Ethical moments and institutional expertise in UK Government COVID-19 pandemic policy responses: where, when and how is ethical advice sought?

Background:The emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic has required a rapid acceleration of policy decision making, and raised a wide range of ethical issues worldwide, ranging from vaccine prioritisation, welfare and public health ‘trade-offs', inequalities in policy impacts, and the legitimacy of scientific expertise.Aims and objectives:This paper explores the legacy of the pandemic for future science-advice-policy relationships by investigating how the UK government's engagement with ethical advice is organised institutionally. We provide an analysis of some key ethical moments in the UK Government response to the pandemic, and institutions and national frameworks which exist to provide ethical advice on policy strategies.Methods:We draw on literature review, documentary analysis of scientific advisory group reports, and a stakeholder workshop with government ethics advisors and researchers in England.Findings:We identify how particular types of ethical advice and expertise are sought to support decision making. Contrary to a prominent assumption in the extensive literature on ‘governing by expertise', ethical decisions in times of crisis are highly contingent.Discussion and conclusions:The paper raises an important set of questions for how best to equip policymakers to navigate decisions about values in situations characterised by knowledge deficits, complexity and uncertainty. We conclude that a clearer pathway is needed between advisory institutions and decision makers to ensure ethically-informed debate.

Multimodal literacies and critical refllexivity: Digital storytelling as a 21st century tool for Learning Developers

Digital storytelling (DS) is a multimedia storytelling technique that has become an efficacious educational tool in tertiary environments. Individual students, supported by other students in a facilitated "Story Circle", create short videos using digital devices, still images, and a cloud-based video editor in response to a targeted story prompt. The DS process aligns closely with an emerging trend in universities to instil in their students both critical reflection skills and strong digital, media, and visual literacies to enable them to thrive in their professional and personal lives. This paper proposes the adoption of DS as an additional and innovative pedagogical strategy by Learning Developers (LDs) within discipline-specific embedded teaching. Embedded teaching is a well-established method of developing student literacies, and LDs already employ this approach to support academics across disciplines. The integration of DS into this practice would further strengthen the capacity of LDs to enhance students' capabilities as they move into post-Covid, 21st-century 'graduateness'.

An exploratory cross-sectional study of the effects of ongoing relationships with accompanying patients on cancer care experience, self-efficacy, and psychological distress.

BACKGROUND: Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal in Canada introduced accompanying patients (APs) into the breast cancer care trajectory. APs are patients who have been treated for breast cancer and have been integrated into the clinical team to expand the services offered to people affected by cancer. This study describes the profiles of the people who received the support and explores whether one-offs vs ongoing encounters with APs influence their experience of care, on self-efficacy in coping with cancer, and on their level of psychological distress. METHODS: An exploratory cross-sectional study was carried out among patients to compare patients who had one encounter with an AP (G1) with those who had had several encounters (G2). Five questionnaires were administered on socio-demographic characteristics, care pathway, evaluation of the support experience, self-efficacy in coping with cancer, and level of psychological distress. Logbooks, completed by the APs, determined the number of encounters. Linear regression models were used to evaluate the associations between the number of encounters, patient characteristics, care pathway, number of topics discussed, self-efficacy measures in coping with cancer, and level of psychological distress. RESULTS: Between April 2020 and December 2021, 60% of 535 patients who were offered support from an AP accepted. Of these, one hundred and twenty-four patients participated in the study. The study aimed to recruit a minimum of 70 patients with the expectation of obtaining at least 50 participants, assuming a response rate of 70%. There were no differences between G1 and G2 in terms of sociodemographic data and care pathways. Statistical differences were found between G1 and G2 for impacts on and the return to daily life (p = 0.000), the return to the work and impacts on professional life (p = 0.044), announcement of a diagnosis to family and friends (p = 0.033), and strategies for living with treatment under the best conditions (p = 0.000). Significant differences were found on the topics of cancer (p = 0.000), genetic testing (p = 0.023), therapeutic options (p = 0.000), fatigue following treatment (p = 0.005), pain and discomfort after treatment or surgery (p = 0.000), potential emotions and their management (p = 0.000) and the decision-making processes (p = 0.011). A significant relationship was found between the two groups for patients' ability to cope with cancer (p = 0.038), and their level of psychological distress at different stages of the care pathway (p = 0.024). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows differences between one-time and ongoing support for cancer patients. It highlights the potential for APs to help patients develop self-efficacy and cope with the challenges of cancer treatment.

