江門市居家養老研究報告

Authors : 陳澤群、鄧敏如、黃湘雲、劉雪、胡瑩、傅蓉、林丹瑩、梁健玲、高樂
Type : Report
Published Date : Jun 2022
Publisher : Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University
ISBN : 9789881943194

本研究旨在瞭解江門市”社區居家養老”的狀況及需求，以便當局制定服務，讓長者能在自己最熟悉的地方養老。

硏究採用「量性研究」(Quantitative research method) 的方法，以問卷收集了482位居住在江門市城市、鄉鎮和農村60歲或以上長者的個人狀況和對居家養老的意見。

硏究發現8成以上長者偏好在家養老及覺得其現在居所環境適合養老，但超過一半長者居所的安全性成疑，這包括居所存在鼠患蟲患、住屋光線不足和缺乏維修等。另外，有大約3成認爲社區設施便利性有待提升。

在社交支持方面，超過8成老年人擁有良好的社交支持網絡，出入醫療場所和在生活上遇到難題時能獲得幫忙；少部分無法尋求任何幫助。值得注意的是，尋求正式機構協助的長者不多。

在財務狀況方面，約6成長者主要收入來源為退休金，另外少於半數老年人依靠兒女資助。有部分受訪者依賴存款，政府補貼和勞動收入。受訪者月收入偏低，以1000~4000元爲主，部分沒有任何收人。被訪者的醫療保險覆蓋率接近9成，約有2成人對承擔醫療費用感到吃力。

參與是次研究的受訪者普遍身體狀況和自理能力良好，7成以上滿意當前生活狀態 (包括居所狀況、社會支持、居家安老安排、社區設施及其生活條件)，認爲目前條件能支持他們居家養老。

本研究提出五大建議。第一，雖然目前大部分受訪者滿意當前生活狀態，居家養老服務供給水平仍有改進空間。為應付老年人口急增，政府應加速發展養老業。第二，社區和居家環境需配合長者的身體機能和需要，進行適老化改造，以支持他們在家養老。第三，爲減輕長者醫療費用的負擔，建議政府篩查符合救助標準的長者，提高老年人醫療補貼。第四，為了讓更多老年人能在社區組織中獲得適切的正式服務支持，政府應加大服務購買力度，增加服務名額同時提升服務質素。第五，子女對年長父母的陪伴和依靠是不能缺乏的，但部分子女沒有很好地履行贍養義務。爲增加子女對年老父母的照顧力度，政府應從教育、媒體方面營造社會尊老敬老氛圍。

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A study on the oil price cointegration dynamic process : Evidence from the Shanghai crude oil futures

Authors : Hongxia WANG; Shushu QIU; Ho Yin YICK; Yuhu DAI
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : May 2022
Source : Frontiers in Environmental Science
DOI : 10.3389/fenvs.2022.901236

This work studies the integration process of the Shanghai crude oil futures market in pricing discovery mechanism of global crude oil markets by conducting cointegration analysis and lead–lag causality tests. Using the representative samples of several futures contracts covering different listing periods, we conclude a significant and gradual change of the relations between the Shanghai crude oil futures market and international benchmarks, from unidirectional Granger causality to bidirectional Granger causality. The cointegration relationships become stable after about 2 years’ market development. Moreover, the Shanghai crude oil futures market always leads domestic (Daqing) crude oil spot market since 2019. Our evidences support that it has the increasing influence on domestic crude oil market and international benchmarks.

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Can regime change improve ethnic relations? Perception of ethnic minorities after the 2021 coup in Myanmar

Authors : Roman DAVID; Aung Kaung MYAT; Ian HOLLIDAY
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : May 2022
Source : Japanese Journal of Political Science
DOI : 10.1017/S146810992200007X

Regime change often exacerbates ethnic conflict. This article examines the curious case of Myanmar, where a 2021 military coup was met, on the surface, with broad-based resistance across a divided society. An important question that therefore arises is whether, below the surface, this unity also took a more positive form of national solidarity. Were deep ethnic cleavages intensified or alleviated by the 2021 coup? This question bears theoretical relevance for the study of ethnic conflict and has social relevance for a nation marked by a long history of civil war and a recent experience of genocide against Rohingya Muslims. The article engages in a systematic examination of 180 social media posts uploaded in Burmese by key opinion leaders both before and after the coup. A qualitative analysis of major positive and negative themes indicates a shift in attitudes. The quantitative analysis shows that ethnic relations, measured by a change in themes, ratings and virality, improved significantly in the immediate aftermath of Myanmar's 2021 coup.

