Academic Debate Research Articles

Film Programming in the ussr: A Case Study of Moscow Cinemas (1946–1955)

Abstract This article presents a database on film programming in Moscow cinemas between 1946 and 1955. It outlines the place of this research at the intersection of new cinema history and academic debates on film distribution in the field of Soviet history. The article describes the data collection, the coding to present the data, and the structure of the database, which consists of the three datasets on Moscow film programming (1946–1955), Moscow cinemas (1946–1955), and the 1952 film calendar. Concluding remarks summarize the knowledge obtained from the database and introduce the Soviet case into the international context of digital data collections for historical cinema studies.

Adopting active or passive leadership in project-based organizations? The role of inclusive leadership in remote work environment

Currently, there is an academic debate on whether managers adopt active or passive leadership can enhance employees’ work performance in project-based organizations. This study introduces an inclusive leadership perspective to address this issue. Questionnaire survey was used to validate the theoretical model with data from Chinese project-based organizations. The findings reveal that managers’ adoption of active or passive leadership depends on employees’ work environment and their psychological traits. Inclusive leadership which combines the active and passive characteristics can enhance remote work performance, through improving employees’ self-leadership and reducing their family-work conflict. Results also indicate that employees’ psychological resilience stimulated by the adversities is a critical factor for mitigating the impact of family-work conflict on remote work performance. Additionally, this study highlights the issue of gender differences among employee in remote work context. Finally, this study provides valuable managerial suggestions for managers in project-based organizations to improve employees’ remote work performance.

Unravelling Elements of Value of Healthcare and Assessing their Importance Using Evidence from Two Discrete-Choice Experiments in England.

Health systems are moving towards value-based care, implementing new care models that allegedly aim beyond patient outcomes. Therefore, a policy and academic debate is underway regarding the definition of value in healthcare, the inclusion of costs in value metrics, and the importance of each value element. This study aimed to define healthcare value elements and assess their relative importance (RI) to the public in England. Using data from 26 semi-structured interviews and a literature review, and applying decision-theory axioms, we selected a comprehensive and applicable set of value-based elements. Their RI was determined using two discrete choice experiments (DCEs) based on Bayesian D-efficient DCE designs, with one DCE incorporating healthcare costs expressed as income tax rise. Respondent preferences were analysed using mixed logit models. Six value elements were identified: additional life-years, health-related quality of life, patient experience, target population size, equity, and cost. The DCE surveys were completed by 402 participants. All utility coefficients had the expected signs and were statistically significant (p<0.05). Additional life-years (25.3%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 22.5-28.6%) and patient experience (25.2%; 95% CI 21.6-28.9%) received the highest RI, followed by target population size (22.4%; 95% CI 19.1-25.6%) and quality of life (17.6%; 95% CI 15.0-20.3%). Equity had the lowest RI (9.6%; 95% CI 6.4-12.1%), decreasing by 8.8 percentage points with cost inclusion. A similar reduction was observed in the RI of quality of life when cost was included. The public prioritizes value elements not captured by conventional metrics, such as quality-adjusted life-years. Although cost inclusion did not alter the preference ranking, its inclusion in the value metric warrants careful consideration.

Interdisciplinary perspectives on multimorbidity in Africa: Developing an expanded conceptual model.

Multimorbidity is an emerging challenge for health systems globally. It is commonly defined as the co-occurrence of two or more chronic conditions in one person, but its meaning remains a lively area of academic debate, and the utility of the concept beyond high-income settings is uncertain. This article presents the findings from an interdisciplinary research initiative that drew together 60 academic and applied partners working in 10 African countries to answer the questions: how useful is the concept of multimorbidity within Africa? Can the concept be adapted to context to optimise its transformative potentials? During a three-day concept-building workshop, we investigated how the definition of multimorbidity was understood across diverse disciplinary and regional perspectives, evaluated the utility and limitations of existing concepts and definitions, and considered how to build a more context-sensitive, cross-cutting description of multimorbidity. This iterative process was guided by the principles of grounded theory and involved focus- and whole-group discussions during the workshop, thematic coding of workshop discussions, and further post-workshop development and refinement. Three thematic domains emerged from workshop discussions: the current focus of multimorbidity on constituent diseases; the potential for revised concepts to centre the priorities, needs, and social context of people living with multimorbidity (PLWMM); and the need for revised concepts to respond to varied conceptual priorities amongst stakeholders. These themes fed into the development of an expanded conceptual model that centres the catastrophic impacts multimorbidity can have for PLWMM, families and support structures, service providers, and health systems.