HERDING BEHAVIOR IN FRONTIER NORDIC COUNTRIES

This paper investigates herding behavior of investors in three frontier Nordic countries from July 1,2002 until July 30, 2021, under different market conditions and during three crises that occurred in this period. As estimation methods, we use both OLS and quantile regression and determine that both up and down market, high and low volatility induce a weak herding behavior for at least one quantile in almost all Nordic countries examined, except for Latvia. At the same time, we find that crises determine a more prominent herding behavior in Nordic countries, but do not influent the behavior of investors from Latvia, that tend to remain rational even in stressful conditions.

Taking Part while being apart: conducting participatory research with children during the COVID-19 pandemic

The paper is a reflective narrative of engaging two school students aged 13–16 as advisors in participatory research in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 crisis. It outlines different ways to facilitate the active engagement of children and young people and include their voices in research. The authors also discuss the benefits and methodological and ethical complexities of engaging children and young people as advisors of adult researchers during the pandemic in a country from the Global South, such as Bangladesh. The findings underscore the need to rethink the traditional view of considering children and young people as vulnerable and passive members of society in times of emergency and explore the scope of involving them as active stakeholders in producing quality research data. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Research & Method in Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Exploratory study: Financial behaviour of qualified financial professionals during South Africa's lockdown

Orientation: Financial behaviour is known for the direct or indirect management of funds through inter alia spending, saving and borrowing. Research purpose: This study aimed to investigate the financial behaviour of qualified financial professionals and how it compares with behaviour since the national lockdown regulations in South Africa were imposed in March 2020. Motivation for the study: Several studies found that higher levels of financial knowledge are often associated with more desirable financial behaviour, but because of individual psychological resource differences, people in a similar economic situation may experience different levels of financial threat. Research approach/design and method: An empirical study using a survey, which is supported by an underlying literature review. Main findings: Survey results showed that most respondents do not track actual expenditure against budgets;however, this tendency changes with an increase in age. Financing through loans decreases with an increase in the age of respondents. Cash flow considerations were identified since the national lockdown regulations were imposed, addressed mostly by an increase in saving initiatives. Where qualified financial professionals use financial advisors, it is predominantly for advising on retirement and investment strategies. An association was found between the age of respondents and the likelihood of utilising the services of financial advisors for taxation savings. Practical/managerial implications: It is recommended that the findings on how qualified financial professionals managed their funds prior to and after the national lockdown should be used as guidance by others. Contribution/value-add: The study provides information that the lockdown did not necessarily result in major changes in the financial behaviour of the qualified financial professionals in the study.

The Adoption of Robo-Advisory among Millennials in the 21st Century: Trust, Usability and Knowledge Perception

Robo-advisor has become the new personal wealth management and investment method. Nonetheless, certain predicaments are faced by robo-advisor companies as a tech-savvy young group of individuals seems to be less willing to adopt robo-advisory. This study investigates millennials' adoption of robo-advisory in terms of financial knowledge, trust and usability perception in the 21st century to enhance sustainability. This quantitative study focuses on individuals belonging to the millennial generation who were born between 1981 and 1996. The findings indicate that the millennials who possess financial knowledge, as well as perceived usability and trust have a significant positive effect on the willingness to embrace robo-advisory as a tool for wealth management. The higher the financial knowledge of an individual, the more likely they are willing to adopt a robo-advisor. Government may provide appropriate avenues to enhance financial knowledge, and credible and user-friendly platforms with resources to boost the millennials' usage of robo-advisors for their wealth management. With robust artificial intelligence, robo-advisory continues to support users, especially millennials, through three dimensions of sustainable development: environment, society, and economy.

