Related Policies Research Articles

Profitability Analysis of E-Sports Industry: A Case Study of Suzhou XingLi Network Technology Co., LTD

As a new industry in the Internet era, e-sports industry stood among many industries despite the outbreak of COVID-19 at the end of 2019, becoming one of the few industries not affected by the epidemic.Suzhou XingLi Network Technology Co. Ltd. is a prominent example in the e-sports industry. Profitablity analysis of XingLi is used to unerstand the operating model and provide reasonable advices. Factor analysis and trend analysis are used, through the analysis of the change trend combined with the industry related situation and market policy, the promotion strategy suitable for electronic sports club is given.

The direct and spillover effects of diabetes diagnosis on lifestyle behaviours.

Using blood sample data we exploit an arbitrary cut-off of diabetes risk and through a fuzzy regression kink design we estimate the effect of a diabetes diagnosis on own and partner health-related behaviours. Diabetes diagnosis increases the probability of exercising, both for those diagnosed with diabetes and their partner. We also conduct mediation analysis which suggests that joint household participation is the channel behind this effect. Our results have significant implications for the understanding of the channels that induce behavioural change, and household decision making, as well as, for the evaluation of diabetes related policies.

Estimation of water storage capacity of Chinese reservoirs by statistical and machine learning models

Reservoir is essential for water resources management and utilization, and its storage capacity is the key information for the scientific and engineering community. Over 95 % of the ∼ 100,000 reservoirs constructed in China lack accurate capacity information due to the high cost and difficult accessibility of field measurements. Here we develop models of reservoir capacity estimation based on statistical and machine learning (ML) algorithms for the national-scale reservoirs in China. Based on the collected capacity records of a small portion of reservoirs and surrounding environment factors, we built statistical models by considering their associated variables, as well as ML models with different algorithms to predict the unknown reservoir capacities. The prediction results from different statistical and ML models were evaluated by comparing with the validated samples, and the optimal model was selected to estimate the reservoir capacity for further analyses. Results show that among the four statistical models and six ML models, the ML model using the extreme-gradient-boosting-tree (XGBoost) algorithm performs best in capacity prediction with a correlation coefficient of 0.97, a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.95, and a mean absolute percentage error of 22.93 %. The estimated capacity of unrecorded reservoirs using XGBoost was 279.28 km3 (254.52–306.47 km3), and the total capacity of Chinese reservoirs was 1,065.19 km3 (1,040.43–1,092.38 km3). The proposed method provides a feasible approach of rapid estimation of reservoir capacity and monitoring of storage variations at large scales, which is critical for the rational conservation and utilization of water resources and the formulation of related policies.

Research on the involvement and success factors of star scientists in start-ups

Star scientists are an essential driver of innovation. Studies into the concept of star scientists were first carried out by Professor Lynne Zucker and Professor Michael Darby from the University of California. They identified that in science research fields a very small number of scientists are responsible for the notable discoveries, and that the brightest scientists in the world produce more publications, attract more citations and lodge more patents than other scientists. An international collaboration led by the Waseda Business School and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Japan has expanded on the concept of star scientists. Their novel JST-RISTEX project, entitled ‘Star Scientists and Innovation in Japan’ focuses on understanding innovation and entrepreneurship, and the role star scientists play in this in Japan. Associate Professor Kanetaka Maki is the Principal Investigator. Building a list of star scientists in Japan and constructing data sets that can be used for star scientist research were the two main project outputs. Key activities for the team were evaluating an initiative the Government of Japan introduced in 1998 promoting university-industry technology transfer and providing scientific evidence regarding the allocation of research funds from the perspective of a star scientist, in order to ensure that Japan remains competitive in the world, in terms of scientific innovation with real-world applications for industry. The project is the first to conduct science and technology innovation and related policy evaluation in Japan from the perspective of a star scientist using quantitative analysis.

