Search Results (732)

This study examines whether international food price dynamics provide a reliable signal of undernourishment and human development outcomes relevant to the attainment of SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) by 2030. We apply wavelet coherence analysis to the FAO Food Price Index and the prevalence of undernourishment (SDG Indicator 2.1.1) over 2001–2023, testing statistical significance against an AR(1) red-noise null hypothesis. Hybrid ARIMA–Random Forest models generate probabilistic price forecasts through 2030. Despite strong raw coherence (R² ≈ 0.77), only 7.8% of time–frequency cells achieve statistical significance, indicating that apparent co-movement largely reflects autocorrelation rather than substantive dependence. Where significant coherence emerges, it concentrates at medium-run horizons (3–6 years), consistent with undernourishment as a habitual dietary adequacy measure linked to sustained affordability pressures affecting health, productivity, and human capital formation. Rolling correlation analysis reveals suggestive evidence of a regime change around 2012—from negative to positive correlation—coinciding with a slowdown in progress toward reducing hunger, although the 5-year rolling windows yield only 19 observations, limiting the power of formal structural break tests. Price forecasts exhibit rapidly widening confidence intervals (by ±131 index points by 2030), underscoring fundamental limits to predictability. The annual PoU series comprises only 23 observations, which constrains the estimation of long-run (8–12-year) wavelet cycles; results at those horizons should therefore be interpreted with caution. These findings caution against mechanistic inferences from global price indices to hunger and human development outcomes, redirecting policy emphasis toward domestic transmission channels and nutrition-sensitive safety nets. Full article

Achieving high-level self-reliance in science and technology requires a science and technology finance ecosystem that is aligned with the needs of technological innovation. To overcome bottlenecks in core technologies, firms must accelerate R&D, strengthen their core competitiveness, and pursue innovation-led, quality-oriented development. Using provincial-level data for 2013–2023, this paper constructs an index system for China’s science and technology finance ecosystem from four dimensions: science and technology financial services, science and technology capital markets, science and technology financial organizations, and government guidance for science and technology. We then measure the development level of this ecosystem and employ a panel data model to examine its impact on innovation in Specialized and Sophisticated SMEs. The results show that a more developed science and technology finance ecosystem significantly promotes innovation in these firms, with a stronger effect on substantive innovation than on strategic innovation. These findings remain robust across a series of robustness checks. Further analysis reveals significant heterogeneity across regions and levels of government intervention: the positive effect is stronger in eastern China and in regions with weaker government intervention. Mechanism tests indicate that the science and technology finance ecosystem promotes innovation by facilitating the accumulation of R&D capital and the agglomeration of scientific and technological talent. This study enriches the literature on science and technology finance ecosystems and SME innovation, and provides policy-relevant evidence for ecosystem development and the cultivation of Specialized and Sophisticated SMEs. Full article

Achieving a credible net-zero transition requires reliable corporate environmental information to support effective climate governance. When firms overstate environmental commitments without corresponding improvements in actual performance, regulatory signals become distorted, and decarbonization efforts are weakened. This study examines whether stringent command-and-control environmental regulation enhances the credibility of corporate climate commitments. Using the staggered implementation of China’s Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan as a quasi-natural experiment, we construct a firm-level measure of corporate greenwashing that captures the divergence between environmental discourse and regulatory performance. Based on a multi-period difference-in-differences model, the results indicate that environmental regulation significantly reduces corporate greenwashing, with the probability of inconsistency between environmental claims and actual behavior declining by approximately 25 percent relative to the sample mean. Mechanism analysis shows that this effect operates through increased green technological innovation and heightened public environmental concern, which together strengthen substantive compliance and external monitoring. The moderating analysis shows heterogeneous responses across firms: board independence strengthens the policy’s inhibitory effect, while market share and institutional ownership attenuate it. Overall, the findings suggest that command-and-control regulation improves the credibility of disclosure and reinforces the informational foundations necessary for an effective net-zero transition. Full article

Recent Italian developments in end-of-life governance have intensified debate on self-determination, medically assisted suicide, and the constitutional limits of healthcare regulation. This article is a narrative review combined with doctrinal legal analysis and medico-legal commentary. It examines Tuscany’s Regional Law No. 16 of 14 March 2025 within the broader Italian framework shaped by Law No. 219/2017, Constitutional Court Judgment No. 242/2019, and the subsequent constitutional review culminating in Judgment No. 204/2025. The article pursues three aims: to reconstruct the national legal framework governing end-of-life decision-making in Italy; to analyse the structure and constitutional implications of the Tuscan statute; and to assess the medico-legal relevance of the persistent uncertainty surrounding life-sustaining treatments as an eligibility criterion. The analysis highlights two distinct but interconnected issues: the constitutional boundary between regional healthcare organisation and matters requiring nationally uniform safeguards, and the unresolved interpretation of life-sustaining treatments in clinical and legal practice. In light of Judgment No. 204/2025, the article argues that regional procedural intervention may reduce administrative uncertainty, but cannot replace coherent parliamentary legislation capable of clarifying substantive criteria, limiting territorial variability, and reinforcing the role of palliative care within end-of-life pathways. Full article

