Voluntary Contributions Research Articles

Analisis Eksistensi Relawan Politik Peserta Pemilihan Umum pada Pemilihan Umum Presiden Indonesia 2019 di Kota Medan

This study aims to examine the existence of political volunteers participating in the 2019 Presidential Election in Medan City, Indonesia, using the theoretical approach of Huntington and Nelson's forms of political participation, along with M. Fr Voluntaire's concept of political volunteers. A qualitative method was employed, involving primary data collection through in-depth interviews (online and offline) and triangulation with secondary data from literature reviews. The results indicate a lack of regulations concerning the presence of political volunteers, highlighting the need to integrate them into a legally regulated political process. The existence of patronage politics poses a risk to the voluntarism of political volunteers, crucial instruments in the electoral process. Their roles encompass campaigning, candidate socialization, fundraising, election monitoring, and various forms of support. Appropriate regulations are necessary to prevent the misuse of power or resources by political volunteers to achieve political objectives, thereby preserving the integrity of their voluntary contributions.

Retirement savings behaviours and COVID-19: Evidence from Thailand

This paper utilises administrative data from members of the Thai Government Pension Fund to examine voluntary contributions and investment plan change. We find low overall incidence of both behaviours which increased only modestly during the onset of COVID-19. While the major finding is that members are in the minority if they engage in the behaviour regardless of gender, salary, balance, or experience in the fund, the relative probability varies systematically by member characteristics. Policy implications are discussed including the difficulty large plans face when attempting to encourage the savings behaviours in identifiable member groups who may benefit but the costs of doing so are borne by the full membership.

Preface

The 2nd International Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Applied Sciences, 2022 (ICMEAS – 2022) was a continuation of the previous endeavor dedicated to gather a significant number of diverse leading scholar, scientist, academician, researchers, industrial experts etc., together from different parts of the globe and exchange their experiences and researches. That conference offered a platform to junior researchers and scientist to have an exposure to a wider but uniquely intellectual community and have interaction with them. It gave an exceptional value for students, academics and industry researchers. The ICMEAS – 2022 also provided a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Mechanical, Manufacturing, Aeronautical, Naval, and Energy Engineering and other related fields. This conference was run both online and physical modes over a period of three days of time.The ICMEAS – 2022 conference was a great success with the relentless effort of each member of the organizing committee and active participation of the organizing partners, and spontaneous response of the scholars, researchers and scientist from around the world. The voluntary contribution of the scientific community in completing the rigorous peer review process was remarkable.It would not be possible without the unreserved patronization of the Commandant MIST and persistent conviction of the Chair, Co-Chair and Organizing Chair of the ICMEAS – 2022 conference. Last but not the least, contribution of all sponsors, particularly MJL Bangladesh Limited was undeniable to make that conference successful.List of Organising Committee, Advisory Committee, Scientific Committee, Publication and Technical Sub Committee, Reviewers are available in this pdf.

Baby Boomers and Their Voluntary Engagement: A Cohort Comparison Among the Middle-Aged and Older Population in Germany

The aim of this study is to compare the levels of volunteering by German baby boomers, who are currently in their fifties and sixties, to cohorts born earlier. Using data from the German Aging Survey (DEAS), logistic and negative binomial regressions were employed to analyze the prevalence and time contributions that baby boomers invest in volunteering. The study indicates a higher prevalence of volunteering by baby boomers compared with earlier-born cohorts and suggests that the large size of this cohort will imply high levels of volunteering that could increase even further as the cohort approaches retirement. Moreover, our findings suggest stability in voluntary time contributions by baby boomers compared with earlier-born cohorts; this contrasts with the existing research showing decreased overall time contributions to volunteering. The study underscores the importance of considering cohort-specific differences in voluntary engagement behavior to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of volunteering.

