National Contexts Research Articles

Common Institutional Ownership and Corporate Carbon Emissions

AbstractThere has been a growing interest in comparative work exploring when and why firms embark on green paths. It has been concluded that in national contexts where inter‐firm ties are stronger, progress has been stronger. In turn, this raises questions about the impact of inter‐firm ties within, rather than between, national contexts, and in settings where progress towards renewables has been uneven and contested. Accordingly, we explore how common institutional ownership may foster collaboration among firms within the same industry against climate change. Using a sample of US‐listed firms from 2006 to 2019, we obtain robust evidence that firms with industrial peers that are owned by the same institutional investors have lower carbon emissions. In addition, we find that a threshold exists for which the impact on carbon emissions holds only when firms are commonly connected with a substantial number of peers. The existence of this threshold suggests potential free‐riding issues and highlights the beneficial role of investors in promoting cross‐industry collaboration. Overall, our results highlight the role played by institutional investors in tackling climate issues, with important implications for both climate‐ and antitrust‐related regulations.

Overview of Food Adulteration: Its Definition, Causes, Impacts, and Detection

A tampered food, Food is any substance made up of carbohydrates, water, fats, and proteins that is consumed by humans and other animals to survive. It holds great significance for us. Nonetheless, it is not uncommon for food products to be tampered with, and dangerous situations can arise from poorly managed supply chains that handle perishable goods. Economic Customers who purchase and serve food are impacted in numerous ways; they might not receive the nutrients they are supposed to, contaminated food may be harmful to their health, and they might also suffer financial losses. So, every responsible individual, organization, and government should complete their role to protect the act of food adulteration and to reveal the recognized acts. Furthermore, there are numerous gaps in the literature that need to be filled by academics and researchers working in various research institutes. These gaps include the assessment of the situation, the identification of foods that are vulnerable to adulteration in the national context, the development and validation of detection methods, and much more. adulteration has long plagued the food business, negatively impacting both food quality and public health. The process of altering food by adding undesirable or dangerous components lowers its safety and quality, a practice known as food adulteration. Inadequate handling of this issue has led to the production of contaminated and dangerous food products, which has raised concerns throughout history. Food adulteration can harm our health and often does so without our knowledge. By addressing these issues, we may proactively work to create a better society. Food adulteration can involve adding, taking away, or replacing expensive food ingredients with less expensive (cheaper) ones in order to get unfair financial advantage. The manufacturer may profit financially from this act of food fraud, but the eventual consumers of the goods suffer losses. A variety of approaches, such as physical, chemical, biological, and other methods, are used to detect food adulteration. However, detecting adulterants can be hard when the adulterants closely mirror the food’s physiochemical properties. The right of consumers to safe and high-quality food is undermined by adulteration, hence it is imperative that people, groups, and governments take action to stop these practices.

A Quantitative Analysis of University Admission Results for Hungarian Ethnic Minority Students in the Carpathian Basin

This study analyses the higher education admission results of Hungarian ethnic minority students in Hungary originating from Central and Eastern European countries (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Romania) by secondary education background (national system vs. foreign system) and school-leaving qualification background (advanced and intermediate levels in Hungary and their native country). Students (n = 759) take (or have taken) part in undivided (5-year) and bachelor (3-year) programs at universities in Hungary and, for historical reasons, live as ethnic minorities in their home countries in the Carpathian Basin. There are significant differences in the number of students according to their secondary education background. Of the admitted students, 83.7% graduated from a national system secondary school and 16.3% from a foreign system secondary school before entering higher education. Using a Mann–Whitney U-test, we confirmed that the admission scores of students from the national secondary education system are significantly different from the scores of students who graduated from a foreign secondary education system (p < 0.001). The results of the Jonckheere–Terpstra test demonstrated that students with advanced-level exam results performed significantly better than those who entered higher education with intermediate-level or native country examination results (p < 0.001). However, there is no detectable difference (p > 0.05) between students who graduate at the intermediate level and students who graduate with a native country certificate. A regression model, based on the median admission scores, exhibited a trend of improving results for foreign students. The R2 quadratic determination coefficient is 0.705. This study provides insights into the educational pathways and decisions of Hungarian students residing abroad, underlining the influence of the national context and public education systems on their educational trajectories.

