Government Forces Research Articles

Does government digitalisation alleviate corporate environmental violation? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

ABSTRACT Despite the importance of the government forces in environmental governance, it remains unclear whether government digitalisation, an important governmental transition triggered by the integration of digital technologies into regulatory process, can alleviate corporate environmental violations. Drawing on institutional theory, we propose that government digitalisation has a negative relationship with corporate environmental violation, while this negative relationship depends on the regulative, normative and cognitive factors that shape the institutional environments. We test these ideas by examining the response of publicly listed firms to the reform of digital government in China. Our findings contribute to the understanding of institutional theory on environmental governance by highlighting the positive role of government digitalisation and provide important practical implications.

Who takes the lead: Synergistic emission reduction effects of proactive government and efficient market in atmospheric pollution mitigation

In environmental protection, government and market forces must work together. However, existing literature often separates the two and discusses their roles independently. Therefore, this study incorporates both the market and government into a unified analytical framework. It redefines government force as environmental regulation and market force as allocation efficiency in environmental protection. The study empirically examines the synergistic emission reduction effects of active government and efficient market on air pollution, using data from 272 prefectural-level cities in China from 2003 to 2019. The results show: (1) Both government and market interventions can significantly reduce air pollution levels, and their combination achieves a synergistic emission reduction effect.(2) Within this synergy, government intervention remains dominant, while the market plays a supportive role. (3) Analyzing the heterogeneous effects under different scenarios reveals that collaboration and mutual monitoring between the government and the market can effectively counteract the adverse effects of economic policy uncertainty and corruption on the environment. Furthermore, when a single entity undertakes environmental protection, it may encounter issues of diminishing effectiveness over time. However, the synergistic effects of government and market cooperation can mitigate these challenges. (4) The synergy exhibits a threshold effect based on the varying strengths of government and market forces. (5) Public participation enhances the synergistic emission reduction effect of government and market, acting as a vital complement to their environmental protection efforts. This study provides new empirical evidence on the synergistic effect of current environmental protection measures in improving air pollution control.

Targeting telecommunications: Why do rebel groups target information and communication technology infrastructure?

Although there has been much interest in how communication technology can shape conflict, the deliberate targeting of the telecommunication infrastructure by rebel groups has been largely overlooked. This article demonstrates that while some rebel groups systematically target telecommunications, others do not. It is argued that this reflects deliberate choices, and that rebel groups adapt their strategies based on cost–benefit analyses. Given the aim of avoiding detection and being targeted themselves, rebels may be more likely to target the telecommunication infrastructure when faced with a government with a technologically sophisticated military. However, a further increase in the opponent’s technological capabilities beyond a certain tipping point may compel rebels to employ preventive measures other than targeting telecommunications. Marxist-socialist or religious groups are expected to be more likely to target telecommunications to maintain a homogeneous propaganda space directed at their constituency, facilitating indoctrination and propaganda. These expectations were evaluated in an analysis of all rebel groups for the period 1970–2013. The results showed a non-linear relationship between rebel targeting of telecommunication infrastructure and the technological capabilities of the government forces, while Marxist-socialist and ethno-religious groups were more likely to target telecommunications compared with other groups.

The Chinese idea of a university in flux: academic freedom and institutional autonomy under entrepreneurial reforms in the GBA

ABSTRACT The complexity of the idea of a university has been intensified globally as more universities pursue entrepreneurship. For modern universities in China as latecomers, contemporary entrepreneurial reforms are implemented against a backdrop of ongoing interactions between Chinese and Western ideas of a university, with the Western established as the formal system and the Chinese functioning informally yet powerfully. Through 71 semi-structured interviews at four universities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, this study explores how academic freedom and institutional autonomy are perceived by Chinese academics under entrepreneurial reforms. The study has two major findings through Clark’s analytical framework of academic, government, and market forces: (1) A novel form of statist academic freedom is emerging, merging traditional Chinese scholarly values with state-driven entrepreneurial demands; (2) The adapted triple helix model in China emphasises competition and excellence, shaped by a unique blend of state influence and market dynamics. It offers a nuanced perspective on academic freedom and institutional autonomy amidst entrepreneurial reforms in China, highlighting a compatibility with Chinese idea of a university and a response to global entrepreneurial pressures.

