Harmony in differences: an introduction to politeness in intercultural communication with China

This is the second title in the Navigating China series, written by leading experts in international business and cross-cultural communication. The book explores the vital role of "politeness" in communicating and conducting business in China--and what you should and shouldn't do to ensure your success. In the business world, politeness is far more than social etiquette--it's a cornerstone of success. Relationships lie at the heart of business, and politeness is the glue that holds them together. Yet the way politeness is expressed can vary greatly across cultures, especially for foreigners working in China. In Chinese business culture, politeness is deeply rooted in respect for hierarchy, relationships, and long-standing traditions. A simple request that might seem direct and efficient in the West often requires greater attention to tone, humility, and relational context in China. This book offers practical insights to help anyone doing business in or with China navigate cultural nuances, avoid common missteps, and master the art of politeness--unlocking stronger relationships and new opportunities

Regulatory means for interventionist ends: GBER and the transformation of the EU state aid regime

Despite its new‐found penchant for market interventionism, the European Union (EU) is often portrayed as lacking the fiscal and administrative capacity to conduct industrial policy. The EU can regulate markets, the conventional wisdom goes, but not steer them in specific directions. In this article, we challenge the notion that regulation and industrial policy are inherently antithetical, arguing instead that the Commission uses its regulatory authority over state aid to indirectly steer member states' industrial policies. We theorize and empirically investigate this rules‐as‐tools approach to industrial policy through an in‐depth, multi‐method case study on the transformation of the EU's state aid regime, with a focus on the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). Combining original interviews, topic modeling, document analysis, and descriptive statistics, we demonstrate that the Commission has long used state aid regulation not only to restrict but also redirect state aid. Increasingly, it employs these rules to encourage selective interventions in the economy—particularly those supporting the twin transitions of digitalization and decarbonization

Unequal care, unequal health care? Gender differences in health care use after adult care access

Access to care among older adults can help identify unmet health needs and increase the use of health care, though in some cases it may substitute some forms of health care. We argue that the balance between these two effects is largely gender dependent: female spouses are more likely to act as informal caregivers and, as a result, are more likely to have neglected their own health needs. To examine this hypothesis, we exploit the variation introduced by Scotland’s Free Personal Care (FPC) programme, a government initiative implemented in 2002 that provides free personal care access to all eligible individuals regardless of their income. Using a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) framework comparing Scotland with the rest of the United Kingdom and a rich longitudinal dataset of men and women aged 65 and over, we first find that FPC significantly increased the uptake of home help services among women, with little change among men. Among women, adult care expansion led to a 3.5–percentage-point rise in inpatient admissions, whereas among men, we find evidence suggesting a modest substitution effect of care for health care. The effects are stronger among older adults who live alone, and those facing socioeconomic disadvantage, or high care needs

Mind over bias: how is cognitive control related to politically motivated reasoning?

People often favour information aligned with their ideological motives. Can our tendency for directional motivated reasoning be overcome with cognitive control? It remains contested whether cognitive control processes, such as cognitive reflection and inhibitory control, are linked to a greater tendency to engage in politically motivated reasoning, as proposed by the "motivated reflection" hypothesis, or can help people overcome it, as suggested by cognitive science research. In this pre-registered study (N = 504 UK participants rating n = 4963 news messages), we first provide evidence for motivated reasoning on multiple political and non-political topics. We then investigated the associations of the two cognitive control variables cognitive reflection and inhibitory control with motivated reasoning. We find that associations between cognitive control processes and motivated reasoning are likely small. On political topics specifically, we find that a negative association with cognitive reflection is more likely than a positive association. This finding is contrary to predictions from the popular motivated reflection hypothesis. Results for inhibitory control are inconclusive. We discuss how these findings relate to interdisciplinary literature from cognitive and political psychology. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The role of exposure in domestic abuse victimization: evidence from the COVID‐19 lockdown

Preventing a COVID‐19 health crisis had unintended consequences on domestic abuse victimization. Using event methodology and individual‐level call data, we examine domestic abuse patterns during the first nationwide COVID‐19 lockdown in Greater London, and find that the lockdown changed both the nature of reporting and the type of relationship within which the abuse occurs. Abuse by current partners and family members increased on average by 8.5% and 16.4%, respectively, during the COVID‐19 lockdown, while abuse by ex‐partners declined by 9.4%. We address possible changes in domestic abuse reporting using information on the caller type and the timing of abuse. We show that the increase in domestic abuse calls is driven by third party reporting, which is 32% higher in high density areas where neighbours can overhear abuse, while no comparable changes occur in victim reporting. These findings highlight the importance of environmental factors, such as exposure, in affecting domestic abuse victimization across different types of relationships

