The impact of corporate climate risk perception on green outward foreign direct investment.

How to address climate risks and achieve green transformation has become a critical issue that businesses urgently need to consider. We apply growth option theory and prospect theory to examine the impact of corporate climate risk perceptions on green outward foreign direct investment (GFDI) using a research sample of heavily polluting listed companies in China from 2009 to 2022. Our findings reveal that companies with higher perceived climate risks tend to increase their inclination towards GFDI, and the informal hierarchy of boards reinforces the positive effect of both. Supplementary analyses indicate that through GFDI, corporations can exert positive effects on their own environmental performance and future green innovations. The positive impact is notably more visible in nonstate-owned companies and sample units from provinces along the Belt and Road. These findings extend the economic consequences of climate risk at the firm level from the perspective of international business research and provide empirical references for firms to promote their own green transformation from a practical perspective.

Incorporating gendered analysis and flexibility in heavy work investment studies: a systematic literature review.

Introduction: Significant impacts of heavy work investment on employee well-being and organizational performance have prompted its increasing importance as a research topic. The findings about good or evil of these repercussions are nonetheless inconclusive. The intersection of Heavy Work Investment construct with gender has not been explicitly addressed by previous literature review and research. Besides, the relevance of flexibility for women, as one of the key factors for successful work-family balance management, still remains to be analyzed. Methods: A literature review on Heavy Work Investment was conducted using the SPAR-4-SLR protocol, wherein 83 articles were selected from a pool of 208 previously identified works. Bibliometric and content analysis techniques were employed, including co-word analysis, to evaluate research production, impact, and trends in the gender perspective within Heavy Work Investment. Results: As a result, a strategic diagram illustrates thematic topics, providing a clear understanding of the field's structure and evolution. Six thematic groups were identified, around work-family conflict as the central theme. Discussion: The explicit consideration of a gender perspective in literature involves nuanced differences regarding the conclusions of studies with a broader focus. First, the emerging prominence of studies on China and Japan becomes clear with gender as the specific focus of the review, aiming to clarify the experiences women face in more traditional societies with a more decisive division of roles. Second, there is a shift in interest regarding the analysis of Job Demands and Job Resources. Despite the apparent decline in interest in the former, the focus in gender literature clearly shifts toward the side of Job Resources, showing potential for the future. It could be understood that in a context of talent war and employee retention efforts, priority is given to better understanding of facilitating individual and organizational factors for work-life balance, especially for women. Future research areas are identified, including gender differences in organizational support and the impact of flexible work on the work-life balance, providing valuable insights for academia, practitioners, and organizations. The need for more comprehensive cross-cultural and gender research is also made clear.

Environmental judicial reform and corporate investment behavior - Based on a quasi-natural experiment of environmental courts.

Ensuring the effectiveness of environmental legislation and regulations necessitates enhancing the professional caliber of the environmental judiciary. Utilizing a multi-period difference-in-differences model, we explore the impact of environmental judicial reforms, exemplified by the establishment of environmental courts, on corporate investment behavior. We find that firms in regions with established environmental courts significantly increase their environmental investments and productive investments, while financial investments remain unaffected. Mechanism testing reveals that the environmental court affects corporate investment by strengthening local government environmental enforcement and promoting public environmental participation. Furthermore, the marginal effect of environmental courts is more pronounced in regions with fewer environmental regulations and lower economic development levels, as well as in state-owned enterprises. Compared to collegiate benches, environmental resources judicial tribunals exert a greater influence on corporate investment behavior. This study adds to the micro-economic analysis of environmental judiciary by providing empirical evidence on how formal institutional frameworks impact corporate investment behavior.

Assessing the environmental impacts of clean energy investment in Pakistan using a dynamic autoregressive distributed lag model.

In this study, the authors projected the impacts of clean energy investment on environmental degradation by applying a novel and dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag (DARDL) model for Pakistan from 1990 to 2022. Most researchers have used ecological footprint or CO2 emissions indicators to look at how clean energy investment affects environmental degradation, which primarily represents contamination induced by humans' consumption patterns and does not consider the impact of the supply side. Against this background, the study scrutinized the dynamic interaction between clean energy investment and environmental sustainability using the load capacity factor (LCF) as an ecological indicator in Pakistan, including economic growth, population density, trade openness, urbanization, and industrialization in the analysis. The long-run estimates from DARDL indicate that a 1 percent upsurge in clean energy investment mitigates environmental degradation by approximately 0.42 percent on average, controlling for other factors. Further, the study also revealed that a 1 percent increase in clean energy investment diminishes dirty energy consumption by approximately 0.45 percent. The validity of the findings is confirmed using alternate methods, i.e., KRLS. The study recommends that Pakistan prioritize investment in clean energy projects to promote environmental sustainability and enforce environmental regulations to reduce the adverse externalities associated with dirty energy activities.

