Rethinking the effect of ESG practices on profitability through cross-dimensional substitutability.

Over the last thirty years, sustainable business practices and ESG ratings have become increasingly popular in the business context and academic debate. Nonetheless, due to differences in methodological and theoretical approaches, more consensus has yet to be reached in the economic literature on the relationship between ESG practices and financial performance at the firm level. This work addresses the question empirically, focusing on a sample of firms listed in the Euro Stoxx 300 index. Three novel indicators are proposed to measure the firm's sustainable practices and capture the business's Environmental, Social, and Governance (E, S, G) dimensions. These indicators combine qualitative ratings on adherence to ESG standards with quantitative observations on ESG data disclosure to account for strategic behaviors on the part of firms. A dynamic panel model is implemented, considering the three dimensions of ESG practices separately and introducing interaction terms to identify cross-dimensional substitutability/complementarity relations. The results indicate that environmentally friendly business practices are associated with increased profits, while trade-offs across ESG dimensions are revealed.

The sensitivities and adaptive capacity of public lands visitors.

Lands and waters administered by governing entities for public use (i.e., "public lands") are subject to changing social and ecological conditions (e.g., overcrowding, drought). Public lands managers are often tasked with addressing these changes while balancing conservation goals and public use mandates, and their decisions can significantly and inequitably impact visitor sensitivities to different types of exposures. To gain insights into visitor sensitivities and their adaptive capacity to mitigate the impacts of exposures, we draw upon a comprehensive monitoring effort conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to understand visitor experiences on national wildlife refuges (refuges). We collected data from 10,556 visitors to 68 refuges during 2018-2019, then segmented respondents into unique visitor types based on their frequency of visiting "this refuge" where they were contacted, their participation across different activities at that refuge, and visits to other public lands for purposes of their primary activity, all during the 12 months prior to being contacted. We then explored differences among the resulting visitor types in their (a) purpose of visit, (b) satisfaction with opportunities during their visit, and (c) demographic characteristics. Finally, we used external data sources to explore the sensitivities and adaptive capacity of visitors' home communities. Our approach identified eight types of visitors with distinct sensitivities and adaptive capacities. For example, the type categorized as "most sensitive" due to activity specialization and site dependency was more likely to engage in activities (e.g., fishing, hunting) that may be subsistence uses of public lands and more often lived in communities with reduced adaptive capacity. Our assessment supports public lands decision-making by helping to understand and address social inequities that may arise or be exacerbated by rapidly changing conditions.

Operational Framework to Quantify "Quality of Recycling" across Different Material Types.

Many pledges and laws are setting recycling targets without clearly defining quality of recycling. Striving to close this gap, this study presents an operational framework to quantify quality of recycling. The framework comprises three dimensions: the Virgin Displacement Potential (VDP); In-Use Stocks Lifetime (IUSL); and Environmental Impact (EI). The VDP indicates to what extent a secondary material can be used as a substitute for virgin material; the IUSL indicates how much of a certain material is still functional in society over a given time frame, and the EI is a measure of the environmental impact of a recycling process. The three dimensions are aggregated by plotting them in a distance-to-target graph. Two example calculations are included on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and glass. The results indicate that the recycling of bottle and container glass collected via a deposit-refund system has the lowest distance-to-target, at 1.05, and, thus, the highest quality of recycling. For PET bottles, the highest quality of recycling is achieved in closed-loop mechanical recycling of bottles (distance to optimal quality of 0.96). Furthermore, sensitivity analysis indicates that certain parameters, e.g., the collection rate for PET bottles, can reduce the distance-to-target to 0.75 when all bottles are collected for recycling.

Indirect reciprocity with simple records.

Indirect reciprocity is a foundational mechanism of human cooperation. Existing models of indirect reciprocity fail to robustly support social cooperation: Image-scoring models fail to provide robust incentives, while social-standing models are not informationally robust. Here we provide a model of indirect reciprocity based on simple, decentralized records: Each individual's record depends on the individual's own past behavior alone, and not on the individual's partners' past behavior or their partners' partners' past behavior. When social dilemmas exhibit a coordination motive (or strategic complementarity), tolerant trigger strategies based on simple records can robustly support positive social cooperation and exhibit strong stability properties. In the opposite case of strategic substitutability, positive social cooperation cannot be robustly supported. Thus, the strength of short-run coordination motives in social dilemmas determines the prospects for robust long-run cooperation.

