Significant Positive Role Research Articles

Does the development of digital technology contribute to the innovation performance of China's high-tech industry？

Using the regional panel data of China's high-tech industry (HTI) from 2004 to 2016, this study investigates the main effect, regulatory effect, and intermediary effect of digital technology development (GTD) on the innovation performance (IP) of China's HTI through the spatial econometric model, intermediary effect model, and panel threshold model. The findings revealed that the IP of China's HTI has a global positive spatial correlation. The GTD exerts an apparent promoting effect on the IP of China's HTI, but it has a negative spatial spillover effect on the IP of China's HTI. From the effect decomposition of the SAR model, in terms of direct effect, market integration and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) play a significant positive regulatory role between the GTD and IP of China's HTI, and R&D investment (RDI) and technology diffusion play an intermediary role. In terms of the indirect effects, market integration and EPU play a negative regulatory role between the GTD and IP of China's HTI, and RDI and technology diffusion play a masking role. The panel threshold test shows that taking the GTD and RDI as threshold variables, when the GTD and RDI are appropriate, could significantly promote the IP of China's HTI. As a result, this study asserts that the government departments should promote the development and application of digital technology, augment supporting rules and regulations and alleviate the “polarization effect” due to digital technology to promote the innovation and development of China's HTI.

Assessing the Impact of Confirmation of Rights and Collective Trust on Farmer’s Forestry Management and Protection Behaviour—A Case of Collective Forest Areas in Zhejiang and Jiangxi Provinces, China

Confirmation of rights and collective trust (interpersonal and institutional) can act as primary factors for facilitating effective forest management and conservation. Collective forests are lands held collectively by either rural or indigenous communities based on a shared history, language, culture, or lineage. It is an institutional arrangement in which communities are involved wholly or partly in decision-making and contribute knowledge and labour to achieve healthy forests and social well-being. Based on the existing literature, the nature of collective forest rights and trust can be derived from social, rather than economic, prospects. Therefore, based on the institutional theory, this study constructs a theoretical framework to verify the impact of the confirmation of rights and trust on farmers’ forestry management conservation behaviour. The empirical setup of the study was comprised of a data set of 682 collective forest farmers in Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, China. We utilized the negative binomial regression model to quantify the proposed framework. The main conclusions were as follows. Confirmation of rights and collective trust had a significant positive role in promoting farmers’ forestry management and protection behaviour. Increasing the confirmation of rights and trusts by one unit increased the number of farmers’ forest management and protection by 1.846 and 2.631 times, respectively. The interaction between confirmation and trust did not substantially affect farmers’ behaviour. The diverse forest labour force, the total area of forest land, and the number of forest plots had a significant positive impact, while the head of the village and the number of migrant workers significantly and negatively impacted farmers’ behaviour. Therefore, it is necessary to further improve the forestry land rights system and strengthen the trust mechanism so that it can become an effective institutional incentive for farmers to manage and protect forests.

Institutions for effective climate policymaking: Lessons from the case of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom (UK) is home to one of the most ambitious climate policy regimes in the world, centred around the 2008 Climate Change Act (CCA), the first strategic climate legislation of its kind. Building on prior studies of the CCA while highlighting Germany as a counterfactual case study, we demonstrate the significant positive role that strategic framework legislation can play in improving climate policy integration and coherence. We further show that important new institutions can be established under the right historical conditions. Specifically, we argue that the political weakening of the UK coal sector was a necessary precursor to the adoption of strong climate policy and the emergence of a structural consensus towards accelerating climate ambition, as compared with Germany where consolidation of the coal regime has been a major factor in the country's failure to meet its emissions targets. We show how business associations and labour groups in the UK were a key supportive coalition for early climate action, while in Germany industry and organized labour have been key actors obstructing and delaying the passage of pro-climate reforms. Our study raises questions about the prospects for energy transitions that are both just and rapid, particularly by discussing the trade-offs between cost-effectiveness, speed, and distributional concerns.