National Identity and Welfare Nationalism: Migration, Citizenship, and Social Policy

The future course of the welfare state in the context of global capitalism’s expansion is a subject of intense academic debate, with significant scrutiny focused on its trajectory amid globalization. This discourse encompasses inquiries into the economic prerequisites for and ramifications of the welfare state, as well as its alignment with economic competitiveness and political legitimacy. Particularly prominent is the issue of political legitimacy, focusing on the welfare state’s ability to foster social cohesion and ensure democratic governance, given challenges posed by immigration, anti-immigration sentiments, and evolving social risks. These challenges have highlighted a dichotomy within Western European societies, emphasizing distinctions between natives and immigrants based on their positioning within the labor market. Despite migrants’ potential contributions, their reception and integration into destination countries’ social fabric are often hindered by welfare nationalism and concerns regarding declining welfare standards. This nationalism manifests in welfare exclusionism and chauvinism, fueling calls to restrict migrant benefits. Conversely, welfare state ideologies rooted in egalitarian principles serve as a counterbalance to exclusionary demands, shaping debates on migrants’ entitlement to welfare benefits. Against this backdrop, this study aims to elucidate the intricate interplay between pragmatic and nationalist/exclusionary perspectives within the discourse of welfare nationalism. It seeks to achieve this by examining the nexus between welfare rights, national identity formation, the welfare state crisis, and migrants’ positioning within the labor market. Through enriching this debate, the study endeavors to contribute to a deeper understanding of the future trajectory of welfare states characterized by significant migrant populations.

The Italian Route towards Digitalisation of Criminal Proceedings. The Latest Developments in the Field of Remote Justice

The development of the remote justice paradigm plays a key role in the digitalisation of criminal proceedings as provided for by Legislative Decree n. 150 of 2022. Taking advantage of the experience gained during the COVID-19 pandemic, when audiovisual links demonstrated their potential in terms of time savings and efficiency for the judicial system, the legislator decided to make participation by videoconference a stable and general alternative to in-presence participation for a wide range of acts and hearings (including the taking of evidence) provided that persons concerned give their consent. After reviewing the milestones in the evolution of the meaning and scope of remote justice within the realm of the Italian criminal procedure the paper attempts to answer two questions: how does the new legislation fit into the academic and jurisprudential debate developed on the subject over the years? Is the current framework able to combine efficiency and guarantees in a satisfactory way?

First Rule: Keep Pedalling. Co-Theorising with Food-Delivery Workers How to Make Digital Platforms Capability-Enhancing

ABSTRACT In both academic and public debate, there is an increasing consensus that digital labour platforms can have both positive and negative impacts on digital workers’ well-being. This article has two aims: the first is to evaluate this impact through the multidimensional lens of the capability approach, taking the food-delivery sector in the city of Verona as a case study. The second aim is to involve selected riders in a co-theorising process to imagine how platforms should be designed to become capability enablers. To reach them, the research combines two different qualitative methods: a covert auto-ethnography, during which the author worked for a food-delivery platform, and a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews, inspired by the dynamic public reflective equilibrium technique. In addition to contributing to the principles that should govern platforms’ design, this article makes two specific contributions to the existing literature on the capability approach. Methodologically, it contributes to the so-called list debate by proposing a synthesising method for selecting capabilities that combines philosophical and empirical insights. Theoretically, it frames the relevant capabilities which were identified during the research under a meta-capability for meaningful work, opening the path to a multi-level analysis of a flourishing life’s different dimensions.

CEO activism is not equal to CEO activism: a typology of executives' political statements

PurposeWhen CEOs are publicly weighing in on sociopolitical debates, this is known as CEO activism. The steadily growing number of such statements made in recent years has been subject to a flourishing academic debate. This field offers first profound findings from observational studies. However, the discussion of CEO activism lacks a thorough theoretical grounding, such as a shared concept accounting for the heterogeneity of sociopolitical incidents. Thus, the aim of this paper is to provide an archetypal framework for CEO activism.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a multiple case study approach on 145 activism cases stated by CEOs and found seven distinct statement archetypes.FindingsThe study identifies four main structural design elements accounting for the heterogeneity of activism, i.e. the addressed meta-category of the statement, the targeted outcome, the used tonality and the orientation of the CEOs’ positions. Further, the authors found seven distinguishable archetypes of CEO activism statements: “Climate Alerts”, “Economy Visions”, “Political Comments”, “Self-reflections and Social Concerns”, “Tech Designs”, “Unclouded Evaluations” and “Descriptive Explanations”.Research limitations/implicationsThis typology classifies the heterogeneity of CEO activism. It will enable the analysis of interrelationships, mechanisms and motivations on a differentiated level and raise the comprehensibility of research-results.Practical implicationsThe framework supports executives in understanding the heterogeneity of CEO activism and to analyse personality-fits.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this marks the first conceptualisation of activism developed cross-thematically. The work supports further theory-building on CEO activism.

