bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Partner Selection in China Interorganizational Patent Cooperation Network Based on Link Prediction Approaches
Authors: Chen Wei , Qu Hui , Chi Kuo
Published: January 2021

To enhance competitiveness and protect interest, an increasing number of organizations cooperate on patent applications. Partner selection has attracted much more attention because it directly affects the success of patent cooperation. By collecting some cooperative patents applied for by different categories of organizations in China from 2007 to 2015, an interorganizational patent cooperation network was built for this paper. After analyzing certain basic properties of the network, it was found that the network possessed some typical characteristics of social networks. Moreover, the network could be divided into communities, and three communities were selected to analyze as representative. Furthermore, to explore the partner selection in the patent cooperation network, eight link prediction approaches commonly used in social networks were introduced to run on another interorganizational patent cooperation network built by the patents applied for in 2016. The precision metric results of the eight link prediction approaches show that they are effective in partnership prediction; in particular, the Common Neighbors (CN) index can be effectively applied to the selection of unfamiliar partners for organizations in patent cooperation. Moreover, this paper also verified the trust transitivity based not only on historical cooperation but also on geographical location, and the complementarity of capabilities still plays an important role in partner selection for organizations.
New Approach to Assess Multi-Scale Coastal Landscape Vulnerability to Erosion in Tropical Storms in Vietnam
Authors: Nguyen Cao Huan , Dang Kinh Bac , Ngo Van Liem , Dang Van Bao , Truong Quang Hai , Nguyen Dang Hoi , Giang Tuan Linh , Pham Thi Phuong Nga , Ngo Chi Cuong , Hoang Thi Thuy , Dang Thi Ngoc
Published: January 2021

The increase of coastal erosion due to intense tropical storms and unsustainable urban development in Vietnam demands vulnerability assessments at different research scales. This study proposes (1) a new approach to classify coastlines and (2) suitable criteria to evaluate coastal vulnerability index (CVI) at national and regional/local scales. At the national scale, the Vietnamese coastline was separated into 72 cells from 8 coast types based on natural features, whereas the Center region of Vietnam was separated into 495 cells from 41 coast types based on both natural and socio-economic features. The assessments were carried out by using 17 criteria related to local land use/cover, socio-economic, and natural datasets. Some simplified variables for CVI calculation at the national scale were replaced by quantitative variables at regional/local scales, particularly geomorphology and socio-economic variables. As a result, more than 20% of Vietnam’s coastline has high CVI values, significantly more than 350 km of the coasts in the center part. The coastal landscapes with residential and tourism lands close to the beaches without protection forests have been strongly affected by storms’ erosion. The new approach is cost-effective in data use and processing and is ideal for identifying and evaluating the CVI index at different scales.
Economic Complexity and Inequality: Does Regional Productive Structure Affect Income Inequality in Brazilian States?
Authors: Bandeira Morais Margarida , Swart Julia , Jordaan Jacob Arie
Published: January 2021

Recent research on the effects of the productive structure of an economy has turned to examining whether economic complexity is associated with lower income inequality. In contrast to the commonly adopted approach that estimates the impact of economic complexity in a cross-country setting, we use panel data for Brazilian states to identify the relationship between economic complexity and income inequality at the sub-national level. Our findings show that the relationship between economic complexity and income inequality has an inverted U-shape, indicating that growing levels of complexity first worsen and then improve the income distribution in Brazilian states. Our findings also show that this relationship is particularly prominent in those states that have relatively high levels of urbanization and overall development. Furthermore, we identify separate effects on income inequality from the degree to which regional productive structures are characterised by diversity in terms of industries and occupations. These effects are particularly pronounced in less developed states with a more rural character. In combination, these findings confirm the important role that the productive structure plays in processes that drive improvements in income distributions and suggest that more research on this impact is warranted at the regional level.
A Novel Strategy for Optimal PSO Control Parameters Determination for PV Energy Systems
Authors: Eltamaly Ali M.
Published: January 2021

This study introduces a novel strategy that can determine the optimal values of control parameters of a PSO. These optimal control parameters will be very valuable to all the online optimization problems where the convergence time and the failure convergence rate are vital concerns. The newly proposed strategy uses two nested PSO (NESTPSO) searching loops; the inner one contained the original objective function, and the outer one used the inner PSO as a fitness function. The control parameters and the swarm size acted as the optimization variables for the outer loop. These variables were optimized for the lowest premature convergence rate, the lowest number of iterations, and the lowest swarm size. The new proposed strategy can be used for all the swarm optimization techniques as well. The results showed the superiority of the proposed NESTPSO control parameter determination when compared with several state of the art PSO strategies.
Sustainability, Store Equity, and Satisfaction: The Moderating Effect of Gender in Retailing
Authors: Marín-García Antonio , Gil-Saura Irene , Ruiz-Molina María Eugenia , Berenguer-Contrí Gloria
Published: January 2021

