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This study investigates career trajectory and work locations of doctoral students trained in Macao and analyses how their career paths are shaped by perceived macro-level factors. Respondents from four applied disciplinary areas were selected for semi-structured in-depth interviews. Research results show that doctoral students who graduated from Macao higher education institutions enjoy good career prospects in Mainland China. Their competitiveness in the research-related job market benefits from having a multi-level support system and a training mode that promotes government–university–industry collaboration. Policies and demand from industrial sectors are involved in students' learning experience through channels such as financial support, project collaboration and networks. Doctoral students in Macao are strategic planners and actors in leveraging their human capital. As Macao becomes an emerging destination for cultivating high-level research labour, findings from this study capture a model of human capital formation in China's cross-system context.

Since early times, the effects of a booming sector in other sectors of a small economy have been of interest to scholars. There is a general perception that the booming Gaming sector has contributed to the overall growth in Macau through the trickle-down effect, passing on the benefits of growth to other sectors. After the liberalization of the gaming industry in 2002, this booming sector experienced several years of exponential growth, becoming the driving industry for Macao’s economy. Several scholars and researchers have dedicated their studies to the effects of the casino gaming industry as a booming sector in such a small economy. However, there is a gap in what concerns measuring the influence of the Gaming sector as a driving industry for several other sectors or following industries of Macau’s economy. The purpose of this research study is to investigate in what measure the Gaming sector in Macao leveraged the other economic sectors and how related or correlated are the different industries of Macao’s Economy. A protocol-driven understanding of the state of the art on the interrelations between economic sectors and different techniques used to study those inter-relations was conducted through a systematic literature review. Given the limited available data on the Gross Value Added (GVA), or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on the supply side, as a central measure of economic activity in the different sectors, several possible interpolation models using auxiliary high-frequency data (indicators) were compared, to achieve the optimal model for interpolation of each variable. Several forecasts for the future performance of Macau's four major economic sectors were presented based on different regression techniques. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models were developed to assess the dependence of the future performance of a sector’s GVA on its past performance. Optimal Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models were created to identify the explanatory power of some sectors of Macau’s economy in others. Based on available auxiliary data in high-frequency (quarterly) it was possible to interpolate the quarterly GVA per economic sector, available only in low-frequency (annually), for the major sectors of Macao’s economy. Some sectors have a considerable explanatory power on the performance of other sectors, however, the proposed regression models did not identify a clear relation between the performance of the Gaming sector and the performance of other major sectors from Macao’s economy

Disney is a leading global cross-media entertainment giant. With its diversified business model, Disney has achieved significant success in film production, television programs, theme park and resort operations, product sales, and media networks. Disney not only has strong capabilities in content creation but also excels in distribution channels and platform construction. By continuously expanding its direct streaming services to consumers, such as Disney+, Disney is adapting to the changes in the digital age and further consolidating its leadership position in the global entertainment market. Nevertheless, Disney still faces many challenges, including rising copyright costs, threats from emerging competitors, the impact of global political and economic uncertainty, and addressing the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, an analysis of Disney's financial position considering these internal and external factors will help assess the company's intrinsic value and its future position. Based on the above background, this thesis aims to provide in-depth insights into the current financial situation and future development prospects of Disney Company through detailed financial analysis

This dissertation is research regarding the achievements and challenges in artificial intelligence (A) regulation at a domestic level and international level. This study is important because there are more legal issues regarding the application of AI, and AI has grown to be part of the public’s daily lives. A mixed method has been adopted in this research: doctrinal legal research and a comparative legal research method. AI was invented in the 1950s and in the 2000s, has been more accessible to the public. The first AI regulation, the EU AI ACT, has recently been enforced, an AI regulation that has been around for nearly seven decades after its invention. It is high time that regulators in different states invest more effort in AI regulations

According to research, it is found that images, music, and emotions are closely related, and integrating visual and tactile elements into the music creation process, combined with auditory experience, can enhance emotional expression and understandability. The results highlight the potential of tangible interfaces in autonomous music creation and promoting emotional well-being. This work aims to explore the intersection of music creation, emotional expression, and technological innovation by creating a unique tangible interface for music. It does this by combining the challenges presented by the complexity of modern music production, the emotional issues faced by today's youth, and bringing a new way of expression to the phonograph technology. It hopes to draw inspiration from the historical significance of the phonograph through visual expression, user experience, and algorithmic music generation technology, and seek to provide a new way of music creation for young people who are creative and curious but not musicians, and provide a new way to express emotions. All things considered, the project demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of combining historical inspiration with modern technology to create innovative solutions for music technology. Furthermore, it is focusing on enhancing the interface design even more and carrying out longitudinal research to assess the long-term effects on emotional expressiveness and user experience. It is also being explored as an artistic installation, hoping to bring more changes and presentation methods and provide users with a more comprehensive and immersive music creation and emotional expression experience

