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We examine whether and how mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures affect corporate tax avoidance. Using a CSR disclosure mandate in China that requires a subset of firms to disclose their CSR activities as an exogenous shock to CSR disclosures, our difference-in-differences analyses show that firms affected by the disclosure mandate engage in less tax avoidance relative to control firms. Additional analyses indicate that increased public scrutiny following the disclosure mandate is the likely channel through which mandatory CSR disclosures constrain tax avoidance. Cross-sectional analyses suggest that the effect of the disclosure mandate varies with institutional environments. Overall, our results indicate that the CSR disclosure mandate constrains corporate tax avoidance, which is consistent with mandatory CSR disclosures nudging firms toward more socially desirable behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical parameterizations have important influence on model performance in precipitation simulation and prediction; however, previous investigations are seldom conducted at very high resolution over Hebei Province, which is often influenced by extreme events such as droughts and floods. In this paper, the influence of parameterization schemes and analysis nudging on precipitation simulation is investigated using the WRF (weather research and forecasting) model with many sensitivity experiments at the cumulus "gray-zone" resolution (5 km). The model performance of different sensitivity simulations is determined by a comparison with the local high-quality observational data. The results indicate that the WRF model generally reproduces the distribution of precipitation well, and the model tends to underestimate precipitation compared with the station observations. The sensitivity simulation with the Tiedtke cumulus parameterization scheme combined with the Thompson microphysics scheme shows the best model performance, with the highest temporal correlation coefficient (0.45) and lowest root mean square error (0.34 mm/day). At the same time, analysis nudging, which incorporates observational information into simulation, can improve the model performance in precipitation simulation. Further analysis indicates that the negative bias in precipitation may be associated with the negative bias in relative humidity, which in turn is associated with the positive bias in temperature and wind speed. This study highlights the role of parameterization schemes and analysis nudging in precipitation simulation and provides a valuable reference for further investigations on precipitation forecasting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do people have well-defined social preferences waiting to be applied when making decisions? Or do they have to construct social decisions on the spot? If the latter, how are those decisions influenced by the way in which information is acquired and evaluated? These temporal dynamics are fundamental to understanding how people trade off selfishness and prosociality in organizations and societies. Here, we investigate how the temporal dynamics of the choice process shape social decisions in three studies using response times and mouse tracking. In the first study, participants made binary decisions in mini-dictator games with and without time constraints. Using mouse trajectories and a starting time drift diffusion model, we find that, regardless of time constraints, selfish participants were delayed in processing others' payoffs, whereas the opposite was true for prosocial participants. The independent mouse trajectory and computational modeling analyses identified consistent measures of the delay between considering one's own and others' payoffs (self-onset delay, SOD). This measure correlated with individual differences in prosociality and predicted heterogeneous effects of time constraints on preferences. We confirmed these results in two additional studies, one a purely behavioral study in which participants made decisions by pressing computer keys, and the other a replication of the mouse-tracking study. Together, these results indicate that people preferentially process either self or others' payoffs early in the choice process. The intrachoice dynamics are crucial in shaping social preferences and might be manipulated via nudge policies (e.g., manipulating the display order or saliency of self and others' outcomes) for behavior in managerial or other contexts. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decisions analysis. Funding: F. Chen acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71803174 and 72173113]. Z. Zhu acknowledges support from the Ministry of Science and Technology [Grant STI 2030-Major Projects 2021ZD0200409]. Q. Shen acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71971199 and 71942004]. I. Krajbich acknowledges support from the U.S. National Science Foundation [Grant 2148982]. This work was also supported by the James McKeen Cattell Fund. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4732. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's delayed retirement policy will be prudently rolled out at the appropriate time, yet the public's acceptance of this policy is concerning. To address this issue, our endeavor explores the impact of framing and anchoring effects on policy acceptance, aiming to mitigate the populace's resistance to the new policy. We conducted two survey studies on the Chinese population aged 16–65. Achieved through an online survey, Study 1 (N = 225) demonstrated that information framing significantly influences the public's acceptance of the delayed retirement policy. It was found that perceived fairness plays a mediating role between information framing and policy acceptance. Notably, the positive frame had a more pronounced effect on acceptance than its negative counterpart, with the positive presentation being perceived as more fair. Study 2 (N = 383), utilizing a combination of online and offline approaches, revealed that the anchoring effect moderates the relationship between information framing and perceived fairness. The interaction of anchoring and framing effects significantly influences perceived fairness, subsequently promoting public policy acceptance. The interplay between anchoring and framing effects significantly shapes perceived fairness, in turn bolstering the public's receptiveness to policy. These insights offer reasonable communication strategies for the smooth advancement of new policies, further enriching the field of behavioral science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's per capita dairy consumption has been far below the intake level recommended by the World Health Organization. Since the dairy industry is a significant contributor to carbon emissions, the recently launched "Double‐Carbon" goals in China may also suppress the supply of dairy products, further reducing Chinese residents' dairy intake. While the notion of sustainable (i.e., nutritious and environmentally friendly) food consumption has recently gained popularity in the policy arena, whether Chinese milk consumers are ready to embrace this notion and what specific measures can effectively promote sustainable milk consumption in China remain unclear. On the basis of a discrete choice experiment, this paper examines how information nudges (i.e., randomly provided messages with different contents and details) may steer Chinese consumers into choosing liquid milk products with attributes that are more nutritious and environmentally friendly. Our analysis, involving 839 consumers randomly selected from Beijing, China, shows that consumers value carbon labels the most, followed by nutrition claims, sustainable production claims, and energy conservation certificates. Meanwhile, nutrition information induces consumers to place higher values on nutrition claims; in contrast, environmental information raises consumers' willingness to choose environmental sustainability‐related attributes. Finally, the concreteness of the information provided strengthens these effects [EconLit Citations: D12, Q01, Q13, Q18]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the issuance of standardized garbage classification signage, the rate of garbage classification in China remains low. We conducted a pair of laboratory experiments to explore the cognitive processing differences between abstract (including recyclables, hazardous garbage, and food signs) and concrete (including paper, plastic, glass, metal, textiles, batteries, household chemicals, tubes, and food signs) classification signs. We tested a nudging strategy to enhance garbage classification behavior. In Experiment 1, we divided garbage classification signs into two conditions: an abstract condition (comprising abstract signs) and a concrete condition (comprising concrete signs). The Go/No Go task was used to simulate garbage classification behavior. Participants were instructed to press a key when the garbage stimulus matched the classification signs (Go condition) and to refrain from pressing the key when there was a mismatch (No Go condition). The results showed that responses under the concrete condition were expedited compared to those under the abstract condition. This suggests that concrete signage requires less cognitive exertion, thereby enhancing the efficiency of waste classification. In Experiment 2, we optimized the existing bin signage, which predominantly featured abstract signs (traditional condition), and transformed it into a bin signage that emphasized concrete classification signs. These concrete signs were strategically positioned on the upper part of the bins to draw attention (nudging condition). The results suggested that the nudging condition required fewer cognitive resources than the traditional condition, which in turn increased the efficiency of processing garbage classification. This study not only validates the effects of concreteness in garbage classification but also provides effective nudge strategies to complement existing garbage classification management policy tools in a realistic Chinese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of Chengdu Tianfu New Area, a state-level new district, from the first site of constructing the "Park City" to the representative of the "Park City", contains a unique path of "Chinese Style Governance". To expand the diverse paths of constructing megacities, the current research references the nudge theory of behavioral science, adopts the extended case method, and takes Chengdu Tianfu New Area as a typical case to summarize the "nudge" path of "Party City" construction. The study found that the government achieves the lock-in effect by the priming mechanism and uses the nudge strategy of improving environment and guiding public opinion, thereby helping the people make free choices. It realizes the framework effect by the salience mechanism and uses the strategies of highlighting key information and optimizing information delivery methods, which directly affects the behavior of the public. It achieves the commitment effect by the comparison mechanism, including the horizontal comparison and vertical comparison strategies, and gradually realizes the policy goals. It realizes the social norm effect by the imitation mechanism and uses the strategies of creating peer pressure and playing celebrity effect, which in turn influence people' s choices. With the help of the "nudging" mechanism, the construction of the park city has realized the interactive cycle of "government output-citizen feedback" and achieved the goal of "making great change through small actions". As a new behavioral intervention tool, "nudging" provides an alternative explanation for the construction of the park city in Tianfu New Area and opens up new ideas for the construction of megacities. This