Sugar, a powerful substitute for ethanol in ethanol postdependent rats: Relevance for clinical consideration?

Sugar has been shown to be a powerful substitute for drugs in preclinical studies on addiction. However, the link between sugar intake and alcohol use disorder (AUD) is poorly understood. We assessed the influence of sucrose on ethanol drinking in both nondependent (ND) and dependent (D) Long-Evans rats during acute withdrawal using the postdependent state model. Ethanol (10%-40%) and sucrose (1%-4%) solutions were offered in an operant paradigm either independently or concurrently under ratio schedules of reinforcement. We showed that D rats displayed an enhanced motivation for both 10% ethanol solution (10E) and 4% sucrose solution (4S) as compared with ND rats, and a clear preference for 4S was observed in both groups. During acute withdrawal, D rats showed a strong motivation for 30% ethanol (30E), even when adulterated with quinine, but still preferred 4S despite the fact that a high level of negative reinforcement could be expected. However, when a premix solution (30E4S) was offered concurrently with 4S, the preference for 4S was lost in D animals, which consumed as much premix as 4S, whereas ND animals displayed preference for 4S. Altogether, those results suggest that reinforcing properties of sucrose surpass those of ethanol in D rats under acute withdrawal, which indicates that sugar is a powerful substitute for ethanol. Our results suggest that craving for sugar may be increased in AUD patients during withdrawal and raise the issue of dependence transfer from alcohol to sugar.

Sugar intake and craving during alcohol withdrawal in alcohol use disorder inpatients.

To assess whether changes in sugar intake and craving occur during alcohol withdrawal in humans, we conducted a prospective, observational study in a university hospital addictions treatment center. Recruited patients had severe alcohol use disorder and were hospitalized for 7 days in the short-stay unit for alcohol withdrawal and then for 6 weeks in the rehabilitation unit. During the hospital stay, they had no access to alcohol but had full access to sweet products and beverages in a shop and vending machines located inside the hospital. Alcohol craving was assessed using a visual analogue scale on Days 1, 15, and 45. Sugar craving, sweet products stored by patients in their rooms, and weight were assessed on the same days. Thirty-five patients were included. Sugar craving increased in 14 patients during the hospital stay, whereas no change was observed in the remaining 21. Significant increases in both the amounts of sweet products stored in the patients' rooms (p < 0.02) and weight (p < 0.05) were observed only in the sugar craving group. During the same period, alcohol craving decreased significantly in all patients. Changes in tobacco smoking were not different according to the sugar craving status and therefore cannot explain the observed differences. In conclusion, increased intake and craving for sugar after alcohol withdrawal were observed in 40% of the patients included in our prospective study, and these results were similar to those of a study conducted in the alcohol post-dependent state model in rats.

Transport disrupted - Substituting public transport by bike or car under Covid 19.

The Covid 19 pandemic has caused dramatic disruptions in the public transport sector that has seen a stark downturn in many cities across the globe, calling into question previous efforts to reduce air pollution and CO2 emissions by expanding this sector. Especially, the current surge of individual car use is worrying and the question remains which users might be able and willing to substitute public transport by cycling. This effect is interesting to study for the case of Hanover Region, because of the well-developed biking infrastructure that makes biking a viable alternative to individual car use. In this paper, we analyze survey data from June 2020 on the use of transportation modes before and during the pandemic in the Hanover Region. We ask if and how the over 4.000 participants substitute public transport and what characterizes those who chose biking over individual car use. We use multivariate regression models and find evidence that Stadtbahn (local light rail) and bus are substituted by bike, car and working from home, while train use is not significantly replaced by car and seems to be positively related to bike use. The data also shows that women have a higher level of fear of infection than men have during public transport use and therefore reduce public transport use more. Moreover, income displays a positive effect on increased car use while cycling is independent of socio-economic indicators but instead driven by the eco-consciousness of users. Surprisingly, we find that car use was increased in particular by residents of Hanover city, while it was decreased by residents of less densely populated urban areas in the region.

