Profit Motive Research Articles

Uneven development and the anti-politics machine: Algorithmic violence and market-based neighborhood rankings

This paper investigates the role of supposedly objective algorithms in producing uneven urban spaces through market-based neighborhood rankings. Focusing on the Market Value Analysis (MVA), we argue that municipal governments' failure to explicitly account for the racialized and class-based production of urban space in ranking algorithms hinders their capacity to foster equitable and vibrant neighborhoods. Instead, these algorithms deepen existing inequalities and reinforce market-based approaches to neighborhood typologies and spatial organization, effectively serving as tools for capital accumulation. Through a comparative analysis of the Market Value Analysis (MVA) and historical Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps across 10 cities, we illustrate how the MVA preserves wealth while simultaneously producing poverty in certain areas to benefit affluent landowners. We argue that the MVA typology, presented under the guise of technological objectivity, functions as part of an anti-politics machine that depoliticizes and institutionalizes race- and class-based housing segregation. By positioning city residents as "customers" and aligning government spending with market-driven priorities, the MVA algorithm places profit motives above the immediate needs of vulnerable communities. Consequently, it perpetuates and amplifies existing disparities in urban geographies, reinforcing racial capitalism through ostensibly "objective" market-based approaches to public policy. Toward realizing a more equitable and just future, our findings challenge claims of the objectivity of technical planning products and instead elucidate the role algorithms can play in the differential valuation of urban territory.

Sustainability in the chocolate industry: a scoping review of accounting journals and the development of a research agenda

Purpose Chocolate production and cocoa supply chains are rife with social and environmental challenges. Chocolate companies commonly make claims that their products are “sustainable”, giving little guidance on what this means. The aim of this paper is to conduct a scoping review to synthesise the accounting literature related to the chocolate industry and sustainability and develop a research agenda for accounting scholarship. Design/methodology/approach The scoping review followed Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) five-stage framework for a scoping review. Nineteen accounting journals were searched for literature on “chocolate OR cocoa AND sustainability” from 2000 to 2023. A total of 171 papers were identified through the search, of which 18 were deemed relevant and included for thematic analysis. The themes are analysed using a conceptual framework on accountability. Findings Analysis of the relevant literature revealed three distinct perspectives on sustainability in the chocolate industry. These include critique on the problems related to top-down accountability approaches in the chocolate industry; that accountability mechanisms have fallen short in managing sustainability challenges; and that sustainability interventions are driven by profit motives. The themes further reveal a lack of accountability in the industry for marginalised voices. Originality/value The scoping review methodology used in this study offers insights into the diverse perspectives on sustainability in the chocolate industry. This research adds valuable knowledge to the field by uncovering nuanced issues around accountability and sustainability and highlighting the need for future research for accountability for sustainable chocolate production.

Defense Policy Shaping and Security Governance: The Role and Impact of Defense Industry and Military Contractors

This research explores the pivotal role of defense contractors in shaping defense policy and their significant impact on national security dynamics. Using qualitative research methods, with an emphasis on secondary data analysis, the study synthesizes findings from government reports, academic literature, and industry analyses. Key findings reveal the considerable influence of defense contractors’ lobbying activities on defense budget allocations and procurement policies, often redirecting resources toward projects that align with their technological expertise and profit motives. Additionally, defense contractors play a crucial role in shaping defense research and development priorities, driving innovation in areas such as cybersecurity, missile defense systems, and unmanned technologies. Ethically, the revolving door phenomenon between defense contractors and government officials raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest, undermining impartial decision-making and public trust. This research offers a comprehensive understanding of the strategic implications of contractor influence on defense policy, highlighting the need for greater transparency, accountability, and balanced competition in defense procurement. By illuminating these dynamics, the study contributes to policy discussions aimed at promoting ethical governance and ensuring the integrity of national security.