study concludes that the construction of megacities can achieve the goal of "common return" through different ways and provides practical inspiration for future urban construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External forcing is the driving force of climate system, which has significant impact on long-term climate changes. Unlike in the Global Climate Models whose external forcing is clearly prescribed, whether or not to use spatial-temporal varying external forcing to force the Regional Climate Models (RCMs) is still lacking evaluations. Here we modify the regional climate model WRF v3.8.1 to include all kinds of spatial-temporal varying external forcing components, and further investigate the impact of dynamical forcing on the long-term simulation in China. The results showed that different external forcing configurations in WRF could result in a variation range of 0.08 °C/10a for annual temperature trend and 19.9 mm/10a for annual precipitation trend in Eastern China (EC), whose impact was stronger than parameterization schemes but was weaker than spectral nudging. The influence of spectral nudging on long-term trend also depended on the configuration of parameterization schemes and external forcing. The WRF model could reasonably reproduce the forcing response pattern of temperature, precipitation, and associated radiative and circulation anomaly changes. The forced annual temperature trend in China could be roughly explained by the linear superposition of GHGs and anthropogenic aerosols, while the forcing response pattern of summer precipitation trend was mainly determined by anthropogenic aerosols. Therefore, we recommend that when using RCMs for long-term simulations, one should first run a long-term preliminary test to determine whether or not to use nudging, and it is better to use all set of varying forcing components than to use varying GHGs only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External forcing is the driving force of climate system, which has significant impact on long-term climate changes. Unlike in the Global Climate Models whose external forcing is clearly prescribed, whether or not to use spatial-temporal varying external forcing to force the Regional Climate Models (RCMs) is still lacking evaluations. Here we modify the regional climate model WRF v3.8.1 to include all kinds of spatial-temporal varying external forcing components, and further investigate the impact of dynamical forcing on the long-term simulation in China. The results showed that different external forcing configurations in WRF could result in a variation range of 0.08 °C/10a for annual temperature trend and 19.9 mm/10a for annual precipitation trend in Eastern China (EC), whose impact was stronger than parameterization schemes but was weaker than spectral nudging. The influence of spectral nudging on long-term trend also depended on the configuration of parameterization schemes and external forcing. The WRF model could reasonably reproduce the forcing response pattern of temperature, precipitation, and associated radiative and circulation anomaly changes. The forced annual temperature trend in China could be roughly explained by the linear superposition of GHGs and anthropogenic aerosols, while the forcing response pattern of summer precipitation trend was mainly determined by anthropogenic aerosols. Therefore, we recommend that when using RCMs for long-term simulations, one should first run a long-term preliminary test to determine whether or not to use nudging, and it is better to use all set of varying forcing components than to use varying GHGs only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers Sino-Uzbek relations by critically assessing the positivist depictions of CA states in their relations with larger countries like China. It uses the post-positivist and constructivist framework and adaptations made from the four-factor analysis framework adopted in the case of Uzbekistan to demonstrate avenues in which Uzbekistan demonstrates active agency in relations with China. This paper argues that Uzbekistan and other CA states utilize nudging strategies which refer to a subtle and often indirect way of encouraging or guiding China's behavior in a particular direction as opposed to so-called "nagging" which associates with persistent and repetitive pressuring China to perform a certain function. Accordingly, Uzbekistan's approach to China can be described as the nudging strategy of designing the environment or context which makes China's choices in its relations with Uzbekistan easier and more attractive in favor of policy decisions desired by the Uzbek government. As is depicted in the narrative of cooperation road maps, Uzbekistan's approach involved both indirect signaling of certain policy preferences, choice-preserving (involving diversification of foreign partners), and positive reinforcement (through various policy incentives). This contrasts the persistent and repetitive pressuring, criticism, threats, or guilt-tripping, seen in relations between China and other Western states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We designed and carried out a field experiment in which we imposed social comparison incentives and technical recommendations on student dormitories through electricity consumption reports and energy‐saving suggestions materials, respectively. Our findings are as follows: (1) Regression results on all users show that the effect of social norms is not statistically significant. (2) A social comparison message has a heterogeneous effect on consumers' energy use. Low‐ and high‐energy users reduced their electricity consumption by 26% and 14%, respectively, in the first week after the treatment. (3) The effect of social norms is time sensitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the intention of undergraduate medical students to withdraw from the medical profession and pursue a career in a different field upon