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A growing body of research finds a consistently negative relationship between medical cannabis access and aggregate measures of opioid use. Nothing is currently known about the types of opioids that are being most impacted by cannabis access. Using the Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) difference-in-differences (DID) estimator for the main analysis and data on all opioid shipments to every United States (US) pharmacy from 2006 to 2014, the authors found no evidence of overall change in the total number of morphine milligram equivalent (MME) units of opioids shipped to pharmacies, following the opening of medical cannabis dispensaries. However, across all opioids, the authors found a reduction in the highest MME dosage strengths (8.8% decrease in 50–89 MME doses and 11.3% decrease in 90+ MME doses). This decrease appears to be driven predominantly by commonly diverted opioids, where the authors found a reduction in the highest MME dosage strengths (12.2% in 50–89 MME doses and 13.8% in 90+ MME doses). Further, the authors see a 6.0% increase in low-to-moderate dose opioids (0–49 MMEs). This is consistent with patients using cannabis concomitantly with opioids in order to achieve a lower opioids dose.

This paper analyzes the differential experiences of women in the Canadian labour market who hold lower-skilled jobs and have school-age children during two waves of Covid compared with more typical conditions pre-pandemic. The article seeks to test the hypothesis that workers at the intersection of womanhood, motherhood and precarious employment would endure even more disadvantageous labour market outcomes during the Covid pandemic than they did prior to it.

We employ a Gender-Based Plus (GBA+) and intersectionality lens to examine the differential effect of Covid on the effect of the trifecta of being a woman in a lower-skilled job and facing a motherhood penalty from school-age children. We use a Difference-in-Difference framework with Canadian Labour Force Survey (LFS) data to examine the differential effect of two waves of Covid on three labour market outcomes: employment, hours worked and hourly wages.

We find that being a woman in a lower-skilled job with school-age children is associated with lower employment, hours worked and wages in normal times compared to males in those same situations. Such women also face the most severe adjustment consequence from the Covid shock, with that adjustment concentrated on the margin of employment and restricted to the First Wave and not the subsequent Omicron Wave.

The paper studies a specific intersectional group, assesses pre-pandemic, peak-pandemic and late-pandemic differences in labour market outcomes and runs separate estimations for different job skill levels. We also study a more comprehensive list of labour market outcomes than most studies of a similar nature.

Given the inevitable transition to renewable resource utilization and the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions, this study conducted quasi natural experiments to assess the impact of renewable resource utilization on carbon emissions based on the national “urban mining” demonstration bases (NUMDB).

This study uses panel data from 275 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019. The paper selects NUMDB as the proxy variable and conducts a quasi-natural experiment using a multi-period differences-in-differences model. We examine the impact of NUMDB on reducing carbon emissions, and then deeply explore its mechanism and spatial spillover effect.

This study found that: (1) the construction of NUMDB can significantly decrease the carbon emission in the host cities; (2) NUMDB’s construction has more significantly reduced the carbon emission in regions with higher levels of circular economy development, green technology innovation, regional environmental pollution, digital economy development and financial development; (3) by means of green technology innovation, optimized energy structure, and high-quality talent aggregation, NUMDB reduces urban carbon emissions; (4) NUMDB construction positively affects the carbon reduction efficiency of neighboring regions.

We propose corresponding policy suggestions to further promote the carbon emission reduction effect of NUMDB and develop the renewable resources industry in China based on the research findings.

The contributions of this paper are as follows. Our study contributes to expanding the research scope on the environmental impact of the renewable resource industry, as there are few quantitative studies in this area.

We further consider the spatial heterogeneity of policies and analyze the carbon reduction effect of the NUMDB from the city level, which is beneficial to exploring more targeted and operable carbon reduction paths.

This study on identifying the causal relationship between renewable resource utilization and carbon emission reduction helps to explore the sustainable development path of renewable resource more comprehensively. Meanwhile, this paper provides a reference for other countries to improve the utilization of renewable resource and effectively reduce carbon emissions.

This paper aims to analyze how smart city construction affects destination competitiveness and elucidates the potential mechanisms of digital economy. Also, the regional heterogeneity of smart city construction’s influence on destination competitiveness is discussed.