Tourists' willingness to fund local investments in renewable energy: A contingent valuation study from the Galápagos Islands

Renewable energy technologies may have positive socioeconomic and environmental consequences at the local, regional, and global levels. However, transitioning to renewable energy sources requires substantial capital investments, which calls for alternative funding mechanisms, particularly in developing areas. In this study, we used the contingent valuation method to assess the economic feasibility of voluntary contributions from tourists to fund renewable energy projects in the Galápagos Islands, a renowned tourist destination. Of the 336 tourists who completed our survey, 42.3 % were willing to donate. Estimation results based on logit models indicate that the likelihood of giving is inversely related to the donation amount and positively related to the perceived consequentiality of our study and the tourists' familiarity with renewable energy. Conservative estimates indicate that the median tourist would make a one-time donation of US$ 85 to finance the transition to renewable energy. We conclude that voluntary donations from tourists can accelerate the transition to renewable energy and thus help the Galápagos Islands reach their goal of decarbonizing the islands by 2030.

Crowdfunding or crowdsourcing time: Exploring the willingness of private citizens to help prevent forest fires

In Europe, southern countries like Portugal lose extensive forest areas to wildfires every year. Public investment in forest conservation and wildfire prevention is crucial, and public support is necessary. In this study, we explore the adequacy of two citizen engagement mechanisms to help in the prevention of wildfires. We design a preference elicitation survey to study preferences for forests and voluntary contributions towards a fire prevention programme, either through voluntary monetary contributions (crowdfunding the prevention expenses) or by contributing with time (crowdsourcing the execution of prevention tasks). We posit that individuals who value forests and forest fire prevention may be willing to contribute directly in either way.We observe that the elicited willingness to participate in either form is high and that while some individual characteristics have an impact on elicited amounts, forest-related variables have no explanatory power. Additionally, respondents who prefer time contributions contribute relatively more time than those who prefer money contributions, who in turn contribute relatively more monetarily, which suggests that using targeted mechanisms for public involvement can optimise overall contributions to forest fire prevention. Furthermore, when comparing time and monetary contributions, as well as accounting for the cost of labour in Portugal, a crowdsourcing campaign would raise more work time than would a crowdfunding campaign to cover the cost of hiring workers to perform these activities.

Non-execution of Strasbourg Judgments against Russia: the Case for a Trust Fund

Abstract After being expelled from the Council of Europe, Russia passed a law on not complying with any judgment of the European Court of Human Rights that entered into force after 15 March 2022. In these circumstances, new approaches are required to safeguard the authority of the Court. This study considers the possible ways out of the deadlock. Firstly, it critically examines the Committee of Minister’ strategy on implementing Russian judgments, which is limited to registering outstanding obligations of the Russian Government under the Court’s judgments. Secondly, the frozen property in Europe is yet to be confiscated, nor it is clear whether it will be. This study proposes that, under the aegis and within a legal framework of an existing international organization, a trust fund be established which may receive voluntary contributions from States and individuals. It will be better placed to do so than multiple indigent individuals scattered across the globe. If and when Russia applies to return to the Council of Europe it may be required to reimburse, with all accrued interest, the amounts spent by such a trust fund.

Skin in the Game: The Transformational Potential of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)—collectively owned human-machine systems deployed on a blockchain that self-govern through smart contracts and the voluntary contributions of autonomous community members—exhibit the potential to facilitate collective action in managing digital commons. Yet the promise of decentralization and collective action is difficult to sustain. To this end, this paper critically examines the transformational potential of DAOs in the case of decentralized finance. Using a polycentric governance lens, we contribute to the literature on technology-enabled forms of organizing with a model explaining the transformational potential of DAOs to facilitate collective action in digital commons. Our study highlights that (1) DAOs are a new form of organizing enabled by blockchain technology in which individuals are free to pursue their objectives within a general system of rules enforced by smart contracts, (2) collective action for managing digital commons can be sustained through a set of three mechanisms—sustained participation, collective direction, and scaled organizing, and (3) DAOs tend to strike a balance between centralized and fully decentralized or community-based governance by implementing a polycentric governance system involving a combination of human and machine agency that creates skin in the game.

Adaptation of a psycho-educational group programme to improve coping in dementia caregiving: a feasibility study with mixed-methods.

