Institutional Background Research Articles

Mandatory CSR disclosure and CEO pay performance sensitivity in China: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment

PurposeThis paper aims to empirically examine the impact of mandatory CSR disclosure on the CEO pay performance sensitivity.Design/methodology/approachUsing the mandatory requirement of CSR disclosure as an exogenous shock, the authors compare the changes in CEO pay performance sensitivity for treatment firms with control firms through a difference-in-difference (DiD) approach.FindingsThe authors find that mandatory CSR disclosure enhances CEO pay performance sensitivity. The results also show that monitoring CEO power is a conduit through which mandatory CSR disclosure affects CEO pay performance sensitivity. The positive impact is more profound in firms with a powerful CEO, i.e. one who is politically well-connected, holds dual roles as both CEO and Chairman, and/or has had a long tenure. Furthermore, the increased CEO pay performance sensitivity after the mandate is prominent among state-owned enterprises (SOEs) only.Practical implicationsThe findings of this paper have implications for other economies with similar institutional backgrounds as China. Although the mandatory CSR disclosure does not require firms to spend on CSR investment, the mandatory CSR disclosure alters firm behaviour, and mitigates agency problems.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the studies on the impact of CSR disclosure on firms' behaviour. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effects of mandatory CSR disclosure on CEO pay performance sensitivity using the quasi-natural experiment settings.

A Room of One's Own: Covid-19 Pandemic and Academic Motherhood in India

The paper examines the disproportionately adverse impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had on academic mothers employed in higher education sector. By looking at global data as well as institutional and socio-cultural background of higher education in India, the paper argues for the need of a systematic and institutional Covid-impact stock-taking. Without such a measure, the author argues, the already existing gender-gap in higher education in India will be further widened, with the gap becoming starker at the higher professional levels within academia.

Travelling abroad and geopolitical preferences – case of Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mariupol, Ukraine

The paper investigates the relationship between travel abroad experience and individual geopolitical preferences in three geopolitical fault-line cities in the eastern part of Ukraine. Employing binary logistic regression as a principal research method, we show that travel experience to European countries positively correlates with pro-European attitudes and corresponds to weaker pro-Soviet sentiments. On the contrary, travel experience to Russia is associated with somewhat weaker support for European geopolitical and cultural integration but stronger pro-Soviet sentiments. Travel experience to Russia is less important predictor of geopolitical preferences than visiting European countries. Pro-European attitudes, compared with pro-Soviet sentiments, are much more interlinked with international travel experience. The data on bilateral travellers evidences that possible effect of visiting European countries basically neutralises the effect of visiting Russia in terms of impact on geopolitical preferences. Although the relationship between travel abroad experience and geopolitical preferences is similar in all three cities under investigation, certain variations between them may be explained by different economic, socio-cultural and institutional background. The revealed correlations seem to cover both direct causal effect of travel abroad on geopolitical preferences and a reverse causality, namely self-selection of destination country according to personal pre-existing geopolitical views. The importance of discovered relationships for the integration of Ukrainian society into European civilization project is apparent not only considering visa-free regime between Ukraine and the European Union (EU), but also in view of the Russian military invasion in 2022 as a cause of flows of refugees from Ukraine to Europe.

Buy now, pay later as liquidity insurance: Evidence from an early experiment in China

This study explores the liquidity insurance role of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL). As a complementary study to Bian et al. (2023), we provide institutional background and mechanism analysis of BNPL's consumption-boosting effects. Since a significant consumption boosting effect exists even for individuals who did not draw on the BNPL credit line, we argue that BNPL provides liquidity insurance by releasing preexisting precautionary liquidity reserves into consumption. We also explore several robustness checks and heterogeneity analyses.

The Past Is Evolutionary, the Future Is Byzantine: Kurt Weitzmann’s Contribution to the Research on Pictorial Narration

In the Illustrations in Roll and Codex (1947), Kurt Weitzmann developed a methodological apparatus for studying Byzantine and medieval narrative book illumination. His approach had two important features: an evolutionary narrative typology that paid attention to the narrative strategies the painter chose for presenting a story and a comparative narrative analysis that observed stories in illustrations in relation to their textual source. The focus of this paper is the personal and institutional background of this method, its context, dissemination, and legacy. Weitzmann advanced the study of pictorial storytelling through his pedagogical work and introduced it into the academic curriculum. Alongside stylistic analysis and iconography, it soon became an essential methodological tool in art history that constituted a link between the art of the Byzantine East and the Latin West. This approach also had a key influence on the style of his autobiographical writings. Weitzmann propagated the study of visual narratives through his extremely productive oeuvre and effective personal influence. In the dissemination of Weitzmann’s ideas, three institutions played a key role: Princeton University, Dumbarton Oaks, and the University of Chicago. Weitzmann’s circle made Byzantine studies the leading field for research into visual narratives over the period from around 1940 to 1980.