Association between Psychological Resilience and Self-Rated Health in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis.

This study aimed to evaluate whether psychological resilience is an independent factor of self-rated health (SRH) among patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). A cross-sectional study with convenience sampling was designed. Patients with doctor-diagnosed KOA were recruited from the orthopedic outpatient departments of a hospital in southern Taiwan. Psychological resilience was measured by the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), and SRH was measured by three items, including the current SRH, the preceding year-related SRH, and age-related SRH. The three-item SRH scale was categorized as "high" and "low-moderate" groups by terciles. Covariates included KOA history, site of knee pain, joint-specific symptoms measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), comorbidity measured by Charlson Comorbidity Index, and demographic variables (i.e., age, sex, education attainment, and living arrangements). A multiple logistic regression was used to detect the independent variables with significant odds ratios that can predict "high" SRH among participants. Results: In total, 98 patients with KOA (66 women and 32 men) with a mean age (±SD) of 68.3 ± 8.5 years were enrolled and were analyzed. A total of 38.8% (n = 38) of participants were categorized as "high SRH", while 61.2% (n = 60) were categorized as "low-moderate SRH". Multiple logistic regression showed that CD-RISC-10 had an increased odds ratio (OR) for high SRH (OR [95% CI] = 1.061 [1.003-1.122]; p = 0.038), whereas bilateral pain (vs. unilateral pain), WOMAC stiffness, and WOMAC physical limitation showed a decreased OR for high SRH (0.268 [0.098-0.732], 0.670 [0.450-0.998], and 0.943 [0.891-0.997], respectively). Our findings provide evidence indicating that psychological resilience plays a significant positive role in the SRH in our study sample. Further research is required to extend the growing knowledge regarding the application of psychological resilience on KOA.

Intergenerational and intragenerational preferences in a developing country to avoid climate change.

Intergenerational and intragenerational approaches to climate change take into account the actions taken by the current generation to maintain or improve the climate, which is advantageous to both the present and future generations. Climate-friendly initiatives primarily benefit future generations, with current generations receiving lesser benefits. Self-interest can hinder the management of shared resources, as seen in the "tragedy of the commons" concept, where individuals benefit from defecting, but society bears the consequences of it. This study used three different time horizons to determine the inter- and intra-generational preferences of groups of human subjects for preventing hazardous climate change. We looked at how groups of participants responded in scenarios that varied in motivation, income, social pressure, and learning opportunities. For this purpose, we conducted two group experiments framed around climate change where participants could choose to cooperate for a noble cause: tree plantations. Its rewards are delayed by several years and probably a few decades (intergenerational discounting), where future generations will be the big beneficiaries. There were two more options: the first one delayed the reward by 1 week, and the second was delayed by seven weeks (intragenerational discounting). We found that intergenerational discounting was high when the groups had free will and motivation. Further, it is revealed that having more money does not play a significant positive role in long-term climate sustainability in a developing country; however, it does, but not as much as motivation and free will do.

The Remittance, Foreign Direct Investment, Export, and Economic Growth in Bangladesh: A Time Series Analysis

This research empirically examined the effect of internal and external factors on the economic growth of Bangladesh using the annual data from 1976 to 2019. ARDL bounds tests were used to detect cointegration and understand the dynamic effect. This study mainly identified the positive and negative casualties because remittance and export have a significant positive role, and FDI has an adverse role in the economic growth process. Furthermore, this study recommends that the government take appropriate steps to increase export, the inflow of remittance and FDI to achieve long-run economic growth, considering the impact of COVID-19 and present Russia- Ukraine war.

