The main purpose of this study is to provide the needed additional quantitative evidence regarding the introduction of environmental technologies, and to increase the possibility for generalization ...and thus policy application of conclusions. To achieve that purpose, a conceptual model is developed, and then tested on a large database of firms from various industries with the use of structural equation modeling. The results show that policy measures, past environmental investments, the importance of environmental technologies for customers and the firm performance have a positive effect on environmental investments. Furthermore, the results show that policy measures are a second-order three-factor construct.
The absence of institutionalised childcare and education during the lockdowns, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, put parents who worked from home in a stressful situation in which they had to combine ...the roles of teacher, parent and employee. This study aims to analyse how the closure of kindergartens and schools during the March–May 2020 lockdown in Slovenia changed the reported allocation of time, and perceived emotional exhaustion of parents working from home, compared to nonparents. We also focus on the differences in the impacts of lockdown between genders, status of family-provision and employment sectors of parents. Using data from a survey carried out on cohabiting and married individuals in Slovenia and applying a difference-in-difference estimator, we find that parents incurred a significant increase in their unpaid work burden, reductions in time devoted to paid work and leisure and suffered an increase in emotional exhaustion. Namely, Slovenian parents reported roughly 2 h less of paid and 4 h more of unpaid work per day during the lockdown in comparison to nonparents. The analysis also demonstrates that females performed more unpaid work and enjoyed less leisure before the lockdown, but the lockdown adjustment did not further increase gender inequality.
JEL Codes: J22, D13
The main purpose of this study is to provide stronger quantitative evidence in the field of organizational absorptive capacity research by using a more direct measure of absorptive capacity and a ...wide range of variables in a cross-nationally tested structural model. The results show that there exist two kinds of absorptive capacity: demand-pull and science-push. Their most important determinants proved to be internal R&D, training of personnel, innovation co-operation and attitude toward change. Both kinds of absorptive capacity are positively related to product and process innovation output. Therefore, absorptive capacity is to be given more attention in the future research and innovation policy considerations.
Abandoned and neglected historical buildings are a common feature of many central European cities. The Interreg Central Europe Cooperation Programme has also recognized this issue, and it has ...identified deterioration of cultural heritage as one of the main challenges to be tackled within the program. Part of this program is also the project ForHeritage-Excellence for Integrated Heritage Management in Central Europe. The project builds on previous tools and experiences, pushing the results into the practice of the participating regions and beyond. Based on what was learned and the documents created in previous projects, a toolbox for cultural heritage management has been produced. The toolbox contains a set of six new, concise, and practice-oriented tools that focus on various aspects of cultural heritage management. Here, Murovec and Kavas discuss the tools.
Highlights • General population preferences are different from patient preferences. • Arguments in favour of general population preferences are questionable. • Adaptation found only on health ...dimension describing usual activities. • Inclusion of patients in the valuation process would impact allocation.
PurposeThe diversity of perspectives means that one can find many factors and models of proenvironmental behavior. However, they typically suffer from limitations and varying degrees of validity in ...specific contexts, suggesting that today the prime goal should be to learn and improve the models which have been already developed. In this study, the authors build on the model for predicting proenvironmental behavior developed by Oreg and Katz-Gerro (2006), namely one of the most comprehensive cross-national proenvironmental behavior models and one of the few not to be limited to either a local or single-country context or specific proenvironmental behavior.Design/methodology/approachBy using the statistical matching technique, the authors merged data from two existing databases without common identifiers – the International Social Survey Program (environmental module) and the European Social Survey (Round 5). The resulting multinational data concerning 9,710 observations enabled a replication with extensions of Oreg and Katz-Gerro's (2006) proenvironmental behavior model that incorporates newly added Schwartz's theory of human values. To achieve the study's main objective, that is, to present improvements to the original model of proenvironmental behavior, the authors used structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures to estimate four competing models in the R program.FindingsThis study implies that Schwartz's individually measured motivational types of values (benevolence BE, universalism UN, self-direction SD) are predictors of people's proenvironmental behavior, while his conceptualization of post-materialism yields a better model fit than Inglehart's country-level post-materialism scores. The results also corroborate previous findings that post-materialist values can stimulate proenvironmental behaviors through attitudes, perceived behavioral control and intentions. The present study reveals that proenvironmental attitudes did not change substantially in the 10-year period, even though the world's environmental and sustainability challenges have largely increased. Surprisingly, the mean value of several of the perceived threat variables even decreased.Originality/valueThe authors externally validate one of the most comprehensive proenvironmental behavior models by reproducing it using new multinational large-sample data with nearly 10,000 observations collected 10 years later. The most significant addition to the original model introduced in the current study is the inclusion of Schwartz's motivational types of values, which are measured at the individual level, namely BE, UN and SD. The authors also extend the model by adding proenvironmental behavior measures and group the construct into three latent variables: saving natural resources, green purchasing and environmental activism.
Murovec and Kavas discuss the Forget Heritage project. The project tackles an issue present in most cities characterized by unused historical buildings that have marked the history of the local ...community in various ways. This is not about widely recognized "A list" cultural heritage buildings, but buildings such as former factories, hospitals, schools, or barracks, which are a backdrop and often invisible to the public eye.
To ensure the food industry continues to grow, it is vital to properly understand the factors that impact the purchasing of organic food. Research offers ambiguous findings about what drives ...consumers to decide to purchase food labeled as organic. This study advances the current theories on organic food-purchasing behavior, which overlook the importance of the two-way interaction of social norms and individual behavior, suggesting that the role of social norms may have been simplified. We suggest the causal processes associated with organic food decision-making involve the social feedback loop, a powerful force that takes the current state into the phase of transition. Positive feedback is key to maintaining and developing the sustainable behavior of the society, where an initial change in consumer behavior to purchase organic food is magnified when that change resounds through social norms. This is especially pronounced in Norway and Slovenia, where marketers can make more cost- and time-efficient use of persuasive messages and requests. In addition, we provide a comprehensive delineation of organic food purchase decision-making of close to 14,000 individuals from 15 countries that includes key psychosocial antecedents, along with Schwartz’s values, attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions. Using a mixed-methods approach (i.e., statistical matching, spatial econometrics, structural equation modeling), the present paper thus intends to add to the understanding of environmentally friendly purchase behavior beyond unidirectional and single-theory relationships.
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