The effect of health literacy on health investment intention: a cross-sectional study among petrochemical employees in China.

Backgrounds: In the petrochemical industry, employees are exposed to various health hazards, which pose serious challenges to their health and hinder the sustainable development of the petrochemical industry. Investing in health has proved a potential strategy to enhance general health. However, global health investment is notably insufficient, mainly due to the public's limited intention to invest in their health. While past research has identified various determinants of health investment intentions, the relationship between health literacy and health investment intention remains somewhat controversial and needs more empirical validation. Objectives: This study aims to assess the level of health literacy and health investment intention among employees in one of China's largest petrochemical companies and to explore the effect of health literacy on health investment intention. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a petrochemical company. The valid sample size for this study was 39,911 respondents. Data were collected using a designed questionnaire, including socio-demographic information, questions about health investment intention, and the "2020 National Health Literacy Monitoring Questionnaire." Several statistical analysis methods were employed, including descriptive analysis, Chi-square test, logistic regression, and multiple linear regression. Results: The study disclosed an average health literacy score of 56.11 (SD = 10.34) among employees, with 52.1% surpassing the qualification threshold. The "Chronic Disease" dimension exhibited the lowest qualification rate at 33.0%. Furthermore, 71.5% of the employees expressed an intention to invest in health, yet a significant portion (34.5%) opted for the minimal investment choice, less than 2,000 RMB. Logistic regression analysis indicated a positive correlation between health literacy and health investment intention (OR = 1.474; p < 0.001). This association's robustness was further indicated by multiple linear regression analyses (ß = 0.086, p<0.001). Conclusion: The employees' health literacy significantly exceeds the national average for Chinese citizens, yet the qualified rate in the "Chronic Disease" dimension remains notably low. A majority of employees have the intention to invest in health, albeit modestly. Furthermore, while health literacy does positively influence health investment intention, this effect is somewhat limited. Accordingly, personalized Health education should be prioritized, with a focus on improving chronic disease knowledge and facilitating the internalization of health knowledge into health beliefs.

Inequality and health: Can medical practice address the consequences of inequalities?

BACKGROUND: The extent to which governments provide socioeconomic supports has been highlighted by their spending during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has implications for patterns of inequality, in particular on exacerbating unequal health and well-being. RESULTS: Inequity has expanded due to neoliberalism, a market-based approach that has endured for more than four decades. Together with COVID-19, it has developed and exposed many structural governance differences. DISCUSSION: There are a number of examples presented of the effects of inequalities on health and well-being. The role of general practice in addressing these is discussed and challenges are highlighted, especially those relating to payment systems and workforce constraints.

Levodopa-based device-aided therapies for the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease: a social return on investment analysis.

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is an incurable, progressive, neurodegenerative disorder. As PD advances and symptoms progress, patients become increasingly dependent on family and carers. Traditional cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA) only consider patient and payer-related outcomes, failing to acknowledge impacts on families, carers, and broader society. This novel Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis aimed to evaluate the broader impact created by improving access to levodopa (LD) device-aided therapies (DATs) for people living with advanced PD (aPD) in Australia. Methods: A forecast SROI analysis over a three-year time horizon was conducted. People living with aPD and their families were recruited for qualitative interviews or a quantitative survey. Secondary research and clinical trial data was used to supplement the primary research. Outcomes were valued and assessed in a SROI value map in Microsoft Excel™. Financial proxies were assigned to each final outcome based on willingness-to-pay, economic valuation, and replacement value. Treatment cost inputs were sourced from Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule (PBS) and Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) published prices. Results: Twenty-four interviews were conducted, and 55 survey responses were received. For every $1 invested in access to LD-based DATs in Australia, an estimated $1.79 of social value is created. Over 3 years, it was estimated $277.16 million will be invested and $406.77 million of social return will be created. This value is shared between people living with aPD (27%), their partners (22%), children (36%), and the Australian Government (15%). Most of the value created is social and emotional in nature, including reduced worry, increased connection to family and friends, and increased hope for the future. Discussion: Investment in LD-based DATs is expected to generate a positive social return. Over 50% of the value is created for the partners and children of people living with aPD. This value would not be captured in traditional CEA. The SROI methodology highlights the importance of investing in aPD treatment, capturing the social value created by improved access to LD-based DATs.

