Featured Publications of Lingnan Researchers
Social movements and politics of violence in cohabiting non-marital families
Authors : Anna W. M. CHOI; Alhassan ABDULLAH; Pik Ying CHAN; Peter Y. L. TO; Chuen Yee LO
Type : Book Chapter
Published Year : 2020
Source : The Sage handbook of domestic violence
ISBN : 9781526494863
Violence in cohabiting non-marital families seldom draws public attention, and protections for these families are limited. Even with the growing number of cohabiting non-marital families of heterosexual and same-sex relationships around the world, concern about and understanding of cohabiting non-marital families in crises are general weak, and this seems to be true both for policymakers and for helping professionals. Recognition of cohabiting non-marital families of heterosexual and same-sex couples has gradually emerged during the social movements that promote diversity and inclusive community. Some members of the general public find it difficult to accept these family forms as 'proper' family forms under the influence of traditional culture and the social policy made primarily for supporting and protecting married couples. Domestic violence in cohabiting non-marital families may face even more challenges in seeking a way out. Their needs are different from the needs of those in marries families, and thus they may not get immediate and practical support provided by typical social services. Legal protection for victims from cohabiting non-marital families is also limited as most social and legal preventive and protective measures were established based on the situation of nuclear marital families. Therefore, this chapter aims to discuss the social movements and politics in combating violence in cohabiting non-marital families by literature on reviewing cohabiting non-marital families, especially in cohabiting heterosexual relationships and in same-sex couples.
Prof. LO Chuen Yee Barbara
Head & Associate Professor, Department of Applied Psychology
Associate Director, Wofoo Joseph Lee Consulting and Counselling Psychology Research Centre
About the author
Mr. TO Yee Lap
單周堯教授七秩華誕國際學術研討會論文集
Editors : 李雄溪 ; 招祥麒 ; 郭鵬飛 ; 許子濱 ; 蕭敬偉 ; 潘漢芳
Type : Edited Book
Published Year: 2020
Publisher : 中華書局(香港)有限公司
ISBN : 9879888675500
單周堯教授，字文農，號勉齋，五十以後又號澹齋。自1975年起，即任職於香港大學中文系（現稱中文學院），講授《左傳》、文字學、音韻學等課程，研究範圍包括文字學、音韻學、訓詁學、出土文獻、粵方言、《尚書》、《左傳》等，俱有突出的學術成就，被譽為香港經學第一人。發表論文二百餘篇，專著有《中國語文論稿》、《文字訓詁叢稿》、《左傳學論集》、《勉齋小學論叢》、《漢字漢語解碼──咬文嚼字集》等，飲譽學界。學問以外，單周堯教授的人品和道德亦廣受稱頌，並在栽桃樹李、造育人才方面有傑出貢獻，單門弟子遍佈海內外學術界。2017年是單周堯教授七秩華誕，在多個合辦單位的努力下，「單周堯教授七秩華誕國際學術研討會」得以於2017年12月9日在香港饒宗頤文化館舉行。與會學者提交近百篇論文，涵蓋了單周堯教授專研的範疇，為相關領域提出了新發現，掀開了新局面。會上會下進行了熱烈而卓有成效的討論和交流，成為本地學界的佳話。為保存研討會的豐碩成果，籌委會把研討會上的論文以及開幕辭和閉幕辭加以結集出版，以見證單周堯教授和好朋友聚首論學的珍貴時光。
Prof. LEE Hung Kai 李雄溪
Unsupervised cross-domain named entity recognition using entity-aware adversarial training
Authors : Qi PENG; Changmeng ZHENG; Yi CAI; Tao WANG; Haoran XIE; Qing LI
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Dec 2020
Source : Neural Networks
DOI : 10.1016/j.neunet.2020.12.027
The success of neural network based methods in named entity recognition (NER) is heavily relied on abundant manual labeled data. However, these NER methods are unavailable when the data is fully-unlabeled in a new domain. To address the problem, we propose an unsupervised cross-domain model which leverages labeled data from source domain to predict entities in unlabeled target domain. To relieve the distribution divergence when transferring knowledge from source to target domain, we apply adversarial training. Furthermore, we design an entity-aware attention module to guide the adversarial training to reduce the discrepancy of entity features between different domains. Experimental results demonstrate that our model outperforms other methods and achieves state-of-the-art performance.