Currently, sustainability emerges as a key element on which the development of competitive advantages for businesses is based. In the dynamic and turbulent environment in which retail companies operate, sustainable practices are posited as an opportunity for their progress and survival. Through this article, it is intended to advance the nature and dimensions of this construct and examine its influence on store equity and consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, this work analyses the moderating effect of gender on these variables and the mediating nature of brand equity in the development of consumer satisfaction. All this is developed through a quantitative study carried out on a sample of 510 consumers of different food retail commercial formats (hypermarkets, supermarkets, and discount stores) in Spain. The technique used for data analysis is partial least squares (PLS) regression. The results show the importance of sustainability and brand equity in the development of consumer satisfaction in the retail sector, with the intensity of its effects being a gender issue. On the other hand, brand equity is positioned as a key element thanks to its mediating effect between sustainability and satisfaction. All of this points to the need to move towards more sustainable business models.
Using a Genetic Algorithm to Build a Volume Weighted Average Price Model in a Stock Market
Authors: Jeong Seung Hwan , Lee Hee Soo , Nam Hyun , Oh Kyong Joo
Published: January 2021

Research on stock market prediction has been actively conducted over time. Pertaining to investment, stock prices and trading volume are important indicators. While extensive research on stocks has focused on predicting stock prices, not much focus has been applied to predicting trading volume. The extensive trading volume by large institutions, such as pension funds, has a great impact on the market liquidity. To reduce the impact on the stock market, it is essential for large institutions to correctly predict the intraday trading volume using the volume weighted average price (VWAP) method. In this study, we predict the intraday trading volume using various methods to properly conduct VWAP trading. With the trading volume data of the Korean stock price index 200 (KOSPI 200) futures index from December 2006 to September 2020, we predicted the trading volume using dynamic time warping (DTW) and a genetic algorithm (GA). The empirical results show that the model using the simple average of the trading volume during the optimal period constructed by GA achieved the best performance. As a result of this study, we expect that large institutions will perform more appropriate VWAP trading in a sustainable manner, leading the stock market to be revitalized by enhanced liquidity. In this sense, the model proposed in this paper would contribute to creating efficient stock markets and help to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Contradictory Aspects of Job Searching in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relationships between Perceived Socioeconomic Constraints, Work Volition, and the Meaning of Work
Authors: Yoon Pilhyoun , Hahn Juhee
Published: January 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing many aspects of our lives. The hiring and job searching situation is no exception. This study investigated somewhat contradictory aspects of self-determination and circumscription and compromise in the context of job searching and recruitment in South Korea’s COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this study aimed to examine the effects of variables that control work volition, and the ways in which work volition is related to perceived socioeconomic constraints and the meaning of work, in female college students looking for a job in South Korea. Furthermore, we explored the implications for job searching and corporate personnel management in the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, this study intended to contribute theoretically and practically to self-determination, and circumscription and compromise theory, and to suggest future research directions.
Pineapple Residue Ash Reduces Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Pineapple Cultivation on Tropical Peat Soils at Saratok, Malaysia
Authors: Choo Liza Nuriati Lim Kim , Ahmed Osumanu Haruna , Majid Nik Muhamad Nik , Aziz Zakry Fitri Abd
Published: January 2021

Burning pineapple residues on peat soils before pineapple replanting raises concerns on hazards of peat fires. A study was conducted to determine whether ash produced from pineapple residues could be used to minimize carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in cultivated tropical peatlands. The effects of pineapple residue ash fertilization on CO2 and N2O emissions from a peat soil grown with pineapple were determined using closed chamber method with the following treatments: (i) 25, 50, 70, and 100% of the suggested rate of pineapple residue ash + NPK fertilizer, (ii) NPK fertilizer, and (iii) peat soil only. Soils treated with pineapple residue ash (25%) decreased CO2 and N2O emissions relative to soils without ash due to adsorption of organic compounds, ammonium, and nitrate ions onto the charged surface of ash through hydrogen bonding. The ability of the ash to maintain higher soil pH during pineapple growth primarily contributed to low CO2 and N2O emissions. Co-application of pineapple residue ash and compound NPK fertilizer also improves soil ammonium and nitrate availability, and fruit quality of pineapples. Compound NPK fertilizers can be amended with pineapple residue ash to minimize CO2 and N2O emissions without reducing peat soil and pineapple productivity.
Feasibility of Coupling PS System with Building Protection in an Ultrasoft Strata Colliery
Authors: Guo Song , Guo Guangli , Yang Xiangsheng , Du Qiu
Published: January 2021