Does female control and male mating system predict courtship investment and mating outcomes? A comparative study in five widow spider species (genus Latrodectus) tested under similar laboratory conditions.

BACKGROUND: Male courtship investment may evolve in response to the male's expectation of future mating opportunities or the degree of female control during mating interactions. We used a comparative approach to test this hypotheses by assessing the courtship and mating behaviors of five widow spider species (genus Latrodectus) under common laboratory conditions. We predicted male investment in courtship would be higher in species where males mate only once because of high cannibalism rates (monogyny, L. geometricus, L. hasselti, L. mirabilis), compared to species with rare cannibalism (L. mactans, L. hesperus) in which males should reserve energy for future mating opportunities. Increased male investment, measured as courtship duration, might also evolve with increased female control over mating outcomes if females prefer longer courtships. We tested this by assessing the frequency of copulations, timing of sexual cannibalism, and the degree of female-biased size dimorphism, which is expected to be negatively correlated with the energetic cost of rebuffing male mating attempts. RESULTS: Copulation frequency was consistently lower in species with extreme female-skewed size dimorphism, and where sexual cannibalism was more prevalent, suggesting the importance of female control for mating outcomes. We confirmed significant interspecific variation in average courtship duration, but contrary to predictions, it was not predicted by male mating system, and there was no consistent link between courtship duration and sexual size dimorphism. CONCLUSION: We show that the degree of sexual dimorphism is not only correlated with sexual cannibalism, but also with mating success since restriction of male copulation frequency by female Latrodectus affects paternity. However, predictions about male mating system or female control affecting courtship duration were not supported. We propose that the form of female control over mating and cannibalism, and male responses, might be more informative for understanding the evolution of courtship duration. For example, male tactics to avoid female aggression may drive lower courtship duration in species like L. mirabilis. Nonetheless, our results differ from inferences based on published studies of each species in isolation, illuminating the need for standardized data collection for behavioural comparative studies.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger? Effects of paternal age at conception on fathers and sons.

Advancing male age is often hypothesised to reduce both, male fertility and offspring quality due to reproductive senescence. However, the effects of advancing male age on reproductive output and offspring quality are not always deleterious. For example, older fathers might buffer effects of reproductive senescence by terminally investing in reproduction. Similarly, males that survive to reproduce at an old age, might carry alleles that confer high viability (viability selection) which are then inherited by offspring, or might have high reproductive potential (selective disappearance). Differentiating these mechanisms requires an integrated experimental study of paternal survival and reproductive performance, as well as offspring quality, which is currently lacking. Using a cross-sectional study in Drosophila melanogaster, we test the effects of paternal age at conception (PAC) on paternal survival and reproductive success, and on the lifespans of sons. We discover that mating at an old age is linked with decreased future male survival, suggesting that mating-induced mortality is possibly due to old fathers being frail. We find no evidence for terminal investment, and show that reproductive senescence in fathers does not onset until their late-adult life. Additionally, we find that as a father's lifespan increases, his probability of siring offspring increases, for older PAC treatments only. Lastly, we show that sons born to older fathers live longer than those born to younger fathers, due to viability selection. Collectively, our results suggest that advancing paternal age is not necessarily associated with deleterious effects for offspring, and may even lead to older fathers producing longer-lived offspring.

