Asymmetric Relationship Research Articles

How to avoid profiles of failure when supporting entrepreneurs in an economic crisis

Purpose In times of economic crisis, many eyes turn to entrepreneurship, which has become a key element of the economy. Consequently, interest in supporting entrepreneurs has increased. This study aims to detect the configurations of success or failure that may help entrepreneurs’ public orientation. Design/methodology/approach This study used data from the latest economic crisis in a region with high levels of unemployment. The authors studied 2,210 entrepreneurs from Andalusia (Spain). From each, the authors analysed 207 variables and applied the fuzzy version of qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). This methodology allowed the authors to infer causality between combinations of factors and positive/negative effects. Findings The authors concluded that there are at least two profiles that should be avoided when starting a business; both refer to projects in quite attractive sectors: an environment with high concentration and survival rates, and when not enough education or high assets turnover is expected. Research limitations/implications It was difficult to obtain a complete database to replicate a study in another region. Moreover, the data corresponded to a period of economic crisis, and the results may not be valid for a more favourable period. Regarding the implications, there have been several unsuccessful attempts in the literature to find a linear association between factors and entrepreneurial success. For instance, linear regressions do not allow us to properly relate the simultaneous presence/absence of various characteristics to success/failure; hence, it is necessary to consider the non-linear and asymmetric relationships between the variables. Practical implications The most attractive sectors for entrepreneurs carry considerable risk for the success of the future business, since “greed clouds judgment”, and high expectations can outweigh other motivations. Support services should filter out candidates with insufficient training or excessive expectations. Originality/value The techniques used in this study allow the consideration of explanatory variables that are not independent of each other, and the subjective aspects of some of the analysed characteristics are examined.

Unveiling an asymmetric relationship between global crude oil and local food prices in an oil-importing economy

AbstractRecent swift comovements of local food and global crude oil prices have attracted the attention of policymakers and researchers. To evaluate this relationship, many studies have used time series models to explore global crude oil and local food prices. However, robust research based on advanced nonlinear time series models that incorporate control variables for their formation is lacking. In this paper, nonlinear techniques are applied to assess the asymmetric nexus between Brent oil prices and local retail food prices in Slovakia. To estimate this value, we extend the single-threshold NARDL approach to the MTNARDL model. The nominal exchange rate and industrial production index are used as the control variables. Compared with conventional NARDL models, the MTNARDL model provides a more detailed representation of global oil‒local food price linkages and detects the asymmetric effect of global oil prices on food prices from both long- and short-term perspectives. Interestingly, with respect to long- and short-term food price volatility, changes in response to oil price fluctuations are greatest under a regime with rather a small number of positive and moderate changes.

The Quest for "How to do Hybrid right": Moving Beyond Compensating Asymmetries to Experience-Driven Cooperation

Hybrid work has become increasingly popular in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite its popularity, many organisations still strive to find an answer to "how to do hybrid cooperation right''. Enabling collaboration across digital and physical workspaces, participants, and practices is a great challenge, as it inevitably introduces asymmetric relations, incongruences in frames of reference, and misaligned ecosystems and technical infrastructures. The paper investigates approaches used to manage asymmetries in hybrid work settings and their impact on cooperation. Through a multi-sited ethnographic study, we reveal a prevalent reliance on mimicking tools and practices native to fully physical or fully digital settings in the hybrid space. These mimicking practices often arise because the hybrid work setting is viewed through a deficit lens, whereby it is perceived as lacking certain elements (e.g., body, voice, mobility) and access to modalities from especially the physical setting, thereby necessitating the need for compensation work. To provide vocabulary to conceptualize and articulate this type of practice, we introduce the concept compensation work, referring to work that is carried out to offset a deficiency or absence that has been identified, aiming to restore and re-establish a familiar state that has vanished. While compensating through mimicking is intuitive, such approaches assume that our known practices and interactions from the physical workspace can indeed be translated to another context, neglecting the fact that changing the medium inevitably impacts the message. Thus, cooperative practices and interactions taking place in the physical workspace do not remain the same when unfolding in the hybrid space. Finally, we suggest that in order to design technologies and practices that support hybrid cooperation we first need to acknowledge the hybrid workspace as a distinct "third space'' next to the fully remote and fully physical workspace. This includes following an experience-driven approach to hybrid cooperation, encouraging the design of innovative interactions that extend beyond merely compensating for asymmetries and leveraging the unique capabilities and affordances of these settings.

