Cooperation between employees in a company is an important input to firm performance. This study examines how a manager's cooperative behavior and the visibility of this behavior affect the cooperation amongst employees, and subsequently firm performance. To do so, we conducted a field experiment with managers and their employees from 320 Vietnamese small and micro firms to determine the impact of a manager's leading by example (LBE) on employees' behavior, corporate culture, and firm performance. Both managers and employees participated in a Public Good experiment which aimed to elicit an individual cooperative behavior. Noteworthy is that the decision made by a manager in the experiment was given as an example to employees before they made decision in that same experiment. We considered that the example of cooperation by managers in the Public Good experiment communicated a powerful signal to the employees regarding the importance of fostering cooperation in the workplace. Such a signal by the manager, who is at the top in the organizational hierarchy, would impact their employees' behavior in the workplace and firm's outcomes beyond the experiment. Interestingly, we found that concealing a manager's identity from their employees enhances the impacts of LBE.

Maternal, neonatal, and child health play crucial roles in achieving the objectives of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2030, particularly in promoting health and wellbeing. However, maternal, neonatal, and child services in Moroccan public hospitals face challenges, particularly concerning mortality rates and inefficient resource allocation, which hinder optimal outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the operational effectiveness of 76 neonatal and child health services networks (MNCSN) within Moroccan public hospitals. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), we assessed technical efficiency (TE) employing both Variable Returns to Scale for inputs (VRS-I) and outputs (VRS-O) orientation. Additionally, the Tobit method (TM) was utilized to explore factors influencing inefficiency, with hospital, doctor, and paramedical staff considered as inputs, and admissions, cesarean interventions, functional capacity, and hospitalization days as outputs. Our findings revealed that VRS-I exhibited a higher average TE score of 0.76 compared to VRS-O (0.23). Notably, the Casablanca-Anfa MNCSN received the highest referrals (30) under VRS-I, followed by the Khemisset MNCSN (24). In contrast, under VRS-O, Ben Msick, Rabat, and Mediouna MNCSN each had three peers, with 71, 22, and 17 references, respectively. Moreover, the average Malmquist Index under VRS-I indicated a 7.7% increase in productivity over the 9-year study period, while under VRS-O, the average Malmquist Index decreased by 8.7%. Furthermore, doctors and functional bed capacity received the highest Tobit model score of 0.01, followed by hospitalization days and cesarean sections. This study underscores the imperative for policymakers to strategically prioritize input factors to enhance efficiency and ensure optimal maternal, neonatal, and child healthcare outcomes.

As found in behavioral decision theory, venture capitalists (VCs) rely on heuristics and bias, owing to their bounded rationality, either by limited alternatives or information and resources. India's booming startup scene challenges VCs in decision-making owing to information overload from numerous evolving ventures, which hinders informed judgment. VC investment behavior, due diligence, and cognitive factors related to decision-making have always drawn the attention of researchers. We provide an alternative approach for an optimal decision by VCs by identifying the attributes that influence investment or funding decisions at an early stage of a venture in tech-based industries. Through a literature review, we identify eight attributes, both on internal and external criteria, that venture investors consider when making investment decisions. Based on interviews with 20 experts, we further identify eight key tech-based sectors. Using grey system theory, we then determine the rankings of eight tech startups for investors' early-stage investment decisions. This study presents a linguistic variable-based approach of grey numbers to decide weights and ratings, the grey possibility degree to compare and rank different tech startups, and based on the results, suggests the ideal tech startup. We find that agritech ranks first; thus, investors should prefer venturing into such startups for early-stage investment. E-commerce and edutech ranked second and third, respectively, followed by electric vehicle infrastructure, insurtech, fintech, space tech, and software as a service.

