Policy Changes Research Articles

Accounting Policy Changes and Firm Debts: Evidence ⁠from Japan

Using 86 accounting policy changes made by Nikkei-225 Japanese firms, this study examines the correlation between the probability of making accounting policy changes and debt. After controlling other motives for accounting policy changes, we find that a high amount of debt is negatively correlated with the probability of making accounting policy changes, which contradicts the debt-covenant hypothesis. This result suggests that Japanese firms with large amounts of debt do not need to make accounting policy changes to avoid debt-covenant violations because banks within their groups play significant roles in controlling and monitoring their operations. Our findings are consistent with the argument by Inoue and Thomas (1996) – factors that affect the choice of accounting policy in the US may not similarly affect the choice of accounting policy in Japan. We find that the current return on equity and prior year’s return on assets to be negative determinants of the accounting policy changes, and current return on assets and prior year’s change in return on equity are positive determinants. Finally, we find that firms that make accounting policy changes tend to be the ones receiving qualified audit opinions.

Understanding policy changes: dilemmas of funding reform in Indonesian higher education

ABSTRACT In the interpretive tradition, the study on policy changes focuses on analyzing the shift of framework of agreed and shared meanings amongst actors. While ‘dilemmas’ offer an analytical lens to understand policy change, their application remains limited. Drawing from the experience of funding reform for research in Indonesian higher education, this article explores the meanings and ideas associated with output-based funding mechanism. Affirming the established understanding within the interpretive tradition, this article finds that a policy change is a matter of actors’ inter-subjectivity and intra-discursive reasonings. This results in a wide acceptance of the new funding mechanism. However, by conceptualizing that actors are also institutionally situated, the concept of dilemmas unveils extra-discursive tensions and conflicts that confront actors’ understanding and receptivity of change. This finding underscores the significance of combining actors’ intra- and extra-discursive contexts in enriching the interpretive analysis of socio-political events.

A Sequential Calibration Approach to Address Challenges of Repeated Calibration of a COVID-19 Model.

Mathematical models served a critical role in COVID-19 decision making throughout the pandemic. Model calibration is an essential, but often computationally burdensome, step in model development that provides estimates for difficult-to-measure parameters and establishes an up-to-date modeling platform for scenario analysis. In the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, frequent recalibration was necessary to provide ongoing support to decision makers. In this study, we address the computational challenges of frequent recalibration with a new calibration approach. We calibrated and recalibrated an age-stratified dynamic compartmental model of COVID-19 in Minnesota to statewide COVID-19 cumulative mortality and prevalent age-specific hospitalizations from March 22, 2020 through August 20, 2021. This period was divided into 10 calibration periods, reflecting significant changes in policies, messaging, and/or epidemiological conditions in Minnesota. When recalibrating the model from one period to the next, we employed a sequential calibration approach that leveraged calibration results from previous periods and adjusted only parameters most relevant to the calibration target data of the new calibration period to improve computational efficiency. We compared computational burden and performance of the sequential calibration approach to a more traditional calibration method, in which all parameters were readjusted with each recalibration. Both calibration methods identified parameter sets closely reproducing prevalent hospitalizations and cumulative deaths over time. By the last calibration period, both approaches converged to similar parameter values. However, the sequential calibration approach identified parameter sets that more tightly fit calibration targets and required substantially less computation time than traditional calibration. Sequential calibration is an efficient approach to maintaining up-to-date models with evolving, time-varying parameters and potentially identifies better-fitting parameter sets than traditional calibration. This study used a sequential calibration approach, which takes advantage of previous calibration results to reduce the number of parameters to be estimated in each round of calibration, improving computational efficiency and algorithm convergence to best-fitting parameter values.Both sequential and traditional calibration approaches were able to identify parameter sets that closely reproduced calibration targets. However, the sequential calibration approach generated parameter sets that yielded tighter fits and was less computationally burdensome.Sequential calibration is an efficient approach to maintaining up-to-date models with evolving, time-varying parameters.