Generating models of attentional cueing and inhibition of return with genetic programming

The cueing task is a robust experimental paradigm for investigating attention. A centrally presented valid cue, correctly indicating the location of an upcoming target stimulus, leads to quicker responses than an invalid cue. A feature of this paradigm is that increasing the delay between a peripheral cue and a target reverses this effect, where responses become slower for a valid cue, a phenomenon termed inhibition of return (IOR). Using GEMS, a system that utilises genetic programming techniques, we generated potential strategies underlying the facilitation and IOR effects in the cueing paradigm. Models were generated for three experiments differing in their experimental designs, all with good fit to behavioural data. Our approach helps address current issues in the field of attention regarding how it is defined and what mechanisms underlie it. Additional benefits and limitations of this method are discussed

Faith-based organisations and religious affiliation and their interactions with financial risk protection in health in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

Objectives Over 80 % of the world's population identifies with a religion, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about how religious affiliation and beliefs influence health insurance uptake. Faith-based organisations also play a major role in healthcare delivery, yet their contribution to financial risk protection, health insurance uptake, and universal health coverage remains underexplored. Study design We conducted a systematic review of anglophone publications to examine the interaction between religious affiliation, faith-based organisations, and financial risk protection in health in Sub-Saharan Africa. Methods We systematically reviewed anglophone studies published between 2000 and 2024 that explored the themes of religious affiliation and faith-based organisations and their interaction with health insurance or financial risk protection in Sub-Saharan Africa. We searched Embase, Medline, and Global Health. Quality appraisal used JBI and CASP checklists, and data were narratively synthesised. Results We included 26 studies from seven Sub-Saharan African countries. Key findings are: i) Several studies reported religious affiliation as a predictor of enrolment, though findings were inconsistent across contexts. ii) Religious norms were found to often negatively influence individual insurance uptake. iii) Case studies showed faith-based organisations support enrolment through outreach and financial aid. iv) Few studies assessed their role in insurance fund pooling or purchasing. Conclusions Faith-based organisations are well-positioned to possibly advance universal health coverage by fostering trust in health insurance and providing financial risk protection. However, evidence remains limited. Future research should focus on qualitative insights, fragile settings, and the broader functionalities of health insurance systems to leverage the potential of faith-based organisations in addressing universal health coverage

Reimagining growth futures: overcoming the false binary between green growth and degrowth

When imagining how a green transition can take place, the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability is commonly viewed in two ways: As ‘green growth,’ where the two can be mutually supporting, and as ‘degrowth,’ where they cannot. The two are considered mutually exclusive, internally coherent, and competing eco-political paradigms. Here, we conceptually analyze the literature and map standpoints within the two positions along nine dimensions covering national institutions, world order, and scientific cosmology. We find that there are substantial disagreements within as well as agreements between green growth and degrowth. In consequence, we argue that the literature is caught in a false binary. To constructively move the debate forward, we propose giving up the paradigmatic and polarized approach and instead embracing a multidimensional plurality of imagined growth futures

Actions speak louder than words: assessing the democratic accountability of Europe's new industrial policy

This article asks “who controls the controllers” now that the European Commission—long responsible for controlling the conduct of industrial policy in the EU's internal market—increasingly pursues its own industrial policy objectives. We draw on delegation theory to establish why the Commission should be held accountable for its industrial policy‐making and, based on a distinction between procedural and substantive accountability, develop a simple typology of accountability outcomes that helps us distinguish between full accountability, partial accountability, and unaccountability in the realm of industrial policy. To assess empirically whether and how the Commission has been held accountable in its pursuit of industrial policy, we leverage a new dataset that tracks Commission follow‐ups—both in writing and in terms of policy actions—to 432 points raised in own‐initiative reports by the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy between 2019 and 2024. Our analysis suggests that the Commission has been far more responsive in “words” than in “actions”, which carries implications for our understanding of executive‐legislative relations and democratic accountability not only in industrial policy but also in other EU policy domains