Moderating effect of business environment on the relationship between fiscal science and technology expenditure and venture capital

This study examines the nexus between fiscal science and technology (S&T) expenditure and venture capital growth using panel data from 293 prefecture-level cities from 2005 to 2022. Findings reveal that fiscal investments in S&T promote the development of venture capital. Furthermore, favorable business and financial environments positively moderate the stimulatory effect of fiscal S&T expenditure on venture capital. The impact of fiscal S&T expenditure on venture capital varies by region. This study bridges the theoretical gap in understanding the implications of the government's indirect support policies for venture capital and offers a fresh perspective on the dynamics between government and market forces.

Waste Governance and Empowerment: Evidence from Ponorogo, Indonesia

This research is a case study with a qualitative descriptive approach, aiming to describe and analyze Waste Governance on community empowerment in waste management in Ponorogo Regency, Indonesia. This research designs a recommendation model, taking into account empirical conditions in the field. Data collection in this study used interviews, observation, documentation, and focus group discussions. This research involved informants from various elements in Waste Governance, including government, community, industry, academics, mass media, NGOs/Communities, and regulators. This research stems from the low community empowerment in managing community-based waste management facilities in Ponorogo Regency, Indonesia. This condition is caused by the low participation and involvement of the community in various community empowerment programs in waste management, resulting in the community's role becoming less than optimal in Waste Governance. This study illustrates the weak aspects of Waste Governance in Ponorogo Regency, Indonesia, such as: weak collaboration between the community and academics in community empowerment in waste management, failure to accommodate waste governance in business, education, and environmental interests, and not maximizing the institutionalization of the waste management agenda through the Clean Friday Movement. This research recommends strengthening aspects of Waste Governance, namely encouraging local leadership as a driving force in waste governance. This aspect relates to the role of local leadership and community leaders in mobilizing various community-based waste management facilities. The results of this research are expected to contribute to developing Waste Governance theory, as well as provide practical benefits in the practice of Waste Governance in Indonesia.

Resident Participation in Environmental Governance of Sustainable Tourism in Rural Destination

The rapid development of rural tourism has placed significant pressure on the rural environment, and relying solely on the government and market forces is insufficient for effective governance. It is urgent to integrate endogenous rural forces into environmental governance. The development of social behavior theory offers new insights into exploring sustainable approaches for resident participation in environmental governance in rural tourism areas. This paper, based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) theoretical framework from social behavior theory, outlines the entire process of rural tourism residents transitioning from individual stimuli to psychological responses and ultimately to participation in environmental governance. This study combines the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) model to analyze the stimulus factors affecting local residents and jointly constructs a path mechanism model for resident participation in environmental governance in rural tourism areas. A total of 462 valid questionnaires were collected through a survey, and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used for empirical testing to determine the path coefficients between variables. On this basis, a system dynamics model was constructed to simulate the dynamic evolution of the relationships between variables. This study found the following: (1) In the process of rural tourism, residents’ participation in environmental governance relies on motivational factors at the stimulus level to play a core leading role; opportunity factors act as catalysts, and ability factors serve as auxiliaries; participation willingness at the organism level plays a crucial role. (2) Material pursuit and formal institutions are the strongest single sustainable factors for residents’ participation in environmental governance in rural tourism areas; combinations of variables such as local attachment, governance knowledge, and governance identity have significant effects. It is recommended that future rural tourism leverage government guidance, coordinate interests, and adhere to a collaborative development approach to ensure the sustainable development of the rural tourism environment.