Asymmetric relationship between crude oil price and remittance inflows in a small island economy: Evidence from non-linear ARDL approach

Sri Lanka's economy heavily depends on remittance inflows to finance its import of essential and intermediate goods. A decline in remittances could severely limit the country's import capacity, affecting overall economic growth and development. This study investigates the impact of crude oil prices on Sri Lankan remittance inflows from 1980 to 2020, while accounting for per capita GDP, financial development, and exchange rates as additional explanatory variables. Employing a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model, the analysis reveals significant asymmetric effects of oil price shocks on remittance inflows. In the short run, positive oil price shocks lead to increased remittance inflows, whereas negative shocks reduce them. However, in the long run, both positive and negative oil price shocks have an adverse impact on remittance inflows. Furthermore, changes in per capita GDP, financial development, and exchange rates also play a crucial role in influencing remittance inflows. The findings highlight Sri Lanka's vulnerability to global oil market fluctuations and suggest policy measures to mitigate these risks. Key recommendations include diversifying labor export markets, enhancing financial infrastructure, and reducing dependence on remittance inflows to sustain import capacity and promote long-term economic resilience.

Evaluating the advancement of sustainable development objectives in recently industrialized nations by tying gold prices, fossil fuel prices, and energy use

Rapid industrialization in recently industrialized countries (NICs) has exacerbated environmental degradation, raising urgent concerns about how energy consumption, gold prices, and fossil fuel prices contribute to this growing issue. This study aims to evaluate the asymmetric relationships between these factors and environmental degradation across 10 NICs, including Brazil, India, South Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand, South Africa, Malaysia, and the Philippines, from 1995 to 2023. Using the CS-ARDL model, our study demonstrates that while energy costs and renewable energy consumption reduce environmental degradation, gold prices and fossil fuel consumption significantly increase ecological harm. Additionally, the study employs FGLS, CS-DL, AMG, and Driscoll-Kray to verify the robustness of these findings. Notably, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis holds true in these economies. Key results show that a 1 % increase in renewable energy use decreases emissions by 0.7 %, while a 1 % rise in gold prices correlates with a 0.5 % increase in pollution levels. These findings underscore the need for NICs to implement green investments, promote renewable energy, and initiate structural reforms to ensure sustainable development.

Asymmetric relationship between carbon market and energy markets

This paper examines the asymmetric returns spillovers and time-frequency causality between the carbon emissions market and the energy market. To this end, we apply the time-varying asymmetry spillovers and Granger causality over the spectrum approaches. This research uses daily price indices of natural gas, gasoline, gas oil, heating oil, crude oil, coal, petroleum, kerosene, propane, and diesel to denote the energy market and the European Union Emissions Trading System (i.e., certificate prices for CO2 emissions) to represent the carbon market. Using historical time-series data from May 18, 2011, to September 23, 2020, the study reveals interesting and convincing empirical results showing that the carbon and energy markets are dynamically and asymmetrically connected. Further results show that the carbon market predominantly explains positive or negative returns in the energy market. Regarding volatility transmission, the study demonstrates that the carbon market is a primary net receiver of good or bad volatility transmitted from the energy market, such as crude oil, petroleum, heating oil, diesel, and kerosene.

