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Transport connectivity is among the most important factors in increasing firm productivity and accelerating economic development. The literature generally supports the idea of agglomeration economies, although there is little evidence of their effectiveness in Africa. There are often empirical challenges, such as spatial externalities and endogeneity of infrastructure development. Using firm registry data in Liberia, this study used the instrumental variable spatial autoregressive model to examine the effects of transport connectivity on firms' decisions on where to locate. The study found significant spatial autocorrelation and possible endogeneity related to transport infrastructure, and that firms are more likely to be located where market accessibility is better. The data indicated strong agglomeration economies, indicating that the primary city, Monrovia, is likely to continue to grow and attract more people and firms, and that secondary cities can also grow with greater transport connectivity between populated areas, such as district centers.

Agglomeration Economies --- Conditional Logit Model --- Industrial & Consumer Services Products --- Industry --- Inequality --- Infrastructure Investment --- Labor Markets --- Poverty Reduction --- Social Protections and Labor --- Transport

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This paper proposes a methodology for identifying urban areas that combines subjective assessments with machine learning, and applies it to India, a country where several studies see the official urbanization rate as an under-estimate. For a representative sample of cities, towns and villages, as administratively defined, human judgment of Google images is used to determine whether they are urban or rural in practice. Judgments are collected across four groups of assessors, differing in their familiarity with India and with urban issues, following two different protocols. The judgment-based classification is then combined with data from the population census and from satellite imagery to predict the urban status of the sample. The Logit model, and LASSO and random forests methods, are applied. These approaches are then used to decide whether each of the out-of-sample administrative units in India is urban or rural in practice. The analysis does not find that India is substantially more urban than officially claimed. However, there are important differences at more disaggregated levels, with "other towns" and "census towns" being more rural, and some southern states more urban, than is officially claimed. The consistency of human judgment across assessors and protocols, the easy availability of crowd-sourcing, and the stability of predictions across approaches, suggest that the proposed methodology is a promising avenue for studying urban issues.

Crowd Sourcing --- Earth Sciences and GIS --- Google Images --- Health, Nutrition and Population --- Human Judgment --- Lasso --- Logit Model --- Machine Learning --- Population Census --- Population Sciences --- Random Forests Method --- Satellite Imagery --- Science and Technology Development --- Statistical and Mathematical Sciences --- Urban Area --- Urban Development --- Urban Economic Development --- Urban Economics --- Urbanization

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The acceptance and preference of the sensory properties of foods are among the most important criteria determining food choice. Sensory perception and our response to food products, and finally food choice itself, are affected by a myriad of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The pressing question is, how do these factors specifically affect our acceptance and preference for foods, both in and of themselves, and in combination in various contexts, both fundamental and applied? In addition, which factors overall play the largest role in how we perceive and behave towards food in daily life? Finally, how can these factors be utilized to affect our preferences and final acceptance of real food and food products from industrial production and beyond for healthier eating? A closer look at trends in research showcasing the influence that these factors and our senses have on our perception and affective response to food products and our food choices is timely. Thus, in this Special Issue collection “Consumer Preferences and Acceptance of Food Products”, we bring together articles which encompass the wide scope of multidisciplinary research in the space related to the determination of key factors involved linked to fundamental interactions, cross-modal effects in different contexts and eating scenarios, as well as studies that utilize unique study design approaches and methodologies.

Research & information: general --- Biology, life sciences --- Food & society --- sugar reduction --- multisensory integration --- intrinsic factors --- extrinsic factors --- sweetness perception --- best–worst scaling --- cluster analysis --- consumer preferences --- fruits and vegetables --- post-ingestive sensation --- appetite --- satiety --- consumer --- protein --- carbohydrate --- breakfast --- sleep curtailment --- hedonics --- complex food matrices --- sweet liking phenotype --- sweet taste --- texture --- apple juice --- consumer perception --- internal preference mapping --- visual attention --- packaging --- label --- coffee --- espresso --- hot beverages --- temperature --- esophageal cancer --- sensory trial --- preference --- trust --- choice experiment --- best-worst scaling --- latent class analysis --- hierarchical Bayesian mixed logit model --- sweet --- vanilla --- consumers --- age --- gender --- sweet liker status --- young adults --- organic food --- market --- product acceptance --- sensory properties --- optimization --- cognitive dissonance theory --- unhealthy = tasty intuition --- food neophobia --- low-sodium --- low-sugar --- descriptive name labels --- out-of-home --- catering --- sustainable nutrition --- food --- nudge --- decoy --- food preference --- sensory perception --- food choice --- multidisciplinary

