Small is beautiful and important: economies and firms trading in digital services

Although many firms operate on global digital platforms, small countries and firms also play an essential role at the national level, especially during crises and the slowdown in globalization. This research investigates trade patterns in digital services at the country and firm level and identifies challenges in this area in providing new information and tools to startup mentors and policymakers, who need more evidence for national authorities to develop mentorship and digital programmes. The study also contributes to transaction cost theory, explaining how it is possible to reduce transaction costs. The methodology involves using quantitative and experimental methods, logistic regression for firms and correspondence analysis for countries. The WTO dataset was used to visualise trade in services data and to interpret clusters of digitalised countries. Interestingly, Estonia stands apart from other post-socialist countries in terms of digital services exports, being among smaller countries and hosting the highest concentration of startups per capita. The firmlevel analysis revealed that firms trading in digital services differ from others – being smaller, more focused on exports and more often controlled by non-residents. The study encourages investments in small countries and small firms that trade successfully in digital services.

Social Class, Digital Capital and Practices for Staying Connected of Older People During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Older adults are among the ones most exposed to social isolation because they've stayed at home for much longer during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research aims through multiple correspondence analysis being made along the axis of questions about what media use practice older adults have for coping with feelings of isolation, how they stay in touch with their social environment, and what kind of relationship their practices for coping with the feeling of isolation and for staying connected to their social environment have to their social status. The research focuses on the decisive roles of digital capital and social status. Television is seen to help older adults the most in overcoming the feeling of isolation, followed by telephone and smartphone calls, respectively. Older adults with higher social status tend to have higher digital capital and accordingly also use more diverse means of communicating to access quality information. The multiple correspondence analysis has revealed digital inequality to be an extension of social, economic, and cultural inequalities.

International event tourism and urban changes: Trajectories of global convention cities (1995–2020)

The aim of this study is to determine the trajectories of global convention cities, in order to identify and explain the strong interactions between urban policies and changes and the dynamics of hosting international conferences around the world. To accomplish this aim, the major convention cities are calibrated so that their relative positions over 24 years alongside their policies for urban change can be analyzed. To do this, we undertake a factorial correspondence analysis (FCA) combined with ascending hierarchical classification to establish a hierarchical ranking and a typology. The hosting dynamics observed reveal the strong links between material and nonmaterial urban changes and a city's attractiveness as a convention destination. At present, the situation still reflects the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic. It has already had technical, technological, and health-related consequences for convention processes. These new factors need to be considered in further studies on convention tourism and urban changes [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Convention & Event Tourism is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd 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.)

Does the Size of the Business Still Matter, or Is Profitability under New Management, by Order of the COVID-19?

Businesses should come up with a strategy, plans, and goals so that their total assets can make a profit during the transformation process. Utilizing various features of a property can generate this income. This comparison provides evidence of profitability. During the global economic downturn, a number of businesses encountered issues that caused their payment situations and profitability to deteriorate. The goal of this article is to ascertain whether particular profitability indicators also revealed the pandemic-related global crisis, particularly in the Visegrad Group countries. This analysis was conducted based on categories of business size. Specifically, 8671 enterprises were analyzed. The evaluation of indicators revealed whether there was a significant change in a negative direction, a significant change in a positive direction, or no significant change. It was possible to make a clear diagram of the companies that took part in the study and to figure out the median values in order to compare the results of the chosen profitability indicators. Correspondence analysis was conducted so that conclusions could be more accurate. According to the findings of this study, indicators of ROA, ROE, and ROS did not change significantly across enterprise size categories in the years preceding, during, and after the pandemic. Since the government regulations of the V4 countries had a significant impact on these businesses, the change was most obvious in the case of small businesses within the ROS indicator. The added value of the article is derived from its analysis of selected profitability indicators in the largest group of Central European nations and its relevance.

