Environmental practices and firm performance in emerging markets: the mediating role of product quality

Environmental practices have not received as much research attention in emerging market contexts as traditional topics like quality. However, the importance of environmental practices for a firm’s production strategy has been increasing at an unprecedented level across the globe. Our research objective is, therefore, to investigate the interplay between environmental practices and quality in the pursuit of firm performance. Relying on 492 responses from Turkish manufacturers to test our hypotheses, we show that environmental practices directly improve the quality of products over and above the effect of quality management practices in emerging markets. Product quality, in turn, is important for increasing firm performance, acting as a mediator for the positive effects of environmental practices on performance. Thus, we reveal that product quality functions as an instrumental conduit between environmental practices and firm performance in emerging markets like Turkey where stakeholder pressures are weak, and regulations are often not properly enforced.     

Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour to Understand Motivation to Register Births in Lombok,Indonesia

Despite government interest in promoting birth registration, more than a third of Indonesian children do not have a birth certificate, affecting the realisation of both their human and citizen rights. While barriers to registering children's births in Indonesia have been assessed, there is limited research on how communities perceive the importance of having a birth certificate. This study used focus group discussions to explore parental motivations around birth registration. The results of a thematic analysis found that perceived use of birth certificates, perceived control over the application process and social norms related to certificate ownership affect the intention to apply.     

It’s Complicated: Sociocultural factors and the Disclosure Decision of Transgender Individuals in Pakistan

The literature on the disclosure decision of transsexual individuals is sparse, and that which does exist either uses empirical quantitative methods or aggregates transsexuals with other non-heterosexual individuals. The current study focuses this underresearched group and examines the disclosure decision of transsexual people in Pakistan, a developing Muslim country with a unique amalgam of social, cultural, and religious ground realities. Drawing on thematic analysis technique using in-depth interviews with 16 transsexuals, we show how sociocultural factors that are inherently embedded in the environment influence the disclosure decision in work and non-work settings. In particular, our respondents illustrate that their disclosure decision, which ranges from total disclosure on one end to nondisclosure on the other end, is influenced by the complexities of family honor, tightly integrated family network, social obligation to get married, and prevalent religious beliefs in the society. This study advances understanding of identity and disclosure decision of transsexual individuals by explicating the ways in which sociocultural factors are intricate part of their decision of coming out.     

Perturbed nuptiality,delayed fertility: childbirth effects of Covid19

Journal of Population Research - An aspect of the Covid-19 pandemic that merits attention is its effects on marriage and childbirth. Although the direct fertility effects of people getting the...     

简论维吾尔民间故事中的动物形象

维吾尔民间口头文学中的神话、传说、魔法故事、动物故事、寓言等文学体裁中都塑造了动物的形象。但是动物形象在不同体裁中的性格与作用不同,我们通过动物形象中的这种复杂的变化过程,可以深刻认识和感受维吾尔族人民的自然观和思想历史的发展痕迹。     

"算法推送"与网络服务提供者著作权侵权刑事责任规范性重构 ——从"实际作用"转向"规范能力"

在大数据时代,互联网平台利用"算法推送"向用户定制推送的内容一般来自于平台其他用户的上传.因此,网络服务提供者不是著作权直接侵权人,不能直接认定网络服务提供者著作权侵权刑事责任.然而,依照行为后的"实际作用"为准据的"中立帮助行为理论"赋予了网络服务提供者在从事服务行为时与自身信息管理能力不匹配的较高注意力,扩大了网络服务提供者的刑事归责范围,陷入了刑法扩大化的泥淖中.刑法应从谦抑性原则出发,在探讨"算法推送"技术下网络服务提供者著作权侵权刑事责任之前,应重新解读网络服务提供者著作权侵权刑事责任,大胆提出超越"实际作用"准据的"规范能力"标准,以期提供新的视角和可能.     

Children’s perception of social boundaries: The intersectionality of age and social group affiliation in rural Pakistan

This study explores how children perceive social boundaries in rural Pakistan. It discusses that children develop and navigate their social relationships through their perception of social boundaries, which are shaped by kinship and sociospatial organisation in rural areas. Children's perception of social boundaries is also mediated through the intersectionality of their age and social group affiliation. An ethnographic case study of a village in Southern Punjab, Pakistan, is presented here. It uses a quantifiable photo-elicitation technique and social mapping to analyse children's everyday mobilities and intersectionality in the cultural context of rural Pakistan to illustrate their perception of social boundaries.     

硕士研究生两年制学制教育改革与培养质量问题

根据中国研究生教育的目标定位,硕士研究生学制改为两年制是必要的。但实行两年制更应强调培养质量。应坚持因人而异的施教方针,积极推行课程改革,推进导师负责制,减少或者取消学生科研要求,努力提高学习效率,从而在两年内打下坚实的专业基础,有效锻炼实践能力。     

Comparisons of decision tree methods using water data

This article demonstrates the application of classification trees (decision trees), logistic regression (LR), and linear discriminant function (LDR) to classify data of water quality (i.e., whether the water is fit for drinking on not fit for drinking). The data on water quality were obtained from Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) for two cities of Pakistan—one representing industrial environment (Sialkot) and the other one representing non-industrial environment (Narowal). To classify data on water quality, three statistical tools were employed—the Decision Tree methodology using Gini Index, LR, and LDA—using R software library. The results obtained by the said three techniques were compared using misclassification rates (a model with minimum value of misclassification rate is better). It was witnessed that LR performed well than the other two techniques while the Decision trees and LDA performed equally well. But for illustration purposes decision trees technique is comparatively easy to draw and interpret.