Main Source Countries Research Articles

Analysis of Innovation Trends in Energy Storage Safety Technology based on Patent Data

Against the backdrop of energy transition and the large-scale development of renewable energy, the significance of energy storage technology has become increasingly prominent. Based on the data of invention patents, this paper analyzes the innovation situation of global energy storage safety technology, providing a reference basis for future patent research and industrial planning in the field of energy storage safety. Through the global and Chinese patent application volumes, the research comparatively analyzes the application situations of the main source countries and main applicants of patents, and analyzes the innovation situation of energy storage safety technology by combining research methods such as technical structure comparison and value degree comparison. The study finds that global energy storage safety innovation is in a relatively active period. China takes the leading position in the total amount of patent applications, but the proportion of patents with high value is low, and it still lags behind South Korea and the United States. Currently, the main research directions in this field worldwide mainly include battery monitoring and status monitoring, battery protection, fire detection and alarm, fire extinguishing systems, and battery pack structure design.

The impact of international air routes on tourism

We analysed the impact of the number of air routes on international tourism arrivals, using a dynamic panel data model to control for endogeneity. The analysis considers China's tourist arrivals before COVID-19, from its seventeen main source countries. The results show a significant positive effect of international air routes on arrivals. Beyond the overall effect, we differentiate long-haul and short-haul routes, and incorporate potential non-linearities. The conclusion is that air routes have a positive decreasing effect on inbound tourism demand from long-haul markets, but they are not significant for short-haul markets. Given the current post-pandemic challenges, understanding the effect of air routes on tourism demand might be incorporated into destination management strategies.

Risk assessment for cross-border transmission of multi-country Mpox outbreaks in 2022

ObjectivesGlobal trade and travel have facilitated infectious disease transmission. In 2022, over a short time, cross-border Mpox (monkeypox) outbreaks were reported. Since, most countries are at risk of cross-border Mpox transmissions, in this study, we developed a real-time risk assessment model for the cross-border transmission of Mpox. MethodsThis model includes priori indicators related to the source area before the Mpox outbreak and posterior indicators derived from the quantitative data evaluation afterward. Based on transportation, this model can also be used to assess the global import risk of Mpox for specific countries and cities. ResultsEuropean risk values displayed high levels between May and July 2022 and gradually decreased after July. After September 2022, risk values elevated in most countries and regions in the Americas. As for China, high importation risk cities were highly exposed to the United States and moderately exposed to Australia and Germany. Some cities were exposed to the potential risks from only one source country. ConclusionsDynamic surveillance of the cross-border spread of infectious diseases is essential. Importation risks vary widely across cities and regions, and developing risk prevention and control strategies specific to the traffic flow, medical care capabilities, and risk levels in the main source countries are essential.

Acculturation Experiences of International Students from Sao Tome and Principe in China

While many studies are focused on international students from the main source countries in China, few studies have addressed how minority groups experience acculturation. Therefore, an interpretive phenomenology was used to explore the acculturation experiences of international students from Sao Tome and Principe (STP) studying in China. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight STP students, while analyzing the interview data using the Colaizzi method. Finally, the data yielded a total of four themes that were emerged as follows: 1. surprising explorers, 2. temporary mutes, 3. confused newcomers, and 4. elite pioneers. The findings provide insights into how the acculturation process is experienced and the strategies STP students in China followed toward it and are even consistent with existing theories and literature. International students from STP and other minority groups may benefit a lot from this study and enrich their experience of the acculturation process in a more targeted way.

African Emigration to Europe

From the 1960s onwards , the main source countries for migration from Africa to Europe were Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, which led to the emergence of large diasporas originating in these countries at the end of the 20th century. In the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis, immigration controls in Europe were tightened. The result was not a reduction in migration from North Africa, but rather support for the permanent settlement of previously temporary migrants and related family migration. Much of this migration was from the Maghreb to France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Since the second half of the 1980s, destination countries for Maghreb migrants have expanded to include Spain and Italy due to increased demand for low-skilled labor in these countries. Spain and Italy imposed a visa requirement on migrants from the Maghreb in the early 1990s, resulting in an increase in illegal migration across the Mediterranean.