Impact of Emergency Online Classes on Students' Motivation and Engagement in University During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Study Case

The Covid-19 pandemic has had dramatic impact on many dimensions of living and studying conditions of students at University. This paper analyses student satisfaction and motivation during the lockdown period and try to understand whether different socio-economic and environmental conditions have influenced needs and demands of students during the emergency online didactics. Drawing from the results of a questionnaire administered to students enrolled in the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, this research is aimed at describing which factors, beyond the quality and the professionalism of the lecturers and the quality of the education received, influence the satisfaction with the online learning experience and impact on students' motivations and perceived engagement. Moreover, the study investigates the pandemic's direct effects on gender differences and inequalities, analysing the obstacles affecting the self-organization of study at home. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Renaissance of Creative Accounting Due to the Pandemic: New Patterns Explored by Correspondence Analysis

The COVID-19 outbreak has rapidly affected global economies and the parties involved. There was a need to ensure the sustainability of corporate finance and avoid bankruptcy. The reactions of individuals were not routine, but covered a wide range of approaches to surviving the crisis. A creative way of accounting was also adopted. This study is primarily concerned with the behavior of businesses in the Visegrad Four countries between 2019 and 2021. The pandemic era was the driving force behind the renaissance of manipulation. Thus, the purpose of the article is to explore how the behavior of enterprises changed during the ongoing pandemic. The Beneish model was applied to reveal creative manipulation in the analyzed samples. Its M-score was calculated for 6113 Slovak, 153 Czech, 585 Polish, and 155 Hungarian enterprises. Increasing numbers of handling enterprises were confirmed in the V4 region. The dependency between the size of the enterprise and the occurrence of creative accounting was also proven. However, the structure of manipulators has been changing. Correspondence analysis specifically showed behavioral changes over time. Correspondence maps demonstrate which enterprises already used creative accounting before the pandemic in 2019. Then, it was noted that enterprises were influenced to modify their patterns in 2020 and 2021. The coronavirus pandemic had a significant potency on the use of creative accounting, not only for individual units, but for businesses of all sizes. In addition, the methodology may be applied for the investigation of individual sectors post-COVID. © 2023 by the authors.

Survey of the Behaviors and Willingness of Chinese Travelers in a Coastal Area to Visit Japan under the Zero Covid-19 Policy

-This research aimed to evaluate the current attitudes of Chinese travelers. We conducted a survey of Chinese tourists traveling in China's coastal area under the national Zero Covid-19 Policy. The surveys were conducted during two periods: the first was from September 28-October 7, 2022;the second from October 29-November 16, 2022. Both took place before China announced national Covid-19 tolerance in December 2022. All participants were interviewed face-to-face using a questionnaire created by our research team. The results of correspondence analyses revealed the following. Chinese travelers were somewhat indifferent about traveling during the Covid-19 restrictions, especially groups 20–29 and 30–39 years old. On the other hand, the Covid-19 restrictions appeared to have less effect on those under 20 years old. In imagining the after-Covid-19 era, although those 30–39 were willing to travel to Japan, those 20–29 were neutral about the idea. Although familiarity with the Tohoku area, especially Iwate Prefecture, was very low among Chinese travelers according to the results, we assume their willingness to visit Miyako City in Iwate Prefecture is rather high. To promote Chinese interest in the tourist resources of Miyako City, we assume that it would be better to use popular Chinese SNS systems such as Weibo, WeChat, and TikTok, rather than popular Japanese SNS systems. © 2023, World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 and Inland Tourist Destination: A Tourism-related Enterprise View of the Effects and Policy Measures Adopted

The public health crisis caused by COVID-19 has been particularly devastating due to its rapid spread and the strict measures that governments have had to take. From a business resilience approach, a total of 707 opinions were collected during May-April 2020. The owners and managers of the main tourist enterprises valued the effects and measures adopted by politicians. In order to identify inferentially the possible relationship between covid effects, on the one hand, and measures adopted, on the other hand, and tourism-related enterprises typologies, the multivariate technique of Correspondence Analysis has been used. According to the results obtained, the measures to face this type of crisis must be common to all enterprises, for example financial ones, but measures adapted to the type of business are also required, considering the assessment of its managers and owners.