TBicomR: Event Prediction in Temporal Knowledge Graphs with Bicomplex Rotation

Temporal knowledge graphs (TKGs) capture relationships and entities evolving over time, making event prediction a challenging task due to the complex temporal and relational dynamics. In this work, we propose BiCoTime, a novel model using bicomplex embeddings to represent entities, relations, and time. While quaternions capture asymmetric relations through non-commutativity, bicomplex numbers provide a commutative algebraic structure, ideal for modeling both symmetric and asymmetric relations. Unlike quaternions, bicomplex embeddings maintain interpretability in symmetric relations while preserving key algebraic properties like distributivity. Temporal rotations further enhance BiCoTime's ability to model the interaction between relations and time, capturing how entities and relationships evolve. This combination of bicomplex embeddings and temporal rotations ensures a more interpretable and accurate modeling of TKGs. Our experiments show that TBiComR achieved a 21% improvement in Mean Reciprocal Rank (MRR) on the ICEWS14 dataset, which emphasizes time points, and a 15% improvement on the YAGO11k dataset, which focuses on time spans. The choice of bicomplex numbers balances computational complexity and expressive power, offering efficient training and better predictive performance compared to models using quaternions or octonions.

Educational inspections in network governance: evidence from collaborative school turnaround in China

ABSTRACT Network governance’s increasing adoption in education has significantly challenged collaborative networks’ external accountability. While educational inspection in network governance has been discussed, research focusing on microlevel educational inspection practices is rare. This study uses evidence from collaborative school turnaround to explore the complexity of local governments’ educational inspection behaviors in network governance. Referencing Shanghai, China, this qualitative empirical study found three patterns of local governments’ inspection (specialized, routine, and requested) of turnaround schools and third-party actors in different networks. Analyses suggest that network governance inspection in Chinese school turnaround is a differentiated intervention instrument with local governments adopting different inspection strategies for different inspection purposes (i.e., accountability, leadership, and facilitation), generating different extents of asymmetric power relations with turnaround schools and third-party actors – hierarchical, dispersed, or democratic – that are shaped by networks’ different configurations.

On coaching and the ethics of care: a psychodynamic approach

This paper is prompted by the intuition that the common ethical theories do not fully comprehend the (internal) psychological structures of the asymmetrical coach-athlete relationship. Through a few examples I attempt to investigate the ethically vulnerable coach-athlete relationships that often emerge. With a philosophical view taken from Nel Noddings’ theory of an ethics of care, I argue that we may need a broader perspective on the ethical issues which also include a psychoanalytic or psychodynamic perspective towards the relationships in question. Doing that would in itself be an ethical approach to take for a deeper understanding of the relationships between coaches and athletes.

Currency power as a medium: Revisiting international cost transfer mechanisms in the U.S. subprime crisis

This paper endeavors to meticulously examine the disparities in developmental trajectories between industrialized and emerging economies, employing the nuanced concept of cost transfer within the theoretical framework of the "core-periphery" paradigm. We propose an intricate conceptual model to delve into the mechanisms through which economic crises are systematically shifted from the developed core to the peripheral developing regions, with particular emphasis on the pivotal roles of monetary hegemony and geopolitical dominance. Utilizing the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis as a seminal case study, we scrutinize the intricate dynamics of cost transfer, elucidating how the developed nations leverage their monetary supremacy and geopolitical prowess, often bolstered by military might and neo-liberal ideologies, to facilitate the offloading of inflationary pressures and commodity price hikes onto developing nations, notably China. Our findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on the entrenched inequalities between the Global North and South, emphasizing the asymmetrical power relations that underpin the process of cost transfer. Furthermore, this study enhances the research framework of cost-transfer theory and offers insights into the development of inequalities between developed and developing countries, aiding in the formulation of response strategies for developing countries facing cost transfer and mitigating the adverse impacts of cost transfers, thereby fostering more equitable and sustainable development trajectories.