Performability of Valuation Adjustment Mechanism: Value Judgements at the Normative Level

On the occasion of a valuation adjustment mechanism, the main conflict of profit occurs between the shareholders of the repurchasable shares and the creditors of the target company. Since the introduction of the Minutes of the national courts' civil and commercial trial work conference (Minutes), the academic debate on the valuation adjustment mechanism has centred on the enforceability of the share repurchase clause therein. If the dispute is dealt with according to the literal meaning of Article 5(2) of the Minutes, it is not only detrimental to the maintenance of transaction security, but also systematically in conflict with Article 579 of the Civil Code of the Peoples Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as Civil Code) systematically. Therefore, by means of systemic interpretation, Article 5(2) of the Minutes can be limited to the case of insufficient distributable profits in order to achieve the harmonisation of the normative system.

Bumps and detours of the domestic pathway of money laundering legislation

Aim: The aim of the paper is a brief review of the past 30 years of domestic legislation concerning the criminal act of money laundering, also to summarise the lessons learned from the modifications and to outline some aspects of legal-interpretation. Methodology: The paper analyses the periodical changes of the phrasing of the act and the legal policy intentions in connection with these changes. It takes a position on the academic debates concerning the application of the offence and critically assesses legal practice. Findings: The current legislation and practice of money laundering is still not without inconsistencies. Qualification of specific acts as money laundering could often contradict fundamental legal principles, the proper interpretation of actual or pseudo multiple-offence theory, the concurring aspects of aiding and abetting versus subsidiary or collateral offences, and the necessity to justify culpability or mens rea. While not disputing the legitimate purpose of the offence, nevertheless with an expectation of a more critical attitude regarding its application, effective investigation of the preliminary offences shall not be de-emphasised, as its effectiveness is still the most effective way to the prevention of money laundering. Value: The conclusions may contribute to a better founded jurisprudence concerning money laundering, as well as it may provide guidance for future codification considerations.

The short-term effects of visa restrictions on migrants’ legal status and well-being: A difference-in-differences approach on Venezuelan displacement

Most countries across the globe introduce visa restrictions to regulate immigration, yet little is known about their effect on migrants’ decision to migrate and their well-being. I study the mass displacement of Venezuelan nationals, and through a difference-in-differences research design, I compare the effectiveness of introducing visa restrictions in reducing overall migration flows in certain countries across South America. I use a data set of 85,000 migrants and refugees − mostly Venezuelans − surveyed by the UNHCR. Findings suggest that visa restrictions increased the likelihood of irregular entry and irregular visa status for migrants while also leading to changes in their priorities. Unexpectedly, I do not find evidence of increased violence suffered by migrants who switch towards irregular entry channels in specific countries. This research contributes to the academic and policy debate on the effectiveness of visa restrictions on migratory flows, as well the literature on the effects of migration policies on migrants’ well-being.

Are authoritative international organizations challenged more? A recurrent event analysis of member state criticisms and withdrawals

AbstractMember states’ challenges to international organizations (IOs) are at the heart of the supposed crisis of our multilateral order – from the “African bias” debate surrounding the International Criminal Court, to the United Kingdom’s “Brexit” from the European Union, to Trump’s attacks on the World Health Organization during the COVID-19 pandemic. IOs are regularly challenged by their member states in different ways, ranging from verbal criticisms to withdrawals. But why are some IOs challenged more than others? An important – but so far largely theoretical – academic debate relates to the authority of IOs as an explanatory factor for why some face more challenges: Authoritative IOs may invite more challenges (for example, due to domestic contestation) or fewer challenges (due, in part, to the investment of member states and their greater capacity to resolve conflicts internally). Our article assesses these explanations using the Andersen-Gill approach for analyzing recurrent events of member states’ public criticisms and withdrawals. We do not find strong and consistent evidence that more authoritative IOs are more regularly challenged by their own member states. There is some evidence that authoritative IOs experience fewer withdrawals, but we find stronger evidence for alternative factors such as preference heterogeneity between members, the existence of alternative IOs, and the democratic composition of an IO’s membership. Our study is significant for scholarly debates and real-world politics, as it implies that granting IOs more authority does not make them more prone to member state challenges.

