Social Indicators Research最新文献

Cities, in order to develop, should acquire data from various sources, properly process it, and skillfully use it for sustainable development. One such source is data from the surveys of residents’ quality of life. When processed as appropriate, the data may be a valuable source of information concerning sustainable development for the city. However, the very fact of carrying out the quality-of-life surveys does not guarantee that the information obtained from them will be used to manage the city. Based on studies entailing a sample of 29 city offices in Poland which declared regular studies of the residents’ quality of life, it was proved that the preparation and organization of such studies influences later use of such information for sustainable development purposes. Relying on the method of examining the quality of life and the number of specific indicators, the cities studied were divided into two groups. One was involved, and the other was not in the process of preparing quality-of-life surveys. A comparison was made between these groups of cities in terms of the areas included in the quality of life surveys, the decisions and actions taken based on the analysis of the results of these surveys, and the purposes for which the information is used. The areas in which the local government declares an impact on the quality of life of its residents were also compared. Attention was paid to significant differences between the two groups of cities and the effects of each of those two approaches were specified.

The digital transformation, in which we have actively participated over the last decades, involves integrating new technology into every aspect of the business and necessitates a significant overhaul of traditional business structures. Recently there has been an exponential increase in the presence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in people’s daily lives, and many new AI-infused products have been developed. This technology is relatively young and has the potential to significantly affect both industry and society. The paper focuses on the Intelligent Voice Assistants (IVAs) and the User eXperience (UX) evaluation. IVAs are a relatively new phenomenon that has generated much academic and industrial research interest. Starting from the contribution to systematization provided by the Artificial Intelligence User Experience (AIXE^®) scale, the idea is to develop an easy UX evaluation tool for IVAs that decision-makers can adopt. The work proposes the Partial Least Squares-Path Modeling (PLS-PM) to investigate different dimensions that affect the UX, and to verify if it becomes possible to quantify the impact and performance of each dimension on the general latent dimension of UX. The Importance Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA) is utilised to evaluate and identify the primary factors that significantly influence the adoption of IVAs. IVA developers should examine the main aspects as a guide to enhancing the UX for individuals utilising IVAs.

This study examines spatial disparities and associations between the social deprivation index (SDI) and Type 2 Diabetes, Dementia, and Heart Failure in Italy’s Lazio Region. The primary goal is to assess how social deprivation impacts health inequalities by analysing SDI-disease correlations. This retrospective study uses 2020 socioeconomic data and 2021 epidemiological indicators in Lazio Region, Italy. The SDI, constructed following established guidelines, measures social deprivation. Statistical tools, including regression models, Moran’s I test, and LISA techniques, are used to analyse spatial patterns. Utilizing a retrospective approach, we merge 2020 socioeconomic and 2021 epidemiological data for analysis. The SDI is computed using established methods. Spatial disparities are explored through regression models, Moran’s I test, and LISA techniques. The study reveals significant disparities in disease incidence. District V in Rome exhibits high Type 2 Diabetes (113.75/1000) and Heart Failure (37.98/1000) rates, while Marcetelli has elevated Dementia incidence (19.74). Southern municipalities face high unemployment (up to 25%), whereas bordering areas have higher education levels (30–60%). Disease hotspots emerge in Rome and centre-north municipalities, aligning with social deprivation patterns. Regression models confirm the link between disease incidence and socioeconomic indicators. SDI ranges from − 1.31 to + 10.01. This study underscores a correlation between social deprivation and disease incidence. Further national-level research is essential to deepen our understanding of how social deprivation influences health outcomes, with potential implications for addressing health disparities both regionally and nationally.

Given recent controversies about the existence of a gender wellbeing gap we revisit the issue estimating gender differences across 55 SWB metrics—37 positive affect and 18 negative affect—contained in 8 cross-country surveys from 167 countries across the world, two US surveys covering multiple years and a survey for Canada. We find women score more highly than men on all negative affect measures and lower than men on all but three positive affect metrics, confirming a gender wellbeing gap. The gap is apparent across countries and time and is robust to the inclusion of exogenous covariates (age, age squared, time and location fixed effects). It is also robust to conditioning on a wider set of potentially endogenous variables. However, when one examines the three ‘global’ wellbeing metrics—happiness, life satisfaction and Cantril’s Ladder—women are either similar to or ‘happier’ than men. This finding is insensitive to which controls are included and varies little over time. The difference does not seem to arise from measurement or seasonality as the variables are taken from the same surveys and frequently measured in the same way. The concern here though is that this is inconsistent with objective data where men have lower life expectancy and are more likely to die from suicide, drug overdoses and other diseases. This is the true paradox—morbidity doesn’t match mortality by gender. Women say they are less cheerful and calm, more depressed, and lonely, but happier and more satisfied with their lives, than men.

