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Nearly one billion people worldwide live in rural areas without access to national paved road networks. We estimate the impacts of India’s $40 billion national rural road construction program using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and comprehensive household and firm census microdata. Four years after road construction, the main effect of new feeder roads is to facilitate the movement of workers out of agriculture. However, there are no major changes in agricultural outcomes, income, or assets. Employment in village firms expands only slightly. Even with better market connections, remote areas may continue to lack economic opportunities.

Purpose Economic Society 5.0 is the answer to the challenges of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 through the creation of new value from the development of advanced technology that aims to reduce the gap between human and economic problems. Excellent human resources and adequate digital infrastructure are requirements in an Economic Society 5.0. Cooperatives as community economic organizations are players in the Industrial Revolution 4.0. Because of low competitiveness, cooperatives cannot create new and sustainable income streams, particularly digitalization capabilities. This study aims to encourage the competitiveness of cooperatives in the West Java region, Indonesia, in an Economic Society 5.0 by identifying the correlation between digital capabilities, digital orientation, employee resistance, government support, digital innovation and competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a quantitative method through surveys as data collection techniques by distributing questionnaires to 386 leaders of cooperatives in West Java. Hypothesis testing uses analysis technique of structural equation modeling with partial least squares tool. Findings There are five hypotheses that are supported in the proposed model in this study. Digital orientation and government support have a positif and significant effect on digital innovation, in contrary; digital capability and employee resistance do not show any effect. Digital orientation, government support and digital capability also have a positive and significant effect on competitiveness. Meanwhile, employee resistance and digital innovation have no significant effect on competitiveness. Digital innovation was also found not to mediate the relationship between digital orientation, government support, digital capability and employee resistance with competitiveness. Originality/value This study provides new insights into the study of cooperatives as community’s economic institutions. This study adds empirical evidence of the factors that influence the competitiveness of cooperative institutions in Indonesia as a driver of the community’s economy. This study also provides practical implications for the development of cooperative competitiveness in developing countries, particularly in Indonesia.

PurposeMunicipalities seek new opportunities for co-producing services in rural areas. One potential partner is community-based social enterprises (CBSEs). However, whilst service co-production through CBSEs obscures the traditional roles of actors, it may lead to a legitimation crisis in local service provision. In this paper, the ways CBSEs are legitimised as service providers in rural areas are addressed from the CBSE and municipality perspectives.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical data combine interviews with CBSE representatives and open-ended national survey responses from municipality decision-makers. The data analysis is based on a qualitative content analysis to examine legitimation arguments.FindingsResults show that unestablished legitimacy and un-institutionalised support structures for co-production models build mistrust between CBSEs and municipalities, which prevents the parties from seeing the benefits of cooperation in service production.Research limitations/implicationsThe research focusses on the legitimation of CBSEs in service co-production in rural areas. As legitimation seems to be a context-specific process, future research is needed regarding other contexts.Practical implicationsMunicipalities interested in the co-production of services might benefit from establishing a collaborative and responsive (rural) service policy forum that would institutionalise new models of co-production and enable better design and governance of service provision.Originality/valueResults will give new theoretical and practical insights into the importance of legitimacy in the development of service co-production relationships.

Rural Tourism is a potential sector in the development of both urban and rural areas. In rural environments, tourism destinations help in communities' empowerment as well as attaining a sustainable local economic development. The development of rural tourism destinations is carried out based on the villages' potential as a tourism product attribute. The community itself is not passive but an active meaning it is not only the destination of tourism activities the organizer. They become an inseparable part of tourism products, distinctive local wisdom. The research used descriptive qualitative techniques, and the population was selected using purposive and accidental sampling. Expectedly, the sample villages have very distinct characteristics and potential tourist destinations. The social, economic and cultural factors can add to tourism potential, although the two can also be obstacles in developing the village's strategic plan to transform the village into a tourism community. The strategy produced is related to sustainable economic, environmental, development, and community approaches.

Large mining projects can generate highly inequitable outcomes, with affected communities bearing the burden of social and environmental costs while economic benefits accrue largely to domestic and foreign metropolitan centres. This raises important ethical and social justice issues, as does the finite nature of mineral resources, which can mean that current generations enjoy the benefits of mining while future generations bear the costs of environmental and social impacts that can continue long after mining ends. During recent decades two broad approaches, voluntary industry initiatives and government regulation, have been employed in attempts to achieve a more equitable distribution of mining's positive and negative effects. Both have serious drawbacks. Industry initiatives are ultimately voluntary and may be abandoned in tough economic times; they can be highly variable across companies and projects; and they suffer from serious compliance issues. Public regulation can be inflexible, is subject to industry capture, and in many major mineral producing nations a 'retreat from regulation' is reducing its relevance. This article considers whether, and under what conditions, a third and emergent instrument, community development agreements (CDAs), can help overcome the shortcomings associated with industry initiatives and public regulation. It argues that CDAs have considerable potential in this regard, but that communities can encounter significant practical challenges in their negotiation and implementation. In addition, disparities in negotiation power between communities and project developers can result in inequitable agreements, indicating a continued need for government involvement to create a more level 'negotiation terrain'.