As the number of people living with dementia rapidly increases worldwide, the support provided by their informal caregivers remains key to the sustainability of most healthcare systems, this voluntary contribution representing 40% of the costs of dementia worldwide. Informal caregiving in dementia, however, is linked to long periods of chronic stress with frequent and serious negative consequences on the health and quality of life of the caregiver. A psycho-educational group intervention focusing on coping with the daily stress of dementia caregiving ("Learning to feel better… to help better"), developed in French-speaking Canada and showing broad effects on quality of life, was selected with the aim of 1) adapting it to a new cultural context (French-speaking Switzerland) based on identified facilitators and barriers, using a participative approach; and 2) conducting a feasibility study to evaluate whether the adapted programme showed similar or improved feasibility and effects compared to the original Canadian programme. A mixed-methods concurrent nested design was used to evaluate the feasibility and the effects on five quantitative core outcomes. Additional qualitative data helped document in depth the acceptability and impact of the intervention. We shortened the programme from 30 to 21h in total, which resulted in increased accessibility, in terms of facilitated recruitment of participants and inclusion of a broader range of informal caregivers. There were significant reductions in subjective burden (effect size: d = -0.32) and psychological distress (d = -0.48), as well as decreases in the stress reactions of informal caregivers related to the behaviour problems of the persons with dementia (d = -0.57). The qualitative results emphasized the usefulness of providing informal caregivers with structured procedures for efficiently tackling everyday challenges, and of enabling learning through a variety of channels and activities. Substantial improvements are associated with this 21-h group intervention, organised in 7 sessions of 3h each, focused on learning more efficient strategies to cope with the daily stress of dementia caregiving. This intervention empowered informal caregivers to master their daily challenges with more confidence, satisfaction and calm. ISRCTN13512408 (registration date 17.05.2021, retrospectively registered).

Organizational development strategy and social responsibility of business

The article examines the relationship between the social responsibility of business and the development strategy of the organization in the modern economic situation. In current conditions, one of the pressing issues of doing business is the question of its social responsibility. Social responsibility of business has many definitions, but at its core it is the organization’s voluntary contribution to the development of society in all its spheres.

Using co-creation to address monitoring and evaluation challenges: The experience of South Africa’s evaluation hackathon

In 2021, the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association facilitated an evaluation hackathon that engaged diverse stakeholders in co-creation processes to develop practical solutions to address complex problems facing the monitoring and evaluation sector. The event catalysed broad-based ownership and enabled the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association to coordinate the creative energy, commitment and resources of its members, government and other partners to achieve outcomes that would not be possible to achieve otherwise. The article analyses the co-creation approach adopted for the hackathon across four phases, namely initiation, process design/planning, co-design and development and application/follow-up. A retrospective analysis of the process and results identified eight key elements that enabled or impeded the successful completion of hackathon outputs and their conversion into useful products. These elements are facilitative leadership, purposive stakeholder selection, a well-delimited task, preparation, process facilitation, a valued product, voluntary contributions and further capacity. The lessons learnt provide useful insight for future efforts to generate localised, contextualised responses to evaluation problems.

Unlocking the Power of Health Safety and Welfare Practices: Exploring the Impact on Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Bangladesh’s Fish Processing Industry

Abstract Purpose: This study explores the relationship between Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) practices and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) among fish processing workers in Bangladesh. It seeks to understand how OHS practices impact employees’ voluntary, extra-role behaviors and contribute to organizational well-being. Methods/Design/Approach: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a sample of fish processing workers in Bangladesh. Data were collected using structured questionnaires that assessed vital variables, including OHS practices, OCB, and demographic information. Statistical analyses, including correlation and multiple regression, were employed through SPSS to examine the associations between OHS practices and OCB. Findings: The findings of this study reveal several significant relationships; notably, health and safety policies and communication, health and safety rules, health and safety resource and training, and workplace welfare management were essential predictors of organizational citizenship behavior, highlighting the critical role of these organization health safety practices in fostering positive organizational citizenship behavior. Practical Implications: These findings hold valuable practical implications for organizations in the fish processing industry and beyond. Organizations can enhance their workplace safety policies, regulations, and training programs by recognizing the positive impact of OHS practices on OCB. Additionally, investing in workplace welfare measures can promote a culture of voluntary contributions to the organization, ultimately benefiting employees and employers. Originality: This study contributes to the literature by shedding light on the relationship between OHS practices and OCB in a specific and underexplored context: the fish processing industry in Bangladesh. It underscores the significance of OHS practices in driving positive workplace behaviors and organizational outcomes, enriching the body of knowledge on this subject.