Gamified Flipped Classrooms (GFC) are increasingly implemented in teaching and have become a trending research subject. Gamification and Flipped Classroom (FC) literature expresses a clear need for a theoretical foundation that positively affects motivation, behavioral change, and learning. However, this requires an overview of the current theoretical foundations of GFC research. Therefore, this study conducted a systematic mixed studies review (SMSR) of the current theoretical foundations of GFC research and learning effects. Sixty-nine studies were identified after applying rigorously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review revealed that a significant number of studies (25 of 69) lacked a theoretical foundation. In studies supported by theory, Self-Determination Theory (SDT) was most frequently employed. Moreover, only three studies used theories to design both gamification and FC components. While GFC research generally shows positive effects on learning, studies with a theoretical background reported a higher rate of positive GFC outcomes (56%), compared to only 29% for studies lacking a theoretical foundation. Future research should explore and attempt to link SDT and other theories to learning impacts.

Gold and stocks, which are conventionally regarded as a safe haven and risk assets, respectively, exhibit complex interrelationships, with significant implications for financial risk management. This paper builds on the sentiment categorization proposed by Liang et al. (2020) to distinguish between private and public sector sentiment. The construction of sentiment indices for both sectors aims to allow the exploration of the heterogeneous effects of these sector-specific sentiments on the gold-stock market linkages in China under different market conditions. The empirical results demonstrate a notable asymmetry in the impact of market sentiment between the public and private sectors, with distinct manifestations in stable versus highly volatile market environments. Specifically, positive sentiment in the public sector tends to diminish the safe-haven function of gold, whereas positive sentiment in the private sector tends to reinforce it. This disparity becomes particularly evident during periods of extreme market volatility. Our findings not only underscore the diverse impacts of market sentiment but also provide novel insights into the importance of incorporating sector-specific sentiment when devising hedging strategies for specific industries.

This study used daily experimental data from smart bands worn by 142 respondents to investigate the relationship between the number of minutes slept and self-reported mood. The results showed that more minutes of sleep were associated with improved mood. Time preferences, altruism, and trust were also associated with mood. Finally, our analysis revealed that the only mechanism through which sleep affects mood is positive reciprocity. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining the connections among healthy habits, sleep quality, economic preferences, and their effects on mood.

Performance management in university-based scientific research institutions is essential for driving reform, advancing education quality, and fostering innovation. However, current performance evaluation models often focus solely on research indicators, neglecting the critical interdependence between the education and research systems. This oversight leads to inefficiencies in resource allocation and an underestimation of overall institutional performance, particularly in universities with varying development levels. To address these deficiencies, this study introduces two innovative two-stage data envelopment analysis models: the group-frontier and meta-frontier evaluation models. The findings are validated using data from 144 universities across China. They demonstrate that the proposed models effectively mitigate the underestimation of efficiency in traditional models and accurately reflect the intertwined nature of university subsystems and the disparities in university development. These results offer valuable insights for improving the performance of scientific research institutions and informing the strategic decisions of university administrators and government education departments.

Official development agencies are increasingly supporting civil society lobby and advocacy (L&A) to address poverty and human rights. However, there are challenges in evaluating L&A. As programme objectives are often to change policies or practices in a single institution like a Government Ministry, L&A programmes are often not amenable to large-n impact evaluation methods. They often work in strategic partnerships to foster change; hence, contribution may be a more relevant evaluation question than attribution. Small-n qualitative approaches are available to measure the effectiveness of L&A which use the theory of change as their analytical framework. We conducted a meta-evaluation of 36 evaluations of multi-component international programmes to support civil society L&A across Asia, Africa and Latin America, comprising the majority of programmatic support from one international donor. We assessed the confidence in causal claims in the evaluations using a new tool that we developed. Assessments of the contribution of the programmes to the changes in outcomes were not provided in many of the evaluations, nor were predictable sources of bias addressed. Given that L&A programmes are likely to adopt an influencing approach where many different inside-track and outside-track engagement objectives, opportunities and strategies are attempted, many of which might be expected to fail, there appeared to be a clear bias in the evaluations towards reporting outcomes that were achieved, ignoring those that were not. We provide guidance on how to improve the design, conduct and reporting of small-n qualitative evaluations of aid effectiveness.