Categorizing older adults' information technology-based learning programs using correspondence analysis

Purpose: The rapid proliferation of digital devices, population aging, and acceleration of digital technology adoption due to the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the need for information education for older adults to prevent inter-generational conflicts and digital alienation. This study aims to analyze the information technology (IT) education programs provided to older adults by age group, considering their heterogeneity. Design/methodology/approach: This study identifies IT education programs provided by public institutions in Seoul and target age groups (50 and above) through a survey using triangulation, which were then sorted and summarized into 27 keywords. Correspondence analysis was conducted using the keywords derived for the programs and age groups. Findings: IT education programs in the age group 60 and above accounted for 75.2% of the programs offered, which increased to 90% when including those aged 55 and above. Particularly, the perceptual map created based on relationship correlations indicates which IT education program keywords matched each age group. The Seoul Metropolitan Government primarily offered these programs for older adults aged 60 and above, with 5–7.5 times more education programs for those aged 60 and above than for those aged 50 and above or 55 and above. Therefore, IT education must be more evenly provided to more diverse age groups among older adults to reflect the current situation. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature by proposing a future direction for IT education of older adults. Moreover, it has implications for the direction of IT education to target various age groups in IT education programs, thus enabling older adults to effectively enhance their digital literacy skills during the rapid digitalization caused by COVID-19. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Modelling lifestyle-based segments of Indian wine consumers using the latent profile analysis approach

Purpose>This study aims to identify and validate the different clusters of wine consumers in India based on the wine-related lifestyle (WRL) instrument. It also investigates how the identified clusters differ in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, income, education, employment and marital status.Design/methodology/approach>The authors conducted a survey using a structured questionnaire to collect data from wine consumers in India. The number of participants totalled to 432. The authors first identified the clusters using latent profile analysis. The authors then used the decision tree analysis based on a recursive partitioning algorithm to validate the clusters. Finally, the authors analysed the relationship between the identified clusters and socio-demographic characteristics using correspondence analysis.Findings>Three distinct segments emerged after data were subjected to latent profile analysis, namely, curious, ritualistic and casual. The authors found that the curious cluster had a high mean score for situational and social consumption while the ritualistic cluster had a high mean for ritualistic consumption. The findings also suggest that the casual cluster had more female wine consumers.Originality/value>This study makes methodological contributions to the wine consumer segmentation approach. First, it adopts a latent profile analysis to profile Indian wine consumers. Second, it validates the obtained clusters using the decision tree analysis method. Third, it analyses the relationship between the identified clusters and socio-demographic variables using correspondence analysis, a technique far superior to the Chi-square methods.

SARS-CoV2 Infection and Comorbidity in Inmates: A Study of Central Italy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The presence of multiple chronic diseases is associated with an increase in mortality when related to COVID-19 infection. THE AIMS OF OUR STUDY WERE: (i) to evaluate the association between the severity of the COVID-19 disease, defined as symptomatic hospitalized in prison or symptomatic hospitalized out of prison, and the presence of one or more comorbidities in two prisons in central Italy: L'Aquila and Sulmona; (ii) to describe the profiles of inmates using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). METHODS: A database was created including age, gender and clinical variables. The database containing anonymized data was password-protected. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to evaluate a possible association between diseases and the severity of COVID-19 stratified by age groups. We used MCA to describe a possible characteristic profile of inmates. RESULTS: Our results show that in the 25-50-year-old age group (COVID-19-negative) in the L'Aquila prison, 19/62 (30.65%) were without comorbidity, 17/62 (27.42%) had 1-2 comorbidities and only 3.23% had >2 diseases. It is interesting to note that in the elderly group, the frequency of 1-2 or >2 pathologies was higher than in the younger group, and only 3/51 (5.88%) inmates did not have comorbidities and were COVID-19 negative (p = 0.008). The MCA identified the following profiles: the prison of L'Aquila showed a group of women over 60 with diabetes, cardiovascular and orthopedic problems, and hospitalized for COVID-19; the Sulmona prison presented a group of males over 60 with diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory, urological, gastrointestinal and orthopedic problems, and hospitalized or symptomatic due to COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: our study has demonstrated and confirmed that advanced age and the presence of concomitant pathologies have played a significant role in the severity of the disease: symptomatic hospitalized in the prison; symptomatic hospitalized out of the prison.