Ecofeminism: Resistance to Ecological and Female Oppression

Eco-feminism is a movement and an ideology against the oppression of nature and females. It shows a link between nature and females that are exploited and oppressed by males in the world. It discovers that the position of the nature and women is similar and both are treated as submissive and subservient subjects. It is related to masculine domination in the society. Historically, it appeared as a great political movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the west. It was Francoise d'Eaubonne who first developed the term ecological feminism in 1972 discussing that the destruction of the planet is due to the profit motive of the males. Since both nature and female are violated and suppressed by patriarchal or male superiority ideology, ecofeminism as a movement appears powerful to resist the oppression of both nature and female. The principal objective of the research is to explore how ecofeminism acts a defense for preserving the rights of both women and nature. Hence, this paper explores how ecofeminism as a movement and ideology defends the rights of women and nature that should be preserved for the preservation of ecology and human rights on the earth. According to Greta Gaard, eco-feminism provides a theoretical bridge for women working in the related movements of environmentalism, animal liberation and feminism. Linking both rights of nature and women, it includes the voices of trees, animals and women and fights for the liberation of them resisting any force against the exploitation and oppression of both nature and women. Therefore, becoming aware of Gaard’s views on ecofemenism, her theory of ecofeminism can be applied as a major theoretical lens for the broad theoretical framework. The major finding of the paper is that ecofeminism as a theory or movement or ideology is needed to fight to resist the oppression of women and nature globally to maintain ecology rights of women.

Interorganizational systems withouthierarchy: immunizationinformation systems.

The 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic spurred change across multiple healthcare industries. This study explores how managing vaccination data in the United States of America required cooperation among many different organizations necessitated by an emergency response. We studied how individual states interacted with the federal government to address the need for vaccination-related information during the pandemic. In total, 11 interviews were conducted with individuals responsible for collecting vaccination data and reporting it to the US Federal Government. Seven of those individuals were directors of USA jurisdictional Immunization Information Systems (IIS). Archival data were also combined with the interview responses to inform the analysis and development of guidelines. States across the USA had different ways of tracking and storing immunization data that was heavily influenced by state-level and federal legislation. The lack of a universal patient identifier made cross-state patient identification difficult. Federal requirements for reporting dictated much of how the different state-level entities collected, stored and reported data. This study highlights the importance of data interoperability and data sharing by exploring how a loosely coupled set of entities without direct top-down control or a profit motive can govern data effectively. Our analysis provides greater clarity about the interactions between different stakeholders in a complex system. This study presents primary interviews of 11 individuals, each responsible for tracking and reporting immunization information. Analysis of the data expands existing research on IIS on data sharing, system interoperability and dynamic pandemic responses.

The role of artificial intelligence in higher medical education and the ethical challenges of its implementation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is penetrating higher medical education; however, its adoption remains low. A PRISMA-S search of the Web of Science database from 2020 to 2024, utilizing the search terms “artificial intelligence,” “medicine,” “education,” and “ethics,” reveals this trend. Four key areas of AI application in medical education are examined for their potential benefits: Educational support (such as personalized distance education), radiology (diagnostics), virtual reality (VR) (visualization and simulations), and generative text engines (GenText), such as ChatGPT (from the production of notes to syllabus design). However, significant ethical risks accompany AI adoption, and specific concerns are linked to each of these four areas. While AI is recognized as an important support tool in medical education, its slow integration hampers learning and diminishes student motivation, as evidenced by the challenges in implementing VR. In radiology, data-intensive training is hindered by poor connectivity, particularly affecting learners in developing countries. Ethical risks, such as bias in datasets (whether intentional or unintentional), need to be highlighted within educational programs. Students must be informed of the possible motivation behind the introduction of social and political bias in datasets, as well as the profit motive. Finally, the ethical risks accompanying the use of GenText are discussed, ranging from student reliance on instant text generation for assignments, which can hinder the development of critical thinking skills, to the potential danger of relying on AI-generated learning and treatment plans without sufficient human moderation.