Water governance faces growing challenges from climate change, pollution, and increasing demand, rendering policy evolution a critical research focus. This study analyzes the evolutionary characteristics of China’s national water resources governance policies from 1988 to 2025 through an integrated quantitative textual analysis. Based on 154 authoritative policy documents, the study employs Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling, semantic network analysis, and a tripartite policy instrument coding scheme (command-and-control, market-based, and public participation instruments). The results reveal three key findings: a significant shift in policy attention from early administrative control toward system-oriented governance emphasizing watershed/ecological protection, conservation, and technology; a persistently imbalanced instrument mix with command-and-control tools remaining dominant, despite gradual diversification after 2000; and a three-stage evolutionary trajectory from administrative framework building (1988–1999), through comprehensive management and diversification (2000–2015), to collaborative innovation and basin/ecology integration (2016–2025). This study contributes a long-term empirical perspective on water policy evolution in an emerging economy, demonstrates an integrated textual-analytic approach, and provides actionable insights for optimizing policy mixes through strengthened incentive compatibility, substantive participation mechanisms, and coherent governance-aligned instrument portfolios. Full article

Background: Food literacy (FL) comprises the knowledge, skills, and motivation needed for food production, selection, preparation, intake, and waste management. This study examined whether socio-ecological correlates of FL differ across settlement contexts in China. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data from Chinese adults (N = 1145) were analyzed across four settlement tiers: tier-1 metropolitan cities (R1), provincial/secondary cities (R2), smaller prefecture-level cities (R3), and county/rural areas (R4). General linear models estimated associations between socio-ecological predictors and overall FL after adjustment for sociodemographics, health behaviors, chronic disease, and BMI. Significant interactions were probed using HC3-robust simple slopes and pairwise slope contrasts. Robustness checks included domain-specific measurement invariance, variance inflation factor (VIF) diagnostics, and a regional sensitivity analysis. Results: The fully adjusted model explained substantial variance in FL (R² = 0.629). Awareness showed the strongest association with FL, followed by family support, injunctive norms, and social norms. Moderation was modest and predictor-specific: dining preferences and family support were positively associated with FL across all regions, with the strongest effects in county/rural areas. Although the omnibus interaction for injunctive norms was statistically significant, follow-up slope contrasts were not, indicating limited substantive regional heterogeneity. Component analyses indicated that preference-related heterogeneity was concentrated in food intake and food choices/selection, whereas family-support heterogeneity was most pronounced for waste disposal. Domain-level invariance analyses supported broad cross-regional comparability of the FL structure, VIFs were all below 5, and the regional distribution of valid and invalid responses did not differ significantly. Conclusions: Socio-ecological correlates of FL were broadly robust across China, with limited context-specific variation driven mainly by stronger household-support effects in county/rural settings. These findings support region-sensitive FL strategies that strengthen household-based support while leveraging normative influences across regions. Full article

Commercially available wearable health devices (WHDs) carry the potential to decentralize healthcare systems. These devices can empower individuals with health knowledge by offering a low-cost and accessible way to monitor physical activity, sedentary behavior, cardiac health, and sleep. However, a lack of standardization in design, health, and safety regulations means that consumer-grade WHDs on the market vary in efficacy to affect positive behavior change in users, as user compliance alone does not indicate whether these devices actually influence wellbeing outcomes long term. We use a grounded theory analysis of the experiences of seven long-term informed users of the same wearable, the Oura Ring, to propose a substantive theory describing the tacit challenges that these users face in order to truly benefit from their device even after extended use. We provide recommendations as to how designers of wearable devices can facilitate the user’s journey to surpass these obstacles. Full article