Problems of tobacco smuggling in Ukraine

The relevance of the study is explained by the strengthening of the adverse impact of tobacco smuggling on economic and social processes in Ukraine. The purpose of the study was to determine the specific features of the interpretation of the category “smuggling” in the legislative and general scientific contexts, to explore the problem of smuggling of tobacco products in Ukraine. General scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, observation and the graph-analytical method of presenting research results are used in the research. The definition of “smuggling” was analysed according to Ukrainian and foreign legislation, and according to general approaches. The interpretation of the smuggling category differs depending on the aspects of the application. Thus, according to the general lexical content, smuggling is understood as the illegal movement of goods across the customs border. And at the legislative level, smuggling usually includes the illegal import or export of specific groups of goods, the list of which is established by the legislation of the state. The adverse influence of smuggling on the economic and social processes in the state is determined. The problem of tobacco smuggling in Ukraine is analysed. In recent years the area of smuggling flows of tobacco products in Ukraine has changed significantly. Conventionally, Ukraine was one of the main source countries smuggling tobacco products that were illegally supplied to EU countries. The need to introduce criminal liability for the smuggling of tobacco products in Ukraine is substantiated based on the study of foreign experience and the determination of the consequences of such smuggling for the economy and social sphere.

Epidemiological characteristics of imported cases of COVID-19 from association of southeast Asian nations countries to China

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of imported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries in China from January 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021, and provide evidence for the improvement of China's strategy of COVID-19 control towards travelers from ASEAN countries. Methods Data were obtained from the National Infectious Disease Reporting Information Management System of China Disease Prevention and Control Information System and the World Health Organization (WHO) website. The socio-demographic characteristics, clinical types, temporal, spatial and population distributions of the imported COVID-19 cases from ASEAN countries in China were analyzed by descriptive epidemiological methods. Results From January 2020 to February 2021, a total 1 585 imported COVID-19 cases from ASEAN countries were reported in China, accounting for 18.51% of total imported cases in China. The sex ratio of the imported COVID-19 cases was 3.95:1. The average age of the cases was (35.21±11.09) years. Workers, house workers and people engaged in business service were the top 3 populations affected, with the proportions of 21.26%, 13.56% and 12.93%, respectively. The majority of imported cases were asymptomatic (921 cases, 58.11%), the others were pneumonia cases (407 cases, 25.68%) and mild cases (256 cases, 16.15%). The incidence peak of imported COVID-19 cases occurred during August - October, 2020 (940 cases, 59.46%). The main source countries were the Philippines (775 cases, 48.90%), Indonesia (301 cases, 18.99%) and Singapore (279 cases, 17.60%). The cases were distributed in 24 provinces and municipalities. Guangdong (420 cases, 26.50%), Fujian (255 cases, 16.09%) and Shanghai (137 cases, 8.64%) were the top 3 areas. There were 83.85% of the imported cases diagnosed within three days after onset. Conclusion The majority of the imported COVID-19 cases in China from ASEAN countries were male young adults with asymptomatic infections. Given that the spread risk of COVID-19 from ASEAN countries might exist for a long time, all the entry points of China should continue the current strict control strategy to prevent community spread caused by imported COVID-19 cases.

Epidemiological characteristics of imported COVID-19 cases in Guangzhou

Objective: To understand the epidemiological characteristics of imported COVID-19 cases in Guangzhou and provide scientific basis for the prevention and control of the disease. Methods: The data of imported COVID-19 in Guangzhou reported as of April 1, 2020 were collected from National Notifiable Disease Report System of China. The software Excel 2010 and SPSS 19.0 were applied for data cleaning and statistical analysis. Results: As of April 1, 2020, a total of 103 imported COVID-19 cases had been reported in Guangzhou, in which 92 were confirmed cases and 11 were asymptomatic infection cases. The number of the confirmed imported cases accounted for 11.4% (92/806) in of the total in China at the same time. The male to female ratio of the cases was 1.58∶1 (63∶40). The median age of the cases was 31 years (P(25)-P(75):22-40 years), range of age was 11-63 years. The main occupational distributions of the cases were business services (41/103, 39.8%) and students (36/103, 35.0%). The imported cases whose destinations were 19 provinces and municipalities rather than Guangdong after entering the country accounted for 43.7%. The main source countries of infections were the United Kingdom (27/103, 26.2%), the Philippines (13/103, 12.6%), the United States (13/103, 12.6%) and Nigeria (7/103, 6.8%). There were 34 inbound flights from which the imported COVID-19 cases were detected, in which 10 flights (10/34, 29.4%) were found to carry more than 3 cases, with an average voyage time of (11.14±0.53) hours. A total of 29 imported cases(28.2%) showed symptoms before entering the country, and 65 cases (63.1%) had been isolated before the onset of the disease. The mean free activity time of the isolated cases after the onset was (6.76±0.79) days. The average number of the imported cases' close contacts was 53. There were 13 clusters of COVID-19 caused by the imported cases, involving 36 cases (including 1 imported associated case). Conclusions: The sources of the imported COVID-19 cases in Guangzhou were widely distributed, and no cases had been found to be infected on the flights. In the early stage of the imported epidemic, there was high risk for the spread of the epidemic. Strengthened prevention and control of imported COVID-19 effectively reduced the of transmission risk of COVID-19 in communities.