The foremost index of caregiving quality is child attachment, as supported by attachment theory. Research supports the relevance of early parenting interventions in improving child outcomes in attachment quality to promote public health because of their long-term effects on mental health and functioning. This study aimed at evaluating the impact on both parenting and child outcomes of the Parent-Child Psychological Support Programme® (PCPS), a community-based program individually tailored to parents and their infants during periodic center-based visits to promote attachment security. The evaluation involved two cohorts from "vulnerable populations" and used the resources embedded in the program design without interfering with the normal functioning of the service. From an evaluative research approach, the effects on mothers and children were assessed using a quantitative approach. Pre- and post-test measures (parenting questionnaires) and child attachment quality assessments through the Strange Situation Procedure were examined. The equivalence of the cohorts was verified and used as a baseline for parenting outcomes. PCPS participants demonstrated increased parental competence and self-efficacy, as well as reduced levels of parenting stress. Analysis of the two cohorts showed a significant difference in the number of visits and proxies for intervention, which were associated with the expected pre-post changes in parenting dimensions. The proportion of securely attached children was significantly higher in the "medium-high intervention" group than in the "no/low intervention" group (72.7% vs 54.5%). Furthermore, compared with international baselines, this proportion showed no differences in the "no-/low-intervention" group but demonstrated expected significant differences in the "medium-high intervention" group.

The information technology revolution has fundamentally altered company operations around the world. The Internet has significantly enhanced employee connectedness in the workplace, eclipsing the antiquated brick-and-mortar model. Nonetheless, as information technology advances, cyberbullying has grown in popularity in the professional environment. Cyberbullying is not geographically, temporally, or milieu-specific. Arguments concerning this ubiquitous danger have plagued scholars and professionals for several decades as they debated its conception, prevalence, and implications. The current research digs into many facets of cyberbullying to facilitate the creation of constructive policies and effectively manage the labor environment. Additionally, a few ideas and remedies are offered, as well as the future course of action for effectively addressing the crucial issue of cyberbullying.

In this letter to the editor, we compare six different event history models to estimate eligible families participated in a subsidized rental housing program and . Answering these questions can inform efforts to improve program marketing and outreach, staffing and budgeting, triage, bias identification, as well as benchmarking and evaluation. One of six specifications clearly outperforms the others and understanding how will inform similar research pursuits. Although decision-relevant participation patterns are available in state administrative records, deciphering them is difficult for several well-known reasons. Participants enter and exit the eligible risk pool at different times, for different reasons, and at different rates. To answer our questions of and , we restructure the data from calendar to relative months and then employ event history models designed to accurately estimate a complete hypothetical risk trajectory from observed spells of varying lengths, many of which ended before families took up the rental subsidy, (i.e., censored observation spells). We find that eligible parents most likely to take up the subsidy live in high-rent counties, have relatively strong recent work history, short prior adult lifetime TANF receipt, and medium-size families. Program take-up fell substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Contrasting the application of six parallel specifications, we find that a Royston-Parmar proportional hazard model achieves an exceptional balance between the descriptive accuracy of discrete time approaches and the elegance of Cox regression.

This study tested a 'wise' intervention (quick prompt of a specific psychological mec) in acute care hospital units to improve nurses' hand hygiene compliance (HHC). A multiple baseline design in two medical-surgical teaching hospitals in the United States. Hand hygiene data was collected using an electronic compliance monitoring system with sensors placed in doorways and on corresponding soap and alcohol-based hand rub dispensers. The outcome measure was the proportion of opportunities in which HH was undertaken by staff per week in each unit. A quick-and-easy psychological prime to reinvigorate professional identity. Interrupted time series analysis using a quasi-Poisson regression model with statistical process control charts for each unit. A statistically significant increase in HHC rates that was sustained for months post-intervention. However, the patterns by unit were not statistically significant once temporal trends were considered. Other factors, such as the unit type and the use of incentives could have impacted the results. These analyses suggest that the aggregate impact should not be taken as evidence of intervention effectiveness. This study therefore cannot be considered to have provided a strong foundation for use of a 'wise' intervention, despite its relatively small financial, logistical and psychological cost.

