Alignment Of Interests Research Articles

Host-associated transmission favors transition of a commensal towards antagonism.

The impacts of host-associated microbes for their hosts varies along a continuum of antagonistic, neutral, and beneficial interactions. Transmission mode is predicted to contribute to transitions along the continuum by altering opportunities for the alignment of host and microbe fitness interests. Under vertical transmission, microbial evolution is tightly coupled to the host environment, which may facilitate fitness alignment. In contrast, environmentally transmitted microbes spend time in the external environment, outside of hosts, partially decoupling their evolution from the host. This decoupling may misalign host and microbe fitness interests, potentially favoring antagonistic microbial traits. Here, we tested whether transmission environment alters microbial evolution by manipulating the interaction between a commensal Serratia marcescens bacteria and their insect host Anasa tristis, which are the primary vector of these bacteria into plants, where they cause disease. We experimentally evolved S. marcescens through several selection environments. The bacteria were passaged between A. tristis hosts, between A. tristis hosts and soil, through soil, or through standard culture media. We observed rapid evolution of virulence toward hosts across treatments when bacterial evolution occurred within the host environment, indicating that direct host-to-host transmission can increase opportunities for microbes to adapt to hosts and evolve antagonistic traits.

Effect of the Re-Emergence of Militancy on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Small and medium scale enterprises are the forces that help in the development of any economy and society at large. As such, any threat to its operations will impact negatively on society. In the Niger Delta region, the re-emergence of militancy has had dire consequence on the living standard of the people. Though, there have been studies on insecurity and its impact on SMEs elsewhere, however, none have really looked at the effect of the re-emergence of militancy on small and medium scale enterprises in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The rear absence of studies on this topic justifies the relevance of this study. Consequently, the study is designed to investigate among others, the effect of the re-emergence of militancy on small and medium enterprises in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The results of the study provide a better understanding of the impact the Niger Delta militant has on SMEs in the region, the extent to which the costs of re-emergence identified are present in the study. The findings suggest that SMEs especially the oil and gas related businesses, and petite traders in the Niger Delta have suffered from both direct and indirect costs of the militant such as kidnapping, bombing, assassination, robbery, and road blocking. The lack of alignment of militant interests by programme leaders explains why some beneficiaries have returned to insurgency in the Niger Delta Region. Therefore, for post amnesty programme, there is need to strengthen the legitimacy of the leadership through better management, openness and accountability, monitoring and coordination, lowering the expense of governance, and putting ex-militants' interests at the forefront of concerns are all needed to increase the legitimacy of the leadership

Analysing policy change towards the circular economy at the example of EU battery legislation

Batteries play an important role in the decarbonisation of road transport. By looking at the EU battery legislation from 1991 to 2022, policy change in the subsystem and its underlying drivers is analysed. The advocacy coalition framework is used, with a mixed methods approach combining qualitative document analysis and interviews. A strong increase in circular economy aspects is identified, going beyond the coverage of such aspects in other EU product regulations. Coalitions of industry actors and opposing NGOs are identified, but also a broadening of stakeholders involved and less accentuated boundaries between coalitions over time. Several external events were identified that are likely to have contributed to the alignment of economic and environmental interests towards a domestic and sustainable battery supply chain in the EU. Batteries can serve as a blueprint for other product groups, demonstrating that political and industrial momentum can be used to pursue ambitious environmental policies.

Reproduction of Competitive Human Capital as a Factor of Ensuring Russia's Economic Security in the Global Economy

The growing interest in the study of the reproduction of competitive human capital is caused by the destabilization of the political, social and economic situation in the world in the conditions of pandemics and the sanctions policy of the countries of the «golden billion». The implementing of artificial intelligence leads to the reduction of even the elite layer in the labor market, such as IT specialists. Enterprises of basic industries and related industries face a decrease in demand and reduce staff. The digitization of processes results in personnel reductions in sectors that provide financial, informational, and other services. Job cuts — reduction in disposable income — reduction in demand — reduction in economic growth — reduction in investment resources and opportunities: all this requires the search for new levers to improve efficiency and life security. The analysis of modern economic scientific literature shows an underestimation of the reproduction characteristics of a specific factor and investment resource — a person, his creative component in the process of its productive use. The reproductive perspective allows for the alignment of interests among all parties involved in the production process within a company, the creation of value-added chains at regional and national levels, and serves as a key factor in increasing their competitiveness in global markets. This approach fits well with the search for mechanisms to ensure economic security at all three levels: micro, meso and macro in the global economy of a multipolar world.

