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We celebrate the 100th anniversary of Thomas Van der Hammen (1924–2010). His career is a model of explorative environmental research in nearly all ecosystems of northern South America. He introduced palynological research into South America. As a PhD student he studied changes of climate, vegetation and landscape during the Lateglacial in Twente, eastern Netherlands. He continued his career in 1952 at the Geological Survey of Colombia with research, and teaching palynology and palaeobotany. He studied sediment archives from the Cretaceous to the Quaternary palynologically. He explored the potential of developing an understanding of the Quaternary history of neotropical ecosystems, the response to ice-ages in particular. In 1959 he returned to Leiden University where he succeeded professor Florschütz. In 1966 he was appointed at the University of Amsterdam and continued training Colombian and Dutch PhD students in studying the history of climate, flora and vegetation of northern South America, Amazonia and the Netherlands. He organised unparalleled transect studies through the Colombian Andes and collected a wealth of evidence in support of an elevational sequence of biodiversity. During decades Thomas skilfully used opportunities for research in academia as well as in industry. He gave structure for research at universities, municipalities, musea, ministries, and nature conservations. After his retirement he lived in Colombia. His country estate became a central meeting place where students, scientists, farmers, mayors, and even Ministers of State discussed the environmental past and future of Colombian ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title of the author's film 'HOW PERFECT IS THIS HOW BLESSED ARE WE' (HD video, 22 min and 11 s) is taken from the inscription on a bench on the top of a hill, at the highest point in the landscape of Compton Verney, designed by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown in his ideal vision of the British country house. By appropriating this statement of contentment as a critical tool to inquire how perfect it really is and who is the 'we' that is so blessed, Suleman inserted their body into the landscape as a reminder of historical absences and erasure, and the legacy of colonialism and queer-phobia. The film is narrated, however, in the register of an address to an absent lover. A personal history and a lover's yearning doubles as a critique of violent and exclusive histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores some of the ways in which queer women living in country houses have used their economic privilege and class leverage for their own purposes, disrupting and reshaping country house living to make space for their own independent endeavours. It takes as its case study the life of Katharine Pleydell-Bouverie (1895–1985), an innovative woman potter in the early British studio ceramics movement who rejected aristocratic, familial and societal expectations of duty and lineage to self-fashion an identity as an artist. Pleydell-Bouverie created a separate household on her family estate of Coleshill where she prioritised pleasurable domesticity with her female partners alongside creative expression and productivity. This essay investigates Pleydell-Bouverie's use of the estate – both the conditions it afforded her and its ecological materiality – as a resource in her experimental artistic practice and in her alternative, non-heteronormative mode of living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we emphasize the pivotal role of national environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, encompassing both host and home countries, in shaping the implications of firm‐specific ESG performance for the attractiveness of multinational enterprises (MNEs) as preferred employers. Our research puts forth three hypotheses. First, we propose that superior ESG performance by MNEs will exhibit a positive relationship with their perceived appeal as employers. Second, we theorize that higher national ESG performance in the home country will amplify the positive relationship between an MNE's ESG performance and its attractiveness as an employer. Lastly, we posit that superior national ESG performance in the host country will similarly strengthen the positive association between an MNE's ESG performance and its desirability as an employer. The empirical data robustly supports these hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the fate of an important group of early English plays in fifty-six volumes, collected by the Warwickshire antiquary Ralph Sheldon (1623-1684) and sold at a Christie's country house sale at his home nearly a hundred years later. The sale itself in 1781 was an early example of the booksellers 'ring' and involved some of the major collectors of early English drama, notably David Garrick, Edmond Malone, and the Earl of Charlemont. The earlier portion of the Sheldon plays, recorded by Anthony Wood in a manuscript list, may have survived as part of the Malone bequest to the Bodleian Library. The Restoration Plays remained largely intact, in some thirty volumes, until the ill-fated sale of Lord Charlemont's library by his descendants at Sotheby's in 1865, discussed by Arthur and Janet Ing Freeman in The Library , VII, 23 (March 2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African doctoral students studying abroad and returning to their home countries for fieldwork face multiple and complex challenges. This paper reflexively addresses the question of positionality from the experiences of conducting research on urban governance and the spatial politics of street traders in Harare, Zimbabwe. The paper discusses dilemmas associated with navigating insider and outsider identities, showcasing how these categories continually shift while conducting research on street traders within a distinct socio‐cultural and political context. Moreover, the author's background as a former street trader, now pursuing a PhD at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, adds a layer of complexity to the situation, offering valuable insights into how these 'multiple' positionalities can either facilitate or hinder data collection. The paper underscores the nuanced experiences of the researcher in the field, shedding light on the potential challenges, pitfalls and opportunities inherent in grappling with one's positionality. By foregrounding these complexities, the paper contributes to our understanding of the positionalities of researchers in the social sciences and adds to the growing body of literature on methodologies for conducting urban studies, particularly with vulnerable populations. The paper discusses dilemmas of being insider and outsider and how these