Meaningful Patient Participation in Health Care Education: A Theoretically Informed Study Exploring Boundaries and Identities

Abstract Purpose After recent policy and practice changes, health care schools are expected to involve patients as partners in the management, design, and delivery of professional curricula. However, what these partnerships mean for academic communities and the processes needed to support them are not yet understood. This study examines what involving patients as partners within an academic community means for key stakeholders. Method A qualitative case study design with a social constructivist philosophical stance was used. Communities of practice served as the theoretical framework. Semistructured interviews were conducted with patients and educators from the University of Leicester between November 2021 and May 2022. Focus groups were held with penultimate-year students. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis informed by communities of practice. Results The sample comprised 40 participants. Ten patients and 10 educators participated in 40- to 60-minute interviews. Twenty students participated in 1 of 5 focus group discussions lasting 30 to 50 minutes. Two overarching themes were reported: “boundaries as (permeable) barriers to participation” and “identity as an interpretive lens.” Boundaries among patients, educators, and students can hinder patients’ meaningful involvement in health care education. Boundaries are marked through differences in knowledge, a lack of shared vision, and a lack of trust in patients. Patients, educators, and students have separate distinct identities. They experience tensions of identity when they meet across boundaries. These tensions reveal insights into the construction of the typical patient identity in health care education. Conclusions Applying communities of practice illuminated boundary and identity issues that patients, educators, and students experience when patients are involved in health care education. Health care schools should develop comprehensive training for patients, provide faculty development regarding patient involvement, support students to trust in patient teachers, and embed a distinctive strand of patient involvement across health care curricula.

Defenders of the status quo: energy protests and policy (in)action in Sweden

Abstract Are the positions that protesters take—in favor or against change—consequential for their ability to affect policy? While previous research suggests that protests can inform legislative priorities and facilitate policy introduction, this paper emphasizes policy inaction and stasis as goals of some protest actions. Analysis uses novel and detailed data on energy-related protest and policy actions in Sweden covering a forty-year period and considers protest frequency and size in relation to proposal introduction. The research design uniquely distinguishes between protests in favor or against a specific energy source and proposal activity in line with those demands and also controls for public opinion on each energy source. Findings suggest that pro-renewable energy protests do not yield pro-renewable policies but prevent undesired policies that support non-renewable energy sources. In contrast to pro-renewable protests, protests against renewable energy sources are somewhat more influential. They likewise prevent the introduction of their undesired proposals and also influence the introduction of proposals supporting non-renewable energy sources. Overall, the paper examines policy inaction as a desired protest outcome and argues protest—as a tactic—may be more effective when pushing against rather than for policy change.

Do climate change policies affect labour market distortions? Empirical evidence from China's low-carbon city pilots

ABSTRACT To mitigate climate change while ensuring that the substantial benefits of a green economic transition are widely shared, the concept of a just transition has emerged as a pivotal element in climate strategies. Although the effectiveness of climate policies has been a subject of ongoing debate, the integration of just transition principles is often overlooked as a key component. This study employs China’s Low-Carbon City Pilot policy (LCCP) as a quasi-natural experiment and uses a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) methodology to assess the impact of LCCP on wage distortions within firms. Using data from listed companies between 2006 and 2022, our analysis shows that the low-carbon policy itself may be a source of inequity, disproportionately benefiting capital at the expense of labour, thus exacerbating wage distortions and preventing labour from receiving fair compensation. This inequity undermines the principles of a just transition, as the allocation of policy resources tends to favour large firms, enhancing their pricing power and diminishing labour market flexibility. The economic outcomes of LCCP are mixed: while it accelerates the growth of capital share, it also leads to an unequal distribution between capital and labour. Furthermore, our exploration of the role of export trade in mitigating these distortions reveals that exports actually widen the disparity in wage distortions. Our study underscores the urgent need to prioritize equity in climate policies and improve labour allocation efficiency within climate action frameworks. We aim to provide decision-making support for the design and implementation of more equitable low-carbon policies in developing countries.

Mobility Responses to Special Tax Regimes for the Super-Rich: Evidence from Switzerland

Abstract We use a novel rich-list dataset to estimate the sensitivity of the location choice of super-rich foreigners to a special tax regime, under which wealthy foreigners are taxed based on their living expenses, rather than their true income and wealth. We are the first to show that when some Swiss cantons repealed this controversial policy, their stock of super-rich foreigners dropped by 43% as a consequence. We find no response for the Swiss super-rich, who were unaffected by the policy change. The implied wealth and income tax mobility elasticities range between 28.4–32.2 and 1.4–1.5, respectively.

