Does expert information affect citizens’ attitudes toward Corona policies? Evidence from Germany

Information provided by experts is believed to play a key role in shaping attitudes towards policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper uses a survey experiment to assess whether providing citizens with expert information about the health risk of COVID-19 and the economic costs of lockdown measures affects their attitudes towards these policies. Our findings show that providing respondents with information about COVID-19 fatalities among the elderly raises support for lockdown measures, while information about their economic costs decreases support. However, different population subgroups react differently. Men and younger respondents react more sensitively to information about lockdown costs, while women and older respondents are more susceptible towards information regarding fatality rates. Strikingly, our results are entirely driven by respondents who underestimate the fatality of COVID-19, who represent a majority.     

New insights in Peer-to-Peer carsharing and ridesharing participation intentions: Evidence from the “provider-user” perspective

Carsharing services (CS) and ridesharing are gaining popularity worldwide through Peer-to-Peer (P2P) platforms, which appear to gradually complement or replace conventional CS business.This empirical study investigates the participation intentions in P2P shared mobility services accounting for different statuses people may adopt: provider and/or user. The analysis of a large car owner survey in three major European capitals indicates that these participation decisions are driven by common latent preferences and, people who are more prone to become a peer provider are more likely to use the P2P shared mobility service (and vice versa). The results also reveal the role of individual values such as possession self-link, individualism, and environmentalism in the decision to join a P2P shared mobility platform. Furthermore, our study shows how provider/user status may affect the participation intentions process in the urban population.     

Parenthood and political engagement

This paper analyzes the impact of parenthood on political engagement using the longitudinal British survey data and a repeated cross-sectional European Social survey. I construct a political engagement measure by applying confirmatory factor analysis to observable indicators of several different aspects of political engagement. Then, I estimate the impact of becoming a parent on political engagement based on an event study around the birth of an individual’s first child, using UK data. The results indicate that having children reduces the political engagement of female parents but does not significantly affect the political engagement of male parents. The impact on women is temporary and disappears several years after the birth of their first child. The analysis of the impact of additional children on political engagement suggests that women’s political engagement is reduced by the fact of becoming a mother rather than by the number of children. The results are confirmed using repeated cross-sectional data for European regions, controlling for fixed regional characteristics. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

竞赛机制设计研究回顾与展望

竞赛是社会、政治和经济中的典型现象,在激励和资源配置方面发挥了非常重要的作用,竞赛机制设计已成为竞赛研究的理论热点问题.本文介绍了竞赛理论基础知识,主要从竞赛奖励、竞赛结构及竞赛成功函数三个方面,综述了有关竞赛机制设计研究.在回顾以往研究的基础上,探讨了竞赛机制设计研究未来的可能发展方向.     

Macroeconomic expectations and consumer sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of others’ beliefs

This paper investigates the effect of information about cross-country ratings of the government’s and the public’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers’ macroeconomic expectations and sentiment. We conduct consumer surveys with randomized control trials (RCTs) in two waves in Thailand and Vietnam. The information treatments have the strongest effect when the information shown contradicts consumers’ prior beliefs. In the first survey, conducted when the first lockdown was eased, treatment effects are stronger in Vietnam, causing more optimistic expectations and sentiment. In the second survey, conducted at the start of the second wave of infections, treatment effects are stronger in Thailand, causing a more pessimistic outlook.     

Analysis of cybersecurity competencies: Recommendations for telecommunications policy

The paper aims to analyse and assess cybersecurity competencies and define the recommended solutions to improve the human factor in cybersecurity. The article presents the results of theoretical and empirical research that were carried out in 2019–2021. The research subject constitutes one of the priorities of many countries and international organisations. Cybersecurity is one of the essential foundations for implementing the idea of sustainable development. A cybersecurity analysis using a layered structure was proposed in the theoretical part. Empirical research was conducted using a diagnostic poll method based on a survey. The presentation of the research results includes an analysis of statistical dependencies. The paper presents the research results on cybersecurity competencies in the field of threats to state cyberspace and methods of securing and protecting data. An important element of the research was to identify forms of education that can be used to achieve greater efficiency in increasing cybersecurity competencies. The result of the implementation of the research objectives was the development of recommended solutions facilitating the improvement of the human factor in the field of cybersecurity.     

How do changes in household economic conditions affect cognitive function?

This study examines the effects of changes in household economic conditions on cognitive function using individual panel data from the National Survey of the Japanese Elderly. This study captures the objective and subjective economic conditions and examines which aspects of economic conditions affect cognitive function. The results demonstrate that deterioration in economic conditions damages cognitive function. In particular, objective economic conditions measured by income affect the cognitive function of Japanese men. This study also assesses possible pathways through which economic conditions affect cognitive function.