This study analyzes the determinants of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) use intensity among the Spanish working population, as well as the possible existence of gender gaps in its adoption. To this end, a conceptual model is proposed that incorporates perceived economic and productive usefulness (PEU), perceived social usefulness (PSU), three dimensions of the Technology Readiness Index—technological optimism (OPTI), innovativeness (INNOV), and insecurity (INSEC)—and three sociodemographic variables: entrepreneurial status, gender, and generational cohort. The model is implemented using artificial neural networks (ANNs) endowed with explanatory capability through Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP). The application of SHAP enables the assessment of both the global and local importance of the explanatory variables, as well as the potential existence of gender biases in their contribution to GAI use. The results indicate that the most relevant variables are PEU, generational cohort, and INNOV. Although gender does not rank among the most important variables in terms of global importance, women exhibit lower levels of GAI use, and gender-related differences are also observed in the contribution of several explanatory variables. In particular, substantive effect sizes are observed for PSU, OPTI, INSEC, entrepreneurial status, and membership in Generation Y. By contrast, differences associated with especially relevant variables such as PEU and INNOV, as well as membership in Generation Z, do not exhibit meaningful effect sizes. Full article

Social capital is one of the most influential yet fragmented concepts in the social sciences. To gain insight into its substantive use within specific domains, this review explores how social capital (SC) has been applied in occupational studies, with particular attention to regional perspectives. Building on Adams and Fitch’s bibliometric mapping, it applies abstract-based topic modeling with citation data to identify thematic clusters and theoretical foundations within a corpus spanning over four decades. The results show that SC remains widely used across diverse themes. Citation patterns vary sharply across topics, with few sharing unified theoretical anchors. A closer look at studies on the topic of regional perspective reveals that SC is more employed as a background concept rather than through theorization or explicit operationalization. These findings refine Adams and Fitch’s conclusions on the fragmentation of SC research and highlight research opportunities for connecting SC mechanisms to regional perspectives. Full article

Local and Indigenous knowledge (LIK) systems are recognised as a pertinent component of effective and equitable water governance, especially for building resilient, sustainable, and climate-resilient water management systems; however, their incorporation into water governance systems and processes remains limited, symbolic, and hindered by technocratic, legal, and power barriers. This study, through a systematic overview of existing work from Africa, aims to explore critically the role and contribution of LIK systems in water governance and climate adaptation, with the goal of establishing that LIK systems should be understood and operationalised as a water governance system, not as a supplementary knowledge system. Through systematic thematic analysis, four recurring themes are identified: (i) rhetorical recognition of LIK without substantive institutionalisation; (ii) evidence of contributions to local-scale climate adaptation, ecosystem management, and water resource allocation; (iii) inherent challenges of legal marginalisation, epistemic dominance, and power asymmetry; and (iv) transformative limitations of participatory or co-management frameworks that maintain state-led authority. SWOT analysis reveals LIK’s strengths in adaptive innovation, knowledge coproduction, and governance legitimacy, with potential threats of marginalisation, institutional fragmentation, and dominance by technocratic discourses. The results show that the failure of integration is governance-driven rather than knowledge-driven, emphasising the importance of institutional recognition, legal pluralism, vertical integration, and the sharing of power. Partnership with LIK as an equal in governance helps create policy environments that are inclusive, flexible, and socially legitimate. This approach to integration directly contributes to the achievement of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). This review establishes a conceptual, empirical, and practical basis for incorporating LIK into water governance, promoting adaptive, equitable, and resilient water resource management in a climate of uncertainty and complexity. Additionally, the review argues that climate-resilient water governance requires institutional recognition of legal pluralism, vertically integrated decision-making structures, and explicit power-sharing arrangements that treat LIK as coequal governance rather than consultative input. By reframing LIK integration as a question of authority and institutional design, this review contributes to debates on epistemic justice and adaptive water governance under climate change. While grounded in African case studies, the findings contribute to broader global debates on epistemic pluralism and inclusive water governance. Full article

Accurate prediction of burial depth and suspended length for oil and gas pipelines crossing rivers is critical for ensuring structural integrity. Systematic flume experiments were employed to examine local scour under varying hydrodynamic conditions, emphasizing relationships between scour hole expansion rate and flow velocity, water depth, and pipe diameter. Bedload transport predominantly governs riverbed evolution and scour hole development. Larger pipe diameters significantly reduce scour hole formation beneath the pipeline. Vertical expansion rate peaks immediately upon initial erosion, then progressively declines due to canalized flow, while cumulative scour depth continues increasing. Vertical dynamics at the pipe bottom conform to a first-order dynamic response equation, yielding a normalized time-dependent scour depth equation. Ultimate scour depth is collectively influenced by hydraulic parameters, pipe diameter, and sediment characteristics. Dimensionless correlations among scour depth, relative sediment size, and Froude number (Fr) were established via Gauss–Seidel iteration. Horizontal expansion exhibits distinct regimes: single-phase dominates at Fr > 0.6, whereas a secondary phase emerges at Fr ≤ 0.6. Integrating experimental data with empirical vertical expansion models, we propose a comprehensive horizontal scour expansion calculation model. These findings provide substantive insights into scour evolution mechanics and directly inform safety assessments for river-crossing pipelines. Full article

