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1 – 10 of over 60000Queena K. Qian and Edwin H.W. Chan
The aim of this paper is to investigate the major differences between the government's role in building energy efficiency (BEE) in China and three developed countries, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to investigate the major differences between the government's role in building energy efficiency (BEE) in China and three developed countries, and to further the understanding of market expectations of the most effective government measures to encourage BEE development in China.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach taken was: establish a framework for a critical comparative study; compare and assess the BEE promotion measures available to governments in the USA, Canada, the UK and China; survey the BEE market expectations of building design professionals to better understand the favourable measures the Chinese Government could take to further promote BEE; and triangulate the findings of the comparative study and questionnaire survey to develop recommendations for BEE promotion in mainland China.
Findings
Economic incentives are important for BEE promotion at the current stage, but they are lacking in China. Active government interventions, such as adjusting energy pricing and implementing BEE legislation, are needed in China if BEE is to become economically viable and efficient.
Research limitations/implications
Owing to limited resources, the questionnaire survey did not reach every part of China. A further study should be carried out to extend the investigation to more areas of China and to obtain wider stakeholder coverage.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in its development of a theoretical framework to further understanding of the government's role in BEE promotion and its use of first‐hand data collected from industry to verify market expectations of that role in China.
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Jozsef Poor, Zsuzsa Karoliny, Ruth Alas and Elizabeta Kirilova Vatchkova
The primary aim of the paper is to draw attention to the similarities in the historical background and in the transitional period of the post‐socialist CEE (Central and East…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary aim of the paper is to draw attention to the similarities in the historical background and in the transitional period of the post‐socialist CEE (Central and East European) countries, which make this region a distinctive cluster in Europe.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors attempt to supplement existing research by outlining the modernisation of a range of HR functions in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and would like to explain how this special issue arose, to provide a historical perspective for the work undertaken by the Cranet research team from Bulgaria, Estonia and Hungary and to outline the context and significance of each of the attempts at modernisation in the HRM field.
Findings
This analysis of developments, based on the Cranet surveys, aims to describe and explain the similarities and differences found among the three specific countries (Bulgaria, Estonia and Hungary), the somewhat broader sample comprising the CEE region and the full sample of those participating in the survey. All of these signs increase the need for a contextual Comparative HRM model – which supports not only the snapshot analysis, but also a longitudinal one, incorporating both the path‐dependent and the path‐creation considerations of the changes taking place.
Originality/value
The need to understand HRM from a European – as opposed to a merely Western – perspective has become a dominant theme as the HR peculiarities of the new capitalism emerge. However, during the transition period, everyone needed – somehow – to meet the great challenge of turning the omelette back into eggs!
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Nazim Habibov, Alena Auchynnikava and Rong Luo
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test two opposing theoretical hypotheses from research literature: low quality of public education boosts support for public education;…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test two opposing theoretical hypotheses from research literature: low quality of public education boosts support for public education; and low quality of public education weakens support for public education.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use microdata from 27 post-communist countries over a period of five years. This study uses two outcome variables in order to capture the level of support for public education: the willingness to elevate investments in public education to an important policy priority; and the willingness to pay more taxes to improve public healthcare. A series of logistic regressions is used to find how the outcome variable is influenced by six dimensions of the quality of the public education system.
Findings
The main finding is that a lower quality of public education strengthens the willingness of citizens to make investments into public education by: making it a political priority for the government; and through a professed increased willingness to pay more taxes towards improving public education. These findings remain valid for both years of investigation and for both EU and non-EU samples. In contrast, the authors could not find support for the hypothesis that postulates that a lower quality of public education will reduce support for public education.
Research limitations/implications
The main implication of these findings is that despite the increases in availability of private schooling opportunities, the citizens of post-communist countries have not abandoned their support for public education. Even if citizens of post-communist countries believe that public education is no longer of an appropriately high quality, they continue to support the provision of resources to it in order to improve on the current situation.
Practical implications
The current low quality of public education can be seen as providing an impetus for encouraging support for public education.
Social implications
In terms of policy-making, the findings demonstrate the opportunity to shore up public support for further reforms in public- education in post-communist countries.
Originality/value
The current education policy research literature is silent about the direction of the effect of low quality public education on the willingness to provide support for public education. Against this background, this is the first study which empirically tested whether quality of public education affect willingness to support it. Covering a period of five years, the authors test the above-postulated hypotheses using a diverse sample of 27 post-communist countries.
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Prashant Kumar Sinha, Biswanath Dutta and Udaya Varadarajan
The current work provides a framework for the ranking of ontology development methodologies (ODMs).
Abstract
Purpose
The current work provides a framework for the ranking of ontology development methodologies (ODMs).
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is a step-by-step approach reinforced by an array of ranking features and a quantitative tool, weighted decision matrix. An extensive literature investigation revealed a set of aspects that regulate ODMs. The aspects and existing state-of-the-art estimates facilitated in extracting the features. To determine weight to each of the features, an online survey was implemented to secure evidence from the Semantic Web community. To demonstrate the framework, the authors perform a pilot study, where a collection of domain ODMs, reported in 2000–2019, is used.
