Institutional Hurdles Research Articles

What does e-invoice data bring to SNA and real-time economy?

This paper explores the potential of electronic invoice data to enhance the System of National Accounts (SNA) and facilitate a Real-Time Economy (RTE). The rise of data science and advancements in information and communication technologies have increased the use of big data in economic statistics. E-invoice data is being digitized in Europe to detect VAT fraud, but it also contains a vast amount of information on economic entities that make up the SNA. This study focuses on integrating electronic accounting information to improve the coverage, granularity, and update speed of SNA. The paper examines the concept of RTE, which emphasizes real-time data processing and automation, particularly in Estonia and Finland. It also highlights the benefits and challenges of using invoice data for economic statistics, including issues related to data storage formats, legislative systems, and the coordination of data linkages. The research demonstrates invoice data’s theoretical and practical applications for constructing Input–Output Tables (IOTs) and monitoring financial situations. Despite the technical and institutional hurdles, the study suggests integrating invoice data can significantly transform economic statistics.

Use your power for good: Collective action to overcome institutional injustices impeding ethical science communication in the academy

Abstract Science communication (scicomm) shapes our world by helping people use science to make societal and personal decisions. Supporting and doing ethical scicomm requires valuing diverse perspectives and the people who do scicomm. Unfortunately, institutional hurdles ingrained in academia impede and undermine ethical scicomm. The injustices impeding scicomm stem from the prestige paradigm of academia (articulated in the present article), which reinforces hierarchical relationships in an exclusionary and exploitative system. To move academia forward, we name and review these injustices through the lens of five realms of scicomm (scientific communication, teaching scicomm, academics engaging in scicomm, scicomm research, and scicomm careers beyond academia). We then provide a novel framework, helping readers identify axes of influence and how they can leverage their intersectional, academic capital to take concrete action to remove the hurdles impeding ethical scicomm in academia.

Rural women entrepreneurship: when femininity compensates for institutional hurdles

Rural women entrepreneurship: when femininity compensates for institutional hurdles

Mock juries, real trials: how to solve (some) problems with jury science

AbstractJury science is fraught with difficulty. Since legal and institutional hurdles render it all but impossible to study live criminal jury deliberation, researchers make use of various indirect methods to evaluate jury performance. However, each of these methods is open to methodological criticism and, strikingly, some of the highest‐profile jury research programmes in recent years have reached opposing conclusions. Uncertainty about jury performance is an obstacle for legal reform; ongoing debate about the ‘justice gap’ for complainants of sexual offences has rendered these problems acute. This article proposes a way to advance the debate.

Enhancing adult learner success in higher education through decision tree models: A machine learning approach

This article explores the use of machine learning, specifically Classification and Regression Trees (CART), to address the unique challenges faced by adult learners in higher education. These learners confront socio-cultural, economic, and institutional hurdles, such as stereotypes, financial constraints, and systemic inefficiencies. The study utilizes decision tree models to evaluate their effectiveness in predicting graduation outcomes, which helps in formulating tailored educational strategies. The research analyzed a comprehensive dataset spanning the academic years 2013–2014 to 2021–2022, evaluating the predictive accuracy of CART models using precision, recall, and F1 score. Findings indicate that attendance, age, and Pell Grant eligibility are key predictors of academic success, demonstrating the strong capability of the model across various educational metrics. This highlights the potential of machine learning (ML) to improve data-driven decision-making in educational settings. The results affirm the effectiveness of Decision Tree (DT) models in meeting the educational needs of adult learners and underscore the need for institutions to adapt their strategies to provide more inclusive and supportive environments. This study advocates for a shift towards nuanced, data-driven approaches in higher education, emphasizing the development of strategies that address the distinct challenges of adult learners, aiming to enhance inclusivity and support within the sector.

What Is Ailing Oncology Clinical Trials? Can We Fix Them?

Evidence from phase three clinical trials helps shape clinical practice. However, a very small minority of patients with cancer participate in clinical trials and many trials are not completed on time due to slow accrual. Issues with restrictive eligibility criteria can severely limit the patients who can access trials, without any convincing evidence that these restrictions impact patient safety. Similarly, regulatory, organizational, and institutional hurdles can delay trial activation, ultimately making some studies irrelevant. Additional issues during trial conduct (e.g., mandatory in-person visits, central confirmation of standard biomarkers, and inflexible drug dosage modification) contribute to making trials non-patient-centric. These real-life observations from experienced clinical trialists can seem nonsensical to investigators and patients alike, who are trying to bring effective drugs to patients with cancer. In this review, we delve into these issues in detail, and discuss potential solutions to make clinical trials more accessible to patients.