This article examines the association between institutional quality, natural resources and multidimensional well-being in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2021, filling a notable gap in the existing literature on the linkage between human well-being and natural resources in a country with significant global energy influence. By integrating Sen's capabilities approach and constructing comprehensive indices of human well-being, including quality of life (QL) and standard of living (SL), this study specifically investigates the direct effects of natural resources wealth on these two indices and emphasizes the role of institutional quality as a transmission channel. The results show that natural resources, particularly total natural resource rents and oil rents, have positive direct effects on QL and SL, suggesting that effective resource management can enhance human well-being and economic prosperity. Furthermore, institutional quality plays a key role in shaping this relationship, with factors such as institutional quality index, government stability, and law and order having net positive effects on QL and SL. The study also identifies critical thresholds for controlling corruption, beyond which the positive effects of natural resource rents on QL and SL become more pronounced. These results highlight the importance of accountable and strong institutions to ensure equitable distribution of benefits from natural resources for human well-being.

Social identity is relevant to political attitudes. Recent studies show that perceived social positions particularly shape populist attitudes. Italy is an interesting test case that has been scarcely investigated by previous research. Thus, using original data collected in 2021, this paper analyses populist attitudes in Italy and the relationship between subjective social status, status mismatch, and social resentment. This study finds that subjective status matters more than objective conditions for populist attitudes. Those who perceive themselves as being at the bottom of the social hierarchy tend to have higher levels of populist attitudes than the rest of the population. However, low social resentment can partially absorb the effect of low status. The paper provides original data from which novel insights into the debate on populism are discernible, appearing to stem more from individual perceptions than objective positions. The results also suggest some possible remedies against rising populist attitudes.

Little research has been done on parents’ coordination of their work arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Synchronized work arrangements (e.g., both parents work from home) could enable working parents to maximize their togetherness, whereas desynchronized working arrangements could enable them to address some pandemic-induced challenges, such as an increased need for child care and distance education. We draw upon the Familydemic Harmonized Dataset a cross-county study offering data on work and family outcomes collected in Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the US. Using a sample of dual-earner heterosexual parents, this study examines whether working parents harmonized their transitions between home-based work and the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores factors that potentially contributed to this coordination process. The findings reveal that working couples’ transitions to home-based work from the workplace were synchronized. Parents with similar educational attainment were more likely to experience such coordination than couples with different levels of education. Cohabiting couples in married/registered unions were more likely to transition to home-based work simultaneously than non-registered cohabiting couples. The duration of synchronized home-based work episodes decreased with the number of children, and the length of synchronized workplace attendance increased with the age of the children.

This paper explores the cause-and-effect relationship between the elderly population and global economic growth, focusing on different continents. A panel dataset spanning from 1961 to 2020 is utilized, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) serving as the key measure for economic growth, represented as the percentage change in annual GDP. The study specifically centers on individuals aged 65 and above as a percentage of the total population. The analysis employs a Panel Granger causality test to assess the impact of the elderly population on economic growth. The results reveal a unidirectional Granger causality for Africa and Oceania, suggesting a one-way influence from the elderly population to economic growth. Conversely, instances of bidirectional Granger causality are identified for Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, indicating a mutual influence between the elderly population and economic growth during the study period. The study concludes that an endogenous relationship between economic growth and the elderly population emerges, but notably, this relationship becomes apparent only after an economy has completed its transition in economic development. This implies that the dynamics of the elderly population and economic growth are interlinked, with the nature of their interaction becoming more pronounced in the later stages of economic development.

Water–energy–food (WEF) risks and security are widely concerned, but there are few quantitative studies on WEF security assessment, especially lacking of researches at the urban scale. This paper puts forward a measurement framework for assessing urban WEF security from social and economic perspectives, including dimensions of availability, accessibility, affordability, safety, and stability, and applies it to the WEF security assessment in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration (YRDUA) by using an extended Multi-attribute Border Approximation Area Comparison (MABAC) method based on cloud model-CRITIC method and game theory. Based on the evaluation, social network analysis is used to study relations between cities in urban WEF security and determines key cities in the network. Results show that urban WEF security in most cities are positive; five dimensions of the WEF security level in each city show unbalanced characteristics; the level of energy security varies greatly among cities, followed by water and food security; urban WEF security from an economic perspective in most cities are positive, while it from a social perspective in almost half cities are positive; the spatial relation network of urban WEF security in YRUDA presents a core–edge structure; key cities in the region include Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou. The evaluation framework and models help comprehensively evaluate urban WEF security at social and economic levels and put forward suggestions to enhance urban WEF security and promote horizontal cooperation among cities.

Over the last two decades, involuntary part-time (IPT) employment has become a more and more pressing issue in Europe, especially in the southern countries, where IPT today constitutes most part-time employment. Using INAPP-PLUS data and different discrete choice model estimations, this paper aims to shed light on the factors that explain the IPT growth in Italy, focusing on what influences the IPT status at the individual, household and labour market levels. The main hypothesis is that what influences the IPT work derive from a combination of workers’ individual, household, and job characteristics which may engender limited power during the bargaining process. The empirical results, based on gender-specific models, highlight that characteristics associated with the IPT status significantly changed over time, reporting a convergent path between the gender profiles of IPT employment. However, IPT employment for women still appears to be mainly originated from the gendered division of domestic and care tasks, while this phenomenon seems to be mainly driven by the labour demand side for men.