Asymmetric effects of life and non-life insurance on economic growth in Saudi Arabia: A nonlinear analysis

This paper explores the asymmetric effects of life and non-life insurance on economic growth in Saudi Arabia. Quarterly data on insurance penetration rates and GDP growth from 2009 to 2022, obtained from the Global Economy, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, and World Bank databases, are utilized. A nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model is employed to examine the relationships between insurance and growth. The results reveal a significant and asymmetric relationship between life insurance penetration and GDP growth. Specifically, a 1% increase in life insurance penetration is associated with a 0.3% increase in GDP growth in the long run, while a 1% decrease shows no significant effect. For non-life insurance, both increases and decreases demonstrate significant but asymmetric impacts on growth. A 1% increase in non-life insurance penetration corresponds to a 0.2% increase in GDP growth, whereas a 1% decrease is linked to a 0.15% decrease in GDP growth. These findings support the ‘supply-leading’ hypothesis, suggesting that the insurance sector can play a leading role in promoting economic growth. The results provide new quantitative insights into the relationship between insurance and economic growth in Saudi Arabia, offering valuable implications for policymakers. It is suggested that the insurance industry can be leveraged to foster economic growth by promoting life insurance and managing the asymmetric impacts of non-life insurance.

Determinants of Foreign Investment in Indonesia Post-Pandemic

Research Originality: The Covid-19 pandemic brought out the phenomenon of a rapid increase in investment after it has ended in Indonesia. This study gives a significant contribution in analyze the impact of pandemic on foreign direct investment.Research Objectives: The aim of this research is to predict whether there is a relationship of interest rates, inflation, labor force, GDP, and exchange rate with investment.Research Methods: This research is also to examine the asymmetric relationship among variables using the NARDL (Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag) method to identify the long-run effects of these variables on the investment after the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. It uses the secondary data from 1980-2022.Empirical Results: The results of research show that there is a long-run asymmetric effect of the variables of interest rates, GDP, and exchange rates on the foreign direct investment. It means that changes in these variable factors do not only affect the size of investment, but also the speed of its increase after the pandemic. Meanwhile, there is no asymmetric effect of the variables of labor force and inflation on the investment.Implications: This research provides a picture and new insights related to the foreign direct investment dynamics in Indonesia after the Covid-19 pandemic. This study implies that require a different policy approach in an effort to increase the investment in Indonesia.JEL Classification: F21, O40

Trusting robots: a relational trust definition based on human intentionality

As robots are increasingly found in various aspects of human life, understanding how humans relate to and interact with robots is becoming more relevant. One important factor affecting the quality of human-robot interactions is trust, and in recent years there has been an increase in scientific interest in the nature of trust between humans and robots. However, it can be observed that a clear distinction between trust and its related constructs is not always made when examining trust in robots. To overcome these limitations, we propose a definition of trust in robots that clearly separates trust from its related constructs. To this end, we extend an established trust model for interpersonal trust, which we adapt to describe trust in HRI. The new definition describes trust as a particular way in which human trustor relates to a robot. By characterizing trust as an asymmetric relation with certain properties, the proposed definition adopts a perspective that focuses on the human trustor in describing trust. Furthermore, we argue that the proposed definition of trust is suitable for describing trust in all types of robots and for any form of human-robot interaction.

Transforming the Patient-Provider Relationship Through Digitalized Peer Support in Japan

ABSTRACT The recent explosion in online dissemination of health-related information, and its availability to more and more people around the world, has led to a situation in which both healthcare providers and patients are accepting new roles. This paper examines the transformations toward new roles for healthcare professionals and patients, with a focus on Japan, based on the assumption that one of the driving forces accelerating these changes may be the digitalization of patient peer support. The methods used in this study were: 1) questionnaires and interviews with patients and healthcare providers asking about their participation in peer support and the effectiveness of its implementation; and 2) observations, questionnaires, and interviews with three patient groups about the experience of digitalizing peer support (via implementation of peer support in a virtual reality space). Analysis of the data showed that peer support by patient groups has both challenges and benefits, and that peer support in virtual spaces has certain positive effects. The empowerment of patients through digitalized peer support is transforming the relationship between healthcare providers and patients, changing it from a traditional asymmetrical relationship (in which the healthcare professionals are in a dominant position) to a cooperative relationship on a more equal footing.