Are Confucius Institutes Building Blocks or Stumbling Blocks for Foreign Students in China: An Empirical Study of 190 Countries (1999–2015)

Purpose: This study investigates the impact of Confucius Institutes on China’s international education initiatives. First, it examines whether the establishment of Confucius Institutes has a gravitational effect on the scale of foreign students coming to China. Second, it discerns whether there are any association between the establishment of Confucius Institutes and the attributes of foreign students based on the type of program they select. Third, it identifies whether there are any differences in the impact of Confucius Institutes based on constraints such as the number of foreign students, income levels, cultural distance, and geographical endowment. Design/Approach/Methods: Based on the trade gravity model and the push–pull theory, we estimated a two-way fixed-effects model using panel data of all source countries from 1999 to 2015. Findings: Results show that Confucius Institutes have helped China attract more foreign students on Chinese government scholarships, with each Institute increasing such enrolment by 1.3%. However, Confucius Institutes have resulted in a drop in the total number of foreign students studying in China, especially nondegree students. This substitution effect means that the Institutes actually help China improve the composition of its foreign students. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the substitution effect is primarily driven by the main source countries. Accordingly, this study suggests that China should establish more Confucius Institutes in Africa and Eastern Europe to maximize the catalyzing effect of Confucius Institutes. Originality/Value: In contrast to previous studies on foreign scholarship in China, this study examines all 190 source countries from 1999 to 2015. This comprehensive study also explores the heterogeneous effects of foreign students on trade across economic, cultural, and geographical domains.

Regional Growth Spillovers in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper documents the steady increase in intraregional trade in sub-Saharan Africa since 1980, links this rise to important growth spillovers in the region, and identifies the main source countries and those most vulnerable to the economic conditions of others. Estimates show that in the short run, positive idiosyncratic shocks to regional trading partners’ growth significantly increase growth in the average sub-Saharan African country, while in the long-run the annual impact of growth in regional trading partner’s is smaller in magnitude. Policy implications including the need to support further continent-wide integration and the associated growth spillovers are discussed. Actions policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa can take to capture the benefits of these spillovers, while limiting exposure to the associated risks, are also proposed.

Import Demand for Dairy Products in Chile and Competition among Exporting Countries: The Case of Milk Powder and Cheese

The study of the Chilean market for milk imports is relevant due to its impact on the determination of prices in the domestic dairy chain and for being a relevant market for some exporting countries, such as Argentina. In recent years, together with an increase in Chilean dairy imports, there has been a change in its composition, with the incorporation of the United States and New Zealand as relevant exporters. This paper estimates a Chilean import demand system for dairy products taking into account the main source countries for the period 2002- 2014. Specifically, a linear approximation of Source Differentiated Almost Ideal Demand System (saids) is estimated for milk powder and cheese imported by Chile, considering the competition between the different exporters that participate in the Chilean market. Expenditure, own-price and cross-price elasticities are estimated, and an elasticity-based index is proposed to compare the competitive position of the exporting countries.