Structure Simulation and Equilibrium Evaluation Analysis of Regional Water Resources, Society, Economy and Ecological Environment Complex System

Currently, the implementation of water resource spatial equilibrium strategy is a fundamental policy of water resource integrated management in China; it is also a considerable challenge to explore the relationship structure features of water resources, society, economy and ecological environment (WSEE) complex system. For this purpose, firstly, we applied information entropy, ordered degree and connection number coupling method to reveal the membership characteristics between different evaluation indicators and grade criterion. Secondly, the system dynamics approach was introduced to describe the relationship features among different equilibrium subsystems. Finally, the ordered degree, connection number, information entropy and system dynamics integrated model was established to conduct relationship structure simulation and evolution trend evaluation of the WSEE system. The application results in Hefei city, Anhui Province, China, demonstrated that: (1) the variation of overall equilibrium conditions of WSEE system in Hefei city, 2020-2029 was higher compared to that of 2010-2019, though the increasing rate of ordered degree and connection number entropy (ODCNE) became slower after 2019; and (2) the annual ODCNE value from 2020 to 2029 of WSEE system under dry year scenarios increased about 0.0812, which indicated that the construction of Yangtze-Huaihe Diversion (YHD) project could play significant positive role in mitigating the equilibrium situation of WSEE system in Hefei city in the future. On the whole, this study is capable of providing the guidance basis for constructing a theoretical framework of structure simulation and equilibrium evaluation analysis of WSEE complex system.

THE ROLE OF JOB SATISFACTION IN TURNOVER INTENTION AMONG PRIVATE CONVENTIONAL BANKING INDUSTRY EMPLOYEE

The era of the industrial revolution 4.0. making the banking industry experience intense competition. Employees are required to work with the best performance and help the company achieve its goals. In this case, the company must pay attention to employees who have given their best performance for the company, so that it will create a sense of satisfaction in employees. Employees may leave their current job if they are dissatisfied with their current job. The purpose of this study is to the role of job satisfaction in turnover intention among private conventional banking industry employee. This research is a non-experimental quantitative study using predictive research methods. Participants in this study ranged in age from 18 to 57 years old and worked in the conventional banking industry in Indonesia. Non-probability sampling with convenience sampling was used to select the participants. The Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) and the Turnover Intention Scale (TIS) were used in this study as measuring tools. The results showed that job satisfaction has a significant positive role on turnover intention. Job satisfaction accounts for 53% of turnover intention, with the remainder influenced by factors outside the scope of the study.

Analysis of Transaction Costs and Market Participation among Cassava Farmers in Osun State, Nigeria

This study examined the effects of transaction cost variables on market participation among cassava farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. This was with a view to providing insight into how transaction cost factors can be managed to ensure that cassava farmers in Osun State participate more in the market for the purpose of promoting cassava production and hence agricultural growth as well as reducing poverty among the rural community. Access to market information, non-farm work, road condition, credit availability, access to telecommunication facilities, personal transport, farm size, farming experience, price of cassava, market distance, transport cost, dependency ratio, as well as age were used as proxies for transaction costs. The study made use of primary data by administering copies of a well-structured questionnaire to 100 cassava farmers drawn from three local governments in the State. Data obtained were analysed descriptively using frequencies, tables, simple percentages as well as pie and bar charts. Data collected were also analysed by inferential statistical procedure using Logit regression model. Results of the logit regression showed that access to market information and farm size have significant positive effects on cassava farmers’ participation in the market (). Findings also revealed that cost of transportation and dependency ratio have weakly significant negative effects on the probability of cassava farmers participating in the market (). The study concluded that access to market information and farm size play significant positive roles in the participation of cassava farmers in the market. Thus, policies that are aimed at lowering transaction costs through the creation of an enabling environment in which farmers can easily access market information, cultivate more farmlands and incur low cost of transportation are recommended.

Big data analytics capabilities and supply chain sustainability: Evidence from the hospitality industry

Big data analytics capabilities have piqued the curiosity of academics and practitioners in recent years. However, there has been little research conducted on the effects of these capabilities on supply chain sustainability, particularly in emerging economies. To address this gap, this article attempted to investigate the impact of big data analytics capabilities on the supply chain sustainability of Jordan's hospitality industry using quantitative data derived from 512 managers in senior and middle levels of hotels listed in Jordan Hotels Association (JHA). Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was conducted for hypothesis evaluation. The research findings proved that the dimensions of big data analytics capabilities, which were infrastructure flexibility, management capabilities, and personnel capabilities, had a significant positive role in enhancing supply chain sustainability. Therefore, the research provided a series of recommendations for managers in these hotels, the most important of which was allocating significant investments in modern data-collecting technologies to record key changes across the supply chain, including manufacturing, transportation, and distribution.

