Why is South Korea at the forefront of 5G? Insights from technology systems theory

South Korea became the first country in the world to launch a nationwide 5G network and commercialize 5G services. The Korean government played an essential role in the development of 5G, creating a tailored institutional arrangement that allowed South Korea to be at the forefront of 5G. In particular, the government set up a detailed time plan on how to go about 5G deployment and commercialization. The government also facilitated collaborative work between companies, research institutes, and academia, and strongly promoted R&D work for the development of 5G equipment, devices, and applications, providing financial and administrative support, opportunities for field trials, and various forms of incentive, including tax benefits to companies. This study analyzed the 5G socio-technical system in South Korea through the lens of technology systems theory, identifying and discussing crucial factors that have propelled 5G development and major latent aspects, such as the lack of killer applications for consumers and in vertical industries, which may potentially hinder the further growth and stabilization of the 5G system in South Korea.     

How do stakeholder interactions influence national food security policy in the Caribbean? The case of Saint Lucia

Increasingly, multi-stakeholder processes have been recognized as being necessary to the development of public policies seeking to promote systemic innovation in response to complex and multidimensional challenges, such as household food security, rural development, and environmental change. Saint Lucia, a small island developing state located in the Caribbean, has been grappling with a wide range of agriculture, food and nutrition security challenges with varying degrees of policy success. Recognizing the significance of the challenge, this paper explores the nature of the stakeholder interactions surrounding the development of Saint Lucia’s 2009–2015 National Agricultural Policy and considers some of the implications for food and agriculture-related policy outcomes. Results reveal a general lack of supportive conditions for effective multi-stakeholder processes, including low stakeholder participation levels, conflicting roles of different forms of social capital in the interactions between stakeholders, and missing “boundary” organizations capable of facilitating a transition towards more flexible and adaptive institutions, enhanced knowledge exchange and learning, and greater trust among stakeholders in the policy network. Future avenues for research and development are subsequently identified.     

Why are African commodity exchanges languishing? A case study of the Zambian Agricultural Commodity Exchange

Food price volatility and high transactions costs remain major problems in African food markets. These persistent problems provide a strong theoretical justification for the development of commodity exchanges. However, the majority of African commodity exchanges remain underdeveloped. Through a case study of the Zambian Agricultural Commodity Exchange (ZAMACE), this article explores why agricultural commodity exchanges in the region have thus far failed to develop into sustainable trading platforms and identifies the most important changes needed to enhance their performance.     

Who are the producers and consumers? Value chains and food policy effects in the wheat sector in Pakistan

We develop a disaggregated Nominal Rate of Assistance (NRA) methodology to disentangle the welfare impacts of policies for various interest groups along the value chain (to disaggregate effects within the “producer” and “consumer” umbrellas). We apply our value chain NRA methodology to the case of Pakistan’s wheat price and trade policy. We analyze the welfare implications for various agents in the wheat-flour value chain from 2000 to 2013, a period characterized by major global price volatility and by regular adjustments of domestic policies. We find that the wheat policy has generally benefitted flour consumers and wheat traders at the expense of wheat farmers, with limited effects on flour millers. Our findings illustrate that the welfare implications of policies can be quite different within the “producer” and “consumer” umbrellas, which has potentially important implications for economic and political economy analyses and for the design of policies that aim to target the poorest groups along value chains.     

Why sustainable and ‘nutritionally correct’ food is not on the agenda: Western Sydney,the moral arts of everyday life and public policy

Within a context of delivering food security into the future, dietary guidelines are being reframed, corporations are replacing unsustainable products, and consumers are being encouraged to become ecological citizens. While there is a growing literature on the food practices of ‘alternative’ consumers, ‘mainstream’ consumers are less well understood. This paper describes qualitative research undertaken in a socio-economically disadvantaged area of Sydney, Australia, which aimed to uncover consumer views towards sustainable and healthy diets. Most participants indicated a discrepancy between their desired and actual behaviours: while they want to support Australian, or local, food producers they gravitate towards cheap and tasty food from ‘anywhere’; and while they associate nutritious food with fresh food, they will buy processed foods which can be less expensive, appeal to children and are prone to less waste. Reflecting mainstream Australian political culture, participants were compromising household food budgets in order to pursue a socially acceptable standard of living (including decent housing, car-reliance). They were also incorporating the pleasure and desires of family members as part of ‘the moral arts of everyday life’. Using social theories of consumption and practice sociology we argue that food choices and practices – easy or not – need to be interpreted as part of the role that consumption plays in political citizenship and moral subjectivity. In the Western Sydney context, food practices are essentially household budget and family nourishment practices rather than nutrition and sustainability practices; a position which is not addressed in the government’s new food policies or wage determination processes.     