A Comprehensive Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Removal Options for Germany

AbstractTo reach their net‐zero targets, countries will have to compensate hard‐to‐abate CO2 emissions through carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Yet, current assessments rarely include socio‐cultural or institutional aspects or fail to contextualize CDR options for implementation. Here we present a context‐specific feasibility assessment of CDR options for the example of Germany. We assess 14 CDR options, including three chemical carbon capture options, six options for bioenergy combined with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and five options that aim to increase ecosystem carbon uptake. The assessment addresses technological, economic, environmental, institutional, social‐cultural and systemic considerations using a traffic‐light system to evaluate implementation opportunities and hurdles. We find that in Germany CDR options like cover crops or seagrass restoration currently face comparably low implementation hurdles in terms of technological, economic, or environmental feasibility and low institutional or social opposition but show comparably small CO2 removal potentials. In contrast, some BECCS options that show high CDR potentials face significant techno‐economic, societal and institutional hurdles when it comes to the geological storage of CO2. While a combination of CDR options is likely required to meet the net‐zero target in Germany, the current climate protection law includes a limited set of options. Our analysis aims to provide comprehensive information on CDR hurdles and possibilities for Germany for use in further research on CDR options, climate, and energy scenario development, as well as an effective decision support basis for various actors.

Leveraging Ubuntu-inspired values to promote sustainable digital entrepreneurship in Africa

ABSTRACT Digital entrepreneurship in Africa, while promising, faces significant challenges, such as limited access to technology, nascent supportive and collaborative ecosystems, digital competency gaps, financial constraints, and disparities in developmental stages across national ecosystems in Africa. This study proposes the integration of Ubuntu values as a transformative force to overcome the challenges of digital entrepreneurship in Africa. Utilising a conceptual approach, this study explores how Ubuntu-inspired values can advance equitable and sustainable digital entrepreneurship in Africa. Specifically, it examines the role of these values and related enablers in overcoming institutional hurdles and promoting long-term success in a digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. Emphasising spirituality, collective welfare, humanity, reciprocity, and benevolence, this study suggests that Ubuntu values offer a unique perspective on digital entrepreneurship practices that promote sustainable development in Africa. The study contributes to the discourse on sustainable entrepreneurship by offering practical insights for stakeholders in Africa’s digital economy.

Preparing teachers for critical global and democratic practice: shifting inquiries into the teaching of democracy and global citizenship in teacher education

AbstractThere is an ongoing and increasingly pressing need to prepare teachers and students for a still globalising world. Such work requires that we contemplate how we are preparing learners to think globally and embody critical practices of citizenship. Much work has been done in this space yet there is little work that focuses on teacher educators and their respective views of global citizenship education, the primary paradigm through which the global context and civic action converge. Recognising the important role that teachers play in this educational process and the evolving nature of the notions of citizenship and democracy, this project focuses on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) to understand how teacher educators envisage their roles in preparing pre-service teachers (PSTs) to teach about democracy in schools. To learn how teacher educators understand global citizenship education as part of their research and teaching, we undertook a small case study wherein we interviewed teacher educators to solicit their views of global citizenship education. Through a presentation of the voices of teacher educators, we argue that there is a pressing need for those working in global citizenship education to consider how to better support teacher educators to navigate what we argue are two consistent themes: (a) a complex and unclear conceptual terrain that teacher educators find themselves navigating and; (b) an ever increasing set of regulatory and institutional hurdles that make enacting critical global citizenship challenging.

COVID-19 Changes the Nature of Tele-Mental Health: A Scope Review

COVID-19 temporarily removed legal restrictions, institutional hurdles, organizational impediments, and technological barriers to telemental health implementations that allow mental health therapists to apply virtual meeting technologies to serve their patients. Therapists transitioned from an under-appreciated health sub-specialty small business model to essential caregiver status needing management and technological expertise to measure service quality and outcomes. A systematic literature review identified factors essential for mental health workers and organizations transitioning patient therapy models from face-to-face to online support services under pandemic restrictions. This study revealed that management, technology, health services, and legal issues represent four critical areas of e-health research during the pandemic restrictions. This study suggests that telehealth applications require alterations in both the training and skills of the providers and the need for effective management of the telehealth business as digital mental health platforms supplant traditional delivery channels. Post-pandemic telehealth applications should be a blended approach that combines the best experiences from traditional treatments and virtual ones based on the digital skills of patients and healthcare providers.