Mapping of Students' Academic Performance in Online Learning Environment during Pandemic Using Multiple Correspondence Analysis

The virtual and digital learning process seems to hugely impact academic achievement due to the COVID-19 outbreak, globally. Thus, improving student performance is one of the important focuses of educational management. Mapping students' actual conditions is a mandatory requirement before designing the performance improvement program. Therefore, this study proposed a statistical investigation to map out students' performance and the problems they encountered during online learning using Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), revealing the hidden pattern and classifying students based on their demographics (programs, CGPA, and origin) and learning environments. The data samples consist of 234 undergraduate students in the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). The study findings formed from two different profiles where each profile has its respective categories. The study found that the students of the Bachelor of Education (Mathematics) with Honour, categorized as smart students, preferred to study face-to-face because of poor internet connection from using mobile data. On the other hand, the students of the Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) with Education, who were categorized as average students, had no difficulty continuing either synchronous or asynchronous online learning in the future because of stable internet access using their home Wi-Fi connection. Moreover, the preference made was also due to family interruption issues. © 2023 by the authors.

The Correspondence of Culture and E-Learning Perception Among Indian and Croatian Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the world, inflicting nationwide lockdowns interrupting conventional schooling through schools, colleges and universities. Educational institutions are struggling to maintain learning continuity through remote learning solutions. Still, the students' perception of this ‘new normal' mode and pace of learning needs to be examined to ensure the success of these efforts. This study aimed at examining the perception of higher education students in India and Croatia especially with respect to the association between cultural orientation and the e-learning. The period considered for the data collection was from March 2020 to September 2020. Correspondence analysis was attempted to create spatial maps to depict the respondent choices. Students from both the regions agreed to the high-power distance that existed in their cultures and considered the role of device and content to be an important dimension of e-learning for it to be effective, but the results also pointed out some differences in their choices on other culture dimensions as well as factors affecting e-learning which make this study unique and suggest in-depth future research for conclusive results. © 2022, Asia Pacific Journal of Information Systems. All Rights Reserved.

Demonstration of stable clusters of symptoms in long COVID

Background. Long COVID is a heterogenous condition. We previously demonstrated distinct phenotypes of long COVID, but the impact of later waves caused by SARS-CoV-2 variants on long COVID presentations has not been described. Methods. We selected individuals with ongoing symptoms > 4 weeks from PCR-confirmed COVID-19 in a multicentre, prospective cohort study. We used multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical clustering on self-reported symptoms to identify symptom clusters, in individuals recruited during two periods;cohort 1 from March 2020 to April 2021, and cohort 2 from April 2021 to March 2022. We explored differences in symptoms by mapping acute infection to one of four COVID-19 waves in Ireland (table 1) as well as vaccination status, and used Chi2 test to compare symptoms frequencies. Results. Demographics are shown in Table 2. Cluster analysis of each cohort demonstrated 3 distinct clusters in both cohorts, which shared similar clinical characteristics;a musculoskeletal/pain symptom cluster, a cardiorespiratory cluster and a third less symptomatic cluster (Figure 1). While symptoms within clusters were similar across both periods, in the cardiorespiratory cluster, the frequency of palpitations decreased (56% vs 16%) and cough increased (14% vs 45%) between reporting periods (both P< 0.01). Furthermore, a greater proportion of palpitations were reported in those with COVID-19 from waves 1 and 2 (35% and 28%) compared to 3 and 4 (both 12%, P< 0.001), and a greater proportion of chest pain in waves 1, 2 and 4 compared to wave 3. There were no differences in other symptoms (Table 3). Additionally there were significantly less palpitations reported in those vaccinated at the time of review (17% vs 31% P=0.002), but not chest pain (30% vs 39% P=0.13). In multivariate analysis, infection in wave 3 and 4 but not vaccination status remained significantly associated with lower reported palpitations (OR (95% CI) 0.28 (0.13-0.97) and 0.5 (0.06-0.87) for waves 3 and 4, both P< 0.05), and wave 3 infection remained independently associated with lower reported chest pain (OR 0.3 (0.25-0.7)). Conclusion. Three symptom clusters define long COVID across the two cohorts, but characteristics of the cardiorespiratory phenotype have evolved over time with evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants. (Table Presented).

