2020 International Research Symposium

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A New Flow of Money Toward Social Issues: From Analysis of Japanese Social Crowdfunding Platform
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Koichi Nakagawa; Genjiro Kosaka
As a supplementary mechanism that goes beyond the limits of conventional financial systems, crowdfunding platforms, such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, have become important funding sources. Crowdfunding enables the generation of funds for business ventures that find traditional profit-based means difficult (Bruton et al., 2015; Davis et al., 2017; Moss et al., 2015). Typical examples are social businesses that address public issues. In crowdfunding, even traditionally hard-to-fund projects such as environmental protection, heritage preservation, welfare for the disabled, and disaster recovery, can be funded by people who agree with their activities. On crowdfunding platforms, money is moved according to a logic that differs from conventional financial systems. Previous studies have revealed the differences between conventional investment and crowdfunding (Allison et 4/, 2015; Belleflamme ez al., 2014; Cholakova & Clarysse, 2015; Mollick, 2014). A notable feature of crowdfunding platforms is that projects with prosocial orientations are likely to be supported (Allison ez af., 2013; Gorbatai & Nelson, 2015; Pietraszkiewicz et al., 2017). The prosocial orientation of a business refers to its attempt to solve issues related to social welfare through commercial activities (Yunus, 2009). The prosocial orientation of projects in crowdfunding is preferred because the investment motive in crowdfunding is based on altruism, whereas the conventional investment motive is based on self-interest (Allison et al, 2015; Belleflamme ez af., 2014; Cholakova & Clarysse, 2015). In line with this thought, previous studies have pointed out that linguistic expressions of prosocial orientation in campaigns have a significant impact on the success of funding. For example, words indicating virtuous orientation (Moss et al., 2015), altruism (Pictraszkiewicz et al., 2017), and political rhetoric such as accomplishment rhetoric and blame rhetoric (Allison et 4l., 2013), have been reported to foster the success of fundraising.
Cambodian Civic Participation and COVID-19
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Catherine Cecil
Throughout Cambodia, a myriad of organizations tackle diverse issues, experiencing firsthand the multifaceted challenges the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed. These challenges extended beyond health, severely impacting the economy and complicating efforts in civic engagement. Research from the Last-West Management Institute (EWMI) highlighted that the economic ramifications of the pandemic were particularly concerning for the Cambodian population. The pandemic’s restrictions hindered the gathering of citizens for democratic participation, posing a significant obstacle to civil society’s efforts toward fostering positive change. In response, civil society adapted by evaluating citizen concerns, prioritizing health issues, and engaging smaller groups in civic activities to maintain interest and participation among the populace. As Cambodia grapples with the consequences of COVID-19, the nation confronts significant economic, social, and health-related challenges. The crisis has not only precipitated economic hardships but has also made the promotion of civic participation more challenging, reflecting the intricate link between public health and democratic engagement. This context was underscored in discussions with representatives from major United Nations (UN) agencies, academia, and the business sector, emphasizing the importance of incorporating perspectives from Cambodia’s civil society. These dialogues serve as a crucial platform for sharing insights and strategies, underscoring the collective effort required to navigate the pandemic’s multifaceted impact on society.
COVID-19: Economic and Social Impact Assessment in Cambodia
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Nick Beresford
COVID-19 has taken immense tolls on societies and economies around the world, including through dramatic global impacts on trade, production and other economic activities. The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and United Nations system have all estimated the high costs of COVID-19, but mainly at the regional level, such as for ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). The UN Secretary General Report in April estimated a regional contraction of —0.1 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2020 in South-East Asia, contrasting to the predicted 4.5 percent growth before the pandemic. UNDP Cambodia has undertaken a costing of socioeconomic impacts specific to Cambodia. Crucially, the crisis operates through both demand and supply channels. Cambodia is highly exposed as it relies on a narrow cconomic base built from garments, tourism, agriculture and construction. It has a highly open economy, where exports and imports are around 62 percent and 63 percent of GDP, respecively. Foreign direct investment is 11 percent of GDP. On the supply side, Cambodia is highly reliant on China for raw materials for its garment industry and as a source of tourists. On the demand side, China is an important export destination for agricultural products. Capital inflows from China are key to sectors such as construction. Cambodia’s higher value-added exports go mainly to Europe. COVID-19 effects will exacerbate the pre-existing loss of trade preferences from the partial suspension of the European Union’s Everything But Arms programme, starting in August 2020.
