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This study aimed to examine (1) whether confidence in political and health authorities predicted intention to adopt recommended health-protective behaviours and (2) whether age, gender and education level moderated the relationship between confidence in political and health authorities and health protective-behaviours (download the COVIDSafe app, wear a face mask and stay at home).

This study assessed 1,206 Australians using an online survey. Participants answered questions regarding their confidence in political and health authorities and intention to adopt health-protective measures.

Confidence in health and political authorities predicted intention to stay home and intention to download the COVIDSafe app, but not to wear a face mask in public spaces. Age moderated the relationship between confidence in authorities and intention to stay home (i.e. among respondents with less than 54 years old, confidence in authorities was associated with higher intention to stay home). Further, age and education level moderated the relationship between confidence in authorities and intention to download the COVIDSafe app (i.e. among older respondents and those with a university degree or higher, confidence in authorities was more strongly associated with higher intention to download the COVIDSafe app). The interaction between confidence and education predicted adoption of mask-wearing (i.e. among participants with a university degree or higher, more confidence in authorities was associated with higher intention to wear a mask in public spaces).

Our findings can inform the development of targeted communications to increase health-protective behaviours at early stages of future pandemics.

This study seeks to identify personal characteristics that help to explain variation in consumer confidence in legal authorities' ability to effectively deal with fraud victimization in the State of Florida.

The study uses cross‐sectional survey data from 918 adults who participated in a telephone interview in 2004 and 2005. Univariate statistics are used to describe the distribution of the dependent variable (i.e. consumer confidence in legal authorities). Hypotheses are tested using bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques.

Results show that less than one‐half of respondents (48.2 percent) report that they have either “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in the ability of legal authorities to respond to consumer fraud victimization. Bivariate correlations show that younger respondents, those with more formal education, recent fraud victims, and individuals inclined to take risks with their financial assets report lower levels of confidence. These findings persist in a multivariate context.

Because these data were collected from survey respondents living in a single state, one should exercise caution when generalizing these findings to other settings.

The findings can be used to target public awareness efforts and educational campaigns to consumer groups with low levels of confidence in legal authorities. Doing so may not only help bolster confidence, but also potentially increase rates of fraud victimization reporting.

This study extends the literature on confidence in legal authorities to the previously unexplored crime‐related context of consumer fraud victimization.

This article contributes to a better theoretical and empiric understanding of mixed results in the literature investigating the relationship between institutional confidence and adherence to recommended measures during a pandemic.

The article relies on structural equation models (SEMs) based on data from ResPOnsE COVID-19, a rolling cross-section (RCS) survey carried out in Italy from April to June 2020.

The authors’ findings show the existence of multiple pathways of confidence at the national and local level. Confidence in the institutions is positively associated with support for the performance of the Prime Minister and that of the regional institutions in the North West, which in turn, raises the likelihood of following the restrictive measures. However, in the same regions, a good appraisal of the regional system's performance also had a direct positive effect on the perception of being safe from the virus, decreasing adherence to the restrictive measures. Finally, the direct effect of confidence in the institutions on compliance is negative.

The result enlightens the crucial role both of national and local institutions in promoting or inhibiting adherence to restrictive measures during a pandemic and suggests that “one size fits all” measures for increasing overall institutional confidence might not be sufficient to reach the desired goal of achieving compliance in pandemic times.

The authors theorize and test three cognitive mechanisms – (1) the “cascade of confidence”; (2) the “paradox of support” and (3) the “paradox of confidence” – to account for both the positive and negative links between measures of political support and public acceptability of COVID-19 containment measures.

Following the collapse of the banking system in October 2008, the Icelandic authorities attempted to restore confidence in the country’s institutions, improve their functioning and gradually improve the country’s credit rating. The authorities took ownership of an International Monetary Fund-sponsored economic programme that managed to turn the macroeconomic development around when, following a trough in the summer of 2010, an economic expansion started that has continued ever since. They applied for membership in the European Union in order to show their commitment to be part of the international economic community and to have a lender of last resort in the European Central Bank in future crises. The causes of the collapse were investigated and many bankers were prosecuted. Finally, financial regulations were made stricter and the structures of the Central Bank and the supervisory authority were changed for the better. The net effect was to lower the credit default swap rate on the government’s debt, gain access to capital markets and make the Iceland story one of resurrection rather than only hubris and collapse.