Exploring sustainable food supply chain management practices to enhance food security

Background: The food industry faces longstanding challenges in meeting sustainability practices within its supply chain, often prioritising commercial obligations and profit motives. However, there is a growing recognition of the critical role that sustainable food supply chain management (SFSCM) practices play in enhancing food security.Objectives: This study aims to establish the significance of SFSCM practices in enhancing food security. Furthermore, the study explores approaches to reduce challenges against implementation of SFSCM practices.Method: The study employed a qualitative approach and used stratified and purposive sampling techniques to interview 22 participants from a population of 9 gatekeeper institutions within the Zimbabwean food industry.Results: The findings highlighted several essential SFSCM practices covering waste management, logistics optimisation, water and energy conservation, employing qualified individuals, carbon emission reduction, corporate social responsibility, cost reduction, pricing efficiency, fair food distribution and continuous consumer taste surveys. Approaches to reduce SFSCM implementation challenges were also identified, and these include stakeholder communication plans, capacity building programmes, integrating sustainability into mission statements, budget allocation, lobbying for government support, and fostering collaborative engagements. Open information sharing was also emphasised.Conclusion: It is concluded that the adoption of identified SFSCM practices by food producers, intermediaries, suppliers, consumers and other stakeholders can significantly enhance food security and minimise hunger in nations.Contribution: This article contributes to the understanding of addressing SFSCM implementation challenges and provides valuable insights into the importance of sustainable practices in improving food security within the Zimbabwean food industry and the world at large.

Effects of Income Distribution and Fiscal Policy on Growth in Turkey: A Kaleckian Analysis

This study examines the effects of functional income distribution and fiscal policy on growth in Turkey. A post-Kaleckian open economy model is used to analyze the Turkish economy by integrating fiscal policy tools into the econometric model, such as tax burdens on labor and capital and government expenditure for 1988–2017. The novelty of our study is that it considers the private profit motive and rollback of government activities by including public-private partnership investments in the model. Our findings suggest that government ideologies in providing services through different channels do not cause alteration in the domestic demand regime; it stays wage-led in all scenarios we applied. Yet, the overall regime turns out to be profit-led since net export is sensitive to labor costs. JEL Classification: E12, E62, L33

Profit motives, environmental motives, and perceived corporate greenwashing revisited: A replication and extension of de Vries et al. (2015)

Profit motives, environmental motives, and perceived corporate greenwashing revisited: A replication and extension of de Vries et al. (2015)

Is India on a path to reduce the tobacco industry's influence in tobacco control? Insights from the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index (2019-2023).

The tobacco industry (TI), driven by profit motives, consistently conceals health risks through deceptive strategies, notably in countries like India. These tactics create vulnerabilities that hinder effective tobacco control measures and enable the TI to exploit legal gaps. Understanding these TI strategies is essential for policymakers to take appropriate preventive and corrective measures in order to limit tobacco industry interference (TII) in policy-making. The study aims at understanding the trend of TII in India between 2019 and 2023. The secondary data from the Global Tobacco Industry Interference report, consisting of seven major domains of the TII index, viz. policy participation, corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, industry benefits, unnecessary interaction, transparency, conflict of interest, and preventive measures, were retrieved. A composite score was obtained after adding scores of different domains, for each year. The findings of the study demonstrated an initial improvement in India's implementation of WHO FCTC Article 5.3, as evidenced by a decreasing score between 2019 and 2021. However, this trend halted in 2023, with data showing a slight increase in the score. When compared with other Asian countries, India shows marginal improvement in score than Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and South Korea. Some of the countries in the region, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Brunei, China, and Vietnam experienced a decline in TII. There has been a rise in CSR activities, forms of unnecessary interactions of TII with policymakers, and participation in policy development; however, improvements are observed in providing benefits to the TI, conflict of interest, and preventive measures. In order to fortify the regulatory framework, it is imperative to create awareness among stakeholders on conflict of interest, denormalize corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives by the TI, provision of a watchdog for TII in the country and "whole of government" approach in implementation of FCTC Article 5.3.

