Department of Global Value Chains and Trade

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https://hdl.handle.net/10182/41

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Antecedents and formation of psychological contracts between subcontinent immigrants and New Zealand managers: Do cultural values affect their expectations? : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University
(Lincoln University, 2022) Ali Wardah
Psychological contracts take shape even before employees begin their first day with an organisation. Pre-employment experiences, perceived expectations, individual and cultural backgrounds influence a new employee’s schemas. However, this is only one side of the psychological contract; the manager also comes with a set of antecedents as the employee and manager begin to form an employment relationship. This study seeks to understand the interrelationship under the lens of psychological contracts. The main objective of this research was to understand the formation of a psychological contract framework to explore value-based expectations between Subcontinent immigrant employees (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) and New Zealand managers working together. Both parties from different cultural backgrounds can influence the perceived exchange expected from each other. A psychological contract is “individual beliefs” shaped by past experiences, culture, or values that influence the social exchange between two parties (Rousseau, 1995). A qualitative approach was adopted in this research; 28 Subcontinent immigrants and 7 New Zealand managers were interviewed. The key finding is that their respective cultures consciously and subconsciously influenced the participants’ expectations. The employees had a moral compass that influenced which direction their psychological contract would evolve towards. This is because some participants held on to some of their cultural values more strongly than did other participants. Power distance was a constant variable affecting the employee–manager relationship. For employees coming from the Subcontinent, power distance is a value that is not only limited to organisations but is widespread in their culture and society. It is related to age, gender and social class. In contrast, New Zealand observes low power distance. This difference significantly affected the employee–manager relationship through communication, independence, and feedback processes. This study also provides a theoretical framework by comparing three well-known theories: national cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 2001), cultural values (Schwartz, 1994; 2004) and individual cultural values (Schwartz, 2012). A cross-cultural star framework has been conceptualised, and the themes analysed through this framework have helped visualise and compare the individual and cultural values of the participants. It has helped connect the comments of the participants with their values. This thesis concludes with recommendations for policymakers, immigration advisors, and organisations to better understand the underlying expectations and experiences of employees from the Subcontinent immigrant culture and use that to create more accurate methods to ensure positive employment integration into the New Zealand work environment.
Mechanization in land preparation and irrigation water productivity: Insights from rice production
(Taylor & Francis, 2023-05-04) Li, J; Ma, Wanglin; Botero Robayo, J; Luu, Q
This study investigates how and to what extent mechanization in land preparation (MLP) can help improve irrigation water productivity (IWP) (measured as rice yield per unit volume of irrigation water). We employed an endogenous treatment regression model to estimate the 2021 China Land Economic Survey (CLES) data collected from Jiangsu province, China. The results reveal that MLP adoption increases IWP significantly; a higher IWP is determined by whether or not farmers adopt MLP rather than through which channel they access their farm machines; the effects of MLP adoption on IWP are monotonically increasing across the selected quantiles.
Can mechanized pesticide application help reduce pesticide use and increase crop yield? Evidence from rice farmers in Jiangsu province, China
(Taylor & Francis, 2023) Li, J; Vatsa, Puneet; Ma, Wanglin
This study is devoted to analyzing the effects of outsourcing machinery-intensive farming activities vis-à-vis using mechanized equipment in-house on pesticide use, utilizing cross-sectional data collected from rice farmers in Jiangsu province, China. The control function approach is utilized to address the endogeneity of the decision to outsource pesticide application or complete the task in-house. Our results suggest that outsourcing pesticide application decreases pesticide expenditure but in-house application using mechanized equipment increases it. Specifically, outsourcing pesticide application reduces pesticide expenditure by about 81 yuan per mu or around 0.18 yuan per kilogram of rice produced. In comparison, the in-house application using mechanized equipment increases pesticide expenditure by 118 yuan per mu or by 0.14 yuan per kilogram of rice output. We also find that both outsourcing and in-house pesticide applications increase rice yield.
An introduction to rural and agricultural development in the digital age
(Wiley, 2023-08) Ma, Wanglin; McKay, A; Rahut, DB; Sonobe, T
This special issue contributes to the development economics literature by highlighting the role of information communication and technologies (ICTs) in supporting rural and agricultural development. It is comprised of nine papers. Key findings from this special issue include: (1) internet use increases rural consumption diversity and agricultural productivity; (2) smartphone use empowers rural women in household decision-making and off-farm work participation; (3) smartphone-based agricultural extension services boost rural income growth; (4) a lack of ICT infrastructure and inadequate skills to use digital technologies are two key factors that lead to digital poverty traps for smallholder rural farmers; (5) ICT adoption increases the probability of rural households' access to credit and empowers rural women and farm households in relatively less developed regions to access credit; (6) digital financial inclusion reduces farmers' vulnerability to poverty; and (7) e-commerce adoption increases both sales prices and marketing costs, but the magnitude of increasing the former is higher than the magnitude of increasing the latter, which finally contributes to a higher gross return. This special issue also proposes practical instruments and implications for advancing the application of ICTs in rural areas to accelerate rural and agricultural development in the digital age.
Farmers’ perceptions, adoption and impacts of integrated water management technology under changing climate
(Taylor & Francis, 2023-05-05) Zheng, H; Ma, Wanglin; Boansi, D; Owusu, V
This study investigates the correlations between Chinese banana farmers’ perceptions of integrated water management technology (IWMT) and their adoption behaviours and examines the impact of IWMT adoption on farm performance. The results revealed that farmers’ IWMT adoption correlates significantly with their perceptions of whether IWMT adoption can help reduce farm workload, fertilizer and water, the extent to which the technology is easier to operate, and the extent to which the technology can generate higher economic benefits than furrow irrigation technology. IWMT adoption significantly increases banana yields, gross revenue, net returns and irrigation frequency, but does not significantly affect irrigation expenditure.

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