Prof. XIE Haoran
Associate Professor, Department of Computing and Decision Sciences
About the author
Everyday erotics in urban density : an ethnography of older lesbian and bisexual women in Hong Kong
Author : Tse Shang Denise TANG
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Dec 2020
Source : Gender, Place, and Culture
DOI : 10.1080/0966369X.2020.1859464
Lesbian spaces, in terms of their social, cultural, sexual or political purposes, have been dwindling in recent years within global North lesbian geographies. For this article, I would like to put forward a historical analysis of social spaces in Hong Kong through a qualitative ethnographic study of 12 older lesbians and bisexual women aged 60 years and above. Expanding upon Yue and Leung’s theoretical assertion of disjunctive modernity and urban neoliberalism, I proceed to develop my argument that lived experiences in an urban environment diffuses and decenters the assertion of one’s lesbian identity and sexual subjectivity across time and space. Under the British colonial era, the assertion of one’s Chinese womanhood as independent and modern intersects with rapid industrialization and social transformations which lead to culturally-specific spatial practices in locating lesbian desires. I call this mode of spatial practice as everyday erotics in density to describe the way of navigating sexual desires in relation to urban development, where becoming a woman with lesbian desires mean not only carving out one’s alternative erotic space but also disengaging with traditional gender roles in one’s life course and redefining gender and sexuality for an older generation of women.
Prof. TANG Tse Shang Denise
Assistant Professor, Department of Cultural Studies
Associate Director, Centre for Cultural Research and Development
About the author
Worker training, firm productivity, and trade liberalization : evidence from Chinese firms
Authors : Qing LIU; Larry Dongxiao QIU; Miaojie YU
Type : Book Chapter
Published Year : 2020
Source : The effects of globalisation on firm and labour performance
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN : 9780367507091
Firm productivity and trade liberalization is an important research topic in international trade and economic development. Growing empirical research using firm-level microdata has found evidence that trade liberalization from both input goods and final good fosters firm productivity. Amiti and Konings (2007) used Indonesian firm-level data to find that firms' gains from reduction of output tariffs. Similarly, Topalova and Khandelwal (2011) found close evidence for Indian firms. Using a Chinese firm-level dataset, Yu (2015) found that the impact of input tarif reductions on productivity improvement, overall, is weaker than that of output tariff reductions are found to contribute at least 14.5% to economy-wide productivity growth of China.
Prof. QIU Dongxiao Larry
Sydney S. W. Leong Chair Professor of Economics, Department of Economics
Director, China Economic Research Programme
About the author
苦海无边, "退让" 是岸 : 叔本华悲剧理论述评
Author : 丁尔苏
Type : Book Chapter
Published Year : 2020
Source : 马克思主义美学研究
Publisher : 上海人民出版社
ISBN : 9787208166974
叔本华是黑格尔之后又一位影响深远的悲剧理论家。他敏锐地把握住悲剧"表出人生可怕的一面"之文类特征，将其归人"力量崇高"的审美范畴。这进一步发展了从朗吉诺斯到康德关于"崇高"的美学话语。可惜的是，叔本华将审美主体之升华完全等同于"退让"，使其在评判悲剧作品之优劣时频频出错。尽管如此，叔本华在拓宽悲剧题材方面所做的贡献不容忽略。虽然他把生活世界描绘得过于灰暗，但他"众生皆苦"的人生哲学迫使他将悲剧的目光投向普通百姓，有助于打破帝王将相和才子佳人对悲剧舞台的垄断。
Information policy
Author : Diana Lucy LEMBERG
Type : Book Chapter
Published Year : 2020
Source : Information : a historical companion
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN : 9780691179544
The phrase “information policy” is not entirely commonplace in contemporary English. It does not possess the same self-evident significance as “foreign policy” or “public policy,” which point to a government’s respective interactions with international actors and with its domestic inhabitants. By contrast, a certain ambiguity sets in when we speak of information policy. Does it refer to a state’s efforts to gather information within its borders? The control of what information is available to its residents? The use of information for diplomatic purposes? International standard-setting? The public’s protections against governmental abuses of power, in the form of transparency or privacy laws? At times its constituent parts even seem to pull in opposite directions: “information,” as the word is deployed in the digital age, often seems to be characterized by a tendency to transgress national borders and contravene government planning—in other words, to subvert precisely the kinds of strategic designs for which policy is the instrument.
