Voluntary Character Research Articles

An Effective protection against unemployment for self-employed and platform workers? The intriguing case of Denmark

This article discusses whether self-employed and platform workers in Denmark have effective access to the unemployment insurance scheme. The Danish case is intriguing in a comparative context. Unlike other European States, it has been possible in Denmark for the self-employed to formally access the unemployment scheme since 1976. The system is also interesting as it is rather flexible, and was recently adapted to meet the challenges of changing work patterns and an increase in atypical forms of work, such as platform work. Yet, it is argued that important barriers to effective coverage remain. Some barriers, such as the voluntary character of the insurance and its eligibility criteria, are common to all persons with low and irregular work. Other barriers are specific to the self-employed and relate to the conditions for proving the closing down of business, and to waiting periods.

How safe is the zone, and how voluntarily are the returnees? Turkey’s project for a ‘safe and dignified’ voluntary repatriation of Syrian refugees and the potential implementation of R2P on behalf of returnees

ABSTRACT The millions of refugees in Turkey are left in political limbo. Anti-refugee sentiment in society has also become an issue. However, in contradiction to the earlier Muslim solidarity rhetoric of ‘Muhajir and Ansar’, the Turkish government has been implementing its repatriation project that requires a ‘safe and dignified’ voluntary return of a million Syrian refugees to Turkey's safe zone in Northeast Syria. The article argues that the country's current political, economic and social conjuncture overshadows the voluntary character of the government's repatriation project and claims that Turkey's voluntary repatriation project does not meet the requirements of the international refugee protection regime. Building on the policy-oriented approach to international law, the article examines the potential implementation of the preventive dimension of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) on behalf of Syrian ‘returnees’. The article concludes that the ‘two-phase’ responsibility strategy that imposes responsibilities on the host country and the international community, which would be implemented simultaneously in Turkey's repatriation project, can protect returnees from possible danger in Syria. However, it can also set a precedent for future cases by filling a gap in International Refugee Law that does not address voluntary repatriation.

Reconciling Environmental VAT Differentiations With EU State Aid Law

Differentiations in value added tax (VAT) rates and VAT exemptions are used to pursue environmental policy goals, among other things. This article analyses the compatibility of such environmental VAT measures with European Union (EU) state aid law. It is found that the criteria for the granting of a fiscal advantage to (certain) undertakings and the liability to (threaten to) distort competition and affect intra-Union trade are typically fulfilled in these situations. Conversely, the qualification of the relevant advantage as ‘state’ aid (as opposed to Union aid) essentially depends on the (voluntary or mandatory) character of the advantage according to the EU VAT Directive. In any case, one could argue that aligning the VAT legal framework with the European Green Deal is now an additional objective of EU VAT law. Such a reading would speak against the selectivity of these environmental measures pursuant to the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU’s) established three-stage assessment. Value added tax (VAT), rate reductions, rate differentiation, exemptions, state aid, Union aid, selectivity, distortion of competition, environmental policy, European Green Deal.

Commuting in Russia: scale and consequences

The article presents the scale of such a phenomenon as commuting according to the data of the All-Russian Population Census 2020 and Labor Force Sample Survey by Rosstat. The authors examined and systematized the consequences of commuting, which can be represented at three levels: at the level of territory, employer and employee, which can have both negative and positive impacts. For the recipient territory, commuting migrants become a source of labor resources and tax revenue that can be assessed positively. Increase in the burden on the transport infrastructure, the environment, and inaccuracies in assessing the demographic potential can be considered as conditionally negative. At the level of the employer, commuting solves stuffing problems; commuting migrants do not have a special status, so the employer may bear the risks of violating labor discipline, which are regulated in a general manner. With regard to the level of worker, assessment of the consequences depends on the life context, which determines the balance of advantages and costs of such an employment strategy, namely: wage size, position and status, duration of movement and distance to work, family circumstances, necessary or voluntary character of trips. In the final part of the article, the authors present a methodology for assessing the economic consequences of long-distance commuting for Russian regions.