To guarantee the stability of a building complex above a planned mining district with ultrasoft strata, strip mining technology (SMT) was applied to control the displacement and deformation caused by underground exploitation. This study attempts to design a reasonable pillar width to establish a stable pillar-support (PS) system composed of ground buildings with coal pillars underneath. Based on the stratigraphic structure of ultrasoft strata and in situ measurement data of mining subsidence monitoring, this study takes an ultrasoft strata colliery in western Henan province, central China, as an example to examine the technical and economical feasibility of the proposed PSsyst under two mining scenarios. The major results indicated that the initial design of pillar width would be 120 m under scenario 1, with expected damage of only 450 mm maximum subsidence predicted by probability integration method (PIM); while under scenario 2, the cost of compensation for buildings’ mining-induced damage would increase to CNY 61.31 million with an expected output of 7.629 million tons of raw coal. Moreover, the protection rate of the residential area in the proposed postmining area of scenario 1 can reach as much as 6.91% comparing to the fully mechanized coal winning technology in scenario 2. Overall, the proposed PSsyst will bring good benefits both economically and environmentally and should be worth promoting as a reference for similar geological and mining conditions in the future.
Traffic Simulation Analysis of Bicycle Highways in Urban Areas
Authors: Grigoropoulos Georgios , Hosseini Seyed Abdollah , Keler Andreas , Kaths Heather , Spangler Matthias , Busch Fritz , Bogenberger Klaus
Published: January 2021

The ongoing increase of bicycle traffic in urban areas forces transport authorities to reconsider the space allocation for different transport modes. Transport policies favor the introduction of high-quality bicycle infrastructure along urban corridors to improve the traffic quality and safety for bicyclists but more importantly to increase the attractiveness of bicycling and over vehicular modes. Especially in urban areas with an already established high and steadily increasing share of bicyclists, the introduction of bicycle highways is considered to further alleviate saturated interurban public transport and motor vehicle connections and increase the average traveled distance by non-motorized modes. Due to the expensive implementation costs and the space restrictions in already built-up urban environments, there should be an extensive planning phase for defining the expected changes in traffic efficiency and safety. However, the effects of urban bicycle highways on traffic performance metrics of bicyclists as well as other road users are not thoroughly studied. This paper aims to quantify and assess the potential effects of urban bicycle highway on road users. The study considers a possible inner-city pilot route in the city of Munich, where the present bicycle infrastructure is planned to be upgraded to a bicycle highway. A simulation model is designed using traffic data from field observations and future estimates for the traffic composition. Through microscopic traffic simulation, the potential effects of the introduced infrastructure on road users are determined for different study scenarios. Results show that traffic quality thresholds for bicycle highways, as defined in official guidelines, can only be fulfilled through the implementation of special bicycle traffic control measures such as bicycle coordination or bicycle passage time extension. Finally, unidirectional bicycle highways together with bicycle passage time extension provided the best overall traffic performance for bicycle traffic and motor vehicle traffic.
Social Media Usage by Different Generations as a Tool for Sustainable Tourism Marketing in Society 5.0 Idea
Authors: Hysa Beata , Karasek Aneta , Zdonek Iwona
Published: January 2021

This article discusses the use of social media by different generations in destination marketing from a sustainable tourism perspective. In the light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, intensive marketing efforts and strategies to bring back sustainable tourism will soon become important. Social media (SM) can significantly support the promotion of destinations by guaranteeing an appropriate number and type of tourists. The article examines the frequency of using social media by different generations and the scope of their use in planning a tourist trip. The research was conducted in Poland on a sample of 397 respondents representing the group of Baby Boomers (BB), as well as Generations X, Y, and Z. The results of the research showed that the frequency of using SM decreases with age. The differences between the generations are visible in such behaviours as using SM to check opinions about tourist places, recommending a holiday with positive opinions and comments in SM, as well as resigning from a holiday based on negative opinions and comments.
The Impact of Corporate Strategy on Enterprise Innovation Based on the Mediating Effect of Corporate Risk-Taking
Authors: Li Rui , Cui Yongmei , Zheng Yajun
Published: January 2021

Corporate strategy and enterprise innovation are highly relevant to corporate sustainability. Although previous studies on corporate strategy and enterprise innovation have yielded many results, a consensus regarding the relationship between the two is still lacking. The purpose of this study was to empirically analyze the impact of corporate strategy on corporate innovation performance and analyze corporate risk-taking as a potential factor mediating such. Based on data for listed Chinese A-share manufacturing companies for 2008 to 2018, this empirical study found that corporate strategy and corporate innovation show an inverted U-shaped relationship. Corporate risk-taking plays a mediating effect between corporate strategy and corporate innovation performance. This study expands the knowledge on situational variables and the mechanism by which corporate strategy might impact enterprise innovation and can enlighten managers to promote the sustainable development of manufacturing enterprises.
Innovativeness of Tourism Enterprises: Example of Poland
Authors: Panfiluk Eugenia
Published: January 2021