Barriers and Enablers for Equitable Healthy Food Access in Baltimore Carryout Restaurants: A Qualitative Study in Healthy Food Priority Areas.

Black neighborhoods in the U.S., historically subjected to redlining, face inequitable access to resources necessary for health, including healthy food options. This study aims to identify the enablers and barriers to promoting equitable healthy food access in small, independently owned carryout restaurants in under-resourced neighborhoods to address health disparities. Thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted with restaurant owners in purposively sampled neighborhoods within Healthy Food Priority Areas (HFPAs) from March to August 2023. The qualitative data were analyzed using inductive coding and thematic analysis with Taguette software (Version 1.4.1). Four key thematic domains emerged: interpersonal, sociocultural, business, and policy drivers. Owners expressed mixed perspectives on customers' preferences for healthy food, with some perceiving a community desire for healthier options, while others did not. Owners' care for the community and their multicultural backgrounds were identified as potential enablers for tailoring culturally diverse menus to meet the dietary needs and preferences of their clientele. Conversely, profit motives and cost-related considerations were identified as barriers to purchasing and promoting healthy food. Additionally, owners voiced concerns about taxation, policy and regulation, information access challenges, and investment disparities affecting small business operations in HFPAs. Small restaurant businesses in under-resourced neighborhoods face both opportunities and challenges in enhancing community health and well-being. Interventions and policies should be culturally sensitive, provide funding, and offer clearer guidance to help these businesses overcome barriers and access resources needed for an equitable, healthy food environment.

Green konsumerisme Sebagai Kritik Terhadap Peran Manusia Dalam Gerakan Lingkungan

As public awareness and government pressure increases, industries are undertaking "green marketing" efforts. Green marketing is a combination of activities, including product modifications, changes to the production process, packaging changes, and advertising modifications to promote environmentally friendly products (Mishra and Sharma, 2014). Green marketing seeks to tempt green consumers in an effort to expand the market and increase profits. Environmentally friendly production practices are no longer seen as an obligation, but rather as a strategic business tactic that is profitable. Thus, green consumerism is part of green capitalism that seeks to reduce environmental impacts by utilizing market forces and profit motives (Scales, 2014). Scales also adds that green consumerism refers to the formation of a new commodity fetishism, whose impact is greater than it seems. Because in trying to provide information about the "greenness" of a product, green consumerism simplifies what green is. Environmental impacts are simplified and abstract concepts such as "green" are reduced to labels, symbols and metrics. This can direct consumers' focus to one issue and forget about others. Departing from the facts above, this paper will provide an understanding of how biased the role of humans in environmental preservation is today. Using descriptive qualitative research methods by focusing on literature reviews and research data from journals and documentary videos related to invisible hand practices and the ecogreen industry.

How Transfer Behavior Impacts Consumer Perceptions and Intentions Toward College Athletes Who Pursue Name, Image, and/or Likeness Activities

Recent changes to the National Collegiate Athletic Association policy on name, image, and/or likeness and transfer policies have transformed how college athletes may market themselves as human brands. Above all, branding success depends on consumer perceptions. Using a national survey of U.S. consumers and an experiment, we test how transfer behavior impacts consumer purchase intentions for a collegiate athlete’s brand. We find that transferring to a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I or Division II school decreases purchase intentions by lowering consumer identification with the athlete through perceived profit motive or perceived athlete quality, respectively. These findings contribute to branding theory and provide insight to players and schools, as they navigate the changing landscape of college athletics.

Knowledge Tools for Communication and the Profit Motive

This article explores the limits and risks of the domination of the profit ideology outside the economic field, especially in universities and scientific research. The ideology of profit, which starts from relativist premises, justifies its domination by rejecting any kind of radical ideology. As such, the ideology of profit has a totalitarian character. Given that the market instrumentalizes both university training and scientific research, challenging the ideology of profit requires theories and methods that do not correspond to the logic of profit, but instead enable a radical critique of capitalism.

