Wang, Yunhong; Lee, Hyun Woo; Tang, Wenzhe; Whittington, Jan; Qiang, Maoshan. (2021). Structural Equation Modeling for the Determinants of International Infrastructure Investment: Evidence from Chinese Contractors. Journal Of Management In Engineering, 37(4).
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Abstract
International infrastructure investment can effectively accelerate infrastructure development in developing countries and thus support their social and economic progress. However, little is known of the factors that may determine the flow of international infrastructure investment to those countries. This study aims to bridge that knowledge gap, first by identifying the determinants of international infrastructure investment, and then by developing a structural equation model to reveal their underlying interrelationships. The structural equation model is applied to country-level data regarding international infrastructure investment with Chinese contractors in 141 countries worldwide over the 9-year period from 2009 to 2017. The results show that three determinants, namely infrastructure quality, labor supply, and investment interdependency, have a positive relationship with a country's international infrastructure investment inflow. However, another determinant, institutional environment, has a significantly negative impact, which suggests that when making foreign infrastructure investment, Chinese contractors enter countries with a comparatively poor institutional environment with substantial political risks. The results also highlight how much a robust infrastructure development plan can help developing countries avoid the poor-infrastructure trap, a situation in which poor infrastructure quality discourages international infrastructure investment. These research findings may assist international infrastructure investment firms to make informed decisions with regard to financing and managing projects and help policymakers who focus on attracting foreign investment in infrastructure.
Keywords
Foreign Direct-investment; Public-private Partnerships; Economic-growth; Transport Infrastructure; Developing-countries; Labor Productivity; Fit Indexes; Location; Energy; Firms; Infrastructure Investment; Institutional Environment; Infrastructure Quality; Foreign Direct Investment (fdi) Interdependency; Structure Equation Modeling; Belt And Road Initiative
Zhen, Feng; Shen, Qing; Jian, Boxiu; Zheng, Jun. (2010). Regional Governance, Local Fragmentation, and Administrative Division Adjustment: Spatial Integration in Changzhou. China Review-an Interdisciplinary Journal On Greater China, 10(1), 95 – 128.
Abstract
Although the current practice of administrative division adjustment in China may help to facilitate regional governance and urbanization economies, it does not effectively resolve the fundamental conflicts between the central city and surrounding county-level cities. This paper examines the impacts of administrative division adjustment on economic development in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, by focusing on the city's development zones. It identifies major problems in the development zones and explores the major institutional, policy, sociocultural, and spatial planning factors underlying these problems. It further proposes several approaches for the spatial integration of development zones, from the perspectives of institution, policy, and space, with broader implications that go well beyond the Changzhou case.
Keywords
River Delta; Transition
Yocom, Ken P.; Andrews, Leann; Faghin, Nicole; Dyson, Karen; Leschine, Thomas; Nam, Jungho. (2016). Revitalizing Urban Waterfronts: Identifying Indicators For Human Well-being. Aims Environmental Science, 3(3), 456 – 473.
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Abstract
Waterfront cities worldwide have begun the process of regenerating and developing their formerly industrial waterfronts into land uses that reflect a post-industrial economic vision of mixed urban uses supporting a diverse economy and wide range of infrastructure. These revitalization projects require distinct planning and management tactics to determine project-defined successes inclusive of economic, ecological, and human well-being perspectives. While empirically developed templates for economic and ecological measures exist, the multi-dimensionality and subjective nature of human well-being is more difficult to assess. Through an extensive review of indicator frameworks and expert interviews, our research proposes an organizational, yet adaptable, human well-being indicators framework for the management and development of urban waterfront revitalization projects. We analyze the framework through the lens of two waterfront projects in the Puget Sound region of the United States and identify several key factors necessary to developing project-specific human well-being indicator frameworks for urban waterfront revitalization projects. These factors include: initially specify goals and objectives of a given project, acknowledge contextual conditions including prospective land uses and projected users, identify the stage of development or management to use appropriate indicators for that stage, and develop and utilize data sources that are at a similar scale to the size of the project.
Keywords
Quality-of-life; City Waterfront; Dimensions; Framework; Science; Policy; Urban Waterfront Revitalization; Human Well-being; Indicators; Design And Management
Acolin, Arthur. (2020). Housing Wealth and Consumption over the 2001-2013 Period: The Role of the Collateral Channel. Journal Of Housing Research, 29(1), 68 – 88.
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Abstract
This study estimates changes in the relationship between housing wealth and consumption among homeowners during the recent housing boom and bust in the United States, focusing on the period 2001-2007, during which house prices increased and financial innovations led to an increased availability of products enabling households to extract home equity; and on the period 2007-2013, during which house prices declined and home equity withdrawal products became largely unavailable. The estimated elasticity of consumption with regard to housing wealth increased in 2004 and 2007 (.06) relative to 2001 (.04). The estimated elasticities then decreased in 2010 and 2013 (to below .04). In addition, the increase was larger among borrowing constrained households than unconstrained households. No relationship between housing prices and consumption was found among renters. These additional tests for subpopulations support the hypothesis that the increase in consumption out of housing wealth occurred through the collateral channel.