The Impact of Environmental Protection Investment and Equity Balance Degree on Economic Performance and Eco-Autonomy: An Empirical Study of China’s A-Share Listed Companies

Enterprises are not only the main source of energy consumption and pollution emissions but also a key force in environmental governance. There is no doubt that the positive impact of enterprise environmental protection investment (EPI) on other stakeholders, but the impact on its own economic performance is the key to determining the scale of EPI and increasing the motivation for Eco-autonomy. This paper selects 691 companies listed on China’s A-share market from 2012 to 2022 as research samples, introducing the equity balance degree as the moderator variable, and empirically investigating the impact of the relationship by using a panel multivariate regression model. The results show that the relationship between EPI and its economic performance is a U-shaped curve, and it is related to Eco-autonomy. The equity balance degree can mitigate the negative influence of the relationship, but it is significantly different between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises. Accordingly, it prompts the following policy implementation: the Chinese government should develop differentiated environmental incentives and regulatory policies. It should focus on private enterprises with high-equity balance degrees and high pollution levels, and it should encourage state-owned enterprises to increase the scale of ex ante preventive investment through policy incentives.

튀르키예 아동문학에 나타난 디아스포라 의식: 소설 『전쟁에서 도망친 나무』를 중심으로

For more than a decade, Syria has been embroiled in a civil war that has pitted Syrian rebels against government forces. Syrian refugees who have crossed the border have found shelter in neighboring countries, including Türkiye. As the country hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world, 21st-century Turkish literature has seen the emergence of a significant body of diasporic literature that explores the lives and stories of Syrian refugees. In this study, we wanted to examine various refugee issues, focusing on the novel If I were a bird, I'd fly home, which vividly depicts the pain and inner conflicts that Veşir, a refugee boy who fled from Syria to Türkiye, experiences in diaspora. The novel describes the search for a new identity as a refugee, the lack of basic human needs such as food, discriminatory attitudes towards refugees and economic poverty. In particular, the novel explores the difficult lives of refugees who have been forced to flee their homeland due to civil war and are now in an unfamiliar environment through the unadorned eyes of a child.

Communication, coordination, and surveillance in the shadow of repression

AbstractCommunication technology helps protesters organize, but also allows the government to monitor and repress their actions. We study this trade‐off in a model where protesters want to show up at the same time and place, but also want to avoid government forces. If leaders of a movement can send messages observed only by other protesters, they can successfully coordinate on a variety of sites and force the government to spread resources thin, helping the success of the movement. If the government always observes the messages too, protesters can do no better than always going to a “focal site” knowing that the government will send all resources there as well, and thus experience higher levels of repression for the sake of coordinating tactics. Intermediate cases where messages are partially observed generate dynamics where new technologies and media that are relatively known to other protesters and not the government are used until the government can reliably infiltrate them and the protesters move on to a new medium. When some protesters are more informed than others, the model can explain protest tactics observed in recent prominent cases like having smaller “parallel” protests at the same time but different location of the main gathering.

Representation of Turkey in Yemeni Media: A Case Study of El-Mesira Channel and Aden Independent Channel

This study aims to examine the representation of Türkiye in news and news programs broadcast by private Yemeni television channels, focusing on discourse type, ideological frameworks employed in news coverage and the editorial policies followed by these channels. For this purpose, discourses from news and news programs published on the websites of El-Mesira, affiliated with Ansar Allah (Houthis) and Aden Independent Channel, aligned with the Southern Transitional Council, were analyzed using van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis model for the period from July 1 to December 31, 2020. The analysis revealed that Aden Independent Channel concentrated on Turkish-Qatari relations accusing both countries of providing financial and military support to the legitimate government forces, which the channel deemed affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (Al-Islah Party). The channel also asserted that the legitimate government was aligned with Türkiye and Iran, implementing Qatar’s agenda in Yemen. Simultaneously, the channel considered the forces of the Southern Transitional Council as the sole faction fighting against the legitimate government forces and Ansar Allah (Houthis), who aimed to thwart the council’s project of establishing an independent state in southern Yemen. On the other hand, El-Mesira reacted negatively to the presence of Turkish armed forces in Syria. Regarding the Yemeni crisis, the channel viewed Türkiye positively, particularly in light of Türkiye’s criticism of the negative role played by the United Arab Emirates in Yemen, which resulted in the deaths of thousands and the spread of famine among millions of Yemenis.

