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This study aims to examine the long-run relationship between macroeconomic and financial conditions and the aggregate number of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the USA, drawing on data spanning from 1928 to 2019.

The study estimated a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) encompassing four variables: the aggregate number of M&As, industrial production, the rates on three-month U.S. treasury bills and the closing price of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

There exists a long-run relationship among the four variables. An increase in industrial production is associated with a fall in M&A transactions, reflecting a tendency for M&A waves to start during economic downturns. Similarly, contractionary monetary policy, which often happens during good economic and financial times, leads to a decline in M&A activity. When the equilibrium among the four variables is disrupted, the aggregate number of M&As, along with financial conditions, works to restore the equilibrium.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the long-run relationship between macroeconomic and financial conditions using data spanning nearly a century.

There are several studies showing that end-users' participation in the architectural design process of houses is critical to their satisfaction (e.g. Önder et al., 2010; Ammar et al., 2013). Housing that is not adjusted to inhabitants' needs leads to modification works (Davidson et al., 2007) that could be avoided if their design was defined from the beginning with their participation. Digital technologies, such as 3D interactive visualization, benefit co-design processes by helping non-specialists better understand space and design possibilities (Salter et al., 2009; Schroth et al., 2006). However, the available literature shows that existing co-design digital tools were not developed based on potential users’ requirements. This paper aims to define the user requirements of a co-design tool for housing customization.

Interviews were conducted to gather information on how participatory processes occur in housing cooperatives and identify how potential users can collaborate in the design definition of their houses using a digital tool.

The interviews were analyzed, and requirements were defined.

This work contributes to the advancement of knowledge since the tool is defined based on requirements collected from potential end-users. By using a user-centered approach, the tool can contribute to more effective and informed collaboration.

This study aims at estimating the gender wage gap in Ecuador, and its evolution over the last decade and a half, exploring its heterogeneity through different working conditions (formal/informal, full employment/underemployment, short term/long term and tenure/no tenure) and workers personal characteristics (education level; age and children).

Propensity score matching (PSM) and coarsened exact matching (CEM) are used to examine the gender pay inequality of wage earners in Ecuador, using the National Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Survey (ENEMDU) data set from 2007 to 2022.

Results show a persistent gender pay gap, evidencing a significant heterogeneity through the different dimensions taken into account, in terms of working conditions and workers personal characteristics. The evolution of the pay gap during the years analyzed hardly shows any reduction of differences in earnings between men and women; on the contrary, women exposure to precarious and unregulated jobs seems to be increasing wage inequality.

The results make the case for active policies oriented not only at containing the negative effects of the traditional division of labor within the family but also at improving labor law enforcement, mitigating informality and workers rapid turnover.

This study is one of the few that use matching techniques to study the gender wage gap and the first in Ecuador; the time span taken into account is larger than previous studies, allowing a medium-long run perspective across different economic phases.

This study draws on social influence and social comparison theories to investigate the effect of social media influencers on intention to visit with the mediating role of upward social comparison. It studies the reasons underlying people's intention to visit a destination from an emotional perspective.

PLS-SEM models were applied to a total of 527 responses.

This study provides empirical evidence supporting the Source Credibility Model's elements within the context of influencer marketing and travel intentions. Furthermore, it expands the current knowledge of upward social comparison emotions by reporting that upward contrastive emotions would partially mediate the relationship between expertise and intention to visit, and that upward assimilative emotions would fully mediate the relationship between attractiveness and intention to visit while partially mediating the relationship between trustworthiness and expertise and intention to visit.

The article adds new insights to tourism marketing as well as helps both destination marketers and travel influencers. For marketers, it is advised to collaborate with credible influencers known for expertise and trustworthiness, leveraging their perspectives to rebuild travel confidence and reassure tourists about safety measures. Travel influencers are recommended to convey their intrinsic passion and enthusiasm through their posts to create an inspiring connection with the audiences.

This paper is the first to address the relationship between travel influencers and intention to visit with the mediation role of both positive and negative emotions.

This paper aims to examine a co-produced initiative implemented at the University of the West of England, UWE (UWE) between September 2022 and April 2023. The student-led project (Climate, Conversations and Cake: The 3C’s) addressed environmental and climate crisis awareness through monthly gatherings where, in partnership, students, academic staff and professional personnel gathered to share food, engage in conversations and partake in joint activities.

This paper draws upon a mix of student and staff feedback, gathered through surveys and written/verbal reflections, to explore the value and impact of this project.

The project received two UWE student Union awards for teaching sustainability and for student welfare, and was a finalist in the UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards. The 3C’s provided a platform for emotional expression by fostering a safe and supportive environment and encouraged students to reflect, share, apply and deepen their learning experiences in an informal setting characterised by compassion and empathy. This paper highlights the importance of developing supportive and compassionate pedagogical practices which recognise and normalise climate concern.

The findings contribute to the growing body of literature on co-produced projects within higher education institutions, showcasing the potential of such initiatives to encourage meaningful engagement and empower students in addressing the pressing challenges of climate crisis. In addition to providing an evidence base for the value of such initiatives, through outlining the specifics of this student-led project, a framework that can be used by other institutions to develop their own initiatives is offered.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new method that allows to compare the magnetic pressures of different pulse width modulation (PWM) strategies in a fast and efficient way.