Corporate Governance, ESG, Audit Committee and Financial Performance in European Investment Holding Companies

The purpose of this research paper is to explore the connection between Corporate Governance, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), Audit Committee (AC) and Financial Performance in European Investment Holding Companies. This paper aims to understand whether there is a correlation between these elements. The study answers the following research question: "What is the impact of corporate governance indicators, ESG and financial performance on investments in public holding companies in Europe?" Our findings reveal significant correlations between corporate governance structures and financial performance metrics, as well as the influence of ESG ratings on financial performance and corporate governance. Additionally, we identify the effects of audit committee characteristics on financial performance and ESG outcomes. The reported data is collected from a sample of companies included in the Refinitiv Eikon Database and analysed using a panel data analysis at both regional and industry level. The sample is composed of 228 European Companies, covering a period of 4 years, from 2019-2022. I chose this because it includes the impact of the pandemic and the post-pandemic recovery period, providing insight into the adaptability and resilience of companies in the face of major economic challenges.This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamics between corporate governance, ESG practices and financial performance, providing valuable insights for investors, managers and regulators aiming to navigate sustainable investment strategies in the European market. This sample is considered large enough to provide meaningful data and draw relevant conclusions. Companies from various European countries were included to reflect the diversity of the market and to analyse variations in governance and ESG practices in different national contexts. The focus on public holding companies provides a specific perspective on how these entities manage corporate governance and ESG, given their importance in the European economy. The selection of the sample was based on the availability of financial and corporate governance data to ensure the reliability and validity of the analysis. This data will be used to investigate how governance and ESG practices influence companies' financial performance, thus providing important insights for understanding the relationship between these aspects within the European market.

Assessing the development of the attitudinal style as Pedagogical Model in Physical Education: a scoping review

The scoping review evaluates whether there is sufficient evidence to consider the Attitudinal Style as a pedagogical model in Physical Education. To this end, the review process assessed its strengths and weaknesses, and specific bibliography focused on the main divulgative, and research publications was selected. The study was conducted using the PRISMA-ScR extension (Tricco et al., 2018) by searching 10 bibliographic databases and grey literature to identify other studies on Attitudinal Style. Thus, a total of 102 publications were classified into three main categories: theoretical development (19.60%), practical development (73.58%), and research (6.82%). After a thorough analysis, the scoping study included the 26 most relevant articles, conducted between 2005 and 2023. Of these, eight articles presented evidence of the practical development of the model, 11 constituted the theoretical foundations, and seven focused on investigating its benefits. The selected bibliography confirms that the model meets almost all the criteria established by Chiva and Fernández-Río (2021) to be considered as a pedagogical model. Despite finding certain limitations, its strengths position it as a valuable methodological approach for future research, as well as for its implementation in various national and international educational contexts.

Top management team attributes and corporate entrepreneurship: A meta‐analysis

AbstractHow do the attributes of a firm's top management team (TMT) influence corporate entrepreneurship across organizational and national contexts? Drawing on upper echelons theory and the managerial discretion perspective, this meta‐analytic study examines the dynamic relationship between TMTs' attributes and corporate entrepreneurship, focusing on the moderating role of managerial discretion arising from organizational and national‐level factors. To provide insights into the micro‐foundations of firm behavior, we explore how key TMT attributes—diversity, size, transformational leadership, tenure, general human capital, and entrepreneurial human capital—affect corporate entrepreneurship. A comprehensive meta‐analysis of 57 primary studies reveals that the effect of a TMT's attributes is context‐dependent and is significantly influenced by the approach to managerial discretion taken by the country in which the firm operates. By showing that transformational leadership and the TMT's entrepreneurial human capital and size affect corporate entrepreneurship, while attributes like tenure, diversity, and general human capital have limited or no impact, our findings challenge the prevailing view that a standardized approach to the TMT's composition drives corporate entrepreneurship. The study also underscores the role of the national‐level managerial discretion and finds that firms in institutional environments that feature low managerial discretion must align their TMT strategies with local institutional contexts to maximize their corporate entrepreneurship. These findings advance upper echelons theory by demonstrating that managerial discretion acts as a boundary condition in shaping how the TMT's attributes influence corporate entrepreneurship based on the national context. This research contributes to the fields of strategic and innovation management and offers practical insights for leaders who seek to harness the full potential of their TMTs.