Given the quasi-natural experiment characteristics of China's smart city construction pilot, this study applies a time-varying difference-in-differences approach using a panel dataset of 272 Chinese prefectural-level cities to examine the causal effects of smart city construction on destination competitiveness.

Results indicate substantial enhancement of urban destination competitiveness from smart city construction, with this effect escalating annually. Digital infrastructure and digital finance serve as influence mechanisms. The positive impacts of smart city construction on urban tourism competitiveness do not differ by geographic location, rather there are significant differences between cities of different administrative levels. The impact of smart city construction on destination competitiveness is more significant in low administrative level cities. The improvement of economic development level and innovation ability helps to exert the positive impact of smart cities on tourism competitiveness.

This study constructs a new panel data set for smart city construction and destination competitiveness based on multi-source data and posits a theoretical linkage among smart city construction, digital economy and destination competitiveness. This paper provides invaluable insights on how to boost destination competitiveness by creating smart cities and leveraging the digital economy. Tourism sectors should proactively engage in smart city construction and foster the digital transformation of tourism.

本文旨在分析智慧城市建设如何影响目的地竞争力, 并阐明数字经济的潜在机制。此外, 还讨论了智慧城市建设对目的地竞争力影响的区域异质性。

鉴于中国智慧城市建设试点的准自然实验特征, 本研究基于272个中国地级城市的面板数据集, 采用双重差分方法检验了智慧城市建设对目的地竞争力的因果影响。

研究结果表明, 智慧城市建设显著增强了城市目的地竞争力, 这种影响每年都在增加。数字基础设施和数字金融是影响机制。智慧城市建设对城市旅游竞争力的积极影响不因地理位置而异, 不同行政级别的城市之间存在显著差异。智慧城市建设对低行政级别城市目的地竞争力的影响更为显著。经济发展水平和创新能力的提高有助于发挥智慧城市对旅游竞争力的积极影响。

本研究基于多源数据构建了一个新的智慧城市建设和目的地竞争力面板数据集, 并在智慧城市建设、数字经济和目的地竞争之间建立了理论联系。本文就如何通过创建智慧城市和利用数字经济来提高目的地竞争力提供了宝贵的见解。旅游部门应积极参与智慧城市建设, 促进旅游业的数字化转型。

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar cómo afecta la construcción de ciudades inteligentes a la competitividad de los destinos y dilucidar los posibles mecanismos de la economía digital. Se aborda también la heterogeneidad regional de la influencia de la construcción de ciudades inteligentes en la competitividad de los destinos.

Dadas las características de experimento casi natural del proyecto piloto de construcción de ciudades inteligentes en China, este estudio aplica un enfoque de diferencias en diferencias temporales utilizando un conjunto de datos de panel de 272 ciudades chinas de nivel de prefectura para examinar los efectos causales de la construcción de ciudades inteligentes sobre la competitividad de los destinos.

Los resultados indican una mejora sustancial de la competitividad de los destinos urbanos gracias a la construcción de ciudades inteligentes, efecto que aumenta cada año. La infraestructura digital y las finanzas digitales actúan como mecanismos de influencia. Los efectos positivos de la construcción de ciudades inteligentes sobre la competitividad Del turismo urbano no difieren en función de la ubicación geográfica, sino que las diferencias significativas se producen entre ciudades de diferentes niveles administrativos. El impacto de la construcción de ciudades inteligentes en la competitividad de los destinos es más significativo en las ciudades de bajo nivel administrativo. La mejora del nivel de desarrollo económico y la capacidad de innovación contribuyen al impacto positivo de las ciudades inteligentes en la competitividad turística.

Este estudio construye un nuevo conjunto de datos de panel para la construcción de ciudades inteligentes y la competitividad de los destinos basado en datos de múltiples fuentes y plantea un vínculo teórico entre la construcción de ciudades inteligentes, la economía digital y la competitividad de los destinos. Este artículo ofrece un valioso conocimiento sobre cómo impulsar la competitividad de los destinos mediante la creación de ciudades inteligentes y el aprovechamiento de la economía digital. Los sectores turísticos deberían participar de forma proactiva en la construcción de ciudades inteligentes y fomentar la transformación digital del turismo.