Field-Free Superconducting Diode Effect and Magnetochiral Anisotropy in FeTe0.7Se0.3 Junctions with the Inherent Asymmetric Barrier.

Nonreciprocal electrical transport, characterized by an asymmetric relationship between the current and voltage, plays a crucial role in modern electronic industries. Recent studies have extended this phenomenon to superconductors, introducing the concept of the superconducting diode effect (SDE). The SDE is characterized by unequal critical supercurrents along opposite directions. Due to the requirement on broken inversion symmetry, the SDE is commonly accompanied by electrical magnetochiral anisotropy (eMCA) in the resistive state. Achieving a magnetic-field-free SDE with field tunability is pivotal for advancements in superconductor devices. Conventionally, field-free SDE has been achieved in Josephson junctions by intentionally intercalating an asymmetric barrier layer. Alternatively, internal magnetism was employed. Both approaches pose challenges in the selection of superconductors and fabrication processes, thereby impeding the development of SDE. Here, we present a field-free SDE in FeTe0.7Se0.3 (FTS) junction with eMCA, a phenomenon absent in FTS single nanosheets. The field-free property is associated with the presence of a gradient oxide layer on the upper surface of each FTS nanosheet, while eMCA is linked to spin splitting arising from the absence of inversion symmetry. Both SDE and eMCA respond to magnetic fields with distinct temperature dependencies. This work presents a versatile and straightforward strategy for advancing superconducting electronics.

Engaging Data Literacies in Displacement

Data-driven humanitarianism is changing the face of aid. More data potentially enables quicker and more efficient evidence-based responses to situations of conflict and disaster. Yet the proliferation of data also challenges traditional lines of accountability, exacerbates the drive toward extractive relations and processes while deepening communication barriers and asymmetric relations between humanitarians and affected communities. This article reflects on critical data literacy as a transformative method in the context of the datafication of the humanitarian sector. It draws on research carried out with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria and South Sudan as part of a collaborative international project examining the practice and ethics of data collection and use. The article discusses the project’s participatory ethos, its engagement of IDPs with the project over time and the importance of developing co-produced tools of critical data literacy together with IDPs. Reflecting on the significance of our findings for humanitarian practitioners as well as for academics working in the field of humanitarianism and displacement, the article argues for a collective commitment to engaging with affected communities while cautioning against viewing data literacy as an easy fix to empowerment challenges, both in the conduct of humanitarian work and in the implementation of research.

Families at a Loss: The Asymmetric Relationship Between Income Changes and Child Human Capital

Families at a Loss: The Asymmetric Relationship Between Income Changes and Child Human Capital

Fintech and Economic Policy Uncertainty Integration: Driving Efficiency in Commercial Banks through the Lens of ARDL Approaches

The financial landscape of Pakistan is changing due to the increased accessibility, affordability, and security of FinTech services. This change is essential for raising the standard of living for Pakistan's economic prospects and certain contributing factors to FinTech. This paper investigates the symmetric and asymmetric relationship between Fintech and economic policy uncertainty, bank variability, and governance quality in commercial banks of Pakistan from 2014 to 2020, considering linearity and non-linearity in the data. The data has been converted to monthly frequency, and the Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (N- ARDL) models have been applied to address long- and short-run associations. The study results reveal that EPU and bank variability have an asymmetric relationship with Fintech during the long run. In contrast, bank variability is connected during the long and short run. Furthermore, governance quality shows a symmetric relationship with Fintech in the long and short run. However, based on the findings of the error correction framework, there is no significant association in the long run. This paper concludes that Fintech, economic policy uncertainty, and bank variability have an asymmetric relationship, while GQ and Fintech are symmetrically associated. Moreover, it contributes to the existing literature by shedding light on the factors affecting Fintech services in commercial banks along with the financial and economic implications for investors, government, regulatory authorities, policymakers, and banks being institutional investors.

