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In spite of extensive research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its link with economic and social performance, few studies have investigated the institutional determinants of CSR. This article draws upon neo-institutional theory and comparative institutional analysis to compare the influence of different institutional environments on CSR policies of European firms. On the basis of a dataset of European firms, we find that firms from the more liberal market economies of the Anglo-Saxon countries score higher on most dimensions of CSR than firms in the more coordinated market economies (CMEs) in Continental Europe. This result lends support to the view of voluntary CSR practices in liberal economies as being a substitute for institutionalized forms of stakeholder participation. Meanwhile, CSR tends not to mirror more institutionalized forms of stakeholder coordination. Instead, in CMEs, CSR often takes on more implicit forms. Our analysis also shows that national institutional and sectoral-level factors have an asymmetric effect - strongly influencing the likelihood of firms adopting 'minimum standards' of CSR, but having little influence on the adoption of 'best practices'.

How do national-level institutions relate to national comparative advantages? We seek to shed light on this question by exploring two different sets of hypotheses based on the Varieties of Capitalism and other branches of comparative capitalisms literature. Applying fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to data from 14 industries in 22 countries across 9 years, we find that comparative advantages in industries with radical innovation emerge in specific configurations mixing coordinated and liberal institutional features. Institutional comparative advantage in industries with radical innovation may thus be based on the \"beneficial constraints\" of opposing institutional logics rather than on the self-reinforcing institutional coherence envisioned in much of the Varieties of Capitalism literature. By contrast, we find that coordinatd market economies may have comparative advantages in industries with incremental innovation, as envisioned in the Varieties of Capitalism literature. Our article contributes to our understanding of the \"so what?\" related to capitalist diversity and its implications for location decisions of multinational enterprises. We further present a coordination index going beyond Hall and Gingerich (Br J Polit Sci 39:449–482, 2009) with annual values for 22 OECD countries from 1995 through 2003.

The article examines the effects of non-financial disclosure (NFD) on corporate social responsibility (CSR). We conceptualise trade-offs between two ideal types (government regulation and business self-regulation) in relation to CSR. Whereas selfregulation is associated with greater flexibility for businesses to develop best practices, it can also lead to complacency if firms feel no external pressure to engage with CSR. In contrast, government regulation is associated with greater stringency around minimum standards, but can also result in rigidity owing to a One-size-fits-air approach. Given these potential tradeoffs, we ask how mandatory non-financial disclosure has been shaping CSR practices and examine its potential effectiveness as a regulatory instrument. Our analysis of 24 OECD countries using the Asset4 database shows that firms in countries that require non-financial disclosure adopt significantly more CSR activities. However, we also find that NFD regulation does not lead to lower levels of corporate irresponsibility. Furthermore, our analysis demonstrates that, over time, the variation in CSR activities declines as firms adopt increasingly similar practices. Our study thereby contributes to understanding the impact of government regulation on CSR at firm level. We also discuss the limits of mandatory NFD in addressing regulatory trade-offs between stringency and flexibility in the field of corporate social responsibility.

This paper examines the role of institutional analysis within the field of international business (IB) studies. Within IB, institutions matter, but the view of institutions tends to be \"thin\", utilizing summary indicators rather than detailed description, and thus approaches institutions as unidimensional \"variables\" that impact on particular facets of business activity. This paper argues that IB research would be usefully advanced by greater attention to comparing the topography of institutional landscapes and understanding their diversity. A number of alternative case-based approaches are outlined that draw on a growing \"comparative capitalisms\" literature in sociology and political science. The paper develops a number of empirical examples to show the utility and limits of these approaches for IB scholars.

This paper develops an organizational approach to corporate governance and assesses the effectiveness of corporate governance and implications for policy. Most corporate governance research focuses on a universal link between corporate governance practices (e.g., board structure, shareholder activism) and performance outcomes, but neglects how interdependencies between the organization and diverse environments lead to variations in the effectiveness of different governance practices. In contrast to such closed systems approaches, we propose a framework based on open systems approaches to organizations, which examines these organizational interdependencies in terms of the costs, contingencies, and complementarities of different corporate governance practices. These three sets of organizational factors are useful in analyzing the effectiveness of corporate governance in diverse organizational environments. We also explore the impact of costs, contingencies, and complementarities on the effectiveness of different governance aspects through the use of stylized cases and discuss the implications for different approaches to policy such as soft law or hard law .

Hand-function recovery is often a goal for stroke survivors undergoing therapy. This work aimed to design, build, and verify a pneumatic hand training device for its eventual use in post-stroke rehabilitation. The system was built considering prior research in the field of robotic hand rehabilitation as well as specifications and design constraints developed with physiotherapists. The system contained pneumatic airbag actuators for the fingers and thumb of the hand, a set of flex, pressure, and flow sensors, and software and hardware controls. An experiment with the system was carried out on 30 healthy individuals. The sensor readings were analyzed for repeatability and reliability. Position sensors and an approximate biomechanical model of the index finger were used to estimate joint angles during operation. A survey was also issued to the users to evaluate their comfort levels with the device. It was found that the system was safe and comfortable when moving the fingers of the hand into an extension.

