Suchergebnisse

In recent years, there has been significant interest in economic policy uncertainty and its economic consequences. Fluctuations in economic policies can introduce instability into business operations, resulting in elevated credit default risks. It is important to investigate whether Chinese commercial banks take economic policy uncertainty into account and adopt a more diversified loan structure to mitigate the risks associated with policy changes. In this study, we investigate the impact of economic policy uncertainty on loan concentration within a sample of Chinese commercial banks from 2007 to 2020. Using a panel dataset of 311 banks, we employ fixed-effects regression models and conduct robustness checks with instrumental variables and dynamic panel regressions to address endogeneity concerns. Our findings reveal a significant negative correlation between economic policy uncertainty and the loan concentration of banks. These results hold strong even when subjected to rigorous testing for endogeneity using instrumental variables and dynamic panel regressions. Furthermore, we also find that the negative impact of economic policy uncertainty on loan concentration is more pronounced in regional banks, small-sized banks, and banks with lower market shares. Moreover, the mechanism analysis demonstrates that operational risk serves as a vital channel through which economic policy uncertainty affects loan concentration. By shedding light on how macroeconomic policies impact the financial behavior of commercial banks, we provide new empirical evidence and valuable insights into the dynamics of bank loan structures. In light of our findings, we propose policy recommendations to ensure economic policy stability, encourage the diversification of loan portfolios, expand the regulatory scope on loan concentration, and foster improvements in the regulatory system.

Relying on construal-level theory, we experimentally test how the level of concreteness and abstraction of climate change imagery affects climate change responses among a diverse sample of U.S. adults ( N = 448). Results show that concrete visual messaging practices cannot directly lead to increased level of concern or behavioral intentions. Instead, they may backfire for conservatives, less-efficacious people, and people who are low in proenvironmental values. Our findings contribute to the effective climate change visual communication literature by incorporating a construal-level perspective, while also offering practical implications regarding how to use visuals more effectively to engage the public with climate change.

ObjectivesThis study is aimed at examining energy‐related behavioral intention among Hispanics in the United States. It examines the role of nationality and geographic location, as well as informational and attitudinal factors.MethodThe study used survey data from the University of Texas at Austin Energy Poll. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and regressions analysis.ResultsResults show that Hispanics overall in the West had higher levels of intention to save energy than those in any other region, while there is no clear pattern indicating that intentions to save energy were linked to Hispanics' ethnic groups. Besides information dissemination and various measures of environmental concern, belief and interest were strongly related to energy‐related behavioral intentions.ConclusionsFindings contribute to the understanding of Hispanics' energy behaviors, concluding that environmentalism and information dissemination are important predictors of behavioral intention within the Hispanic population.

This study employs Q methodology to identify responses to wildfire imagery and climate change concern. Using photographs shared on Twitter during California's 2018 Camp Fire, findings reveal three different perspectives on what images evoked the most concern among individuals: catastrophic destruction, smokescapes, and human or animal suffering. Results also reveal the images that evoke the least concern, such as scenes of aid and support and officials' rescue meetings. These results extend literature on the role of visuals in climate change communication and have implications for the selection of images that appeal to the various perspectives of the broader public.

This study proposes, from a cross-national perspective, a model of environmental citizenship that includes predictors at the individual and contextual levels. The model is based on multiple theoretical considerations from environmental sociology, media studies, and economics. The study, based on secondary data, reports that at the individual level, media use, environmental concern, and postmaterialism positively predict environmental citizenship. However, the data also allow to test whether the effects of these variables vary depending on social and environmental contexts. Beyond the individual level, results show that, overall, the effect of environmental concern is stronger in countries with better environment quality. The results also show that economic development at the country level positively explains a stronger effect of postmaterialism on environmental citizenship than in less developed countries. The study shows that environmental citizenship is stronger in countries with lower levels of environment quality, and in countries with less developed media systems.

Shifting structures and agendas in urban Chinese governance and resistance in a new era / William Hurst -- Manufacturing consent : how grassroots government assimilates public resistance / Zhang Yonghong and Li Jingjun -- Pluralistic governance : reflecting on participatory development theory in post-disaster community reconstruction : a case study of the post-Wenchuan earthquake new home plan / Zhu Jiangang and Hu Ming -- Between home and society : urban women in environmental contention : the example of opposition to building a waste incineration power plant in G City / Chen Xiaoyun and Duan Ran -- Media contact, public participation, and political efficacy in sudden public incidents : an empirical study of the PX incident in Xiamen / Zhou Baohua -- Performative protests : landscapes, challenges, and opportunity mechanisms : two case studies from the Pearl River Delta / Huang Zhenhui -- The political economy of sex and the gender secret of capitalism : thoughts on the debate surrounding the 2014 crackdown on prostitution in Dongguan / Song Shaopeng -- Gray governance and the reproduction of urban violence : analysis of the mechanisms of "urban management" practice on Lumo Road / Lü Dewen.