Factors influencing acceptance of Robo-Advisors for wealth management in Malaysia

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, many innovations have emerged in the financial sector as investors started to look for alternative methods to eliminate irrational decision-making in wealth management, and Robo-advisors is among those. Nine years after the first launching of Robo-advisors in the U.S. in 2008, the Securities Commission Malaysia has been issuing licenses to seven Robo-advisor platforms. The current COVID-19 outbreak has made this industry more in demand, increasing 763% in registration in 2020. However, much skepticism about Robo advisors' ability and reliability in providing a similar quality or better advisory service compared to human-financial advisors. Therefore, this study examines the factors influencing the acceptance of Robo-advisors in wealth management in Malaysia. Adopting some factors from various established technology acceptance models, an online survey with 122 respondents was conducted using convenience sampling. Findings show that Relative Advantage, Effort Expectancy, and Social Influence significantly positive influence the Malaysian Behavioral Intention to Accept Robo-Advisors. On the contrary, there is no significant relationship between Perceived Risk and Malaysian Behavioral Intention to Accept Robo-Advisors. The study provides a positive insight into factors influencing the acceptance of Robo-Advisors in Malaysia. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

The contribution of infaq funds to socio-economic resilience during COVID-19 pandemic: An Islamic economics insight from Indonesia

This study aimed to analyse the contribution of infaq funds to the social and economic resilience of the community during the COVID-19 pandemic in West Papua, Indonesia. This study uses a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative studies. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions with administrators, Dai [Islamic preacher] and mosque congregations to obtain information about the form and mechanism for disbursing infaq funds. Furthermore, the state of distribution of infaq funds is confirmed to the recipient community with an online survey as quantitative data. The data obtained were tabulated and analysed with descriptive and inferential statistics using multiple linear regression assisted by SPSS software 25 version. The research findings show that: firstly, the form of the social-economic contribution of infaq funds is carried out by: (1) financial assistance, (2) social assistance, and (3) health assistance. Secondly, infaq, an instrument of Islamic economics, can contribute to tackling the social and economic impacts of the community amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Thirdly, of the three forms of assistance provided, the health assistance aspect contributed 38.320%, the financial assistance aspect amounted to 37.173% and 24.339% to social assistance. This study shows that the community most needed health and financial assistance from infaq funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Contribution: This study complements the existing literature and provides a new scientific treasure. That the infaq fund, as a philanthropy, turned out to be able to contribute to realising the social-economic resilience of the community during a disease outbreak. The form of health, financial and social assistance from infaq funds is a priority in accelerating the community's economic recovery. It can be a countermeasure to socio-economic impacts during disasters and disease outbreaks.

Online faculty's use of technology when advising doctoral capstone writers

Inadequate or ineffectively communicated feedback from faculty advisors may limit the development of cordial, collaborative relationships with doctoral capstone writers and may impede their successful outcomes. The purpose of this general qualitative study was to explore online faculty's use of technology when advising doctoral capstone writers. Yang and Carless's (2013) feedback triangle model, including cognitive, social-affective and structural dimensions, provided the framework for the study. Demographic survey data and Zoom interview data were collected from 10 doctoral faculty at a fully online university to explore how and why faculty use technology and what technology-related activities faculty conduct when advising doctoral capstone writers. Emergent codes were organised using a priori codes from the feedback triangle model, and themes were developed within these dimensions. Cognitive themes were ensuring accountability and providing instruction, which addressed how participants were using technology. Social-affective themes addressing why faculty use technology were enhancing communication, increasing motivation and promoting self-regulation. Structural themes indicating technology-related activities were modes, preferences, procedures and barriers.Implications for practice or policy:* Online faculty advisors may use technology more effectively to support doctoral capstone writers.* Administrators of online doctoral programs may provide more appropriate technology support for faculty who are advising doctoral capstone writers.* Online doctoral capstone writers may experience improved relationships with faculty advisors, which may promote successful capstone outcomes.* Faculty advisors and doctoral students working in face-to-face environments may benefit from enhanced application of technology in virtual communication resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Narrative Economics

