Micro-level Factors Research Articles

Multi-level analysis on determinants of sustainability disclosure: a survey of academic literature

PurposeThis study uses a multi-level framework to systematically summarize and synthesize the empirical literature on determinants of sustainability disclosure.Design/methodology/approachThis review study is based on 159 empirical studies examining determinants of sustainability disclosure and published in Charted Association of Business Schools (CABS) ranked journals over the last 40 years.FindingsCompanies are experiencing multi-level pressures for sustainability disclosure. Macro-level variables include political, legal, social-cultural and international pressures. Meso-level factors include customers' concerns, shareholders’ and investors' demands, industry-level variables and media coverage. Micro-level factors include the firm-level governance mechanisms, executives' reporting attitude and role of sustainability promoting institutions. Unlike in developed markets, companies in developing markets feel minimal public pressure for sustainability disclosure but rather are influenced by international NGOs, the media and international buyers. Multi-level and multitude of pressures for sustainability disclosure explains the widely observed differences between studies.Originality/valueThis research presents the most extensive systematic review of the extant sustainability disclosure literature and is the first study to group determinants into micro-, meso- and macro-level components using multi-level analysis.

Resilience and Vulnerabilities Related to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: The Emergence of a New Club of Nato and EU Members

Abstract Тhis article compares and contrasts macro- and micro-foundational explanations about disinformation and resilience in Europe as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine. It presents micro-level data about the shifting public opinion in Europe after Russia’s invasion in Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022 on the topics of NATO and EU support and favorability, sympathy for Ukraine and condemnation of Russia, including support for sanctions against Moscow (Pew Research Center 2021, 2022). The study compares and contrasts traditional macro-level analytical frameworks such as deterrence, institutionalization and adaptation. I argue that a combination of macro- (or institutional) and micro-level factors (associated with the idiosyncrasies of the domestic public opinion) best explain the shifting attitudes since the beginning of the War in Ukraine. Against the backdrop of NATO and the EU’s increased resilience, a new group or sub-club of “vulnerable” allies has emerged among some central and east European nations. The article evaluates different constraints and vulnerabilities and makes recommendations how to reduce misinformation and contestation in these states.

The effects of institutions, firm-level factors and rational decision-making on entrepreneurial behaviors of MSMEs: lessons and opportunities for transition communities

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of regulatory, normative and cultural cognitive institutions and firm and individual factors on entrepreneurial behavior.Design/methodology/approachUsing the quantitative research method, the authors collected data from 316 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Kosovo, a transition economy, through a cross-sectional research design. The authors performed exploratory factor analyses, correlation and regression analyses on the data using SPSS 26 and STATA software.FindingsThe research findings indicate that, within transition economies, normative and cultural-cognitive institutions have a positive impact on entrepreneurial behaviors. The authors could not determine the effect of regulatory institutions on entrepreneurial behavior. The authors also discovered that young firms are more inclined toward entrepreneurial behavior than older firms, and micro firms display a stronger entrepreneurial behavior than small firms. Furthermore, family businesses showed a greater tendency for entrepreneurial behavior than nonfamily firms. Interestingly, when the rational decision-making interacts with regulatory institutions, the effect on entrepreneurial behavior is negative.Research limitations/implicationsThis study employed a cross-sectional approach to investigate the influence of macro, meso, and micro-level factors on entrepreneurial behavior within a transitioning community across three industries. Future studies could replicate these findings within comparable institutional contexts, employing longitudinal studies that include additional variables beyond those considered in our present study.Practical implicationsConsidering the importance of MSMEs for a country’s economic and sustainable development, the authors provide some policy implications. The authors recommend managers carefully evaluate the information gathered while they decide and also increase their capabilities concerning digitalization, which is crucial for their firm’s survival, growth and sustainable competitive advantage.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature and shows and analyses entrepreneurial behavior at institutional (macro), firm-level factors (meso) and managers' rational decision-making (micro), providing evidence from a transition community.

Reinventing the Division of Labour? How Organisational and Micro-Level Factors Influence Work in Local Public Welfare Organisations

Abstract Many professions in the public sector, such as healthcare staff, social welfare officers and teachers are experiencing a heavier workload and an increasing number of work tasks of growing complexity. This study examines the policy tendency to introduce a stricter division of labour, by delegating lower status tasks professionals preform to assistants, as a key to reduce public sector workload. In contrast, the public sector has been subject to organisational reforms the past 20–30 years resulting in a reduced division of labour among professions. This article explores the reversibility of the division of labour within a local public sector context, and it demonstrates how different micro-level factors may promote or counteract changes in the division of labour at the workplace. A main contribution is the prospect to rethink the capacity of organisational work-related reforms in professional settings directed at processes of division of labour in local public organisations.