graduation during COVID-19. We leverage the first and most comprehensive nationwide survey for medical education in China, which covered 98,668 enrolled undergraduate students from 90 out of 181 Chinese medical schools in 2020. We focus on these students' self-reported intention to leave the healthcare industry (the "dropout intention") before and after the outbreak of the epidemic. We also designed a randomized experiment to test whether and to what extent medical students dropout intention responded to an information nudge that highlighted the prosociality of health professionals in the fight against the virus. Results from a difference-in-differences model and a student fixed effect model suggest that after the onset of COVID-19, the proportion of Chinese undergraduate medical students with a dropout intention declined from 13.7% to 6.8%. Furthermore, the nudge information reduced the intent-to-drop-out probability by 0.8 additional percentage points for students in their early college years. There was large heterogeneity underneath the treatment effect. Specifically, we find that prior dropout intention and exposures to COVID-19-related information tended to mitigate the nudge effects. Data on students' actual dropout outcomes support our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, the live-streaming industry has a distinctive model of cultural production: showroom live-streaming. It is often adopted by social media platforms to complement other social networking activities. This study reveals the ways in which social media platforms (specifically, Douyin and Momo) design their showroom livestreaming interfaces and affordances to normalise and commodify the affective interactions between female streamers and their male viewers and to establish a gendered power relationship. Using the walkthrough method during two stages of the apps (entry to live-streaming chatrooms and the everyday use of li ve-streaming chatrooms), this study analyses various affordances regarding their functional, sensory, and cognitive impacts on users. This research thereby demonstrates that the live-streaming interface design constructs two types of subject positions. The ideal user is constructed as a heterosexual male, who is empowered through the consumption of virtual gifts; in contrast, the interface nudges the female streamers to conduct emotional labour and deliver implicitly sexualised performances to maintain an affective relationship with viewers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the linkages between the scientists' perception to nudge in the evaluation policy and performance of research scientists at the individual level. Drawing on the nudging theory and 'innovation search' studies, we develop a conceptual model that innovation search capabilities mediate the effects of perceived policy nudge on performance and validate it by taking a sample of research scientists in 235 State Key Laboratories of China as the target group. Results are strongly supported that the greater extent to which research scientists perceived policy nudges, the better individual performance they achieved. To explain how this process works, innovation search capabilities were introduced and testified as full mediating factors. Specifically, science-oriented innovation capabilities exert more influential mediating effect than the practice-oriented counterpart, but the latter should not be ignored because of its considerable proportion. Implications for research and practice are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities generate substantial carbon emissions while facing serious climate challenges. The construction of low-carbon cities is a vital measure to cope with climate change. China has implemented three batches of low-carbon city pilots since 2010, with advocating low-carbon lifestyles and consumption patterns for residents as an indispensable component. However, there is limited research on the impact of pilot cities on carbon emissions of residents, as well as a lack of theoretical guidance and accurate data. Based on 281 prefectural-level cities in China, this study established the difference-in-differences model to evaluate the impact of low-carbon city pilots on residents' carbon emissions. By introducing the Attitudes, Behaviours, and Circumstances theory as the analytical framework and compiling a direct carbon emission inventory of residents, this study attempts to fill the research gap. The results indicate that low-carbon city pilots could lower residents' carbon emissions by 7.3% annually, with a gradual strengthening trend over time. This study presents and validates three influencing mechanisms of the pilot policy, including improving green attitudes, advocating low-carbon behaviours, and optimizing living circumstances. The heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the eastern and central regions with higher levels of economic development have generated significant policy effects. Although both the northern and southern pilot cities have lowered residents' carbon emissions, the former has exhibited a stronger policy effect. Based on these findings, this study proposes several policy recommendations: innovate attitudinal guidance, nudge behavioural choices, shape external circumstances, and combine local characteristics. • Pilot cities could lower carbon emissions of residents by 7.3% annually. • Dynamic analyses indicate that policy effects strengthen over time. • Three mechanisms based on the attitude, behavior, and circumstance theory. • Four types of residents' carbon emission: transport, electricity, heating, gas. • Cities would advocate low-carbon lifestyles according to local characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel set of tableware was designed incorporating the nudge strategy. • The impact of the specially designed nudging tableware on food choices was investigated in normal-weight young adults. • This set of tableware