Business Model and Compensation Strategy of Sporting Goods Industry: A Case Study of Nike

The practical significance of this paper lies in the comprehensive analysis of the company market and Nike's salary structure and salary policy. By focusing on Nike as the main research object, this study examines fundamental aspects of business models within the sporting goods industry. It explores how companies develop policies to maximize employee welfare, the role of incentive policies, and more. Changes in revenue and market trends are also taken into account. Through objective analysis, data interpretation and theoretical speculation, this paper makes an in-depth study on the business model and compensation strategy of sporting goods companies. In addition, this paper also studies the related policies and the reasons for their modification. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of socio-economic factors, the impact of business policy within the sporting goods market, as well as Nike's compensation strategy and changes in the board member compensation system under social influence in recent years.

Identification of intercity ecological synergy regions and measurement of the corresponding policy network structure: A network analysis perspective

The development and governance of modern cities have gradually broken through the boundaries of administrative units. In recent times, with intercity ecological space becoming the focus of a series of development and conservation actions, identifying the intercity ecological synergy regions (maintaining connectivity within the ecological space to ensure the continuity of species migration and landscape) and realizing its collaborative governance has become extremely important to maintain sustainable regional development. Cross-border ecological governance involves many actors and forms a complex relationship network. At present, there are few quantitative evaluation methods for this problem, which limits our ability to manage the ecological space between cities. This paper uses the network method to establish and analyze the related ecological and policy networks in Shenzhen. The study results show that the ecological synergy regions are locally concentrated along the fringes of Shenzhen City, and the links between different levels of actors in the policy network are relatively weak. The action objects of ecological governance designated by different cities form convergence or divergence patterns, making it challenging to organize spatially integrated actions among different cities. Finally, suggestions for structural optimization are proposed concerning the policy network associated with the ecological synergy regions from the aspects of spatial implementation pathways and planning strategies.

Fit for purpose? ‘One China’ Policy and security in Sino-American relations

Abstract Nominally, the policy of the United States towards the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan is governed by the ‘One China’ Policy (OCP). However, the conditions under which OCP was originally formulated have long since given way to substantial growth in the economic and military power of the PRC and the democratisation of Taiwan. These changes raise several questions regarding the viability and applicability of OCP. Drawing on securitisation theory, this article examines discourses across three US presidential administrations to assess the trajectory of socio-political constructions of the PRC, Taiwan, and OCP. Three case studies suggest substantial challenges for OCP as a basis for maintaining desecuritised relations between the United States and the PRC. While discourses of ‘engagement’ prominent in the 1990s have lost ground, with presidential administrations increasingly but inconsistently drawing on OCP, in Congress OCP plays no role, while Taiwan is increasingly constructed as akin to the American self, serving as an identity proxy that highlights the otherness of the PRC. Polling supports the idea that OCP is not rooted in general American understandings of the region and consequently cannot serve to ground policy in a crisis.

Effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Swedish Biogas Sector

With a growing population, the world requires solutions that provide energy, waste management, transportation, and nutrient recovery in a sustainable manner. Biogas is a local system solution that can fill these needs and make society more self-sufficient. In an increasingly uncertain world, forthcoming crises and external economic pressure will affect industries, including biogas, and lead to higher risk. To manage these uncertainties and to create resilience, knowledge needs to be gathered on how industries providing system solution, such as the biogas industry, are affected by crises. The Covid-19 pandemic offers the possibility to analyse the effects of a global crisis in real-time. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects the covid-19 pandemic had on the production, distribution, and demand of biogas in Sweden. Ten semi-structured interviews were carried out with different actors in the biogas value chain. Some key findings in the result include continued availability of substrate for biogas production but with a changed composition, increased demand for biofertilizer and small-scale production of biogas, and disturbances in biogas related policies. The underlying factors contributing to these effects can be attributed to pandemic related restrictions, disturbances in logistical chains, increased energy prices and political factors. The lessons learned are that the biogas industry should try to be decoupled from policies and review the resilience of the supply chains. If this is managed, biogas is a way forward for providing waste management, transportation fuel and nutrient recovery while facilitating the transition towards self-sufficient and sustainable societies with resilience against global crises.