This article aims to examine lay‐persons' views of school food services in Victoria, Australia.

A cross‐sectional postal questionnaire survey of a random sample of electors on the Electoral Roll in Victoria, Australia. Out of 1,000 potential respondents, 377 completed the questionnaire. Main outcome measures included responses to closed questions about foods supplied to children at school using five‐point scales. Data analyses included frequency and cross‐tabulation analyses, and multivariate analyses of principal component scores by demographic and personal values variables.

Many respondents were critical of children's school food services but they were generally supportive of food and health education, whilst holding ambivalent attitudes towards snacks and marketing practices.

This was a cross‐sectional survey with a relatively low response rate.

Understanding of laypersons' views of children's food services is likely to facilitate nutrition communication and promotion of healthy children's foods.

Lay views of children's food provision have rarely been reported, despite their importance for the support of public nutrition policies. The study identifies likely antecedents of lay people's views.

In all its many manifestations, economic crime remains a threat to civilisation.

New reforms in the public sector mean that many organisations are attempting to cope with turbulent environments. Traditional models of change have been found to be too static and unable to change the “whole system”. Explores processes for changing the whole system for public sector organisations operating in a turbulent environment. A case study is used to discuss the implications.

The purpose of this paper is to consider some possible reasons for the relatively high rate in Wales of children looked after by local authorities.

Selected potential explanations for Wales having higher rates were tested against aggregate data from published 2021 Government statistics. Wales was compared with England and English regions for area deprivation, local authority spending, placements at home and kinship foster care. Descriptive statistics were produced, and linear regression was used where appropriate.

Wales has higher overall children looked-after rates and a bigger recent increase in these than any English region. Deprivation in Wales was higher than in most English regions. However, a smaller percentage of Welsh variation in local authority looked-after rates was explained by deprivation than was the case for England. Spending on preventative services has increased in recent years in Wales whilst decreasing in England, and there was not a clear relationship between spending on preventative services and the looked-after rate. Wales had a higher rate of care orders placed at home and more children per head of population in kinship foster care than any English region. Some of the explanations that have been suggested for Wales’s particularly high looked-after rates seem to be supported by the evidence from aggregate data and others do not. Practice variation is likely to also be an important part of the picture.

This is an original comparison of Wales, England and English regions using aggregate data. More fine-grained analysis is needed using individual-level data, multivariate analysis and qualitative methods.

This study attempts to determine how political legitimacy and regime change affect the level of public confidence in the Mexican police. The current study also aims to examine to what extent socioeconomic and attitudinal factors are associated with levels of police confidence among Mexican citizens.

The data used in this study were obtained from two Mexican surveys conducted as part of the World Value Surveys (WVS) in 1996 and 2005. Owing to the nature of the dependent variable, a series of ordinal logistic regression analyses was employed to examine the effects of political legitimacy, regime change, attitudinal, and socioeconomic factors on public confidence in the Mexican police while controlling other relevant factors.

Consistent with prior research, results confirmed that public confidence in the police was positively associated with political legitimacy (i.e. support for regime institutions and system support), happiness, life satisfaction, marital status, and religious activity. Yet, age, education, and size of the town were negatively related to public confidence.

Since the current study used secondary data, the availability of information was limited. Only one nation was studied which limits the generalizability of the findings. Future research may attempt to study other Latin‐American nations, including Mexico, in order to address the issue of public confidence in policing on a greater scale. Further, as the police alone cannot take full credit in the public's perception of law enforcement, it is imperative that future studies also examine other government agencies (i.e. courts, prosecutors) that may lend more information on this subject.

While the police and some governing agencies may not be able to change most of the factors studied in this research, they can strive to cultivate better trust among the citizenry and seek to improve quality of life in neighborhoods which may lead to greater happiness and life satisfaction factors that may then increase the level of confidence in the police.