Examining the role of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in strengthening inclusive education in teacher education: A Vygotskian analysis of change projects from Malawi and Eswatini

Inclusive education has a transformative agenda that challenges education systems to accommodate gender and social class as well as diverse needs that include disability. Despite being emphasised in schools, its application in teacher education has been limited. This gap indicates that while inclusive education is prioritised in schools, teachers may lack pedagogical competencies that have not been allowed for in their training. At the same time, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been recognised for its potential to transform education systems given its orientation towards collaborative learning, whole institution approaches, and respect for diversity. In this study, drawing on experiences from UNESCO's Sustainability Starts with Teachers (SST) programme, I examined the role of ESD in strengthening inclusive education in teacher education. The SST programme encouraged teacher educators in southern Africa to champion ESD practices while focusing on their contextual issues such as inclusivity. Focusing on two Change Projects from Malawi and Eswatini I used Vygotsky's sociocultural learning theory to explore opportunities for inclusivity that emerged from the SST programme. This examination led to strategies for maximising these opportunities in educational institutions and broader national contexts. Methodologically, this study involved interviews and workshops in the two selected Change Projects. The findings suggest that enrolling future teachers with disabilities in teacher education is essential for exemplifying an inclusive educational trajectory in schools. The Change Projects enabled teacher educators to work with ESD practices in developing inclusivity proficiencies in future teachers and ongoing efforts are needed to strengthen inclusive education in teacher education through ESD.

Researcher identities and values in the impact agenda: the case of artificial intelligence academics

AbstractA major shift in the research sector has been the increased expectation from policymakers and funders that academic research should yield some socioeconomic benefits or ‘impacts’ rather than merely new knowledge. In this paper, we explore the role that impact has in academics’ motivations and values and how impact is being integrated into academics’ core functions of research and education. We do this through in-depth interviews (n = 60) with scientists who work on the development or application of artificial intelligence (AI), broadly defined. This AI’s focus situates our participants within a strategically important, high-priority area of research for all three national contexts included in our study—Australia, the UK and the USA. Our findings reveal that the impact mission has become central to understanding the motivations and values of academics, but unevenly. We identify divergence between those who work on AI from a foundational computer science perspective and those who develop and apply AI within other scientific domains. The two groups have different understandings of key notions such as ‘impact’ and ‘applied research’, as well as different ways of integrating the impact agenda into their research and education activities. The study highlights the importance of flexible approaches to research policy and governance that are based on a deeper understanding of what motivates researchers, and that take into account academics’ educational role. Greater holistic understanding of how academic identities and practices are accommodating the impact agenda is essential to maximise synergy across activities and avoid unintended consequences.

Poets as children. On works of the Slovak Trnava group and the Bulgarian ‘Poets of the city’