increased the proportion of vegetables and decreased the amount of rice chosen. • The nudging plate increased subjects' attention to vegetables. To evaluate the effects of the specially designed nudging tableware, including a plate and bowl, on individual food choices in normal-weight young adults and preliminarily explore its mechanisms. We hypothesized that the toolset could increase the choice of vegetables and decrease that of rice. A randomized, single-blind, two-period crossover trial was carried out among 40 normal-weight university students in China. All subjects completed two buffets separated by an interval of one week, wearing the eye tracker. Vegetable choice, evaluated through the proportion of vegetables, was the primary outcome, and the weight of vegetables and rice were the secondary outcomes. The mechanisms of the decision-making process were preliminarily explored through eye tracking. The usage of the nudging tableware significantly increased the proportion of vegetables and decreased the amount of rice taken (P <0.05), while insignificantly increased the weight of vegetables (P = 0.079). Eye tracking shows that the nudging plate significantly prolonged the food-choosing process and fixation duration on vegetables (P<0.05), and the latter was positively correlated to the increased quantity of vegetables while using the nudging plate (r = 0.493, P <0.01). The specially designed nudging tableware might be an effective and practical tool to promote the choice of less rice and more vegetables. Mechanisms behind this change might include automatic and unconscious processes with the inconspicuously smaller capacity of the bowl and larger portion size of the vegetable segment, and increased attention triggered by the vegetable patterns and larger green underpainting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To the extent that this correlation is robust, it suggests that the party-state cares a great deal about civil society organizations servicing workers, even if these organizations are not always organizing collective action. The study documents differences in patterns of worker resistance in the two prominent industrial centers of China: the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and the Pearl River Delta (PRD). The central questions that the book poses are: what are there "recipes for resistance" among Chinese workers, how do they vary between different regions, and what is the relationship between worker resistance and the state's repressive/responsive capacity?. [Extracted from the article]

To overcome the problem that the horizontal resolution of global climate models may be too low to resolve features which are important at the regional or local scales, dynamical downscaling has been extensively used. However, dynamical downscaling results generally drift away from large-scale driving fields. The nudging technique can be used to balance the performance of dynamical downscaling at large and small scales, but the performances of the two nudging techniques (analysis nudging and spectral nudging) are debated. Moreover, dynamical downscaling is now performed at the convection-permitting scale to reduce the parameterization uncertainty and obtain the finer resolution. To compare the performances of the two nudging techniques in this study, three sensitivity experiments (with no nudging, analysis nudging, and spectral nudging) covering a period of two months with a grid spacing of 6 km over continental China are conducted to downscale the 1-degree National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) dataset with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Compared with observations, the results show that both of the nudging experiments decrease the bias of conventional meteorological elements near the surface and at different heights during the process of dynamical downscaling. However, spectral nudging outperforms analysis nudging for predicting precipitation, and analysis nudging outperforms spectral nudging for the simulation of air humidity and wind speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use planning has become an important topic for research in China and a critical public management means to restrain and regulate land use behavior. China's current land use planning can be divided into different levels of planning, that is, national planning and local planning. The central government designs land use planning that emphasizes control and longer-term goals; whilst local governments tend to have shorter planning time scales and more market-oriented goals. This government-led type of planning system often caused mismatches between supply and demand and planning failures. This is a challenge facing researchers and policy makers in China at all levels. In this paper we propose the use of nudges as a new approach of government interventions to tackle this problem. We develop a theoretical framework to embed nudges in land use planning, and use Zhejiang Province as a case study to demonstrate the empirical implementation of the framework. We argue that nudge-based government interventions are efficient and effective alternatives for conventional, direct administrative orders. It facilitates decisions that can both improve private welfare and protect public interests; it strikes a balance between government interventions and market forces while still preserves the freedom of choices. It is a promising direction for the research and practice of land use policy in China and beyond. • Land use planning that emphasizes rigid control is difficult to adapt to the market demand for land. • Nudge has become a new method of public management reform. • The paper proposes a theoretical framework embedded with nudges. • The framework combines government interventions and market forces effectively. • The aim is to promote the balance between long-term planning and short-term planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]