An assessment of touchscreens for testing primate food preferences and valuations.

Typically, animals' food preferences are tested manually, which can be both time-consuming and vulnerable to experimenter biases. Given the utility of ascertaining animals' food preferences for research and husbandry protocols, developing a quick, reliable, and flexible paradigm would be valuable for expediting many research protocols. Therefore, we evaluated the efficacy of using a touchscreen interface to test nonhuman primates' food preferences and valuations, adapting previously validated manual methods. We tested a nonhuman primate subject with four foods (carrot, cucumber, grape, and turnip). Preference testing followed a pairwise forced choice protocol with pairs of food images presented on a touchscreen: The subject was rewarded with whichever food was selected. All six possible pairwise combinations were presented, with 90 trials per pairing. Second, we measured how hard the subject was willing to work to obtain each of the four foods, allowing us to generate demand curves. For this phase, a single image of a food item was presented on the touchscreen that the subject had to select in order to receive the food, and the number of selections required increased following a quarter-log scale, with ten trials per cost level (1, 2, 3, 6, 10, and 18). These methods allowed us to ascertain the subject's relative preferences and valuations of the four foods. The success of this touchscreen protocol for testing the subject's food preferences, from both a practical and a theoretical standpoint, suggests that the protocol should be further validated with other foods with this subject, with other subjects, and with other test items.

Substituting freshwater: Can ocean desalination and water recycling capacities substitute for groundwater depletion in California?

While the sustainability of resource depletion is a longstanding environmental concern, wider attention has recently been given to growing water scarcity and groundwater depletion. This study seeks to test the substitutability assumption embedded in weak sustainability indicators using a case study of Californian water supply. The volume of groundwater depletion is used as a proxy for unsustainable water consumption, and defined by synthesising existing research estimates into low, medium and high depletion baselines. These are compared against projected water supply increases from ocean desalination and water recycling by 2035, to determine whether new, drought-proof water sources can substitute for currently unsustainable groundwater consumption. Results show that the maximum projected supply of new water, 2.47 million acre-feet per year (MAF/yr), is sufficient to meet low depletion estimates of 2.02 MAF/yr, but fails to come near the high depletion estimate of 3.44 MAF/yr. This does not necessarily indicate physical limitations of substitutability, but more so socio-economic limitations influenced by high comparative costs. By including capacities in demand-substitutability via urban water conservation, maximum predicted capacities reach 5.57 MAF/yr, indicating wide room for substitution. Based on these results, investment in social and institutional capital is an important factor to enhance demand-side substitutability of water and other natural resources, which has been somewhat neglected by the literature on the substitutability of natural resources.

Technical substitutability of recycled materials in life cycle Assessment: A comprehensive review and framework for quantification.

In evaluating environmental sustainability with methodologies like life cycle assessment (LCA), recycling is usually credited for avoiding impacts from virgin material production. Consequently, the LCA results are influenced by the manner in which the substitutability of virgin by recycled materials is estimated. This study reviews how the scientific community assesses the technical substitutability of recycled materials in LCA. Accordingly, 49 peer-reviewed papers were in-depth analysed, considering aspects such as materials studied, type of substitution, recycled material (rMaterial) application, and life cycle stages (LCSs) where substitution was evaluated. The results show that 49% of the papers investigated material substitutability through technical and economic aspects. 51% of the articles did not consider the final application of the rMaterial. Plastics were the most studied material, and mass was the most used property to quantify technical substitutability. Certain materials were more analysed in specific LCSs (e.g., metals in the natural resource extraction stage). As 51% of the papers developed a new approach for substitutability calculation, this shows that substitutability is still a concept in development. It was noticed in 33% of the papers that substitutability values were taken from external sources, and in some cases were used without considering whether they were representative for a specific case. Aspects such as harmonization, transparency, and consideration of the application of recycled materials, therefore, require more attention in substitutability evaluation. Based on the results, a step-wise framework to measure technical substitutability at different LCSs was developed to guide researchers in including substitutability in LCA studies.