Overcoming obstacles and reaping benefits: a study on the journey of aspiring educators in Ghana's teacher training institutions

In the context of Ghana's evolving educational landscape, teacher training institutions are pivotal yet understudied crucibles for educational innovation and national development. This seminal study aims to elucidate the challenges and rewards experienced by teacher trainees, thereby addressing a significant gap in the existing literature. Leveraging qualitative methodologies, including in-depth interviews and thematic analysis, the research casts new light on the intricate dynamics of pedagogical strategies, curriculum alignment, socio-cultural influencers, and institutional hurdles. A major conclusion is the strong correlation between trainees' well-being and the efficacy of training programs, emphasizing the need for holistic educational policies. Furthermore, the study offers a groundbreaking comparative analysis between Ghanaian training institutions and international best practices, identifying actionable areas for improvement. This research is a substantial contribution to the field, offering not just descriptive accounts but strategic insights that could redefine teacher training in Ghana. Keywords: Educators; education; teacher training; pedagogical challenges.

MGNREGA, A Reality or Rhetoric

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a major policy undertaken by the Indian government. However, whether MGNREGA will continue to yield the same positive benefits that it brought forth in the first three years of its implementation is a vital question that needs to be examined. The paper attempts to respond to this critical issue by portraying various aspects of MGNREGAs advancement. The primary focus is to examine its impact on the human resource base of rural India. Has it energized, mobilized, empowered, and delivered to Indias poorest and most marginalized rural people? The paper begins by explicating the details of the Act, its innovative characteristics, its institutional hurdles and its impact on rural-urban migration. It also includes the bottlenecks in the money flow, women participation in the employment, the governance and challenges in the implementation of the act, the factors that support its future viability and opportunities for policy actions are scrutinized and presented .It proposes a mechanism for identifying new and relevant projects. KEYWORDS : rural -urban migration, employment, women empowerment, financial inclusion

From Blind Spot to Crucial Concept: On the Role of Animal Welfare in Food System Changes towards Circular Agriculture

Agriculture in Western Europe has become efficient and productive but at a cost. The quality of biodiversity, soil, air, and water has been compromised. In the search for ways to ensure food security and meet the challenges of climate change, new production systems have been proposed. One of these is the transition to circular agriculture: closing the cycles of nutrients and other resources to minimise losses and end the impact on climate change. This development aims to address existing problems in food production but also raises questions about animal health and welfare. Although the role animals can play in this development is not ignored, the animal welfare dimension of circular agriculture seems to be overlooked. We argue that this is a problem both for the success of circular agriculture and for the animals involved. To substantiate this claim, we analyse the background to this lack of attention, which we find in (a) the way circular agriculture is conceptualised; (b) the institutional hurdles related to the legal, political and economic context; and (c) the concept of animal welfare, which requires further innovation. By analysing these aspects, we develop stepping stones for an animal-welfare inclusive concept of circular agriculture. These stepping stones include: recognising the animal as a participant with its own interests in the innovation towards circular agriculture; using a dynamic concept of animal welfare; a concept of circularity that provides space for social values, including animal welfare; and attention to institutional innovation by improving public engagement and building trust.

Interrogating the Roles of Women Academics in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria: Prince Abubakar Audu University and Veritas University, Abuja in Focus

The role of women in nation-building has continued to attract global attention. With changing policies and the resulting emphasis on female education, the ground is shifting as many women have entered previously male-dominated fields such as medicine, law, politics, the academia, among others. However, women still must pass some sociocultural and institutional hurdles to be able to attain a meaningful level of growth in their chosen careers. Despite the progress that women in the professional sphere have made, they remain underrepresented in strategic and essential positions. In fact, in academia, the representation of women can be likened to a pyramid where only a very small and, indeed, insignificant number of women exist at the top and in key leadership positions, especially in Nigeria. This position also applies to Prince Abubakar Audu University and Veritas University, Abuja, by implication. In this research, we have adopted the doctrinal approach and found that women still have a long way to go compared to men in attaining leadership roles. More work needs to be done collectively by men and women to place women in the leadership scheme.

“My Friend Travis Says…”: A look at enrollment trends in language classes in the United States

AbstractThe present study uses data from 1147 university language students from lower‐division and upper‐division courses from eight different languages. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of course placement, first course enrollment, and personal/professional relationships had on university learners' intentions to minor or major (IMM) in a language other than English (LOTE). Respondents completed a survey that included information regarding their first course of study, their prior learning experiences, their perceptions of support they receive for language study from their community, and their reasons for studying or not studying their target language as a major or minor degree program. This study found that there were several potential institutional hurdles associated with language study in the university setting, including first‐course placement, conflicting support from personal and academic relationships, and credit hour limitations. Suggestions for recruiting students and strengthening language programs conclude this study.