The main aim of this article was to define the innovativeness of the tourism sector in cross-industry terms. The specific objectives were to identify categories of innovations implemented by tourism enterprises with division by industry branches, and to identify the differences and similarities of the innovations implemented by tourism enterprises in terms of the industry in which they operate. A conceptual framework, based on existing literature, was developed to analyze the innovation process. The research was carried out using the method of a diagnostic survey with interview elements, according to a structured research questionnaire using the telephone interview technique. The results show that tourism enterprises are characterized by average and low innovativeness. From the point of view of assessing the impact of innovation on market behavior in the tourism sector, there are no so-called disruptive innovations, which could have a decisive impact on market changes and replace the existing and constantly improved products, services, and processes. There are sustaining innovations that improve the functioning of companies, which do not affect the market changes, but do compete with the existing solutions on existing terms. However, incremental and adaptive innovations constitute an important part of innovation; this process proves the development of tourism companies and has an impact on the improvement of the situation of the entire economy.
A Street Graph-Based Morphometric Characterization of Two Large Urban Areas
Authors: Salvadori Luca , Badas Maria Grazia , Di Bernardino Annalisa , Querzoli Giorgio , Ferrari Simone
Published: January 2021

Urban microclimate modelling, both numerical and in the laboratory, has strong implications in many relevant health and life-style management issues e.g., in studies for assessment and forecast of air quality (for both outdoor and, as boundary conditions, indoor investigations), for thermometric trend analysis in urban zones, in cultural heritage preservation, etc. Moreover, the study of urban microclimate modelling is largely promoted and encouraged by international institutions for its implication in human health protection. In the present work, we propose and discuss an adaptive street graph-based method aimed at automatically computing the geometrical parameters adopted in atmospheric turbulent flow modelling. This method has been applied to two real cases, the Italian cities of Rome and Cagliari, and its results has been compared with the ones from traditional methods based on regular grids. Results show that the proposed method leads to a more accurate determination of the urban canyon parameters (Canyon Aspect Ratio and Building Aspect Ratio) and morphometric parameters (Planar Area Index and Frontal Area Index) compared to traditional regular grid-based methods, at least for the tested cases. Further investigations on a larger number of different urban contexts are planned to thoroughly test and validate the proposed algorithm.
Flood Resilience of Housing Infrastructure Modeling and Quantification Using a Bayesian Belief Network
Authors: Sen Mrinal Kanti , Dutta Subhrajit , Kabir Golam
Published: January 2021

Resilience is the capability of a system to resist any hazard and revive to a desirable performance. The consequences of such hazards require the development of resilient infrastructure to ensure community safety and sustainability. However, resilience-based housing infrastructure design is a challenging task due to a lack of appropriate post-disaster datasets and the non-availability of resilience models for housing infrastructure. Hence, it is necessary to build a resilience model for housing infrastructure based on a realistic dataset. In this work, a Bayesian belief network (BBN) model was developed for housing infrastructure resilience. The proposed model was tested in a real community in Northeast India and the reliability, recovery, and resilience of housing infrastructure against flood hazards for that community were quantified. The required data for resilience quantification were collected by conducting a field survey and from public reports and documents. Lastly, a sensitivity analysis was performed to observe the critical parameters of the proposed BBN model, which can be used to inform designers, policymakers, and stakeholders in making resilience-based decisions.
Understanding Consumers’ Convenience Orientation. An Exploratory Study of Fresh-Cut Fruit in Italy
Authors: Testa Riccardo , Schifani Giorgio , Migliore Giuseppina
Published: January 2021