categories are shifted constantly while researching street traders in a unique socio‐cultural and political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migration of both unskilled and skilled labour force can alter economic conditions and environmental sustainability of both host and home countries. Consequently, this study endeavors to investigate the impact of skilled labour migration on economic growth, energy demand, and environmental sustainability of both home and host countries. This objective is achieved by constructing a multiregional computable general equilibrium model for developed and developing countries. Moreover, developing countries are classified into four distinct groups based on their income levels such as high income, upper middle income, lower middle‐income and low‐income countries. The outcome of policy simulations indicate that skilled labour migration diminishes the gross domestic product, welfare, energy consumption and carbon emissions in home countries, and the reverse is true for the host countries. The influx of remittances to home counties is shown to bolster their economic growth, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions, whereas a contrary trend in remittance outflow is observed in host countries. Likewise, reverse migration has the potential to augment economic growth in developing countries alongside an increase in energy demand and CO2 emissions. The study advocates for developed countries to harness the skills of immigrants in environment‐friendly manufacturing industries. Furthermore, it emphasizes that developing countries should utilise remittances for both socio‐economic and environmental development to retain the migration of skilled labour forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

William Courtenay, 3rd Viscount Courtenay and 9th Earl of Devon (1768–1835), has been most remembered for his romantic relationship with author and slave owner, William Beckford (1760–1844), which scandalized London society in 1784. However, the 9th Earl's life after this event has received little attention despite his artistic contributions to the built environment of his ancestral home of Powderham Castle in Devon. In the 1790s, he created a series of flower watercolors on paper and cabinets under the supervision of his drawing master, William Marshall Craig (c.1765–1827). These artworks complicate ideas about gendered expectations of amateur artistic subjects, with flower painting being largely understood as a feminine accomplishment. This article explores the Earl's watercolors in the context of the spaces at Powderham to argue they are evidence of his effeminate behavior and participation in female activities alongside his thirteen sisters. The association of these objects with a man attracted to those of his own sex contribute to studies of queerness, amateur art, and the country house in the late eighteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An optimization model is necessary to depict and induce the volatility and irregularity of manufacturing technology standard (MTS) diffusion processes to ensure that the standard can be widely adopted by related stakeholders in host countries. This paper clarifies the two‐sided network coordination of MTS's transactional diffusion, consisting of new product diffusion among users and new technology diffusion among local suppliers. A procurement contract is introduced to connect and coordinate the two‐sided networks. The manufacturer from the home country is responsible for the contract design, which aims to maximize its net revenue by considering the product diffusion processes. Local suppliers determine whether to accept the contract. The decision‐making objectives of the contract acceptance for each local supplier are to maximize the net revenue and minimize workload fluctuation. The new standard‐based products are produced and sold by the manufacturer. The corresponding local supplier adopts new standard‐based technologies and supplies components for final product production if a contract is accepted. Therefore, a one‐leader and multiple‐follower Stackelberg game is proposed to figure out the best solution after coordinating the multiple objectives of each participant. The contract design and the contract acceptance are the leader and the follower, respectively. Analytical solutions under a specific MTS for refrigerator production are developed incorporating a nested Non‐dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm‐II. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can efficiently coordinate the two‐sided networks of MTS diffusion and balance the net revenue of all related stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A. M. Homes's In a Country of Mothers (1993) and Lidia Yuknavitch's Dora: A Headcase (2012) offer fictional representations of the therapeutic process. Each features a female patient who is victimized by a therapist who allows their own counter-transference to prevent the patient's voice from emerging. Instead of healing, these transferences impose therapist-directed narratives on young women who need to tell their own stories of loss and confusion. After tracing Freud's changing ideas on transference, this article presents literary examples of counter-transference gone awry. In a Country of Mothers features a therapist who believes her patient is the daughter she gave up for adoption and who uses her own counter-transference to propel a dangerous relationship between the two women; Dora: A Headcase offers a modern-day rewriting of Freud's "Dora" case study by a teen who resists the counter-transference of her therapist by writing her own story. This examination of literary counter-transference problematizes the supposed neutrality of the therapist and stresses the importance of patient voice in psychotherapeutic healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subpar performance of housing construction projects has been attributed to their reliance on traditional construction methods. In response to this issue, numerous innovative approaches, including modern methods of construction (MMC), have been employed to facilitate the execution of housing projects. The present study explores the use of MMC, specifically lean, offsite, and simulation (LOS) techniques, in delivering housing construction projects within the United Kingdom. Employing a qualitative research approach, eighteen relevant stakeholders from England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland were interviewed to fulfil the study's purpose. The findings demonstrate that the integration of LOS techniques is advantageous in the delivery of housing construction projects. Moreover, governmental support, collaboration, leadership, training, stakeholder engagement, and environmental consideration