Stretch or Suppress: Role of Owners and Nominee Directors in Financial Distress

This study investigates the effect of various firm-level corporate governance mechanisms on the likelihood of financial distress in India. We analyze the competing hypotheses of interest alignment and agency theory, examining how controlling shareholders affect the probability of financial distress. Additionally, we assess the potential impact of institutional investor shareholding and bank-appointed directors on the likelihood of financial distress. Our findings suggest that increasing controlling shareholder ownership decreases the probability of distress. However, the effects of institutional investors and bank-appointed directors vary and also depend on the quantum of shareholding of institutional investors and affiliation with business groups. Our results offer insights into improving governance in economies with higher ownership concentration, weaker institutional frameworks, and greater bank participation in credit facilitation. JEL Codes: G32, G33, G34

Trustworthy Science Advice: The Case of Policy Recommendations

AbstractThis paper examines how science advice can provide policy recommendations in a trustworthy manner. Despite their major political importance, expert recommendations are understudied in the philosophy of science and social epistemology. Matthew Bennett has recently developed a notion of what he calls recommendation trust, according to which well-placed trust in experts’ policy recommendations requires that recommendations are aligned with the interests of the trust-giver. While interest alignment might be central to some cases of public trust, this paper argues against the significance of interest-alignment to meritorious public trust. First, political bodies and citizens can have a basic kind of well-placed recommendation trust in science advice based on an all-things-considered judgement regarding the possession of relevant competencies, responsible conduct, and a proper institutional design. Moreover, scientists’ policy recommendations can be seen as open-ended and as dynamic proposals that enable inter-institutional reasoning and political deliberation. Finally, by providing conditional recommendations, scientists can expand the scope of feasible policy options from which political bodies can choose, thus making the condition of interest alignment even less significant to the trustworthy provision of recommendations.

Horizontal Referrals in B2B Markets

Horizontal referrals—when suppliers recommend other suppliers—are a common phenomenon in complex B2B markets. For the referring supplier, giving the best possible horizontal referral may strengthen the relationship with its customer, yet it may also threaten the referring supplier's future revenues and cross-selling opportunities. Instead, the supplier could make an obligatory referral, one that fulfills the obligations of recommending another supplier while keeping the referring supplier's own interests paramount. The authors rely on role theory and its antecedents (mutual trust and referring supplier's dependence) to determine when a referring supplier adopts the role of a friend (vs. a businessperson) and gives the best possible referral (vs. an obligatory referral). Study 1, an experiment, supports the theoretical model. Study 2, a conjoint study, links the observable antecedents of the referring supplier–customer relationship to the choice of horizontal referrals. Study 3, another experiment, looks at the consequences of the horizontal referral on the referring supplier–customer relationship and shows that providing an obligatory referral can hurt the customer's intent to continue the relationship with the supplier. This effect is mediated by the customer's perceived alignment of interest with the supplier. For B2B marketing research and practice, the authors report that the supplier's dependence is critical in predicting the quality of horizontal referrals, even though an exploratory survey showed that customers overlook that dimension and focus on mutual trust when seeking referrals.

Green Building success factors: An exploratory inquiry

Green Building (GB) projects are being developed to address the socio-environmental issues of building construction and operation. The successful development of GBs is subject to a multitude of enabling conditions known as success factors, and their understanding can help render high project performance in GBs. Past studies have mainly aimed at explaining the significance of success factors for different building types. Also, there is a general lack of attention towards the identification of GB success factors. Associations among success factors also remain unaddressed. In contrast with previous research, this study employs an exploratory research design. Semi-structured interviews across six regions are conducted with 75 GB experts. The data analysis has resulted in 73 success factors and 82 sub-factors among which 40% of the factors have not been studied before. A network of success factors is developed where associations among success factors explain the reasons of their significance. The robustness of network is tested by progressive elimination of success factors from the network. This analysis helped identify success factors with critical significance in the network, which include ‘Educating project team about GB development’, ‘Proficiency of project client’, ‘Proficiency of project team’, ‘Project team collaboration’, ‘Alignment of team interest with project interest’, ‘Early engagement of project team’, ‘Project team motivation to achieve sustainable outcomes’, ‘Client’s motivation to achieve sustainable outcomes’, ‘End-users’ operation of building in sustainable ways’, ‘Early introduction of project targets’, and ‘Rigor of project design development’. The network robustness analysis has also emphasized the need of considering success factors collectively, rather than individually. The identified success factors and their associations resulting from this study can contribute to both the theory and practice of GB project development.