Gaps in Legal Protections for Female Workers: A Socio-Legal Study in Tolitoli, Indonesia

The lack of adequate safety, health guarantees, and protection of rights for female workers presents a significant challenge within Indonesia’s labor sector, particularly in Tolitoli Regency. This study seeks to analyze the legal protection available to female workers across the country, with a specific focus on the fulfillment of their rights in Tolitoli Regency. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, the research utilizes a socio-legal methodology, supported by empirical observations. Data sources include relevant laws, regulations, and previous research findings, assessed through scientific and descriptive qualitative methods. The findings indicate that while Indonesian labor laws provide a normative framework for worker protection, specific legal safeguards for female workers are not fully enforced. There are clear disparities in the ability of different societal groups to access the protections and rights guaranteed by the state. In Tolitoli, many female workers are still unable to fully exercise their rights. Female workers are often regarded as mere production tools rather than valuable assets, which leads to a low level of employer responsibility, with profit motives prevailing. The Omnibus Law on Job Creation is expected to enhance the business environment while ensuring that female workers’ rights are protected.

The Role of Clientelism in Facilitating Orphanage Trafficking

ABSTRACT Orphanage trafficking involves the recruitment and/or transfer of a child into a residential care facility for a purpose of exploitation, including labor, sexual exploitation and servitude, or child institutionalization for profit. Orphanage trafficking has been recognized as a form of child trafficking under international law and has been increasingly reported in a range of countries, including Cambodia and Myanmar. Despite the growing academic focus on this subject, the specifics of how children are targeted, recruited, and transferred into these unregulated orphanages for exploitation remain largely unclear, as do the precise social mechanisms employed. Drawing on qualitative research, this article delves into the significant role that patron-client relationships play in the recruitment, transfer, exploitation, and concealment of child exploitation within unregulated residential care facilities established for exploitative or profit motives in Cambodia and Myanmar. It reveals how orphanage directors exploit clientelism to circumvent regulations, manipulate and undermine bureaucratic systems meant to protect vulnerable groups, and legitimize illegal activities through a process of formalization. The article explores the implications of the use of clientelism in orphanage trafficking for prevention efforts, child protection governance reforms, and rehabilitation of children whose perception of exploitation and victimization has been shaped by their socialization to clientelism norms.

Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs: Navigating High Hopes, Strong Claims, Weak Evidence, and Big Money.

Therapeutic claims about many psychedelic drugs have not been evaluated in any studies of even modest rigor. The science of psychedelic drugs is strengthening however, making it easier to differentiate some promising findings amid the hype that suffuses this research area. Ketamine has risks of adverse side effects (e.g., addiction and cystitis), but multiple studies suggest it can benefit individuals with treatment-resistant depression. Other therapeutic signals from psychedelic drug research that merit rigorous replication studies include 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin for depression, end of life dysphoria, and alcohol use disorder. The precise mechanisms through which psychedelic drugs can produce benefit and harm are not fully understood. Rigorous research is the best path forward for evaluating the therapeutic potential and mechanisms of psychedelic drugs. Policies governing the clinical use of these drugs should be informed by evidence and prioritize the protection of public health over the profit motive.

Open Access ‘Unaccomplished’ – Reforming Copyright or Reconceptualizing Science? Access to Scholarly Publications under a (Reinterpreted) Right to Science