Community forestry in a changing context: A perspective from Nepal’s mid-hill

Community forestry (CF) is one of the major forest management modalities in the world. A growing body of literature documents various outcomes and interactions of people with CF, but limited studies have assessed the mode of forest-people interaction considering changing socio-economic and environmental contexts by employing a broader theoretical framework. Our study employed Ostrom’s social-ecological system (SES) framework accompanied by a meta-synthesis of peer-reviewed literature (n = 74), review of policy documents and census reports (n = 28), interviews with four stakeholder groups (n = 47) and group discussions with district-level forest user groups (n = 20), to explore the changed context in Nepal’s mid-hills since 1990 s. The study revealed transformational changes in socio-economic and environmental contexts of Nepal’s mid-hills compared to the conditions in which the CF was developed during 1990 s. Changes in the forces (or factors) of SES, including demography, socio-economic development, government policy and environmental discourse are so pronounced that its feedback to the social-ecological system is discernible. For example, the evolving dynamics have changed the mode of forest-people interaction and their relationship by altering land use practices, resource use patterns, farm-forestry linkage, and pool of human resources, which is reflected in diminishing participation, social capital, collective action, and (voluntary) contribution to CF management. Such (emerging) dynamics in the social-ecological system could further jeopardise CF institutions and their deliberation, weaken the forest-food security nexus, augment leadership gaps in forest management, and impede the country’s efforts in achieving global climate and development goals. To revitalize CF in this changing context, we suggest that community forests should be managed in three different models: urban, protection and production by putting payment of ecosystem services in place. As Nepal is a global leader in CF and its policies are informing forest and land use policies around the world, the outcomes of our study could offer an insight to the decision-makers of other countries for recalibrating land use policies by considering evolving local and global dynamics and their feedback to SES.

Potential influence of changes in tax benefits on charitable giving to higher education

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of changes in tax codes on voluntary giving to universities and colleges. While higher education institutions have drawn attention to individual gifts and philanthropic donations as supplementary financial resources, the recent introduction of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 in the United States reduced tax incentives for charitable contributions, thus raising concerns regarding considerable declines in charitable giving. By using panel data from the Voluntary Support of Education Survey, this research revealed that changes in tax benefits on charitable giving as a consequence of the new tax policy are associated with an overall decrease in the sum of individual donations and the number of individual donors. This loss of voluntary contribution is notably observed in private colleges and universities with an emphasis on research activities.

Transforming student outcomes through mission-aligned investment: the case for a national graduate-funded endowment

ABSTRACT This essay, shortlisted for the AHUA Dr Jonathan Nicholls Memorial Essay Prize, addresses recent policy attention on student maintenance funding in the United Kingdom. It proposes the establishment of a graduate-funded endowment in lieu of other measures such as increased parental contributions or the imposition of a graduate tax. After discussing the relationship between maintenance funding and student outcomes, the essay then envisages how voluntary graduate contributions could be pooled into a national endowment, and how this endowment might address access and participatory inequalities relating to student expenditure on housing, energy, food and care. Although presented here only as a broad idea, the essay discusses how this could be achieved through investment in, as well as the incubation of, social enterprises aligned with the endowment’s purpose – to ensure that maintenance costs do not restrict access and impair student outcomes, and to do so in a sustainable and prudential way.

Personalized Information as a Tool to Improve Pension Savings: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Chile

We randomly offer to workers in Chile personalized versus generalized information about their pension savings and forecasted pension income. Personalized information increased the probability and amounts of voluntary contributions after one year without crowding-out other forms of savings. Personalization appears to be very important: individuals who overestimated their pension at the time of the intervention saved more. Thus, a person’s inability to understand how the pension system affects them may partially explain low pension savings. Despite the significant response to the intervention, its temporary nature and size suggest that information should be combined with other elements to increase its efficiency.

