BackgroundThe acceptance of informal payments by doctors is usually viewed as unethical behavior. However, in China, such behavior is a common practice. In this study, we focus on the gender differences in accepting red packets by young doctors in China.MethodsA total of 413 young doctors were selected for the study, all of whom were grouped by gender. The questionnaire was designed to include general demographic characteristics, whether they had ever been offered red packets, whether they had ever accepted red packets, (...) the reasons for accepting red packets and so on. Wilcoxon rank-sum test, Pearson’s chi-squared test, univariable and multi-variable logistic regressions were used for all analyses by Stata 17.0 SE and p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsCompared to women, men were more likely to be offered red packets, and the odds ratio was statistically significant after adjusting for age, education, position and geographical areas. In terms of the question of whether or not they had accepted red packets, more male doctors answered “yes” compared to female doctors. However, among those who had accepted red packets, we found that only 42.0% [25/60] of male doctors considered that it was normal to accept such red packets, compared to 85.0% [11/13] of women.ConclusionThe study revealed that Chinese patients and their families were more likely to offer red packets to male doctors. Secondly, among doctors who had been offered red packets, male doctors were more likely to accept red packets than female doctors. In addition, among doctors who had accepted red packets, female doctors were more likely to believe that it was not morally wrong to accept such red packets. (shrink)

In the context of China’s supply-side structural reform and the concept of green development, we introduce the energy and environmental factors into the analytical framework of the total factor productivity of the logistics industry and use the Global Malmquist–Luenberger index method to analyze the evolution trend and heterogeneity of green TFP in the logistics industry of 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2017. The results show that, firstly, the green TFP and traditional TFP of China’s logistics industry are both (...) on the rise and the absence of energy and environmental factors will lead to the overestimation of TFP of the logistics industry. Whether it is green TFP or traditional TFP, the main source of its growth is technical progress. Secondly, there is obvious regional heterogeneity in green TFP of logistics industry. Under the three regional division standards, the average annual growth rate of green TFP is from high to low in the order of eastern, western, and central regions. Under the eight regional classification standards, the eastern coastal economic zone, the southern coastal zone, the northern coastal zone, the northeast region, the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the southwest region, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and the northwest region are in order from high to low. Thirdly, there is obvious interprovincial heterogeneity in green TFP of the logistics industry. The highest growth rate of green TFP is in Zhejiang, followed by Jiangsu and Guangdong, and the slowest growth rate is in Chongqing. The technical progress of logistics industry in most provinces contributes more to the growth of green TFP. Fourthly, the differences of green TFP in the three regions of the east, center, and west are shrinking, which may be σ convergence, but the differences among the three regions are expanding. Compared with the existing literature, this paper applies the measurement framework of green TFP to China’s logistics industry and investigates the regional and provincial heterogeneity of green TFP in logistics industry. The conclusions are significant to understand and grasp the heterogeneity of green TFP growth in China’s logistics industry under environmental constraints and how to promote the development of green logistics in China. (shrink)

Background Based on the principle of informed consent, doctors are required to fully inform patients and respect their medical decisions. In China, however, family members usually play a special role in the patient’s informed consent, which creates a unique “doctor-family-patient” model of the physician-patient relationship. Our study targets young doctors to investigate the ethical dilemmas they may encounter in such a model, as well as their attitudes to the family roles in informed consent. Methods A questionnaire was developed including general (...) demographic characteristics, the fulfillment of the obligation to fully inform, who will be informed, and the ethical dilemmas in decision-making. We recruited a total of 421 doctors to complete this questionnaire, of which 368 met the age requirements for this study. Cross tabulation and Pearson’s chi-squared test were used to analyze the differences between types of patients for categorical variables, and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Our data shows that only 20 doctors (5.40%) stated “informing the patient alone is sufficient” when it comes to informing patients of their serious conditions. The rest of the participants would ensure that the family was informed. When facing elderly patients with decision-making capacity, the data was statistically different (3.8%; P < 0.001) The primary reason for ensuring that family members be informed differs among the participants. In addition, when family members asked doctors to conceal the patient’s medical condition for the best interests of patients, 270 doctors (73.4%) would agree and cooperate with the family. A similar proportion (79.6%) would do so when it comes to elderly patients. Conclusions (1) Chinese doctors pay extra attention to informing the patient’s family, which may not be in the patient’s best interests. (2) Chinese doctors treat adult (but not elderly) patients and elderly patients differently when it comes to informing family members. (3) When family members request that doctors withhold information from patients “in the best interest of the patient,” the majority choose to comply with the request, although this may cause them distress. (shrink)