Creating Shared Value in Cambodia
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Kenneth Paul Charman
This chapter presents the initial findings of a survey of firms in Cambodia based on structured interview and questionnaire to explore the intentions of local firms in Cambodia to address social needs as part of their business model. Addressing social needs whilst simultancously making a profit is a practice that would be interpreted as creating shared value. The Cambodian firms were located and interviewed by students taking the course. This was the first time that this survey was carried out. The timing of the study was highly appropriate during the COVID-19 pandemic as the sudden downturn in economic activity combined with the pressure on public services to cope with the pandemic, not to mention the concerns of the population facing the spreading threat of COVID-19, has focused attention on social needs as well as business performance. Whereas prior to COVID-19 business performance would more likely be primarily be assessed in terms of growth, market share and profit margins, during and post COVID-19 the contribution of a firm’s activities to the social good has arguably become more of the focus of attention. What the firm is actually doing and how this contributes to the needs of the community it serves is now a question more likely to be asked, rather than whether the firm has simply been able to find a profitable niche and source of growth. This survey is based on the components of creating shared value which provide a framework and is intended to provide an indication as to whether firms in Cambodia consider that they are contributing to social needs. The survey has included many small firms, a few large international firms and covers a range of sectors. Many of the firms are young, having been established in the last one-to-five years. Most operate either within Phnom Penh and/or in the regions of Cambodia. The results indicate that there is a strong sense of social awareness amongst firms even if they were not aware of the shared value concepts. The majority of the firms had specific intentions to address social needs as part of their business and this was consistent over a wide range of sectors. The survey can be used as supportive data in the development of a comprehensive framework to measure shared value based on firms’ intentions to address social needs. The fact that this survey was carried out during 2020, the period of the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to have influenced firme strategies per se.
Economic Conditions of the Cambodian Urban Informal Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Tapas R. Dash; Shruti Dash
The impetus for this study comes from a field observation on informal workers in different urban areas in the Phnom Penh city during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevailing pandemic has devasted economies around the world, and in particular, the informal workers, who are generally employed on a seasonal, casual, or temporary basis. and lack social protection, have suffered the worst. To mitigate the social and economic impacts of the pandemic on poor and vulnerable houscholds, the Royal Government of Cambodia launched a nationwide cash relief program in June 2020. It is believed that an effective mitigation program to counteract the negative impact of COVID-19 requires evidence-based research, and this has prompted us to carry out the present study. Emerging from Wuhan in December 2019, the “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19) pandemic has drastically altered the world cconomy and affected every aspect of life. While the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) views that the world has faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and emerging markets and developing countries were the hardest hit (British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC], 2020), the International Labour Organization (2020a) describes the coronavirus pandemic as the worst global crisis since World War II. The World Bank (2021) has estimated —3.5 percent growth of the global economy for 2020. The rapid spread of the virus has not only led to the disruption of supply chains and freezing demand limiting the flows of travel, trade, and investment (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2020), but has also slowed down economic activities in almost all countries due to lockdown and social containment measures. While nearly half of the world’s 3.3 billion workforce were at risk of losing their livelihoods (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2020), in Southeast Asia alone, with every passing month, tens of millions of more workers become vulnerable of sliding into poverty, including many in the middle class.
Effectiveness of Synchronous Online Learning Compared to Face-to-Face Learning Among Higher Education Students in Cambodia during the COVID-19 Pandemic
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Casey Barnett; Bunthorn Yem
The International Monetary Fund reported that global gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 3.5 percent in 2020 compared to positive growth of 2.8 percent in 2019 (International Monetary Fund [IMF], 2021). This economic loss means more people will suffer the effects of poverty. The economic loss is largely due to COVID and its effects which include safety measures such as restrictions on gatherings and movement. One safety measure implemented by countries has been the prohibition of face-to-face learning in schools. However, the closure of schools may have ongoing negative economic consequences for years to come. A study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that “due to lost productivity, one year of lost primary and secondary school learning will result in an economic loss equivalent to 202 percent of future GDP” (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2020, p. 9). Empirical studies are showing that learning loss arising from school shutdowns is proportional to the duration of the shutdown. For example, a study of national exam results for approximately 350,000 students in the Netherlands found that an 8-week shutdown resulted in a learning loss equivalent to the same period of the shutdown (Engzell et al., 2021).