Perkembangan Peradaban Islam Indonesia Pada Masa Reformasi

This qualitative library research explores the role of Islamic civilization in Indonesia during the reformation era. It delves into Indonesia's historical narrative, emphasizing nationalism post-independence. Islam's roots trace back to the 7th century, flourishing in the 13th century. Despite rapid growth since independence, Islam hasn't been declared the nation's official ideology, favoring Pancasila for its pluralistic ethos. Post-reform, Islam's influence is significant, yet diverse Islamic movements emerged, some advocating for Islamic law. These dynamics create sensitivity around Islam, challenging its development amidst issues like representation, blasphemy, and the intersection of religion and politics. Consolidation and alignment of Islamic interests are essential for navigating this complex landscape.

What do contracts do to facilitate relationships?

I demonstrate that transacting parties may expend resources on ex ante contracting, which may not be legally enforceable, to help build and maintain their long-term relationships. I first introduce three legal concepts, namely scaffolding, managerial provisions, and formal relational contracts, which highlight the recent trend towards more detailed contracts. These concepts indicate that the role of detailed contracts is not to improve judicial contract enforcement, but to enhance clarity and alignment of interests and to reduce renegotiation costs, which ultimately support the parties’ relationships. I then proceed to present and analyze a simple reduced-form model, which demonstrates that the parties’ efforts for ex ante contracting are not necessarily monotonic with the level of alignment of their interests. Furthermore, I discuss recent contracting practices in Japan and attempt to provide an explanation for the lack of change observed in these practices.

Paradoxical tensions in exploiting data to implement circular economy in the textile industry

Increasing utilization of data, enabled by digitalization, constitutes a major driver toward circular economy but is not without potential paradoxical tensions. A two-round disaggregative Delphi study and analysis of the qualitative material generated in it explored these tensions. They were found to cohere around three themes: consumer concurrence, business transparency, and technology relevance. The first theme is connected with consumers’ behavior and their perceptions as to data’s value, the transparency one involves alignment of business interests and practices with data-driven developments, and the third pertains to the actual environmental impact of digital technologies used to initiate data-driven circular economy. Business decision-making should address both the positive and the negative effects, in both the short and long term. Insight as to these tensions supports discovering how businesses can successfully utilize data in their efforts promoting circular economy within the complex reality of dynamically changing business environments.

Legislative protection of agricultural land

The agricultural land (AL) needs to be protected due to the steady growth of the global population and the demand for the food, living, work and recreation. The legislation in the area of AL protection in Slovakia has had almost 70-year tradition and 5 regulations with various effectivity of protection have been passed. These regulations reflect the social relations, technical advance, legal culture, as well as the experience of lawmakers. The basic characteristics for the land protection were defined by the social relations in the country. The first years are characterized by the collectivization of land, which changed the individual private farmsteads to collective. The alignment of public and private legal interests in the agricultural sector was disrupted by decisions of the Communist party and the scientific view on the concept of land protection conflicted with the political interests. This 40-year period caused a disruption of the relationship between the farmers and the land, which has not been restored up to the present day. The transformational era is characterized by a downfall of big state farms and a transformation to the market economy. The agrarian policy after 1990 was dominated by a conflict between the efforts to restore the private farmsteads from the era before 1950 and the need to preserve the big agricultural companies, which would be adequately competitive in the free market. The last era is linked to the accession of the Slovak Republic to the European Union in 2004. Since this year, the concept of land protection has been synchronized with the scientific, political and legislative perception of land in the international area and the land protection has been a subject of a vast legal regulation. The degree of land protection is a result of multiple laws and lower regulations and decrees and their synergic effect is expected in the practice. The paper analyses 5 regulations which are focused on the AL protection, and its aim is to quantify the legislative protection level between years 1951 and 2020. The value of agricultural land protection index (ALPI) is increasing with time and it reflects the weak and strong aspects of the protection in the context of social, economic, and ecological potential of the land. The analysis monitors 107 directive, control, and economic tools for AL protection. The results are presented in graphs and the relevant information is highlighted and explained. The results show the favourable evolution of the land protection in Slovakia. In the discussion, there is a space for the effectiveness assessment of the observed regulations, for the comparison of the objectives of the individual regulations and the practical results of the effect of these regulations on social relations. The statistics of the land evolution in the observed 70-year period are good indicators for this purpose. Since the analysis shows the negatives of the regulations, it provides new impulses and can be inspiration for the lawmakers. The method used for the regulation assessment or the comparison of regulations can be applied in various fields of science.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF METHODS FOR FORMING A NETWORK OF FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS

This article compares the characteristics of existing methods for forming a network of food establishments. By analyzing three methods - Soviet, current, and theoretical - the authors propose their own method for forming a network of food establishments in residential areas. The aim of the article is to highlight the methodology for determining the service radius for a food establishment in a residential area and to determine its advantages compared to existing methods. 
 Comparative analysis and synthesis methods were used in the study. The novelty of the proposed method lies in its advantages over existing methods. The main advantage of the new method for forming a network of food establishments is the ability to accurately determine the places of food service inadequacy in a residential area by specific types of food establishments, allowing for optimal placement. 
 The scientific results indicate the advantages of implementing the new network of food establishments in residential areas, such as the influence of architects and residents on the choice of location, type and format of food establishments, and the alignment of interests between owners' profitability and accessibility for residents to different types of food establishments. 
 However, the implementation of the proposed method for forming a network of food establishments may require more time due to the large number of existing types and formats of food establishments, which can be considered a disadvantage. Nevertheless, the resulting network should provide greater efficiency compared to its predecessors. 
 The research findings can be used in the planning of residential areas, particularly for determining the need to include new food establishments in residential areas and ensuring adequate levels of service for the population.

Actors constructing accountability in hybrid organisations: The case of a Swedish municipal corporation

Coping with accountability challenges is an essential part of how actors in hybrid organisations make sense of their responsibility to distinctive groups of stakeholders. Drawing on institutional theory and a logics perspective, we explore how the strategic apex in a Swedish municipal housing corporation constructs accountability in relation to the tensions that arise therein. Our case study highlights that the strategic apex deals with the challenges associated with multiple accountability logics via the process of evoking the principals. Given the invisibility of the legal owner, the strategic apex evokes the principal(s) through the additional processes of negotiating resource allocation, compromising and interest alignment, and creating team structures. Our findings contribute to the emergent literature on how hybrid organisations construct accountability and manage related challenges. Furthermore, our analysis of how individual actors and teams deal with the tension between individual and collective actions in the accountability domain advances current knowledge of the processes through which these actors cope with accountability challenges in hybrid organisations.

War and integration. The Russian attack on Ukraine and the institutional development of the EU

ABSTRACT How does the Russian war in Ukraine affect European integration? Bellicist theories predict a push towards federation, marked by a centralization of fiscal, coercive and administrative core state powers at the EU level. But is it happening? We examine two main conditions of bellicist integration. The ‘functional’ condition refers to the efficiency gains of centralization: no federation without functional benefit. The ‘political’ condition refers to a threat-induced alignment of interests and identities that makes centralization politically viable: no federation without public support. We gauge both conditions during the early months of the war and explain why they have not pushed the EU towards centralized federation but, to the contrary, towards decentral alliance. We discuss issue-specific differences in defence, energy and fiscal policy and conclude with some general theoretical implications.

