Socialis Series in Social Science

IMPACT OF SPATIAL FACTORS ON REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE OF HOUSING MAINTENANCE FUND: A CASE STUDY IN BEIJING

2026-07-16T08:45:04+00:00

Housing maintenance is an integral component of sustainable urban governance. However, the revenue and expenditure of housing maintenance fund often vary across regions due to socioeconomic, built-environment, and ecological settings. The study of its spatial heterogeneity can be critical for understanding regional disparities, optimizing resource allocation, and improving governance efficiency. This study proposes categorizing research samples based on functional zones, 275 subdistricts/townships within three functional zones of Beijing were examined to explore the influence mechanisms of spatial factors on maintenance fund revenue and expenditure, then compares ordinary least square (OLS), geographically weighted regression (GWR), and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) models in analyzing the impact mechanisms of spatial factors. The conclusions are as follows: (1) Functional zones coincide with sample categories, showing significant differentiation and spatial autocorrelation, which underscores the role of Beijing's master plan. (2) MGWR performs better than other models: influence factors exhibit spatial heterogeneity in maintenance fund, GDP exerts the most significant impact on fund revenue, while population density most strongly affects fund expenditure. (3) Policy formulation should draw on ecological and socioeconomic factors to mitigate fund revenue losses, and leverage built-environment factors to improve housing maintenance.

COLLABORATORS OR TROUBLE-MAKERS? THE DUAL IDENTITY OF NGOS IN CHINESE RURAL GOVERNANCE

2026-07-16T09:27:54+00:00

This study investigates the dynamic tension between the dual identities of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) as collaborators versus trouble-makers within the context of Chinese rural governance. By employing a qualitative single-case study of Organization X in Village Y, H Province of China, this research constructs an analytical framework of ‘Boundary-Crossing Governance’ to elucidate the survival logic and interaction mechanisms of NGOs within a state-led system. The findings reveal a structural conflict between the professional-community logic of NGOs, which prioritizes long-term endogenous development, and the bureaucratic-administrative logic of local governments, driven by short-term stability and performance metrics. This institutional misalignment precipitates a legitimacy paradox when NGOs shift from service provision to rights advocacy. However, through functional boundary-crossing, NGOs impose reverse discipline on administrative power while navigating resistance from systemic inertia. To survive these dilemmas, Organization X demonstrates significant agency by deploying embedded strategies, including discursive isomorphism, gentle professionalism, and localized agent cultivation. The study concludes that such boundary-crossing constitutes a form of constructive friction. Rather than mere conflict, it serves as a critical mechanism for resilient boundary negotiation, allowing NGOs to carve out autonomous spaces within rigid institutional interstices and driving the incremental adaptation of China’s grassroots governance system.

THE STATE-EMBEDDED ORGANIZATIONAL BROKER: HOW COLLECTIVE ACTION DILEMMAS ARE RESOLVED IN NEIGHBORHOOD RENEWAL

2026-07-27T05:12:09+00:00

How does governance consensus emerge in high-distrust, high-heterogeneity urban neighborhoods where both routine bureaucratic mobilization and community self-organization fail? Through a Bayesian process-tracing analysis of one neighborhood renewal project in Shanghai—where 1,126 households reached 100% agreement within forty-nine days despite 97 distinct floor-plan configurations and entrenched state–society distrust—this study establishes that consensus formation depends on a two-phase organizational brokerage mechanism. In the prerequisite phase, structural embeddedness (M₁) provides the legitimacy platform without which no negotiation can begin. In the recursive coupling phase, information brokerage (M₂) and resource brokerage (M₃) operate concurrently in mutually reinforcing feedback: information translation creates the cognitive conditions for material proposals to be credibly evaluated, while iterative resource adjustments generate new informational content for diffusion. This study introduces the concept of the State-Embedded Organizational Broker (SEOB) and highlights political authorization as a critical brokerage resource that has received limited explicit attention in existing brokerage research. In doing so, it extends brokerage theory into a state-embedded governance context and provides a structured analytical approach for examining mechanism-based coordination in complex urban settings

IMPACT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ON CSR DECOUPLING: EVIDENCE FROM UK FTSE 350 NON-FINANCIAL FIRMS

2026-07-27T06:59:08+00:00

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) decoupling tends to have long-term negative financial and non-financial consequences that impacts the corporations and its stakeholders. This research study identifies the corporate governance characteristics that influence CSR decoupling of UK FTSE 350 non-financial companies. Data for the period from 2010 to 2021, was collected from Bloomberg and LSEG Workspace Databases for 147 UK FTSE 350 non-financial firms. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis in Python, was used to analyse the data and the results from the analysis were collected. The research findings suggest that board gender diversity, larger firm size and lower gearing have an impact on CSR decoupling. The environmental element of CSR decoupling measured by environmental score decoupling displays results that indicate board gender diversity, lack of sustainability committee, lower return on assets and low gearing, have an impact on environmental score decoupling. These results suggest that board gender diversity has influence on CSR decoupling and environmental score decoupling and exacerbates both. This research suggests that optimal board gender diversity can be an interventional tool to control CSR decoupling while, the presence of sustainability committee is additionally vitally required to resolve and manage the environmental score decoupling. Practically, the UK Corporate Governance Code framework could adopt measures for effective corporate boards which curbs and enhances CSR practices. Various stakeholders can persuade companies to adopt useful corporate board attributes to safeguard and reduce decoupling shortcomings.