Division Construction Government Authority In Law Number 23 of 2014

The concept of the division of government affairs in deconcentrating and co-administration has a long history in Indonesian constitutional records. Amendments to the 1945 Constitution, especially the second amendment concerning the concept and pattern of the division of a government, have indicated that a centralized government would actually pose a threat to disintegration so that strengthening decentralization is not a weakening of Indonesia, but an effort to strengthen it. In other words, the choice to use the concept of autonomy as broadly as possible should be understood as a way to build a just balance between central and regional power relations. One of the issues regarding the constitutionality of regional government that has become a space for academic debate after the issuance of Law No. 23 of 2014 concerning Trade Law relates to the concept of the division of government affairs between government structures. Moving on from the point of view of State Constitutional Law and State Administrative Law, the analysis will be directed at the parameters used to construct the division of authority between government structures based on executive power (Article 4 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia) or based on the authority stipulated by the constitution. In another part, Law Number 23 of 2014 has reduced the essence of the concept of deconcentrating which previously was only carried out by the Governor, now it is also carried out by the Regent/Mayor. In such a concept, the problem is how to juxtapose the decentralization method with other methods such as deconcentrating and co-administration and institutionalization of the three principles.

Redes do imperialismo na agenda do combate à desinformação

In less than a decade, a new paradigm, which argued that the world was experiencing an “information disorder”, took the international academic debate by storm. This study explores the hypothesis that forces outside academia sponsored the emergence of this new paradigm and seeks to investigate what were these forces, how they acted, and what their objectives were. This study argues that the expansion of the information disorder paradigm constitutes a process of intellectual imperialism that mainly aims to provide institutions based in the United States and its allies with the global authority to define what is or is not disinformation.

From MilkingBots to RoboDolphins: How AI changes human-animal relations and enables alienation towards animals

Technologies, especially disruptive technologies, have a great potential to change and reshape human-human as well as human-technology relations. This creates various ethical challenges that need to be addressed. However, technologies also have great potential to change human-animal relations. Since this aspect is underexplored in the academic debate on technologies’ impact on relations, we believe that it is important to (1), descriptively, study how new and emerging technologies impact human-animal relations, and (2), normatively, to enrich the debate with a non-anthropocentric perspective that recognizes that human-animal relations also have moral significance. Therefore, in this paper we investigate how artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and robotics impact human-animal relations, and we discuss the moral significance of these changes. AI technologies change human-animal relations due to, first, automation, and second, replacement processes. Automation processes mainly take place in the animal agriculture sector, and the replacement of biological animals with artificial AI-driven animals mainly in the context of zoos, companion animals and laboratories. We address both processes (automation and replacement), thereby providing an overview of how the use of AI technologies will—or can—change human-animal relations, at both the individual and societal levels. While doing so, we highlight the morally significant aspects that come along with such changes and provide first thoughts on which uses of AI are welcomed from a perspective of human-animal relations.

Political and relational co-creation for inclusive tourism development

ABSTRACT Co-creation between public actors across organisational borders and hierarchies, as well as between public, private, civic and academic stakeholders has become norm and an ideological tool in tourism research and management. As co-creation entails issues of power and accountability, it is a political act and some entities, not least certain public actors, have the ability to affect the agency of others. This paper concerns the lack of policy and academic debates on who participates and how the diversity of actors are involved in tourism co-creation. The purpose is to critically explore the agency and relationships involved in multi-level co-creation for tourism development. We specifically point to agency connected to people’s different positionalities and preconditions for participating, and how the ways that people practise agency affect relational work. We use an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, integrating tourism literature on co-creation with critical tourism and diversity studies, and a case of multi-level co-creation for inclusive tourism development in a Swedish municipality. Through the study, the “who” in co-creation is widened, and the “how” expands into suggestions for just inclusion of minorities. Ensuring in-depth understanding of abstract concepts such as diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism is essential to follow policies for co-creation with action.