The voltage harmonics are determined using the double Fourier integral. As for current harmonics and waveforms, a new generic model based on the Park transformation and a dq model of the machine was established taking saturation into consideration. The obtained analytical waveforms are then injected into a finite element software to compute magnetic pressures using nodal forces.

The overall proposed method allows to accelerate the calculations and the comparison of different PWM strategies and operating points as an analytical model is used to generate current waveforms.

While the analytical expressions of voltage harmonics are already provided in the literature for the space vector pulse width modulation, they had to be calculated for the discontinuous pulse width modulation. In this paper, the obtained expressions are provided. For current harmonics, different models based on a linear and a nonlinear model of the machine are presented in the referenced papers; however, these models are not generic and are limited to the second range of harmonics (two times the switching frequency). A new generic model is then established and used in this paper after being validated experimentally. And finally, the direct injection of analytical current waveforms in a finite element software to perform any magnetic computation is very efficient.

This study aims to identify and characterize the intended legacies of transgender women from Spain and Portugal who embarked on their gender transition at 40+ years.

Semi-structured interviews focusing on intended legacies were performed with seven participants (three Portuguese and four Spanish), aged 52–66 years. The interviews were submitted for thematic analysis.

The main findings show that all participants reported intended legacies: personal, to be remembered as a good person; broader, to support younger transgender persons to come out earlier in life and to guide and mentor other transgender persons; and composite, to contribute by being a positive role model and being happily engaged in contributing to others.

This understanding may help in developing adequate practices that promote involvement of transgender persons who are in middle to late life in supporting transgender persons rights and well-being.

An integrated care system identified quality improvement (QI) capacity as a gap in advancing their integrated quality care priorities and improvement efforts. Here we describe the design and implementation of a QI capacity building program that aimed to (1) build QI capacity amongst diverse integrated care system members and (2) apply QI principles to advance integrated quality care priorities.

The integrated care system leaders, including community members, partnered with the University of Toronto Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety to co-design and deliver the QI capacity building program focused on improving cancer screening rates. An existing acute care capacity building program was adapted. Content included QI tools, data to identify and monitor QI priorities, equity considerations, and empowering participants as change agents.

Participants were satisfied with the content and delivery of the program. Some described using QI tools and strategies in practice following the workshop. Challenges to using the tools included the current pressures facing primary care and the health system, resources, and data availability.

This QI capacity building program was challenging but feasible. Clarifying the target audience, being attentive to co-design, acknowledging post-pandemic system challenges and proactively addressing variable knowledge and barriers to QI work in practice will inform future iterations of this program.

While many examples of QI education programs exist, the majority target a single healthcare sector. We describe a novel QI capacity building model that bridges healthcare sectors and includes patient partners and community members as teachers and participants.

In this chapter, we draw on trans-informed theoretical frameworks to provide insights into gender justice and gender democratization in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Our purpose is to illuminate the systemic impact of cisgenderist and cissexist beliefs which refer to the legitimation of birth-assigned gender identity and what this means for embracing a critical project of gender expansiveness in the ECEC classroom. More broadly, we explicate how our engagement with trans studies informs a critique of existing debates about masculinities, boys and male teachers in the early years. We draw on the work of trans scholars in the first part of this chapter to ground an epistemological basis for our understanding of gender expansiveness and masculinities that challenges a cisnormative framing of gender justice in ECEC. In the second part, we draw specifically on scholars in the field who have been pivotal in elaborating what we understand to be gender expansive identities and what this means for thinking about gender justice in the early childhood classroom. In the third part, we reflect on the pedagogical implications of boyhood sissiness through a trans-informed lens and explicate its implications for understanding boys and masculinities in the early years. Finally, we draw on transgender studies-informed perspectives on masculinity which call for ‘de-essentializ[ing] masculinity as grounded in a cis-male body’ (Gottzén & Straube, 2016, p. 217) and explore their implications for re-envisioning masculinities as a gender-transformative project in ECEC.

Businesses are increasingly called upon to support the improvement of society and the environment, and one way to do so is by expanding into international markets, particularly through exports. Despite the importance and recognised challenges of a global approach to sustainable value creation, sustainability research tends to focus on domestic contexts. This paper aims to identify the boundary conditions linking sustainable value creation practices with firm performance in the international context.

The authors merge the sustainable value creation and the international marketing literature to develop two propositions that capture the emerging nature of the field and the lack of concluding evidence regarding the link between international sustainable value creation practices and firm performance. The authors test these propositions empirically by analysing 519 responses to a survey of exporting firms in Portugal, using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis.

The authors identify seven configurations that support sustainable value creation in an international context. These consist of varying levels of standardised and tailored offers, management experience and competitive intensity.

The identification of seven different configurations helps managers decide whether and how to innovate when pursuing sustainable value creation opportunities in international markets.

The authors propose that an effective way for governments to achieve national and transnational social and environmental agendas is to help businesses that pursue sustainable value creation to succeed in international markets. Given that four of the seven pathways to improve export performance that the authors identified require international management experience, the authors posit that an effective way to support the internationalisation of those businesses is through targeted training programmes and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

The authors respond to calls for research to integrate the sustainable value creation and the international marketing literatures, to identify how and when firms can create sustainable value creation in an international context and thus support the resolution of global, social and environmental problems. The finding that there are multiple configurations that support this goal explains why empirical evidence collected thus far is inconclusive and helps identify the boundary conditions of existing theory.