Findings
State-of-the-art research revealed that ODMs have been accumulated, surveyed and assessed to prescribe the best probable ODM for ontology development. But none of the prevailing studies provide a ranking mechanism for ODMs. The recommended framework overcomes this limitation and gives a systematic and uniform way of ranking the ODMs. The pilot study yielded NeOn as the top-ranked ODM in the recent two decades.
Originality/value
There is no work in the literature that has investigated ranking the ODMs. Hence, this is a first of its kind work in the area of ODM research. The framework supports identifying the topmost ODMs from the literature possessing a substantial amount of features for ontology development. It also enables the selection of the best possible ODM for the ontology development.
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This issue of VINE is an annotated cumulative index to all the major articles which have appeared in VINEs 1–22. Additional copies are available free of charge from the VINE…
Abstract
This issue of VINE is an annotated cumulative index to all the major articles which have appeared in VINEs 1–22. Additional copies are available free of charge from the VINE Office. The index will be updated from time to time.
Valeria Pulignano and Nadja Doerflinger
The purpose of this paper is to contribute conceptually to debate on labour market dualisation by proposing a macro-micro and micro-macro (or macro-micro-macro) analytical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute conceptually to debate on labour market dualisation by proposing a macro-micro and micro-macro (or macro-micro-macro) analytical approach to integrate actor-based explanations in the study of labour market dualisation.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper emphasising the need to combine qualitative and quantitative data and methods in studying the nature and incidence of labour market dualisation.
Findings
To study social divides – as a manifestation of labour market dualisation and, more generally, fragmentation – macro-micro and micro-macro (i.e. macro-micro-macro) relationships need to be established as part of an analytical approach to studying dualisation. This implies considering macro-level institutional and regulatory as well as micro-level workplace and organisational settings as factors in any analysis and interpretation of the determinants of labour market dualisation, i.e. integrating the dynamics of power and strategy as determinants of dualisation, fragmentation and more generally precariousness.
Originality/value
The paper points to the need to expand actor-based explanations within the labour market dualisation debate, which remains overly institutionalist in its approach. The authors propose a micro-macro-micro analytical approach as the way to systematise the study of concurrent macro-micro and micro-macro relationships shaping social divides in labour markets.
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Ekaterina Zabelina, Jorge Cruz-Cárdenas, Olga Deyneka, Aleksandr Maksimenko, Jorge Guadalupe-Lanas and Carlos Ramos-Galarza
Green entrepreneurship is a topic of transcendental importance for today's societies. Studies on why entrepreneurs engage in green business have primarily focused on external…
Abstract
Purpose
Green entrepreneurship is a topic of transcendental importance for today's societies. Studies on why entrepreneurs engage in green business have primarily focused on external influences, paying little attention to internal factors such as cognitive mechanisms. This study aims to fill this gap by focusing on the characteristics of the perceived (psychological) time of entrepreneurs who choose green businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sequential exploratory mixed methods design, this study conducts a series of 20 in-depth interviews with green entrepreneurs in Russia, an emerging economy, and then formulates the hypotheses. The hypotheses are tested in the quantitative phase by surveying 389 green and non-green entrepreneurs.
Findings
The data obtained in the survey phase support several hypotheses. Specifically, green entrepreneurs think more critically about their past than their non-green colleagues. Similarly, green entrepreneurs have a longer time perspective and are more focused on possible future events. Finally, green entrepreneurs are farsighted and perceive the future more negatively than non-green entrepreneurs.
Research limitations/implications
The data obtained in the survey phase support several hypotheses. Compared with non-green entrepreneurs, green entrepreneurs think more critically about their past, have a longer time perspective and are more focused on possible future events. In addition, green entrepreneurs are farsighted and perceive the future more negatively than their non-green counterparts.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the least examined area in the relevant literature by identifying internal factors that explain green entrepreneurship. Furthermore, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is one of the first to provide an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of the perceived (psychological) time of green entrepreneurs.
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Karenza Moore and Fiona Measham
In January 2006 ketamine shifted from medical regulation through the Medicines Act to a Class C drug through an amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act. In the debate surrounding…
Abstract
In January 2006 ketamine shifted from medical regulation through the Medicines Act to a Class C drug through an amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act. In the debate surrounding this criminalisation, interest has grown in prevalence and patterns of ketamine consumption. Such information is scarce however, particularly given that ketamine has yet to be included in the British Crime Survey or most other surveys of youth and young adult drug use. Here Karenza Moore and Fiona Measham reveal the true extent of ketamine use, who is using it and how.
VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library house‐keeping processes, principally in…
Abstract
VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library house‐keeping processes, principally in the UK. It is edited and substantially written by the Information Officer for Library Automation based in Southampton University Library and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Department. Copyright for VINE articles rests with the British Library Board, but opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription for VINE is £17 per annum and the period runs from January to December.
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…
Abstract
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.
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