EXPLORING HOW APPLICANTS' PERSONALITY TRAITS MODERATE THE IMPACT OF EMPLOYER BRANDING ON ORGANIZATIONAL TALENT ATTRACTION

2026-07-27T09:17:30+00:00

In the context of global talent competition, employer branding is crucial for talent attraction. However, existing research has largely overlooked individual differences among job applicants, leading to an incomplete understanding of the interaction mechanisms. To address this research gap, this study aims to construct an integrative conceptual framework to elucidate how job applicants' personality traits moderate the relationship between employer branding and organizational attraction. Grounded in Social Identity Theory and Symbolic Interactionism, this paper, through a systematic review of existing literature and theoretical deduction, argues how the five value dimensions of employer branding (interest, social, economic, development, and application) interact with applicants' personality traits of extraversion and conscientiousness, thereby influencing their organizational identification and pursuit intentions. The contribution of this paper lies in proposing a series of propositions for future empirical examination. This work not only enriches employer branding theory from an individualized perspective but also offers profound theoretical guidance for organizations to formulate more targeted talent attraction strategies.

SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW: ACADEMIC STRESS FACTORS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

2026-07-29T05:03:31+00:00

Academic stress is defined as an unpleasant psychological situation due to pressure obtained from the education system, exams, or high academic expectations by family or oneself. The factors that cause academic stress vary widely, so holistic research is needed to identify the factors. This study aims to identify the factors affecting academic stress. This study is a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of 12 selected articles from electronic databases such as ScienceDirect by Elsevier, Google Scholar, and PubMed. Studies were selected based on specific inclusion criteria, focusing on peer-reviewed articles published within the last five years that examined emotional and environmental determinants of stress. These articles were obtained through a multi-stage screening process based on the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The findings show that academic stress in college students is linked with several factors, including emotional intelligence, emotional regulation, social support, the educational environment, parental expectations, and family involvement. The implications of these findings suggest that academic institutions and counselors should establish targeted workshops and supportive sharing platforms within campus services to mitigate student academic pressure.

INFLUENCING FACTORS OF RESIDENTS' PARTICIPATION IN SELF - RENOVATION OF DANGEROUS OLD RESIDENTIAL AREAS BASED ON TPB

2026-07-29T05:59:07+00:00

This study investigates the determinants and pathways of residents’ intention to participate in owner-led Self - Renovation in Dangerous and Old Residential Areas, using Haikou, China as the empirical context. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and informed by the theory of the production of space, the research builds an integrated framework that links renewal-information perceptions (policy perception, planning/design perception, and perceived community management capacity), spatial conditions (basic living conditions, public activity space, and infrastructure), and community relations (community cohesion, sense of community belonging, and social support) to TPB components (behavioral attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control), and ultimately to participation intention. Data were collected through door-to-door and on-site surveys in 12 designated districts, yielding 343 valid homeowner responses. Reliability and validity tests indicate satisfactory measurement quality, and structural equation modeling shows good overall model fit. Results confirm that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly and positively predict participation intention, with subjective norms exerting the strongest effect. Policy, planning/design, and community management perceptions significantly enhance both attitude and subjective norms. Poorer perceived living conditions, insufficient public space, and inadequate infrastructure strengthen positive attitudes toward participation. Community cohesion, belonging, and social support reinforce attitude and subjective norms, while belonging and social support also increase perceived behavioral control. The findings provide targeted leverage points for designing communication, mobilization, and support strategies to promote resident participation in urban self-governance renewal.

THE DEVIATION IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT'S PUBLIC POLICIES: PERSPECTIVES FROM PUBLIC INTEREST AND SELF INTEREST

2026-07-29T06:27:37+00:00

Since the emergence of policy implementation research in the West during the 1970s, it has become a vital area of academic inquiry in public policy and administrative studies. Policy implementation forms the essential link between policy formulation and execution, determining the ultimate success of public governance. In China’s political system, local governments serve as key executors positioned between central directives and local realities. This dual role they adopt not only enhances the flexibility and efficiency of policies through their obedience to the central government and their autonomy in local adaptation, but also provides space for selfishness and rent-seeking behavior, resulting in deviations during the implementation process. The purpose of this study is to analyze the mechanisms and driving factors behind these policy implementation deviations at the local level. Drawing upon interdisciplinary theories of political science, public administration, and policy studies, this research adopts the “policy fuzziness-conflict” framework to investigate the tension between public interest and self-interest within local government behavior. Through theoretical analysis and literature synthesis, the study constructs a comprehensive framework that integrates local government attributes, intergovernmental relations, and administrative functions. Findings reveal that policy ambiguity, interest conflicts, and structural incentives significantly influence deviation behaviors. The conclusion emphasizes the need to strengthen institutional coordination and value alignment to enhance the effectiveness of public policy execution and promote sound local governance in China.