Keywords
Consumption (economics); Wealth; Product Elimination; Equity (real Property); Home Prices; Home Ownership; United States; Collateral Channel; Credit And Consumption; Housing Wealth Effects; Housing; Housing Costs; Estimates; Prices; Households; Consumption; Equity; Borrowing; Hypotheses; Innovations; Elasticity Of Demand; Propensity To Consume; Housing Prices; Lines Of Credit; Mortgages; Subpopulations; Collateral; United States--us
Zhang, Zhenyu; Lin, Ken-yu; Lin, Jia-hua. (2021). Factors Affecting Material-Cart Handling in the Roofing Industry: Evidence for Administrative Controls. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 18(4).
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Abstract
Material-cart handling can be strenuous and lead to overexertion injuries. The aim of this study is to produce a thorough understanding of how the cart condition, tire type, physical environment-related factors, and load interact to influence the ergonomics and productivity of cart handling. Eighteen roofing carts with different conditions, tires, and loads were tested by one subject on three laboratory tracks: one L-shaped, one with ramps within constrained spaces, and one with obstacles within constrained spaces. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to quantify the main and interaction effects of the factors of interest on the cart operations. The research findings confirm that using aged carts increases the injury risk by as much as 30.5% and decreases productivity by 35.4%. Our study also highlights the necessity of keeping an open space for cart operation; the travel distance from a cart to a ramp/obstacle should be greater than 61 cm. Finally, the results suggest the at-risk thresholds for different ramp slopes and obstacle heights, and the safe load capacities for the various working circumstances that are common on construction sites. The evidence created in this study can be translated into administrative controls for cart handling to reduce overexertion injuries and enhance performance.
Keywords
Overexertion In Pulling And Pushing; Material Cart Handling; Roof Construction; Ergonomic Risk Factors; Administrative Control
Abramson, Daniel. (2011). Transitional Property Rights and Local Developmental History in China. Urban Studies (sage Publications, Ltd.), 48(3), 553 – 568.
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Abstract
Among the societies that are moving from a centrally planned economy with weak property rights towards a market-oriented economy with stronger and more privatised property rights, China is undergoing an especially rapid and extensive urbanisation that obscures the diversity and relevance of local pre-Reform property arrangements. Official discourse emphasises the formalisation, clarification and, to some extent, the privatisation of property rights in the name of overall societal development and gradual integration with the global economy. In local informal, popular practice and discourse, however, the invocation of property rights reflects the continuing political relevance of both revolutionary and traditional notions of rights to urban space that challenge a unitary, linear view of the development process.
Keywords
Property Rights; History Of Economic Development; Central Economic Planning; Privatization; Urbanization; History; Social Policy; China
Brody, Samuel D.; Highfield, Wesley E.; Wilson, Morgan; Lindell, Michael K.; Blessing, Russell. (2017). Understanding the Motivations of Coastal Residents to Voluntarily Purchase Federal Flood Insurance. Journal Of Risk Research, 20(6), 760 – 775.
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Abstract
Federally-backed flood insurance is the primary mechanism by which residents in the United States (US) prepare for and recover from floods. While there is a growing literature on the general uptake of flood insurance, little work has been done to address the factors motivating residents to voluntarily buy and maintain federally-based insurance policies. We address this issue by conducting a survey of coastal residents in four localities in Texas and Florida. Based on survey responses, we quantitatively examine the factors influencing whether residents located outside of the 100-year floodplain obtain insurance policies when it is not required. Using two-sample t-tests and binary logistic regression analysis to control for multiple contextual and psychological variables, we statistically isolate the factors contributing most to the decision to purchase insurance. Our findings indicate that a resident located outside the 100-year floodplain who has voluntarily purchased federal flood insurance can be characterized, on average, as more highly educated, living in relatively expensive homes, and a long-time resident who thinks about flood hazard relatively infrequently but who, nonetheless, thinks flood insurance is relatively affordable. Unexpectedly, the physical proximity of a respondent to flood hazard areas makes little or no discernible difference in the decision to obtain flood insurance.
Keywords
Action Decision-model; Hazard Adjustments; Risk; Perceptions; Adoption; Florida; Losses; Determinants; Preferences; Responses; Insurance; Floodplain; Purchase Decision; Texas
Hou, Jeffrey. (2020). Governing Urban Gardens for Resilient Cities: Examining the ‘Garden City Initiative’ in Taipei. Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.), 57(7), 1398 – 1416.