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the “Postliteracy” program on the qualification of beneficiaries for socioeconomic integration. This qualification is achieved first through the consolidation of the achievements of individuals freed from illiteracy, and then through their support in creating income-generating activities by providing them with technical, economic, legal and institutional knowledge to ensure their conscious and responsible participation in local and regional development efforts.

To evaluate the impact of the “Postliteracy” program, this paper uses quasi-experimental methods with a control group (participants of the “Literacy” program 2020 / 2021) and a treatment group (participants of the “Postliteracy” program 2021 / 2022). Skill acquisition is measured through pretest and posttest evaluations using a questionnaire aligned with the National Agency for the Fight Against Illiteracy (ANLCA)-adopted curriculum. The survey occurred at the beginning and at the end of the program, providing sufficient time for skill development. The questionnaire includes three sections covering socioprofessional characteristics, technical and economic domains and legal and institutional aspects. These sections contribute to a score reflecting the acquired skills for successful socioeconomic integration.

The results of the study demonstrate that the “Postliteracy” program has a positive impact on the acquisition of competences necessary for improved socioeconomic integration of the beneficiaries. The various matching techniques reveal a score difference ranging from 12 to 14 points in favor of program participants compared to those who did not participate. The Difference-in-Differences method confirms the positive and significant impact of the program.

The findings highlight the importance of the “Postliteracy” program in national literacy policy, underlining the need to further strengthen its presence within the programs deployed by ANLCA, notably by increasing the number of beneficiaries targeted by this program. To achieve this, it would be advisable to increase the funds allocated to it within ANLCA's budget.

The originality of this work is a unique research of the case of Morocco based on a microeconometric study for which the authors evaluate the impact of adult education by applying impact evaluation methods in the field of adult literacy.

We examine how superstition shapes corporate tax avoidance and do so by taking a risk perspective and focusing on the zodiac-year belief prevalent in China.

We adopt a difference-in-differences research design to compare the degree of corporate tax avoidance in the CEOs’ zodiac year with that in the adjacent years. We do propensity-score matching to form a sample of Chinese listed firms for the regression analysis.

We find causal evidence that firms exhibit a greater magnitude of tax avoidance in the CEOs’ zodiac years, a result attributable to relatively weak tax enforcement in the Chinese context. We also find that the zodiac-year effect on corporate tax avoidance is more pronounced for firms with tight financial constraints, firms with high business risk, firms headquartered in regions with a high degree of superstition and non-state-owned firms.

This study is the first to show that superstition is a determinant factor of tax avoidance and contributes to the tax literature by shedding light on the behavioral risk factors that shape corporate tax avoidance. We take the perspective of CEOs’ risk appetite to analyze how tax avoidance is influenced by the CEOs’ trade-off between the costs and benefits of avoiding taxes. Our results suggest that, when CEOs are more risk-averse, they attach more importance to financial risk than the risk of reputational losses and litigation associated with corporate tax avoidance. The findings imply that tax avoidance can be curbed by increasing (or decreasing) the tax (financial) risk confronting the CEOs.

The paper examines the impact of market power on wages within the context of a developing country, focusing on Brazil.

With access to matched employer–employee data from Brazil, we first characterized the evolution of the local labor market concentration (Municipality Herfindahl–Hirschman Index [HHI]). Then, we built a fixed-effect model with instrumental variables to verify the association between the local labor market concentration and wages. Finally, a difference-in-difference (DiD) was implemented to verify whether a merger transaction impacted the workers’ earnings in the Brazilian banking sector.

The paper’s findings suggest that there may be a negative relationship between market power and workers’ earnings.

This research conducted an in-depth investigation of the labor market power in a developing country. As far as we know, our work is the first to evaluate the extension of local concentration in Brazilian formal labor markets and to illustrate its evolution over the last decades. Additionally, when going through the effects of market concentration on wages, we use a new identification strategy that explores changes in the HHI that are caused by national trends in an industry as a source of exogenous variation. Finally, the last part of the paper assesses the effects of antitrust policy on the labor market, a kind of investigation that is still scarce.