were identified as critical factors facilitating the implementation of LOS in housing project delivery. This study provides valuable insights into the key factors that support the adoption of LOS techniques within the UK context and can serve as a guide for stakeholders in the future use of LOS in the UK housing sector. Furthermore, the empirical and qualitative evidence presented on the application of lean, offsite, and simulation (LOS) in housing delivery in the UK can contribute to efforts to address the country's housing shortage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019 artist Layla Khoo created and installed a participatory artwork at Nunnington Hall, a property owned by the National Trust, UK. The artwork, named Change in Attitudes, was a response to the taxidermy collection of hunting trophies displayed on site, all shot and collected by the last owner of the house, Colonel Ronald Fife. The work sought to encourage visitors to consider their thoughts on this difficult part of the collection, both in its historical context and in light of current societal norms, by inviting them to participate with the artwork through choice-making. This case study first analyzes the impact of this work on visitor engagement at the site, both in the participation methods intended by the artist and in the unexpected participation methods employed by the visitors as the installation evolved. The questions raised by this case study are then considered, as well as the research currently under way which seeks to answer them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the effect of economic uncertainty on remittances sent by migrants residing in developed countries to their home countries. The analysis builds on the economic uncertainty index developed by Ahir et al. that reflects the uncertainty related to economic and political events, regarding both near‐term and long‐term concerns. Economic uncertainty has deleterious effects on remittance outflows from developed countries, especially when uncertainty reaches high levels. Developing countries would therefore suffer from reduced remittance inflows if the current fragmentation of the world were to become protracted, resulting in higher barriers to the movement of capital and people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The housing encampments in Chile represent urban marginalization in the country. Due to the limited housing options the State provides, these settlements have historically developed forms of organization and struggle in search of their right to the city. Essentially, these actions focus on self-management to obtain a place to live. However, despite sharing similar needs, these groups show diverse forms of struggle. In the current context, with a growing demand for housing in the country, various strategies these groups adopt to integrate into the city can be observed. This article focuses on analyzing the occupation and spatial governance strategies implemented in two encampments located in the city of Temuco, Chile: Los Pinos and Los Ripieros, through a qualitative approach based on the application of a social mapping to the leaders of both settlements and the exploration of narratives related to past and future spatial governance. Differences were identified between these two encampments. Although they share a contiguous physical location and emerged at the same time, the results reveal that, despite initial similarities in urban development, there are differences in the motivations guiding their future actions. While Los Ripieros actively seeks to influence obtaining a permanent housing solution in other sectors of the city, Los Pinos chooses to get involved within the framework of existing urban regulations to secure a housing solution in the same place. These findings enrich the discussion on urban marginality by showing that the struggles for space of excluded groups are centered on the balance between rootedness and obtaining housing. The latter is vital for the state to consider when designing urban policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students studying abroad are faced with challenges that impact their cultural, social, and economic identities, and this varies greatly depending on their home country and study destination. The transition and inter-cultural learning experiences of international tertiary students from African countries are currently under-examined. Afrocentric theory was employed to interpret the data derived from this qualitative study, which drew upon participatory action research and Photovoice methods to explore how African students navigate transitions to studying in Canada and the strategies they use for creating supportive social resources. As authors, co-researchers, and participants, we identified unique insights on how students build and maintain senses of connections, familiarity, and comfort when away from home, and how they conceptualize, create, and sustain community. These accounts provide insight for mentors, faculty, and policymakers in North American institutions on how they can offer opportunities for holistic learning, cultural integration, and access to valuable mentorship to help students navigate the complex journey of transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of state ownership on a firm's environmental strategy is still unclear due to the varied relationships across different international institutional contexts in the firm's home and host country. Applying mixed effect regression models to a sample of 2997 observations of 298 firms from the MSCI World Index for the period 2007–2018, this paper analyzes the different effects of key institutional factors on this relationship. While a state‐owned firm from a state with a high home country environmental profile will have a more positive effect on a firm's environmental proactivity, internationalization will weaken it, since the firm will encounter higher complexity when translating its green actions into a more global institutional context. In addition, when internationalization involves a very different host country environmental profile, the greater institutional distance seems to modify the influence of state ownership on environmental proactivity. Our results provide key theoretical and practical implications for managers in relation to state‐owned firms' global environmental strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has made working from home routine for many. People who have had to maintain their productivity, particularly in physically and/or socially unacceptable home-working situations, experienced one of the pandemic's disadvantages. The experience can vary substantially among individuals as well as by country. This study presents the results of a comparative study of the