Luis Gil-Alana, Cecilia Font and Águeda Gil-López
Using data from 1820 onwards in a group of seven countries, namely, Australia, Chile, Denmark, France, the UK, Italy and the USA, the authors investigate if there is a long-run…
Abstract
Purpose
Using data from 1820 onwards in a group of seven countries, namely, Australia, Chile, Denmark, France, the UK, Italy and the USA, the authors investigate if there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between the two variables (GDP and population).
Design/methodology/approach
Using fractional integration and cointegration methods, this paper deals with the analysis of the relationship between GDP and population using historical data.
Findings
The authors’ results show first that the two series are highly persistent, presenting orders of integration close to or above 1 in practically all cases. Testing cointegration between the two variables, the results are quite variable depending on the methodology and the bandwidth numbers used, but if cointegration takes places, it only occurs in the cases of France, Italy and the UK.
Research limitations/implications
The fact that the orders of integration of all series is close to 1 indicate high levels of persistence with shocks having permanent effects and requiring strong measures to recover the original trends.
Practical implications
Any shock affecting the series will have a permanent nature, persisting forever.
Originality/value
Updated time series techniques based on concepts such as fractional integration and cointegration are used.
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Cecilia Pasquinelli and Mariapina Trunfio
This paper aims to exploit existing tourism knowledge to frame the unprecedented pandemic tourism crisis, its key aspects and impacts on the tourism industry. It builds a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to exploit existing tourism knowledge to frame the unprecedented pandemic tourism crisis, its key aspects and impacts on the tourism industry. It builds a conceptual bridge and discusses the opportunity to capitalise on the missing link between the pre-COVID overtourism and the post-COVID “undertourism” debates.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-fertilisation between the overtourism knowledge and the emerging COVID-19 literature stream is proposed and supported by an online media analysis focussing on the Italian tourism debate on Twitter. A text analysis of 2,500 posts helps discuss the conceptual framework.
Findings
The analysed Twitter debate prioritised socio-economic impacts, regulative actions and the recovery approach, representing government as the pivotal actor to overcome the pandemic crisis. An integrative interpretative framework results from this research, opening three areas of inquiry, such as the recovery–reform continuum, managerial approaches beyond regulative frames of action and a critical sizing of digital technologies deployment.
Research limitations/implications
Samples with different geographical and temporal coverage may provide further and multifaceted insights into the emerging tourism online media debate.
Originality/value
An original conceptualisation counter-intuitively frames post-pandemic tourism scenarios. Additional elements of originality are the online media analysis contributing to the emerging COVID-19 agenda and the use of Twitter social platform to investigate the tourism debate.
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Marina Padovan, Gaston Ares, Tailane Scapin, Mariana Vieira dos Santos Kraemer, Maria Cecília Cury Chaddad, Ana Carolina Fernandes, Greyce Luci Bernardo, Paula Lazzarin Uggioni, Simone Pettigrew and Rossana Pacheco da Costa Proença
The World Health Organization recommends limiting the intake of free sugars, which can be added to packaged foods and may appear on labels under different terms. The aim of this…
Abstract
Purpose
The World Health Organization recommends limiting the intake of free sugars, which can be added to packaged foods and may appear on labels under different terms. The aim of this research was to analyse the evidence related to the declaration of free sugars from fruits on packaged food labels.
Design/methodology/approach
A scoping review was conducted following the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI).
Findings
Ten eligible studies, conducted in seven countries, were included in this review. The percentage of packaged foods in which free sugars were identified ranged from 52.5 to 86.5%. In three studies, terms related to sugars were identified inductively by reading the entire ingredient list, whereas in the other studies sugars were identified by searching for a list of predefined terms. Studies differed in the definition of sugars and the terms used to identify them. Nine studies included fruit sugars within the terms used to identify free sugars. However, they lacked consistency in the types of fruit sugars considered and did not discuss their agreement with the adopted definitions of sugars.
Originality/value
As far as can be ascertained, this is the first review that addresses the declaration of free sugars from fruits on packaged food labels. Overall, there is a scarcity of literature focused on identifying and discussing the range of free sugars from fruits declared on food labels.
