Does video games’ popularity affect unemployment rate? Evidence from macro-level analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Parshakov ◽  
Sofiia Paklina ◽  
Dennis Coates ◽  
Aleksei Chadov
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Leisure Activity ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Prize Money ◽  
Content Type

PurposeVideo games are considered as a leisure activity that makes being unemployed more attractive than before. In this study, the authors use eSports prizes as a proxy for the popularity of video games to analyze its influence on total and youth unemployment.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop a theoretical model and empirically test it using the total prize money won by representatives of a country in a given season in eSports tournaments, via a panel regression model with the country-year as a unit of observation. The data set includes information about 191 countries between 2000 and 2015.FindingsThe authors’ results of regression analysis show a positive influence of the popularity of video games on the unemployment rate. In addition, the authors analyze this effect for countries with different levels of income and labor productivity. The authors found a significant inverse relationship between income level and the effect of the popularity of video games on total and youth unemployment.Originality/valueWhile previous studies rely mostly on self-reported data, the authors suggest a new approach to measure video game popularity. This paper contributes to existing knowledge with empirical evidence on how leisure activities affect unemployment at the country level.

Gaming the gamer? – The ethics of exploiting psychological research in video games

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnny Hartz Søraker
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
User Behavior ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ethical implications of video game companies employing psychologists and using psychological research in game design. Design/methodology/approach The author first argues that exploiting psychology in video games may be more ethically problematic than familiar application domains like advertising, gambling and political rhetoric. Then an overview of the effects particular types of game design may have on user behavior is provided, taking into account various findings and phenomena from behavioral psychology and behavioral economics. Findings Finally, the author concludes that the corresponding ethical problems cannot – and should not – be addressed by means of regulation or rating systems. The author argues instead that a more promising countermeasure lies in using the same psychological research to educate gamers (children in particular) and thereby increase their capacity for meta-cognition. Originality/value The importance of this lies in the tremendous effect these behavior-modifying technologies may have upon our self-determination, well-being and social relations, as well as corresponding implications for the society.

Job outcomes among Korean graduates with vocational qualifications

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 619-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Min Lee ◽  
Sung-Eun Cho
Keyword(s):  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Moderate Degree ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wage Effect ◽  
Vocational Qualification ◽  
Vocational Qualifications ◽  
The Status

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the status of recent Korean four-year college students’ acquisition of vocational qualification certificates (hereinafter “certificates” or “qualifications”), the factors that influence certificate acquisition, and the resulting employment and wage effects. Design/methodology/approach Regression analysis was conducted on the data from the Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey. Findings The results showed that females and medicine and education majors had higher rates of vocational qualifications, as did the students in provincial as compared to metropolitan areas and students with high grades. In terms of effects on labor market outcomes, vocational qualifications exert a moderate degree of positive influence on employment rate, wage at the time of initial employment, and current wage (i.e. there is a persistent wage effect). Originality/value This study will provide policy implications to decrease youth unemployment in Korea and worldwide as well as to build employment services supporting the acquisition of vocational qualifications across various disciplines.

Corporate tax planning and corporate tax disclosure

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-364
Author(s):  
Mahfoudh Hussein Mgammal
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Tax Planning ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Effective Tax Rate ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of corporate tax planning (TP) on tax disclosure (TD). Using tax expenses data set, with the detailed effective tax rate (ETR) by reconciling individual items of income and expenses. Design/methodology/approach A firm-level panel data set is used to analyse 286 non-financial listed companies on Bursa Malaysia that spans the period 2010-2012. Multivariate statistical analyses were run on the sample data. The empirical understanding of TD depends on public sources of data in the financial statement, characterized in the aggregated note of tax expenses. Fitting with Malaysian environment, the authors measured TD using modified ETR reconciling items. Findings Results show that TP, exhibit a robust positive influence on TD. This suggests that TP is related to lower corporate TD. In addition, companies with high TP attempt to mitigate the disclosure problem by increasing various TD. The authors further find significant positive impact between each of firm size and industry dummy, on TD. This means that company-specific characteristics are significant factors affecting corporate TD. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the literature on the effect of TP on TD. It depends on both the signalling theory and the Scholes–Wolfson framework, which are the main theories concerned with TP and TD. Therefore, from a theoretical side, the authors add to the current theories by verifying that users are the party influenced whether positively or negatively, by the extent of TD or the extent of TP activities through Malaysian organizations. Practical implications The evidence found in this paper has important policy and practical implications for the authorities, researchers, decision makers and company managers. The findings can provide them some relevant insights on the importance of TP actions from companies’ perspective and contribute to the discussion of who verifies and deduces from TD directed by companies. Originality/value This paper originality is regarded as the first attempt to examine the impact of TP on TD in a developing country such as Malaysia. Malaysian setting is an interesting one to examine because Malaysia could be similar to other countries in Southeast Asia. Results contribute significant insights to the discussion about TD regarding, which parties are responsible for the verification of TD by firms, and which parties benefit from this disclosure. Findings suggest that companies face a trade-off between tax benefits and TD when selecting the type of their TP.