Kazakhstan’s Foreign Policy in the Context of Geopolitical Turbulence

The purpose of the paper is to reveal the impact of the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine on the foreign policy of Kazakhstan, as well as to consider the potential development of Kazakhstan’s relations with China, Turkey, the United States and others. Analysis, induction, deduction and synthesis serve as the main methods of research on this problem. The article discloses the problem of preservation by Kazakhstan of a multi-vector, neutral policy in relation to its partners in modern conditions. The strategic programme documents adopted by the government of Kazakhstan were also studied. The analysis of interstate trade turnover for 2022 was used to determine relations between Kazakhstan and Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Separately, it was considered whether the Russian Federation poses a military threat to Kazakhstan. The materials of the article are of practical and theoretical value for political scientists and specialists in the field of international relations, and researchers of the foreign policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan interested in the features and aspects of the implementation of a multi-vector policy by its leadership.

Evaluating engagement with equity in Canadian provincial and territorial primary care policies: Results of a jurisdictional scan

Equitable access to primary care is essential to achieving more equitable health outcomes, yet evidence suggests that structurally marginalized populations are less likely to have benefited from varied primary care reforms in Canada. Our objective is to determine how equity is incorporated in public primary care policy and strategy documents across Canada. We conducted string term and snowball searches for provincial/territorial primary care policy documents published between 01 January 2018 and 30 June 2022, extracted the policy objective, and applied a rubric to evaluate each document's engagement with equity. We performed content analysis of the documents which acknowledged inequities and articulated a related policy response. Of the 224 identified documents that discussed primary care policy: 63 (28 %) identified one or more structurally marginalized group(s) experiencing inequities related to primary care, 64 (29 %) identified a structurally marginalized group and articulated a policy response, and 16 (7 %) articulated a detailed policy response to address inequities. Even where policy responses were articulated, in most cases these did not directly address the acknowledged inequities. The absence of measurable goals, meaningful community consultation, and tenuous connections between the policy response and inequities mentioned may help explain persistent inequities in primary care across Canada.

Bridging the new drug access gap between China and the United States and its related policies.

Introduction: The access gap for novel pharmaceuticals between China and the developed countries is a major public health issue in China. It is crucial to understand the determinants of this gap to ensure timely access to new drugs and enhance patient health. Methods: We included all new drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 2012 and 2019, and collected their approval timings in China. Major factors of interest comprised orphan designation and expedited review pathways granted by the FDA, along with the proportion of Asian subjects in the pivotal trial supporting the FDA approval and whether the trial included study sites in China. The elapsed time from the FDA approval to the market authorization in China constituted the time-to-event outcome, and Cox proportional-hazards regression was used for multivariate analysis. Results: A total of 327 new drugs were approved by the FDA between 2012 and 2019, among which 41.3% were found to be authorized in China as of 1 November 2023. The median lag time for the mutually approved drugs was 3.5years. The Cox model found that orphan drugs had lower likelihood of being approved in China (HR = 0.59, 95% CI 0.39-0.89; p = 0.011), while the FDA's Breakthrough-Therapy drugs (HR = 2.33, 95% CI 1.39-3.89; p = 0.001) and Fast-Track drugs (HR = 1.58, 95% CI 1.05-2.38; p = 0.028) had shorter lag times. In the pivotal trials that supported the FDA approvals, a higher proportion of Asian subjects was associated with faster drug entry into the Chinese market (HR = 1.02, 95% CI 1.01-1.03; p < 0.001), and the inclusion of study sites in China mainland was likewise conducive to reducing the drug lag (HR = 5.30, 95% CI 3.20-8.77; p < 0.001). After the trials with China-based sites supported the FDA approvals, 77.8% of the trials also supported the subsequent approvals in China. Discussion: China's involvement in global drug co-development can streamline clinical development, by reducing repeated trials solely in the Chinese population. This is primarily due to the openness of the Chinese drug agency towards overseas clinical data and is a positive sign that encourages global drug developers to include Chinese patients in their development plans as early as possible.