Associations Between State Policies Facilitating Telehealth and Buprenorphine Episode Initiation and Duration Early in the COVID Pandemic : State Telehealth Policies and Buprenorphine.

State policies facilitating telehealth implemented early in COVID may support buprenorphine treatment of opioid use disorder. However, little empirical information is available about those policies' effects. Examine association between state policies that may facilitate telehealth use and buprenorphine treatment. Retrospective cohort study using 2019-2020 national pharmacy data on dispensed buprenorphine prescriptions. State policies implemented after March 3, 2020, public health emergency declaration requiring private insurers' telehealth reimbursement to be commensurate with in-person service reimbursement, authorizing Medicaid reimbursement for audio-only telehealth, allowing physicians to provide cross-state telehealth services, and allowing psychologists to provide cross-state telehealth services. (a) Duration of treatment episodes started between March 1 and March 13 in both 2019 and 2020, and (b) daily numbers of new buprenorphine treatment episodes from March 13 through December 31 in each year. We found little change in the number of new buprenorphine treatment episodes started in 2020 compared to 2019 and an increase in treatment duration of 10.3days (95%CI 8.3 to 12.2days) for episodes started in March 2020 before the public health emergency declaration compared to the comparable 2019 period. States implementing a telehealth parity policy in 2020 had 7.3% (95%CI - 13.3% to - 0.4%) fewer new buprenorphine treatment episodes. States joining the psychologist interstate compact in 2020 after the public health emergency declaration had treatment episodes 7.97days longer (95%CI 0.78 to 15.16) than other states. None of the other policies examined was associated with changes in new treatment episodes or treatment duration. Policies undertaken during the pandemic we examined were associated with few significant changes in buprenorphine treatment initiation and duration. Findings suggest realizing the benefits of telehealth and other policy changes for buprenorphine may require more extensive implementation and infrastructure support.

Polymorphisms in the Pfcrt, Pfmdr1, and Pfk13 genes of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from southern Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

This study aimed to analyze polymorphisms in Pfcrt, Pfmdr1, and Pfk13 genes' markers of resistance to Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from southern Brazzaville, 15 years after the adoption of ACT in the Republic of Congo. A total of 369 microscopy-confirmed malaria-infected individuals were enrolled from March to October 2021 in the community and in health facilities during a cross-sectional study. The K76T mutation in the Pfcrt gene, N86Y and Y184F mutations in the Pfmdr1 gene were investigated using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) while the codons region (1005-1300) of the Pfmdr1gene, and Pfk13 gene were sequenced. The prevalences of K76T, N86Y, Y184F mutations were 26.0%, 6.8%, and 27.7%, respectively. However, no mutations were detected in codons 1034, 1042, and 1246 of the Pfmdr1 gene. None of the mutations previously associated with artemisinin-based resistance were detected in the Pfk13 gene. The results reveal a significant decrease in the prevalence of K76T, N86Y, Y184F mutations, in Plasmodium falciparum isolates following the change of therapeutic policy. As artemisinin resistance is emerging throughout Africa, continued surveillance for early detection of these mutations and relevant partner markers of drug resistance are recommended in the Republic of Congo.

Impacts, Adaptations, and Preparedness Among SNAP-Ed Implementers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multistate Study

Objective: The study examines: 1) impacts of COVID-19 on the work of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed) implementers, 2) facilitators and barriers experienced in making adaptations, and 3) factors that would have helped with preparedness to adapt. Design, Setting, and Participants: A purposive sample of 181 SNAP-Ed program implementers from across five states completed a survey or interview based on the study aims. Quantitative data was summarized with descriptive statistics and qualitative data was analyzed thematically. Results: Direct education activities were found to be most impacted during COVID-19 while working to change policies, systems, and environments and indirect education were less impacted. Both positive and negative impacts surfaced. Respondents were most likely to say they were moderately or slightly prepared to make adaptations. Elements of internal organizations, technology, and partners both helped and hindered adapting. Pre-established virtual capacity, formal preparation and planning protocols and procedures, and better and more frequent communication with partners and program leadership would have helped with preparedness. Conclusion: SNAP-Ed needs assessment and implementation processes should integrate and expand upon the lessons learned in the study to enhance future emergency preparedness among program implementers. Program policy should be updated to allow for implementation flexibility during future emergencies.

Mountains and Waves: Fontan Circulation in Different Environmental Conditions.