External labor migration in the Russian Federation

Purpose of the study. A problem of assessing international labor migration in the past twenty years is a very topical issue in many countries around the world. The main problem of the study of labor migration is the lack of full and reliable information about this phenomenon. The main objective of this study is to assess the possibility of statistical assessment of external labor migration in the Russian Federation.Materials and methods. The article provides an overview of the international basic documents in the field of the organization of labor statistics of migrants, and also defines the concepts of labor migration and foreign employees from the point of view of international and Russian legislation. The sources of information were the data of the summary information on migration records of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, as well as microdata on the form 5-PERSONAL INCOME TAX of the Federal Tax Service of Russia. The main methods, used in the study are: methods of analysis and synthesis, methods of data measuring and aggregating, methods of working with microdata, analytical indicators of the dynamics, graphical and tabular method.Results and conclusion. Based on the study, several conclusions can be drawn. First, in the Russian Federation there are objective administrative sources of data on legal external labor migrants. Secondly, these sources are not harmonized and it is necessary to carry out methodological work on the harmonization of data and the construction of time series on the number of external labor migrants. Also, these services need to provide access to their information system to the Federal State Statistics Service to compile data on external labor migrants in various socio-demographic sections. Third, then the legal external labor migration to the Russian Federation increases every year and in 2017 amounted to about 108 million people, the main source countries are post-Soviet countries, and the high-ranking subjects of attraction are the cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Moscow Region.

Regional Growth Spillovers in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper documents the steady increase in intraregional trade in sub-Saharan Africa since 1980, links this rise to important growth spillovers in the region, and identifies the main source countries and those most vulnerable to the economic conditions of others. Estimates show that in the short run, positive idiosyncratic shocks to regional trading partners' growth significantly increase growth in the average sub-Saharan African country, while in the long-run the annual impact of growth in regional trading partner's is smaller in magnitude. Policy implications including the need to support further continent-wide integration and the associated growth spillovers are discussed. Actions policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa can take to capture the benefits of these spillovers, while limiting exposure to the associated risks, are also proposed.

The Trafficking in Human Beings Crime in Romania

The study below is meant to focus on the trafficking in human beings crime in Romania, in specially analysis of the trafficking infraction provided in the Romanian Criminal Code. Romania is one of the transit states, but mostly one of the main source countries for trafficking in human beings in Europe. Currently, the trafficking in human beings phenomenon, as for the drug trafficking, the arms trafficking, corruption, tax evasion, represent one of the most extended ways of displaying the criminality, that, in a very short time span, recorded unimaginable and unacceptable proportions for the society we live in. The trafficking in human beings phenomenon is defined through the illegal migration. The Romanian legal response to the trafficking in human beings phenomenon was a gradual one, by ratification certain international provisions, but also through enacting a special law and legal measures that can be applied regarding the field in the talk.

The Impact of Language on Socioeconomic Integration of Immigrants

This study examines the causal effects of Dutch language proficiency of immigrants from four main source countries on their labour market and social integration outcomes. Language proficiency appears ranked according to linguistic distance to The Netherlands, a ranking that even holds for the gender gap in proficiency. We assess the effect of language proficiency on two objective indicators of integration (employment and income) and two subjective measures (feeling Dutch and feeling integrated). The analysis shows that endogeneity of language skills masks a substantial part of language effects. Once accounted for endogeneity, effects of Dutch language proficiency on social and economic integration of immigrants are more than double the estimates ignoring endogeneity.

Alcohol harm reduction advertisements: a content analysis of topic, objective, emotional tone, execution and target audience

BackgroundPublic health mass media campaigns may contribute to reducing the health and social burden attributed to alcohol consumption, but little is known about which advertising characteristics have been used, or have been effective, in alcohol harm reduction campaigns to date. As a first step towards encouraging further research to identify the impact of various advertising characteristics, this study aimed to systematically identify and examine the content of alcohol harm reduction advertisements (ads).MethodAds were identified through an exhaustive internet search of Google, YouTube, Vimeo, and relevant government and health agency websites. Eligible ads were: English language, produced between 2006 and 2014, not primarily focused on drink-driving or alcohol in pregnancy, and not alcohol industry funded. Systematic content analysis of all ads was performed; each ad was double-coded.ResultsIn total, 110 individual ads from 72 different alcohol harm reduction campaigns were identified, with the main source countries being Australia (40%) and the United Kingdom (26%). The dominant topic for 52% of ads was short-term harms, while 10% addressed long-term harms, 18% addressed underage drinking, 17% communicated a how-to-change message, and 3% advocated for policy change. The behavioural objective of most ads was to motivate audiences to reduce their alcohol consumption (38%) or to behave responsibly and/or not get drunk when drinking (33%). Only 10% of all ads mentioned low-risk drinking guidelines. Eighty-seven percent of ads used a dramatisation execution style and 74% had a negative emotional tone. Ninety percent of ads contained messages or content that appeared to target adults, and 36% specifically targeted young adults.ConclusionsSome message attributes have been employed more frequently than others, suggesting several promising avenues for future audience or population-based research to compare the relative effectiveness of different characteristics of alcohol harm reduction ads. Given most alcohol-attributable harm is due to long-term disease, these findings suggest future campaigns may fill a potentially important gap if they were to focus on long-term harms. There is scope for such long-term harm campaigns to place greater emphasis on encouraging reduced personal consumption of alcohol, potentially through more frequent communication of low-risk drinking guidelines.