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Centred worlds, personal identity and imagination

Author : Andrea SAUCHELLI
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : May 2022
Source : Theoria
DOI : 10.1111/theo.12407

The Centred View offers an account of the connection between imagination and possibility that combines the centred world framework with some allegedly appealing intuitions regarding our persistence over time. In particular, Dilip Ninan suggests that the Centred View has the theoretical advantage of respecting our intuitions about cases of personal identity in certain imaginative scenarios while also being compatible with physicalism. Unfortunately, the Centred View faces a series of serious objections and should ultimately be rejected.

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Does the age of legislators matter to their representational behavior? Evidence from Hong Kong

Author : Wai Keung TAM
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Japanese Journal of Political Science
DOI : 10.1017/S1468109922000159

In this research note we examine the impacts of legislators' age on their representational behavior in Hong Kong by conducting content analyses of the questions raised by members of the Hong Kong legislature (LegCo) at the plenary meetings from 1998 to 2016. We explore whether young legislators were more likely than older legislators to represent youth interests. Our results show that legislators' age did not significantly affect their representational behavior. We propose three factors of this null finding. The first concerns the relatively low voter turnout among young people in Hong Kong. The second is related to the career incentives of legislators in authoritarian legislature. The last factor is the political affiliation of young legislators in Hong Kong.

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Early experience of land readjustment in Hong Kong : Case study of the Kowloon Walled City

Authors : Mark Hansley CHUA; Yung YAU
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Buildings
DOI : 10.3390/buildings12060757

Since the early 2010s, sub-divided flats have been proliferating in Hong Kong—one of the world’s most compact and expensive cities to live in. The growth of informal housing in the city has long been attributed to the shortage of housing supply. Apart from developing new land for housing, one possible approach to deal with the land supply constraint is to speed up the redevelopment of old buildings in the city centre in order to maximise the land use potential. Yet, this approach brings about many socio-economic issues that drive up the transaction costs for its implementation. To get around the hurdles of urban redevelopment, a land management technique called land readjustment (LR) has been recommended, but its use has never been institutionalised in the city. Using declassified archival documents and maps, this article argues that LR was already implemented—albeit informally—in Hong Kong during the 1960s–70s within the Kowloon Walled City. With the historical experience of the City of Darkness, the aim of this article is to shed light on the in situ resettlement of original site residents—very much at the heart of land readjustment—as a means to bring down the transaction costs of deep urban redevelopment.

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Firm climate risk, risk management, and bank loan financing

Authors : Henry He HUANG; Joseph KERSTEIN; Chong WANG; Feng Harry WU
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Strategic Management Journal
DOI : 10.1002/smj.3437

Research summary
We estimate firm-level physical risk from climate change based onmanagerial evaluation and firms’ exposure to climate hazard events, andfind that climate risk results in unfavorable corporate financing termsrelated to bank loans (higher interest paid, higher likelihood of beingrequired to collateralize the loan, and greater number of covenantconstraints). Firms that take measures aimed at managing climate risk,including corporate climate strategy, board-level governance, specific orintegrated process to cope with climate change, climate opportunities, andclimate policy involvement, are able to mitigate the negative impact ofclimate risk on loan contracting. We further find that higher climate risklevel is associated with inferior financial performance and higher defaultprobability, which potentially lead to more stringent loan terms.

Managerial summary
We examine how a firm’s exposure to climate risk affects its financingterms from bank loans. Climate risk exposure is assessed by firm managersand also reflects the degree to which the firm is subject toclimate-induced natural disasters. The results show that, if exposed tohigher climate risk, which hurts financial performance and heightensdefault likelihood, firms face higher interest rates and more stringentcollateral and covenant constraints when borrowing from banks.Nevertheless, firm managers could significantly mitigate this adverseclimate impact on loan financing by integrating climate change intobusiness strategy, having the board take direct responsibility for climatechange issues, establishing a climate change-focused risk managementprocess, seeking business opportunities from climate change, and engagingin activities that influence climate policies.

