Institutional Background Research Articles

Perspectives of Experts in the Selection of Contents for a Course of Differential Equations in Engineering

This study investigates the teaching of Differential Equations in engineering education, focusing on expert opinions from diverse institutional backgrounds. The primary objectives were to understand expert perspectives on essential course content, justify their content choices, measure institutional gaps, and highlight the range of professional profiles. Through qualitative interviews with nine experts from academia and industry, we explored their views on the integration of Differential Equations in engineering curricula. The findings reveal a consensus on the importance of basic concepts to support physical models. Notably, experts highlighted variational calculus and energy representations as critical yet underrepresented areas in Differential Equations courses, essential for modeling complex, nonlinear problems. The study also states on the growing importance of computational methods and software in engineering education, advocating for an integrated approach aligning theoretical concepts with real-world applications. The expert opinions revealed a significant institutional influence on content perception, demonstrating a gap between traditional theoretical focus and modern, application-oriented approaches. The study suggests a need for curricular innovation in differential equations education, emphasizing practical applications and computational methods to bridge this gap between the two institutions considered in which the experts are adhered to.

Environmental policies as engines for tourism eco-efficiency: quasi-experimental evidence

Determining the actual effectiveness of environmental policies is paramount for enhancing tourism eco-efficiency. However, few studies have systematically investigated the specific effects of such policies on tourism eco-efficiency. We utilize the slack-based measure data envelopment analysis model to assess tourism eco-efficiency across 30 Chinese provinces from 2003 to 2021. We delve into the environmental policy of China’s Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone, scrutinizing its institutional background and assessing its ramifications for tourism eco-efficiency within the framework of the “Driving forces-Pressure-State-Impact-Response” framework and institutional theory. Moreover, we empirically explore the causal link between this policy and tourism eco- efficiency by adopting the synthetic control and difference-in-differences approaches. Our findings indicate that the implementation of the National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone policy has led to a 5.16% average enhancement in tourism eco-efficiency. Although significant improvements were observed in Fujian, Jiangxi, and Yunnan, Qinghai experienced a decline, as indicated by the synthetic control method. Furthermore, the impact extends spatially, manifesting both at the local level and as spatial spillover effects on the eco-efficiency of tourism in neighboring regions. These results confirm the policy’s effectiveness and highlight the need for devoting increased attention to economically slower-developing regions in sustainable tourism development.

Eliciting diverse perspectives to prioritize community actions for biodiversity conservation.

Communities have a strong role in protecting biodiversity. In addition to participation in restoration, a range of actions in the public or private sphere may support biodiversity. Despite this, there is a lack of clarity about what actions should be prioritized for behavior change campaigns. We developed and applied a method to prioritize community actions for biodiversity conservation that incorporates an expert-based assessment of impact and a community-informed measure of the likelihood of uptake. In stage 1, experts (n=143) completed a survey that quantified the relative impact of actions based on best-worst scaling of perceived impact. In stage 2, surveyed community members (n=3200) ranked the likelihood of adopting actions based on the ease or difficulty of performing each action, and the opportunity for change based on the proportion of respondents not yet engaging in each behavior. Experts gave the following actions the highest ranking for impact: voting for the environment (first), participating in restoration in ecological priority areas (second), and purchasing and protecting remnant bushland (third). When considering the disciplinary background and institutional background of experts, voting and participating in restoration activities remained in the upper ranked options. However, there was some divergence between these groups. For example, reducing beef consumption was ranked third by university-based experts but ranked 28th by experts based in state government. Overall, community members ranked the following behaviors as most likely to be adopted: following quarantine laws (first), reducing plastic use (second), and managing pets (third). Top likelihood ranking of actions was minimally affected by community characteristics (nature relatedness, gender, location). Integrating these findings, the action ranked most favorably for impact, likelihood, and opportunity was participating in restoration. Choosing actions for behavior change campaigns requires consideration of the entire social-ecological system-from social factors that enable or constrain adoption to the ecological impact of actions across relevant social and ecological contexts.