As surgical options and medical care for patients with univentricular heart physiology continue to improve, leading to increased life expectancy and quality of life, a new population of Fontan patients is growing up with the desire to participate in leisure activities, including aquatic activities, high-altitude stays, and air travel. Due to significant data gaps and insufficient experience, current guidelines do not provide clear recommendations, leading to uncertainty and sometimes restrictive patient management. This review summarizes new insights and the current state of research on this subject and provides an overview of the long overdue change in policies toward less restrictive counseling for Fontan patients regarding swimming, diving, high-altitude stays, and air travel. The current review summarizes the physiologic impact of aquatic and high-altitude activities on the cardiovascular system and presents currently available data on this topic in Fontan patients. Patients with Fontan circulation in good clinical shape can tolerate activities in the water and in the mountains as well as air traveling without critical events. In order to be able to make general recommendations, further studies with larger numbers of cases must be carried out.

HPB SO02 - Cutting surgical site infection rates in perihilar cholangiocarcinoma with informed changes to perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis: A quality improvement project in a UK hepatopancreatobiliary tertiary centre

Abstract Background Perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) is the most common cancer of biliary epithelia. While potentially curative, surgical resection is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are common and pernicious. Preoperative biliary instrumentation is universal: to confirm histological diagnosis and deploy stents to relieve jaundice. Patients receive multiple antibiotic courses as periprocedural prophylaxis and to treat cholangitis. They are at high risk of harbouring bacteria not quelled by perioperative prophylactic antibiotics given for other general surgical procedures. Studying the biliary microbiome, this quality improvement project sought to reduce SSIs through informed changes to local guidelines on perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis. Method Health records of all patients undergoing resection for pCCA in a UK hepatopancreatobiliary centre from February 2009 to January 2024 were analysed retrospectively (n=118). For all patients, we routinely sent intraoperative bile swabs for culture and sensitivity. Informed by these microbiology results, multidisciplinary discussion led to changes to local guidelines in March 2019. Formerly, cefuroxime and metronidazole were given on anaesthetic induction, with subsequent antibiotic choice and duration according to surgeon preference. New guidance stipulated teicoplanin and piperacillin/tazobactam be given on induction and for 72 hours postoperatively. We studied the impact of these changes on SSIs within 30 days. Results 75 patients received cefuroxime and metronidazole; 43 patients were given teicoplanin and piperacillin/tazobactam after the policy change. Proportions of patients who developed any SSI substantially fell following the guideline change (55% v 28%; p=0.0049), primarily owing to reductions in intraperitoneal collections (39% v 21%; p=0.047). Rates of deep (8% v 2%; p=0.21) and superficial incisional infections (8% v 5%; p=0.49) were not significantly affected. Associated secondary outcomes were drops in post-hepatectomy liver failure (17% v 5%; p=0.047), and 90-day mortality (16% v 5%; p=0.067), albeit the latter was not statistically significant. Conclusion Invasive investigative work-up, disease complications and exposure to multiple courses of antibiotics prior to resection of pCCA subject patients’ biliary systems to colonisation with antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. We urge centres that undertake these operations to introduce intraoperative bile cultures as a part of routine practice to inform local guidance on perioperative antimicrobial prophylaxis. We demonstrated effective antibiotics in the perioperative period can have enormous benefits to patient outcomes.

Enhancing the SDG 6 Index: Implementing New Directions and Trends in Priorities of Integrated Water Resources Management Principles in the Republic of Korea

Enhancement of water and sanitation management acts as a significant component of global development as it is part of the United Nation’s sixth Sustainable Development Goal. Due to peculiar geographical and climatic attributes of the country and sincere efforts toward implementing IWRM, South Korea has improved its position in the SDG 6 index. The purpose of this research work is to evaluate the advancements that have been made in the IWRM of South Korea from 2018 to 2023 concerning policy changes, technical advancements, and societal engagement. Thus, this paper, through surveys and literature review, examines the measures that have been taken in the recent past to address the hydrological vulnerabilities resulting from climate change, as depicted by the UN Environment Program. Centrally, since South Korea has become more sensitive to climate change effects, and thus hydrological issues, the findings will assist in the improvement of current IWRM processes and help them achieve the SDG 6 goals. This study implies that there should be sustainable water management practices that balance natural and human interferences amidst prevailing climate change effects.