ELECTORAL PROCESS AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE: CAUSES AND CHARACTERISTICS

The article is devoted to the study of the main causes, mechanisms and patterns of political violence in the context of electoral struggle. It has been found that under conditions of significant competition and uncertainty of election results, political elites may choose illegal tools and strategies to maintain power: violence, bribery, fraud, intimidation, and persecution of opponents. It has been proven that the use of violence during the electoral process can significantly distort the voting results, undermine the legitimacy of the elections, and limit the participation of opposition candidates and voters.It has been determined that electoral violence involves the use of organized physical coercion, repression, intimidation, persecution, and destruction of property before, during, and after elections in order to influence the electoral process, voter behavior, and voting results. Such violence becomes an obstacle to holding democratic, fair, free, and competitive elections, hinders the establishment of consensus between government and opposition forces, and can provoke a large-scale armed conflict. It has been proven that the causes of electoral violence include the participants’ desire to influence voting results, increase their advantage over competitors, intimidate disloyal voters, deprive opposition supporters of the opportunity to vote, delegitimize the electoral process, and discredit the government’s ability to maintain security and the functioning of political institutions. As a result, it was found that political competition, unpredictable election results and ethnic polarization of society increase the likelihood of electoral violence, deep political crisis and armed confrontation, which can have critical consequences for political security and the sustainability of democracy.

Dual driving forces for corporate environmental responsibility performance: The synergistic effects of government environmental regulation and market multi-agent green supervision

The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference reached a series of agreements on implementing the Paris Agreement, empowering governments to independently establish emission reduction goals and encouraging market participants to invest in sustainable development. It highlighted that enhancing corporate environmental responsibility performance (CERP), driven by the collaborative efforts of government and market forces, is key to achieving global sustainability. In this context, this study is the first attempt to investigate the synergistic effects of government environmental regulation (GER) and market multi-agent green supervision (MGS) on CERP. The findings are as follows. First, GER, encompassing the multidimensional environmental responsibilities of governments, has not effectively spurred CERP. MGS, incorporating the green concerns of diverse investors and intermediaries, serves as a significant catalyst for enhancing CERP. The synergy between GER and MGS, involving multi-stakeholder collaborative governance, plays a significant motivating role in promoting CERP. Second, financing constraints and executives' attention to corporate environmental responsibility (CER) are two key channels through which the synergy between GER and MGS influences CERP. Third, firms located in regions with better economic development, those operating in non-heavily polluting industries, or non-state-owned firms exhibit heightened proactivity in improving CERP under the synergy between GER and MGS. This paper expands research on multi-agent collaborative environmental governance from the regional macro-perspective to the micro-firm level, providing a fresh perspective and theoretical basis. The novel findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and firms, especially in economies similar to China, in containing growing environmental challenges and advancing global sustainability.

Research on the Construction Mechanism of Rural Grass-roots Cadres under the Leadership of Party Construction

As China enters a new stage of building Chinese-style modernization in an all-round way, rural grass-roots cadres, as an important force in rural grass-roots governance, bear the important responsibility of promoting rural economic development, social stability, and improvement of people's livelihood. This paper takes the construction mechanism of rural grass-roots cadres under the leadership of Party building as the core and discusses its significance to rural governance and rural development. Combining with case analysis, this paper proves that the combination mechanism of cadre selection and appointment, cadre training and education, cadre assessment, Party organization guidance and supervision, and cadre incentive and guarantee provides strong support and assurance for the construction of rural grass-roots cadres. It is of great significance to promote the effective implementation of the strategy of rural revitalization.

