Mandatory Policy Research Articles

Assessing distributional impacts of synergetic air pollution reductions under different power system decarbonisation policies in China

Decarbonising the power system contributes to carbon emission reductions and synergetic air pollution reductions, but these co-benefits may be unevenly distributed across regions. These distributional consequences from national policies may lead to conflict of interests at subnational levels, which has often been overlooked. This study assesses provincial economic impacts and synergetic air pollutant reductions of power system decarbonisation in China, achieved by two different national policies, namely a mandatory phaseout policy and an Emissions Trading System (ETS). To this end, a multi-regional dynamic Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model is developed and adopted. The scenario analysis shows that the mandatory phaseout policy is more effective in reducing air pollutant emissions from the power sector, while leading to greater GDP losses at the national level. At provincial levels, the ETS mitigates the trade-off between economic growth and air pollutant reductions, but the mandatory phaseout policy would be more favourable to the majority of provinces no matter whether the GDP growth or air pollution reduction is prioritised.

Coordination Of Benefit (COB) Program Development Analysis: A Case Study Of Healthcare Insurance In Indonesia

The present study reports the first comprehensive study on the coordination of benefits program in healthcare insurance in Indonesia. Every individual Indonesian citizen who works is required to have health insurance as a fulfillment of the obligation to be physically and comprehensively healthy. Ownership of health insurance can be through government programs which are mandatory government policies for every employee or health insurance managed by the services of a commercial insurance company. So that every Indonesian employee or citizen generally has 2 health insurance memberships, one is commercial insurance and the other is mandatory insurance from the government, BPJS health insurance. The use of health insurance from commercial insurance is the first choice, while BPJS health insurance is used as a backup if the coverage limit on commercial insurance has expired. With limited coverage limits provided by private insurance based on premium payments for each class registered by the company, the government facilitates a program to use the benefits of the two health insurances simultaneously, known as the Coordination of Benefits between BPJS Health and commercial insurance. This study uses a qualitative method to analyze how far this program has progressed, as well as the development of an additional health insurance benefit program in Indonesia. The end goal of this research it can be concluded that highlighting the benefits of this program that can be maximized by health insurance participants, what obstacles are faced by participants, as well as health services when using the coordination of benefits program and its development in the future.

Strategy formulation path towards zero-waste of municipal solid waste: A case study from Shanghai

Achieving zero-waste of municipal solid waste (MSW) is not only a vision of policymakers but also an aspired topic of scholars. Although many countries and regions have formulated ambitious zero-waste strategies, relatively few scholars have studied how these strategies were developed and implemented. This study summarized a strategy formulation path towards zero-waste of MSW, and built a zero-waste system dynamic model to simulate the zero-waste situation of Shanghai’ MSW from 2000 to 2050. There are primary, intermediate and advanced stages towards zero-waste of MSW. Reaching these three stages needs to follow the goals of “zero landfill at the end, more recycling at the middle, and less generation at the source”. Additionally, this study compared 13 scenarios to give MSW zero-waste strategy formulation path for Shanghai from 2025 to 2050. The simulation results show that the amount of MSW generated in Shanghai will continue to increase, reaching 16 million tons MSW and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will reach 1.7 million tons by 2050. Shanghai’ MSW will achieve zero-waste by 2050 only if recycling rate can increase to 70%, proportion of green raw materials increase to 50%, resident waste disposal reducing by 10%, and resident consumption reducing by 10%. Shanghai will reduce MSW by 30%–60% and GHG emissions by 50%–90% under zero-waste scenario. Laws and regulations to strengthen the construction of a green supply chain, promotion and education to enhance residents’ active zero-waste awareness, and mandatory policies to push forth zero-waste awareness are the focus of future zero-waste strategies. Although it is difficult to achieve zero-waste goal, continuous adherence to zero-waste action is still urged, which is very important for the sustainable development of the environment.