International event tourism and urban changes: Trajectories of global convention cities (1995-2020)

The aim of this study is to determine the trajectories of global convention cities, in order to identify and explain the strong interactions between urban policies and changes and the dynamics of hosting international conferences around the world. To accomplish this aim, the major convention cities are calibrated so that their relative positions over 24 years alongside their policies for urban change can be analyzed. To do this, we undertake a factorial correspondence analysis (FCA) combined with ascending hierarchical classification to establish a hierarchical ranking and a typology. The hosting dynamics observed reveal the strong links between material and nonmaterial urban changes and a city's attractiveness as a convention destination. At present, the situation still reflects the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic. It has already had technical, technological, and health-related consequences for convention processes. These new factors need to be considered in further studies on convention tourism and urban changes

Categorizing older adults' information technology-based learning programs using correspondence analysis

Purpose The rapid proliferation of digital devices, population aging, and acceleration of digital technology adoption due to the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the need for information education for older adults to prevent inter-generational conflicts and digital alienation. This study aims to analyze the information technology (IT) education programs provided to older adults by age group, considering their heterogeneity. Design/methodology/approach This study identifies IT education programs provided by public institutions in Seoul and target age groups (50 and above) through a survey using triangulation, which were then sorted and summarized into 27 keywords. Correspondence analysis was conducted using the keywords derived for the programs and age groups. Findings IT education programs in the age group 60 and above accounted for 75.2% of the programs offered, which increased to 90% when including those aged 55 and above. Particularly, the perceptual map created based on relationship correlations indicates which IT education program keywords matched each age group. The Seoul Metropolitan Government primarily offered these programs for older adults aged 60 and above, with 5-7.5 times more education programs for those aged 60 and above than for those aged 50 and above or 55 and above. Therefore, IT education must be more evenly provided to more diverse age groups among older adults to reflect the current situation. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by proposing a future direction for IT education of older adults. Moreover, it has implications for the direction of IT education to target various age groups in IT education programs, thus enabling older adults to effectively enhance their digital literacy skills during the rapid digitalization caused by COVID-19.

Analyzing the State of Mind of Self-quarantined People during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown Period: A Multiple Correspondence Analysis Approach

COVID-19 (Corona) virus has spread across the world threatening lives of millions of people. In India first COVID-19 case was detected on 30th January 2020 in Kerala. To minimize the spread of Corona Virus, countries all over the world implemented complete lockdown. Due to complete lockdown even people who are not exposed to corona virus, have to self-quarantine to keep themselves safe from getting infected by the disease. People (especially Indians) have never experienced such complete lockdown and quarantining situations before. Thus, this creates a space for curiosity that how people are going to react to this situation. The present study aims to analyse how self-quarantined people during COVID-19 lockdown period are reacting to quarantining, what measures they are taking to deal with this situation, and what are their sentiments towards quarantining. The study also aims to measure their Happiness and to identify the factors that are statistically significant to Happiness. For this study, the data is collected through a survey method. Multiple correspondence analysis are performed to analyse the survey data. The happiness score is evaluated by using the GNH (Gross National Happiness) methodology. Proportional Odd Logistics Regression is used to identify factors that are statistically significant in predicting happiness. The study suggests that family factor is related to the happiness of the self-quarantined people during such lockdown situations. © 2022,International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications. All Rights Reserved.