Social Substitutability and the Emergence of War and Segmental, Multilevel Society.

Raymond Kelly's widely cited Warless Societies and the Origin of War (University of Michigan Press, 2000) seeks to explain the origins of two central signatures of human society: war and segmented-i.e., multilevel-societies. Both, he argues, arose with the emergence of a social-substitutability principle, a rule that establishes a collective identity among a set of individuals such that any one member becomes equivalent to, and responsible for the actions of, the others. This principle emerged during the Holocene, when population increase gave rise to the first lethal ambushes. By its nature, ambush obscures attackers' identities. Those attempting to retaliate for the ambush were therefore obliged to target members of the ambushers' group indiscriminately-i.e., based on a social-substitutability principle. Kelly's proposals draw welcome attention to a widespread, deeply influential, and unsettling human behavior, the disposition to hold everyone in a group culpable for the actions of a few, a proclivity that all too often results in mass slaughter. His general argument, however, is logically and empirically deficient, and cross-cultural evidence on ambush in contact-era New Guinea undermines his anonymity-of-ambush hypothesis. What then accounts for war and multilevel society? The New Guinea evidence strongly supports a contention that social-substitutability behavior arose not from offensive military action (i.e., ambush) but from the defensive military response to ambush. These findings render the social-substitutability argument's unconventional definition of war superfluous, undermine its chronology for the emergence of war, and underwrite an alternative scenario for the origins of multilevel, segmented society.

Impact of vaping restrictions in public places on smoking and vaping in the United States-evidence using a difference-in-differences approach.

AIMS: To estimate whether and to what extent extending indoor smoking restrictions to include electronic cigarettes (ECs) impact the use of ECs and cigarette smoking among adults in the United States. DESIGN: Observational study using a linear probability model and applying a difference-in-differences analysis. SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: People aged 18-54 who lived in US counties where comprehensive indoor smoking laws in bars, restaurants and private work-places have been in place prior to 2010 (n = 45 111 for EC use analysis, n = 75 959 for cigarette use analysis). MEASUREMENTS: Data on cigarette smoking, use of ECs and place of residence from the Tobacco Use Supplement of the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS 2010-11, 2014-15 and 2018-19) were combined with the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation (ANRF) database of state and local indoor smoking and vaping restriction laws. FINDINGS: Indoor vaping restriction (IVR) coverage was not significantly associated with the likelihood of adult EC use [coefficient estimate = 0.001; 95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.009, 0.013, P-value = 0.783]. In addition, IVR coverage was not significantly associated with adult cigarette smoking (coefficient estimate = -0.00; 95% CI = -0.016, 0.015, P-value = 0.954). The non-significant results appeared in different socio-demographic subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: IVRs do not appear to decrease electronic cigarette use among US adults. There is no evidence that IVRs increase or decrease cigarette smoking among US adults.

Quality of recycling: Urgent and undefined.

Quality of recycling is a concept used by many authors in the scientific literature and the EU legislator. However, a clear definition of what is intended for quality of recycling and a framework for operationalising it is lacking. Most studies, while proposing indicators reflecting quality, leave the concept of quality largely undefined. Such lack of clarity is an obstacle to the conception of robust policies addressing recycling and circular economy. In this article, we review the available studies investigating on recycling quality, synthetize the approaches available and conclude suggesting a way forward for research to operationalise the definition to support circular economy policy measures and monitoring. Essentially, quality is not an on/off criterion. The definition of quality of recycling should consider that quality depends on technical characteristics of the recyclate, which determine if it is adequate (thus functional) for a certain end application or not. Furthermore, it should consider that the recyclate can be used in different end applications over different markets and that can be adequate for substitution of primary resources in certain applications, but less or not in others. At system-wide level, this results in a certain degree of virgin resource substitution. To this end, preserving functionality, i.e. minimising the recyclate loss of functions via functional recycling, is key. Drawing upon studies on waste management, life cycle assessment and resource dissipation, we link the concept of functionality to substitutability of virgin resources and broader suitability in the circular economy, striving to show the linkages between different perspectives.