Grit across nations: The cross-national equivalence of the grit-o scale

Authors : Llewellyn E. VAN ZYL; Babet HEIJENK; Jeff KILBERT; Rebecca SHANKLAND; Nicolas B. VERGER; Sebastiaan ROTHMANN; Vincent CHO; Katherine FENG; Eric W. K. SEE-TO; Lara C. ROLL; Leander VAN DER MEJI
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Journal of Happiness Studies
DOI : 10.1007/s10902-022-00543-0

Despite its popularity in practice, the Grit-O Scale has shown inconsistent factorial structures and differing levels of internal consistency in samples outside the USA. The validity of the Grit-O Scale in different contexts is, therefore, questionable. As such, the purpose of this paper was to determine whether the Grit-O Scale could be used as a valid and reliable measure to compare grit across different nations. Specifically, the aim was to investigate the factorial validity, reliability, and concurrent validity of the Grit-O Scale and to investigate measurement invariance across three national cohorts (Europe, the USA, and Hong Kong). Data were gathered from 1888 respondents stemming from one USA- (n = 471), two Hong Kong- (n = 361) and four European (n = 1056) universities. A series of traditional CFA and less restrictive ESEM models were estimated and systematically compared to determine the best factorial form of the Grit-O Scale. The results showed that a bifactor ESEM model, with one general factor of overall grit and two specific factors (consistency of interest and perseverance of effort), fitted the data best, showed strong measurement invariance across the three samples, and showed itself to be a reliable measure. Furthermore, concurrent validity was established by showing that the three grit factors were directly and positively related to task performance. Meaningful latent comparisons between the three cultural cohorts could therefore be made. The results imply that cross-national comparisons of grit may only be problematic when traditional CFA approaches are favoured. In contrast, ESEM modelling approaches may compensate for cross-national differences in understanding grit and control for differences in the interpretation of the scale’s items. Therefore, the bifactor ESEM approach may be more appropriate for cross-cultural and cross-national comparison studies, as it allows for these differences to be meaningfully captured, modelled, and controlled for.

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How are employers represented in and affected by the policymaking of in-work benefits? Policy stakeholders’ views in Hong Kong

Author : Tat Chor AU-YEUNG
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : May 2022
Source : Journal of Poverty and Social Justice
DOI : 10.1332/175982721X16497618415259

Based on an employer-focused political economy framework, this qualitative study investigates how employers are represented in and affected by the policymaking of in-work benefits (IWBs), given employers’ political status and labour market conditions. Respondents addressed the importance of employers’ tacit support of the wage subsidies funded by the government. Arguably, it was considered that IWBs did not have a direct impact on wages, but they subsidised employers as a constraint against the minimum wage, boosted the workforce’s availability, and reduced recruitment costs for employers. This research substantiates the understanding of IWBs by integrating the perspectives of policy stakeholders and expands IWBs’ case studies in an authoritarian context.

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How does psychological capital lead to better well-being for students? The roles of family support and problem-focused coping

Authors : Haobi WANG; Ting Kin NG; Oi-ling SIU
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Current Psychology
DOI : 10.1007/s12144-022-03339-w

Recent studies have shifted the attention on the beneficial role of psychological capital from workplace to academic contexts. Moreover, the mediating role of psychological capital in the effect of social support on student outcomes remains unknown. This topic has become more imperative under the pandemic. The current study aimed to investigate the impact of psychological capital on students’ well-being with family support as an antecedent and problem-focused coping as a mediator. Two hundred and eighty-one students completed the questionnaire at two time points. Results of the cross-lagged mediation analysis showed that family support positively predicted psychological capital, psychological capital positively predicted problem-focused coping, and problem-focused coping predicted well-being. Moreover, the chain mediation path between family support and well-being via psychological capital and problem-focused coping was significant. The current findings identify the antecedent and underlying mechanism behind the relationship between psychological capital and well-being, providing insights into psychological capital interventions for students.

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Marx’s theories and beyond: Understanding working-class solidarity in China

Author : Ngai PUN
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Critical Sociology
DOI : 10.1177/08969205221105445

Derived from post-industrial society experiences, current social theorists often argue that the working class no longer plays an active role in transforming society, thereby making the issue of working-class solidarity obsolete. This paper critically revisits Marx’s theories on solidarity and re-engages the debates by intersecting macro structural analysis with micro-foundation of working-class solidarity. The article formulates the concept of working-class solidarity in two layers of analysis: the first is a macro structural approach driven by class conflict, social grievance, and economic crisis directly connected to the social transformation of the neoliberal market economy; and the second looks at micro process of cooperation and mutual support at the level of everyday practice, that is, a collective-emotional environment that creates agency and a soft solidarity base for building bonds among working-class youth. The logic of solidarity is rescued through a multiplicity of working-class youth’s behaviors discovered in school and the workplace.