The good, the bad, and the ugly – Involving civil society organizations in Nordic policy for preventing extremism

ABSTRACT In this article, we use critical policy analysis to explore how Nordic national policies express the purposes and positions of civil society organizations (CSOs) in efforts to prevent violent extremism (PVE). Furthermore, we analyze how the problem of extremism is constituted by this involvement. While the paper finds that CSOs are positioned as important actors, much due to their autonomous character and their legitimacy among target groups, the purposes and measures suggested in policy may harm their voluntary character. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the problem with extremism is mainly placed within the realms of religious communities and thereby runs the risk of (re)producing ideas of Islam as an extreme, anti-democratic religion. In extension, the well-intended involvement of CSOs in policy to prevent violent extremism might, in its current form, jeopardize the democratic rights of freedom of organization and freedom of speech and religion.

GENDER DIVERSITY ON BOARDS OF DIRECTORS IN JOINT-STOCK CORPORATIONS IN TURKEY: COMBINING HARD AND SOFT LAW

The under-representation of women on corporate boards has received increased attention in terms of corporate governance over the last decade. The necessity of gender diversity on corporate boards is mostly based on economic rationale, which is insufficient due to two reasons; first, it is not always possible to find a correlation between female participation on boards and the interests of the shareholders, and second such a correlation for male members of the board is not sought. The economic rationale needs to be reinforced with an equality rationale that emphasizes women's rights to promote gender diversity on corporate boards. Equality rationale is precisely what corporate governance regulations can provide.It is debatable which type of regulation is the most effective among the strategies to increase the share of women on the boards. The regulations can be grouped under two broad types. The first includes the introduction of mandatory quota for women on boards, along with sanctions. The second approach is of a more voluntary character. The Corporate Governance Principles of Turkey, which regulates gender diversity on the corporate boards, have been drawn up with the latter being preferred. However, statistics show that Turkey is showing slow progress in this regard. This signals that the soft law approach did not have the desired impact on increasing the proportion of women on the corporate boards.

Contemporaneous Emotion Regulation Theoretical Models: A Systematic Review

Background: Emotions and their regulation are a phenomenon present in everyday life. Despite its relevance and growing interest, a consensual and univocal definition has not yet been reached. Objective: This paper aims to review contemporary theoretical models of emotion regulation, looking for agreements and divergences between authors. It seeks to identify the main processes considered when working with emotional dysregulation. Method: Our team conducted a systematic review in the form of a narrative synthesis following the guidelines of the PRISMA statement. The database used were SCOPUS, PUBMED, and Dialnet. We included articles published between 2018 and 2020, which have been peer-reviewed in indexed scientific journals, whose central theme was the theoretical presentation of the construct of emotional regulation. We excluded articles that conceptualized only one dimension of the construct focused on specific populations and empirical studies without a theoretical conceptualization of the construct. The information was systematized in a table identifying authors' information, country of institutional affiliation, main characteristics of the given definition of emotion regulation, regulation skills mentioned, and underlying theoretical frameworks. Results: We identified ten different theoretical frameworks that propose models of emotion regulation. The main components found in the definition were the complexity of the construct, goal orientation, intra- or interpersonal regulation, the proposal of moderators, and its voluntary character. Discussion: There is a consensus on the use of emotion regulation strategies to adapt to environmental demands, achieve goals and increase well-being. We identify that people's learning history is an important factor in the development of emotional regulation skills. In addition, context and personality traits are proposed as moderators of the therapeutic efficacy of interventions focused on emotional regulation. Further studies along these lines would favor the implementation of preventive interventions and the personalization of treatments.

Unsettling Borderlands: The Population Exchange and the Polish Minority in Soviet Belarus, 1944–1947

The article examines the Soviet nationality policy in Belarus in 1944–1947 during the population exchange between the Soviet Union and Poland. Unlike in Lithuania and Ukraine, the authorities in Belarus prioritized keeping the labor force over national homogenization, determined nationality by territory of birth, and attempted to keep the people by designating them as Belarusians irrespective of their self-identification. The article argues that in Belarus, the population transfer was a combination of an exodus of refugees with the expulsion of Poles by the state. Although the declarations about the voluntary character of the resettlement were false, the direction of the compulsion varied, and this ambivalence opened up a space of limited autonomy in which the people could exercise agency. The Soviet ethnic cleansing remained incomplete in Soviet Belarus because of the competing urge to keep the labor force. Paradoxically, much of the demographic de-Polonization of new western territories of Soviet Belarus was achieved without the state’s commitment to ethnic cleansing and without the involvement of Belarusian nationalism.