In Western society, the fresh-cut fruit market is experiencing significant growth, especially in Italy, where, in 2019, the fresh-cut fruit sales volume increased by 35% compared with the previous year. This study aims to understand Italian consumers’ demand for fresh-cut fruits and to explore whether this trend is also affected by the prevalence of healthy lifestyles. Health orientation seems, in fact, to be a growing trend in the food sector. Research has recognized that consumers’ orientation towards products that are ready to be consumed is not only related to saving time. Sociodemographic factors and psychometric variables, including values and lifestyles, play important roles in understanding consumer demand for convenience products. For this purpose, the food-related lifestyles (FRLs) tool was used to profile consumers. The FRLs tool is a useful instrument that describes different ways in which people use food to achieve their values in life. Data were collected by using an online survey carried out with Italian consumers of fresh-cut fruits. By using a cluster analysis technique, four Italian fresh-cut fruit consumer target groups were identified. The largest target group was represented by uninvolved consumers, who are not inclined to cook or plan meals and who are very influenced by the advertising of food products in their buying decisions. An interesting target group, which may represent a challenge for food enterprises in the sector, was health-oriented consumers, who attach great importance to organic certification and to product information. This target group was also characterized by older consumers with higher net monthly household incomes than other target groups.
Role of Government to Enhance Digital Transformation in Small Service Business
Authors: Chen Chun-Liang , Lin Yao-Chin , Chen Wei-Hung , Chao Cheng-Fu , Pandia Henry
Published: January 2021

In the digital economy era, small service business struggle to compete in a rapidly changing and dynamic market. Therefore, through digital transformation (DT), small service business seek to increase their competitive advantage, improve business performance, and achieve business growth. Having limited resources and capabilities, small service business must deal with several barriers and challenges. This study aims to discover the barriers, and the roles of government, for digital transformation in small service business. This study applied a qualitative approach involving semi-structured in-depth interviews with top management of small service business. Then, we employed the content analysis method to examine interview data and construct a model. This research reveals four main barriers to digital transformation in small service business: lack of funding, lack of digital capability, lack of human resources, and technical barriers. We found there are four government roles for supporting digital transformation in small service business: build a digital platform for small service business, promote mobile/digital payment, provide digital training, and build a digital collaboration ecosystem. Additionally, based on this study’s findings, a model for barriers and government support of digital transformation in small service business is presented. This study contributes to the conceptual framework and management implications in the digital transformation field. The study’s findings provide insights to practitioners and suggest that the government could alter the current policies and programs to support digital transformation in small service business.
Wheat Varietal Diversification Increases Ethiopian Smallholders’ Food Security: Evidence from a Participatory Development Initiative
Authors: Gotor Elisabetta , Usman Muhammed Abdella , Occelli Martina , Fantahun Basazen , Fadda Carlo , Kidane Yosef Gebrehawaryat , Mengistu Dejene , Kiros Afewerki Yohannes , Mohammed Jemal Nurhisen , Assefa Mekonen , Woldesemayate Tesfaye , Caracciolo Francesco
Published: January 2021

This study assesses the impact of a participatory development program called Seeds For Needs, carried out in Ethiopia to support smallholders in addressing climate change and its consequences through the introduction, selection, use, and management of suitable crop varieties. More specifically, it analyzes the program’s role of boosting durum wheat varietal diversification and agrobiodiversity to support higher crop productivity and strengthen smallholder food security. The study is based on a survey of 1008 households across three major wheat-growing regional states: Amhara, Oromia, and Tigray. A doubly robust estimator was employed to properly estimate the impact of Seeds For Needs interventions. The results show that program activities have significantly enhanced wheat crop productivity and smallholders’ food security by increasing wheat varietal diversification. This paper provides further empirical evidence for the effective role that varietal diversity can play in improving food security in marginal environments, and also provides clear indications for development agencies regarding the importance of improving smallholders’ access to crop genetic resources.
Implementation of the No Poverty Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in Visegrad Group (V4)
Authors: Sobczak Elżbieta , Bartniczak Bartosz , Raszkowski Andrzej
Published: January 2021

This presented study discusses problems related to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 1: No Poverty, aimed at eliminating poverty, based on the example of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries. The introduction addresses the general characteristics of the V4 and attempts to define the concept of sustainable development, with particular emphasis on its complex nature and importance for future generations. The purpose of the research was to assess the diversity within the Visegrad Group countries in the years 2005–2018 in terms of poverty and sustainable development level in the No Poverty area and also to identify the impact of the socioeconomic development level in the studied countries on sustainable development in the No Poverty area. Taking into account the analysis of poverty indicators in the Visegrad Group countries, the best results were recorded for Czechia. The second part of the conducted analyzed allowed us to conclude that Czechia definitely presents the highest level of sustainable development, followed by Slovakia. The highest average dynamics of changes occur in Poland and Hungary, which result in the gradual elimination of the existing disproportions. Among other research results, it is worth highlighting that the V4 countries show significant, however, decreasing differences regarding the indicators describing poverty in relation to sustainable development.
An Online-Based Edu-Escape Room: A Comparison Study of a Multidimensional Domain of PSTs with Flipped Sustainability-STEM Contents
Authors: Yllana-Prieto Félix , Jeong Jin Su , González-Gómez David
Published: January 2021