歷史不止一種寫法 : 十篇書評裏的歷史學景觀
Author : 毛升
Type : Book
Published Year : 2020
Publisher : 香港中文大學出版社
ISBN : 9789882372061
本書展現了十幅不同景觀的歷史學研究地圖，引領讀者探索主流歷史敘事以外的別番景緻。作者甄選近年來歐美港臺中國史和東亞史的新研究，用學術書評的方式梳理相關研究領域的現狀和脈絡，並在此脈絡中細緻剖析作品得失，探討歷史寫法的多種可能：以小人物書寫大歷史、以笑代淚重寫中國近代史、以邊疆定義中國、以底層視角審視現代化……本書涵蓋政治外交史、邊疆史、社會史及文化史等，帶領讀者見樹亦見林—不僅對每本著作的內容有深切瞭解，更能明晰作者的問題意識、學術源流與其所立足的學術傳統。作者爬梳英語學界的中國史及北韓史研究，亦對多部學術專著進行了解剖麻雀般的細緻分析。透過這些研究筆記與書評，作者指出：歷史不止一種寫法，不同學術圈的學者，均立足自身的問題意識和學術傳統，進行各具特色的歷史書寫，並因此互相發明。讀者亦可以此學術地圖，開啟一段對近代史的全新探索。
The effects of message tone and formats of CSR messages on engagement in social media
Author : Myoung Jin CHAE
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Oct 2020
Source : Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(10)
DOI : 10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no10.501
As more consumers are interested in sustainability issues and evaluate brands based on their social responsibility issues involved, firms are using social media platforms in order to communicate with consumers about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. However, the current literature focuses mostly on factors drive engagement of promotional messages, while little evidence was found in the literature on how to design effective CSR messages on social media to engage consumers. Using over 3,000 branded posts on Facebook and Twitter, this research explores factors that help CSR messages become more engaging in social media. The results show that, on average, CSR messages had a negative significant effect on consumer engagement. However, CSR messages became more engaging when designed with emotional appeals, longer texts, and a hashtag. While marginal, CSR messages with informational appeals and humor undermined the effect of CSR messages on engagement. Finally, we explore different types of CSR messages by their beneficiary scope and the role of brands in the message and discuss what message contents drive more engagement in social media. This research contributes to the academic literature and managers by providing new insights on how to design CSR messages for effective communications in social media.
Prof. CHAE Myoung Jin
Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing and International Business
About the author
Mirroring theorems in free logic
Author : Ethan Erich BRAUER
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Dec 2020
Source : Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic
DOI : 10.1215/00294527-2020-0020
Linnebo and Shapiro have recently given an analysis of potential infinity using modal logic. A key technical component of their account is to show that under a suitable translation ◊ of nonmodal language into modal language, nonmodal sentences ϕ1,…,ϕn entail ψ just in case ϕ◊1,…,ϕ◊n entail ψ◊ in the modal logic S4.2. Linnebo and Shapiro establish this result in nonfree logic. In this note I argue that their analysis of potential infinity should be carried out in a free logic. I then extend their key theorems to the setting of negative free logic.