Earnings forecasts, a quantitative indicator of company value, is ranked fourth by fund managers as a service analysts can offer them. 1. Almost half failed within a year, demonstrating the power of a good story over sustained economic analysis as a driver of investment. [...]it is far from clear how you do this in a world where balance sheet assets/liabilities are "marked to market”, putting market value on both the left- and right-hand side of the proposed valuation model. [...]to speak of price variations being caused by accounting variables seems a bit odd really. Shiller (2019, p. 238) notes: […] certain stories that recur with mutations play a significant role in our lives. [...]our Queen in reassuring the nation that we will defeat COVID-19 recalled her youthful address to evacuate children in the Second World War.

Florida as a COVID-19 Epicenter: Exploring the Role of Institutions in the State's Response

This case study explores Florida's emergency management response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework and transboundary crisis literature, this article identifies how state attributes, institutions, multi-sector stakeholders, and their interactions may have influenced the state's response to the pandemic. Findings from the content analyses of government policies, documents, and news reports indicate that some aspects of Florida's response were politically motivated, inflexible, and driven by a small circle of advisors, often ignoring expert opinions and the needs of uniquely vulnerable populations. Furthermore, the findings indicate that public health departments had sidelined locally-controlled emergency management departments. This research offers insight into effective decision-making practices during the response phase of a pandemic and contributes knowledge to the literature in emergency management and public administration focusing on transboundary crises.

Fund style drift and stock price crash risk – analysis of the mediating effect based on corporate financial risk

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the direct impact of fund style drift on the risk of stock price collapse and the intermediary mechanism of financial risk, so as to better protect the interests of minority investors.Design/methodology/approachThis paper takes all the non-financial companies on the Chinese Growth Enterprise Market from 2011 to 2020 as study object and selects securities investment funds of their top ten circulation stocks to study the relationship between fund style drift and stock price crash risk.FindingsFund style drift is likely to add stock price crash risk. Financial risk is positively correlated with stock price crash risk. Fund style drift affects stock price crash risk via the mediating effect of financial risk, and fund style drift and financial risk have a marked impact on the stock price crash risk of non-state enterprises, yet a non-significant impact on that of state-owned enterprises.Originality/valueThis paper links fund style drift with stock price crash risk in an exploratory manner and enriches the study perspectives of relationship between institutional investors' behaviors and stock price crash risk, thus enjoying certain academic value. On the one hand, it furnishes a new approach to the academic frontier issue concerning financial risk and stock price crash risk, and proves that financial risk is positively correlated with stock price crash risk. On the other hand, it regards financial risk as a mediating variable of fund style drift for stock price crash risk and further explores different influencing mechanism of institutional investors' behaviors.

Emergence of An Innovative Financial Instrument, Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT)

Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT), one of the recent innovative financial instruments, has been gaining momentum right from its inception in India in 2016. India has seen 18 instances of InvIT instruments being issued, the first as early as March 2016 and the latest one has come out in April, 2022. These instruments are unique in many ways i.e. they are backed mainly by operational assets hence construction related risk are absent. Investors get an option of diversifying their portfolio by including infrastructure assets in them. Since majority (90% of Net Distributable Cash Flow) of the earning is necessarily distributed, its like income instrument;since it is a trust this instrument enjoys tax advantages. This instrumenthelps release the funds from the infrastructure projects at that stage of the project life cycle when the risk has substantially reduced. Expectedly the returns on these instruments should be lower than infrastructure funds employed for the entire lifecycle;at the same time higher than debt instruments. Analysis of returns (over a period on last 54 weeks) on existing liquid InvIT instruments corroborates the above facts. There is an aberration of PGCIL's InvIT having negative correlation with NIFTY Infra Index. This may be because of a couple of reasons;(a). This instrument is still in its infancy;hence is yet to attain necessary liquidity (b) Last couple of yearsare having Covid 19;hence the cash-flows for a few assets have seen abnormal fluctuations. InvIT seems to be a promising investment instruments for Indian infrastructure space.