Achieving cross‐sectoral policy integration in multilevel structures—Loosely coupled coordination of “energy transition” in the German “Bundesrat”

AbstractThe big policy challenges of our times are complex problems cutting across policy sectors and levels of government. To answer the question how cross‐sectoral policy coordination in multilevel structures can be achieved, we argue in line with policy integration and multilevel governance scholarship that “loosely coupled” institutions create the interdependency necessary to secure complex coordination. This argument is substantiated empirically by investigating coordination of energy transition in the German Bundesrat. Expectations are derived on how loosely coupled institutions promote coordination. They are tested using a mix of empirical data. It can be shown that loosely coupled institutions indeed enable coordination by linking powers across multiple dimensions, creating incentives for cross‐sectoral communication, using personal ties in negotiations to bridge different institutional backgrounds, and sequencing the decision process to allow strategic shifts between coordination dimensions. Those mechanisms may not guarantee the best possible result, but they provide a satisfactory solution at least.

THE ROLE OF TURKEY IN THE SECOND KARABAKH WAR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR CENTRAL ASIA

The role of the Turkey and the reasons for the support of Azerbaijan in the Second Karabakh war are under consideration. The armament provisions and the regular joint exercises showed the military support of Turkey for Azerbaijan as well as the opportunity for Turkey to demonstrate its military and technological capabilities in the Second Karabakh war. It is determined that the Turkish weaponry showed the weakness of the military planning and technologies of russia. It is suggested that using of the Turkish drones in the Karabakh war changed the concept of war. It is established that Central Asian nations are beginning to view Azerbaijan as a bridge to the West and as a matter of outstanding role of Turkey in the Second Karabakh war this new image of Azerbaijan will only increase Turkey’s advances in the Turkic republics of that area. It is determined that Turkey can expand eastward over the Caspian Sea thanks to Azerbaijan's geographic position, which will be important in stabilizing Turkey's approach to Central Asia. The most vivid example of this is the planned corridor that passes from southern Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan, an exclave of Azerbaijan. The Second Karabakh War's aftermath and the Turkish leadership's sequential official travels to Central Asian nations are instructive of the growing importance of the Central Asia for Turkey. The institutional and military backgrounds of increasing cooperation with Central Asian countries is revealed as well. It is concluded that nationalistic and panturkic rhetoric and practice being currently on the agenda of foreign policy of Turkey aimed at Central Asia. If previously Turkey cooperated with Central Asia on the low politics, after the Second Karabakh war Turkey turned to high politics questions, using the low politics as the background for high politics issues. Based on their shared language and racial heritage, Turkey and Central Asian nations are forming a strategic, security, and military partnership. The emergence of political dimension in the cooperation is illustrated by the Turkic unanimity in the position paper “Turkic World Vision – 2040”.

CEO narcissism and corporate performance in China

This study explores the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism and corporate performance in China. Based on the Chinese institutional and cultural background, we introduce organizational innovation as a mediating variable and CEO power as a moderating variable. We find that CEO narcissism is positively related to corporate performance based on 275 companies listed on the growth enterprise market (GEM) from 2012 to 2020. Furthermore, organizational innovation plays a partially mediating role in the relationship between CEO narcissism and corporate performance, and the moderating role of CEO power is partially supported.