Multilingual Education Policy and LOTE Teacher Development: Focusing on China’s LOTE Programs in Higher Education

This article, drawing on recent research on Language Other than English (LOTE) programs in China’s universities, examines the impact of multilingual education policy on the professional development of LOTE teachers. We argue for the mediating roles of LOTE programs as they carry the influence of education policy on teacher development. In other words, LOTE programs may influence the way in which education policy impacts teacher development. Specifically, LOTE programs seem to play three mediating roles: (1) How education policy is perceived and understood by the program designer or/and coordinator impacts how LOTE teachers who engage in the program are influenced, (2) how educational resources are allocated to teachers teaching in the LOTE program impacts teachers’ professional development, (3) how teachers actually position themselves in the LOTE program as opposed to their identities positioned by education policy and the university administration impacts their professional development. In a word, the influence of multilingual education policy on the professional development of LOTE teachers may be mediated by such meso- and micro-level factors as administration, resource, and identity work.

Exploring learning-oriented assessment in EAP writing classrooms: teacher and student perspectives

Despite a growing interest in learning-oriented assessment in recent years, there is limited research on its implementation in language classrooms from both teacher and student perspectives, especially from an ecological lens. To address the research gap, this case study explored the implementation of learning-oriented assessment in three EAP writing classrooms, including both perceived success of and obstacles to implementation. Major data sources included interviews with teachers and students as well as classroom observation. The findings showed the different extents to which the teachers and students perceived and shaped/utilized the affordances of each dimension of learning-oriented assessment as well as the various ways in which their fields of affordances were aligned, due to micro-level, meso-level, and macro-level factors. Based on the findings, a model of learning-oriented assessment in EAP writing classrooms has been proposed and pedagogical implications have been discussed.

Unlikely downsizers: The prison service's role in reversing mass incarceration in Kazakhstan

Since 2000, the prison rate has declined significantly in Kazakhstan. This article demonstrates that the Kazakhstani prison service, counterintuitively, became a key advocate of prison downsizing owing to a coalescence of norms and incentives in the 1980s and 1990s. In the process, the prison service elite maintained the loyalty of rank-and-file personnel through a focus on reform to performative and quantifiable measures of penal performance – such as rankings in the World Prison Brief – while qualitative changes to the service's identity and organization remained unchanged. Prison staff remained militarized and their livelihood and professional culture continued to be independent of the existence of prisons. In conclusion, we argue that the Kazakhstani case demonstrates the need for an integrative theory of penal change that focuses on the interplay of macro-, meso- and micro-level factors in relationally shaping the norms, incentives and opportunities of penal policy actors.

EFFECTIVE LABOR MOTIVATION AS A CONDITION FOR LIFE QUALITY INCREASING

The article summarizes the author's views on the factors for ensuring effective labor motivation as a condition for improving the quality of working life. The authors substantiate the influence and determine the differences between macro-, meso- and micro-level factors on ensuring effective labor motivation.

Building resilience and sustainable HRM in the visitor economy: An uneasy relationship

This paper draws on small and medium enterprises' (SMEs') experiences of the 2019/2020 Victorian (Australia) bushfires and COVID-19 to explore organizations' capacity to achieve Sustainable Human Resource Management (S-HRM) and organizational resilience outcomes within crisis contexts. The study adopts a qualitative research design. Virtual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 33 stakeholders across two, contextually different tourism destinations (Bright and Echuca-Moama located in Victoria, Australia). Thematic analysis was undertaken. Findings present a mixed picture. Macro, meso and micro-level factors such as business type, location and workforce management; owner-managers’ skill sets and networks; prior experience of crises; individual wellbeing; government crisis management processes; and housing shortages were found to influence SMEs' sustainability and resilience outcomes. Tensions faced by SMEs, such as dilemmas between financial versus social sustainability, and employee versus business owner wellbeing, were revealed. Inspired by the UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 8), the paper brings together literature from sustainable HRM and resilience to discuss how SMEs in the tourism and hospitality sector can nurture social outcomes and organizational resilience. This is a timely conversation given COVID-induced workplace disruptions, and the likelihood of future shocks.

Black and White children's race-based information endorsement and teacher preference: Effects of school and neighborhood racial demographics.