We present new wage indices for skilled and unskilled construction workers in Italy. Our data avoid multiple issues pestering earlier wages, making our new indices the first consistent ones for early-modern Italy. Our improved wages, obtained from the St. Peter’s Church in Rome, consolidate the view that urban Italy began a prolonged downturn during the seventeenth century. They also offer sustenance to the idea that epidemics instigated the decline. Comparison with new construction wages for London shows that Roman workers outearned their early-modern English counterparts. This suggests that high wages alone were not enough to trigger industrialization.

Large and medium-scale manufacturing industries undoubtedly bring an unprecedented human and environmental crisis. To overcome these negative effects, governments provide regulatory frameworks that entrench businesses actively involve in social responsibilities where they are operating. The goal of this study was to look at the scope and levels of corporate social responsibility for local community development from the perspective of social and economic responsibility. A total of 401 local communities living near industry were selected proportionally from four Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region zones, and Hawassa city in the Sidama Region. Quantitative data was collected from local communities and interviews with government officials and focus groups with members of the local community were also undertaken. Analyses were conducted qualitatively and quantitatively. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods and regression models. Thematic analysis and interpretation were used to examine and understand qualitative data. The study found that industries' role and dedication in accomplishing corporate social responsibility objectives in the investigated area was low, owing to poor follow-up, corruption, and the government's reluctance to adequately enforce rules and regulations. The study suggests that the state authorities should monitor and evaluate the enforcement of business regulatory frameworks at grassroot levels rather than rely on reports. There is evidence showing the networked interest of businesses and corrupt state authorities hurdle the local community development should be benefited from business social responsibilities in exchange for their resources. The untold history of business effect should be revealed and remedies should be provided.

PurposeGated communities continue to spread in popularity across cities around the world. Ghana has seen considerable growth in the development of gated communities over the last few years. This phenomenon manifests in the majority new residential developments and most forms of residential property advertisement in the capital city. The purpose of this paper is to explore the drivers of gated community developments in Ghana from the perspective of gated community developers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper used a qualitative research approach. Through face-to-face semi-structured interviews, data was collected from purposively selected key stakeholders in the gated community development market, including developers, managers and consultants.FindingsThe drivers identified from the developers' perspective were the demand for gated community properties, the control over and ease of management of assets and interests, the high development/production cost of real estate and speculative development of gated community properties.Originality/valueThis paper is an initial study that explores the drivers of gated community developments in Ghana from the perspective of gated community developers. This paper extends the literature on gated communities beyond the residents perspective.

This study interrogates the contribution of corporate social responsibility to community development from socioeconomic, environmental, ethical, and philanthropic perspectives. A total of 401 households were selected randomly and proportionally from the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State and Hawassa City from the Sidama Region. Survey data were collected from local communities using the paper-assisted personal interview (PAPI) technique. Interviews with government officials and focus group discussions with local community members. Data were analyzed using a mixed research approach, where quantitative data were analyzed using a structural equation model and descriptive statistics, and thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The study found that CSR contributes to many aspects of local community development. Our empirical model confirms that proper implementation of CSR initiatives substantially contributes to social development Ø = 0.913, economic development Ø = 913, environmental sustainability Ø = 0.784, ethical aspect 0.767, Philanthropic activities Ø = 0.814, and overall local development Ø = 0.960 where p È 0.001 statistically significant level. The study reasserts and reiterates the need to design appropriate policy instruments and law enforcement techniques, in addition to promulgating regulatory provisions and legal frameworks. The study sheds light on the imperativeness of CSR for smooth human-environment and business-resource relationships. The study contributes to literature, debate, and policy implications on emerging issues of CSR-business, and development discourses. Our study passionately explores how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives by industries in Southern Ethiopia significantly enhance sustainable community development across socioeconomic, environmental, ethical, and philanthropic dimensions based on first-hand data. Well-implemented CSR programs lead to substantial improvements in social development, economic progress, environmental sustainability, ethical standards, and philanthropy. However, there is a critical need for well-designed policy instruments and regulatory enforcement to promote CSR and foster harmonious human-environment and business-resource relationships. Without this, industrial activities inevitably cause adverse effects, such as pollution and health damage, exacerbated by poor regulatory control and corruption. Industries must engage responsibly with local communities to benefit them while promoting efficient communication. This research offers valuable insights for policymakers, scholars, and practitioners on the importance of CSR in achieving sustainable development goals, emphasizing its relevance in contemporary business and development discourse and providing substantial implications for policy and practice in emerging economies.