A panel dataset of COVID-19 vaccination policies in 185 countries

We present a panel dataset of COVID-19 vaccine policies, with data from 01 January 2020 for 185 countries and a number of subnational jurisdictions, reporting on vaccination prioritization plans, eligibility and availability, cost to the individual and mandatory vaccination policies. For each of these indicators, we recorded who is targeted by a policy using 52 standardized categories. These indicators document a detailed picture of the unprecedented scale of international COVID-19 vaccination rollout and strategy, indicating which countries prioritized and vaccinated which groups, when and in what order. We highlight key descriptive findings from these data to demonstrate uses for the data and to encourage researchers and policymakers in future research and vaccination planning. Numerous patterns and trends begin to emerge. For example: ‘eliminator’ countries (those that aimed to prevent virus entry into the country and community transmission) tended to prioritize border workers and economic sectors, while ‘mitigator’ countries (those that aimed to reduce the impact of community transmission) tended to prioritize the elderly and healthcare sectors for the first COVID-19 vaccinations; high-income countries published prioritization plans and began vaccinations earlier than low- and middle-income countries. Fifty-five countries were found to have implemented at least one policy of mandatory vaccination. We also demonstrate the value of combining this data with vaccination uptake rates, vaccine supply and demand data, and with further COVID-19 epidemiological data.

Between nudges and mandates: The drivers of COVID-19 vaccination intentions and subsequent uptake in Russia

Despite high levels of morbidity and mortality, as well as the widespread availability of domestic vaccines, Russia demonstrated significantly low rates of vaccination throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This research explores vaccination intentions before the start of the immunisation campaign and the consequent uptake in Russia after the introduction of mandatory vaccination policy in certain industries and proof-of-immunisation for social activities. Using a nationally representative panel dataset, we analyse factors behind individual vaccination decisions using binary and multinomial logistic regressions. Special attention is given to the effect of employment in industries with vaccine mandates and personal factors which determine individual “nudgeability” to vaccination (e.g., personality traits, beliefs, vaccine alertness, self-perceived vaccine availability etc.). Our results show that 49 per cent of the population received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine by autumn 2021 after the introduction of mandatory vaccination. Vaccination intentions before the rollout of the nationwide immunisation campaign are correlated with the consequent attitudes and uptake, although the prediction is not perfect. 40 percent of vaccine refusers eventually got vaccinated, while 16 percent of vaccine supporters turned into refusers, revealing the lack of promotion of vaccine safety and effectiveness. To a large extent, vaccination refusal and hesitance are explained by vaccine alertness. Vaccine mandates significantly increased the uptake in several affected industries, especially education. These results offer important insights for designing information policy, relevant for future vaccination campaigns.

Mandatory inclusive finance policy and small banks' operating performance: Evidence from China

AbstractWe take the mandatory establishment of the Inclusive Finance Division in large state‐owned banks as a quasi‐experiment to explore the impact of inclusive finance policy on operating performance and risk‐taking behaviours of small regional banks. Using financial information for Chinese banks from 2013 to 2019, we find that small regional banks' performance deteriorated, and they engaged in more risk‐taking activities after the policy shock. Moreover, there are even much sharper performance declines in subsets of city commercial banks, and banks face high competition from large state‐owned banks.

Health policy under the microscope: a micro policy design perspective.

The comparative study of health policy has focused mainly on the macro-structural dimensions of health systems and reforms that have sought to change these organizational arrangements. Thus, a great deal of attention has been paid to the multiple models of insurance against sickness risks and various modes of organizing and financing healthcare providers. However, little attention has been paid to policy tools and policy design in the health policy domain. This research gap largely impedes a focus on the micro (granular) dimension of health policy, although this is the level at which health policies impact reality and thus deliver progress toward the expected goals. Such a focus on the micro dimension could not only allow a finer-grained comparison of how health systems work but also shed light on how capable health policies are of achieving the expected outcomes. This paper fills this gap by presenting an analytical framework capable of illuminating the granular dimension of policy design (the instrumental delivery package) and shows the analytical relevance of the framework by applying it to the designs of maximum waiting time guarantee and vaccination mandate policies.