The Term ἀντίψυχος as an Expiatory Sacrifice of Martyrs in the Light of The Fourth Book of Maccabees and Other Ancient Extra-Biblical Literature

The Fourth Book of Maccabees (4 Macc) in the description of Eleazar's prayer, before he suffered a martyr’s death (6:29) as well as the martyrdom of seven brothers and their mother who suffered for the nation (17:21), the term ἀντίψυχος (which means “given in exchange for life”) is used twice. This adjective appears only twice in the Septuagint (LXX), to be precise, in 4 Macc The context of both passages suggests a broader meaning of the term, translated with reference to a sacrifice of life having a propitiatory, expiatory, vicarious and voluntary character, and even atonement for the sins of the Jewish people. In this article, the subject of expiatory martyrdom in 4 Macc will be taken in the context of the biblical, apocryphal and other ancient texts, with reference to the flow of ideas and terminology of Greco-Roman religion, poetry and philosophy. In addition, possible translations of the term ἀντίψυχος will be analyzed, included in the broader context of Greek and other terminologies, so as to show possible connections between the idea of ​​expiatory martyrdom and the ideas described in the New Testament.

Reviewing the status of corporate social responsibility (CSR) legal framework

PurposeThis paper reviews and analyzes the corporate social responsibility (CSR) legal framework worldwide, discussing the new CSR definition which comprises legal features and debates for and against CSR validation. The work contributes in linking CSR and corporate laws by considering the legislative approaches worldwide.Design/methodology/approachCSR has mostly a voluntary character whilst it entails a normative condition attributable to social and market demands. A detailed examination of CSR worldwide is presented paying attention to international CSR legal framework in Europe, USA, Asia, Africa and Australia. Arguments for and against CSR legalization are studied.FindingsThe authors show that more regulations have to be launched mainly concerning the consequences of corporations' activities impacting the environment. Governments should promote CSR and relative encouragements focusing on a win-win state of affairs for companies.Research limitations/implicationsIt seems that in the future, more regulations will be established particularly concerning the effect of companies' activities toward the environment. Little research has been conducted on the legal aspect of CSR; therefore, future research should focus on this, providing new insights. Analysis in sector level will be helpful and instructive.Practical implicationsMany further disputes have to be worked out to set up and support arrangements which will direct and observe conversions into sustainable, habitable and low pollution.Originality/valueThe authors examine and discuss in details CSR schemes around the world concentrating to the international CSR legal framework in Europe, the USA, Asia, Africa and Australia. At the same time, the authors study the arguments for and against CSR legalization.

‘It's Not Gossip, It's True’: Denunciation and Social Control during the Guatemalan Armed Conflict (1970–85)

AbstractPractices of denunciation are at once ubiquitous and marginalised in literature on the Guatemalan armed conflict. Meanwhile, ordinary Guatemalans who spontaneously denounced neighbours, former friends and fellow villagers have largely escaped scrutiny in scholarly work on low-level perpetrators. Departing from untapped confidential documents in the Historical Archive of the National Police, this article provides the first archival study of denunciatory behaviour during the Guatemalan Civil War, specifically at the height of the conflict (1970–85). This contribution reveals both the strategic considerations that spurred state intelligence apparatuses to elicit civilian information as well as the broad range of personal, opportunistic and strategic motives that drove civilians to denounce. The case study questions scholarly consensus on the spontaneous and voluntary character of denunciation by arguing that besides providing novel pathways for opportunistic action, denunciations also opened up new strategies for survival in the face of a civil war that structured available choices.