Dignity: the cornerstone of psychological health among victims of child labor, a qualitative study

BackgroundRespecting the dignity of child labor is one of their most urgent needs. In many cases, the dignity of child labor is not maintained in countries with unfavorable economic conditions. The aim of the present study was understand adolescents’ perceptions of their dignity in child labor.MethodsThis study is a qualitative research with conventional content analysis approach. Twenty teenagers who having work experience as child labor were selected from one welfare center and three charity centers in using purposeful sampling method in 2022–2023. Data was generated through individual, deep, and semi-structured interviews. In order to analyze the data was used Granheim and Lundman’s method.ResultsThree main themes were presented in this study including, “preservation of privacy and security”, “honoring individual identity to develop dignity” and “comprehensive support”, and 9 categories.Conclusionunderstand adolescents’ perceptions as child labor of their dignity, privacy and security of child labor victims and respect for their identity and all-round support are defined. And in this supportive environment, the dignity of working children is preserved and appropriate behavioral consequences are created. Therefore, it is suggested that a cultural and institutional background be provided in which all components of the child labor’s dignity are emphasized.

An Exploration of Factors Influencing the Passing of Mainland Chinese Students' Study Abroad Applications Based on Logistic Regression Modeling--Example of Applying for Master's Degree in Hong Kong

In order to explore the admission factors of mainland Chinese students applying for master's degree in Hong Kong, the article collected about 240 data by visiting and researching professional study abroad application agencies and students in colleges and universities. It collected undergraduate institution background, major grades, target institution ranking, language scores and undergraduate grades of the applicants and analyzed and explored them based on the logistic regression model. We found that undergraduate institutional rank, undergraduate GPA, target institution rank, and major match were significantly different across admissions outcomes and were able to conclude, that undergraduate institutional rank, GPA, and target institution rank had the most significant effect on admissions outcomes, and that language scores and major match did not significantly affect admissions outcomes. We hypothesize that there may be a survivor bias in the data collected, and that some unquantifiable factors of soft backgrounds such as research competitions, internships, and patents and journals may have an impact on the admissions outcomes. We also provide strategies to improve the success rate of the application.

A clash of clans: an empirical study of conflicting institutional logics and their impact on megaproject collaboration

PurposeManaging megaprojects is challenging due to their inherent complexity and uncertainty. Collaborative project delivery models have been introduced as an alternative to traditional project management in public infrastructure megaprojects and are often realized through collaborative contracts. These project organizations act as institutional arenas for logic interaction as actors with differing institutional backgrounds interact within the project. This paper aims to study the delivery phase of three megaprojects through an institutional lens, investigating the institutional interaction and alignment of logics therein.Design/methodology/approachA multiple case study was employed to reach deep insight into the phenomenon. Sixty-one interviews were conducted over 3 cases with representatives from all levels of the project hierarchy. Respondents were selected through snowball sampling. In two cases, observations of the shared project office were conducted. Data analysis built on first-order codes and second-order themes, collected into a theoretical framework.FindingsThe empirical evidence demonstrates the dynamics shaping institutional logics and gives evidence for changing logics in projects with a well-applied collaborative contract. However, there is a risk of resistance and a return to traditional logics since institutional change is slow and an unsuitably applied collaborative contract can lead to adherence to the conventional way of work.Originality/valueCurrent research has focused on the regulatory framework and procurement phase of such models, but little attention has been given to the delivery phase and the interaction of conflicting logics. This paper can serve as an exemplar of the different logics found within public infrastructure projects and their interaction and alignment. Contributions include a heightened emphasis on the start of the project as a meeting point for differing institutional logics and the role change necessary when using a collaborative contract.

Institutional Diversity in the Selection Process for General Surgery Residency

This Viewpoint examines the challenges faced by students from diverse institutional backgrounds in pursuing academic surgery and recommends measures to promote institutional diversity by adopting a more holistic approach in the selection process for general surgery residency.