Corporate social responsibility expenditure and financial performance: the moderating role of family ownership

Purpose The paper aims to examine how Indian non-financial service sector companies’ financial performance is influenced by their corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditures. The paper also analyses whether family ownership has a moderating role in the CSR expenditure–financial performance association. Design/methodology/approach The study includes 288 non-financial service sector companies listed in India with 3,456 firm-year observations. Panel data regression analysis using data for 12 years, starting from 2010 to 2021, is carried out. Findings The study reveals a positive influence of CSR spending on financial performance measures (Tobin’s Q and return on assets). Mandatory CSR policies also influence the company’s performance. Additionally, family ownership has a positive moderating effect on CSR expenditure–financial performance (Tobin’s Q). Research limitations/implications The study gives insights to the managers on how CSR expenditures can be used to maximise their benefits by supporting social causes, particularly in the case of firms with ownership structures where family involvement is there. Originality/value The prior studies analysing family ownership effect on the CSR–financial performance relationship are fewer, and in a country like India, where corporate philanthropy is a part of the family business culture, there is a need to understand how CSR spending influences firm performance.

Coercion and Its Discontents: The Promise and Peril of Increasingly Restrictive of Vaccination Mandates Comment on "Convergence on Coercion: Functional and Political Pressures as Drivers of Global Childhood Vaccine Mandates".

Attwell and Hannah present a cogent analysis of why policy-makers in four jurisdictions chose to use coercive approaches to increase vaccination rates between 2015 and 2017. Their study calls attention to the challenging political calculations that are necessary when choosing between coercion and persuasion to increase vaccine uptake. Further research is needed on the consequences of making a mandatory vaccination policy more restrictive, in order to better understand the backlash and resistance such a strategy may provoke. Although one reason that policy-makers may choose a coercive approach is that it is cheaper and easier to implement than a persuasive one, sociopolitical trends and backlash related to the COVID-19 pandemic may make coercive policies more politically risky in the coming years.

Consumers bahavior towards the country of origin labeling policy: The case of the pasta market in Italy

AbstractThis study investigates the effect on the demand of pasta following the introduction of the mandatory country of origin labeling for wheat in Italy. This regulation opened a debate between producers, farmers, and consumer organizations on the opportunity posed by this policy. Using an online survey with a choice experiment conducted on 551 Italian pasta consumers, we demonstrated that consumers strongly approve this mandatory policy. This support suggests that place of wheat origin is relevant in driving the pasta choices of consumers and that they are willing to pay a premium price for pasta made with Italian wheat. Moreover, the extra utility that the consumers receive from purchasing pasta made with locally produced wheat is due by their support for the farmers and the agriculture sector [EconLit Citations: D12, Q13, Q18].

Landscape Change Scenarios: Developing Participatory Tools for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change.

The impacts of climate change on people and ecosystems have been studied at both local and global levels. The environment is expected to change significantly, and the role of local communities in shaping more resilient landscapes is considered crucial. This research focuses on rural regions highly susceptible to climate change impacts. The objective was to enhance conditions for climate resilient development on a microlocal level by encouraging diverse stakeholders to participate in developing sustainable landscape management. This paper introduces a novel interdisciplinary mixed-method approach to landscape scenario development, combining research-driven and participatory approaches and integrating quantitative methods with qualitative ethnographic inquiry. Two scenarios for 2050 were built: a research-driven, business-as-usual scenario accounting for mandatory adaptation policies and an optimistic scenario combining research-driven and participatory approaches, including additional feasible community-based measures. While the differences between the projected land use seem to be relatively subtle, the optimistic scenario would in fact lead to a considerably more resilient landscape. The results highlight the role of interdisciplinarity and ethnography in gaining good local knowledge and building an atmosphere of trust. These factors supported the research credibility, strengthened the legitimacy of the intervention in local affairs, and contributed to the active participation of the stakeholders. We argue that despite its time, intense effort and limited direct policy impact, the mixed-method approach is highly suitable for the microlocal level. It encourages citizens to think about how their environment is threatened by climate change impacts and increases their willingness to contribute to climate resilience.

Public interest in different types of masks and its relationship with pandemic and policy measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study using Google Trends data.