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This book deals with sustainable agriculture at a time of climate change. It seeks to identify a number of solutions to deal with the agricultural stresses caused by climate change. These range from the identification and cultivation of appropriate crop varieties and the adoption of climate adaptive agricultural practices. Significant sustainable agricultural innovation is required to deal with these challenges. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) may be of crucial importance for modern agriculture. They serve to make R&D in agriculture attractive, by encouraging investment in new technologies and generating tradeable assets. A number of the chapters of this book refer to the principal IPRs relevant to agricultural innovation, namely: (i) patents, which protect inventions; (ii) plant variety rights, which protect the breeding of new and distinct plant varieties; and (iii) trademarks and geographical indications, which facilitate the marketing of products by providing protection for the symbols of their manufacturing or geographic origin. The United Nations Climate Change Panel has urged the consideration of the agricultural practices of traditional communities and some of these practices particularly involving rice, banana, and brassica cultivation are explored in the book. This book is essential reading for officials of governments and international organizations concerned with sustainability, as well as scholars and students concerned with these subjects

Research. --- Biology. --- Technology. --- Engineering. --- Agriculture. --- alternative energy source --- Ethiopian mustard --- sustainability --- agricultural green development --- entropy weight method --- spatial heterogeneity --- spatial spillover effect --- China --- rice yields --- climate change --- phenology --- relative contribution --- partial correlation --- seed security --- banana tissue culture planting material --- uptake --- banana farmers --- central Uganda --- traditional rice economics --- institutional --- socio-demographic factors --- multinomial logit model --- constraints --- China-Africa cooperation --- agricultural program --- agricultural training --- technology adoption --- dams --- agriculture --- livelihoods --- health --- schistosomiasis --- restoration --- sustainable development --- climate adaptation --- rice–wheat cropping system --- South Asia --- water requirements --- nitrogen --- direct seeding --- agricultural science, technology and innovation --- Innovation efficiency --- DEA --- G20 --- productivity --- efficiency --- food security --- digital agriculture --- smart farming --- digitalization --- digital technologies --- Middle East and North Africa --- decision making --- instrumental variable --- neighbourhood effects --- rice farmers --- risk attitudes --- spatial dependence --- agricultural innovation --- sustainable agriculture --- plant breeding --- cereals --- intellectual property --- agricultural law --- plant variety rights --- seed marketing --- European Union --- fertilizer --- knowledge --- attitude --- ease of use --- motivation --- work performance --- n/a --- rice-wheat cropping system

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The goal of this Special Issue is to discuss new challenges in the simulation and management problems of both traditional and innovative bike-sharing systems, to ultimately encourage the competitiveness and attractiveness of BSSs, and contribute to the further promotion of sustainable mobility. We have selected thirteen papers for publication in this Special Issue.

Technology: general issues --- bike sharing --- rebalancing --- clustering --- optimization --- sustainability --- bike-sharing --- public bicycles --- shared use mobility --- cycling --- sustainable transport --- Free-Floating Bike-sharing Systems --- causes of disorderly parking --- factor analysis --- sustainable mode of transportation --- bike-sharing system --- public bicycle --- complex network --- network structure --- e-bike sharing --- transport sustainability --- mobile depot --- cruise tourism --- ordered probit model --- bikeway network design --- selective nodes --- elimination heuristic --- demand coverage --- bike share --- cycling safety --- night-time visibility --- cognitive difference between cyclists and drivers --- free-floating bike-sharing system --- influence factor --- social-psychological variables --- intention --- use frequency --- post-sharing era --- bikesharing --- brand choice --- conditional Logit model --- sustainable development --- public bike sharing --- cluster analysis --- categorization --- data collection --- sharing economy --- stated preference --- discrete choice models --- bike-sharing rebalancing problem --- multi-energy mixed fleets --- traffic restrictions --- simulated annealing --- variable neighborhood structures --- BSS station efficiency --- data envelopment analysis --- spatial analysis in transport --- bike-sharing station --- n/a