Background Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy (REST) is a therapeutic technique that involves immersing an individual in an environment with minimal sensory input or stimulation. The goal of REST is to induce a state of relaxation that is deeper than what can be achieved through other forms of relaxation techniques. Research suggests that REST can help reduce anxiety, alleviate chronic pain, improve sleep, and enhance creativity and cognitive function. Flotation-REST is a popular type of REST that utilizes an enclosed tank filled with buoyant saltwater to facilitate relaxation. This study aimed to synthesize the evidence on studies that investigate the effects of flotation-REST. Methods We used Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to survey the flotation-REST literature starting from the earliest papers we could find, in 1960, until May 2024. This search was conducted on 23 May 2024 within the Google Scholar and PubMed databases. Journal and conference papers, as well as electronic preprints, that used flotation-REST in their methods, and that were written in English were included; non-original research papers (e.g., review papers, book chapters, and papers solely on types of REST other than flotation-REST (e.g., chamber-REST) were excluded. From each eligible paper, we extracted information regarding the participant sample, application of flotation-REST, experimental design, treatment delivery method, questionnaires and tools, and study results. Results In total, we found 63 studies that included 1,838 participants. We propose that the application of flotation-REST can be divided into nine main categories: pain, athletic performance, physiology, stress, consciousness, psychology, creativity, clinical anxiety, sleep, smoking cessation, and other miscellaneous applications. In general, flotation-REST was found to bring about positive effects on pain, athletic performance, stress, mental well-being, and clinical anxiety, while having limited to no effect on sleep-related disorders and smoking cessation. Conclusion This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current research on flotation-REST, highlights ongoing limitations in the literature, and outlines potential areas for future research. While flotation-REST appears to induce various benefits for physical and mental well-being, particularly when it comes to managing states like pain and stress, more research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying these effects and to identify optimal treatment protocols for different populations. A limitation of this paper is the relatively small number of studies available for review, which limits the generalizability of certain findings and highlights the need for additional research in this area.

Photoelectron spectroscopic measurements have the potential to provide detailed mechanistic insight by resolving chemical states, electrochemically active regions and local potentials or potential losses in operating solid oxide electrochemical cells (SOCs), such as fuel cells. However, high-vacuum requirements have limited X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of electrochemical cells to ex situ investigations. Using a combination of ambient-pressure XPS and CeO 2− x /YSZ/Pt single-chamber cells, we carry out in situ spectroscopy to probe oxidation states of all exposed surfaces in operational SOCs at 750 °C in 1 mbar reactant gases H 2 and H 2 O. Kinetic energy shifts of core-level photoelectron spectra provide a direct measure of the local surface potentials and a basis for calculating local overpotentials across exposed interfaces. The mixed ionic/electronic conducting CeO 2− x electrodes undergo Ce 3+ /Ce 4+ oxidation–reduction changes with applied bias. The simultaneous measurements of local surface Ce oxidation states and electric potentials reveal the active ceria regions during H 2 electro-oxidation and H 2 O electrolysis. The active regions extend ∼150 μm from the current collectors and are not limited by the three-phase-boundary interfaces associated with other SOC materials. The persistence of the Ce 3+ /Ce 4+ shifts in the ∼150 μm active region suggests that the surface reaction kinetics and lateral electron transport on the thin ceria electrodes are co-limiting processes. In situ spectroscopic analysis of operating solid oxide electrochemical cells has proved to be difficult owing to high-vacuum requirements. Ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on single-chamber cells now suggests that surface reaction kinetics and electron transport on the electrodes are co-limiting processes.

AimsTo determine the effect of diabetes on inner and outer retinal function in persons with diabetes and no clinically detectable retinopathy or with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR).MethodsVisual function was assessed in 18 adults with normal retinal health, 23 adults with diabetes and 35 adults with NPDR and normal visual acuity. Contrast sensitivity and frequency doubling technology (FDT) sensitivity were used to assess ganglion cell function. Acuity, dark adaptation, light-adapted visual sensitivity and dark-adapted visual sensitivity were measured to evaluate cone and rod photoreceptor visual function. The presence and severity of diabetic retinopathy was determined by grading of 7-field stereoscopic fundus photographs using the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study grading system.ResultsParticipants with NPDR exhibited impairment of all measured visual functions in comparison with the normal participants. Inner retinal function measured by FDT perimetry was the most impaired visual function for patients with NPDR, with 83% of patients exhibiting clinically significant impairment. Rod photoreceptor function was grossly impaired, with almost half of the patients with NPDR exhibiting significantly impaired dark-adapted visual sensitivity.ConclusionBoth inner retinal and outer retinal functions exhibited impairment related to NPDR. FDT perimetry and other visual function tests reveal an expanded range of diabetes induced retinal damage even in patients with good visual acuity.