Critically Discuss Whether and How Board Size Affects the Companys Decision-making

The board size affect the decision-making process and the effectiveness of the board (Dwivedi and Jain, 2005). The influence of board size on corporate risk-taking, investment decisions, dividend policy, and innovation remains inconclusive due to varying perspectives based on agency theory, resource dependence theory, and institutional backgrounds. As for firms’ decision-making, the company's goal is to maximize profits, so the company needs to make a series of reasonable decisions to meet the needs and expectations of shareholders in a specific environment . While smaller boards may facilitate risk-taking and investment strategy, larger boards offer diverse skills and experience for better decision-making, dividend expansion, and innovation. However, findings are limited by external factors, sample sizes, data biases, industry specificity, and cross-sectional nature of studies. Future research should consider continuous variables, larger samples, and longitudinal analysis to generalize findings across countries and industries.Therefore, in order to achieve this goal, the company needs to consider how to make decisions in the following directions, such as enterprise risk-taking, investment policy, financing policy, innovation policy and so on. This study mainly analyzes how the size of the board of directors affects the company's decision-making.

Implementing artificial intelligence across task types: constraints of automation and affordances of augmentation

PurposeThis study aims to uncover the constraints of automation and the affordances of augmentation related to implementing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems across different task types: mechanical, thinking and feeling.Design/methodology/approachQualitative study involving 45 interviews with various stakeholders in artistic gymnastics, for which AI-powered systems for the judging process are currently developed and tested. Stakeholders include judges, gymnasts, coaches and a technology vendor.FindingsWe identify perceived constraints of automation, such as too much mechanization, preciseness and inability of the system to evaluate artistry or to provide human interaction. Moreover, we find that the complexity and impreciseness of the rules prevent automation. In addition, we identify affordances of augmentation such as speedier, fault-less, more accurate and objective evaluation. Moreover, augmentation affords to provide an explanation, which in turn may decrease the number of decision disputes.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the unique context of our study is revealing, the generalizability of our specific findings still needs to be established. However, the approach of considering task types is readily applicable in other contexts.Practical implicationsOur research provides useful insights for organizations that consider implementing AI for evaluation in terms of possible constraints, risks and implications of automation for the organizational practices and human agents while suggesting augmented AI-human work as a more beneficial approach in the long term.Originality/valueOur granular approach provides a novel point of view on AI implementation, as our findings challenge the notion of full automation of mechanical and partial automation of thinking tasks. Therefore, we put forward augmentation as the most viable AI implementation approach. In addition, we developed a rich understanding of the perception of various stakeholders with a similar institutional background, which responds to recent calls in socio-technical research.

Social security contributions and corporate outsourcing

This paper empirically examines the relationship between the pressure of social security contributions and employment decisions regarding labor outsourcing among non-financial, non-insurance listed companies in China's capital market, under the country's unique institutional background. The findings indicate that higher social security contributions lead companies to lean more towards labor outsourcing decisions. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive impact of social security contributions on the inclination for labor outsourcing is primarily found in non-state-owned enterprises and manufacturing industry samples.

Challenges in decision-making support processes regarding living kidney donation: A qualitative study.

Previous studies on decision-making of living kidney donors have indicated issues regarding donors' autonomy is inherent in decision-making to donate their kidney. Establishing effective decision-making support that guarantees autonomy of living kidney donor candidates is important. The aim of this study was to identify the difficulties in the decision-making support when clinical transplant coordinators advocating for the autonomy of donor candidates of living donor kidney transplantation and to identify the methods to deal with these difficulties. A qualitative descriptive study. Ten clinical transplant coordinators supporting living kidney donors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using an interview guide. The modified grounded theory approach was utilised to analyse. Three categories related to difficulties were as follows: issues inherent to the interaction between coordinators, donor candidates and their families; issues regarding the environment and institutional background in which coordinators operate; and emotional labour undertaken by coordinators in the decision-making support process. Additionally, five categories related to methods were as follows: assessing the autonomy of donor candidates based on the coordinators nursing experience; interventions for the donor candidates and their family members based on the coordinators nursing experience; smooth coordination with medical staff; clarifying and asserting their views as coordinators; and readiness to protect the donor candidates. The involvement of highly experienced coordinators with excellent and assertive communication skills as well as the ability to reflect on their own practices is essential. Moreover, we may need to fundamentally review the transplant community, where power domination is inherent.