Return on investment in science: twenty years of European Commission funded research in Alzheimer's dementia, breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), breast cancer (BC) and prostate cancer (PC) continue to be high in the research and innovation agenda of the European Commission (EC). This is due to their exceptionally large burden to the national health systems, the profound economic effects of opportunity costs attributable to decreased working ability, premature mortality and the ever-increasing demand for both hospital and home-based medical care. Over the last two decades, the EC has been steadily increasing both the number of proposals being funded and the amounts of financial resources being allocated to these fields of research. This trend has continued throughout four consecutive science funding cycles, namely framework programme (FP)5, FP6, FP7 and Horizon 2020 (H2020). We performed a retrospective assessment of the outputs and outcomes of EC funding in AD, BC and PC research over the 1999-2019 period by means of selected indicators. These indicators were assessed for their ability to screen the past, present and future for an array of causal relationships and long-term trends in clinical, epidemiological and public health sphere, while considering also the broader socioeconomic impact of funded research on the society at large. This analysis shows that public-private partnerships with large industry and university-based consortia have led to some of the most impactful proposals being funded over the analysed time period. New pharmaceuticals, small molecules and monoclonal antibodies alike, along with screening and prevention, have been the most prominent sources of innovation in BC and PC, extending patients' survival and enhancing their quality of life. Unlike oncology, dementia drug development has been way less successful, with only minor improvements related to the quality of supportive medical care for symptoms and more sensitive diagnostics, without any ground-breaking disease-modifying treatment(s). Significant progresses in imaging diagnostics and nanotechnology have been largely driven by the participation of medical device industry multinational companies. Clinical trials funded by the EC were conducted, leading to the development of brand-new drug molecules featuring novel mechanisms of action. Some prominent cases of breakthrough discoveries serve as evidence for the European capability to generate cutting-edge technological innovation in biomedicine. Less productive areas of research may be reconsidered as priorities when shaping the new agenda for forthcoming science funding programmes.

The effects of conscious movement investment on inhibiting a golf stroke.

Previous studies have suggested an association between conscious movement investment and inhibiting motor actions. However, no within-designs were used in which conscious movement investment was manipulated. The current study compared changes in inhibition after instruction interventions that aimed to expand and limit conscious investment in the execution of a golf putting task. During a baseline and post-intervention test, participants were asked to putt balls in a hole. Randomly, an auditory stop-signal appeared 50 ms after reaching the end of backswing on some trials, signalling them to stop the downswing as quickly as possible. Between the two tests, the participants practiced under different instructions, without the stop-signal. One group (i.e., expanded conscious investment, ECIG) received multiple explicit movement-related instructions along with the internal focus of attention instructions, while the second group (i.e., limited conscious investment, LCIG) received a single analogy instruction paired with external focus of attention instructions. The results did not reveal significant differences in stopping rate and stopping time between the baseline and post-intervention tests and the two groups. However, a mediation analysis highlighted that the ECIG exhibited a greater change in downswing time compared to the LCIG. This change was correlated with a larger increase in stopping rate and stopping time. We conclude that conscious movement investment did not directly influence inhibition. Instead, we discuss how conscious movement investment may indirectly influence inhibition dependent on the putting kinematics.

Nancy S. Jecker, Zohar Lederman, and Anita Ho reply.

This letter replies to the letter "Colonial and Neocolonial Barriers to Companion Digital Humans in Africa," by Luís Cordeiro-Rodrigues, in the same, May-June 2024, issue of the Hastings Center Report.

Relationship between learners' L2 Motivational Self System and parental investment behavior in learners' English learning.

Students' motivation and learning behavior are significantly impacted by parents' participation and investment. It has been demonstrated that parental investment behavior could exert a direct effect on students' L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) mediated by parental investment belief. Nevertheless, the relationship between components of parental investment behavior and students' language learning motivation remains a topic necessitating further scholarly investigation. In response to this gap, we conducted a quantitative study involving a survey of 900 high school students to explore the relationship between students' English learning motivation, as conceptualized by the L2 Motivational Self System and parental investment behavior based on a four-component model. The findings in this study indicated that high school students exhibited moderate levels of L2MSS and relatively low levels of parental investment behavior. Moreover, students' L2MSS was found to have a significant positive correlation with the global parental investment behavior, with parental emotional investment behavior emerging as a positive predictor of high school students' L2MSS. These results underscore the importance of parental provision of sufficient economic, relationship, knowledge, and emotional support in cultivating a nurturing and supportive familial context conducive to the development of students' positive future selves.

Invisible and undervalued: A qualitative study of laboratory workers' experiences and perceptions of laboratory strengthening in Sierra Leone.