Resumen: Como educación estética, la educación musical no sólo necesita transmitir la belleza del arte, sino que también es una forma educativa de transmitir la belleza de la vida. Por lo tanto, con base en la estética de la vida y la connotación de la vida de la educación, la investigación discute la orientación de la vida de la educación musical de varios niveles desde múltiples perspectivas. La investigación analiza la estética vital de la música desde tres aspectos: lo limitado (...) y lo infinito, la existencia cultural del espíritu humanista y el isomorfismo del estado de vida. La discusión sobre la connotación de la vida educativa parte de tres aspectos: sobrevivencia, vivir y vivir. Sobre esta base, la investigación integra las dos teorías anteriores y discute la experiencia subjetiva-comunicación, cogniy emoción cognitiva en la educación musical. A través de la elaboración básica de la visión de vida de la educación musical, se puede encontrar que la educación musical es ayudar a los estudiantes a seguir una vida llena de arte, ayudándoles a desarrollarse armoniosamente. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous challenges for organizations and employees. Due to the effectiveness of idiosyncratic deals in management practices, more and more organizations use this human resource management tool to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, whether there are potential risks or negative effects of i-deals in the COVID-19 pandemic environment is not very clear. Drawing upon social cognitive theory, we proposed that i-deals may foment focal employees’ unethical behavior by triggering their hubristic pride, and (...) such process may be moderated by their trait of grandiose narcissism. We conducted a survey during the COVID-19 outbreak and tested our hypotheses with 492 samples from Shandong Province, China. Consistent with predictions, we found a positive relationship between i-deals and hubristic pride, which, in turn, increased their unethical behavior. And the relationship between i-deals and unethical behavior was mediated by hubristic pride. Furthermore, grandiose narcissism strengthened the positive relationship between i-deals and hubristic pride, as well as the indirect effect of i-deals on unethical behavior via hubristic pride. Our findings contributed to the literature on i-deals and provided guidance for organizations to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

The introduction of in vitro fertilization (IVF) results in a separation of sex and reproduction which has generated enormous ethical debate (Lauritzen 1993). Surrogacy makes this situation more complicated by bringing a surrogate mother into reproduction. A surrogacy case may involve five individuals (in addition to the surrogate child). These are the commissioning couple, the gamete donors, and the surrogate mother. Hence, a surrogate child may have up to five parents, including biological parents, commissioning parents, and a gestational parent. The (...) question is which of these people should undertake parental duty? In terms of the acquisition of parental duty, there are three accounts. They are the biological connection account, the causal account, and the consent account. In this article, I try to argue that only the commissioning parents should undertake the parental duty for the surrogate child based on the latter two accounts. I do not apply the biological connection account because the biological connection account fails to explain one’s parental duty, which I will show in the following sections. (shrink)

The voluntary shift of responsibility from the producer to the consumer is one feature of self-design activities. Past research emphasizes the economic gains of such customer co-creation. However, the psychological mechanism underlying customer co-creation behavior is still not fully understood. Notably, the goal-driven self-congruence nature of customer co-creation is mostly ignored in the co-creation literature. The objective of this research is to firstly develop a conceptual understanding of how co-creation literature can be related to the self-congruence theory. Furthermore, this study (...) also extends the original self-congruence theory by arguing the differential role of actual and ideal self-congruence on the relationship between self-congruence and customers’ willingness to participate in the co-creation process. Two laboratory experiments were conducted to examine whether self-congruence plays a prominent role in motivating customers to participate in the self-design process. Specifically, both the actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence are positively related to customers’ willingness to participate in the self-design process is hypothesized. Moreover, it is expected that product styles and different consumption situations may strengthen the relationship between actual/ideal self-congruence and customers’ willingness to participate in the self-design process. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. (shrink)