This study employs the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to examine the resilience and recovery strategies of tourism micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through comparative case studies of two eco-tourism destinations - Pagsanjan and Cavinti - the research investigates how institutional arrangements shaped MSE responses to unprecedented disruptions while maintaining commitments to environmental sustainability. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 30 stakeholders and analysis of policy documents, the study reveals three critical elements of institutional resilience: flexible multi-level governance arrangements that enabled rapid adaptation of rules and practices; robust community attributes, particularly social capital and local leadership, that facilitated innovative collective responses; and effective coordination mechanisms among government agencies, businesses, and community groups that supported both immediate crisis management and longer-term sustainability goals. The findings advance theoretical understanding of how polycentric governance arrangements can help reconcile competing priorities during crisis periods, while also generating practical insights for enhancing the resilience of tourism-dependent communities. The study demonstrates that institutional frameworks maintaining focus on environmental stewardship through collaborative resource management initiatives can effectively balance recovery imperatives with sustainability objectives. These insights contribute to both scholarly discussions of institutional responses to crisis and practical approaches to building more resilient and sustainable tourism systems in developing country contexts.

The adoption of quarter systems by an increasing number of universities has led to a rise in summer program opportunities for students. These programs not only enhance academic knowledge but also potentially develop students’ internal abilities. In previous studies, summer program participants developed some non-cognitive skills or maintained most cognitive and non-cognitive skills during summer, while non-participants experienced a decline in several skills. However, how these changes in skills occurred is unclear. This study examined the formation of skill changes during summer and the impact of summer programs on skill development and formations to shed light on this point. Various production function forms of skills, including a dynamic factor model, were explored and employed for analysis. The Global Perspective Inventory, which measures cognitive and non-cognitive skills simultaneously, was examined for first-year and second-year students at our university. The findings indicate strong self-productivity across all skills, with weaker cross-productivity. Estimation results suggest that cognitive skills may have contributed to non-cognitive skill development to a similar extent as non-cognitive skills did to cognitive skills. However, the influence of non-cognitive skills appeared to be more consistent. Interpersonal skills demonstrated offsetting cross-productivity, while intrapersonal skills bolstered both cognitive and intrapersonal abilities. Summer programs contributed to the development of both cognitive and non-cognitive skills. The application of dynamic models provided insights into the crucial non-cognitive skills driving overall skill development even in a short period.

This paper examines the administrative capacity to implement disaster prevention measures, focusing on the organizational structure of disaster prevention and crisis management departments. Using the dataset from staff records between 1999 and 2022, it investigates the factors that characterize the organizational patterns. The main findings are as follows: Firstly, the most prominent organizational structure that grants control to the disaster prevention and crisis management department is observed when the governor has a background outside central government bureaucracy, members of parliament, or local politicians. The second significant factor is when the region has experienced a strong earthquake of magnitude 6 or higher. On the other hand, when disaster management is positioned under the general affairs department or as an independent department, the most significant features include the governor’s long tenure (three terms or more), a high fiscal balance rate, and a comprehensive business continuity planning process. Secondly, according to the hypothesis, if a local government has more financial resources, it tends to have a control-oriented organizational structure. Conversely, if there are more human resources, it will likely adopt a coordination-oriented structure. In terms of path dependency, the longer the governor’s term, the more likely it is for the region to have a coordination-oriented structure, while regions with a history of experiencing a strong earthquake tend to adopt a control-oriented structure. Regarding central government-led initiatives, even if a region is designated as a high-priority earthquake disaster area or is actively involved in developing government-led business continuity plans, it does not adopt a low-spread control-oriented structure. From these findings, it is evident that while a control-oriented organizational structure is ideal, in practice, the emphasis is placed on inter-departmental coordination. Therefore, it can be concluded that many prefectures adopt a coordination-oriented structure.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the changes in the topics of the policies of Japanese prime ministers. We use structural topic modeling to analyze policy speeches delivered by past prime ministers to quantitatively track fluctuations in topic prevalence over time. We also compare the composition of topic-specific keywords within speeches from the Democratic Party versus the Liberal Democratic Party, highlighting distinctive policy language and thematic emphases used by each political party.

In recent years, functions such as comments and retweets on social media have made it possible to observe various public reactions and evaluations expressed online. This paper explores the online activities such as likes and replies on YouTube videos related to eleven Japanese Prime Ministers to investigate how former Prime Ministers are evaluated in online spaces. The study utilizes the YouTube Data API and Perspective API to measure the toxicity of comments and applies multiple regression analysis and wordcloud to explore factors affecting toxicity. The results show that for some Prime Ministers, higher toxicity in comments leads to more likes, while in other cases the opposite or different patterns appear.

This paper aims to illustrate how Donald Trump’s rhetoric shifted and how YouTube comments responded to his speech videos before and after the 2024 U.S. presidential election. We analyze three of his speeches: a campaign speech in Las Vegas in September 2024, a victory speech in Florida immediately following election day, and the inauguration speech in January 2025, employing wordcloud, sentiment analysis, and topic modeling. We also examine YouTube comments on these speech videos by comparing toxicity scores. The results reveal distinct characteristics in his speeches depending on the election stage, but shifts in toxicity in YouTube comments do not correspond directly to those rhetorical strategies. Thus, the question remains whether Trump’s speeches or social media more strongly promote polarization in the U.S.