Efficiently converting natural capital into economic assets is a critical challenge in urban–rural transformation, yet the interactive mechanism between institutional land reform and physical spatial restructuring remains underexplored. While traditional frameworks emphasize institutional design, this study identifies a “Spatial-First” mechanism where physical reconfiguration serves as a spatial mediator to catalyze property rights breakthroughs. Using an entropy-weighted coupling coordination model, we analyzed policy dynamics in Nanhai District, China, a unique “dual-pilot” zone, from 2020 to 2024. The results indicate a nonlinear leap in the Coupling Coordination Degree (D) from 0.100 to 0.978. We interpret this surge as a policy-driven shock during the intensive pilot phase, where substantive spatial integration (0.719) effectively bypassed high transaction costs inherent in collective tenure, outpacing institutional progress (0.281). However, an Ecological Lag was observed; the disproportionately low weighting of the ecological carrier index (7.09%) suggests that current gains are primarily driven by green industrialization rather than the expansion of absolute ecological stock. This study concludes that while spatial tools can effectively unlock natural capital value in the short term, long-term sustainability necessitates a strategic shift from administrative-led economic efficiency to market-based ecological restoration. Full article

Continuous green innovation is crucial for advancing company sustainability. How to promote corporate continuous green innovation in the pursuit of carbon neutrality is an important issue that requires urgent attention. Based on annual firm-level data in the Chinese A-share market from 2018 to 2023, empirical results indicate that good performance of carbon neutrality can significantly promote continuous green innovation in firms, and several robustness tests have confirmed that the findings of this research remain valid. Mechanism analysis reveals that the performance of carbon neutrality promotes corporate continuous green innovation through resource and governance effects. Additionally, the performance of carbon neutrality has a more significant impact on corporate continuous green innovation among companies in non-technology-intensive industries, with lower quality of environmental information disclosure, located in regions with higher levels of public environmental concern, and facing higher government environmental attention. Further analysis shows that the performance of carbon neutrality primarily promotes continuous substantive green innovation, and the impact of performance of carbon neutrality on continuous green innovation also boosts green innovation efficiency. Full article

When it comes to inspiring and sustaining action for the environment, identity matters. This review examines environment-related identity terms to clarify terminology and support discourse. A literature search was conducted in Scopus for peer-reviewed articles published from 2020 through to 31 July 2025. Articles were included if they discussed one of 15 environment-related identity terms in the title, abstract, or keywords and engaged conceptually with the term. Articles were excluded if the term appeared only in searchable fields, was used in a non-individual context, or was not substantively engaged with. Drawing on 919 articles, the review maps how identity terms are defined in the literature. The result is a three-dimensional framework encompassing connection to nature, pro-environmental orientation in everyday life, and public/political environmental engagement. Findings highlight that identity terms are often inconsistently defined, with substantial overlap. Results are limited to articles with identity terms in searchable fields and explicit definitions, potentially omitting implicit or operationalised uses. To address inconsistencies, we propose three identity terms, ecological identity, environmental steward, and environmental activist, each corresponding to one of the identified dimensions above. Clarifying this language can strengthen academic discourse and help individuals locate themselves within it, keeping identities motivating amid accelerating environmental degradation. Full article

Administrations mandated to adopt audit technologies frequently achieve formal compliance while sustaining persistent gaps between policy and operational practice, a pattern that individual-level technology acceptance models cannot explain. This theory-building study develops an integrated framework combining institutional logics (IL) with Williamson’s new institutional economics (NIE) to explain how sociocultural pressures and economic constraints jointly produce and sustain these gaps. Using an abductive research design, we analyze Computer-Assisted Audit Tools and Techniques (CAATTs) implementation in Indonesia’s tax administration through document analysis and focus group discussions spanning three decades, constructing five propositions that specify the conditions under which collaborative, competing, and decoupling logics emerge, persist, and transition. The analysis reveals that regulatory absence produces collaborative logics as practitioners pool search costs through informal coordination, regulatory formalization triggers competing logics by shifting costs from search to enforcement, and the resulting cost gap between symbolic and substantive compliance produces decoupling that persists until governance investments reduce it. The study contributes to compliance risk governance by identifying the causal mechanisms through which institutional pressures and economic constraints interact during mandated technology adoption, offering testable propositions applicable to regulated organizations managing policy-practice gaps. Full article