Google Trends data have been used to investigate various themes on online information seeking. It was unclear if the population from different parts of the world shared the same amount of attention to different mask types during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to reveal which types of masks were frequently searched by the public in different countries, and evaluated if public attention to masks could be related to mandatory policy, stringency of the policy, and transmission rate of COVID-19. By referring to an open dataset hosted at the online database Our World in Data, the 10 countries with the highest total number of COVID-19 cases as of 9th of February 2022 were identified. For each of these countries, the weekly new cases per million population, reproduction rate (of COVID-19), stringency index, and face covering policy score were computed from the raw daily data. Google Trends were queried to extract the relative search volume (RSV) for different types of masks from each of these countries. Results found that Google searches for N95 masks were predominant in India, whereas surgical masks were predominant in Russia, FFP2 masks were predominant in Spain, and cloth masks were predominant in both France and United Kingdom. The United States, Brazil, Germany, and Turkey had two predominant types of mask. The online searching behavior for masks markedly varied across countries. For most of the surveyed countries, the online searching for masks peaked during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic before the government implemented mandatory mask wearing. The search for masks positively correlated with the government response stringency index but not with the COVID-19 reproduction rate or the new cases per million.

Kilocalorie labelling in the out-of-home sector: an observational study of business practices and consumer behaviour prior to implementation of the mandatory calorie labelling policy in England, 2022

BackgroundRegulations mandating kilocalorie (kcal) labelling for large businesses in the out-of-home food sector (OHFS) came into force on 6th April 2022 as a policy to reduce obesity in England. To provide indicators of potential reach and impact, kcal labelling practices were studied in the OHFS, and customer purchasing and consumption behaviours prior to implementation of the mandatory kcal labelling policy in England.MethodsFrom August-December 2021, large OHFS businesses subject to the kcal labelling regulations were visited prior to regulations coming into force on 6th April 2022. 3308 customers were recruited from 330 outlets and collected survey information on the number of kcal purchased and consumed by customers, customers’ knowledge of the kcal content of their purchases, and customers noticing and use of kcal labelling. In a subset of 117 outlets, data was collected on nine recommended kcal labelling practices.ResultsThe average number of kcals purchased (1013 kcal, SD = 632 kcal) was high with 69% of purchases exceeding the recommendation of a maximum of 600 kcal per meal. Participants underestimated the energy content of their purchased meals by on average 253 kcal (SD = 644 kcals). In outlets providing kcal labelling in which customer survey data was collected, a minority of customers reported noticing (21%) or using (20%) kcal labelling. Out of the 117 outlets assessed for kcal labelling practices, 24 (21%) provided any in-store kcal labelling. None of the outlets met all nine aspects of recommended labelling practices.ConclusionsPrior to implementation of 2022 kcal labelling policy, the majority of sampled OHFS large business outlets in England did not provide kcal labelling. Few customers noticed or used the labels and on average customers purchased and consumed substantially more energy than recommended in public health guidelines. The findings suggest that reliance on voluntary action for kcal labelling implementation failed to produce widespread, consistent, and adequate kcal labelling practices.

Mandatory R&D disclosure and analyst forecast Accuracy: Evidence from an emerging market

Exploiting the mandatory R&D disclosure policy in China, we capitalize on a difference-in-differences framework to examine whether mandatory R&D disclosure matters to analyst forecast accuracy in a sample of technology intensive firms. We find that, after mandatory R&D disclosure, forecast errors decrease significantly more for treatment firms (i.e., firms that chose not to disclose R&D investments before the mandate policy) relative to control firms (i.e., firms that did voluntary disclosure of R&D investments before the mandate policy). Further, we show that the impact of mandatory R&D disclosure is more pronounced when there is high information asymmetry within the firm or an industry as well as when analysts are working under unfavorable conditions. Overall, our findings demonstrate the positive effect of mandatory R&D disclosure on reducing information asymmetry and shed light on the importance of R&D disclosure reform in developing markets.