ENGINEERING OF LIQUID-GAS EJECTOR USING NUMERICAL SIMULATION

The article deals with the development and application of the technology of injection of low-pressure associated petroleum gas (APG) into the reservoir through the reservoir pressure maintenance system (RPMS) in connection with the entry into force of the Russian government decree on the mandatory utilization of 95 % of produced APG. The technology under consideration, the key element of which is a liquid-gas ejector (LGE), makes it possible to achieve this level with minimal investment, in the shortest possible time and to stop flaring APG at flares remote from the central oil and gas treatment facilities of oil and gas production facilities. LGEs have a relatively simple and reliable design due to the absence of moving elements.At present, there are known LGEs of classical designs, in which the level of hydrodynamic losses can reach 40–60 %. High hydrodynamic losses make it inexpedient to use such ejectors at small fields operated at a late stage of development, remote from the central oil and gas treatment facilities, due to the limitations of the existing equipment complex and the allowed operation mode of the injection well stock. To ensure the possibility of including LGE in the RPM system it was required to develop a new design of LGE, allowing to reduce hydrodynamic losses up to 30 %, as well as to ensure the maximum possible percentage of APG utilization. The article is devoted to the development, calculation of geometry and operating mode of LGE using numerical modeling in ANSYS environment.Modeling of the flowing part of the main elements of LGE (confuser nozzle, diffuser throat and gas channel width) at different values of parameters directly affecting the level of hydraulic losses is carried out. The results of calculations of numerical simulation of LGE allowed to optimize the dimensions of the internal geometry of LGE, thus it was possible to develop a new device for the required initial data, which will reduce the level of hydraulic losses up to 30 % and ensure the involvement of the maximum volume of gas in the RPM system.

«В Коауиле провозглашается коммунизм». Эпизод из истории Мексиканской революции (1912 г.)

The article deals with a little-known and little-studied episode from the history of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1917, the proclamation of communism by anarchist guerrillas in the state of Coahuila in 1912. A brief but vivid history of the guerrillas, organized by the Magonists from the Mexican Lib-eral Party (PLM) at one of the key moments of the revolution, is considered in the context of the general role of the anar-chist movement at various stages of the revolution in Mexico, of evolution of its ideology, strategy and tactics. An attempt has been made to assess the significance of the events under consideration for the development of the anarchist movement in the world. PLM, led by brothers Riсardo and Enrique Flo-res Magon, was in 1906-1908 the first political force that launched a rebel movement against the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, and in 1910-1911 made a significant contribu-tion to the overthrow of the regime. However, after this, the leadership of the Mexican Liberal Party officially switched to the position of anarchism, and its supporters tried to organize a guerrilla movement with the aim of carrying out a social revolution in Mexico. Although the PLM rebel forces were crushed by superior government forces in 1912, and many of their members were killed, the proclamation of anarchist communism by a group of guerrillas on February 9, 1912 in the Mexican state of Coahuila, one of the traditional areas of influence of the Magonists, was the first act of this kind in the history of world anarchist movement and served as an example for anarchists in other countries.

An innovative fractional-order evolutionary game theoretical study of personal protection, quarantine, and isolation policies for combating epidemic diseases

This study uses imposed control techniques and vaccination game theory to study disease dynamics with transitory or diminishing immunity. Our model uses the ABC fractional-order derivative mechanism to show the effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as personal protection or awareness, quarantine, and isolation to simulate the essential control strategies against an infectious disease spread in an infinite and uniformly distributed population. A comprehensive evolutionary game theory study quantified the significant influence of people’s vaccination choices, with government forces participating in vaccination programs to improve obligatory control measures to reduce epidemic spread. This model uses the intervention options described above as a control strategy to reduce disease prevalence in human societies. Again, our simulated results show that a combined control strategy works exquisitely when the disease spreads even faster. A sluggish dissemination rate slows an epidemic outbreak, but modest control techniques can reestablish a disease-free equilibrium. Preventive vaccination regulates the border between the three phases, while personal protection, quarantine, and isolation methods reduce disease transmission in existing places. Thus, successfully combining these three intervention measures reduces epidemic or pandemic size, as represented by line graphs and 3D surface diagrams. For the first time, we use a fractional-order derivate to display the phase-portrayed trajectory graph to show the model’s dynamics if immunity wanes at a specific pace, considering various vaccination cost and effectiveness settings.