The use of active and flipped methodologies has increased in recent years. Here, gamification uses typical elements of a game in different contexts, including that of education. Specifically, Escape Room games used as educational tools have potential for teaching–learning, and they can be beneficial because they can improve students’ motivation and emotions toward learning. This is particularly valuable in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses, where the cognitive factor and multidimensional domain are closely connected. This research presents an online-based Edu-Escape Room with science and sustainability contents as an educative tool in a STEM course. With the intervention proposed, we analyze how this tool influences the multidimensional domain (attitudes, self-efficacy and emotions) of pre-service teachers (PSTs). According to attitude and self-efficacy analysis, it is observed that most of the items analyzed show an increase in self-efficacy and more positive attitudes after the intervention. In particular, Question 11 (Q11) indicates a significant difference. Concerning the results for emotion, the positive emotions “joy”, “satisfaction” and “fun” are significantly increased after the intervention. However, the negative emotions “nervousness”, “frustration” and “concern” also increase, partly due to the game characteristics. The proposed activity had a medium effect on items with significant differences except for the emotion “frustration”, where the intervention had a large effect according to effect size (ES) analysis. According to the principal component analysis (PCA), the attitudes, self-efficacy and emotions of the PSTs are positively correlated, and the influence of the proposed activity shows a significant improvement in these variables. Finally, the structural equation modeling partial least squares (SEM-PLS) analysis showed the effects that the instruction has on the PSTs’ emotions and also that they had a significant effect on the positive attitudes towards and self-efficacy in science. Therefore, there are multiple benefits in the multidimensional domain of PSTs of having implemented the proposed online-based Edu-Escape Room.
Partial Correlation Analysis of Association between Subjective Well-Being and Ecological Footprint
Authors: Zhang Jinting , Zhan F. Benjamin , Wu Xiu , Zhang Daojun
Published: January 2021

A spatial-temporal panel dataset was collected from 101 countries during 2006–2016. Using partial correlation (PC) and ordinary correlation (OR) analyses, this research examines the relationship between ecological footprint (EF) and subjective well-being (SWB) to measure environmental impacts on people’s happiness. Gross domestic product (GDP), urbanization rate (UR), literacy rate (LR), youth life expectancy (YLE), wage and salaried workers (WSW), political stability (PS), voice accountability (VA) are regarded as control variables. Total bio-capacity (TBC), ecological crop-land footprints (ECL), ecological grazing-land footprint (EGL), and ecological built-up land footprint (EBL) have significant positive influences on SWB, but ecological fish-land (EFL) has significant negative influences on SWB. Ecological carbon footprint (ECF) is significantly negatively related to SWB in developed countries. An increase in the amount of EF factors is associated with a country’s degree of development. Political social–economic impacts on SWB disguised environmental contribution on SWB, especially CBF impacts on SWB. The use of PC in examining the association between SWB and EF helps bridge a knowledge gap and facilitate a better understanding of happiness.
Priority Stakeholders’ Perception: Social Responsibility Indicators
Authors: Seibert Rosane Maria , Macagnan Clea Beatriz , Dixon Robert
Published: January 2021

This study aims to build a list of composite indicators by information that enable the assessment of philanthropic higher education organizations’ (PHEOs) social responsibility based on the interests of their stakeholders. A list of 88 social responsibility indicators was built based on a literature review and stakeholder interest to serve as a basis for the composite indicators. In order to identify and validate the indicators, field research was carried out. Stakeholders from Brazil and the United Kingdom scored them from one (not important) to five (very important) for each indicator identified in the literature review. With 540 valid answers, they suggested inclusions and exclusions according to their interests. Next, a correlation analysis was performed to identify and eliminate redundant indicators. The principal component analysis extracted the composite indicators. The results point to 11 principal components that are configured as composite indicators to evaluate the performance of PHEOs social responsibility considering the stakeholder’s interests, a factor that differentiates this research from the literature revision done. Some of the composite indicators are close to the social responsibility categories reviewed in the literature. However, others show more specific and in-depth interests, especially regarding the stakeholders themselves. These composite indicators help managers establish disclosure policies whenever they are focused on seeking legitimacy in the social context of PHEOs. It also contributes to the advancement of theoretical knowledge, presenting composite indicators, from the stakeholder’s perspective, for the disclosure of social responsibility of PHEOs.
The Progress of Sustainable Management of Ammonia Emissions from Agriculture in European Union States Including Poland—Variation, Trends, and Economic Conditions
Authors: Murawska Anna , Prus Piotr
Published: January 2021

