In the COVID-19 pandemic situation,the need to adopt cloud computing(CC)applications by education institutions,in general,and higher education(HE)institutions,in particular,has especially increased to engage students ...In the COVID-19 pandemic situation,the need to adopt cloud computing(CC)applications by education institutions,in general,and higher education(HE)institutions,in particular,has especially increased to engage students in an online mode and remotely carrying out research.The adoption of CC across various sectors,including HE,has been picking momentum in the developing countries in the last few years.In the Indian context,the CC adaptation in the HE sector(HES)remains a less thoroughly explored sector,and no comprehensive study is reported in the literature.Therefore,the aim of the present study is to overcome this research vacuum and examine the factors that impact the CC adoption(CCA)by HE institutions(HEIs)in India.The scope of the study is limited to public universities(PUs)in India.There are,in total,465 Indian PUs and among these 304 PUs,(i.e.,65%PUs)are surveyed using questionnaire-based research.The study has put forth a novel integrated technology adoption framework consisting of the Technology Acceptance Model(TAM),Technology-Organization-Environment(TOE),and Diffusion of Innovation(DOI)in the context of the HES.This integrated TAM-TOE-DOI framework is utilized in the study to analyze eleven hypotheses concerning factors of CCA that have been tested using structural equation modelling(SEM)and confirmatory factor analysis(CFA).The findings reveal that competitive advantage(CA),technology compatibility(TC),technology readiness(TR),senior leadership support,security concerns,government support,and vendor support are the significant contributing factors of CCA by Indian PUs.The study contends that whereas the rest of the factors positively affect the PUs’intention towards CCA,security concerns are a significant reason for the reluctance of these universities against adopting CC.The findings demonstrated the application of an integrated TAM-TOE-DOI framework to assess determining factors of CCA in Indian PUs.Further,the study has given useful insights into the successful CCA by Indian PUs,which will facilitate eLearning and remote working during COVID-19 or similar outbreak.展开更多
Water availability is a major constraint on grain production in China, therefore, improving irrigation efficiency is particularly important when agriculture faces extreme weather events. This paper first calculates ir...Water availability is a major constraint on grain production in China, therefore, improving irrigation efficiency is particularly important when agriculture faces extreme weather events. This paper first calculates irrigation efficiency with a translog stochastic frontier production function and then investigates what happens when extreme weather events occur via a Tobit model. The estimated results reveal several important features of irrigation practices: i) irrigation efficiency is lower when extreme weather events occur; ii) large variations in irrigation efficiency occur across irrigation facilities; iii) the farm plots exhibit an extreme distribution across efficiency levels; and iv) water-saving techniques, technology adoption, and the maintenance of farmers’ economic resilience are major determinants of irrigation efficiency. Based on these results we propose the following recommendations: i) farmers should balance crop yield and water use; undertake relevant training programs and adopt water-saving techniques; ii) local governments and researchers should help farmers to find the optimal level of irrigation water use based on their own circumstances and provide better water-saving techniques and training programs rather than simply encouraging farmers to invest in irrigation facilities in the most extreme weather years; and iii) the income level of farm households should be increased so as to improve their resilience to natural disasters.展开更多
文摘In the COVID-19 pandemic situation,the need to adopt cloud computing(CC)applications by education institutions,in general,and higher education(HE)institutions,in particular,has especially increased to engage students in an online mode and remotely carrying out research.The adoption of CC across various sectors,including HE,has been picking momentum in the developing countries in the last few years.In the Indian context,the CC adaptation in the HE sector(HES)remains a less thoroughly explored sector,and no comprehensive study is reported in the literature.Therefore,the aim of the present study is to overcome this research vacuum and examine the factors that impact the CC adoption(CCA)by HE institutions(HEIs)in India.The scope of the study is limited to public universities(PUs)in India.There are,in total,465 Indian PUs and among these 304 PUs,(i.e.,65%PUs)are surveyed using questionnaire-based research.The study has put forth a novel integrated technology adoption framework consisting of the Technology Acceptance Model(TAM),Technology-Organization-Environment(TOE),and Diffusion of Innovation(DOI)in the context of the HES.This integrated TAM-TOE-DOI framework is utilized in the study to analyze eleven hypotheses concerning factors of CCA that have been tested using structural equation modelling(SEM)and confirmatory factor analysis(CFA).The findings reveal that competitive advantage(CA),technology compatibility(TC),technology readiness(TR),senior leadership support,security concerns,government support,and vendor support are the significant contributing factors of CCA by Indian PUs.The study contends that whereas the rest of the factors positively affect the PUs’intention towards CCA,security concerns are a significant reason for the reluctance of these universities against adopting CC.The findings demonstrated the application of an integrated TAM-TOE-DOI framework to assess determining factors of CCA in Indian PUs.Further,the study has given useful insights into the successful CCA by Indian PUs,which will facilitate eLearning and remote working during COVID-19 or similar outbreak.
基金supported by the State Social Science Funds of China (14BGL093)the Specialized Research Fund for the Jointed Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (20124105110006)the International Development Research Center (107093-001)
文摘Water availability is a major constraint on grain production in China, therefore, improving irrigation efficiency is particularly important when agriculture faces extreme weather events. This paper first calculates irrigation efficiency with a translog stochastic frontier production function and then investigates what happens when extreme weather events occur via a Tobit model. The estimated results reveal several important features of irrigation practices: i) irrigation efficiency is lower when extreme weather events occur; ii) large variations in irrigation efficiency occur across irrigation facilities; iii) the farm plots exhibit an extreme distribution across efficiency levels; and iv) water-saving techniques, technology adoption, and the maintenance of farmers’ economic resilience are major determinants of irrigation efficiency. Based on these results we propose the following recommendations: i) farmers should balance crop yield and water use; undertake relevant training programs and adopt water-saving techniques; ii) local governments and researchers should help farmers to find the optimal level of irrigation water use based on their own circumstances and provide better water-saving techniques and training programs rather than simply encouraging farmers to invest in irrigation facilities in the most extreme weather years; and iii) the income level of farm households should be increased so as to improve their resilience to natural disasters.