Depression, Anxiety, Self-esteem and Suicide Attempts: Study among High School Students in the Beni Mellal Region of Morocco

In the Moroccan school system, we do not have a real psychological global knowledge of the student. Emotional, educational and even cognitive dimensions often remain unknown. In this context, this study aims to assess the prevalence of depression, self-esteem and anxiety among high school students in the Beni Mellal region of Morocco and to identify if there are gender differences, and to determine a possible link between these parameters (depression, self esteem and anxiety) and suicide attempts. For that, this study was conducted among 200 high school students were randomly selected, aged between 15 and 21 years, belonging to public educational institutions, in the region of BeniMellal in Morocco. Participants were asked to complete a paper version of the questionnaires after the objectives of the study were presented and students were informed of the voluntary and anonymous character of their participation. The results showed a high prevalence of depression, anxiety and suicidal attempts as well as low self-esteem. Girls are more at risk than boys. Depression, anxiety and self-esteem are significantly related to suicide attempts among these students. Future research should continue to find the origins of the mental disorders of these students and the involvement of the school system in their contribution.

Features of the cluster as an organization and system institute and their impact on the accounting development

The institutional nature of the cluster is investigated. It is established that the cluster is defined as an association, which has a voluntary character and which priority is to increase the competitiveness of products and the economic development of the region. The properties of the cluster functioning and its dissimilarity with other types of enterprise associations are determined. It is established that since the current legislation of Ukraine does not define the cluster as an object of economic and legal policy, there are some differences in the economic literature regarding establishing its status as an independent association in the field of entrepreneurship. Formation and effective use of accounting information in the cluster management system can be based on an institutional approach. The consideration of a cluster from the standpoint of institutional theory makes it possible to comprehensively examine it from economic, psychological, sociological, legal and other points of view. The defining features of the cluster as a socio-economic phenomenon are the presence of institutes (institute of cooperation, institute of competition and partnership, institute of communication, institute of coordination), establishment of partnerships between the participating companies, institutional forms of agreements, spatial and technological distribution of the organization, informal distribution of organization, regulation and culture. The authors distinguish the specific institutional features of the cluster (organizational and legal form, presence of participants of different spheres and relationships between them, geographical concentration, management) that influence the construction of the accounting system, in particular the organization and accounting of joint activities in the cluster, the formation of financial statements, access to information and the creation of transaction costs, the sharing of common assets, capital and liabilities.

Partial Versus General Compulsory Solidarity: an Experimental Analysis

We focus on ways and means of solidarity and their more or less voluntary and involuntary character. Alternative ways of redistribution are modeled by combining redistribution as emergent from a non-discriminatory voluntary contribution mechanism, VCM, with an outside option for a “super-rich”, R, participant to donate to VCM participants. The outsider may discriminate between participants of the VCM on the basis of information accessible at a cost to her. Inclusion in and exclusion from the VCM are involuntary while contributions in it are voluntary. How involuntary inclusion of R in VCM affects her discriminatory voluntary donations and contribution behavior is explored experimentally.

Bioeconomy and Social Responsibility in The Sustainable Hotel Industry

The aim of this article is to investigate strategies and practices of bioeconomy implemented by hotels in Romania in the context of increasing area and scale of corporate social responsibility initiatives worldwide. After presenting the conceptual framework necessary for the present investigation and selecting the most relevant papers from the literature, the research focuses on Romania’s experience through: statistical analyzes, the investigation of hotel websites regarding social responsibility and bioeconomy practices and a semi-quantitative study having as a research tool the individual semi-structured interview with hotels representatives. The Romanian market underscores relevant contrasts between four and five star hotels and the others categories. Hotels in the first category, often belonging to international chains, benefit from the strategies of sustainable development and social responsibility within the group, in contrast with other hotels. The investigation concludes that, as long as social responsibility continues to have a voluntary character, there will be a limited number of best practices as regards developing bioeconomy in the Romanian hotel industry. Consequently, we propose the introduction of legislative measures to stimulate all companies, regardless of size, to report non-financial information, as well as raising awareness and education in the direction of promoting the bioeconomy.

Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) as a \u2018lawmaker\u2019: the creation of global standards of basketball contracts through consistent arbitral decision-making

The ‘lawmaking’ of arbitral institutions has been a recurring issue in international arbitration. It is widely accepted that international arbitral tribunals do not have a forum, thus are relatively autonomous from the legal orders constituted by the states. Nevertheless, their adjudicative powers are always limited by the concept of international (transnational) public policy. Due to that arbitral institutions often aim at the creation of a consistent jurisprudence based on the universally accepted general principles of law. This has also been true for sport arbitration, where the ‘supreme court’ for sport CAS developed a set of principles called lex sportiva, governing transnational sport competition. Nonetheless, in sport, also BAT—established to solve contractual disputes in basketball—has become a true ‘lawmaker’. The uniqueness of BAT arbitration creates vast opportunities to unveil the general principles of law governing contractual relations in basketball. At the heart of it lies the default decisional standard ex aequo et bono that allows arbitrators for a certain degree of flexibility in their decision-making. In addition, a simple and flexible procedure equips them with a unique power over arbitration process. Finally, the voluntary character of BAT arbitration (unparalleled in sport arbitration) and its popularity within the basketball community reinforces arbitrators’ mandate to decide what is just and fair in basketball contracts. Due to that BAT established a significant presence in the landscape of sport arbitration and contributed to the development of contractual standards that global basketball relies on.

The Transcultural Projections of the Strategies of Global Integration of the Contemporary Multicultural Societies

The article deals with the innovative theoretical problems related to the research of the prospects for the further development of the integrative multicultural practices and the harmonization of intercultural communications in the multicultural societies of the modern world under economic, political, and cultural globalization. The author presents the characteristic of the conceptual evolution of the idea of ​​multicultural coexistence and analyses the cognitive potential of the concepts of acculturation and cultural diffusion in the cultural and sociological studies. The scientific significance of generalization of the specialized knowledge concerning the real practices of realization of the multicultural projects into the processes of organizing the social order of modern societies under the contexts of increasing the global social movements of the forced and voluntary character of various ethnocultural groups and communities is argued. The article substantiates the need for wider use in scientific studies the concept of transculturalism which has distinct perspectives to become an effective methodological tool to provide the non-violent coexistence of interacting ethnocultural communities presenting different national-states and regional unions. The author identifies specific problematic complexes of transcultural studies paying attention: 1) to the problem of basic determinants that restrict the global universalism of multicultural politics; 2) to the problem of identification of the most conflicting spheres of the contemporary multicultural world; 3) to the problems of the integrative potential of new socio-cultural phenomena. Further scientific researches will contribute to the creation of a new conceptual model of the transcultural integration of contemporary societies.

(Re)Produce: desarrollo profesional docente en una comunidad de práctica virtual informal de Educación Física

El objetivo del estudio es analizar una comunidad de práctica virtual no formal (carácter voluntario, no institucionalizado y sin programa) de Educación Física llamada (Re)Produce, como herramienta para la formación del profesorado. Para ello se llevó a cabo un estudio de caso centrado en la visión de 15 de los 63 miembros (entre los que se encuentran profesores universitarios, maestros de Educación Física en activo y alumnos en formación inicial). Los datos emergen de los tres primeros años de funcionamiento de la comunidad a partir del análisis del contenido de los foros, entrevistas semiestructuradas, y comentarios de los participantes al informe de investigación que se les presentó. Los resultados muestran ciertas ventajas y problemas de la asincronía y ubicuidad (posibilidad de participar a distancia y problema de la falta de contacto personal); la interacción escrita (conocimiento accesible en el tiempo, más elaboración del discurso pero, por otra parte más tiempo y más autocontención); y la flexibilidad y el carácter voluntario y abierto de la comunidad (ajuste a los intereses y necesidades personales a costa de una falta de sistematicidad y continuidad en el desarrollo de los temas).

Exploring the durability of community enterprises: A qualitative comparative analysis

Despite the growing attention given to community‐based initiatives in the delivery of public services, little is known about their durability. This article focuses on Dutch community enterprises (CEs) as an emerging form of community‐based initiatives in urban regeneration. Due to their self‐organizing and (largely) voluntary character, CEs face considerable governance challenges to sustain activities over time. Based on the literature, we examine the interplay of four key conditions in relation to their durability: social capital, entrepreneurial community leadership, supportive relationships with institutional key players and a strong business model. Based on an fsQCA of 12 cases, the main conclusion is that the presence of social capital, strong entrepreneurial leadership and a strong business model is the most important configuration leading to a durable CE. Government support is not found to be a necessary or sufficient condition, but its absence is part of the explanation of non‐durability.

Wolontariat pracowniczy. Partycypacja w społecznej odpowiedzialności przedsiębiorstwa czy nowa forma wyzysku?

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