ABSTRACT This article identifies the impediments to science created by copyright and suggests ways to overcome these. It focuses on scholarly publishing—primarily of digital content—and queries whether commercial scholarly publishers continue to add value to research in the digital era. The deficits of copyright law, and potential solutions thereto, are assessed in light of the right of everyone ‘to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications’ (‘REBSPA’ or ‘right to science’), as protected in Article 15(1)(b) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966. I find that, while, in the shorter term, existing copyright law needs to undergo certain reforms (which would all be supported by the REBSPA) to accommodate the needs of science, in the longer term, the right to science requires something else—much more, in fact. Firstly, there needs to be a move towards another science, a science reconceptualized so as not to be primarily driven by instrumental and profit motives. Secondly, following from that, science would need to be genuinely open. Among other things, this requires the creation of a true scholarly knowledge commons, necessitating far-reaching changes in the way copyright applies, or potentially its abolition, in science. Thirdly, the envisaged scholarly knowledge commons would have to be globally inclusive in scope—which is to be achieved by recognizing and respecting the mostly ignored international dimension of the right to science. This article questions the traditional role of the commercial scholarly publishers and argues for a paradigm shift in the sphere of copyright and science. Identifying flaws and gaps in the current official interpretations of the REBSPA, the right to science is reinterpreted in various respects here. In making my case, I rely on the notion of a ‘right to research’ under the REBSPA and am aided by the deconstructive concept of ‘adequacy for science’.

Sustainability: Thinking Wide

My first feelings of the theme “Sustainability in the rubber industry”, were exciting and somewhat intriguing. Much has been conceived, conceptualized, discussed deliberated, implemented and various disciplines have emerged on sustainability, which are sometimes, overwhelming to a professional of the older generation. A wide array of theories, disciplines, and technologies have come up during the last 30 years in this area, reminiscing of the eras of 5S and ISO and Lean Management in the early 90s, which took the business and industrial community by storm. I must honestly admit that my experience, in the tyre industry and its sustainability in areas such as material development, (including Nanomaterials), green design and processing technologies, greener technologies and breakthroughs in EVs, is minimal and hence I prefer to leave it to the professionals, and endeavor to share some of my thoughts in this topic of contemporary interest. Another reason for my excitement is the status of affairs in the economic downturn in Sri Lanka and the hardships which we as Sri Lankans are personally experiencing at the moment. Indeed, we are not alone in this predicament and practically every nation is going through unprecedented difficulties, although Sri Lanka is one of the worst affected. Lack of focus, foresight and the inability to comprehend hindsight and not implementing and monitoring practical solutions and corruption are the reasons for not being in a sustainable position for any country, and this applies equally well to business organizations as well. A little over two years ago I penned an article in Tyre Trends on “Sustainability or Vulnerability” at the peak period of the Covid-19 pandemic. The focus of the article was on the relevance of integrating traditional wisdom with modern strategies for sustainability, especially in countries like India and Sri Lanka, which possess a vast extent of collective consciousness accumulated for nearly 4000 + years, and the vulnerability of over-dependence on Western Models based on consumerism. Milton Friedman, the American economist and statistician who received the Nobel Prize in 1976 for his research on consumerism argued in his famous essay that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits for its shareholders and concluded profit maximization is justified for the risks taken by the investor. This statement made fifty years ago remains polarizing in today’s context; we cannot find fault with entrepreneurs who adopt a strategy of maximizing the use of resources for the maximization of business profits, since after all profit is not such a dirty word as first Prime minister of India, Shree Jawaharlal Nehru once stated. Profit motivation and maximization have been the driving force throughout the four industrial revolutions, resulting in enhancing the quality of life in most countries of the world; especially in what are called the developed countries.

Leveraging Stacking Framework for Fake Review Detection in the Hospitality Sector

Driven by motives of profit and competition, fake reviews are increasingly used to manipulate product ratings. This trend has caught the attention of academic researchers and international regulatory bodies. Current methods for spotting fake reviews suffer from scalability and interpretability issues. This study focuses on identifying suspected fake reviews in the hospitality sector using a review aggregator platform. By combining features and leveraging various classifiers through a stacking architecture, we improve training outcomes. User-centric traits emerge as crucial in spotting fake reviews. Incorporating SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations) enhances model interpretability. Our model consistently outperforms existing methods across diverse dataset sizes, proving its adaptable, explainable, and scalable nature. These findings hold implications for review platforms, decision-makers, and users, promoting transparency and reliability in reviews and decisions.