Drawing on the perspectives of cultural capital theory, this study investigated the impact of international internships on the performance of Japanese undergraduates on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) using a between-group pretest-posttest experimental design.

Students participating in international internships were compared to their counterparts in a noninternational internship control group. Using TOEIC data collected in June 2019 and September 2019, we performed t-tests and estimated a difference-in-differences model with propensity score matching to measure the impacts of participation in international internships, students’ demographic information, family socioeconomic status, and independent learning characteristics.

The study showed that students’ participation in international internships and independent learning activities had significant effects on TOEIC performance. The findings of this study also indicate that in addition to the effects of international internship experience and independent learning on students’ English performance, learner learning behavior may be important for improving students’ performance.

This empirical research provides meaningful insights for parents, educators, and researchers not only in Japan but also in a broader context in which international internships and independent learning activities have a crucial impact on student performance. It also sheds light on our understanding of the role of activities conceptualized through the lens of cultural capital in educational stratification.

This study elucidates the association among cultural capital theory, international internships, and students’ linguistic achievement and makes an important contribution to the broader conceptual literature.

This study aims to examine the impact of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) mandate and differences in national institutional quality on the underpricing of Initial Public Offering (IPO) companies.

Multiple Difference-in-Differences (DiD) ordinary least squares estimations were conducted for 100 corporations listed on the Saudi Arabian stock market using country-level institutional quality data from 2005 to 2017.

IFRS requirements and improvements in institutional quality have a combined effect on minimizing IPO underpricing. The analysis of the combined impact of IFRS requirements and differences in transparency revealed that IPO vendors leave $5 on average for IPO investors to cash out post the IFRS mandate, compared to $29 previously. Thus, IFRS serves as a quality certification instrument that alleviates IPO investors’ ex ante uncertainties, even in nations with undeveloped institutions.

The findings may be beneficial to researchers and policymakers. The results suggest that institutional quality enhancements and obligatory IFRS implementation highlight IFRS’s synergistic influence on the IPO market. While European harmonization efforts drove the adoption of IFRS in Europe in 2005, Saudi Arabia’s adoption of IFRS is not being driven by such initiatives (Daske et al., 2008; Persakis and Iatridis 2017). In reality, when IFRS was officially imposed in Saudi Arabia in 2008, it, like many other emerging market nations, made considerable reforms to its formal institutions. However, research on the combined impact of IFRS and disparities in institutional quality in emerging IPO markets remains sparse. Emerging markets represent more than half of economies that use IFRS. Therefore, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to conduct an empirical investigation to identify this combined effect in emerging countries using the DiD analytical technique. Equity market legislators remain concerned regarding IPO underpricing, as it has a detrimental influence on economic growth (Bova and Pereira, 2012; Jamaani and Ahmed, 2021; Mehmood et al., 2021). Depending on the degree of information asymmetry in national stock markets, underpricing costs increase the cost of going public for entrepreneurs. Consequently, prospective private firms are discouraged from accessing equity financing through the stock markets. This is likely to impede private sector development plans, causing a negative effect on economic growth.

Emerging countries represent over 50% of the IFRS mandating economies. However, there is insufficient research on the combined effect of IFRS requirements and improvements in institutional quality in developing IPO markets. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical attempt to identify this combined effect in one of the largest developing countries. The results may aid academics and policymakers in better understanding the interaction between these two variables.

This study examines how corporate litigation, both securities-related and not, is affected by hedge fund (HF) activism.

We use a difference-in-differences (DiD) method, along with propensity score matching and firm fixed effects and a comparison of HF and non-HF activists for identification.

We find that companies that are targeted by HFs face operation-related lawsuits, mainly from stakeholders or competitors. This effect does not seem to be caused by targets' higher tendency to settle the cases. Our evidence shows that HF activists increase firm value for the target firms that are prone to litigation.

Therefore, our evidence supports the idea that the higher operation litigation risks are unintended consequences of improving firm efficiency through cost savings or restructuring of target firms by the activists.