Baseline Assessment of Systemic Racism Education in Pharmacy Curricula

Objective. To determine, by survey, the inclusion of systemic racism education in US Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curricula and identify barriers and facilitators to addressing this content.Methods. A survey was developed and distributed to curricular representatives at US colleges and schools of pharmacy. The survey assessed inclusion of systemic racism education in curricula, faculty involvement in teaching systemic racism content, barriers to adding systemic racism content in curricula, and future curricular plans. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics for institutional background information, curricular content, and barriers to inclusion. Relationships between the inclusion of systemic racism content at public versus private programs were examined, and associations between traditional and accelerated programs were assessed.Results. Fifty-eight colleges and schools of pharmacy provided usable responses. Of the respondents, 84% indicated that teaching systemic racism content and its impact on health and health care was a low priority. For 24% of respondents, systemic racism content was not currently included in their curriculum, while 34% indicated that systemic racism content was included in one or more courses or modules but was not a focus. Despite systemic racism content being offered in any didactic year, it was rarely included in experiential curricula. Top barriers to inclusion were lack of faculty knowledge and comfort with content and limited curricular space. No significant differences were found between program types.Conclusion. Based on the current level of systemic racism education and barriers to inclusion, faculty need training and resources to teach systemic racism concepts within pharmacy curricula. The inclusion of systemic racism concepts and guidance in the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education's Accreditation Standards could help to drive meaningful change and promote health equity.

고발사건 불기소처분의 통제방안

The purpose of this study is to present a reasonable control plan for the prosecution discretion of prosecutors who protect the safety of the social system as a representative of the public interest, Examining the institutional background of the prosecution's non-indictment. After processing and reviewing cases of non-prosecution dispositions in accusation cases, the direction of control of non-indictment was sought.
 Prosecutors may institute prosecution or non-indictment by investigating cases in which complaints and accusations are forwarded by judicial police officers or cases in which direct complaints and accusations are prescribed by Acts and subordinate statutes. The control system for non-indictment by prosecutors is divided into internal control and external control. For dissatisfaction with the non-indictment of the accusation case, internal control measures are being prepared through ‘notice of the purpose and reason for the non-indictment’ and ‘appeal to the prosecution (reappeal)’.
 In this study, the following matters were reviewed through the progress of cases of non-indictment and review of legal principles. For the first time, While acknowledging the fact of the actor's act, we discussed the wrong interpretation of the law that may not admit the establishment of a crime by changing the interpretation of the law. Also, In the discretionary judgment of suspension of indictment, additional factors for judgment on the possibility of blame related to the responsibility derived from the legal status of actors were examined. And, Once the prosecution appeal (reappeal) procedure, which is an internal control method for non-indictment recognized by the accuser, is completed, there is no longer any means of dissatisfaction in criminal procedures.
 The direction of control sought through the review of non-indictment cases is as follows. First, the target cases should be expanded so that all accusation cases can be Application for Adjudication. Second, the standard and scope of the prosecutor's prosecution should be stipulated at the level of the law and order, and notified to the general public. Third, public procedures should be established so that the general public can read and copy the reason for non-indictment, which is a quasi-judicial judgment at the end of the investigation process.
 This study lacks a discussion in connection with the appeal limit system for the judicial police officer's non-transfer decision in accusation cases. therefore. It should be supplemented from a macroscopic point of view of criminal justice procedures through future research.

Public sector audit and influence the investment institutional background during a pandemic

The study purpose was to assess the impact of public sector audit on investment climate formation under the COVID‐19 pandemic and to develop recommendations to improve its effectiveness. For this purpose, a multistage research project was developed with the participation of auditors from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. The project was based on the primary information obtained in the course of expert interviews. Testing the methodological approach with experts from these countries allowed proving the main study hypotheses, according to which the public sector audit has an indirect positive impact on investment climate formation. Such an audit influences the main impact factors through improving public administration efficiency, the fight against corruption, and the provision of the regulatory framework. During the testing, the main directions for improving public audit for a more favorable investment climate were formulated. The developed methodological approach makes it possible to obtain an expert assessment of the impact of the public audit on investment climate formation. At the same time, partial use of statistical methods makes it possible to replicate the study in the form of an expert interview, which increases its attractiveness for researchers in conditions of shortage of qualified interviewers.

Koyō kankei to shakaiteki fubyōdō: Sangyōteki shitizunshippu keisei tenkai to shite no kōzō hendō (Employment Relations and Social Inequalities: Social Structural Changes Shaped by the Development of Industrial Citizenship)

Labour reforms have been implemented in Japan since the 1990s, and the resulting inequalities between regular and non-regular employees have become the core of the inequality problems in Japan in the 21st century. Thus, it is important to ask certain questions. What was the economic, political, and institutional background for the increase in non-regular employees? Why have the inequalities between regular and non-regular employees not been reduced? How will the employment system of Japanese companies change in the future? One may find answers to all these questions in this book. Using new institutionalism in sociology as the basic methodology, this treatise by Imai Jun explains the labour reforms that have taken place over the last three decades and their impact on social inequalities in Japan. It attempts to bridge institutional and social stratification studies. This book is based on one of Imai’s previous publications (Imai 2011) but is not merely a Japanese translation of the same. Four new chapters have been added, and the chapters based on the previous book have been substantially revised. This new book is worth reading, even for readers of the previous work.