Fairness views and cooperation under varying levels of economic inequality

This paper investigates the impact of economic inequality on people’s perceptions of fairness and willingness to cooperate. Using experimental and survey data, we distinguish people’s injunctive perceptions of fairness from experimentally observed behavioral patterns. We find that impartial observers hold shared perceptions of fair contribution rules. Individuals with their own money at stake hold conflicting views over fair contribution rules. We find that contribution patterns are more scattered under strong inequality than under weak inequality. Overall, we observe that voluntary contributions are lower under strong inequality than under weak inequality. Our results contribute to the debate about the behavioral consequences of income and wealth inequalities in modern societies.

The Audio Describer As Cast Member

NOTE: This abstract is based on a professional audio description experiment for two productions at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, USA. It does not follow a traditional research model but is rather a report of practical work in the field of live audio description for theatre. Live audio description can be made cost-effectively available at each performance of a performing arts production. This chapter will demonstrate how it is possible to create accessibility for blind theater-goers on a par with sighted audience members. Similarly, multiple language and sign interpretation can be made available at all performances of an event. In 1981, a formal audio description service—the world’s first—was begun under the leadership of a blind woman at The Metropolitan Washington Ear, a radio-reading service based in Washington, DC. Radio reading services still exist throughout the United States with the participation of volunteer readers; I began working as a volunteer reader at The Ear in 1972 and was proud to be a founding member of its audio description service. Radio reading services are heavily dependent on volunteers and The Ear’s audio description service was also structured around voluntary contributions of time and effort. Cognizant of the limits on the times of people who often maintain full-time employment elsewhere, audio description was conceived as a service that would be offered at only two performances of a theatrical run and preparation for the audio described performances was based on the observation of only two or three performances early in the run. It was understood that optimally audio description would be prepared with more in-depth observation of the theatrical event, even during rehearsals, and that audio described should be offered at every performance in the run of a show. But the limitation of the volunteer structure prohibited that arrangement. The proliferation of audio description for live theatrical events in the United States is based on this volunteer, limited preview/two-described-performances model. With support from the D.C. Aid Association for the Blind, the Audio Description Project of the American Council of the Blind proposed a more expansive audio description arrangement for two productions again at Arena Stage. We collaborated with Arena on the experiment: an audio describer attended rehearsals for each production, met with the stage director, actors, the designers (scenic, costumes, lighting, sound) and developed an audio description script throughout the three-week rehearsal period. The script was then available for that same describer to voice at every performance beginning with opening night and with, of course, an eye on stage action as minor changes in action could occur from performance to performance. The describer, essentially, was a “cast member”, attending every rehearsal and performance. The arrangement had two benefits over the traditional model of audio description development for live performance: time was available to carefully observe the theatrical process and construct descriptive language that was more thorough and considered; and people desiring the service could attend any performance with no advance notice and be assured of access to the visual aspects of the production. Other innovations included Braille and large-print programs, models of the set and props in the lobby, and a tactile “scrapbook” of costume pieces. It was gratifying to note that attendance for the productions by people using audio description tripled over levels experienced at Arena using the traditional volunteer model.

The impacts of International Baccalaureate expansion on professional cultures and assessments in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore

ABSTRACT The rapid propagation of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in the East and Southeast Asian region, together with the continuing globalisation of education, has generated implementational opportunities and challenges for teachers within the IB network of schools. Based on semi-structured interviews with teachers and school leaders across 15 IB Diploma Programme (DP) schools within the three milieus of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, the study explored how DP’s expansion fuelled ambiguities and inconsistencies in programme policy, which impacted on professional cultures and assessments. The analysis highlights the overreliance on the voluntary contribution of teachers and external examiners in supporting professional development and assessments as well as the connection of assessments to anxiety and dissonance in teachers.

Get the happiness out-An online experiment on the causal effects of positive emotions on giving.

Our study provides new evidence on the impact of positive emotions on voluntary contributions to public goods in a natural setting. Using a lab-in-field experiment, we induce positive incidental emotions randomly and analyze their effects on donations using a dictator game with multiple beneficiaries. Although we find no significant overall effect of positive incidental emotions on donation levels, our results show a significant shift in the allocation of donations towards the host charity. These findings shed light on the complex role of emotions in donation behavior and can provide valuable insights for organizations seeking to increase charitable giving.