The current study examined whether racially minoritized children and racial majority children demonstrate different race-based learning preferences and whether the racial demographics of their schools and neighborhoods predict these preferences. Race-based information endorsement and teacher preferences of Black and White 3- to 7-year-old children (n = 238) recruited from a metropolitan area in the midwestern United States were examined. Across racially homogeneous and diverse schools, both Black and White children showed a White preference in information endorsement and teacher preference. Black and White children did not differ in their information endorsement, but they did differ in their teacher preferences: Black children chose Black teachers more than White children. Further, children overall chose the accurate adult as their teacher regardless of the adult's race, but the racial demographics of children's schools and neighborhoods related to these responses: Three-year-old children were more likely to select the accurate Black adult over the inaccurate White adult if there were more Black teachers in their schools and larger Black populations in their neighborhoods. Exploratory analyses indicated that 5- to 7-year-old White children who had non-White classroom teachers chose Black adults more than those who had White classroom teachers, but classroom teacher's race did not relate to Black children's teacher preference. The findings suggest that both microlevel factors (e.g., children's classroom teachers) and macrolevel factors (e.g., proportion of Black teachers in children's schools and Black population in their neighborhoods) could influence who children choose to learn from and prefer as teachers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Management Barriers to Inter-Organizational Collaboration in Preoperative Treatment of Patients with Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis.

Inter-organizational collaboration among healthcare institutions is widely recognized to improve healthcare services. Because there is a research gap in examining the management barriers to inter-organizational collaboration in countries with less efficient healthcare systems and the reasons for non-implementation of innovations, the aim of this study was to identify key management barriers to inter-organizational collaboration in the preoperative treatment of patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis in Slovenia using a mixed-methods approach with key stakeholders. A cross-sectional study was conducted using multiple methods. An online survey (n = 135) and a multilevel qualitative approach were used, interviewing patients (n = 21), healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders (n = 42). The overall assessment of barriers affecting the integrated approach at the macro, meso, and micro levels revealed that macro-level factors were statistically significantly perceived as the major barriers, while micro-level factors were the minor barriers. There was no significant difference between public and private sector respondents in the barriers at the three levels. However, there were significant differences in the perceptions of different professional groups at the micro and meso levels, but not at the macro level. The analysis of the in-depth interviews confirmed the importance of macro-level barriers. A culture of noncooperation combined with "managerial indecision" prevails in the Slovenian healthcare system due to weak management support for inter-organizational collaboration, with managers and other key stakeholders failing to make urgent decisions due to a lack of autonomy. Interviewees commonly noted that one of the major barriers to inter-organizational collaboration was a lack of resources and staff, particularly of primary care physicians and nurses. In the preoperative treatment of patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis, the culture of non-collaboration and executive indecision are the major macro-level barriers to inter-organizational collaboration in Slovenia.

Multilevel research on factors impacting international branch campuses’ global integration and local responsiveness: an empirical investigation of two Canadian cases

ABSTRACT The considerable institutional distance between home and host countries of most international branch campuses (IBCs) necessitates that they address the managerial challenge of balancing global integration and local responsiveness. Previous studies have investigated IBCs’ strategies for addressing this challenge as well as the macro- or micro-level factors impacting their strategies. This study extends previous research by constructing a multilevel framework for understanding both macro- and micro-level factors and adopting it to guide the empirical investigation of two Canadian cases. The results demonstrate that the two Canadian IBCs have maintained a high level of localisation in staffing but different levels of globalisation in curriculum. Like many other IBCs, these two IBCs, as institutions, are inactive in research, although they do provide occasional support for research activities. Such strategies are increasingly influenced by the institutional forces in their host countries than those in their home country at the macro level. At the micro level, the strategies are primarily impacted by their students’ educational demands. These findings exemplify strategies for other IBCs and for Canadian postsecondary institutions that consider opening overseas campuses.

Factors associated with food insecurity among Latinx/Hispanics in the U.S.: evidence from the Fragile Families & Childhood Wellbeing Study

ABSTRACT Objective U.S. Latinx/Hispanic families experience higher food insecurity rates than the general population. Few studies have examined factors that contribute to food insecurity among the Latinx/Hispanic population, and none have done so using a national dataset. Drawing from the ecological theory of human development framework, this study explores the following research questions: What micro-, meso-, and exo/macro-system factors are related to adult and child food insecurity? How do these factors compare for Latinx/Hispanic, Black, and White mothers? Design This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a national survey that follows a birth cohort of mostly unwed parents and their children over a 15-year period. The sample was limited to Hispanic (both foreign-born and native-born), non-Hispanic Black mothers, and non-Hispanic White mothers. This yielded a final sample size of 2,636 for all mothers and 665 for Latinx/Hispanic mothers. Results While micro-level factors were influential for food insecurity, they alone could not explain the variation. Social support, a meso-level factor, remained a consistently significant predictor for both adult and child food insecurity, regardless of race/ethnicity. There were also several key differences in predictors across racial/ethnic groups. Being Spanish speaking and mother’s health status were only significant for Latinx/Hispanic mothers, and neighborhood support was not significant for Latinx/Hispanic mothers. Conclusions Drawing from ecological theory, our study explores the micro-, meso-, and exo-/macro-level variables that influence food insecurity. Findings suggest that access to social support is crucial for disadvantaged families avoiding food insecurity, despite race/ethnicity. Still, factors predicting food insecurity may be racialized and should be recognized as such.