The contribution of academic inventors to regional technological diversification: the Italian evidence

Abstract This article investigates the interplay between scientific and technological capabilities in regional technological diversification dynamics by looking at the contributions of academic inventors. Combining the evolutionary economic approach and the theories on regional innovation capabilities on the one hand, and the distinctive features of academic inventors and university–industry patenting on the other, we hypothesize that the participation of university-based inventors to local patenting activity positively influences the chance of regional technological diversification and mitigates the path dependency engendered by the constraining role of the technological relatedness. In addition, we hypothesize that academic inventors tend to push regional technological trajectories towards their portfolio of specializations, hence allowing a process of technological convergence. The empirical results highlight the key role of academic institutions in the development of new regional technological trajectories while contributing to the academic and policy debate on regional diversification strategies.

A curvilinear assessment of innovation in Six Sigma project teams: the influence of psychological safety and intrinsic motivation

PurposeTo investigate the factors affecting innovation in Six Sigma improvement teams. Based on Activation Theory, this study explores the possibility of an inverted U-shaped association between psychological safety and innovation and examines how intrinsic motivation moderates this relationship.Design/methodology/approachModerated regression analysis is carried out to test the curvilinear relationship, using data collected from 324 members of 102 Six Sigma improvement teams from two European manufacturing firms.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that the beneficial effect of psychological safety reaches an inflection point, after which its relations with innovation cease to be linear and positive; this gives the relationship a curvilinear pattern (inverted U-shaped). Further, intrinsic motivation has a supportive effect in enhancing the beneficial impact of psychological safety on innovation, and in shifting the inflection points to a higher level; this demonstrates their synergetic influence on innovation.Originality/valueThe impact of psychological safety on innovation is examined from the new perspective of a curvilinear relationship. This is one of the first studies to investigate the combined effects of individual (intrinsic motivation) and team-level antecedents (psychological safety) on innovation in Six Sigma teams. The study provides insights into how Six Sigma enhances innovation and offers some valid inputs to the current academic debate on this topic.

What is race? Epistemic ambiguity and liberal international order

Abstract There is increasing interest in how anticolonial actors advanced a norm of racial equality in mid-century formations of liberal international order (LIO). Less attention, however, is afforded to simultaneous epistemic conflicts over the scientific object of ‘race’ and their political effects. During postwar order-building and alongside political struggles for racial equality, there was wide and deep scientific debate on the analytical utility of race as a means to categorize human diversity. Race, I demonstrate, was rendered as epistemically ambiguous, caught between social scientists and philosophers who understood it as a social construct akin to ethnicity and natural scientists who maintained a biological basis. This split was not confined to academic debate but shaped political and normative struggles over the institutionalization of racial equality in LIO. Adopting an object-oriented approach, I argue that the epistemic ambiguity of race generated political effects, at once permitting the reproduction of colonial logics in LIO as well as providing latitude for strategies of resistance. Rather than a linear causal effect, I empirically map the work that epistemic ambiguity performed in the creation of mid-century international order.

Commentary-A Military Health Care Ethics Framework.

Ethical practice within military health care is a significant topic of professional and academic debate. The term "military health care ethics" enfranchises the entire health care team. Military health care professionals are subject to tension between their duties as military personnel, and their ethical duties as health care professionals, so-called "Dual Loyalty." Some military health care practitioners have suffered moral injury because of the psychological stress associated with ethical challenges on military operations. It is important to define military health care ethics and also to consider how it should be taught. The essence of ethical practice is ethical decision-making. It has become self-evident from our experience of teaching military health care ethics that a simple and agreed framework for analyzing an ethical problem is required. This paper describes the development of the King's Military Healthcare Ethics Framework in support of a military health care ethics policy on behalf of the NATO Military Healthcare Working Group. There is logic to using a stepped approach to analyze an ethical problem in military health care. These steps are: "Identify" the problem, "Analyze" the problem including consideration of perspectives, "Fuse" the analysis, and "Decide". Step 1-Identify-is intended to orientate the decision-making group, and to articulate the problem specifically and clearly in order to determine the exact ethical issue and the secondary issues that arise. Step 2-Analyse-considers the problem from 4 perspectives: patient, clinical, legal, and societal/military. These reflect the breadth of perspectives that impact on health care practice within a military context. Step 3-Fuse-is the culminating step. The conclusions from the analysis of perspectives should be summarized and key references cited. This will determine the exact decision(s) to be made. Step 4-Decide-clearly articulates the decision made and provides the record of the key reasons for making that decision. This may include areas of enduring uncertainly and any planned review of the decision. The King's Military Healthcare Ethics Analytical Framework has been evaluated for content validity through iterative discussion at 4 meetings of the NATO MHCWG and a specific workshop on military health care ethics over 2022/2023. It is included within the draft NATO Standardization Agreement on Military Healthcare Ethics.