In modern firms, conflicts may arise between the chief executive officer and board of directors due to the separation of ownership and operations. Such conflicts may weaken listed companies' performance in the short term or affect their development in the long term. Using data on Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2022, this study empirically examines the impact of internal control quality on boardroom backscratching. We find that internal control quality significantly mitigates boardroom backscratching by reducing agency costs and increasing analyst attention. This effect is more significant in firms where the management holds less power and the product market is highly competitive. Furthermore, the mitigating effects of internal control quality on boardroom backscratching effectively reduce the risk of the company's share price collapsing. Overall, this study enriches the literature on boardroom backscratching and internal control quality, and provides valuable references for stakeholders, including listed companies, to improve firm governance efficiency and, thus, maintain the stability of capital markets.

In the modern educational landscape, the integration of gamification into hybrid learning environments has emerged as a promising approach to enhance student outcomes. However, there remains a lack of comprehensive frameworks for designing gamified hybrid courses and validating their impact on student outcomes. This paper proposes a design science-based approach to gamified course design in hybrid learning contexts. Drawing on the principles of design science research, we developed a framework for designing a gamified hybrid course curriculum that incorporates course content, activities, and assessments based on four elements of gamification (achievement elements, utilitarian value, hedonic benefits, and competition). To validate the effectiveness of our approach, we conducted a study with 294 students enrolled in a hybrid business course that implemented the proposed gamification framework. Our findings indicate that all gamification elements of our proposed gamified hybrid courses positively enhance student engagement, achievement, and satisfaction. Ultimately, this paper not only contributes to the 'gamification in education' literature by providing a comprehensive framework for designing engaging and effective hybrid courses but also proposes a roadmap for the application of design science to embed gamification in business course curriculum design within the context of modern hybrid learning environments.

As ecological globalization intensifies, rural waste recycling and management has become a global concern. China's proactive efforts are significant for revitalizing domestic rural ecosystems, offering valuable insights into global environmental governance. The rampant dumping and informal processing of hazardous waste in rural China pose severe threats to local ecological balance and public safety. Thus, efficiently recycling hazardous rural and agricultural waste is pivotal for China's rural ecological and environmental governance. This study adopts a participatory governance perspective and establishes a theoretical framework for dual principal-agent relationships. This framework examined 22 cases of rural governance spanning Eastern, Central, and Western China. This study evaluated governance mechanisms in four dimensions: policy, material, human, and social capital, using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method. The key findings include: (1) The adverse orientation and behavior of hazardous waste recycling governance in rural areas stem from the combined impacts of multiple complex factors. (2) The synergistic interplay between policy, human, and social capital is crucial for advancing hazardous waste recycling governance in rural settings. (3) Three pathway mechanisms--socially driven, market-oriented, and system participation--facilitate the effective governance of hazardous waste recycling. Innovative practices in hazardous waste recycling and management within rural China yielded positive domestic impacts and profoundly influenced global environmental governance. China's experiences and approaches motivate other nations and regions, showcasing responsibility and dedication to international environmental governance and bolstering Chinese contributions to creating a cleaner, beautiful world.

Animal welfare is increasingly understood to be a key component of sustainable agricultural production. Southeast Asia and India are witnessing an emerging market for cage-free egg production. To evaluate the economic sustainability of cage-free policies in the region, it is critical to understand how this transition will affect farmers' costs and revenues. In this article, we provide an overview of the available information that can inform evaluations of cage-free egg production in Southeast Asia and India. Cage-free egg producers around the world tend to experience higher costs, but these costs are offset by higher revenues. As demand for cage-free eggs is stimulated in Southeast Asia and India by retailer or government policies, we expect that producers will be capable of meeting this demand. In Asia specifically, the dominant cost component is poultry feed. We conclude that the economic viability of egg production in the region is likely to be driven by feed prices and associated government policies, rather than production system .

