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There is a high expectation that urban-rural linkage in general and the function of small towns, in particular, has a great role in livelihood diversification and poverty reduction in rural areas than sectoral development. However, the previous empirical studies give little attention to the function of small towns and the livelihood diversification of rural communities. We analyze the function of a small town and participating in non-farm economic activities from a rural farm household survey of 371 farmer household heads in Ethiopia. The data was analyzed using a logistic regression model and statistical description. The study found that rural households who have road access have likely participated in none-farm activities and it has positive and significant effects. Education and FHH has also a significant relationship with the function of a small town. Distance from the small town has a significant and positive impact on the non-farm economic activities of rural communities. Overall, benefits from the function of small towns such as the provision of road access, agricultural extension, financial credit services, administrative services, educational and health services are some of the provisions of a small town. Therefore, a comprehensive integrated urban-rural linkage strategy could empower rural farm smallholders to diversify their livelihoods through strengthening small town functions is mandatory. The role of small towns needs to be integrated into rural communities. Participate in livelihood diversification strategies and achieve sustainable development goals by 2030 at large. 

As of 2020, the retail sector faced an existential challenge with rapid changes as one of the many sectors. The recent impact was noted due to the present COVID-19 pandemic throughout the world. Most customers have moved on with e-commerce platforms, while traditional customers still struggle with in-store shopping. This study was specifically aimed at the conventional customers who do in-store shopping in complexes. The objective of this study was to investigate the moderating effect of the demographic factors on post-purchase regret at malls. Two factors affecting post-purchase regret, namely, the number of alternatives forgone and the return process experience, were considered. Accordingly, the moderating effects of demographic factors of consumers who have purchased something from a shopping mall during the past two years were targeted for this. By conducting an online survey using a structured questionnaire, 383 responses were collected. Through the moderation effect analysis, the consumer career was identified as moderating variable for this relationship. The rest of the demographic factors considered for this study did not significantly moderate this relationship. The findings suggest that the number of alternatives in showcase must be limited with a sense of marketing. Further, the staff at the shop must provide proper guidance on the return process and related service by identifying loyal and non-loyal customers’ careers and lifestyles.

Nowadays, the non-farm sector gives more attention and high expectations in reducing poverty in sub-Saharan African. Because participation of farm households in the none-farm sector out of their farm activities will play a great role to reduce poverty. Cross-sectional data were used to collect data in 2020 from farm household heads of 371 respondents with the mixed methodology to investigate the effect of demographic factors in none/off-farm economic activities on gender perspective in Ethiopia. In this study, we employ a Logistic regression model to explore the probabilities of household heads' participation in none/off-farm economic activities out of their farm. The result indicated, age and education level have a positive effect and statistically significant effect on increasing non-farm activities with the coefficients of 3.406, 1.956 respectively, confirmed that these variables should take into account in policy development to increase their impact on livelihood diversification. And Gender has a negatively significant on livelihood diversification. FHH is more participants in non-farm economic activities than MHH. Credit access does not contribute to increasing livelihood diversification instead; it contributes to agricultural specialization, not diversification. Surprisingly, family size has insignificant results in non-farm economic activities The outcome indicated it has its implications for the Ethiopian policy and strategy. The government should give more attention to the progressive aspects of non-farm economic activities to eradicate poverty. Whereas, decreasing its negative impact on poorer households by controlling obstacles of non-farm activities.

The banking sector in Sri Lanka has been portrayed by significant changes in the past few decades. It is widely perceived that competition in the Sri Lankan banking sector has improved since the introduction of the financial sector reforms in the 1990s. By applying Panzar-Rosse (PR) approach to test the degree of competitiveness, this paper assesses the validity of this claim in the context of the Sri Lankan banking sector during 1996-2018. The sample covers a broader set of bank-level panel data of the whole commercial banking sector which comprised of 25 licensed commercial banks. The EGLS procedure applied in this study revealed that during the stated period, the Sri Lankan banking sector had been moderately competitive.  Further analysis also disclosed that there is no significant difference between the state-owned banks and private banks regarding their degree of competitiveness, as well as their temporal dynamics. Another striking observation revealed in this analysis is the lower level of competitiveness among foreign banks compared to the competitiveness of local banks. The Competitiveness of the Sri Lankan banking sector however is characterized by non-price competition, as on many occasions the interest rate depends on government policies. Hence, this study provides new insight into the nature of financial sector competitiveness in underdeveloped countries. The outcome of the research implies the necessity of attempts of all banks towards re-aligning their strategies to attract and retain customers. This would be the major challenge that banks face in accomplishing a higher level of competition in the banking industry in the future.   

Despite core banking, banks also engage in off-balance-sheet (OBS) market activities. In many developed banking industries, OBS activities have grown to be significant during the last two decades. This paper provides rather scarce evidence on the competitiveness among banks for OBS activities and its impact on the degree of banking sector competition in Sri Lanka. Panzar-Ross H statistic approach employing in this study to estimate bank competition used a comprehensive set of bank-level data of the whole commercial banking sector in Sri Lanka covering the period 1996-2018. The first-round analysis of the study uncovers substantial differences among banks concerning the OBS activities. EGLS panel estimation procedure applied in this study provides evidence for a lower level of competitiveness among Sri Lankan banks for OBS activities. More interestingly, the findings further reveal that the degree of competitiveness for OBS activities has a significant positive impact on the overall competitiveness of the banking sector in Sri Lanka.  These results suggest banking institutions re-visit their business models with greater emphasis on nonconventional banking activities in enhancing bank-level efficiency and hence positively contributing to the overall competitiveness of the banking sector.