Background: The 2013-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak highlighted the importance of laboratory capacity to outbreak response while also revealing its long-standing neglect. The outbreak prompted massive international investment into strengthening laboratory services across multiple healthcare settings. Objective: In this article, we explore hospital-based clinical laboratory workers' experiences and perceptions of their everyday working environment in Sierra Leone, and how recent investments in laboratory strengthening have shaped these. Methods: This qualitative study draws on in-depth interviews with eight laboratory workers and participant observation of laboratory practices at a tertiary referral hospital in Freetown between April 2019 and December 2019. Interview and observational data were coded and analysed using a reflexive thematic approach. Results: The Ebola outbreak prompted international investments in automated devices, biosafety training, and a new dedicated infectious diseases laboratory. However, little investment was made in the infrastructure and supply systems needed to sustain routine laboratory work or keep machines functioning. Laboratory workers perceived their work to be under-recognised and undervalued by the government, hospital managers and clinical staff, a perception compounded by under-use of the hospital's laboratory services by clinicians. Conclusion: Understanding laboratory technicians' views, experiences, and priorities is essential to any sustainable laboratory-strengthening effort. Investments in personnel should match investments in technologies and infrastructure for outbreak response. What this study adds: This study contributes to an understanding of how clinical laboratory personnel in Sierra Leone view and experience their work, and introduces the concept of social invisibility to explain these experiences.

Evaluating Health and Well-Being Returns on Investment in a Cancer Biobank.

Objectives: To evaluate the population health returns from investment in the Victorian Cancer Biobank (VCB), a research consortium including five hospital-integrated sample repositories located in Melbourne, Australia. Methods: This economic evaluation assigned monetary values to the health gains attributable to VCB-supported research. These were then compared with the total investment in VCB infrastructure since inception (2006-2022) to determine the return on investment (ROI). A time lag of 40 years was incorporated, recognizing the delay from investment to impact in scientific research. Health gains were therefore measured for the years 2046-2066, with a 3% discount rate applied. Health gains were measured in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to VCB-associated research, with monetary cost assigned via the standardized value of a statistical life year (AU$227,000). The age-standardized DALY rate attributable to cancer was modeled for two standpoints (1) extrapolating the current decreasing trajectory and (2) assuming nil future improvement from current rates, with 33% of the difference attributed to scientific innovation. The proportion of the aggregate health gain attributable to VCB-supported research was estimated from the number of VCB-credited scientific publications as a proportion of total oncology publications over the same period. Results: The AU$32,628,016 of public funding invested in VCB activities over the years 2006-2022 is projected to generate AU$84,561,373 in total (discounted) savings. ROI was AU$1.59 for each AU$1 invested. Conclusions: The VCB offers a strong ROI in terms of impacts on health, justifying the expenditure of public funds and supporting the use of biobanks to advance scientific research.

The intervention of local public authorities and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania: a subnational analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a strong territorial dimension, with a highly asymmetric impact among Romanian counties, depending on pre-existing vulnerabilities, regions' economic structure, exposure to global value chains, specialization, and overall ability to shift a large share of employees to remote working. The aim of this paper is to assess the role of Romanian local authorities during this unprecedented global medical emergency by capturing the changes of public spending at the local level between 2010 and 2021 and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify clusters of Romanian counties that shared similar characteristics in this period, using a panel data quantitative model and hierarchical cluster analysis. Our empirical analysis shows that between 2010-2021, the impact of social assistance expenditures was higher than public investment (capital spending and EU funds) on the GDP per capita at county level. Additionally, based on various macroeconomic and structural indicators (health, labour market performance, economic development, entrepreneurship, and both local public revenues and several types of expenditures), we determined seven clusters of counties. The research contributes to the discussion regarding the increase of economic resilience but also to the evidence-based public policies implementation at local level.

Effects of inbreeding and elevated rearing temperatures on strategic sperm investment.

Males often strategically adjust the number of available sperm based on the social context (i.e. sperm priming response), but it remains unclear how environmental and genetic factors shape this adjustment. In freshwater ecosystems, high ambient temperatures often lead to isolated pools of hotter water in which inbreeding occurs. Higher water temperatures and inbreeding can impair fish development, potentially disrupting sperm production. We used guppies (Poecilia reticulata) to investigate how developmental temperature (26 °C, 30 °C) and male inbreeding status (inbred, outbred) influence their sperm priming response. We also tested if sperm priming was affected by whether the female was a relative (sister) and whether she was inbred or outbred. There was no effect of rearing temperature; male inbreeding status alone determined the number of available sperm in response to female presence, her inbreeding status, and her relatedness. Inbred males produced significantly more sperm in the presence of an unrelated, outbred female than when no female was present. Conversely, outbred males did not alter the number of sperm available in response to female presence or relatedness. Moreover, inbred males produced marginally more sperm when exposed to an unrelated female that was outbred rather than inbred, but there was no difference when exposed to an inbred female that was unrelated versus related. Together, a sperm priming response was only observed in inbred males when exposed to an outbred female. Outbred females in our study were larger than inbred females, suggesting that inbred males strategically allocated ejaculate resources toward females in better condition.

