chemical properties required to CaCO3 in these contexts. Later, different plant solutions are suggested to recover CaCO3 from marble sludge in…
Local hegemonies resisting a green shift and what to do about it: the introduction of a regional park in southern Norway
2017
In the Lister region in the southern part of Norway, attempts are currently being made to facilitate for a green shift. The paper discusses two different approaches towards such a challenge. The fi...