Reconceiving China's urban economic transition through symbiotic state-firm dynamics: An integrated perspective from urban governance and global production networks

China's urban economic transition since the 2000s has garnered considerable scholarly interest. Two distinct bodies of scholarship, namely urban governance and global production networks, have investigated this phenomenon, each offering unique insights either from an endogenous state-centric or exogenous firm-centric approach. The former has justifiably accentuated the centrality of the state in shaping Chinas urban-regional economic reconfiguration but lacks exploration of the multifaceted ways in which state apparatus engages with a spectrum of quotidian firm-level activities and the negotiation power these firms wield. The latter embraces an exogenous firm-centric perspective on the economic transition in East Asia latecomer regions, stressing forces of globalisation, foreign investment, and intra/inter/extra-firm networks, but tends to bracket the state into the institutional background and, therefore, downplays its agentic role. By initiating a dialogue between these two theoretical frameworks, this paper formulates a dialectical state-firm relational approach, offering a revitalised, integrative comprehension of China's urban economic transformation. Employing Dongguan - a globally recognised hub for ICT manufacturing - as an empirical focal point, it elucidates how the relational state-firm dynamics evolve temporally, differ spatially across territories and scales, and display distinct contrasts between high-value-added and labour-intensive sectors within the ICT industry.

Corporate information preference and stock return volatility

ABSTRACT This paper models the effect of corporate information preference on stock return volatility based on optimization problems of information decisions for firms and investors. Our model hypothesizes a positive correlation between corporate information preference and volatility. Utilizing the ideal institutional background of the Chinese stock market, we empirically confirm that corporate information preference has a positive impact on volatility, particularly for firms facing more severe financial distress, limited investor attention, and less analyst coverage. Our study provides a new perspective for analyzing the interaction between information supply and asset price dynamics.

The Dual Pillars of Progress: Institutional and Cultural Dynamics in Economic Development

This study examines the critical interplay between institutional and cultural backgrounds and their collective impact on economic development, suggesting that their synchronized evolution—timing, pace, and direction—boosts economic development, while misalignment hinders it. It seeks to determine if these backgrounds complement or substitute each other in fostering economic development. The analysis employs an unbalanced panel dataset encompassing 113 countries across four decades (1980–2019) through a fixed-effects model enhanced by robustness checks (adding control variables, using alternative analysis methods, and applying adjustment criteria). The analysis uncovers a synergistic relationship between institutional and cultural backgrounds in which each element reinforces the other’s impact on economic development. Countries with robust institutional and cultural backgrounds exhibit the highest levels of economic development, whereas those with weaker backgrounds experience diminished economic progress. This study further reveals that the influence of institutional background on economic development is more pronounced than that of cultural background. However, this effect is significantly amplified when both institutional and cultural backgrounds are considered. Considering these insights, this study recommends that effective development strategies prioritize simultaneously nurturing institutional and cultural backgrounds. This approach is essential for crafting a successful and comprehensive development roadmap.

Factors Affecting Academic Performance of BS Students in Mansehra City (Pakistan)

This study investigates the factors affecting the academic performance of BS students in Mansehra city. To make a relationship between social factors, parental factors, family background, basic facilities, economic factors, human resources, peer factors, demographic factors, gender and culture, institutional background, and student’s academic performance, the study used correlation analysis. Firstly, the reliability of the research instrument was established, and a proportionate random sampling technique was used to select the sample. Data was collected through closed ended questionnaires, and a sample size of 200 was drawn from three colleges in Mansehra city. The frequency analysis revealed that the sample comprises 75 percent female and 25 percent male students, and they belong to the 17-24 years age group. 95% of students show a parental educational background, which encourages children’s education. 92% of students' family income is essential to continuing their studies, and 98% of respondents think that human resources affect the student’s performance. The result from the regression model shows a significant relationship between social factors, parental factors, family background, basic facilities, economic factors, human resources, and the students' performance. In contrast, other factors like peer factors, demographic factors, gender and culture, and institutional background have an insignificant effect on the model. Any institution paying attention to students from low socioeconomic backgrounds could develop a support system for students by identifying financial aid and student loan schemes.