Birth tourism and migrant children’s agency : the ‘double not’ in post-handover Hong Kong
Authors : Susanne Y. P. CHOI; Ruby Y. S. LAI
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Dec 2020
Source : Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
DOI : 10.1080/1369183X.2020.1839397
The present study examines how, in the context of birth tourism, children cope with the tensions between migration, family strategy, poverty, and societal exclusionary practices directed against immigrants. The example of economically disadvantaged ‘double not’ children – that is, children born in Hong Kong to non-affluent mainland Chinese parents described as ‘birth tourists’ in post-handover Hong Kong – brings to the fore children’s agency in navigating spatial mobility and coping with its consequences. The study examines the diverse ways in which such children talk about migration, the range of strategies they deploy to cope with their new and at times difficult circumstances after migration, and the effects these strategies have on their identity, action, emotions, and well-being. The study explores the different forms of agency of migrant children in the context of birth tourism. It situates their experiences within structural constraints and anti-migration campaigns that often see them as disrupting territorial cohesion. The findings fill a research gap in the literature on migrant children who are born in a context of birth tourism, a growing phenomenon of global mobility that blurs territorial boundaries and citizenship claims associated with those boundaries.
Dr. LAI Yuen Shan Ruby
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Policy
About the author
Managing the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and changing welfare regimes
Authors : Ka Ho MOK; Yeun-wen KU; Tauchid Komara YUDA
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Dec 2020
Source : Journal of Asian Public Policy
DOI : 10.1080/17516234.2020.1861722
This article aims at setting out a broader context for the debates and discussions on welfare transformations driven by rapid global challenges and restructuring. Confronted with challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and societies across the globe must rethink and reimagine their social welfare approaches to make them appropriate and effective to manage the risks and crises. The papers in this special issue address three major themes: 1) democratisation and changing welfare regimes / social policy provision; 2) reflections of social service delivery; 3) rethinking state-market-society relationships when managing welfare needs.
Prof. MOK Ka Ho Joshua
Vice-President, Office of the President
Dean, School of Graduate Studies
Co-Director, Institute of Policy Studies
Lam Man Tsan Chair Professor of Comparative Policy, Department of Sociology and Social Policy
About the author
Rural ageing in low- and middle-income countries
Authors : Padmore Adusei AMOAH; David R. PHILLIPS
Type : Book Chapter
Published Year : 2020
Source : Rural gerontology : towards critical perspectives on rural ageing
ISBN : 9780367894795
Demographic ageing is now clearly evident not only in high-income nations but also in most low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa (Harper, 2014; McCracken and Phillips, 2017; Rishworth and Elliott, 2018; UNDESA, 2017). In strictly monetary terms, LMICs are defined as countries with Gross National Incomes ( >$12,375), further subdivided as lower-middle-income ($1,026 to $3,995) and upper-middle-income countries (World Bank, 2020). Monetary classifications inevitably mean that individual countries can change positions, for example, between 2018-2019, Sri Lanka, Georgia and Kosovo moved the upper-middle-income group from lower-middle-income classification (World Bank, 2020). Many LMICs have similar demographic characteristics, though modified by region. Many have higher fertility rates and relatively low life expectancy (Table 7.1 ) (PRB, 2020).
