Suchergebnisse

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the role of digital infrastructure in supporting compliance with travel restrictions. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of digital infrastructure in supporting compliance with travel restrictions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world have issued "stay-at-home" orders and curtailed a variety of economic activities. As countries have adopted aggressive policies to limit the spread of COVID-19, varying levels of national infrastructure to provide internet access have limited some nations' ability to reduce travel requirements. As national policies struggle to address public health issues, location analytics enabled by big data provide unique insights regarding the efficacy of digital infrastructure. These insights can provide valuable tools to public health officials and regulators in understanding how health recommendations are implemented within an economy.


Design/methodology/approach
This study analyzes mobile phone movement data during the first half of 2020 and finds that countries that provided greater access to internet capabilities were better able to reduce work-related mobility.


Findings
This study's findings indicate that greater levels of digital infrastructure may better prepare countries to adapt to societal disruptions such as COVID-19.


Practical implications
This study's findings demonstrate that public health controls regarding movement and person-to-person interaction are less likely to be effective in nations with weaker digital infrastructure, even after accounting for variation attributable to gross domestic product (GDP) and pandemic severity. This could limit public health options in developing countries when faced with future socially disruptive events and encourage national investment in digital infrastructure.


Social implications
This study's findings highlight positive externalities associated with reducing the digital divide. Developing better digital business infrastructure globally may reduce human exposure to future pandemic risks.


Originality/value
This research demonstrates the practical development implications of analysis of aggregate data widely available through mobile technology. As institutions develop techniques to ethically and effectively analyze this data, greater opportunities to support economic development may be revealed.

Binder's title: History and government of Washington State. ; Mode of access: Internet.

AbstractThe natural‐resource‐based view of the firm suggests that there are benefits associated with voluntary disclosure of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, in that this signals quality of management, as well as the quality of the firm's financial strategy, to its investors. With increased demand for transparency of firm activities, this assertion needs re‐examination. We examine the effects of governance, environmental and social responsibility performance on the firm, and find moderate support for CSR disclosure increasing firm value. However, only the disclosure of social responsibility scores was associated with higher levels of firm value, as measured by Tobin's q. This relationship was positively moderated by the extent to which a firm was consumer facing. These findings suggest that strategic engagement in social responsibility, rather than merely sponsoring environmental initiatives, contributes to increasing firm value through CSR.

Background: Prior research has focused primarily on empirically estimating design parameters for cluster-randomized trials (CRTs) of mathematics and reading achievement. Little is known about how design parameters compare across other educational outcomes. Objectives: This article presents empirical estimates of design parameters that can be used to appropriately power CRTs in science education and compares them to estimates using mathematics and reading. Research Design: Estimates of intraclass correlations (ICCs) are computed for unconditional two-level (students in schools) and three-level (students in schools in districts) hierarchical linear models of science achievement. Relevant student- and school-level pretest and demographic covariates are then considered, and estimates of variance explained are computed. Subjects: Five consecutive years of Texas student-level data for Grades 5, 8, 10, and 11. Measures: Science, mathematics, and reading achievement raw scores as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Results: Findings show that ICCs in science range from .172 to .196 across grades and are generally higher than comparable statistics in mathematics, .163–.172, and reading, .099–.156. When available, a 1-year lagged student-level science pretest explains the most variability in the outcome. The 1-year lagged school-level science pretest is the best alternative in the absence of a 1-year lagged student-level science pretest. Conclusion: Science educational researchers should utilize design parameters derived from science achievement outcomes.

Governments have committed to conserving ?17% of terrestrial and ?10% of marine environments globally, especially "areas of particular importance for biodiversity" through "ecologically representative" Protected Area (PA) systems or other "area-based conservation measures", while individual countries have committed to conserve 3–50% of their land area. We estimate that PAs currently cover 14.6% of terrestrial and 2.8% of marine extent, but 59–68% of ecoregions, 77–78% of important sites for biodiversity, and 57% of 25,380 species have inadequate coverage. The existing 19.7 million km2 terrestrial PA network needs only 3.3 million km2 to be added to achieve 17% terrestrial coverage. However, it would require nearly doubling to achieve, cost-efficiently, coverage targets for all countries, ecoregions, important sites, and species. Poorer countries have the largest relative shortfalls. Such extensive and rapid expansion of formal PAs is unlikely to be achievable. Greater focus is therefore needed on alternative approaches, including community- and privately managed sites and other effective area-based conservation measures.