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Abstract
With rising concerns for food security and climate adaptation, urban gardening and urban agriculture have emerged as a rising agenda for urban resilience around the world. In East Asia, a variety of initiatives have emerged in recent years with different levels of institutional support. Focusing on Taipei, where a vibrant urban agriculture movement has been unleashed in recent years, this article examines the ongoing outcomes of the city's new 'Garden City Initiative', which supports the establishment of urban gardens including community gardens, rooftop gardens and school gardens. Based on interviews and participant observations during the initial period of advocacy, planning and implementation between 2014 and 2017, this study examines the background of the programme, the involvement of governmental and non-governmental actors and the programme's ongoing implementation. Based on the findings, the article further reflects upon their implications for the practices of urban governance in the face of contemporary environmental, political and social challenges. The case of Taipei suggests a model in which policy formation and implementation may require opportunistic actions involving a variety of actors and organisations in both institutions and the civil society. Rather than dramatic changes or instant institutional realignment, the effort may require strategic adaptation of the existing bureaucratic structure, while mobilising its strengths and resources. In addition, despite the critical role of civil society organisations, the Taipei case also illustrates a considerable public-sector investment, distinct from the predominant model of neoliberal governance that has been associated with urban gardening programmes elsewhere.
Keywords
Urban Gardening; Urban Planning; Sustainability; Urban Agriculture; Local Government; Taipei (taiwan); 地方政府; 城市农业; 城市田园; 政策; 治理; 环境/可持续性; 规划; Environment/sustainability; Governance; Planning; Policy; Urban Gardens; Community Gardens; Food; Agriculture; Space; Inclusion; Systems; Environment; Realignment; Intervention; Social Change; Food Security; Civil Society; Initiatives; Gardens & Gardening; Policy Making; Neoliberalism; Resilience; Urban Farming; Gardening; Advocacy; Implementation; Roofs; Cities; Adaptation; Urban Areas; Gardens; Institutional Aspects; Bureaucracy; Policy Implementation; Environmental Policy; Climate Change Adaptation; Taipei Taiwan; Taiwan
Rhew, Isaac C.; Guttmannova, Katarina; Kilmer, Jason R.; Fleming, Charles B.; Hultgren, Brittney A.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Dilley, Julia A.; Larimer, Mary E. (2022). Associations of Cannabis Retail Outlet Availability and Neighborhood Disadvantage with Cannabis Use and Related Risk Factors Among Young Adults in Washington State. Drug & Alcohol Dependence, 232.
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Abstract
Background: This study examined associations of local cannabis retail outlet availability and neighborhood disadvantage with cannabis use and related risk factors among young adults. Methods: Data were from annual cross-sectional surveys administered from 2015 to 2019 to individuals ages 18-25 residing in Washington State (N = 10,009). As outcomes, this study assessed self-reported cannabis use at different margins/frequencies (any past year, at least monthly, at least weekly, at least daily) and perceived ease of access to cannabis and acceptability of cannabis use in the community. Cannabis retail outlet availability was defined as the presence of at least one retail outlet within a 1-kilometer road network buffer of one's residence. Sensitivity analyses explored four other spatial metrics to define outlet availability (any outlet within 0.5-km, 2-km, and the census tract; and census tract density per 1000 residents). Census tract level disadvantage was a composite of five US census variables. Results: Adjusting for individual- and area-level covariates, living within 1-kilometer of at least one cannabis retail outlet was statistically significantly associated with any past year and at least monthly cannabis use as well as high perceived access to cannabis. Results using a 2-km buffer and census tract-level metrics for retail outlet availability showed similar findings. Neighborhood disadvantage was statistically significantly associated with at least weekly and at least daily cannabis use and with greater perceived acceptability of cannabis use. Conclusions: Results may have implications for regulatory and prevention strategies to reduce the population burden of cannabis use and related harms.
Keywords
Outlet Stores; Young Adults; Neighborhoods; Older People; Sensitivity Analysis; Washington (state); Cannabis; Cannabis Retail Outlets; Neighborhood Disadvantage; Alcohol-use; Marijuana Use; Density; Proximity; Health; Norms
Abramson, Daniel Benjamin. (2011). Places for the Gods: Urban Planning as Orthopraxy and Heteropraxy in China. Environment & Planning D: Society & Space, 29(1), 67 – 88.
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Abstract
Among the many revivals of older urban practices in China since the death of Mao and the Reforms of Deng Xiaoping is the resurgence of unofficial folk-religious space. As a national phenomenon, it is an uneven process, but where it has become prevalent, it presents challenges both to official standard urban-planning practice, as well as to the public presentation of planning practice. This paper describes how nonstandard practices can emerge in the current context of rapid urbanization, which itself is a force for standardized urban spatial practices in terms of Chinese domestic cultural and political institutions as well as global capital flows. Both local and translocal actors, navigating among various conflicting standards of practice and discourse, can find room to resist hegemony, maintain identity, and innovate. The political and bureaucratic ritualization of planning practice, however, conceals this fact.
Keywords
Urban Planning -- Social Aspects; Urban Policy; Urbanization; Hegemony; Cultural Policy; Social Conditions In China; Social Aspects; China; Late Imperial China; Standardization; Property; Shanghai; Culture; Space; State