Opportunities and challenges of digital competencies for women tourism entrepreneurs in Latin America: a gendered perspective

While increasingly more economic and social exchanges are taking place in the digital environment globally, women entrepreneurs’ access to, and adoption of, digital platforms cannot be assumed to happen naturally due to gender and social inequalities that are being replicated in the online environment. This study investigates the opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurial digital competencies for women tourism entrepreneurs (WTEs) in Latin America from a gendered perspective. A total of 33 interviews were conducted with women tourism entrepreneurs in Mexico and Ecuador. The findings reveal that women tourism entrepreneurs can and have been empowered through utilising digital technologies and digital platforms, but they face significant challenges and barriers, including the lack of digital competencies; lack of access to digital devices, infrastructure, and training; reliance on supporting staff and family members; and concerns around safety, security and work-life balance. This study contributes to existing entrepreneurship literature by identifying the social and structural inequalities that impede growth in women’s tourism business. The findings also highlight how women are disadvantaged in gaining digital competencies because of the macro gender digital divide and micro-level factors. Implications for women’s entrepreneurship policy development in relation to digital competencies are provided.

Modeling the factors of portfolio at risk for microfinance institutions in Palestine

The main objective of this paper is to examine the determinants of portfolio at risk in Palestine by analyzing the impact of macroeconomic and micro-level factors on credit risk for microfinance institutions during the period of 2010–2020. This study includes five regulated MFIs using generalized method of moment estimator. The findings indicate that portfolio at risk is more sensitive to the institutional factors and economic cycle. The operating efficiency and number of loan officers have positive and significant effect on credit risk. However, growth in GDP and number of active borrowers have negative and significant effect on credit risk. But, no evidence supports the impact of inflation and interest rate on vulnerability of credit risk. The conclusion presented may be useful for MFI directors and regulators in timely repayments and credit risk control. Overall, our ample evidence suggests that MFIs directors should consider the influence of institutional factors on their investment and credits decisions.

Dynamic contextual factors, individual agency and adoption of e-commerce in SMEs

This article provides an explanation of how dynamic contextual factors and individual agency influence the adoption of electronic commerce (e-commerce) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan. Eight multiple qualitative case studies were undertaken, involving 24 face-to-face semi-structured interviews and were thematically analysed using NVivo. This study found that the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) factors and additional extended micro-level (individual agency) factors strongly influenced the adoption of e-commerce practices by the managers of Pakistani SMEs. Managers need to address factors such as digital readiness, recruiting of skilled ICT expertise, reluctance of customers to switch their preference from traditional business selling methods to e-commerce, obtaining government and local institutional support, and recognizing the characteristics and individual agency of their owner-managers. On top of these factors, there is a strong need to improve the Information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in order for manager to prepare for and to embrace the e-commerce practices in their respective companies. This article extends Tornatzky and Fleischer’s TOE framework by adding the micro-level context of individual agency. Additionally, this article proposes practical implications for policymakers, governments, and local business support agencies.

What Factors Will Influence Chinese International Traveling for Leisure in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Role of Health Priorities and Health-Related Information Literacy.

China used to be the world's leading nation in terms of international (outward) tourism till the COVID-19 outbreak. However, due to the COVID-19 crisis, several new macro and micro-level factors might affect their international (outward) traveling behavior. The purpose of the current research was to examine the avoidance of international traveling for leisure in the Chinese population. The goal of the study was to highlight the importance of information self-efficacy and digital literacy as the key factors influencing tourists' traveling readiness. To achieve the goal, the study adapted the quantitative instruments from existing sources to map media exhaustion, information overload, and perceived health concerns, i.e., perceived effectiveness of health-protective measures, fear of new possible outbreaks, and pandemic crisis at source and destination. Chinese citizens' opinions were collected during the third quarter of the year 2022. Specifically, the quantitative survey from China collected a total number of 1308 respondents. This study used the statistical analysis software SPSS to analyze collected data. The findings conclude that the role of media is pivotal to shaping and predicting future trends in tourism preferences, perception of protective measures against COVID-19, and perceived seriousness of the pandemic crisis in the Chinese population. In addition, technology readiness (as hard self-efficacy) and health-related information literacy (soft self-efficacy) are critical to cope with the dark aspects of information exhaustion, overload, and pandemic seriousness in the post-truth era. The study is unique, as it examines the role of the seriousness of the pandemic at its source and destination and fear of new outbreaks simultaneously, underlining the potential future of immersive tourism (i.e., virtual reality, augmented reality, or mixed reality-based tourism). This study has drawn interesting theoretical and practical implications for researchers, policymakers, and academicians.