Evolutionary Game Analysis on Local Governments and Airlines’ Behavioral Strategies in China under Carbon Trading

The reduction of carbon emissions by airlines has become a crucial objective in achieving carbon neutrality. However, due to the existing benefits game between airlines and local governments, reducing carbon emissions in the air transport industry is a complex process. Previous research on reducing carbon emissions in the Chinese air transport industry has been divided on which approach to take. This study investigates the potential contribution of a carbon trading mechanism towards carbon emission reduction. Firstly, evolutionary game theory is employed to analyze the complex interactions between local governments and airlines, with the public will being introduced as a constraint in the proposed model. Secondly, the impact of the carbon trading mechanism on the dynamic evolution process and stakeholders is analyzed. Furthermore, the stability of the proposed evolutionary game model is verified through empirical analysis. The results show that the carbon trading mechanism plays a significant positive role in promoting both parties’ objectives, indicating that it is a feasible method for reducing emissions in China’s air transport industry.

Response of Pakistan's economic growth to macroeconomic variables: an asymmetric analysis.

This study examines the impact of several important macroeconomic variables such as quality of education, infrastructure development, foreign direct investment inflow, and green energy transitions on economic growth. We analyzed annual time series data sample for estimation of the above macroeconomic indicators during 1990 to 2020. We use nonlinear auto-regressive distributive lag model (NARDL) approach to detect the short-term and long-term effects of undermentioned macroeconomic variables on economic growth of Pakistan. The results primarily reveal that the quality education, foreign direct investment inflow, and infrastructure development are playing a significant positive role in the economic growth of Pakistan. Similarly, in short term the foreign direct investment inflow, infrastructure, and green energy transition coefficients are significantly positive related to sustainable development goals. However, the education found as unsubstantial as contributive as other variables. Moreover, the Granger causality and structural break estimations are employed to estimate the causal association between the selected parameters and unexpected change over the economy. The estimated outcomes find the unidirectional causality from education and green energy transition towards economic growth, where education is found within relation to infrastructure. Additionally, bidirectional causal relationship is found between FDI and infrastructure towards economic growth which shows that the increase in foreign investment has the potential to boost the economic growth. Finally, all the estimated indexes are considered as important sources towards the economic growth.

Influencing Factors of Usage Intention of Metaverse Education Application Platform: Empirical Evidence Based on PPM and TAM Models

We explored the influencing factors of the usage intention of a metaverse education application platform that directly influence the optimization of its service function, improve the usage intention, and realize the promotion and application of metaverse technology in the education domain. Based on the characteristics of the metaverse education application platform, we integrated the PPM (push–pull–mooring) model and the TAM (technology acceptance model) to construct the model of influencing factors of usage intention. Ultimately, 275 valid questionnaires were collected through expert demonstration, pre-investigation, formal investigation, and other processes. In addition, our paper used the SEM (structural equation model) and fsQCA (fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis) to analyze the influencing factors of user willingness and their configuration paths. The study found that personalized learning, contextualized teaching, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social needs, and social impact play significant positive roles in the willingness to use the metaverse education platform. Meanwhile, the obtained findings show that the experience-led community-driven mode, personality-led community-driven mode, and social-led utility-driven mode serve as potential guidelines for usage intention enhancement.