A latent class analysis of dissociative PTSD subtype among Chinese adolescents following the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic and related policies have amplified the vulnerability of adolescents to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociation symptoms. This study sought to explore the profile patterns and psychopathological characteristics of co-occurring PTSD and dissociation symptoms in Chinese adolescents. MethodsA total of 57,984 junior and senior high school students in Deyang City, China were recruited between July 13 and July 19, 2020. PTSD and dissociation symptoms, risk factors, and functional impairment variables were assessed using the Global Psychotrauma Screen for Teenagers (GPS-T) instrument. Latent class analysis (LCA) was employed to examine the phenomenology and risk factors of co-occurring PTSD and dissociation symptoms. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was utilized to investigate differences in COVID-19 pandemic-related exposure and functional impairment across distinct symptom profiles. ResultsA 4-class model was selected as the optimal solution, comprising subgroups of low symptom, predominant PTSD symptom, predominant dissociation symptom, and PTSD-dissociation symptom. Class membership could be significantly predicted by other stressful experiences, social support, childhood maltreatment and psychiatric histories. The PTSD-dissociation symptom class exhibited the most severe COVID-19 pandemic-related exposure and functional impairment among all classes. LimitationsThe cross-sectional design, Chinese cultural background, online survey method and oversimple measurements were the limitations. ConclusionsOur findings extend existing knowledge about the coexisting patterns of PTSD and dissociation symptoms in adolescents, which could assist in identifying high-risk youths. Furthermore, our findings offer recommendations for shaping public health policies and formulating effective clinical interventions for adolescents following the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.

Discordance between farmers and scientists - Perspectives on nitrogen reduction measures in Denmark

Mitigating nitrogen leaching from agricultural land is imperative for enhancing the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. Incorporating the knowledge and perceptions of farmers regarding the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing nitrogen reduction measures is vital for increasing the adoption rate of such measures and related policies. Concurrently, the insights and perspectives of scientists advising policymakers on the implementation of these measures can facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the barriers and potential for implementation. In this study, we employ Q methodology to elucidate the opinions of 11 farmers and 14 key scientists involved in providing contractual science policy advice to Danish ministries on nitrogen reduction measures. Results show that across the perspectives of farmers and scientists, four main factors (viewpoints) can be identified: ‘Evidence-driven viewpoints’, ‘On-farm efficiency-driven viewpoints’, ‘Hydrological and landscape-scale viewpoints’, ‘Innovation-based viewpoints. From this, we suggest that within the field of nitrogen mitigation and implementation, there is a general broad division and opposing perspectives between scientists and farmers. The evidence presented here shows that scientists’ viewpoints do not correspond to the viewpoints of farmers in most cases. Scientists broadly believe that landscape and long-term measures, especially wetlands, are most effective nitrogen measures, according to scientific evidence. This clashes severely with some farmer participants, who strongly believe that there should be more personal freedom and flexibility to make individual farm level management choices. This is a significant barrier to the uptake of the best possible measures.

Influence of environmental awareness on the willingness to pay for green products: an analysis under the application of the theory of planned behavior in the Peruvian market.

This paper aimed to build a predictive model through an empirical study to examine the influence of environmental awareness (EA) on attitude (ATT) and perceived behavioral control (PBC), as well as to determine the influence of the three variables of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) on willingness to pay (WP) for green products in the Peruvian market. A total of 405 Peruvian consumers were surveyed. Most of them were between the ages of 18 and 30 and single. To test the hypotheses, partial least squares (PLS-SEM) were used using the SamrtPls4 software. The results show the significant positive effect of EA on ATT and PBC. The positive and significant effect of ATT, SN, and PBC on WP was also tested A total of 405 Peruvian consumers were surveyed. Most of them were between 18 and 30 years old and single. To test the hypotheses, partial least squares (PLS-SEM) was used using SamrtPls4 software. The results show the positive and significant effect of AD on ATT and PBC. The positive and significant effect of ATT, SN and PBC on WP was also tested. The research provides antecedents that allow evaluation of the possibility that companies and governments adjust the dissemination strategies and related public policies regarding the impact of environmentally responsible behavior in order to contribute to the development of environmental awareness as a variable that promotes the disposition of consumers to pay for environmentally friendly products.

