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Comparative analyses in education science have traditionally focused on the category of geographic location as the comparative unit. However, comparison may involve many other units of analysis, such as culture, politics, curricula, education systems, social phenomena, and other categories of the lives of societies. Still, categories are inseparably linked to one or several geographic locations. Comparative approaches are often also dictated by the availability heuristic. Studying geographic units as the foci of comparative research is a necessary step for comparative presentation of the topic. According to Bray and Thomas, a researcher must always seek preliminary insight in the geographic unit to be analyzed before making the comparison. In social science research, a unit of analysis relates to the main object of the research, as it answers the question of “who” or “what” is going to be analyzed. The most common units of analysis are people, groups, organizations, artifacts or phenomena, and social interactions. Ragin and Amoroso have noted that comparative methods can be used to explain the commonness or diversity of results. This paper shows how comparative research can be approached in ways that have not been discussed, grounded in the historically variable understanding of the very term “comparison.” They are, for example, The Ogden-Richards triangle, The Porphyrian Tree, Classification strategies – Mill’s Canons, The chaos of the world – the order of science, Weber’s ideal types, Raymond Boudon’s formula, and the Möbius strip in comparativism.

This volume explores the intersection of youth agency, media representation, and conflict, urging a reevaluation of the roles of youth in contemporary socio-political contexts. Media serves as a tool for and a site of resistance. Chapters in this volume highlight ways in which children and youth leverage digital platforms to reshape narratives around conflict and peace. The compilation draws from a wide range of contexts, from the Balkan Wars to the current conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, offering in-depth analyses of the transformative potential of the (re)imagining of youth experiences, thus shifting from passive subjects to active narrators. This reorientation emphasizes the role of new technologies, including digital media and artificial intelligence, in supporting these endeavors, especially in enhancing mental health and psychological resilience among children affected by conflict.

This study investigates the implications of country-level aggregate sales decline on firms’ cost stickiness and explores how legal systems and cultural dimensions moderate this relationship.

We analyze an international sample of firms from 39 countries over the 2003–2022 period using regression analysis to examine the relationship between aggregate sales decline and firms’ cost behavior.

Our findings reveal that country-level aggregate sales decline reduces firms’ cost stickiness, in contrast to the extensively documented positive association between firm-level sales decline and cost stickiness. This reduction in cost stickiness is statistically and economically significant, regardless of whether firms individually experience consecutive sales declines. Moreover, the impact is significantly stronger for firms in common-law countries, countries with long-term orientation and countries with higher levels of individualism.

The study is the first multinational study to examine the effect of aggregate sales decline on cost stickiness. The study also offers insights into the role of legal systems and cultural dimensions in moderating this relationship.

Promoting positive mental health is increasingly being encouraged as the focus of research and policies on the mental health of construction personnel. Most measures of mental health, however, typically use negative indicators such as depression and anxiety and are not specifically developed for the construction workforce, especially those with a Global South background. These limitations have made it challenging to measure construction personnel’s positive mental health. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to develop a scale for measuring the positive mental health of construction personnel with a Global South background.

Guided by Keyes’ two-continua model of mental health, the study objectives were addressed through a mixed-methods study using the case of Ghana. Qualitative data collected from eight key stakeholder groups using 16 interviews and two rounds of focus group discussions were analysed thematically. Quantitative data were obtained through a survey of 425 construction personnel and analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis.

Thematic analysis revealed a four-dimensional structure of positive mental health, namely, emotional, psychological, social and spiritual. Confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis of the results indicated good instrument validity and reliability.

Existing measures of positive mental health are based on a three-dimensional model, i.e. emotional, social and psychological well-being. By including spiritual well-being, this study proposes a four-dimensional measurement model as a more comprehensive and promising measure to use in surveys of positive mental health among the construction workforce, especially those with a Global South background, and to develop suitable interventions for them.

This study aims to examine whether information asymmetry (IA) mediates the relationship between women directors and the cost of equity (COE). Specifically, this study posits that women directors tend to lower the COE through the channel of IA.

This study uses the US-listed firms’ data from 2002 to 2014, comprising 11,189 firm-year observations. This study measures the COE by aggregating the four unique market-based COE models and apply pooled ordinary least square to estimate our results.

This study documents that women directors are linked to IA, and that IA is linked to the COE. Furthermore, in the mediation test, IA fully mediates the relationship between women directors and the COE. This study's results also validate the critical mass hypothesis, as the IA shows full mediation between the critical mass of women directors and COE. This study also discusses the limitations and major implications of the results along with possible future directions.

This study also supports the positive role of females in improvising the economic performance of the firms and supporting the sustainable development goals-5 (gender equality).

The originality of this study lies in its theoretical as well as empirical contributions. First, this study follows the line of inquiry of the mediation analysis, thereby contributing by examining whether the relationship between women directors and financial value, i.e. COE, is indirect. Second, in addition to ex post measures of the COE, this study used four ex ante unique market-based models to measure the COE. Most of the prior studies just rely on book-based measures or use a single market-based mode. Third, the findings contribute insights into how women directors add value and benefits firms.

This study aims to explore an emerging collection of smart building technologies, known as smart workplace solutions (SWS), in the context of facilities management (FM).

This study is based on semi-structured interviews with facility managers in Finland, Norway and Sweden who have deployed SWSs in their organizations. SWS features, based on empirical data from a previous study, were also used to further analyse the interviews.

It analyses the benefits that SWSs bring from the facility management point of view. It is clear that the impetus for change and for deploying SWS in the context of FM is primarily driven by cost savings related to reductions in office space.

This research has been conducted with a focus on office buildings only. However, other building types can learn from the benefits that facility managers receive in the area of user-centred smart buildings.

SWSs are often seen as employee experience solutions that are only related to “soft” elements such as collaboration, innovation and learning. Understanding the FM business case can help make a more practical case for their deployment.

SWSs are an emerging area, and this study has collected data from facility managers who use them daily.

This study aims to examine how active occupancy, passive occupancy and clean desk policy impact the optimal size of a desk-sharing office. Passive occupancy refers to a situation where a desk remains occupied because workers have left personal items on it, even though they are not present. This occupancy state makes it unavailable for others, but presence sensors do not detect it as occupied. Clean desk policy defines how long these workers may be absent without cleaning their desks.

Desk-level occupancy data from 10 sites in the Nordics was collected and used to calculate office utilisation with different clean desk policy time delays. The data was gathered over 6 months from 7,522 sensors.

Clean desk policy time delay had a significant impact on the office utilisation. Considering passive occupancy with a 120-min clean desk policy time delay added, on average, 86.4% on the calculated utilisation, almost doubling it.

Data was focused on three Nordic countries. The implications should be tested in other regions as well.

If organisations neglect passive occupancy, they may consider their office less occupied than it is. Accurate data can help organisations to confidently right-size their office space.

Passive occupancy has not been considered in terms of office sizing, despite its significant impact on desk availability. Clean desk policy has been discussed in previous literature, but its impact on office sizing remains unknown.

This study investigates the motivations for and compensation structure changes behind $1 CEO salary decisions.

Using a hand-collected sample, we relied on an event study framework and regression analysis to decipher the informational content of $1 CEO salary announcements.

The results show that the market reacts positively to $1 CEO salary announcements that indicate aligning the interests of CEOs and shareholders.

A lot of academic and professional attention has been given to the components of executive compensation packages as tools for incentivizing managers. Our findings will help executive board members tasked with determining CEO compensation packages.

This study adds to the literature on CEO compensation by deciphering the market reaction to $1 salary decision announcements. Our study contributes to the literature on executive compensation by providing evidence consistent with efficient contracting.