Language learning from children at an early age

Language as an essential factor in human life can be said to be born together with the human. But how does it develop further and how is it acquired by the individual? The issues that will be treated in this paper belong to the psycholinguistic field, a research discipline which is really in the first steps of its development, but considering that without acquisition, language cannot be realized and that its acquisition starts from birth, it turns out to be an interesting issue to be treated. The human with a sound mental and social mechanism acquires language from birth, the first stages of childhood to the age that is considered as the age of almost complete acquisition of language and onwards. In this paper, as well, we will address the topic of speech acquisition by children, who initially use and speak the language as they hear it without their full consciousness, and later to influence to an older age and conscious way in it, by giving it a broader semantic meaning. Regarding the acquisition of speech by children, there are a number of factors that significantly affect children and their speech, from the family, institutional and social background, etc. Therefore, our paper aims to clarify some important issues about language acquisition by children.

Measuring the efficiency of public hospitals: A multistage data envelopment analysis in Fujian Province, China.

The present study aimed to evaluate the operational efficiency of public hospitals in Fujian Province and the factors responsible for the inefficiency of these hospitals and provide relevant suggestions for health policymakers in allocating service resources. In the first stage of the research, the variables affecting the efficiency of hospitals were extracted by qualitative and quantitative methods, including literature optimization, gray related analysis and gray clustering evaluation. In the second stage, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method was used to evaluate the operational efficiency of 49 hospitals of different levels and types selected by sampling in 2020. Finally, a Tobit regression model with introduced institutional factors and background factors was established to study the main influencing factors of hospital inefficiency. In the first stage, 10 input variables and 10 output variables necessary from the mangers' point of view were identified to test efficiency. In the second stage, the average comprehensive TE, PTE, and SE of 49 sample hospitals was 0.802, 0.888, and 0.902, respectively. 22.45% of these hospitals met the effective criteria, i.e., the overall effective rate was 22.45%. The low SE value of the hospital was the main reason hindering the improvement of the comprehensive efficiency value. The overall effective rate of secondary public hospitals (30.77%) was higher than that of tertiary public hospitals (19.44%), and the overall effective rate of public specialized hospitals (30%) was higher than that of general public hospitals (18.92%). Based on the third stage results, the bed occupancy rate (BOR) and the proportion of beds (POB) were major factors affecting the operation efficiency of grade III hospitals (p < 0.01). However, the operating efficiency of grade II hospitals was significantly affected by POB and regional per capita GDP(GDPPC) (p < 0.05). Moreover, the impact of BOR and GDPPC was positive, and POB was negatively correlated with hospital operation efficiency. The study results indicated that the overall operation efficiency of public hospitals in Fujian Province is low. This study revealed that intervention should be strengthened from a policy and management perspective to improve the operation efficiency of public hospitals.

Compensating for Loss of Nature and Landscape in a Growing City—Berlin Case Study

By 2030, around 194,000 new dwellings will be built in Berlin, including almost 52,000 in 16 new urban districts. These and other interventions will impact the city’s nature and landscape. An important means of compensating for these losses is a land-use planning eco-account adapted to Berlin’s needs. It relies on a whole-city compensation concept consisting of three pillars: flagship projects, thematic programmes, and the integrated enhancement of existing land uses. Impacts can be offset in advance via the eco-account. The institutional and legal backgrounds, as well as the allocation of compensations to interventions and the principle of the loss–gain calculation using value points, are presented. Housing construction and its preponed compensation trigger land-use changes. Critical factors affecting this process were identified and categorised as population development, housing requirement, resulting intervention, land-use change, and preponed compensation. A modified causal loop diagram was created to visualise the interdependencies and link the polarities of the derived key variables. The challenges of compensation without a net loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as solutions for avoiding impacts to achieve the goal of no net land take, are discussed. The compensatory approach presented here could be transferred to other growing cities.