Ammonia (NH3) is one of the gases adversely affecting the natural environment. The greatest contributor to emissions of this gas to the atmosphere is agricultural activity. The main objective of the study was to assess the progress of sustainable management of ammonia emissions from agriculture in European Union countries. The specific objectives of the article were the following: to analyse and diagnose the level of ammonia emissions from agriculture, to study the diversity of emissions of this gas between countries, to analyse trends in the years 2010–2017 and, above all, to assess the relationship between the level of ammonia emissions from agriculture and the economic conditions of EU countries. The theoretical part of the article describes the causes and effects of, as well as preventive actions against, ammonia emissions from agriculture, whereas the empirical part analyses the problems, trends, variations, and the impact of economic conditions on emissions of this gas in 2010–2017. To evaluate the range of problems discussed, indicators describing ammonia emission levels Y01A and Y01B, as well as indicators characterising economic conditions X01, X02, and X03 have been employed. During the study, the following indicators were analysed: ammonia emissions from agriculture in kilograms per hectare (Y01A), ammonia emissions from agriculture—percentage of total emissions (Y01B), government appropriations or outlays on research and development in agriculture in EUR per capita (X01), agricultural factor income in EUR per annual work unit (AWU) (X02), and real GDP in EUR per capita (X03). The source for the empirical data was information from the European Statistical Office (Eurostat). The analysis covered 28 states of the European Union. In the article, among others, the rate of change indices, coefficients of variation (Vs), measures of distance (D) and range (R), coefficients of asymmetry (A) and kurtosis (K) were calculated, and correlation and regression analysis were performed. The share of agriculture in total ammonia emissions in European Union countries is very high and averages as high as 92%. Most of the countries maintain an upward tendency; a disturbing fact, considering such high ammonia emissions from agriculture. Based on the present analysis, it has also been confirmed that countries with the relatively highest levels of economy and agricultural research and development funding in fact emit more and increasingly more ammonia from agriculture. To avoid the intensification of the adverse effects of this phenomenon, all EU Member States should take effective, efficient, and sustained action to reduce ammonia emission levels.
Key Challenges in the Status Analysis for the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan in Podgorica, Montenegro
Authors: Vujadinović Radoje , Jovanović Jelena Šaković , Plevnik Aljaž , Mladenovič Luka , Rye Tom
Published: January 2021

The paper presents the results of the application of a practical approach for collecting data, which provides a simple, cost efficient, and easily reproducible method that was applied to obtain the necessary data for the status analysis of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) for Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. Important data for the estimation of the existing condition of the traffic system were collected through desk research from the appropriate institutions and organizations. Several surveys and focus group interviews were conducted, in which about 5000 residents of Podgorica participated. In addition to answering questions, residents made numerous suggestions, confirming the correctness of a participatory approach in the new traffic planning paradigm that provides the SUMP with crucial advantages. A manual cordon count of traffic on five bridges for the traffic of the motor vehicles, as well as on two pedestrian-only bridges, was performed by students from the study program Road Traffic, and there are plans to repeat this in the coming years in order to enable more reliable monitoring and evaluation of the obtained data. Contemporary quality management tools such as BYPAD and ParkPAD were also used to assess the status of cycling and parking policy, respectively. It is especially important to emphasize that Podgorica is the first city in the West Balkans, and the fourth city in Europe, in which the ParkPAD tool was applied. A wide range of negative phenomena and trends was identified, like a rapid increase in the number of registered vehicles, an increase in the motorization rate and the number of traffic accidents, increased non-compliance with traffic rules, excessive use of passenger cars and auto-taxi vehicles, insufficient use of unattractive public transport, walking and cycling, etc. Based on the data collected, key challenges in status analysis in Podgorica were identified, which the SUMP should try to overcome.
How Can Marriage Immigrants Contribute to the Sustainability of the Host Country? Implications from the Leisure and Travel Patterns of Vietnamese Women in South Korea
Authors: Choi Suh-hee , Jang Haeri
Published: January 2021

This qualitative exploratory study focuses on marriage immigrant women and explores the possibility they might contribute to the sustainability of the host country. A sustainable society, the contribution of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism to destination sustainability, information behavior, and fringe stakeholder involvement for sustainable destination management are the focus of this study. Vietnamese marriage immigrant women in South Korea were investigated; the reasons for the investigation include: their increasing numbers, their significance caused by the roles both at the household and the societal levels, and the increased diplomatic ties between Vietnam and South Korea. The narratives of 16 informants about their leisure, hosting of friends and relatives, and information sharing patterns show that Vietnamese marriage immigrant women’s leisure and travel facilitate their subjective well-being and the enhancement of social capital, which potentially contribute to a sustainable society. Their hosting experience of the visits of friends and relatives, and its implications for sustainability, are further discussed. Furthermore, their roles as information mediators suggest their potential to contribute to the formation of the host country reputation. Self-appraisal of their unique travel patterns provides implications for involving this group for destination management. We consider both their importance and constraints as contributors to the host country attaining sustainability, and the implications are discussed.
Study on Characteristics of Energy Storage and Acoustic Emission of Rock under Different Moisture Content
Authors: Li Chuanming , Liu Nan , Liu Wanrong , Feng Ruimin
Published: January 2021