The frequency and richness of the theories developed, tested, and used by researchers in an academic discipline exemplify several pertinent factors, namely, the growth, the maturity, the independence, the legitimacy, and the influence of the discipline. Although organizations have been working on projects for centuries, Project Management (PM) is a considerably new academic discipline with emerging research themes, models, methodologies, frameworks, and paradigms. These PM concepts are anchored on or reinforced by new or existing theories. This exploratory study aims to add to the existing PM body of knowledge by investigating the prevalence of theory use in PM research. A systematic content analysis of 9200 PM research articles published from 2000 to 2019 (20 years) in the leading PM journals identified 248 unique theories. These results reveal that the PM discipline is increasingly embracing the use of theories with game theory, fuzzy theory, agency theory, contingency theory, and stakeholder theory emerging as the most dominant theories in the reviewed research articles. Also, although PM is developing its theories, the results revealed that PM researchers continue to heavily use theories borrowed from other academic disciplines such as psychology, sociology, mathematics, and economics.

This study examined the impact of ITV intervention on reduction in the propensity to abuse substances and engage in drug trafficking. The researcher conducted this study using an experiment of 517 vulnerable adolescents aged 10-19 years. The participants were randomly assigned to control ( = 258) and treatment ( = 259) groups. The researchers found a significant main effect of treatment conditions on reduction in the propensity to engage in substance abuse and drug trafficking among vulnerable adolescents. That is, before the intervention, there was no significant statistical difference between the control and treatment groups on the propensity to engage in substance abuse and drug trafficking. However, vulnerable children who received the intervention reported a significant reduction in propensity after the intervention. The results highlight the usefulness of ITV as a behaviour change strategy for vulnerable children.

This study focuses on the second round of Taiwanese teacher preparation program (TPP) evaluation (2012-2017) to analyze how evaluation policy shapes TPPs. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 stakeholders, which included professors, administrators, researchers, and staff involved in TPP evaluation. First, the findings revealed that neoliberalism influences evaluation policy and restricts the diversity of TPP development. Second, different evaluation approaches may be used to bring more inclusiveness and flexibility to evaluation standards. Third, evaluation plays an important role in TPP development, and a professional organization responsible for evaluation should be established in Taiwan in the future. To conclude, it is significant for TPP evaluation policy to consider policy ideology, evaluation standards, and program diversity to aid in improving the quality of teacher education not only in Taiwan but also internationally.

After the 2008 World Crisis, there is a view that the economic recovery has not been adequate. In this context, the debate on hysteresis and especially investment hysteresis has increased in the last decade. The aim of this study is to analyze the investment hysteresis and the basic dynamics of hysteresis in the Turkish economy. Structural break tests are used to identify hysteresis. Traditional and asymmetric causality tests are used to identify the fundamental dynamics of hysteresis. Investment, GDP, interest rate, and productivity variables are used to analyze investment hysteresis. Structural break tests were applied to the variables, while conventional and asymmetric causality tests were applied between investments and their determinants. Structural break tests prove the existence of hysteresis. According to the Granger causality test, there is no causality from interest rates, GDP and productivity to investments. The fact that interest rates have no effect on investments proves hysteresis. According to the asymmetric causality test, there is no relationship between interest rates and investments. There is an inverse relationship between GDP and investments. There is an asymmetric relationship between productivity and investments. The fact that productivity shocks cause asymmetric effects on investments makes productivity shocks the main dynamic of hysteresis. In addition, there is considerable evidence that the strong hysteresis and high uncertainty of TFP exacerbate investment hysteresis. Therefore, productivity shocks should be taken into account in policymaking for hysteresis.