(When) do electoral mandates set the agenda? Government capacity and mandate responsiveness in Germany

AbstractIn democracies, electoral mandates are meant to shape public policy. But how much leeway do elected representatives actually have to implement it? Influential scholars think that (horizontal and vertical) institutional hurdles, budget constraints and political pressure dilute mandate responsiveness, but empirical evidence for this important claim remains scarce. This article provides a theoretical model and an empirical account of the extent to which different types of constraints limit the capacity of governing parties to set their electoral priorities on the agenda. Using fixed‐effects Poisson regression on German electoral and legislative priorities over a period of over three decades (1983–2016), we conclude that policies reflect electoral priorities to a greater extent than scholarship has acknowledged so far. We do confirm, however, the constraining effects of Europeanization, shrinking budget leeway, intra‐coalition disagreement and low executive popularity. We elaborate on the implications for theories of public policy, democratic representation and comparative politics.

Towards Transnational Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Abuses in Africa: Analysis of Conceptual and Institutional Hurdles

Corporate conduct is diverse; its character is often dependent on the sector in which any given investment can be placed. The effects of corporate conduct on human rights could be positive or negative if assessed from the standpoint of the responsibility arising from international law for ‘all organs of society’ to protect, respect and fulfill the human rights of individuals and communities. The paper analyses the impact of foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) on human rights in developing countries and assesses the capacity of international law to regulate MNCs. The paper focuses on relations between MNCs and public institutions exercising regulatory functions over the MNCs. The empirical point of departure for the paper is whether history records MNCs and developing countries have been partners in mutually beneficial relationships. It investigates the causes of developing countries’ long-established unenviable position in the international economy by examining critically the role of foreign MNCs.

Environmental Justice “Light”? Transnational Tort Litigation in the Corporate Anthropocene

AbstractCorporations are notoriously powerful actors in the current configuration of our globalized economy. Their activities play a key role in shaping a new age of ecological precarity—the Anthropocene. Much of this environmental damage occurs in cross-border settings, hampering victims’ access to legal remedies due to widespread corporate impunity and institutional hurdles in host states. Several transnational lawsuits have recently tested the willingness of European home state judiciaries to adjudicate the extraterritorial conduct of domestic corporations. To contribute to a more nuanced understanding of this novel phenomenon, this article analyzes three legal sagas from a comparative perspective: Vedanta v. Lungowe (England & Wales), Dooh v. Shell (The Netherlands) and Lliuya v. RWE (Germany). It argues that transnational tort suits remain a problematic vehicle for the attainment of procedural and substantial environmental justice. The inherent limitations of tort law, extra-legal hurdles to transnational litigation, and the socio-cultural contingency of legal institutions severely circumscribe the space for legal contestations of the corporate Anthropocene.

Pens and purse strings: Exploring the opportunities and limits to funding actionable sustainability science

Producing actionable science to improve social and environmental well-being enables the scientific enterprise to uphold expectations that accompany public funding for science. While innovations in the management of science funding may help overcome institutional hurdles to generating actionable science, the role of program managers in implementing such changes is relatively underexamined. Using sustainability science and related fields as a case, this study examines program documents (n = 33) and interviews of program management staff (n = 61) from public science funding programs in the United States and Europe. The results illuminate program management perspectives on the changing relationship between science and society and their own role in shaping it. In many instances, program managers in both regions are actively experimenting with practices that may strengthen links between knowledge and action. In certain contexts, program manager discretion may also amount to a form of science policy formation. However, program managers may still be limited in their ability to enact changes due to capacity constraints and still prevalent norms expressed by the research community. These results provide a window, and basis for future research, into the contemporary practice of science funding program management and its implications for sustainability and the social contract for science.

Supporting Independent Living Through Interdisciplinary Service Learning

Service learning within independent living facilities may be a highly effective means to address the service gaps that challenge older adults and people who are disabled. We present a new approach to service learning by leveraging opportunities for community–university partnerships. The Community Collaborative Model (CCM) represents synergy between organized independent living and higher education at Arizona State University and led by the School of Social Work. The CCM is a unique collaborative service learning program aligned with current thinking about independent living, supportive services, and community-based service learning. We share lessons learned from the challenges of establishing this program, which included institutional hurdles, maintaining adequate physical space, student-focused planning, varying levels of preparedness, and stigma related to service use. In conclusion, we recommend means to (1) build interprofessional teams, (2) seek support and commitment of faculty partners, (3) ensure sustainability via community liaisons and clinical supervisors, and (4) create space for reflective practice.