The aim of the proposed paper is to examine how the poetic text world embodies the idea of a return to the “naïve” perception of the world. The objects of the analysis are two groups of authors – representatives of 20th century Slovak and Bulgarian literature –, which are known in the history of their national literatures as Trnava group and “poets of the city.” The first poetic formation is made up of Ján Ondruš, Ján Stacho, Jozef Mihalkovič, and Ľubomír Feldek, known also as Concretists, the second one consists of Alexander Vutimski, Alexander Gerov, Ivan Peychev, and Valeri Petrov. While the Slovak authors manifested themselves as a poetic group by publishing three manifestos, one of which called We Will Talk about Children’s Literature, the Bulgarian authors were defined as poets of the city post factum by the Bulgarian critics.The selection of these poetry formations is based on typological affinities between the two specific literary phenomena and the similarities in their national political and social contexts during their genesis. Three basic topics can be found in the works of the representatives of both Trnava group and poets of the city – objective imagery, the motif of childhood, and the image of the city. In the present paper, we focus mainly on the use of objective imagery in the process of returning to childhood, which some of the poets’ texts depict. We also look at one of the main themes in their works, which both literary groups inherit from their antecedents in their literatures – everydayness. In this light, the poets of the city are related to the poetry of the Bulgarian writer Atanas Dalchev, while the Slovak authors follow the path chosen by the Czech poetry group Květen and their concept of “poetry of every day.”Through a close reading of selected works of the Slovak Trnava group and the Bulgarian “poets of the city”, we look at the process of engaging the senses in poetry. The main texts chosen for the analysis areA Play for Your Blue Eyes written by Ľubomír Feldek and Tom Thumb by Valeri Petrov. Their poems are based on a return to childhood and sensual concreteness. We examine how the writers stylize the perceived world in opposition to the “ready-made” ideas the socialist realism offers. Both groups of authors choose a new aesthetic formula that roots in portraying the objective world. The topic is represented in light of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s reflection on the literary use of language.

Travelling Thai Surrogate Mothers: Required and Restricted Mobility in Transnational Surrogacy

ABSTRACT In response to the changing landscape of transnational surrogacy, the industry has introduced flexible business models requiring women to move within and across borders to act as surrogate mothers. However, knowledge about their experiences remain vague, particularly concerning women traveling abroad under illegal conditions. Building upon interviews with Thai surrogate mothers, I demonstrate how their im/mobility reveals critical insights into labor conditions and power relations and is formed within the global reproductive industry as well as the specific national context. I also argue that the women’s im/mobility and flexibility are central when making themselves bioavailable for the global surrogacy market.

Epidemiological profile of bronchial lung cancer between the years 2013 to 2023 in the northern region of Brazil

Lung and bronchial cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Brazil, with higher incidence among men, although the number of cases in women is increasing. Smoking is the main risk factor, but late diagnosis worsens disease progression, especially in marginalized regions like the North of the country. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the evolution of lung and bronchial cancer cases in the North region of Brazil over the past ten years. Data were collected from the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System (DATASUS) and the oncology panel, organized by age group, sex, and state. Analyses were conducted using RStudio and Excel. The state of Pará showed the highest increase in lung and bronchial cancer cases in 2023, followed by Rondônia and Amazonas, which recorded significant increases in 2021. A rise in cases was observed with advancing age, especially among men. The results suggest that delayed diagnosis, combined with the precariousness of the healthcare infrastructure in Northern Brazil, may contribute to disease progression and increased mortality. The marginalization of this region in the national healthcare context is a relevant factor in this scenario. It is concluded that delayed diagnosis and structural failures in the healthcare system are key determinants of the increase in lung and bronchial cancer cases in the North region, and that structural measures are necessary to improve early diagnosis and reduce mortality.

Nostalgic deprivation and populism: Evidence from 19 European countries

AbstractPopulist parties have been increasingly successful in European politics over the last decade. Although research suggests that nostalgic deprivation – a perceived loss of economic, political or social status — is linked to support for populist parties, the generalizability of this argument across voters and national contexts remains unclear. In this research note, we leverage original representative surveys across 19 European countries to demonstrate that perceptions of declining status are a consistent predictor of populist support. Decomposing nostalgic deprivation into different dimensions, we find that while social, economic and power deprivation have different antecedents, each predicts populist attitudes and voting behaviour. Moreover, we find that nostalgic deprivation predicts support for populist platforms among both left‐wing and right‐wing respondents, as well as across Eastern and Western Europe. While the antecedents differ across contexts, these findings confirm that perceptions of downward mobility are associated with the rise of populism in Europe.