Value creation mechanisms in a social and health care innovation ecosystem – an institutional perspective

This study explores value-creation mechanisms in an institutionally diverse social and health care ecosystem, specifically through the lenses of institutional logics and institutional work. The research context is the social and health care innovation ecosystem in Tampere, Finland, comprising actors from various institutional backgrounds. The research method is an inductive interpretivist analysis, frequently used in studies on institutional logics. The alternation between empirical data—derived from interviews (n = 21), surveys (n = 23), and memos (n = 71)—and the theoretical framework yields new insights. Specifically, the empirical and the theoretical evidence provides practical examples of value-creation mechanisms, institutional logics, and modes of institutional work in social and health care innovation ecosystems. This article is one of the few papers that integrate institutional logics and institutional work to study value creation in a diverse social and health care innovation ecosystem. It contributes to the existing literature on collaborative value creation and the social and health care ecosystem by identifying how different value-creation mechanisms are manifested as hybridity in the ecosystem and how institutional work fosters collaborative value creation. This study fills a research gap by refining the understanding of collaborative value-creation mechanisms and their institutional underpinnings in social and health care ecosystems, thereby enriching both bodies of literature. These insights promote a nuanced understanding of collaborative value-creation practices in institutionalized settings, with implications for both policymaking and further research.

Missionary Writings during the Canton Exile (1666–1671): Crisis in the Manchu-Christian Relationship

During their Canton exile (1666–1671), European missionaries wrote an impressive number of reports and letters which have not been systematically studied until now. After presenting a detailed analysis of the institutional background of the 25 missionaries who arrived in Canton, we analyze the first internal reports about the Calendar Case. Then, we discuss three important Jesuit works by Gabiani, Grelon and Rougemont, who attributed the crisis to the opposition of the Manchus to Christianity. The distrust of the Canton Jesuits towards the Manchus throws a new light into the approach of Christianity towards politics and religion in China.

Can the improvement of competitive adequacy and fairness reduce discriminatory M&A behavior? Evidence from the market access negative list pilot in China

Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are subject to skewed logic due to excessive government regulation. China is progressively adopting the Market Access Negative List (MANL) pilot to transfer the power of resource allocation from the government to the market. Using the DID method, we examine the impact of relaxing market access regulation on firms’ M&A behavior against China’s institutional background and the M&A events of listed companies from 2012 to 2019. The MANL significantly increases firms’ M&A tendency and amount and strengthens the competitive adequacy and fairness of market-oriented M&A decisions. Post-M&A financial performance does not increase, but human capital productivity, innovation effectiveness and total factor productivity do, demonstrating the dynamic balance of profit and efficiency in M&As.

Economics in Germany: About the Unequal Distribution of Power

This article analyzes the power relations in the field of German economics. By incorporating the capital and field theory of Pierre Bourdieu, the study investigates the distribution of economic, social, and symbolic capital on economists in Germany. In a first step, the three forms of capital have been defined and operationalized on publicly available information. This leads to eight main samples of economists. In a second step, information on these economists have been collected to derive indicators regarding their paradigmatic stance and institutional background. The findings indicate a monopolization of mainstream economics and concentration of resources on the large economic departments. Furthermore, these characteristics relate to an increased importance of Colander’s Edge, an almost complete marginalization of heterodox economics and a significant center-periphery disparity. Thus, in the field of economics in Germany, a social structural verticalization and elitism of universities as well as a paradigm monism can be observed.

Czech society and drones: experience, norms, and concerns

Understanding societal acceptance of drones is key to their operational incorporation to flight space. For this reason, this study measures experience, norms, and concerns related to drone operation on a quota representative sample of the Czech public and provides an overview of the situation. It finds out that a majority of Czechs already has some level of personal experience with drones and that Czechs are quite confident about high quality of drones’ performance in regard to manoeuvrability, video recording, or low noise levels. Despite these, more legislative regulations and their stronger enforcement are favoured by the majority. Public acceptance of a particular type of flight operations is then highly dependent on the operators’ institutional background. Operations by police and firefighters are supported significantly more. Finally, it is shown that privacy is the driving concern compared to safety or noise in the Czech Republic. Given these, it seems reasonable to focus further communication with the public about this issue, particularly on the introduction of technological capabilities, societal effects of drone operation, and the current legislative framework related to privacy rights and new technologies rather than on promoting drone operation safety.