Validation of a COVID-19 mental health and wellness survey questionnaire.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: COVID-19 affected mental health and wellbeing. Research is needed to assess its impact using validated tools. The study assessed the content validity, reliability and dimensionality of a multidimensional tool for assessing the mental health and wellbeing of adults. METHODS: An online questionnaire collected data in the second half of 2020 from adults in different countries. The questionnaire included nine sections assessing: COVID-19 experience and sociodemographic profile; health and memory; pandemic stress (pandemic stress index, PSI); financial and lifestyle impact; social support; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); coping strategies; self-care and HIV profile over 57 questions. Content validity was assessed (content validity index, CVI) and participants evaluated the test-retest reliability (Kappa statistic and intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC). Internal consistency of scales was assessed (Cronbach α). The dimensionality of the PSI sections and self-care strategies was assessed by multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) using all responses and SPSS. For qualitative validation, we used a semi-structured interview and NVivo was used for coding and thematic analysis. RESULTS: The overall CVI = 0.83 with lower values for the memory items. Cronbach α for the memory items = 0.94 and ICC = 0.71. Cronbach α for PTSD items was 0.93 and ICC = 0.89. Test-retest scores varied by section. The 2-dimensions solution of MCA for the PSI behavior section explained 33.6% (precautionary measures dimension), 11.4% (response to impact dimension) and overall variance = 45%. The 2-dimensions of the PSI psychosocial impact explained 23.5% (psychosocial impact of the pandemic dimension), 8.3% (psychosocial impact of the precautionary measures of the pandemic dimension) and overall variance = 31.8%. The 2-dimensions of self-care explained 32.9% (dimension of self-care strategies by people who prefer to stay at home and avoid others), 9% (dimension of self-care strategies by outward-going people) and overall variance = 41.9%. Qualitative analysis showed that participants agreed that the multidimensional assessment assessed the effect of the pandemic and that it was better suited to the well-educated. CONCLUSION: The questionnaire has good content validity and can be used to assess the impact of the pandemic in cross-sectional studies especially as individual items. The PSI and self-care strategies need revision to ensure the inclusion of items with strong discrimination.

Modelling lifestyle-based segments of Indian wine consumers using the latent profile analysis approach

Purpose This study aims to identify and validate the different clusters of wine consumers in India based on the wine-related lifestyle (WRL) instrument. It also investigates how the identified clusters differ in terms of socio-demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, income, education, employment and marital status. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a survey using a structured questionnaire to collect data from wine consumers in India. The number of participants totalled to 432. The authors first identified the clusters using latent profile analysis. The authors then used the decision tree analysis based on a recursive partitioning algorithm to validate the clusters. Finally, the authors analysed the relationship between the identified clusters and socio-demographic characteristics using correspondence analysis. Findings Three distinct segments emerged after data were subjected to latent profile analysis, namely, curious, ritualistic and casual. The authors found that the curious cluster had a high mean score for situational and social consumption while the ritualistic cluster had a high mean for ritualistic consumption. The findings also suggest that the casual cluster had more female wine consumers. Originality/value This study makes methodological contributions to the wine consumer segmentation approach. First, it adopts a latent profile analysis to profile Indian wine consumers. Second, it validates the obtained clusters using the decision tree analysis method. Third, it analyses the relationship between the identified clusters and socio-demographic variables using correspondence analysis, a technique far superior to the Chi-square methods.

The Impact of Mobility on Shopping Preferences during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Evidence from the Slovak Republic

The COVID-19 global pandemic has affected normal human behaviour in day-to-day activities. As a result of various restrictions, people have significantly changed their shopping and mobility to limit the spread of the pandemic. This article aims to determine the association between consumers’ shopping preferences and the frequency of selected daily activities during and before the COVID-19 pandemic using correspondence analysis. The total sample consists of 407 respondents from Slovakia. The data are obtained from an online questionnaire divided into several sections such as socio-demographic factors, shopping preferences, and frequency of selected activities per week. The results show that there is an association between consumers’ preference for shopping in supermarkets and the frequency of family visits per week during the pandemic, among other factors. These findings follow up on previous studies on the consequences of changing mobility as a result of the global crisis.