Netherlands and Korea. Working from home was not uncommon in the Netherlands before the pandemic; however, in Korea, employers adopted working from home from its start, and that increased rapidly. An online survey enabled us to compare the physical and social conditions of current home workspaces in both countries, to understand how well-equipped they were to support people who had to work from home. We studied the changes in productivity and physical/mental health before and during COVID-19, to learn how people coped with working from home in both countries. Contrary to expectations, Koreans showed better scores than people in the Netherlands, in terms of changes in health and productivity. This article discusses various aspects of that result, such as satisfaction with home workspace, housing type, job position and prior experience, compulsoriness, and frequency of working from home. Relieving stress and concentration appeared to be the most important dimensions of telecommuters' satisfaction with working from home environments in both countries. The results are the basis for suggesting the development of strategies for a desirable WFH environment, considering different background contexts, experiences and cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cybercrime is a major challenge facing the world, with estimated costs ranging from the hundreds of millions to the trillions. Despite the threat it poses, cybercrime is somewhat an invisible phenomenon. In carrying out their virtual attacks, offenders often mask their physical locations by hiding behind online nicknames and technical protections. This means technical data are not well suited to establishing the true location of offenders and scholarly knowledge of cybercrime geography is limited. This paper proposes a solution: an expert survey. From March to October 2021 we invited leading experts in cybercrime intelligence/investigations from across the world to participate in an anonymized online survey on the geographical location of cybercrime offenders. The survey asked participants to consider five major categories of cybercrime, nominate the countries that they consider to be the most significant sources of each of these types of cybercrimes, and then rank each nominated country according to the impact, professionalism, and technical skill of its offenders. The outcome of the survey is the World Cybercrime Index, a global metric of cybercriminality organised around five types of cybercrime. The results indicate that a relatively small number of countries house the greatest cybercriminal threats. These findings partially remove the veil of anonymity around cybercriminal offenders, may aid law enforcement and policymakers in fighting this threat, and contribute to the study of cybercrime as a local phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The transnational political participation of migrants has been extensively analyzed in the literature. Previous explanations focus on individual determinants ranging from political interest or efficacy to social ties or socio-demographic characteristics. So far, little attention has been paid to the contrast between factors related to their lives in two different countries. The present article adds to this burgeoning literature by identifying and comparing the effects of several attitudes and behaviors of migrants in the host and home country on their voter turnout in home country elections. We use individual-level data from a survey conducted in 2022 on 1,058 Romanian migrants living around the world. The results indicate that migrants who remain anchored in the politics of their home country--without necessarily striving to return--and those who are engaged in their host communities are more likely to vote. Migrant voter turnout is not determined by poor integration in the host society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public organisations have rarely been the subjects of neo-institutional research. Intra-organisational behaviour has also been under-researched. This study examined how four distinct groups of Bilateral Development Cooperation Agency's staff perceive institutional environment pressures from home and host countries. One-hundred thirty-one valid responses obtained through an online survey were analysed. Staff in both the headquarters and overseas offices felt a powerful home country accountability pressure. This tendency is prominent for management staff. The test results, as seen through the lens of a neo-institutional perspective, suggest that overseas office staff prioritise accountability to home country stakeholders over that to host country stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most migration studies and theories focus on understanding the initial migration of people from their home country. Less attention has been paid to the factors influencing immigrants' preferences to either permanently settle in the host country, return to their home country or move onwards to another destination. Understanding the characteristics and motives of those who aspire to leave the host country is, however, valuable for both host and home countries to formulate appropriate and effective policies in order to retain their valued immigrants or citizens and foster their successful (re-)integration. This paper provides a comprehensive global analysis of the characteristics and circumstances that shape first-generation immigrants' aspirations to stay, return or migrate onwards, based on individual-level data from the Gallup World Polls across 138 countries worldwide between 2009 and 2016. Our study reveals that immigrants' stated preferences are strongly influenced by demographics, human and spiritual capital, as well as by soft factors, such as social ties and sociocultural integration, while economic factors have a more feeble influence. Changes in circumstances in the home and host countries are also important determinants of locational aspirations. Some interesting exceptions to our results stand out when we differentiate home and host countries by their economic development levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the relations among institutional quality, households' level of trust, and stock market participation. We find that institutional quality has a significant impact on both trust and participation. The individual level of trust significantly affects participation, but trust plays a small role in the effect of institutional quality on participation. Further, we demonstrate that immigrants are affected by the institutional quality of both their country of residence and their home country, and that education emerges as an important learning factor in immigrants' adaptation to new institutional environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]