How the new generation of video game consoles have accelerated the need to preserve digital content – part 1

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 17-20
Author(s):  
Ryan Cassidy ◽  
Matthew McEniry
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Digital Content ◽  
Online Environment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
History Of ◽  
Video Game Consoles ◽  
Industrial Standards ◽  
New Generation

Purpose – This two-part study aims to expose the challenges and establish the necessity of preserving digital content, with a focus on console video games. Design/methodology/approach – Through a method of establishing the history of video game consoles, identifying the challenges presented by the format and addressing the current preservation efforts, this article serves as a brief retrospective of the issues and a guide to extending the conversation. Findings – Representing a unique format, heavily reliant on advances in technological and industrial standards, console video games have experienced a demonstrated lack of preservation. Originality/value – With special attention to the non-gamer, this is an introduction to the conversation and an invitation to lend expertise to not only an often overlooked area of popular culture, which is facing (and in some cases, has experienced) irretrievable loss of information, but also to other formats facing adjustment to the digital, always-online environment.

scholarly journals Video Games as Dating Platforms: Exploring Digital Intimacies through a Chinese Online Dancing Video Game

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Liu
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
New Media ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Online Dating ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Media Industry ◽  
Digital Products

In the relatively young field of new media studies, both video games and online dating platforms are identified as being important and popular genres of digital products, which are often discussed separately. This article argues that these two genres of digital products are not so much separate but entangled elements of the same processes of technological shifts in media industry, development of people’s online leisure activities, and the convergence of digital genres. To provide empirical evidence, this article examines a Chinese dancing video game, QQ Dazzling Dance (QQ Xuan Wu), which creatively juxtaposes these two genres of participatory digital culture and recognizes the analytical and critical values in doing so.

Video games and young children’s evolving sense of identity: a qualitative study

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina H. Bassiouni ◽  
Chris Hackley
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Decision Making ◽  
Sense Of Identity ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to investigate children’s experience as consumers of video games and associated digital communication technology, and the role this experience may play in their evolving senses of identity. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative depth interviews and discussions were conducted in a convenience sample consisting of 22 children of both genders aged 6-12 years, parents and video games company executives in the southwest of the UK. The fully transcribed data sets amounting to some 27,000 words were analysed using discourse analysis. Findings The findings revealed the heightened importance that the knowledge of video games plays in children’s strategies for negotiating their nascent sense of identity with regard to peer groups, family relationships and gender identity. Video games were not only a leisure activity but also a shared cultural resource that mediated personal and family relationships. Research limitations/implications The study is based on an interpretive analysis of data sets from a small convenience sample, and is therefore not statistically generalisable. Practical implications This study has suggested that there may be positive benefits to children’s video game playing related to aspects of socialisation, emotional development and economic decision-making. An important caveat is that these benefits arise in the context of games as part of a loving and ordered family life with a balance of activities. Social implications The study hints at the extent to which access to video games and associated digital communications technology has changed children’s experience of childhood and integrated them into the adult world in both positive and negative ways that were not available to previous generations. Originality/value This research addresses a gap in the field and adds to an understanding of the impact of video games on children’s development by drawing on children’s own expression of their subjective experience of games to engage with wider issues of relationships and self-identity.

Video game–induced tourism: a new frontier for destination marketers

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis-Etienne Dubois ◽  
Chris Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Travel Motivation ◽  
New Frontier ◽  
Online Comments ◽  
The World ◽  
The Media

Purpose This paper aims to expand the media-related tourism literature in a new domain of application by highlighting a connection between the world of video games and tourism. Design/methodology/approach Through deductive content analysis, this study looks at 137 online comments posted on popular gaming and travel websites that connect two popular video games (Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed Unity) and travel motivation. Findings Results establish that video games share similar travel motivation elements with film and should be considered as a driver of tourism. It argues that destinations should consider video games as a platform for motivating tourists before they consider investing in virtual reality. It outlines opportunities for destinations interested in video game-induced tourism and calls for more research and case studies that link video games with destinations. Originality/value This is, to the authors’ knowledge, the first paper to investigate this connection. As such, it outlines untapped opportunities for destinations interested in video game-induced tourism and opens up a new line of research within media-related tourism literature.