Technical and market substitutability of recycled materials: Calculating the environmental benefits of mechanical and chemical recycling of plastic packaging waste.

Most plastics are today mechanically recycled (MR), whereas chemical recycling (CR) is an emerging technology. Substitutability of virgin material is vital for their environmental performance assessed through life cycle assessment (LCA). MR faces the reduction in the material's technical quality but also the potential market because legal safety requirements currently eliminate applications such as food packaging. This study presents a data-driven method for quantifying the overall substitutability (OS), composed of technical (TS) and market substitutability (MS). First, this is illustrated for six non-food contact material (non-FCM) applications and three hypothetical future FCM applications from mechanical recyclates, using mechanical property and market data. Then, OS results are used in a comparative LCA of MR and thermochemical recycling (TCR) of several plastic waste fractions in Belgium. For mechanical recyclates, TS results for the studied non-FCM and FCM applications were comparable, but OS results varied between 0.35 and 0.79 for non-FCM applications and between 0.78 and 1 for FCM applications, reflecting the lower MS results for the current situation. Out of nine application scenarios, MR obtained a worse resource consumption and terrestrial acidification impact than CR in six scenarios. MR maintained the lowest global warming impact for all scenarios. This study contributes to an improved understanding of the environmental benefits of MR and TCR. Inclusion of other criteria (e.g. processability, colour, odour) in the quantification of the overall substitutability for MR products should be further investigated, as well as the environmental performance of TCR at industrial scale.

Towards an effective framework for integrating patient-reported outcomes in electronic health records.

Background: In the past decade, electronic modalities are increasingly deployed to integrate patient-reported outcomes into electronic health records. Most popularly, patient portals are used for remote questionnaires, and tablets are provided to patients in-office in case they need help. They are both useful. But some barriers are still in the way, which place burdens on patients and clinicians in the process of routine data collection. Objective: This study aims to describe a portable and scalable framework which can simplify the patient-reported outcome integration by mitigating the related burdens. Methods: A framework was proposed to use a modular approach to replace the tethered approach. The framework was open-sourced on GitHub. After development and testing, it was evaluated on an instrument with 24 questions in a real clinical setting. Patients were randomly selected in every modality-based group. For objective analysis, completion time and response rate were collected. No-show data was collected and analyzed. For subjective analysis, the NASA Task Load Index was used to measure workload, and the Net Promoter Score was used to assess user satisfaction. Results: The model could contain 46,656 questions. A quick response code could store 1120 encoded items. For remote visits, the response rate was improved compared to the portal group (76.6% vs. 61.1%). The completion time was reduced by 37.5% when compared to the tablet group and was reduced by 43.4% when compared to the portal group. The workload for clinicians and patients was both reduced significantly (p < 0.001). A higher Net Promoter Score was rated by both clinicians (89.3%) and patients (86.5%). Compared to the portal group, the no-show rate was reduced (11.7% vs. 8.6%). Conclusions: Collecting patient-reported outcomes over a quick response code appears to be an alternative modality to enable a simplified integration. This study provides new insights to collect patient-reported outcomes with interoperability and substitutability in mind.

An unintended consequence of social distance regulations: COVID-19 social distancing promotes the desire for money.

Social distance regulations have been widely adopted during the global COVID-19 pandemic. From an evolutionary perspective, social connection and money are interchangeable subsistence resources for human survival. The substitutability principle of human motivation posits that scarcity in one domain (e.g., social connection) could motivate people to acquire or maintain resources in another domain (e.g., money). Two experiments were conducted to test the possibility that COVID-19 social distancing enhances the desire for money. Results showed that compared with controls, participants receiving social distancing primes (via recollection of experiences of social distancing or a Chinese glossary-search task) offered less money in the dictator game, showed lower willingness towards charitable donation (Experiment 1; N = 102), donated less money to a student fund, and rated money as having more importance (Experiment 2; N = 140). Our findings have far-reaching implications for financial decisions, charitable donations, and prosociality during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thoughts of social distancing experiences affect food intake and hypothetical binge eating: Implications for people in home quarantine during COVID-19.