Prof. AMOAH Padmore Adusei
Research Assistant Professor, School of Graduate Studies & Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies
About the author
文咸街里：東西南北利四方
Editors : 鄭宏泰 ; 周文港
Type : Edited Book
Published Year: 2020
Publisher : 中華書局(香港)有限公司
ISBN : 9789888675852
本書匯聚多位大學學者和歷史專家，以南北行聚集地的上環文咸東、西街為中軸，講述19世紀中起，香港與海內外不同地區的交通與聯繫。文咸街方便船隻上落貨物，除了本身的廣府人，更吸引了從潮州、福建、上海、山東等地而來的商人買賣海味、大米、藥材等貨物。原本南北行是指華南與華北間的貿易，後來範圍擴大，「南」至東南亞，「北」至日本。與此同時，美澳加等地先後發現金礦，時稱「金山」和「新金山」，大量華人勞工（俗稱「豬仔」）通過香港金山莊橫渡太平洋，這些四面八方的貿易往來與聯繫，日後更帶動了香港船務運輸、出入口轉運、華僑匯兌、外匯找換等行業發展，是香港聯繫東西方世界的歷史見證。
Dr. CHOW Man Kong 周文港
Director, STEAM Education and Research Centre
Associate Director, China Economic Research Programme
About the editor
Service-Learning Outcomes Measurement Scale (S-LOMS) : the user manual
Authors : Ka Hing Calvin LAU; Robin Stanley SNELL
Type : Book
Published Date : Oct 2020
Publisher : Office of Service-Learning, Lingnan University
ISBN : 9789887522201
DOI : 10.14793/9789887522201
This book outlines the development and how to make use of the Service-Learning Outcomes Measurement Scale (S-LOMS) in assessing student developmental outcomes after service-learning experience. This book results from a cross-institutional project named “Cross-institutional Capacity Building for Service-Learning in Hong Kong Higher Education Institutions (PolyU4/T&L/16-19)”, aiming at enhancing and supporting the development of service-learning as an effective pedagogical strategy under the collaboration of Lingnan University, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Baptist University, and The Education University of Hong Kong.
Prof. SNELL Robin Stanley
Anticorruption, political connections, and corporate cash policy : evidence from politician downfalls in China
Authors : Haohan REN; Xiaofeng ZHAO
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Oct 2020
Source : Emerging Markets Review
DOI : 10.1016/j.ememar.2020.100745
We examine how firms change their cash policies in response to the downfall of corrupt politicians in China. We find that firms connected to their local government increase cash holdings when high-profile politician downfalls occur in the government. Consistent with the precautionary saving argument, the effect is stronger for firms that have greater investment opportunities or face greater financial constraints. Compared to unaffected firms, affected firms save more cash out of cash flows and have a higher marginal value of cash holdings. Overall, we show that the collapse of firms' political connections has significant impacts on those firms' financial policies.
Occupational stress and its economic cost in Hong Kong : the role of positive emotions
Authors : Oi Ling SIU; Cary L. COOPER; Lara Christina ROLL; Carol LO
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Nov 2020
Source : International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI : 10.3390/ijerph17228601
There has been less research on the costs of occupational stress attributed to certain job stressors in Chinese contexts. This study identified and validated common job stressors and estimated the economic cost in Hong Kong. The role of positive emotions in alleviating the economic costs of job stressors was also examined. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted. The findings obtained from five focus group discussions and a survey validated five common job stressors: Job insecurity; quantitative workload; organizational constraints; interpersonal conflicts; and work/home interface. A total of 2511 employees were surveyed, with 2032 valid questionnaires returned (925 males, 1104 females, and 3 unidentified, whose ages ranged from 18 to 70 years). The economic costs were estimated by combining the costs of absenteeism, presenteeism, and medical expenses. Absenteeism mainly caused by job stressors of the work/home interface, job insecurity, and quantitative workload accounted for an annual economic cost of HK$550 million to HK$860 million. The annual economic cost due to presenteeism mainly caused by job stressors of job insecurity, interpersonal conflict, quantitative workload, and organizational constraints ranged from HK$1.373 billion to HK$2.146 billion. The cost of medical treatments associated with occupational stress was HK$2.889 billion to HK$4.083 billion. Therefore, the total annual economic cost of occupational stress was approximately HK$4.81 billion to HK$7.09 billion. Positive emotions, representing a less explored individual factor in the cost of occupational stress studies, was found to be negatively correlated with presenteeism and buffered the negative impact of job stressors on absenteeism. The theoretical contributions and practical implications of findings are discussed.