The roles of ICT telecommunication infrastructure on foreign direct investment in Malaysia

The development of the digital economy and the emergence of new technologies are changing the way of doing business. In recent foreign direct investment (FDI) studies, factors in addition to conventional ownership-location-internalisation (OLI) factors have been explored to enrich the FDI model. This study looks at the roles of information and communications technology (ICT) telecommunication infrastructure on FDI in Malaysia. The two-step system generalised method of moments (GMM) approach is used. To overcome the limitations of the dynamic panel model on the “small groups” problem, this study uses five three-year average data for the period between 2002 to 2016, and the Windmeijer finite-sample correction, the robust standard errors for estimation. The results show a significant positive role of mobile telephony on FDI. Besides, institutional factors are found to have significant impacts on FDI. The findings indicate the importance of the institutional framework and ICT telecommunication infrastructure, which can be jointly used with the OLI paradigm to explain factors driving FDI in the new economy.

Tax Incentives, Digital Transformation and Enterprise Innovation

Taking China's A-share manufacturing listed companies from 2013 to 2020 as samples, this paper discusses and tests the impact of tax incentives and digital transformation on enterprise innovation, and further explores the moderating effect of digital transformation on the relationship between tax incentives and enterprise innovation. The research results show that tax incentives play a significant positive role in promoting enterprise innovation, and digital transformation can effectively promote enterprise innovation and positively regulate the innovation incentive effect of tax incentive policies, indicating that enterprise digital transformation is conducive to the play of tax incentive policies, so that enterprise innovation can be better promoted and promoted. The results of heterogeneity test show that the promoting effect of tax incentives and digital transformation on enterprise innovation is more obvious in state-owned enterprises and non-high-tech enterprises, while the moderating effect of digital transformation on the incentive effect of tax incentives is more prominent in high-tech enterprises.

Farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards the adoption of hybrid rice production in Bangladesh: an PLS-SEM approach

ABSTRACT Although the government policy supports the adoption of hybrid rice in Bangladesh but there is no significant progress has been made over the last decades. The study aimed to determine farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) of hybrid rice adoption, and the causal relationship between them in Bangladesh. Using a stratified random sampling technique, 244 cross-sectional surveys were done from the Sherpur district of Bangladesh. The descriptive statistics, two-round Delphi method, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) were used to estimate latent variables and identify the causal relationship between KAPs. The results revealed that farmers’ knowledge and attitudes were directly and significantly associated with the adoption of hybrid rice. This implies that farmers who are well informed about the usage of hybrid rice and are likely to embrace it and raise their revenue, can be influenced by knowledge. The study found a significant positive role for knowledge about hybrid rice, attitudes, and practices in adopting hybrid rice. This study provides a primary understanding of the relationship between psychological factors and the adoption of hybrid rice technology to increase rice farm productivity. The findings suggest that policymakers, researchers and development agencies should focus on farmers’ psychological factors in improving the adoption of hybrid rice in Bangladesh.

Environmental decentralization, environmental regulation, and green technology innovation: evidence based on China.

The reform of the environmental management system and policy optimization is key to promoting green technology innovation. However, empirical studies on environmental monitoring decentralization are limited. As a result, this paper analyzes the impacts of environmental decentralization and environmental regulation on green technology innovation using China's 30 provincial administrative panel data ranging from 2008 to 2017. The study outcome denotes that environmental decentralization is not conducive to green technology innovation. Similar effects are also found for environmental administration decentralization, environmental supervision decentralization, and environmental monitoring decentralization. Secondly, there is a U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and green technology innovation. With the strengthening of environmental administrative decentralization and environmental supervision decentralization, environmental regulation has a significant positive role in promoting green technology innovation. Furthermore, environmental decentralization reduces the inhibitory effect of environmental regulation on green technology innovation in the eastern and central regions. Environmental decentralization does not play a regulatory role in the impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation in economically developed areas. Lastly, the impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation shows significant threshold characteristics with the change in environmental decentralization, in which there is an optimal threshold interval for environmental decentralization. The study concluded with an important reference value for determining reasonable levels of environmental decentralization among different regions and improving relevant environmental regulation strategies.