Collectivist culture, environmental regulation and pollution emissions: evidence from China.

Collectivist culture serves as a significant cultural foundation in China. It could, to some extent, shape public attitudes toward the environment and thus influence the implementation of related policies. To examine this hypothesis, this study constructs the collectivist culture intensity index for 25 Chinese provinces spanning from 2010 to 2020. Through a fixed-effect model, we explore how the collectivist culture intensity affects pollution emissions in China. The empirical results indicate the significance of collectivism in enhancing emission reduction through environmental regulations. This conclusion remains robust even when excluding the impact of endogeneity concerns by adopting the instrumental variable approach. Heterogeneity analysis shows that collectivism is more effective in enhancing market-based environmental regulations rather than those driven by policies. Further mechanism analysis confirms that green innovation is a crucial pathway through which collectivism influences pollution emissions. These findings here will offer guidance to policymakers when formulating environmental policies for contexts with different regional cultures.

Research on the Development of Green Finance Policies in China -Based on Policy Data from Beijing

With environmental problems being severer these years, developed countries first started to find out possible solutions. In 2015, after thousands of tries from various aspects, United Nations Climate Change Conference proposed The Paris Agreement in which governments started to pay great attention to the concept of green finance. China has shown her determination in process of green finance development and released wide-ranged green finance policies for different areas. In 2016, the Chinese government proposed Guiding Opinions on Building Green Financial System in which made a comprehensive and detailed plan for green finance developing. Provinces and cities followed the step of central government and issued relative policies in recent years. This article based on green finance policies in Beijing and analyzed the components and tendency of policies. It is apparent that the proportions and tendencies of various policies approximately fit the proportions and development of different financial instruments. While there exists disproportion in existing green finance system in China. Green credit accounts for the largest part and is advanced even comparing with developed countries. Green fund and green insurance are relatively underdeveloped and deserved to be improved in future. The Chinese government should consider new methods and implement instruments to deal with the recent recession and worldwide financial shocks. Comprehensive green finance policy system is decisive and plenty of foreign new financial products should be imported.

The impact of “Internet plus” enterprises on municipal solid waste classification and social welfare: An example from China

Following rapid economic development and urbanization, the classification of municipal solid waste (MSW) has become an urgent problem. This study analyzes the multiple subjects, including government, residents, and “Internet plus” MSW classification enterprises (IPMCE), and proposes a dynamic evolutionary collaborative framework for the coproduction of public goods to address the government and market failure during the supply of MSW classification as a public good. Using China as an example, this study constructs a multi-agent equilibrium simulation model to analyze this theoretical framework and investigate how to improve the related policies. The simulation results reveal that the collaborative and coproduction of public goods facilitated by IPMCE can improve classification rates and social welfare. Moreover, government subsidies for the research and development (R&D) expenditures of IPMCE are shown to further enhance this effect. In addition, the social welfare growth rate exceeds the subsidy growth rate, indicating that the subsidy has a leverage effect. Although this study has some limitations, such as the fact that the simulation model setting cannot fully reproduce the real situation, it provides policy recommendations on how to better utilize IPMCE in MSW classification as well as strategies for solving similar problems in other regions or public goods.

Inpatient Costs of Treating Patients With COVID-19.