The Investigation of Nurses’ Nutritional Knowledge, Belief and Behavior in Elderly Care Institutions of Yantai City

Objective: To understand the nutritional nursing knowledge, belief and practice of nurses in elderly care institutions in Yantai city, and to provide basis for formulating corresponding countermeasures. Methods: The nutritional knowledge, belief, behavior and needs of 82 nurses in 15 elderly care institutions of Yantai city were investigated, and their different educational background, age, working years, professional titles and different types of elderly care institutions were compared and analyzed. Results: The nurses’ nutritional knowledge in hospital grade, nutritional belief in age and working years, nutritional practice in working years、technical titles and hospital grade were statistically significant differences (<I>P > </I>0.05). The overall level of nutrition knowledge of nurses in elderly care institutions was low. The knowledge, belief and behavior scores of nurses in hospitals with combination of medical care and nursing were higher. Nurses aged 21-25 years and working for 1-5 years scored higher in nutritional knowledge and attitude. There was no significant difference in the average scores of nurses with different educational levels and professional titles. Conclusion: The overall level of nutritional knowledge of nurses in elderly care institutions is low, and the nutritional behavior needs to be further standardized. The nutritional knowledge, belief and behavior of nurses in hospitals combined with medical care are better than those in community care centers. Timely measures should be taken to improve the nutritional knowledge level of nurses in community care centers.

Foreign experience of CEO and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China

Foreign experience is a mechanism through which personal cognitions can be shaped into idiosyncratic characteristics. Under the unique institutional background of China, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether CEOs’ foreign experience will affect the performance of CSR and whether the influences of CEOs’ foreign experience on CSR vary from the categories of foreign experience or from the governance environments. We find that firms with returnee CEOs show better CSR performance. Moreover, the longer the CEO’s foreign experience, the better is the CSR performance. Our results are robust to endogeneity concerns, inclusion of additional control, and alternative measures of key variables. Further analyses indicate that foreign working and integrated experiences have important impacts on CSR performance; and the positive effect of foreign experience on CSR is more pronounced for firms located in better legal environment and for those audited by reputable auditor. Our findings highlight foreign experience of CEO as an important driver of CSR performance.

Accounting Books of Argentina

La literatura contable en lengua inglesa ofrece relativamente poca información sobre las investigaciones y publicaciones realizadas en Latinoamérica, tanto en el pasado como en la actualidad. Con el objetivo de contribuir a cerrar la brecha, hemos investigado esta temática en la Argentina. Comenzamos con una breve descripción de nuestra metodología; luego exponemos la evolución de las instituciones contables argentinas y su estrecha relación con la academia, así como la de sus revistas de contabilidad. Después nos concentramos en la influencia extranjera (española, francesa, italiana, norteamericana, inglesa y alemana) en las publicaciones contables argentinas a inicios del siglo 20. A continuación, realizamos un revisión de las publicaciones de contabilidad argentinas durante la primera mitad del siglo veinte, y sus autores más relevantes. El resto del trabajo trata principalmente de los autores y publicaciones de la segunda mitad del siglo veinte (y la influencia anglo-americana) desde el punto de vista de sub-áreas tales como la teoría general de la contabilidad, contabilidad financiera, auditoría, contabilidad de costos y contabilidad gerencial, contabilidad social y contabilidad gubernamental.

Healthcare in Russia and Latvia: Revealing Public Attitudes and Institutional Prerequisites

The essay compares the public evaluation of healthcare systems in Latvia and Russia in terms of efficiency and quality of healthcare services, unofficial payments and informal gift-giving practices, and social exclusion in the area of healthcare. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed shortcomings in the availability of healthcare services, which highlights the importance and relevance of this research. In particular, I give an overview of problems people face when they receive medical treatment and test whether public perceptions vary across different social groups. To explain the observed differences, I focus on the institutional background to the current state of healthcare systems in Russia and Latvia.

What’s Law Got To Do with It?: Anthropological Engagement with Legal Scholarship

Among law and society fields, legal anthropology has experienced markedly high highs and low lows. Its parent disciplines, law and anthropology, have fluctuated from intense and productive engagement with one another to mutual disregard for each other’s ways of knowing. Most commentary on the trajectory of this interdisciplinary relationship has bemoaned anthropology’s (ir)relevance to legal scholarship, but this introduction and the symposium essays that follow invert the usual narrative by asking how—and why—formal law might matter to anthropology. The symposium is part of a dual special issue that grows out of a multi-year conversation between legal anthropologists representing varied institutional and intellectual backgrounds. Drawing on that conversation and on the essays it has produced, this introduction argues that anthropologists would do well to abandon their prepositional attitude to formal law and, instead, to build on the strengths of anthropological analysis by “cultivating attentiveness” to things legal.