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Mercury isotopes reflect variable metal sources as a function of paleo-depositional setting in the Ediacaran-Cambrian ocean, South China

Authors : Zhongxi XUE; Runsheng YIN; Bernd LEHMANN; Ruidong YANG; Hai XU; Jun CHEN; Hongyan GENG; Junbo GAO
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Precambrian Research
DOI : 10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106749

A broad spectrum of marine sediments, including metalliferous black shales, stratiform barite, phosphorite and sapropelite (combustible shale) was widely deposited during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition on the Yangtze Platform. The source of metals in the metalliferous black shales and the trigger for ocean dynamics during this critical period remain controversial. We analyzed Hg isotopes in late Ediacaran to Early Cambrian carbonaceous sedimentary rocks from the basinal Sansui section, South China, and observed Hg concentrations of 102–103 ppb, which is high but within the global range of black shales. The late Ediacaran carbonaceous chert shows near-zero Δ199Hg values (−0.05–0.09‰), which can be interpreted as input of terrestrial Hg or volcanic Hg. However, the transgressive near-coastal setting supports the terrestrial origin. The Early Cambrian V rich black shales display positive Δ199Hg values (0.03–0.18‰), which are similar to those observed in polymetallic Ni-Mo-rich sulfidic black shales (0.10–0.22‰) and phosphorites (0.13–0.24‰) in the stratigraphically equivalent Maoshi and Zhijin sections, respectively. These positive Δ199Hg values suggest that Hg was of dominantly seawater origin in a restricted basin setting. The variable Δ199Hg values of the rock spectrum reflect the dynamic interplay of marine and terrestrial metal sources as a function of paleo-depositional setting within the transgressive–regressive system on the continental margin of the Ediacaran-Cambrian Yangtze platform.

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Quest for roots: Trauma and heroism in Wu he’s Yusheng and Tang Shiang-Chu’s Yusheng: Seediq Bale

Author : Darryl STERK
Type : Book Chapter
Published Year : 2022
Source : The Musha Incident : A Reader on the Indigenous Uprising in Colonial Taiwan
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN : 9780231552189

"Musha 1930", a chapter in Michael Berry's monograph A History of Pain : Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film, details how Taiwanese and Chinese nationalists have appropriated the pain of the Musha Incident, including both Mona Rudao's rebellion and the Japanese reprisal, for nation-building or profit. Numbers can give some sense of the magnitude of the pain. Of the 1,236 people living in the six rebellious Tgdaya villages before the attack that Mona Rudao led on an assembly of Japanese officials on October 27, 1930, only 298 survived the Japanese reprisal. The pain lingers, particularly in memories of the force relocation to a new village called Chuanzhong / Kawanakajima (川中島), which was renamed Qingliu (清流) after the war and is know as "Alang Gluban" to the Seedig people, in the concentration camp-like conditions that the survivors from the rebellious villagers endured there; and in the bad blood between the Tgdaya and the Toda as a result of the Toda collaboration during the reprisal, particularly during the Second Musha Incident, when Toda warriors were allowed to attack the defenseless Tgdaya rebels in two shelters.

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The impact of recommender systems and pricing strategies on brand competition and consumer search

Authors : CHi ZHOU; Mingming LENG; Zhibing LIU; Xin CUI; Jing YU
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Mar 2022
Source : Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
DOI : 10.1016/j.elerap.2022.101144

As a type of internet and business intelligence technology, recommender systems have been widely adopted by store brands to improve brand competition and to affect consumers’ search behaviors in the e-commerce market. This paper studies the effects of recommender systems and pricing strategies on the competition between store brands and national brands and on consumers’ search behaviors. We develop game models without and with recommender systems and analyze the equilibrium solutions under uniform pricing and differential pricing strategies. The results show that the brand-preference consumers’ market share will affect the strategy choice of recommendation system and differential pricing for the store brand. When the store brand is recommended, the store brand should adopt the differential pricing strategy and the price of the store brand will exceed that of the national brand. Furthermore, we also find that when the brand-preference consumers’ market share is low and the reservation price difference is high, the store brand can gain the competitive advantage by improving recommendation strength. In addition, a recommender system attracts consumers by converting their search costs into the recommendation costs of the system.