Fraud and abuse in the paycheck protection program? Evidence from investment advisory firms

This study investigates the nature and magnitude of abuse in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP or the Program) using PPP loans made to 2999 investment advisory firms registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The data suggest that PPP abuse was relatively widespread as approximately 25% of firms receiving PPP loans indicated they would retain more jobs in their loan application than the number of employees they disclosed on their most recent regulatory filing (Form ADV). We show an existing model of investment advisor fraud predicts the most egregious PPP loans at a rate similar to actual cases of fraud. Investment advisors abusing the Program were significantly more likely to disclose a history of past fraud and other legal and/or regulatory misconduct. Using a conservative approach, we estimate that more than 6% of the $590 million in PPP funds received by SEC registered investment advisors consisted of overallocations to firms abusing the Program. We test a variety of hypotheses to shed further light on the nature of PPP abuse. © 2022

The Value of Registered Investment Advisers during the COVID-19 Financial Market Crash-Evidence from 13F and Twitter

* Prior research shows that during periods of high market volatility, investors tend to shift wealth from risky to safe assets. * This research examines the behavior of registered investment advisers (RIAs) and their clients during the 2020 market downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically exploring portfolio management decisions during this period. * The authors of this study find that RIAs provided value to their clients during the COVID-19 market crash, using effective buy/sell strategies. * This study also investigates the use of Twitter as a means of communication with prospective and existing clients. The authors discuss how financial advisers can benefit from continuing education resources around managing investor behavior online when so many rely on social media. * Financial planning stakeholders, specifically RIA firms, organizations such as the Financial Planning Association, and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards would serve their members well by utilizing more aggressive public campaigns to promote awareness of the value associated with working with financial advisers. * Additionally, regulatory bodies and compliance departments should consider providing financial advisers and marketing departments with greater flexibility around the use of social media as a tool to educate and disseminate information during periods of high market volatility.

Trust the Process: A Duoethnography of Graduates of a Low-Residency Undergraduate Program

What are the benefits or drawbacks of a low-residency educational delivery model? How does the process of designing one's own study impact the work completed in a distance education program with this form of delivery? As researchers who found success in a low-residency undergraduate program, we engaged in a duoethnographic study to mine our experiences and better understand the advantages and disadvantages of this educational model. We engaged in four recorded conversations over the course of three weeks, with sessions ranging from 35 to 60 minutes each. Between sessions, we journaled in a shared online document, discussing our emerging understandings of the topic, responding to each other's perspectives, and pushing one another to articulate and revisit our stances. Through these oral and written dialogues, we identified six themes featured in the low-residency educational model: reduced stigma for non-traditional students, diversity of community, flexibility, self-designed study, staying connected, and clarity of boundaries.Alternate :Quels sont les avantages ou les inconvénients d'un modèle de formation en formule intensive? Comment le processus de conception de sa propre étude influe-t-il sur le travail effectué dans un programme de formation à distance ayant une telle formule ? En tant que chercheurs ayant réussi dans un programme intensif de premier cycle, nous nous sommes engagés dans une étude duoethnographique afin d'exploiter nos expériences et de mieux comprendre les avantages et les inconvénients de ce modèle. Nous avons participé à quatre conversations enregistrées sur une période de trois semaines, avec des sessions allant de 35 à 60 minutes chacune. Entre les sessions, nous avons tenu un journal de bord dans un document partagé et en ligne, dans lequel nous avons discuté de nos compréhensions émergentes du sujet, réagi aux points de vue des uns et des autres, et où nous nous sommes mutuellement poussés à articuler et à revoir nos positions. Grâce à ces dialogues oraux et écrits, nous avons identifié six thèmes qui caractérisent le modèle de formation en formule intensive: la réduction de la stigmatisation des étudiants non traditionnels, la diversité de la communauté, la flexibilité, l'étude auto-conçue, le maintien des liens et la clarté des limites.