Investigating Stationarity in Tourist Arrivals to Taiwan Using Panel Kpss with Sharp Drifts and Smooth Breaks

This study applied panel-based stationary tests to investigate the nonstationarity of long-run tourist arrivals to Taiwan. The sample of visitors in this study arrived from six main source countries between 1970 and 2011. We employed a panel KPSS test using a Fourier function and sharp drifts, which considers cross-sectional dependence as well as sudden impact and smooth transformation of data. This test can determine, with more power, whether tourist arrivals are stationary. Results of this study indicate that the trend in the series of tourist arrivals to Taiwan is stationary, with the exception of arrivals from Korea and Europe, implying that economic fluctuation inserts more impact on the tourism industry in these countries than others.

Can Google data improve the forecasting performance of tourist arrivals? Mixed-data sampling approach

This paper introduces a new indicator for tourism demand forecasting constructed from Google Trends' search query time series data. The indicator is based on a composite search for “hotels and flights” from three main source countries to five popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean. We uniquely test the forecasting performance of the indicator using Autoregressive Mixed-Data Sampling (AR-MIDAS) models relative to the Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) and autoregressive (AR) approach. The twelve month forecasts reveal that AR-MIDAS outperformed the alternatives in most of the out-of-sample forecasting experiments. This suggests that Google Trends information offers significant benefits to forecasters, particularly in tourism. Hence, policymakers and business practitioners especially in the Caribbean can take advantage of the forecasting capability of Google search data for their planning purposes.

Engaging Migrants in Translocal Partnerships: the Case of Dutch–Moroccan and Dutch–Turkish Municipal Partnerships

AbstractFrom 2000 onwards, Dutch local governments have established transnational partnerships with local governments in Morocco and Turkey, two main migrant source countries to the Netherlands. These municipal partnerships aim at strengthening and transforming local governance on both sides of the partnerships. This is particularly relevant as roles of local governments in Morocco and Turkey are changing because of decentralisation and democratisation processes, whereas Dutch municipalities face challenges related to ethnic and cultural diversity. This paper seeks to answer two questions: first, what roles migrants play within these partnerships, and second, how the involvement of migrants influences the process of knowledge exchange and mutual learning leading to changes in local governance. The paper is based on a case study approach including five municipal partnerships and contributes both to the scarce body of knowledge about the roles of migrants in transnational cooperation at the local level and to the limited research on mutual learning in municipal partnerships. The research shows migrants fulfil several roles; they act as initiators, key actors, facilitators, and contributors of specialised and cultural knowledge. Their role as facilitators in the exchanges focusing at the interfaces between local governments and citizens is particularly relevant as introducing youth participation is new in the involved municipalities in Morocco and dealing with cultural diversity is a continuing challenge in the Dutch municipalities. There still is a large untapped potential as limited use is made of involving larger groups of migrants and on drawing on their networks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Can a doctoral degree be completed faster overseas than domestically? Evidence from Taiwanese doctorates

This paper investigates the role that studying overseas or domestically plays in Taiwanese students obtaining a doctoral degree and, in particular, whether doctorates can be completed faster overseas than domestically. This feature is quite different from the literature in the sense that previous studies focus mainly on students with different countries of origin earning their doctoral degrees in a host program/institution/country and could provide a professional reference for main source countries with a great number of students studying abroad. By taking advantage of a large data set compiled by the National Profiles of Human Resources in Science and Technology in Taiwan, we find that Taiwanese students studying in foreign schools (and who will come back to Taiwan) on average take 9.61 months (reflecting approximately a $60,000 opportunity cost) less than those earning PhD degrees domestically after netting out other controls. Other factors such as males, starting a PhD when older, younger cohorts, holding a master’s degree, school types matching, and studying in non-top tier universities, are associated with a shorter elapsed time to a doctoral degree.