The Early-Stage Development and Content Validity Examination of Ubaya Vocational Interest Inventory

Vocational interest alignment is the key for job seekers to successfully undertake training programs. However, the assessment tool under the context of the vocational system has not been available, specifically in the Employment and Transmigration Agency of the East Java Provincial Government in Indonesia. Therefore, this research aimed to develop an online assessment to measure the vocational interest of job seekers. It generated theories and items for the Ubaya Vocational Interest Inventory (UVII) and tested the content validity. The process of developing the construct of the UVII was conducted by reviewing the descriptions of job training programs in East Java Province. The examination of content validity involved 10 panelists, and the data were analyzed by the coefficient Aiken V. Based on the categorization of all training program reviewed, the results showed that there were 20 categories of vocations encompassing 4 clusters of interests, which were services, agriculture, arts, and engineering. There were 10 items developed for each category of vocational interest. The content validity examination found that 152, 32, and 16 items at 76%, 16%, and 8% were good (V>0.70), fairly good (V = 0.50 – 0.69), and poor (V<0.50), respectively. The findings indicated that most of the developed items represented the constructs measured. However, items in the fairly good category need to be revised, and those in the poor category should be changed with the new items.

How can energy become a community endeavor in Europe? Consortium benchmarking strategies for the mobilization of collective action initiatives

A consortium benchmarking (CB) approach was used to conduct a study on development mechanisms and best practices for Collective Action Initiatives (CAIs) in the energy sector. National research teams (NRTs) were created in six European countries (Belgium, Estonia, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain) each of which consisted of approximately five CAIs, as well as other stakeholders, governing bodies, and academic researchers. In total, 32 CAIs served as case studies. Each of the NRTs co-created research questions and methodologies to address the issues relevant to the case study CAIs. The results were then synthesized with respect to the dimensions of CAI mobilization (alignment of interests and engagement, organization and governance, resources, external actors and institutions, and policy and regulation) and how they contribute to the development and proliferation of CAIs. From the empirical findings, we reflect on the usefulness of the CB approach as a tool for engagement in research and derive recommendations for how CAIs can be better supported. We find that the CB approach was effective at engaging the CAIs in the research and strengthening their networks. Such networks, as well as collaboration with external actors, are vital for the success of CAIs through assisting with specialized skill sets, developing strategies for attracting a representative and diverse membership base, for securing financing, and for gaining political and social legitimacy. These networks can provide critical support to CAIs to navigate the dimensions of mobilization and allowing for the CAI to flourish.

Are Moral Firms Committed Firms?

Abstract Corporate purpose is everywhere, but will it stay? Is it a business revolution or a passing fad, destined to go the way of so many business concepts? Reliance on the good judgment and goodwill of corporate leaders is a justifiable cause for concern, and resort is often sought instead in the apparently safe harbor of public regulation. But reliance should not be placed on governments and regulators alone to constrain the corporate giants in the face of a system that motivates abusive behavior. Instead, attention should be devoted to alignment of the intrinsic interests of corporations with those of society more generally.

Evolutionary dynamics of hyperbolic language.

Models of evolution of simple languages have typically assumed full alignment of the speaker and listeners interests, with perfect understanding representing the optimal outcome for both parties. In more realistic settings, communicating individuals will often desire different outcomes from one another. Previous work has shown that misalignment of speaker-listener interests reduces the maximum informativeness among Nash-equilibrium languages, and that multiple equilibrium languages (with different degrees of informativeness) are supported. We study the stochastic evolutionary dynamics of signaling games in which the alignment of speaker-listener interests can vary. We find that increased misalignment of speaker-listener interests is associated with a decrease in information transmission. Moreover, the most common languages to evolve are typically the most informative languages supportable as static Nash equilibria, suggesting a solution to the 'equilibrium selection problem'. In addition, our dynamics reveal the mechanism by which less informative languages evolve: words that previously signaled intense states come to be used hyperbolically for less intense states, with listeners' interpretation of these newly-ambiguous words evolving downward in response. We ground our results in linguistic data on intensifiers such as so and very, words which have unique dynamics-with constant recycling and innovation that match our theoretical results well.

Does Main Street Benefit from What Benefits Wall Street?

AbstractYes. We show that aggregate stock returns predict aggregate U.S. employment, despite the industrial composition of publicly traded firms differing markedly from that of all firms, and the representativeness of public firms declining over time. We also show that appropriately reweighted stock returns predict industry and local labor market outcomes. We find the strongest evidence of an alignment of interests between shareholders and workers in the manufacturing sector, despite its declining labor share of output. Our findings suggest that at quarterly frequencies, product demand shocks are more important drivers of industry- and city-level stock returns than technology shocks.