The Graduate Student Caucus: A Model for Peer Support

Graduate students are primarily socialized into the political science profession in departments, with networks of peers and informal mentors providing crucial sources of support. This article describes one model of departmental professional socialization that the authors have led—the Graduate Student Caucus—which can improve graduate students' day-to-day lived experiences. In this model, a small cross-cohort group of students is elected for a year-long term to develop professional and social programming for graduate students and to assist them in navigating university bureaucracy, teaching and research responsibilities, and the job market. The Caucus also regularly compiles and presents student concerns to their department administrators to steer the program's direction. We describe the structure of the Caucus and its activities to highlight the benefits of this model and its adaptability to other institutional settings. Governance mechanisms like a Caucus cultivate trust, boost confidence, and demystify the "hidden curriculum” in the profession.

Why CPAs Misfire in Personal Financial Planning: Certified Public Accountant

According to Richard Thaler, winner of a Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in behavioral finance, "A choice architect has the responsibility for organizing the context in which people make decisions." CPAs who venture into personal financial planning will need to be prepared to explain why the conversation your client overheard at the country club is not sound financial advice. Whether it be the rise of low-cost providers like Vanguard, increased attention in the financial media, or the Dunning-Kruger Effect, there is a much lower barrier to entry on perceived expertise in personal financial planning than in other finance disciplines.

How primary care can improve antimicrobial stewardship

What limited resources there are to support appropriate antimicrobial use focus on public hospitals rather than community health care.6 Ironically, 95 per cent of our antimicrobial use is in the community7 and up to half of this may be inappropriate.8 The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the ongoing high-level initiatives for improving antimicrobial stewardship and the New Zealand antimicrobial prescribing landscape as it stands. The new Ngā Paerewa Health and Disability Services Standard sets minimum AMS requirements that some service providers (eg residential care and public hospitals) must meet to be certified under the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001.9 Not all primary care is included in this standard, but this could be rectified by developing a separate clinical care standard for antimicrobial stewardship that applies to all who prescribe, dispense or administer antimicrobials.6 AMS and infection prevention and control (IPC) are two human-health components within a wider New Zealand AMR action plan. Almost none of the recommendations in the 2017 action plan have been put into place, even though the "bar was set low" to see what could be achieved without additional investment.2 Opinion leaders - including Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand AMS pharmacists, infectious disease physicians, clinical microbiologists, IPC nursing specialists and other experts - continue to push for national leadership and coordinated efforts on AMS, most recently in a 2021 New Zealand MedicalJournal viewpoint.6 A key stakeholder group, the New Zealand Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Pharmacist Expert Group (NAMSIPEG), has also led promotion of good AMS practices and activities for World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW).11 For 2020, it led a national initiative to improve indication documentation on antimicrobial prescriptions, and for 2021 a national initiative focusing on penicillin allergy.12,13,14 These are component parts to AMS and are applicable in primary care. Prescribing landscape for antimicrobials in Aotearoa New Zealand The implications of AMR for New Zealanders and the imminent threat it represents have been made plain by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 201715 and the Office of the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor in 2021.2 Estimates suggest, without urgent action, infections due to resistant microorganisms could kill 10 million people globally each year by 2050.16 Using a predictive model, a systematic analysis published this year in The Lancet has already estimated that approximately 6.3 million deaths globally in 2019 were attributable to, or associated with, bacterial AMR.17 The consequences of increases in AMR for New Zealand will be enormous, given the reliance we have on effective antimicrobial therapy throughout medicine.