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The market distortion effects of mortgage tightening and transaction taxes: Evidence from Hong Kong residential resale market

Authors : Lok Sang HO; Mengna HU; Xiangdong WEI; Gary Wai Chung WONG
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Apr 2022
Source : Pacific Economic Review
DOI : 10.1111/1468-0106.12389

By using transaction-level data, we study if two popular policies intended to cool an overheated housing market would serve their intended purposes. We found both mortgage tightening and Special Stamp Duties (SSD) actually led to higher starter home prices in Hong Kong. Mortgage tightening shifted the demand for bigger homes to that for smaller ones. The SSD that applies to resales within a specified period of the original purchase lowered turnover across the housing market. The decline in turnover is, as expected, sharpest for small flats, implying a dramatic shrinkage in second-hand supply of such homes, driving their prices up. We also found transactions bunching as many homes are held till the SSD is no longer applicable, indicating lock-in effects. Relative to those that are not subject to the SSD, the prices of properties subject to the levy are found to be lower by 6.8%.

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The relative effectiveness of altruistic vs. egoistic messages in influencing non-donors' intention to donate blood in Hong Kong

Authors : Wai Lan Victoria YEUNG; Pui Chuen TAM; Eric Kenson YAU
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Journal of Social Psychology Research
DOI : 10.37256/jspr.1220221313

Prior research found that egoistic (vs. altruistic) messages were more effective in influencing the willingness to blood donation in Caucasian British students who were committed blood donors. We investigated what types of messages could effectively influence the blood donation intention of young Chinese students who had never donated blood (non-donors). Participants were asked to read a poster showing either an altruistic or egoistic message that was framed either positively or negatively. Results revealed that Chinese non-donors were more willing to donate blood when they read an altruistic rather than an egoistic message. The negatively-framed egoistic-focused message was the least effective in persuading Chinese non-donors to donate blood. Suggestions for future blood donation promotion campaigns and advertisements were made.

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The revival of management education in reform-era China

Author : Peter E. HAMILTON
Type : Book Chapter
Published Year : 2022
Source : Chinese Economic Statecraft from 1978 to 1989
Publisher : Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ISBN : 9789811692161
DOI : 10.1007/978-981-16-9217-8_5

This chapter analyzes the revival of management education in mainland China as a key aspect of the Reform Era. Reacting against the ideological excesses of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese officials and academics first worked to restore “science” to the study and practice of management by re-training tens of thousands of mid-level managers across the CCP and state-owned enterprises. These efforts relied on transnational circulations of knowledge back and forth with the major capitalist economies of Europe and North America, which in turn required careful ideological re-calibrations and justifications. By the early 1990s, these processes evolved into leading universities such as Tsinghua and Fudan establishing American-style MBA programs in partnership with MIT Sloan. Through high-level academic exchanges largely funded by Hong Kong MIT alumni, this partnership transplanted whole courses, textbooks, and methodologies into Chinese management education and further accelerated China’s export-driven integration with global capitalism.

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The role of consumer characteristics in explaining product innovation performance: Evidence from emerging economies

Authors : Ga-Eun (Grace) OH; Murod ALIYEV; Mario KAFOUROS; Alan Kai Ming AU
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Journal of Business Research
DOI : 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.05.060

Building on evolutionary perspectives, we offer a new demand-based explanation as to why the product innovation performance of firms varies across countries. We propose that certain consumer characteristics (namely, buyer sophistication, creativity, global identity and local identity) influence firms’ product innovation performance by a) affecting the creation and success of innovative products and b) strengthening (positively moderating) the effects that a firms’ R&D has on its product innovation performance. The analysis of 48,176 firm-level observations from 49 emerging economies in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa confirms most of the above predictions. The study complements prior perspectives on innovation performance, which largely focus either on the firm or its industry, by explaining the mechanisms through which consumer characteristics influence firms’ innovation performance, identifying which consumer characteristics matter, and advancing a demand-based perspective that has not attracted sufficient attention in the literature.

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Whether and how can a growth mindset intervention help students in a non-Western culture? Evidence from a field experiment in China

Authors : Zhen HUANG; Xiangdong WEI; Runhao LU; Jiannong SHI
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Jun 2022
Source : Educational Psychology
DOI : 10.1080/01443410.2022.2085669

An increasing amount of research has indicated that the effectiveness of growth mindset (GM) intervention is sensitive to population characteristics. However, few studies have investigated whether GM interventions can be leveraged to promote academic performance among non-westerners such as Chinese students. Attuning to the Chinese background, we developed an extended GM intervention by incorporating both the malleability of intelligence and that of emotion. We examined the effect of the intervention in 11 schools across 48 classes in China and found that the intervention significantly improved students’ maths achievement with intrinsic motivation playing a partial mediating role. Different from the mechanism in the Western, the implicit theories of emotion, rather than implicit theories of intelligence, are more likely to play a role in the effects of the GM intervention on intrinsic motivation and maths achievement. Future studies are required for directly examining the role of implicit theories of emotion.

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