BACKGROND AND RATIONALE: Social distance regulations have been suggested as one of the best ways to control and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Social connection and food are intertwined because both have played critical evolutionary roles in human survival. We tested whether the substitutability hypothesis in human motivation applies here in that cues signaling scarcity in one domain (e.g., social connection) might enhance the desire to acquire resources in another domain (e.g., food). METHODS: We recruited 140 adults from Kaohsiung City (the largest city in southern Taiwan) to participate in a laboratory experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either social distancing or neutral primes via an emotional-event recollection technique. The amount of ice cream eaten during a taste test and the self-reported likelihood of binge eating served as the dependent measures. RESULTS: We found that, compared with controls, participants primed with social distancing consumed more ice cream in a taste test and reported a greater likelihood that they would engage in binge eating if they were placed in home quarantine. CONCLUSIONS: We may be the first to provide experimental evidence that social distancing can enhance the desire for food. The link between social distancing and the desire for food is pertinent to understanding how strongly social distance regulations may influence weight gain. Our findings have far-reaching implications for weight control under social distance regulations for prevention and control of COVID-19.

Virus tinged? Exploring the facets of virtual reality use in tourism as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several studies have investigated the use of virtual reality (VR) in tourism, but none has taken an epidemiological outlook. This research examined the use of VR in tourism through the lenses of an extended TAM model in times of COVID-19 pandemic. The premise was that, in this context, people would prefer less risky experiences and would see VR as a substitute for traditional travel. The data used was collected through a within-subjects experiment, which proved that intention to use VR in tourism increased under the COVID-19 effect. This study tested a conceptual model that showed this intention was influenced by the perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived substitutability of VR, all mediated by people's interest in VR use in tourism. The perceived authenticity of VR experience determined the perceived substitutability of VR. This paper has theoretical and practical implications. In the long term, promoting tourism-related VR activities might reduce the risk of virus spreading, lessen the pressure imposed on this sector by such epidemic episodes, and increase its sustainability.

A step forward in quantifying the substitutability of secondary materials in waste management life cycle assessment studies.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a widespread tool used to guide decision-makers towards optimal strategic choices for sustainable growth. A key aspect of LCA studies of waste management systems where recycling activities are present is to account for resource recovery and the related substitution effects. Although multiple scientific papers assume a 1:1 substitution ratio between similar materials/products, this is often incorrect as the actual ratio is likely to vary. The focus of this paper is on the calculation of the substitutability coefficient for secondary materials based on technical characteristics. A state of the art literature review showed that many different calculation procedures were applied, which led to a wide variety of substitutability coefficients (sometimes provided under different terminology). In this perspective, the objective of this paper is to provide guidelines on the procedure to be followed to calculate the substitutability coefficient for secondary materials, based on technical characteristics. These guidelines are then applied to two waste management case studies, one dealing with bottom ashes from incineration and the other with plastic waste. In total, sixteen technical substitutability coefficients are given for ten secondary materials, based on state of the art and presented case studies. The paper thus represents a step forward in quantifying the substitutability of secondary materials in waste management LCA studies. The guidelines presented may allow other case studies to enrich the list of coefficients, useful for all LCA practitioners in a harmonized way allowing a more correct evaluation of the environmental impacts associated with recycling activities.

The differential impact of friendship on cooperative and competitive coordination.

Friendship is commonly assumed to reduce strategic uncertainty and enhance tacit coordination. However, this assumption has never been tested across two opposite poles of coordination involving either strategic complementarity or substitutability. We had participants interact with friends or strangers in two classic coordination games: the stag-hunt game, which exhibits strategic complementarity and may foster "cooperation", and the entry game, which exhibits strategic substitutability and may foster "competition". Both games capture a frequent trade-off between a potentially high paying but uncertain option and a low paying but safe alternative. We find that, relative to strangers, friends are more likely to choose options involving uncertainty in stag-hunt games, but the opposite is true in entry games. Furthermore, in stag-hunt games, friends "tremble" less between options, coordinate better and earn more, but these advantages are largely decreased or lost in entry games. We further investigate how these effects are modulated by risk attitudes, friendship qualities, and interpersonal similarities.