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Juliana Reis Bernardes, Cecília Lima de Queirós Mattoso, Marco Aurelio Carino Bouzada and Claudia Affonso Silva Araujo
This study aims at verifying the impact of literacy on over-the-counter (OTC) drug consumer vulnerability as evaluated by health literacy and label comprehension.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at verifying the impact of literacy on over-the-counter (OTC) drug consumer vulnerability as evaluated by health literacy and label comprehension.
Design/methodology/approach
The item response theory (IRT) was used to estimate the health literacy of two groups and the two-way analysis of variance tests was used to test the hypotheses for the existence of mean differences between the two populations. The convenience sample involved 188 OTC consumers: 94 (50%) poorly literate and 94 (50%) university students/graduates.
Findings
University consumers/graduates have a level of health literacy and label comprehension that is superior to those presented by poor literate consumers. Also, age does not influence the level of health literacy by OTC drug users but has a significant impact on the understanding of OTC drug labels. Finally, the level of schooling and the “age group,” simultaneously, does not impact the understanding of OTC drug labels or health literacy.
Research limitations/implications
This study has added in the field of knowledge by investigating the behavior of poor literate consumers in Brazil, a developing country. The results may be relevant to Marketing professionals, especially those in the pharmaceutical industry, and to police makers, as they help identify the main problems faced by poorly literate consumers.
Practical implications
It is necessary to raise awareness of the dangers of self-medication and wrong use of medications, mainly focused on people with low literacy. As a suggestion, a simple glossary presented along with the label could provide explanations of scientific terms, thus increasing health literacy and reducing the vulnerability of the consumers.
Social implications
This study showed that when using common words such as gastritis to define a health problem, there is a higher degree of correctness. These results suggest the adoption of a more straightforward language and more precise explanations. By doing that, the pharmaceutical industry and policymakers will improve their social impact by increasing consumer power and taking care of the health of the most vulnerable population: the illiterate people.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the international literature, as it enhances and clarifies the knowledge about the customers’ power and vulnerability in developing countries. It fills a gap by evaluating label comprehension and heath literacy at the same time, giving an academic contribution for pharmaceutical consumers’ studies.
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Juliet Owusu-Boadi, Ernest Kissi, Ivy Maame Abu, Cecilia Dapaah Owusu, Bernard Baiden and Caleb Debrah
The construction business is widely recognised for its inherent complexity and dynamic nature, which stems from the nature of the job involved. The industry is often regarded as…
Abstract
Purpose
The construction business is widely recognised for its inherent complexity and dynamic nature, which stems from the nature of the job involved. The industry is often regarded as one of the most challenging industries globally in terms of implementing environmental, health and safety (EHS) practices. However, in the absence of EHS, the construction industry cannot be considered sustainable. Therefore, this study aims to identify the trends, knowledge gaps and implications of EHS research to enhance construction activities and knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a science mapping approach involving bibliometric and scientometric analysis of 407 construction EHS publications from the Scopus database with the VOSviewer software. The study is based on journal articles from the Scopus database without restriction to any time range.
Findings
The main focus of construction EHS research identified in the study includes sustainability-related studies, risk-related, environmental issues, EHS management, integrated management systems studies, health and safety related and EHS in the construction process. Some emerging areas also identified include productivity, design, culture, social sustainability and machine learning. The most influential and productive publication sources, countries/regions and EHS publications with the highest impact were also determined.
Research limitations/implications
Documents published in the Scopus database were considered for analysis because of the wider coverage of the database. Journal articles written in English language represent the inclusion criteria, whereas other documents were excluded from the analysis. The study also limited the search to articles with the engineering subject area.
Practical implications
The research findings will enlighten stakeholders and practitioners on the focal knowledge areas in the EHS research domain, which are vital for enhancing EHS in the industry.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review-based study is the first attempt to internationally conduct a science mapping on extant literature in the EHS research domain through bibliometric and scientometric assessments.
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Cecilia Gullberg and Noomi Weinryb
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of inscriptions on social media in enabling action at a distance. The purpose is addressed by investigating how and by what…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of inscriptions on social media in enabling action at a distance. The purpose is addressed by investigating how and by what mechanisms inscriptions on social media can shape action at a distance.
Design/methodology/approach
We conduct a qualitative analysis of the Facebook page of a crowdfunded grassroots initiative, where the founders and their stakeholders interact.