Crisis geographies from above and below: Constructing globality during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this paper, we posit that the 'global' status of the pandemic is not an essentialized feature of the crisis, but a product of social construction by political leaders. More specifically, we examine how political leaders of a superpower and a peripheral nation produce the pandemic's globality through crisis geographies from above and below. Utilizing a mixed methods framework, we analyse public speeches by Donald Trump of the United States and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines through a critical approach to text analytics. Quantitatively, we found that besides mentioning their own homelands, Western countries featured more prominently in Trump's speeches while Asian neighbours were more salient in Duterte's speeches during the pandemic. However, the United States and China were consistently the most central in the crisis geographies of the pandemic of both speakers. Qualitatively, we further characterized the discourses surrounding these global pronouncements as: (a) collective reflexive positioning on the world stage, (b) charting zones of hope and (c) scapegoating zones of blame. Taken together, implications of this work are discussed in terms of understanding pandemic leadership in national and international contexts, recognizing its negotiated embeddedness in global structural hierarchies and enhancing critical approaches to geopolitical psychology.

Fathering Promotes Child Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Through Specific “Active Ingredient” Caregiving Activities

SYNOPSIS Objective. We do not know which specific paternal caregiving practices are associated with more advanced child development in understudied low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The current investigation attempts to identify such caregiving practices. Design. Maternal reports of six specific paternal caregiving practices which may be uniquely associated with early childhood development were examined in a sample of 159,959 families with 3- to 4-year-old children from 51 LMICs. Both father caregiving practices and early childhood development scores were quantified using measures from UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Linear regression models examined which paternal caregiving practices were associated with early childhood development after controlling for the contributions of mothers and children’s other caregivers engaging in the same practices as well as father residence in the home and multiple aspects of the physical home environment and national context. Results. When fathers read to their children, named/counted/drew with their children, or sang to their children, their children demonstrated more advanced overall development. When fathers read, named/counted/drew, and told stories to their children, their children also demonstrated more advanced development in literacy/numeracy and approaches to learning. Some effects depended on whether fathers resided in the home. Fathers naming/counting/drawing with their children was associated with more advanced child development in approaches to learning, and fathers reading to their children was associated with more advanced child socioemotional development only if fathers resided in the child’s home. Conclusions. Fathers reading to their children, naming/counting/drawing with their children, and singing to their children appear to be specific “active ingredients” that promote child development in LMICs. Some of these ingredients only actively promote child development when fathers reside in the child’s home environment. These practices should be supported and encouraged in policy and practice. Fathers’ caregiving matters for child development across a wide swath of LMICs in the world.

Agroecology as a new frame of reference for French agricultural policy? Insights from a lexicometric analysis of policy documents

ABSTRACT References to agroecology have gradually started appearing in national and international public policies. We examine the extent to which agroecology is becoming a frame of reference for public action in the French national and regional context. Using textual statistics, we analyzed institutional documents concerning agroecology put out by public policy actors between 2008 and the summer of 2021, and conducted interviews with key actors of the Agroecological Project for France (PAEF, Projet Agroécologique pour la France). Our analysis shows that agroecology invoked in framing texts is reclassified in the vocabulary of triple performance, dominated by the notion of economic performance. A comparative analysis of the national and regional texts reveals mismatches, especially in terms of the level of autonomy of the actors concerned, and in the processes of knowledge transfer and support for changes in agricultural practices.

Developmental coordination disorder questionnaire – translation and adaptation into Danish

Background Developmental Coordination Disorder is a commonly occurring, but poorly recognised developmental condition characterised by difficulties with motor functions. Danish tests of children’s motor functioning, which are currently available, are outdated and only applicable up to the age of seven years old. New tools are needed to enable easy and efficient screening of motor difficulties experienced by children living in Denmark. Aims/Objectives We translated and adapted the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ’07) into Danish and aimed to evaluate its utility. Materials and Methods A team of translators prepared the Danish version of the DCDQ’07 – DCDQ-DK. In total, 36 parents completed the questionnaire. The children completed fine and gross motor tests. Concurrent validity was tested using Pearson correlation on the DCDQ-DK and motor performance scores. Internal consistency was tested using Cronbach’s alpha. Results The results show good concurrent validity (r = .311) and internal consistency (α = .80). Conclusions DCDQ-DK is well suited for use with Danish-speaking parents. Significance The tool will aid early assessment of motor difficulties in children of Danish-speaking parents. DCDQ-DK can be used by occupational therapists, educational and health professionals as well as researchers in national and international contexts.