Determinants of maternal, infant, and young child nutrition during the 1,000-day window of opportunity in Solomon Islands: A focused ethnographic study.

This focused ethnographic study used qualitative, ethnographic, and participatory methods to explore determinants of maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN) during the first 1,000 days of life as part of efforts to address the double burden of malnutrition in Solomon Islands. An iterative study design was used to first explore and then confirm findings related to food and nutrition security and social and behavioral determinants of MIYCN in urban and rural settings. The first phase included in-depth interviews, household observations, free lists, and seasonal food availability calendar workshops while the second phase included focus group discussions, pile sorts, participatory community workshops, and repeated household observations. We found that MIYCN is shaped by a complex interaction of factors at the macro- and micro-levels. At the macro-level, globalization of the food system, a shifting economy, and climate change are driving a shift toward a delocalized food system based on imported processed foods. This shift has contributed to a food environment that leaves Solomon Islanders vulnerable to food and nutrition insecurity, which we found to be the primary determinant of MIYCN in this context. At the micro-level, this food environment leads to household- and individual-level food decisions that often do not support adequate MIYCN. Multi-sectoral interventions that address the macro- and micro-level factors shaping this nutrition situation may help to improve MIYCN in Solomon Islands.

Security is Local: The Influence of the Immediate Workgroup on Information Security

Information security is a multilevel phenomenon with employee security decisions being influenced by macrolevel factors (e.g., organizational policies), mesolevel factors (e.g., one’s immediate workgroup—IW), and microlevel factors (e.g., individual personalities). We argue that an employee’s local IW (i.e., immediate supervisor and coworkers) has a strong effect on security. This paper focuses on the effects of these mesolevel factors in the presence of macro- and microlevel factors. Drawing on the social structure and social learning framework as well as workgroup research, we hypothesize that the security behavior of an employee’s IW supervisor and coworkers moderated by the nature of these relationships influences information security decisions. Our research, based on a sample of 217 full-time employees, reveals that the IW significantly affects security decisions, over and above the micro- and macrolevel factors. These effects are moderated by the nature of the relationship between employees and their IW supervisor (leader-member exchange) and coworkers (team-member exchange). A post hoc analysis shows that the mesolevel factors alone had the same explanatory power as the micro- and macrolevels combined. Our research suggests that future theory and research should include the IW and that organizations should share security responsibilities with line managers and help them understand their substantial impact on information security. Security training programs should ask employees about the behaviors of their IW supervisor and coworkers and, where needed, deliver anti-neutralization training to mitigate the effects of the IW’s noncompliance behaviors.

Особливості забезпечення безпеки страхового ринку в умовах воєнного стану

The article is aimed at illuminating the essence, significance and peculiarities of ensuring the security of the insurance market under martial law. It is proved that the security of the insurance market is an integral characteristic of the state and level of financial solvency, reliability of insurance companies, their provision with resources and the latest services, which determines the possibilities of effective functioning and inclusive development in conditions of minimization of existing risks, threats and dangers. A systematization of factors influencing the security of the insurance market with division into mega-level, macro-level and meso-level factors is proposed. The main factors of the mega-level include: globalization processes in insurance; climate change; rapid digitalization and development of insurtech; cyber threats; unification of regulation and supervision of the insurance market by international insurance institutions. The macro-level factors are: war with russia; economic and financial instability; state of regulation and supervision of the insurance market; high level of its concentration; confidence in insurance; fraudulent activities, etc. Micro-level factors are directly related to the activities of insurance companies: the level of capitalization; volume of assets; the amount of formed insurance reserves; profitability and efficiency of activities; insurance portfolio risk; business model of the insurer, etc. It is noted that under martial law, insurance companies faced fundamentally new challenges and threats to their security. Therefore, it is possible in the near future to shift the emphasis of the insurance market towards compulsory types of insurance, CASCO insurance and voluntary medical insurance, as well as the development of new types of insurance, such as military risk insurance, construction, installation and repair and restoration works. Prospects for further research in this direction are coverage of methodological instruments for assessing the level of security of the insurance market and development of conceptual approaches to the formation of the system of its provision.