The Impact of COVID-19 on Business Performance of Logistics Firms in Cambodia
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Md. Monirul Islam
Cambodia’s exports of goods and services outpaced the country’s economic growth and outperformed global export growth over the past years. Exports of goods and services increased dramatically during the past years, from about US$4.2 billion in 2009 to US$14.7 billion in 2019 (O’Neill, 2021). The solid export growth resulted in improved livelihoods for Cambodian households. Trade is a medium for productivity led growth in a small economy like Cambodia. It gives companies access to wider markets and boosts foreign direct investment. But the COVID-19 pandemic had badly affected the freight forwarding services in Cambodia, and particularly logistics firms, which are involved in the movement, storage, and flow of goods, have been directly affected by the global pandemic. For Cambodia, there was no remarkable gains in freight transport in the early 2020. According to the Cambodia Freight Forwarders Association (CFFA), COVID-19 pandemic has seriously hurt Cambodian logistic providers, with 10-15 percent will soon be bankrupt (VietnamPlus, 2020). As stated by the president of CFFA, “the dramatic decrease in buying orders led the traffic of goods and product exports to drop about 70-80 percent. In addition, more than 100 logistics firms have been struggling to survive due to the financial hardship, with an estimated 60 percent fall in revenue” (VietnamPlus, 2020). Logistics companies connect firms to markets by providing many different services, including transportation, freight forwarding, warehousing and inventory management. They play an important role in global manufacturing, which is complex and multilocational. For example, Apple inc. uses the components from more than 200 supplicrs from many different countries (Ross, 2020). ‘L’oday’s global value chain requires uninterrupted flow of goods between and within the countries. These can be achieved by firms outsourcing their logistics functions to third-party logistics service providers.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Cambodian Economy and the ILO’s Response
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Charles Bodwell
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has caused various problems and changes in our society. People are required to wear face masks when they go out and keep social distancing. There are temperature check points everywhere, and many countries are still restricting the immigration of foreigners to prevent entry of infected visitors. While those preventative measures are necessary, they are negatively affecting the Cambodian economy in various dimensions. The Cambodian economy heavily relies on tourism, garment, manufacturing and construction, which embed around 40 percent of paid employment and comprise 70 percent of the country’s GDP (World Bank, 2020). The tourism sector is one of the most severely affected industries as overseas tourists have stopped due to the border closure. Many restaurants and hotels have had to shut down, and surviving businesses are struggling to pay maintenance costs. However, the travel industry is now in gradual recovery. The Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Government of Cambodia reported that 1.44 million domestic tourists and 14,148 foreign tourists had travelled during the Khmer New Year Holiday (The Cambodia Daily, 2020), and the country is discussing the possibility to accept foreign tourists from the “travel bubble” with other ASEAN countries (The World Tourism Organization [UNWTO], 2020). The garment and manufacturing industries are other industries affected by COVID-19. The ILO states that 324 factories have had to suspend operations from 14 February to 9 June, which has affected 193,924 factory workers in Cambodia (International Labour Organization [ILO], 2020). The garment industry was originally expected to experience some downturn in 2020 due to the EU’s new sanction under “Everything but Arms (EBA)”, preferential duty free treatment. The COVID-19 crisis accelerated this downturn by disrupting global supply-chains and increasing factories’ costs to secure occupational safety and healthcare for employees.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Consumer Behavior
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Satyendra Singh
Pandemic is not a new type of outbreak. COVID-19 is the fifth such documented occurrence in the last century (World Economic Forum [WET], 2020), with total number of confirmed cases being over one million worldwide. During the last two decades alone, the world has witnessed SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in Hong Kong, Ebola in Sierra Leone, and Zika in Brazil. Table 3.1 lists the timeline of some of the major pandemics. Naturally, COVID-19 has created an unprecedented situation for consumers, retailers and governments, as they are compelled to go online and operate under the public health and safety guidelines such as lockdown, social distancing, and sanitization measures, among others.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Education: From Students’ Perspectives
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Hak Kimlong
The spread of the novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 has severely disrupted international peace and security and posed a serious concern to the global politics and socio-economic aspects. Escalated in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, the New Coronavirus has been officially declared as a Pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020, during which 118,000 cases were confirmed (Ducharme, 2020). The Outbreak of COVID-19 has been widespread globally, now affecting more than 200 countries, and roughly 52 million confirmed cases with approximately 1.2 million death tolls (Worldometer, 2020). The impacts of the global pandemic have become a turning point of global health security, which will put a larger strain to the recession of many sectors, one of which is the educational sector. Coherent and cooperative responses from all relevant stakeholders from sub-nationals to the international level are essential to jointly combat the virus and seek preventive measures to resist a global crisis. Education has become one of the sectors which has been affected by the global pandemic as most of the infected nations including Cambodia are forced to impose lockdowns and restrictions on all institutions, entertainment venues and workplaces. Schools and educational institutions are too being suspended. There was no exemption for the educational sector when it came to the outbreak of COVID-19. The closure of all educational institutions amid the global pandemic had unprecedentedly shifted the learning behaviors of students in all levels from primary to higher education. In March 2020, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) of Cambodia announced the nationwide closure of all private and public schools and universities (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2020). Particularly in developing countries like Cambodia, the suspension of physical classes largely contributed a number of impacts on education during the pandemic period as there is a wide social gap and inequality in terms of social welfare for higher education, affecting millions of youth who were pursuing academic degrees (Flynn & Himel, 2020).