In order to study the energy storage and sound emission characteristics of rocks under different water content, uniaxial compression test, cyclic loading, unloading test and sound emission test were carried out using RMT-150B rock mechanics test system and DS5 acoustic emission system. The results show that the total strain energy of saturated rock samples and the area of hysteresis loop are the largest in the same period number, which indicates that the presence of water can reduce the elastic limit of rock samples, making the rock very easy to deform and even damage. Acoustic emission tests show that the damage energy of water-bearing rocks is small. The higher the water content, the smaller the peak damage energy. The bending energy index WET of the rock sample under saturated and natural state is smaller than that under dry state, which further indicates that the presence of water can reduce the elastic limit of the rock and soften it. The results can provide a basis for the prediction of underground engineering construction and rock failure instability.
Drought Identification and Trend Analysis Using Long-Term CHIRPS Satellite Precipitation Product in Bundelkhand, India
Authors: Pandey Varsha , Srivastava Prashant K , Singh Sudhir K , Petropoulos George P. , Mall Rajesh Kumar
Published: January 2021

Drought hazard mapping and its trend analysis has become indispensable due to the aggravated impact of drought in the era of climate change. Sparse observational networks with minimal maintenance limit the spatio-temporal coverage of precipitation data, which has been a major constraint in the effective drought monitoring. In this study, high-resolution satellite-derived Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) data has been used for computation of Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The study was carried out in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, India, known for its substantial drought occurrences with poor drought management plans and lack of effective preparedness. Very limited studies have been carried out in assessing the spatio-temporal drought in this region. This study aims to identify district-wide drought and its trend characterization from 1981 to 2018. The run theory was applied for quantitative drought assessment; whereas, the Mann-Kendall (MK) test was performed for trend analysis at seasonal and annual time steps. Results indicated an average of nine severe drought events in all the districts in the last 38 years, and the most intense drought was recorded for the Jalaun district (1983–1985). A significant decreasing trend is observed for the SPI1 (at 95% confidence level) during the post-monsoon season, with the magnitude varying from −0.16 to −0.33 mm/month. This indicates the increasing severity of meteorological drought in the area. Moreover, a non-significant falling trend for short-term drought (SPI1 and SPI3) annually and short- and medium-term drought (SPI1, SPI3, and SPI6) in winter months have been also observed for all the districts. The output of the current study would be utilized in better understanding of the drought condition through elaborate trend analysis of the SPI pattern and thus helps the policy makers to devise a drought management plan to handle the water crisis, food security, and in turn the betterment of the inhabitants.
Employee Compensation Strategy as Sustainable Competitive Advantage for HR Education Practitioners
Authors: Kang Eungoo , Lee Hyoyoung
Published: January 2021

By building on compensation literature, the current study explored and identified the ties between workers’ competencies, corporate cultures, and compensation schemes. These schemes were typically the subject of literature on the factors dealing with the implementation of incentive systems for pay for performance (PFP) or problems that can lead to a PFP system’s failure. Unfortunately, when it comes to research that HR education practitioners may do, the literature has been scarce. It shows which organizational elements might be necessary to examine when deciding whether a PFP or an alternative compensation program is acceptable. This study aimed to add insight into this gap in research. The findings of this study showed from the use of data from 385 American employees in the manufacturing industry that there are significant relationships statistically between employee competencies and organizational cultures and those findings can be corroborated with existing researches, suggesting compensation schemes were related to multiple types of competence organizations and different organization cultures, thus adding meaningfully to the current literature.
Does Customer Orientation Matter? Direct and Indirect Effects in a Service Quality-Sustainable Restaurant Satisfaction Framework in China
Authors: Xia Yingxue , Ha Hong-Youl
Published: January 2021

This study aims to further understand the moderating role of customer orientation in the formation of customer satisfaction in the Chinese restaurant context. The first finding of direct effects reveals that customer orientation has a positive impact on quality evaluations, restaurant image and customer satisfaction. Taken in sequence, customer orientation improves quality evaluations, which, in turn, improves restaurant image and customer satisfaction. In particular, restaurant image by itself is not significant in its impact on customer satisfaction, whereas higher levels of customer orientation moderate to strengthen the relationship of restaurant image with customer satisfaction. The authors then provide a managerial framework that can be used to guide customer orientation improvement efforts.