Parental perspectives on video game genre preferences and motivations of children with Down syndrome

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey Prena ◽  
John L. Sherry
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Brain Plasticity ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Children With Down Syndrome ◽  
Genre Preferences

Purpose Video games have the potential to improve brain plasticity in people with Down syndrome. However, little has been done to understand video game preferences in this population. The purpose of this paper is to describe a brief exploration of video game preferences in children with Down syndrome. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was used to collect information from parents of children with Down syndrome about their child’s favorite video games and why they like video games. Findings Children with Down syndrome, as reported by their parents, most frequently play action/adventure games, and have several motivating factors for game play including overcoming challenges to gain reward and having fun engaging in the game world. Research limitations/implications The current study only recruited from a small sample of the Down syndrome population and therefore may lack generalizability. Practical implications Gaining a better understanding of which aspects of video games appeal to children with Down syndrome. Knowing what they prefer will enable us to design games that are engaging and cognitively beneficial. Originality/value This paper proposes the importance of video game play to promote development in children with Down syndrome.

scholarly journals The evolution of free time throughout history. Video games as a modern leisure activity

2019 ◽  
pp. 187-200
Author(s):  
Sylwia Polcyn
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Technological Progress ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Leisure Activity ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Technological Research ◽  
Self Development ◽  
The Subject

Against the background of civilizational development, the 21st century appears as a time of great opportunities of self-development and general progress but also as a time of various new leisure activities. Thanks to the society’s prosperity, as a consequence of scientific and technological research as well as technological progress, our lives have been improving on a daily basis, evolving towards “excellence”. A similar evolution has taken place in terms of leisure activities that have been known since antiquity. Some of them have slipped into oblivion, giving way to more interesting and controversial forms of leisure, including computer games. Computer games have become a part of our society; the role they have played in the 21st century is immense. Both children and teenagers are involved in this sort of pastime on a daily basis. To many of them, a day without their favourite game or virtual hero is hard to imagine. When asked about computer games, most adolescents will flood you with information on the subject. To children and teenagers, games are a source of lively colours, sounds and great opportunities. They offer a world beyond a child’s common experience. Games make a child feel needed. Most of all, computer games are more attractive and more easily accessible than other leisure activities.

Challenging leisure activities and mental health: are they more beneficial for some people than for others?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziggi Ivan Santini ◽  
Vibeke Koushede ◽  
Carsten Hinrichsen ◽  
Malene Kubstrup Nelausen ◽  
Katrine Rich Madsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Leisure Activity ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Work Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mental Well Being

Purpose Previous studies have shown a positive association between being engaged or challenged through a leisure activity and good mental health; however, this relationship may vary by the extent to which individuals feel challenged at work or school. This study aims to examine whether a challenging work/study (or the lack of it) moderates the relationship between engaging in challenging leisure activity and mental health. Design/methodology/approach Data from 2,406 adults 16–64 years old from The Danish Mental Health and Well-Being Survey 2016 were linked to Danish national register-based data. Mental well-being (outcome) was assessed using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and depression/anxiety symptoms (outcome) were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-4. Multivariable linear regressions were performed to estimate the association between challenging leisure activity (predictor) and challenging work/study (potential moderator). Findings Overall, engaging in a challenging leisure activity was positively associated with mental well-being and negatively associated with anxiety symptoms. For these two, a challenging work/study significantly moderated the relationships. The positive association between a challenging activity and mental well-being was strongest among individuals not employed or studying as well as individuals feeling less challenged at work/school. Similarly, the negative association between a challenging activity and anxiety symptoms was strongest among individuals not employed or studying as well as individuals feeling less challenged at work/school. Among individuals with a very challenging work/study, challenging leisure activity was not associated with anxiety symptoms. Finally, engaging in a challenging leisure activity did not significantly predict depression symptoms. Originality/value Mental health promotion strategies may focus on promoting challenging leisure activities especially among groups not employed or enrolled in education or among individuals that do not feel challenged through their work or studies. The results may further have implications for efforts to address and protect employee/student mental health at workplaces or schools.

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