Prof. SIU Oi LingDean, Faculty of Social Sciences
Director, Wofoo Joseph Lee Consulting and Counselling Psychology Research Centre
Lam Woo & Co Ltd Chair Professor of Applied Psychology, Department of Applied Psychology
About the author
“古四声不同今韵”与上古汉语韵尾构拟问题
Authors : 劉鴻雁 ; 馬毛朋
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Nov 2020
Source : 南通大学学报(社会科学版)
除调型丶调值外，上古与中古汉语声调的差异体现在两个方面：一是调类，比如上古汉语的声调就有三调丶五调之说；一是每个字的具体归类，比如有些字中古是去声，上古属于平声。这两类差异，段玉裁称之为"古四声不同今韵"。各家构拟在反映古今调类总体差异方面，均言之成理。在古今异调字问题上，高本汉等学者的构拟体系缺乏解释力，但可以容纳对异调字的不同处理；而持声调源于韵尾假说诸家的构拟，则陷入逻辑困境，如何解释异调字从上古到中古的演变过程，是该假说面对的一个难题。
Dr. MA Maopeng 馬毛朋
Senior Lecturer, Chinese Language Education and Assessment Centre
About the author
Gendered division of labour and “sympathy” in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality, Ghana
Author : Francis ARTHUR-HOLMES
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Nov 2020
Source : Journal of Rural Studies
DOI : 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.11.001
Understanding the gender relations and dynamics in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is crucial for formalization interventions and gender-sensitive on-site policies in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, there is very little research on how gender influences women's economic opportunities and power relations at ASM sites in Ghana. Drawing from a qualitative research in the Prestea-Huni Valley Municipality, Ghana, this paper examines the local gender dynamics and division of labour in ASM. Findings show that while men were mainly engaged in the extraction – digging, shoveling and loading of women's head pans with mineral ore – and processing work at the colluvial mining sites, women were basically working as labourers for the men. The women were directly involved in three main activities – provision of water on mineralised sand, transportation of gold ore and forewomen role – where they received lower remuneration for their labour. In relation to women's access to “dig and wash” work and hard rock mining sites, there was an element of “gendered sympathy” which involved some power dimensions in ASM. In this paper, the empirical analysis of gendered division of labour in ASM provides the basis to understand the gendered organization of ASM and its management structure.
方志中的古代香港 :《新安縣志》香港史料選
Editors : 劉智鵬 ; 劉蜀永
Type : Edited Book
Published Year : 2020
Publisher : 三聯書店(香港)有限公司
ISBN : 9789620446399
香港位處南海之濱，既遠離朝廷，亦非國防重鎮，因此在古代極少引起史官注意。要了解香港的古代面貌，文字資料方面主要依賴地方志。歷史上與香港有關的地方志有數種，然而論與今日香港特別行政區關係最為密切的方志，則非《新安縣志》莫屬。《新安縣志》除了記錄新安縣的人、事、地、物，也保留了不少重要的地方文獻，對重構香港歷史有重大幫助。本書2007年初版。此次由三聯書店（香港）有限公司修訂再版，編者做了重要的增補和注釋工作，值得關心香港歷史的機構和讀者收藏。
Prof. LAU Chi Pang 劉智鵬Associate Vice-President (Academic Affairs and External Relations), Office of the President
Director, Jockey Club Hong Kong History Learning Programme
Co-ordinator, Hong Kong and South China Historical Research Programme
Professor, Department of History
About the editor
Prof. LIU Shuyong 劉蜀永Senior Research Fellow, Hong Kong and South China Historical Research Programme
About the editor
Comparative analysis of the fecal microbiota of wild and captive Beal’s eyed turtle (Sacalia bealei) by 16S rRNA gene sequencing
Authors : Jonathan J. FONG; Yik-hei SUNG; Li DING
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Nov 2020
Source : Frontiers in Microbiology
DOI : 10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101718
The Beal’s eyed turtle (Sacalia bealei) is threatened with extinction due to hunting for large-scale trade. In Hong Kong, there are some of the world’s remaining wild populations of S. bealei, as well as a breeding colony. This breeding colony is at the core of conservation efforts (captive breeding, reintroduction programs). Therefore, we would like to know how captivity, in particular diet, affects the gut microbiota. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we comparatively analyzed the fecal microbiota of wild and captive S. bealei. We found that wild S. bealei have higher alpha diversity than captive S. bealei, but the difference was not significant. Significant differences were found in β-diversity; at the phylum level, wild S. bealei have higher relative abundances of Proteobacteria and captive S. bealei have higher relative abundances of Firmicutes. At the genus level, Cetobacterium and Citrobacter are more abundant in wild S. bealei, while Clostridium spp. are significantly more abundant in captive S. bealei. These results suggest conditions in captivity, with diet being a major factor, influence the gut microbiota of S. bealei. The connection between diet and health has always been considered for captive animals, and in this study we use the gut microbiota as an another tool to assess health.