Enabling Impacts: Building a Broader Impacts Community of Practice at a Land-Grant University

The Broader Impacts (BI) activities required of researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) often involve public engagement, including K-12 outreach, informal science education, public exhibits and performances, advocacy and policy change, and business and entrepreneurship. The ARIS Broader Impacts Toolkit (Advancing Research Impacts in Society, 2024) is an online resource designed to help researchers develop BI plans for their NSF proposals. Several elements of the Toolkit address critical aspects of public engagement, making the Toolkit a valuable resource for researchers new to BI or public engagement, especially when integrated into wider BI communities of practice. We discuss how the national-level BI Community of Practice (BI-CoP) developed and sustained by the NSF-funded Center for Advancing Research Impacts in Society (ARIS) contributed to the development and continuing evolution of an institutional-level BI CoP at a large land-grant public university. The personal narratives of members of the institutional-level BI-CoP reveal how the ARIS BI-CoP has supported their learning, fostered collaboration around BI at their institution, supported the development of an institutional BI-CoP, and increased their capacity to assist researchers with developing and implementing BI plans. The experiences of consultants and researchers demonstrate that supportive and well-resourced BI-CoPs at the national and institutional level are essential for making effective use of the Toolkit and developing BI plans that are innovative, inclusive, and impactful.

Policy impact of the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team: global perspective and United Kingdom case study.

Mathematical models and advanced analytics play an important role in policy decision making and mobilizing action. The Imperial College Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Response Team (ICCRT) provided continuous, timely and robust epidemiological analyses to inform the policy responses of governments and public health agencies around the world. This study aims to quantify the policy impact of ICCRT outputs, and understand which evidence was considered policy-relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic. We collated all outputs published by the ICCRT between 01-01-2020 and 24-02-2022 and conducted inductive thematic analysis. A systematic search of the Overton database identified policy document references, as an indicator of policy impact. We identified 620 outputs including preprints (16%), reports (29%), journal articles (37%) and news items (18%). More than half (56%) of all reports and preprints were subsequently peer-reviewed and published as a journal article after 202days on average. Reports and preprints were crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic to the timely distribution of important research findings. One-fifth of ICCRT outputs (21%) were available to or considered by United Kingdom government meetings. Policy documents from 41 countries in 26 different languages referenced 43% of ICCRT outputs, with a mean time between publication and reference in the policy document of 256days. We analysed a total of 1746 policy document references. Two-thirds (61%) of journal articles, 39% of preprints, 31% of reports and 16% of news items were referenced in one or more policy documents (these 217 outputs had a mean of 8 policy document references per output). The most frequent themes of the evidence produced by the ICCRT reflected the evidence-need for policy decision making, and evolved accordingly from the pre-vaccination phase [severity, healthcare demand and capacity, and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)] to the vaccination phase of the epidemic (variants and genomics). The work produced by the ICCRT affected global and domestic policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of evidence produced by the ICCRT corresponded with changing policy needs over time. The policy impact from ICCRT news items highlights the effectiveness of this unique communication strategy in addition to traditional research outputs, ensuring research informs policy decisions more effectively.

Disentangling Legal Stability from Legitimate Expectations: Towards Greater Deference to Regulatory Changes in Renewable Energy Transition Policies in Investment Arbitration

Abstract The obligation of stability generally requires host States to maintain a relatively stable regulatory framework to mitigate political risks facing foreign investments. It has played a significant role in international investment tribunals’ review of host States’ renewable energy transition policies. This paper critically reviews tribunals’ interpretation of the obligation with a particular focus on the Spanish cases involving renewable energy incentive schemes. It canvasses the two ‘dimensions’ adopted by investment tribunals in the interpretation of stability, namely the protection of legitimate expectations and States’ right to regulate for public purposes. Examining the contents of the two dimensions separately, this paper argues that legal stability should be disentangled from the notion of legitimate expectations and be assessed through the reasonableness of regulatory changes per se. It further argues that an intrusive interpretation of legal stability lacks legal and institutional bases; instead, more deferential standards should be adopted in the review of renewable energy transition policies.

