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The US Federal Government awards contracts worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Many firms that rely on these contracts have appointed former government officials to their corporate boards in the hopes of securing government contracts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between these government experienced directors (GEDs) on boards and firms being awarded government contracts.

The paper compiles a panel data set from 2017 to 2020 for S&P 500 firms. This includes hand-collected data for government-experienced directors on boards. This is tested using both regression and analysis of variance methodologies.

Results find that former government officials on corporate boards increase the amount of government contracts secured by the firm, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of firms’ revenue. There are significant industry level effects for the health care and financials sectors. Government-experienced directors on boards are also positively related to firms receiving COVID contracts. Lobbying was not found to be related to the securing of regular government contracts but was positively related to firms obtaining COVID contracts.

This paper contributes to the literature by using panel data, an expanded definition of GEDs and data on COVID contracts. The “revolving door” between government and firms is paying off for companies.

The paper examines the birth of trend forecasting in the USA and position trend forecasters and professional futurists within the wider history of marketing, market research and advertising.

The study is based upon archival research, interviews and close readings of primary and secondary literature.

Trend forecasters split from traditional market and opinion research in the early 1970s, as concerns about the future became paramount for businesses. At this time, entrepreneurial trend forecasters such as Faith Popcorn started firms, adopting futurological methods to make predictions about the future of culture. The field continued to grow into the 1990s as it developed or modified a host of mostly qualitative research methods, including environmental scanning, consumer ethnography and scenarios. Trend forecasting reveals the complexity of the relationship between business and “the future” and how trends aimed to predict as well as direct that future.

The article is among the first academic treatments of trend forecasting, drawn from original interviews and exclusively accessed archival research. It contributes to a theory and a history of the concept of a trend, which is understood here as a way to package the movement of culture as sellable. It likewise offers a unique exploration of the relationship between futurology and business.

The paper aims to examine the effect of levels of self-regulated effort (SRE) and levels of cognitive load on the watching and completing of video lectures used as the main source of instruction in online learning environments.

A survey provided data on the students’ engagement with video lectures, their level of SRE and the level of cognitive load they perceived while watching video lectures. The relationships between these variables and statistical significance were analyzed.

There were three key findings: a positive relationship between SRE and both watching and completing lectures; a negative relationship between SRE and perceptions of existing cognitive load; and students in different demographic groups watched fewer lectures, experienced higher cognitive load and reported lower levels of SRE.

Implications of this study are that video lecture creation would benefit from the development of best practices, consideration of students’ levels of self-regulation, minimization of extraneous load and individual differences among groups of students. Limitations are the context-specific nature of the findings and the fact that data were drawn from self-reported survey responses, meaning they are subjective in nature.

The originality of this paper lies in its investigation of relationship between SRE, cognitive load and video lecture viewership. No research of this topic could be found during the literature review. Findings are of value to those interested in reaping increased levels of video lecture viewership by showing elements that will encourage engagement, satisfaction and better transmission of instruction.

The purpose of this paper is to present a new professional development framework (EntreCompEdu) that identifies the competencies educators need to promote entrepreneurial education in primary, secondary and vocational settings.

This conceptual paper explores the relationships between the framework's various constructs to articulate its rationale and value. Its design was informed by literature review and critical feedback from an advisory group of European and national policymakers, university staff, teachers and education consultants. It is currently in a pilot stage.

The paper proposes a new model in the field resting on six pedagogical principles. These are translated into five areas of competence: entrepreneurial knowledge and understanding, planning and organization, teaching and training, assessment, and professional learning.

This paper only describes the conceptual thinking and contents of EntreCompEdu based on a limited literature review. Empirical research is necessary to assess the impact of EntreCompEdu on teaching. There are implications for building a network to support educators' professional development.

EntreCompEdu and its training materials offer educators structure and guidance to develop their competences. These are available in open access format, via https://www.entrecompedu.eu. Participants will have access to a bank of effective teaching practices and support network across Europe.

Collaboration is essential to effective entrepreneurial education, with EntreCompEdu facilitating a support network across Europe.

EntreCompEdu is an original response to a policy problem, namely the need for a professional development framework to support the implementation of EntreComp. It is timely given calls to pay further attention to teachers' professional development and widen the appeal of entrepreneurial education.

The concept of vulnerability in climate change literature is underpinned by numerous theoretical contributions across different disciplines leading to disparate understandings of what climate change vulnerability entails, as well as different methodological frameworks for assessment. This multiplicity of contributions helped not only to frame and shape different understandings of vulnerability but also to define the conceptual and analytical elements considered as critical in any climate change vulnerability assessment. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on climate change vulnerability and explore and synthesize those conceptual and analytical aspects considered fundamental in a vulnerability assessment in climate change.

Drawing on existing literature on climate change vulnerability and vulnerability assessment frameworks, the paper provides a review of the conceptual elements regarded as critical in integrated assessments of climate change vulnerability to date.

A review of the existing literature identified nine critical elements in vulnerability assessments: the coupled human-environment system and place-based analysis; key components of vulnerability; multiple perturbations; scales of analysis; causal structures of vulnerability; engaging stakeholders; differential vulnerability; historical and prospective analysis; and dealing with uncertainty. The paper concludes by highlighting some of the remaining challenges and limitations for the development of integrated vulnerability assessment in climate change research.

The paper presents a synthesis that draws on existing literature on climate change vulnerability theory, as well as vulnerability assessment frameworks that attempt to apply those concepts in the assessment of climate change vulnerability.