Differences and Factors of Raw Milk Productivity between China and the United States

In order to explore the differences in the productivity level and influencing factors of raw milk between China and the United States, this study uses the stochastic frontier production function and is based on the input and output of factors of raw milk in China and the United States from 2005 to 2020 to measure the impact of factor inputs on raw milk output and the output differences. The results of the study found that: the inefficiency term of raw milk production technology in China is higher than that in the United States; feed costs and fuel power costs have a significant positive role in promoting the growth of raw milk output in China and the United States; health and epidemic prevention costs, as well as maintenance costs, have significant impacts on the output value of raw milk in China, but they have no significant impact on the output value of raw milk in the United States. In terms of the contribution of each input factor, the contribution share of feed costs to the output value of raw milk in China is 52.53% and 25.74%, respectively, compared to the value of raw milk in the United States; The contribution share of technological progress to the output value of raw milk in China is 34.92%, and 53.77%, respectively, compared to U.S. raw milk production value. In order to narrow the productivity gap with the United States dairy industry, China’s dairy industry must pay attention to the moderate-scale breeding of dairy cows; develop an integrated production mode of planting and breeding; promote the development of grain to feed; accelerate the genetic improvement of dairy cattle populations; and learn from the pasture management experiences of foreign countries.

The impact of heterogeneous environmental regulation on high-quality economic development in China: based on the moderating effect of digital finance.

Under the new normal of economic growth, implementing environmental regulation policies and developing digital finance have become essential factors affecting high-quality economic development. This study aims to examine whether environmental regulation has a positive effect on high-quality economic development and what impact digital finance has in the process of environmental regulation affecting high-quality economic development. This study uses the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2019 to measure the high-quality economic development by using the entropy-TOPSIS method based on constructing an indicator system for high-quality economic development. Then, environmental regulations are classified into four categories: economic, command based, legal, and supervised, and digital finance is included in the analysis framework. The impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on high-quality economic development and the indirect influence mechanism played by digital finance are empirically analyzed. The results show that command-based environmental regulation significantly hinders improving economic development quality. In contrast, supervised environmental regulation plays a significant positive role and can therefore serve as an essential driver of high-quality economic development. In addition, digital finance plays a significant positive moderating role in the influence of environmental regulation on the economy's high-quality development level. After the robustness test, the conclusion is still valid. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of environmental regulation on high-quality economic development and the moderating effect of digital finance differ across dimensions of economic quality development and have regional heterogeneity. The research findings are conducive to formulating appropriate environmental regulation policies and giving full play to the positive role of digital finance, providing support for promoting high-quality economic development.

Academic Adjustment and Social Support Roles among Undergraduate Students during the COVID -19 Pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected various areas, including the education sector, which has led to use of various alternatives, such as online learning platform, requiring undergraduate students' adjustment to academic conditions. Therefore, this study aims to assess the academic adjustment of undergraduate students and the social support from parents and lecturers, as well as peer support. Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative approach was used, while the data were obtained through surveys using an online adjustment measurement scale and self-report questionnaires to measure social support. The surveys were distributed through various online platforms, including Instagram, LINE, WhatsApp, and among lecturers in several universities in Indonesia, to be filled by registered undergraduate students learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 299 participants, with males being 93 and females 206 having a mean age of 19.76 years, spread across several provinces in Indonesia, were selected using a convenience sampling technique. The IBM SPSS Statistic version 24.0 was used to calculate the correlation between variables using Pearson correlation, and the analysis was conducted using multiple linear regression analysis. Results: The results showed parent involvement and lecturer support to have a significant impact on academic adjustment, while peer support did not prove to have a significant impact (R2=0.120, p<0.01). Furthermore, the impact of social support on the dimensions of academic adjustment comprising lifestyle, achievement, and motivation was also evaluated. Based on the results, only lecturer support plays a significant positive role in the academic lifestyle dimension. In academic achievement, parent involvement and lecturer support exhibit a positively significant role, while only parent involvement significantly affects academic motivation. Among the three dimensions, only peer support has no significant impact. Conclusion: The results imply that the success of undergraduate students in academic adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic can be facilitated by parental involvement and lecturer support.