Development and conservation in the tropical forest frontier: a 50-year analysis of policy evolution and interplay in Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas, México

ABSTRACT Tropical forests are vital for global biodiversity and climate stability, but the political economy of deforestation and land-use change constantly challenges their integrity. In this article, we analyse 50 years of policy development in the municipality Marqués de Comillas, located in Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico, to understand how development and conservation priorities have evolved, interacted, and shaped land-use in a tropical forest frontier. By analysing peer-reviewed literature and empirical data, we identify five phases of policy continuity and change that have produced diverse socio-environmental outcomes. We reveal a persistent state-led prioritisation of rural development over environmental concerns, pursued through policies promoting settlements and agricultural expansion and exacerbated by external market forces. This focus has caused substantial ecosystem degradation and deforestation without significant livelihood improvements. Recent conservation initiatives, such as payment for ecosystem services, show potential for challenging the status quo by offering alternative livelihood opportunities benefiting both people and ecosystems.

Performance evaluation of UKESM1 for surface ozone across the pan-tropics

Abstract. Surface ozone monitoring sites in the tropics are limited, despite the risk that surface ozone poses to human health, tropical forest and crop productivity. Atmospheric chemistry models allow us to assess ozone exposure in unmonitored locations and evaluate the potential influence of changing policies and climate on air quality, human health and ecosystem integrity. Here, we utilise in situ ozone measurements from ground-based stations in the pan-tropics to evaluate ozone from the UK Earth system model, UKESM1, with a focus on remote sites. The study includes ozone data from areas with limited previous data, notably tropical South America, central Africa and tropical northern Australia. Evaluating UKESM1 against observations beginning in 1987 onwards, we show that UKESM1 is able to capture changes in surface ozone concentration at different temporal resolutions, albeit with a systematic high bias of 18.1 nmol mol−1 on average. We use the diurnal ozone range (DOR) as a metric for evaluation and find that UKESM1 captures the observed DOR (mean bias of 2.7 nmol mol−1 and RMSE of 7.1 nmol mol−1) and the trend in DOR with location and season. Results from this study reveal that hourly ozone concentrations from UKESM1 require bias correction before use for impact assessments based on human and ecosystem health. Indeed, hourly surface ozone data have been crucial to this study, and we encourage other modelling groups to include hourly surface ozone output as a default.

The Role of Art in Addressing Health Inequities

This paper examines the intersection of art and public health, focusing on the role of art in addressing health inequities driven by social determinants of health. Health disparities—disproportionate health outcomes influenced by socioeconomic, racial, geographic, and other systemic factors—are pervasive in many communities. Art, as both a therapeutic tool and a platform for social critique, holds unique potential to bridge these gaps. Through case studies of art initiatives, this paper investigates how collaborative art projects can foster community engagement, raise awareness, and influence policy changes to promote health equity. The paper also examines the challenges faced by art-health initiatives, offering practical strategies to overcome them. Ultimately, the integration of art into health interventions can foster emotional connections and inspire collective action toward more equitable health outcomes. Keywords: Health inequities, social determinants of health, art as social critique, public health, community.

Hierarchical multi-label classification model for science and technology news based on heterogeneous graph semantic enhancement

In the context of high-quality economic development, technological innovation has emerged as a fundamental driver of socio-economic progress. The consequent proliferation of science and technology news, which acts as a vital medium for disseminating technological advancements and policy changes, has attracted considerable attention from technology management agencies and innovation organizations. Nevertheless, online science and technology news has historically exhibited characteristics such as limited scale, disorderliness, and multi-dimensionality, which is extremely inconvenient for users of deep application. While single-label classification techniques can effectively categorize textual information, they face challenges in leading science and technology news classification due to a lack of a hierarchical knowledge framework and insufficient capacity to reveal knowledge integration features. This study proposes a hierarchical multi-label classification model for science and technology news, enhanced by heterogeneous graph semantics. The model captures multi-dimensional themes and hierarchical structural features within science and technology news through a hierarchical transmission module. It integrates graph convolutional networks to extract node information and hierarchical relationships from heterogeneous graphs, while also incorporating prior knowledge from domain knowledge graphs to address data scarcity. This approach enhances the understanding and classification capabilities of the semantics of science and technology news. Experimental results demonstrate that the model achieves precision, recall, and F1 scores of 84.21%, 88.89%, and 86.49%, respectively, significantly surpassing baseline models. This research presents an innovative solution for hierarchical multi-label classification tasks, demonstrating significant application potential in addressing data scarcity and complex thematic classification challenges.