Suchergebnisse

How does the public perceive facial recognition technology and how much do they accept facial recognition technology in different political contexts? Based on online surveys resembling the Internet-connected population in China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, our study finds that facial recognition technology enjoys generally highest acceptance among respondents in China, while acceptance is lowest in Germany, and the United Kingdom and the United States are in between. A closer examination through the lens of an integrated technology acceptance model reveals interesting variations in the selected four countries based, among other factors, on socio-demographic factors as well as perceived consequences, usefulness, and reliability of facial recognition technology. While previous research has pointed out that facial recognition technology is an instrument for state surveillance and control, this study shows that surveillance and control are not foremost on the minds of citizens in China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, but rather notions of convenience and improved security.

AbstractAmid the COVID‐19 pandemic, citizens' compliance with government preventive measures was one of the top policy priorities for governments worldwide. This study engages with socio‐legal and psychological theories on compliance and proposes an analytical framework to explore the role of different psychological factors on individual‐level compliance during global health crises. Using the results of three national surveys, we argue that various negative emotional states, perceptions of the ongoing crisis, and of the institutional settings are major factors influencing individual compliance across countries. Most importantly, while increased panic, anxiety, and sadness lead to higher compliance, rising anger, loneliness, and impatience decrease compliance levels. Notably, perceptions of the COVID‐19 crisis—especially health concerns and a worsening financial situation—tend to elicit anger among citizens across countries, thereby further hampering their obedience with pandemic regulations. Furthermore, perceptions of public institutions also influence individual compliance. Overall, in order to ensure compliance, we suggest that policymakers and those implementing government measures take individual psychological factors into account both within and beyond the public crisis context.

Socio-economic development is often linked to efficient infrastructure provision. In China, the government has rolled out ambitious infrastructure projects as part of its national development strategy. There is much to praise about China's infrastructure provision, such as its remarkable scale and speed of infrastructure delivery. However, based on studying 153 infrastructure cases between 1983 and 2018 and two in-depth case studies, we find that China's infrastructure performance is not as positive as often assumed. We show that infrastructure projects continuously arrive significantly over budget. We argue that this cost performance depends – similar to Western countries – on inaccurately anticipating technical hindrances and geographical challenges. In addition, however, we identify another important and so far less discussed project performance determinant specifically relevant to the Chinese context: population resettlements and land acquisition. (JCCA/GIGA)

This paper analyzes barriers for energy efficiency investments for small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China. Based on a survey of 480 SMEs in Zhejiang Province, this study assesses financial, informational, and organizational barriers for energy efficiency investments in the SME sector. The conventional view has been that the lack of appropriate financing mechanisms particularly hinders SMEs to adopt cost-effective energy efficiency measures. As such, closing the financing gap for SMEs is seen as a prerequisite in order to promote energy efficiency in the sector. The econometric estimates of this study, however, suggest that access to information is an important determinant of investment outcomes, while this is less clear with respect to financial and organizational factors. More than 40 percent of enterprises in the sample declared that that they are not aware of energy saving equipments or practices in their respective business area, indicating that there are high transaction costs for SMEs to gather, assess, and apply information about energy saving potentials and relevant technologies. One implication is that the Chinese government may assume an active role in fostering the dissemination of energy-efficiency related information in the SME sector.

Reviews the evolution of China's emergence as a digital power, particularly their government's role in this process, addressing the evolution of governance institutions and policy initiatives, the development of strategic emerging industries, how China engages with global digital governance, and how national priorities affect local governance.