Creative Industries And Economic Value: A Review Of Innovation, Impact, And Policy Support

This paper provides a comprehensive review of creative industries, examining their economic impact, innovation potential, and policy frameworks across different national contexts. Drawing from recent research and official reports, it analyzes how creative industries have evolved from traditional cultural activities to become significant drivers of economic growth and innovation in the digital age. The review synthesizes evidence from multiple countries, showing that creative industries demonstrate significant economic contributions, with the UK creative sector contributing £108 billion in GVA and employing 2.3 million people, while countries like South Korea and China report contributions of 6.3% and 4.3% to their respective GDPs. The findings of the review reveal that while creative industries show substantial positive economic impacts, including employment generation and revenue growth, their effects vary across regions and contexts. The paper highlights this sector's crucial role in driving innovation, particularly through digital transformation and new business model development. The paper also examines the critical role of cultural policy in supporting creative industries, finding that countries with dedicated creative industry policies have seen significant increases in sector employment over the past five years. The findings suggest that understanding the multifaceted nature of creative industries is crucial for developing effective policies and support mechanisms in both developed and emerging economies. This review contributes to the literature by providing a systematic analysis of recent developments in creative industries while identifying gaps in current research and suggesting future research directions for the development of creative industries in emerging economies.

Theoretically informed codesign of a tailored intervention to support pressure ulcer prevention behaviours by older people living in their own homes in the UK and their lay carers: an intervention codesign study (C-PrUP)

ObjectiveTo codesign a theoretically underpinned, healthcare practitioner-mediated, tailored intervention to support housebound older patients and their lay carers to adopt pressure ulcer prevention behaviours.DesignTheoretical domains framework informed codesign.SettingOne geographical area...

Winds of change – Nomadic grassroots innovations in the maritime shipping sector

Grassroots innovations are seen as important contributors to sustainability transitions, however, given their dependence on place-specific conditions they face diffusion challenges. Responding to previously outlined gaps regarding conceptualisation and exploration of the spatiality of grassroots innovations, this paper introduces a conceptualisation of nomadic grassroots innovations. These are grassroots innovations that are mobile and perform activities in multiple places they continuously return to, conceptualised as host localities, while also being based in home localities containing for example offices and key infrastructure. Contributing to a more nuanced understanding of the geography of grassroots activities, the analysis explores the spatiality of socio-technical elements influencing three stages of development (initiation, operations, and upscaling and diffusion) of nine grassroots initiatives promoting a return to traditional sail cargo ships. Findings suggests that nomadic grassroots innovations are dependent on elements in home and host localities as well as from national and international contexts, indicating that the spatiality of nomadic grassroots innovations differs from place-based initiatives throughout all stages of development. Furthermore, analysis of challenges and opportunities for development of nomadic grassroots innovations reveals three key learnings for grassroots innovation diffusion: strategies for developing social cohesion through multi-scalar actor networks, utilising (costumer) demand for alternative solutions, and taking favourable sector conditions as a starting point when designing grassroots innovations. Combined, this could enable development of grassroots innovations that are less dependent on place-specific conditions and thereby easier to replicate, which could increase the capacity of grassroots innovations to tackle global challenges such as climate change.

Are basic psychological needs linked to collective narcissism and secure ingroup identity?

ABSTRACT Self-determination theory links frustrated needs to defensiveness, whereas satisfied needs to openness in interpersonal relations. Past work on intergroup relations and social identity differentiates between defensive (i.e. collective narcissism) and secure forms of ingroup identities. Here, we investigated how frustrated versus satisfied basic psychological needs (i.e. autonomy, competence, and relatedness) are associated with collective narcissism versus secure ingroup identity in a national context. In a two-wave longitudinal study (N = 297), frustrated competence predicted higher collective narcissism over time. Frustrated relatedness negatively predicted Time 2 collective narcissism. However, Time 2 secure ingroup identity was positively predicted by satisfied autonomy and negatively by frustrated competence. Results demonstrate the importance of self when identifying with groups in distinct ways.