Democracy in the digital era

Democracy in the digital era

The effect of lockdown on students’ performance: A comparative study between Italy, Sweden and Turkey

During the first months of the COVID-19 outbreak, countries adopted different strategies in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, ranging from recommendations to limit individual movement to severe lockdown measures. Regarding higher education, university studies were shifted to digital solutions in most countries. The sudden move to online teaching affected students differently, depending on the overall mitigation strategies applied. Severe lockdown and closure measures caused a disruption of their academic and social interactions. In contrast, recommendations to limit activities probably did not change students' life to a great extent. The heterogeneity of the policies adopted in three countries (Italy, Sweden and Turkey) gives us an opportunity to assess the effects of lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic on university students’ performance. We employ a difference-in-differences approach by exploiting the fact that Italy and Turkey experienced national lockdowns, while Sweden never applied nationwide mandatory restrictive policies. We use administrative data from universities in the three countries to estimate the probability to pass exams after the spread of COVID-19 pandemic (and the shift to distance education), with respect to the previous comparable period. We find that the pass rate decreased with the shift to online teaching. However, lockdown measures, especially if very restrictive as those applied in Italy, helped to compensate such negative effect. A possible explanation is that students took advantage of the huge increase in the time available for their studies, given the impossibility to carry out any activity outside the home.

Unpacking the strategies to promote the implementation of automation techniques in the construction industry

PurposeThis study aims to identify and evaluate the key strategies to promote the implementation of automation techniques with reference to the Nigerian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachPragmatic philosophical thinking using a mixed-method approach (a combination of qualitative and quantitative) was adopted for this study. The qualitative strand of this research was achieved using a Delphi technique while a well-structured questionnaire conducted among 191 construction professionals was adopted to attain the quantitative strand. Obtained data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean item scores, Kruskal–Wallis H test and exploratory factor analysis (FA).FindingsResults revealed that the “provision of funding and subsidies for automation techniques” “mandatory automation policies and regulations,” “creating incentives for adoption,” “formulation of programs to promote awareness” and “deploying gamification to boost employee performance” were the top five strategies to promote the adoption of automation techniques. FA revealed four principal clusters, namely, awareness and publicity programs, government regulations and standards, provision of education and training and awards and recognition.Practical implicationsThis study provided a solid theoretical and empirical foundation that can be useful to construction industry stakeholders, decision-makers, policymakers and the government in mapping out strategies to promote the incorporation and deployment of automation and robotics in the construction industry.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first in developing countries and Nigeria to establish an ordered grouping structure of the strategies to promote the adoption of automation techniques.

What attributes of mandatory waste management policy can enhance the separation intention of residents in China? A behaviour choice experiment

What attributes of mandatory waste management policy can enhance the separation intention of residents in China? A behaviour choice experiment

Identifying the effective and ineffective configurations of the mandatory waste management policy in China: a qualitative comparative analysis

Mandating domestic waste separation is essential for solving the urban waste crisis, but it remains unclear what kind of mandatory policy in detail is more effective or counterproductive. This current study described the mandatory policy of waste separation as a configuration of five attributes, i.e. economic punishment, social punishment, supervision, charges, and community governance. Based on data mining and text analysis of the messages from Sina Weibo, the concurrent effects of those attributes were analysed by a qualitative comparative analysis from 44 pilot cities in China. The study found three configurations of high willingness by residents to separate waste, which all require different mandatory policy attributes working together. Specifically, H1a is the combination of supervision, community governance, and economic punishment; and H1b is a combination of social punishment, community governance, and economic punishment. In configuration H2, supervision and community governance are core conditions, while charges and economic punishment are not necessary.

The use of technological innovation in bio-based industries to foster growth in the bioeconomy: a South African perspective

Several countries around the world are taking advantage of emerging technologies to leverage the use of natural resources to develop and grow bio-based industries. As a result, these activities have become the backbone of bioeconomy-growth strategies in the developing world. Adoption of the concepts and technological aspects of this facet of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) across government, academia, and industry has fostered innovation in the health, agricultural, and manufacturing sectors. However, the relationship between the technological catalysis of innovation and the bioeconomy from the perspective of a developing country has been left unexplored. In this context, this review explores the contribution of technological advances toward a sustainable, valuable bioeconomy and the current policy mandates. We focus our attention on South Africa because the country has a holistic, well-defined bioeconomy strategy that is consistent with the conditions of developed nations more generally. The review suggests that developing countries could adopt a multidisciplinary approach to designing their bioeconomy strategies. We further assert that developing holistic strategies that address the recent COVID-19 pandemic and potential future world crises could be beneficial in achieving sustainable development goals.