Findings
We identify two mechanisms by which inscriptions on social media can shape action at a distance: a flow of micro-level inscriptions and a joint stabilisation of inscriptions. By signalling achievement, creating a sense of closeness and highlighting powerful explanations, these mechanisms guide what action at a distance is taken and by whom. Action thereby becomes a mutual exercise between centres of calculation and distant peripheries, highly intertwined with the stability of inscriptions. The two mechanisms indicate the importance of the boundaryless nature of the inscriptions in shaping action at a distance.
Originality/value
Our findings indicate new forms of inscriptions and, consequently, of novel conditions for action at a distance. These insights add to the literature on Web 2.0 and accounting, which has mainly revolved around the relationship between centres of calculation and distant peripheries that act upon each other rather than around the inscriptions that enable such action.
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This chapter begins with a short story based on a personal memory which is about how the interplay between ‘human’ and ‘technology’ may indicate a level of mastery in knowing in…
Abstract
This chapter begins with a short story based on a personal memory which is about how the interplay between ‘human’ and ‘technology’ may indicate a level of mastery in knowing in practice. The story suggests that ‘human’ and ‘technology’ can perform tasks that could not be performed by only one element. I turn to discuss how papers could be designed to be accepted as ‘scientific’, providing examples of the use of stories in research and explicitly sets ‘story’ in relation to Dewey’s ‘art as experience’. Dewey states that we should pay attention to what a product does with and in experience; something that is relevant for scientific products. Different forms of writing contribute knowledge that lie outside the strict framework of scientific articles. Notwithstanding this, a story needs a framework of some sort if it is to connect to a scientific discourse. To be able to write differently, we need arenas for publications that are accepted within the evaluation systems that govern academic careers. This matters to researchers’ careers and to the relevance of the knowledge that is developed in the scientific community and the relevance of universities as ‘knowledge providers’. If the formal structure of an academic article determines what researchers can say, then the scope of scientific knowledge will be limited. The inclusion of stories can stimulate dialogue, potentially link creative and logical thinking together, and bridge theoretical and practical knowledge. We need stories to heal and unite separated life worlds.
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The point of departure for this chapter is a notion that firms at times find it difficult to develop their solution-oriented businesses and to have a broader understanding in…
Abstract
The point of departure for this chapter is a notion that firms at times find it difficult to develop their solution-oriented businesses and to have a broader understanding in their organizations of what this changed orientation really means.
The author looks into prevailing perspectives on marketing as such and creates a “map” that organizes marketing logics into a dynamic whole for value creation and change based on theoretical points of departure. Supported by this map, she tailors out a missing perspective based on a sense-making view that could be fruitful for companies to apply. It is basically to create a stronger awareness of and influence from a branding perspective (also in B2B). Based on an empirical example she points at barriers and enablers in implementing such a change of marketing perspective. She also addresses the implications of such a change on organizing and not least the connections between sales and marketing.
This chapter points forward as a way to release energy and to find direction for the development toward a solution-oriented business.
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Georgeta Ion, Cecilia-Inés Suárez and Anna Díaz-Vicario
Educational change and innovation have been a clear priority in educational systems across Europe in recent years. In this chapter, we reflect on the role played by educational…
Abstract
Educational change and innovation have been a clear priority in educational systems across Europe in recent years. In this chapter, we reflect on the role played by educational evidence in shaping school practices in the Catalan context. Situated at a crossroads between social cohesion and strong regulations, Catalan schools are navigating a hybrid system marked by increasing autonomy and the educational tradition with an increased interest in accountability and quality assessment through rigid standards and designs.
Despite the Catalan administration's recent promotion of several initiatives to engage schools and teachers with the use of evidence, this process is still irregular and fundamentally depends on decisions made by the school or teachers' commitment.
The factors shaping the teachers' engagement with evidence cover a wide spectrum: from teachers' and educational leaders' conception of the nature of evidence, to given teachers' willingness to use evidence and whether school environments are favourable (or not) to the use of evidence. Acknowledging these factors allows us to specify the direction of action at the system, organisational and class levels. At the system level, promoting a vision of practice based on evidence requires coherent and responsible actions among all actors. At the organisational level, the development of the capacity to use evidence requires leadership that is sensitive to research and favours a positive organisational culture. At the classroom level, teachers' motivation, individual orientation towards the use of evidences, research conception and the capacity to use it, are the key factors.