Does how you pay influence the share of healthy items that you Buy? Assessing differences in nutritional quality of food purchases by payment type

Shoppers that use cash as a form of payment are more likely to evaluate the necessity of an item they purchase than shoppers that pay with other forms of payment, such as credit cards. In this paper, we hypothesize that the use of cash may nudge shoppers to buy more healthful food items. We empirically evaluate whether the payment method affects the nutritional quality of food purchases. We also test whether the effect of payment type differs between food-at-home and food-away-from-home events. Specifically, we test whether shoppers purchase a higher share of nutritious food items when they pay with cash compared to when they use credit and debit cards. We use the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) data that tracks individual’s food purchases over one week. Using the Guiding Stars Program (GSP) algorithm to measure the nutritional quality of food items, we calculate the share of healthy items purchased at each event. We find that shoppers using cash purchase a higher share of healthy items than when they use credit or debit cards, and this nudging effect is primarily driven by food-away-from-home purchases.     

Why is the food traceability system unsuccessful in Taiwan? Empirical evidence from a national survey of fruit and vegetable farmers

Food traceability systems allow the consumers or administrative authorities to trace the origins or ingredients of food products. Given the expressed concerns for food safety, the promotion of food traceability systems has occurred in many countries. Although a considerable body of literature has examined the consumer responses in regard to food traceability, relatively little is known about the producers’ adoption behaviors. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper investigates Taiwanese farmers’ participation decision in relation to the Taiwan Agriculture and Food Traceability (TAFT) program; special attention is paid to understanding the roles of the farmers’ program awareness and pesticide residue testing adoption in regard to TAFT participation. Using a national representative sample of the fruit and vegetable farmers in Taiwan, the results indicate that program awareness and pesticide residue testing adoption are the significant determinants of TAFT participation. An awareness of the government’s promotion of the TAFT program and adoption of pesticide residue testing has significantly reduced TAFT non-participation by 28.2% and 21.9% points, respectively.     

Why are you really losing sales opportunities? A buyers' perspective on the determinants of key account sales failures

Key account sales are important for business organizations. Understanding why some of these sales proposals fail from the buyer's perspective has organization-wide implications for improving firm performance. Extant literature lacks a clear understanding of the process-based determinants of sales failure within a key account context. Another problem with this research stream is its reliance on data from the salesperson, sales manager, and/or selling firm, which can introduce attribution biases. Our research overcomes sales failure attribution biases by collecting data from the industrial buying center's perspective. Thirty-five semi-structured interview cases were conducted with buying decision makers following failed key account sales proposals. The result of this inquiry is a model which outlines the determinants of sales failures. We identify three common drivers of sales failure: adaptability, relationship-potential, and cost considerations. Results indicate that these established constructs are more complex than previously specified, each having multiple attributes as defined by key account buyers.     

Shortening food supply chains: A means for maintaining agriculture close to urban areas? The case of the French metropolitan area of Paris

The development of short supply food chains (SSFCs) is a noteworthy phenomenon in Europe. This paper questions whether these SSFC contribute or not to the preservation and/or development of urban agriculture in the Ile-de-France Region (Paris and surrounding areas), where agriculture still represents a major land use activity (more than 50%). Based on documentary and empirical research the analysis shows that a quarter of farms are involved in SSFC in this region. Taking different forms, these SSFC initiatives are for the majority very recent, they often develop in the frame of hybrid forms of farming. Even though the contribution of SSFC in the total food supply of the Parisian region is poorly informed, and probably very small, the recent interest of consumers, inhabitants, and territorial stakeholders in organic and/or local food is real and has encouraged various types of incentives and commitments. The development of SSFC in the Paris region nevertheless faces numerous obstacles such as the scarcity of land and labour and the environmental impacts that still remain controversial. Promoting the role of SSFCs in the preservation of a sustainable urban agriculture requires access to more statistical and comparative data, which are currently unavailable.