Achieving zero emission targets: The influence of green bonds on clean energy investment and environmental quality.

The effectiveness of green finance in driving clean energy and environmental sustainability in the current era is receiving attention. Therefore, this study proposes an empirical framework highlighting the effects of green bonds (GB) on clean energy investment (CEI), clean energy investment efficiency (CEE) and environmental sustainability of 29 green bond issuing countries between 2014 and 2022. Using system and difference GMM approaches, this study finds that (i) green bond issuance drives clean energy investment. (ii) Green bonds sufficiently enhance the selected countries' environmental quality. These results supplement the promotion of green bonds in increasing the transfer of funds towards renewable energy projects by reducing reliance on fossil fuels. (iii) Using Driscoll & Kraay, Fully Modified-OLS, and changing the dependent variable, this study further supported the idea that green bonds effectively promote the CEE and environmental sustainability of the chosen countries. (iv) Similarly, this study conducted income heterogeneity, showing that green bonds improve high- and middle-income countries' CEI and environmental quality. (v) Finally, the results indicate that resource consumption escalates CO2 emissions by declining the CEI. Technological innovations increase CEI, whereas they do not mitigate CO2 emissions directly, hinting at the requirement for a comprehensive approach. Therefore, inclusive policies on green bond frameworks, robust incentives, and rigorous environmental criteria should be implemented to attract investment in clean energy development and ensure the environmental sustainability of the selected countries.

The impact of climate policy uncertainty on corporate pollution Emissions--Evidence from China.

Climate change is considered one of the major systemic risks facing the world in the 21st century. To address climate change, China has adopted a series of climate policies, but the uncertainty brought about by frequent climate policy issuance has increased pressure on enterprises, which may not be conducive to enterprises reducing emissions. This paper uses data on 1211 listed companies on the A-share market in China from 2012 to 2022 to study the impact of climate policy uncertainty on enterprise pollutant emissions. The research findings show that climate policy uncertainty increases corporate pollution emissions; climate policy uncertainty mainly generates negative impacts on enterprise environmental regulation, social responsibility, and R&D investment, thereby negatively affecting enterprise emissions reduction. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that climate policy uncertainty in China has a more significant impact on non-state-owned enterprises, technology-intensive enterprises, lightly polluting enterprises, and enterprises in western regions. These findings emphasize the importance of enterprise social responsibility, environmental regulation, and R&D investment in enterprise emissions reduction and provide policy implications for Chinese enterprises to optimize their energy-saving and emission reduction strategies in the face of climate policy uncertainty.

Influence of protective clothing and masks on facial trustworthiness in an investment game: insights from a Chinese population study.

Facial features are important sources of information about perceived trustworthiness. Masks and protective clothing diminish the visibility of facial cues by either partially concealing the mouth and nose or covering the entire face. During the pandemic, the use of personal protective equipment affected and redefined who trusts whom in society. This study used the classical investment game of interpersonal trust with Chinese participants to explore the impact of occlusion on interpersonal trust. Faces with moderate initial trustworthiness were occluded by a mask or protective clothing in Experiment 1 and were digitally occluded by a square in Experiment 2, and faces with three levels of initial trustworthiness were occluded by a mask in Experiment 3. Results showed that both undergraduates (Experiment 1a) and non-student adults (Experiment 1b) perceived the faces with protective clothing as more trustworthy than faces wearing standard masks and faces not wearing masks. Faces with the top halves showing were perceived as trustworthy as full faces, while faces with the bottom halves showing were perceived as less trustworthy. The effect of masks is weak and complex. Masks reduced participants' trust in faces with high initial trustworthiness, had no effect on faces with low and moderate initial trustworthiness, and only slightly increased the trust of undergraduates in faces with moderate initial trustworthiness. Our findings indicate that the lack of information caused by occlusion and the social significance associated with occlusion collectively affect people's trust behavior in Chinese society. We believe the findings of this study will be useful in elucidating the effects of personal protective equipment usage on perceptions of trustworthiness.