The Impact of COVID-19 on Students’ Preferences of Learning Mode: A Basis for Consideration
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Bunthorn Yem
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been harmful and widespread. The regrettable loss of so many human lives worldwide and the incalculable damage caused by this novel coronavirus is one of the most tragic disasters in human history. There have also been many associated changes to work practices. One of the drastic changes caused by this pandemic in countries around the world has been the change in education, and in particular, the changes in teaching and learning modes. Li and Lalani (2020) predicted that COVID-19 has changed education forever. When a change in teaching and learning modes happens so quickly, it can be hard for both the teachers and students to prepare themselves in order to adjust to the new and unexpected environment. It can be even harder for any educational institutions or schools to prepare themselves, quickly organizing the infrastructure, supporting facilities, human resources and the like, in order to cope with the new environment and to ensure a successful and rapid transition. There are so many things that the institutions have to do during this process. Cadungog-Uy (2020) proposed that schools and universities should have an important role in supporting the learners to alleviate the potential negative impact of the quick transition. However, schools and universities should do even more to prepare the stakeholders for more changes during this unpredicrable situation both as the crisis continues and when it is over. After the pandemic is over, it is uncertain whether things should go back to ‘normal’ as they used to be before the pandemic. In their study, Lau et al. (2020) noted that observers pondered whether the future might just have become the present. It is questionable whether the present online learning environment will become the future or revert to the traditional learning mode of in-classroom teaching, or whether there will be a mix of the two, and scope for unpredictably beyond this.
The Impact of COVID-19 on the Garment Sector in Cambodia
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) Hoy Chanbormey; Huy Varene; Khou Techchung; Mao Sokanha; Sophea Pichmoninea
As of 2020, business plans, studying, traveling, working-life have been completely ruined by an infectious disease called “COVID-19” which took their first spotlight in Wuhan, China. Since it is a disease that could heavily infect the lungs, it can spread more easily and much worse and faster than expected. Consequently, many schools, restaurants, movie theaters, and other public places have been closed. With fear and concern, people have to practice social distancing, washing their hands, wearing masks, and avoiding the crowds. In the worst-case scenario, some cities were in lockdown due to immoderate cases going up. In terms of the marketplace, when everything is closed, the demands for maty products and services including clothing started to shrink significantly in the first few months. Therefore, companies, corporations, and local businesses whether they were medium or large, it somehow affected them in various ways. Some enterprises had a hard time making meet ends struggling to survive and some are encountering bankruptcy. Ever since COVID-19 existed, not only has it affected people’s lives, it also affects the nation as a whole. It is quite worrisome that most of the fundamental sectors in Cambodia such as the garment, tourism, agriculture, and transport have now run into numerous difficulties. Regarding transportation, neither imports nor exports are being traded, some countries even closed their borders for their safety. Not to mention tourism where some airlines have declared bankruptcy because tourists are nowhere to be found. The garment [actories in Cambodia and across Southeast Asia were also severely alfected by the pandemic. ‘I’he majority of the population in impoverished countries are mostly blue-collar workers because they have limited access to education, which is the reason why Europe or any other parts of the world like having their products being made here with low wages provided and they can make more profits. However, with the demands from Europe and other parts of the world diminished, these workers are facing massive layoffs and the unemployment rate, especially in developing countries such as Cambodia increased dramatically.
The Impact of E-Learning during COVID-19 on Study Performance
(CamEd Business School, November 15, 2020) An Sita; Nuon Renborey; Sorn Tithynika
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of students out of schools worldwide. The casc of Cambodia is not an exception to this situation. As the start of the Coronavirus in 2019 has caused public health awareness (Subedi et al., 2020), the spread of the virus raised concerns for schools and universitics to shut down. Countries in almost all regions around the world closed down their schools as a part of the preventive measures to control the virus. The virus has not only affected education but also socialization. As Cambodia has experienced the presence of the virus, the global pandemic has turned everything upside down; hence, its effect on Cambodia’s education sector is not surprising. Cambodia’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 occurred in late January 2020. With a second case in early March 2020 in Siem Reap province, home of the renowned temples of Angkor Wat, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS), in an abundance of caution, closed the schools until further notice. All of Cambodia’s 13,300 schools have been closed since March 16, 2020, leading many students to seek distance learning opportunities to continue their education. To respond to this crisis, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been working closely with the MoEYS in Cambodia to establish continuous learning activities from carly childhood through to primary, lower, and upper secondary education. Distance learning assets, including videos and e-lessons, are being broadcast on various social media platforms, television and radio, aiming to reach every household in Cambodia. E-Learning is a type of learning or teaching platform that depends on electronic devices and technology instead of papers and classroom teaching. Thus, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, students had to meet teachers online for learning.