Public spending on Energy innovations and CO2 impacts: Evidence from selected OECD countries

The relationship between public spending on Energy innovations (R&D of renewable and non-renewable energy, and energy efficiency) and CO2 intensity at constant purchasing power are investigated in this study. A Panel-NARDL model was used for the first time in 10 OECD countries (1990–2020) to evaluate the asymmetric relationship between energy innovative variables and CO2 impacts in the long and short run. In other words, this study aims to monitor how changes in public spending on R&D for renewable and non-renewable influence CO2 emissions. The results show that while an increase in the public budget for R&D of renewable energy will decrease the CO2 intensity in the long run, a positive relationship exists between these variables in the short run. Likewise, the result demonstrates that a cut in public spending on Fossil fuel R&D leads to an increase in the short horizon and a decrease in the long-run CO2 emissions per unit of GDP. The finding implies the substantial impact of R&D in both renewable and non-renewable energy on reducing CO2 emissions over time. In addition, CO2 emissions per unit of GDP respond positively to R&D public spending on energy efficiency. An increase in public expenditure on R&D of energy efficiency can induce economic activity and enhance CO2 emissions. All in all, the 30 years’ analysis of data from the selected OECD countries substantiates the right strategy of reducing the CO2 emissions of these countries by applying the public budget to promote R&D in energy sectors. This study results in contrast with those studies that found no relationship between R&D on renewable energy and CO2 impacts. Significance Statement This paper evaluated the asymmetric impacts of public spending on R&D of renewable energy and fossil fuel, and energy efficiency on CO2 intensity at constant purchasing power. Although a growing body of research has analyzed the impact of R&D on CO2 emission, research on the asymmetric effects of R&D public expenditure in energy sectors on CO2 emission is still narrow. Moreover, by employing Panel Nonlinear ARDL, we delve into the spillover impacts of selected OECD public budget on R&D over the short and long horizons. In addition, we estimate the impacts of both Renewable and non-renewable R&D budgets which help us to explore and compare the effectiveness of budget allocation on R&D with the strategy of reducing CO2 emission. Finally, this study found how the R&D and technology budget surging and declining in energy sectors would influence CO2 emission per unit of GDP.

Ischemic stroke and sarcopenia have an asymmetric bidirectional relationship based on a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

We investigated the potential relationship between age-related conditions, particularly sarcopenia and ischemic stroke (IS), through a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study. We conducted a two-sample bidirectional MR study to investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and stroke. Genetic instruments for sarcopenia were derived from the UK Biobank, while data on IS and its subtypes were obtained from the MEGASTROKE consortium. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) served as the primary analytical method. Additionally, heterogeneity and pleiotropy were assessed to ensure the robustness of the findings. The analysis indicates a negative correlation between appendicular lean mass (ALM) and small vessel stroke (SVS; OR = 0.790, 95% CI: 0.703-0.888, p < 0.001), a positive correlation with cardioembolic stroke (CES; OR = 1.165, 95% CI: 1.058-1.284, p = 0.002), and no causal relationship with any ischemic stroke (AIS) or large artery stroke (LAS). Additionally, SVS is negatively associated with right-hand grip strength (OR = 0.639, 95% CI: 0.437-0.934, p = 0.021), while AIS, LAS, and CES do not exhibit a causal relationship with grip strength. Furthermore, no causal relationship was identified between left-hand grip strength, usual walking pace, and IS or its subtypes. MR analysis reveals only a negative association between CES and usual walking pace (OR = 0.989, 95% CI: 0.980-0.998, p = 0.013), with no associations found between other IS subtypes and sarcopenia-related traits. This study demonstrates that a reduction in ALM and right-hand grip strength is associated with SVS, whereas decreased ALM may serve as a protective factor against CES. Conversely, our analysis suggests that CES can impact walking speed. Overall, these findings provide valuable insights into the prevention and treatment of these conditions.