How critical activities within COVID-19 intensive care units increase nurses’ daily occupational calling
Authors : Yue ZHU; Tingting CHEN; Jie WANG; Mo WANG; Russell E. JOHNSON; Yanghua JIN
Type : Journal Article
Published Date : Nov 2020
Source : Journal of Applied Psychology
DOI : 10.1037/apl0000853
During normal and predictable circumstances, employees’ occupational calling (i.e., a transcendent passion to use their talent and competencies toward positive societal impact and a sense of meaningfulness derived from working in a chosen occupational domain) is observed to be relatively stable. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, circumstances have become anything but normal and predictable, thus putting employees’ sense of occupational calling to the test. In this study, we investigate the possibility that occupational calling fluctuates across days during situations of crisis, and we identify antecedents and consequence of such fluctuations. To test our model, we conducted a daily diary study of 66 nurses working in intensive care units over 5 consecutive work days in a specialized Wuhan hospital that only admitted confirmed COVID-19 patients during the peak of the pandemic in China. We found that the daily number of code blue events (i.e., cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts with the primary goal of patient revival) was positively related to daily occupational calling for nurses. Moreover, individual differences in prosocial motivation predicted the average level and variability of occupational calling over the 5 days, which subsequently related to the nurses’ job performance. Our study sheds light on how occupational calling enables people with the needed occupational knowledge and skills to function effectively in crisis situations.
Prof. CHEN Tingting
Associate Professor, Department of Management
Director, Entrepreneurship Education, Faculty of Business
About the author
Institutional constraints for the extension of social insurance coverage to informal economy workers in China
Authors : Jiwei QIAN; Zhuoyi WEN
Type : Research Brief
Published Date : Nov 2020
Source : ILO Research Brief
This research brief considers institutional and administrative barriers for expanding social insurance coverage to workers in the informal economy in China. While urban employee social insurance has widened significantly in recent years, workers in the informal economy lack pension and medical coverage to the extent and at the levels of adequacy enjoyed by urban formal employees. China’s fragmented and decentralized social protection delivery and fiscal systems limit the country’s capacity to implement national policy guidelines promoting social insurance coverage. The decentralisation of social insurance administration creates opportunities for service innovation, responsiveness, and adaptation to local social and economic circumstances. However, the mismatch between national policy objectives and local capacities and incentives for their implementation crowd out efforts to secure the adequate protection of workers in the informal economy. The brief presents some of the causes of these misalignments and illustrates some ways through which China is attempting to overcome regulatory and administrative barriers to policy implementation.
Dr. QIAN Jiwei
Affiliate Fellow, Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies
Prof. WEN Zhuoyi Vincent
Research Assistant Professor, Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies
Core Centre Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies
About the author