With more than 6.2 million hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the US, recognition of the average hospital costs to provide inpatient care during the pandemic is necessary to understanding the national medical resource use and improving public health readiness and related policies. To examine the mean cost to provide inpatient care to treat COVID-19 and how it varied through the pandemic waves and by important sociodemographic patient characteristics. This cross-sectional study used inpatient-level data from March 1, 2020, to March 31, 2022, extracted from a repository of clinical, administrative, and financial information covering 97% of academic medical centers across the US. Cost to produce care for each stay was calculated using direct hospital costs to provide care adjusted for geographic differences in labor costs using area wage indices. The sample included 1 333 404 stays with a primary or secondary COVID-19 diagnosis from 841 hospitals. The cohort included 692 550 (52%) men, with mean (SD) age of 59.2 (17.5) years. The adjusted mean cost of an inpatient stay was $11 275 (95% CI, $11 252-$11 297) overall, increasing from $10 394 (95% CI, $10 228-$10 559) at the end of March 2020 to $13 072 (95% CI, $12 528-$13 617) by the end of March 2022. Patients with specific comorbidities had significantly higher mean costs than their counterparts: those with obesity incurred an additional $2924 in inpatient stay costs, and those with coagulation deficiency incurred an additional $3017 in inpatient stay costs. Stays during which the patient required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) had an adjusted mean cost of $36 484 (95% CI, $34 685-$38 284). In this cross-sectional study, an adjusted mean hospital cost to provide care for patients with COVID-19 increased more than 5 times the rate of medical inflation overall. This appeared to be explained partly by changes in the use of ECMO, which increased over time.

The Role of Education and Skills in Increasing Women's Participation in Population Policy

Women’s participation in population policy has an important role to play in achieving the sustainable development goals. Education and skills are key factors influencing women’s participation rates in population policy. This study aims to explore the role of education and skills in increasing women’s participation in population policy and analyze its impact on sustainable development. This research method uses a qualitative approach by conducting a literature review and analysis of relevant population policies as well as several interviews. Data collection is carried out through literature studies, government reports, and related policy documents. The results show that education has an important role in increasing access to information and knowledge needed in decision-making related to population policy. In addition, education also provides the skills and abilities needed to be actively involved in the process of planning and implementing population policy. In addition to education, skills also have a significant role in increasing women’s participation in population policy. Effective communication and leadership are essential in influencing the successful implementation of population policy. Therefore, education and skills have an important role in increasing women’s participation in the population policy. To achieve sustainable development, it is important to strengthen the efforts to improve women’s access to relevant education and skills training, and strong and inclusive policy support measures also need to be provided to encourage women’s participation in decision-making related to population policy.&#x0D; Keywords: the role of education, skills, women’s participation, population policy

The Reception of Holocaust (1978) in Spain: Commending and Condemning Holocaust Memory

ABSTRACT When Holocaust reached Spaniards’ TV sets in 1979, the extermination of the Jews of Europe was an event marginally known and scarcely discussed by the Spanish people. The miniseries was a form of Holocaust representation that for the first time was fully embraced by political and TV authorities in Spain. Consequently, the Holocaust emerged from behind the censorship and silencing typical of Francoist dictatorship and became a topic of discussion in the public sphere. The public TV station Televisión Española (TVE) hosted two debates featuring historians and intellectuals that focused on the miniseries and also on various aspects of Nazism, the Holocaust, and the uses of Holocaust memory in the contemporary world. Similarly, the national newspapers El País and ABC offered broad coverage of the release of Holocaust and the polemics surrounding it. This intellectual discussion and journalistic attention to Holocaust took place against a backdrop of political transition from a dictatorial regime to a parliamentary democracy, conflicting interests in foreign policy in relation to the Middle East and the West, and meager acknowledgment of Spain’s role during WWII and long history of antisemitism. Grounded on cultural memory as a suitable approach to understand the potential of popular culture in affecting historical interpretation, the article argues that the public presentation of Holocaust simultaneously commended and condemned Holocaust memory or, more precisely, condemned a perceived hegemonic Jewish reading of the Holocaust and commended an interpretation of that event particularly useful to the Spanish political elites of the time.