Navigating the Cyber Front: Belarus' State Control and Emerging Cyber Threats

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the cyber landscape in Belarus, with a focus on the Belarus government's use of cyber activities from an offensive and defensive context, the emergence of opposition cyber activities, and the broader implications for cybersecurity and legal compliance. In the course of the research, researchers try to assess Belarus as a source of cyber-threats, both domestically and to neighbouring states (especially those supporting Ukraine). The first section of the paper outlines the Belarusian government's engagement in cybercrimes against its citizens, especially under President Lukashenko's regime, highlighting extensive online surveillance, repression, and the escalation of these activities following the 2020 presidential elections. In this political context, Belarus is also examined as a country initiating and/or contributing to Information Warfare activities, which are mainly directed at western countries. The second section of the paper delves into Belarus's cybersecurity legal framework, examining various national strategies and concepts, the absence of a formal cybersecurity strategy, and the focus on 'information security' as part of national security. The third section presents case studies of cyber activities in Belarus, contrasting government-backed hacking efforts with those of opposition groups like the Belarus Cyber Partisans. It explores the Partisans' attacks on state infrastructure and information leaks as a form of protest against the government, and the pro-government hackers' disinformation / information campaigns website defacements, and data breaches, particularly targeting Ukraine. This section highlights the evolving nature of cyber conflict in Belarus, where both government and opposition forces use cyber tools for political ends, reflecting broader geopolitical tensions in the region. This part of the report compares the Belarusian pro-government hacktivist and Cyber Partisans groups, their activities and manifestations within the country (inside), as well as the cyber threats they pose to foreign countries. The article attempts to answer the question of what kind of threat Belarus as a country poses in the context of cybersecurity, hybrid-cyber threats. This country is often included in Russian hybrid-cyber threats strategies, Belarus entities also work with Russian and sometimes Chinese groups in undertaking cyber activities against other countries.

Can market-oriented and government-led spatial agglomeration of factories reduce carbon emission intensity? Evidence from China

Both market-oriented and government-led spatial agglomeration of factories profoundly affect China's carbon emission intensity. However, few studies have comprehensively examined the effect of spatial agglomeration of factories driven by different motivations on carbon emission intensity, and often ignore the moderating effect of local government attention to the environment. This study attempts to incorporate market-oriented and government-led spatial agglomeration of factories into the same analytical framework and examine their interaction effects on carbon emission intensity. We first calculate an Agglomeration Index based on the geographic coordinates of micro-factories to measure market-oriented agglomeration of factories, and take development zone policies as a proxy for government-led agglomeration of factories. Based on city-level data from 1998 to 2013, we empirically analyze their impacts on carbon emission intensity and further explore regional heterogeneity and mechanisms. The results show that both the market-oriented and government-led spatial agglomeration of factories can significantly reduce carbon emission intensity through scale effect, innovation effect and structure effect. However, the agglomeration of factories caused by government forces has weakened the original effect of market-oriented agglomeration of factories in reducing carbon emission intensity. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that government-led agglomeration of factories is more effective in reducing carbon emission intensity in less-developed regions. Furthermore, the improvement of the governments' attention to the environment can further exert the positive effect of spatial agglomeration of factories on carbon emission intensity. Our study deepens the understanding of the effects of spatial agglomeration of factories caused by different motivations, and provides a reference for China and other developing countries to formulate relevant policies for reducing carbon emission intensity.

The impact of digitalization on the rich and the poor: Digital divide or digital inclusion?

With the spread of digitization and regional economic imbalances brought about by industrial structure transformation, the income gap between urban and rural areas in China is increasing and the gap between rich and poor should be considered. Using county-level panel data from 2015 to 2019 in China, this paper first analyzes the overall impact of digital development on the wealth gap and the impact for different sub-points of the sample from the direct effect perspective. Then, it explores the intrinsic mechanism of digital development in migrating the wealth gap from the indirect effect perspective, focusing on industrial structure and consumer spending. The results of the study show that the level of digital development is negatively correlated with the rich-poor gap. When digital development is at a high level, it suppresses the rich-poor gap, and the suppression effect gradually increases. In addition, the impact of digital development on wealth gap is not limited to direct effects but is also manifested indirectly through changes in industrial structure and consumer spending. Within this context, industry structure upgrading, guided by both market and government forces, plays a positive role in narrowing the wealth gap as modifiable mediating variables. Government-led upgrading in industrial structure demonstrates a more comprehensive moderating effect on addressing wealth disparities within the context of digitalization.