The adverse impact of sleep problems on children and adolescents’ health and development raises concern in the community. Although some studies have examined the association of sleep problems with behavioural problems and academic performance, few have been done in Macau, especially for the children population and regarding academic performance. Hence, the primary purpose of the present study was to identify sleep problems of children and adolescents in Macau and explore its relationship with behavioural problems and academic performance. 948 participants (466 children and 482 adolescents) from Macau were included in the study. Data was collected using the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) forms: CBCL, TRF and YSR. Children sleep problems were assessed by the reports of mother and father, in addition self-report was also included to measure adolescents sleep problems. Behavioural problems were reported by mother, father and teacher for children, as well as self-report for adolescents. Academic performance was the average of teacher’s rating of all academic subjects. The prevalence of sleep problems was 10.1% in children and 17.4% in adolescents. The results showed significant difference between children’s sleep problems and their mother and father-reported total behavioural problems, but not with teacher-reported total behavioural problems. However, whereas the t-test found that adolescent’s sleep problems significantly predicted all informants reported total behavioural problems, the chi-square test found no significant relationship between the two factors in teacher’s ratings, suggesting that while adolescents who had more sleep problems did show a higher frequency of total behavioural problems in the teacher’s perspective, but they may not be severe enough to be considered clinical. In addition, significant association between academic performance and sleep problems were only observed in children but not in adolescents; and no significant relationship was found between sleep problems and grade retention. Findings provided further support for some associations of sleep problems with behavioural problems and academic performance. In general, the findings of Macau were similar to those in other countries. Given that chronic sleep problems create multiple negative consequences to students’ lives, practical implications are provided to help lower it through the collaboration between parties, education about sleep hygiene and the development of healthy sleeping habits. Keywords: sleep problems; behavioural problems; academic performance; children; adolescents

Muslim community is one of the minority groups in Macau SAR China. Muslims are an interesting group in terms of research because of its diversity in respect to language, nationality, social status, and education level. Groups of people migrate for various reasons such as religion, politics, economy, and education. Individuals experience the age in between nineteen and twenty-four, which fall in the category of youth. Studies of Muslim youths have gained more attention in scholarship, statistical data, and research. The study seeks to understand Muslim students’ life and the needs of this minority group and explores how Muslim students perceive Islam and their own ability to cope with school related cultural pressures through qualitative, phenomenological approach, and focuses on exploring the common experiences of Muslim students in this city. This study used a conceptual framework based on critical race theory (CRT). We use in-depth interviews of five Muslim youth, ages between 19 and 24, to investigate their school life experiences and Islamic practices. We also administered questionnaires and field note to understand their social mobility, social capital and to gain a deeper understanding of their daily lives. A thematic analysis of the interview data produced the following themes: 1) Social mobility; 2) Social capital Relationship with friends; 3) Discrimination and micro-aggressions; and 4) Religion Identity. The study found that the Muslim status of the participants did not have a significant impact on their school experience, as they were able to find accommodation in their practice of religion and school life. However, the multiple identities of the participants as Macau citizens and their ethnic backgrounds did affect their social capital and sense of belonging. The study also examined the experiences of the participants within Macau society, including social factors such as racism. The results indicated that language and ethnicity were factors that hindered their integration into the community. In addition to the original themes, the analysis of the participants' stories in this research revealed two counter-narratives that challenge prevailing narratives. These counter-narratives include the deconstruction of oppressed Muslim women's narratives and the influence of local mainstream religious schooling on Muslim students' religious loyalty. These alternative narratives provide new insights into the lives of Muslim youths and challenge conventional stories. The findings of this study have important implications for educators, academics, and members of both Muslim and non-Muslim communities. By allowing youth to establish broader connections with society and increasing their motivation to participate in and contribute to the community, this study highlights the need for inclusive educational environments that support the diverse identities of students. Furthermore, the study provides young Muslims with a voice in society, empowering them to challenge dominant narratives and promote counter narratives that reflect their experiences and perspectives to meet critical race theory ethos of ongoing active struggle

Macau's retail industry was familiar to all sectors. Retailers take up massive responsibility for the Macau economy. There are few manufacturers in Macau, so products and goods are imported. As the front-line staff of a retail store, employees would need to face many people daily; it can be tiring and stressful for them. Therefore, this study examined the motivational factors of front-line staff in the retail industry. It is crucial to understand various motivational factors, as one of the challenges that retail entrepreneurs face is employee retention. This study evaluated the characteristics of motivation so that managers can develop some strategies for their employees. The qualitative research method was adopted in this study. In-depth interviews were conducted to determine various motivators and the reasons behind their motivation. This study used purposive sampling, and eight candidates were selected to conduct the interview. The results of the interviews concluded that monetary rewards like salary and sales incentives have the most significant effect on motivation. Relationships with colleagues and superiors also affect their motivation in the working environment. Moreover, employee benefits like public holidays, maternity leave, etc, are also one of the motivators. Different participants mentioned other motivators, such as recognition, teamwork, learning and growth opportunities, teamwork, and fit of interest. Based on the research question, this study concluded that monetary rewards have a larger effect on employees' motivation than job benefits. Managers and leaders can develop strategies based on this research, and future research can also examine some other motivational factors with a larger sample

In early 2020, the COVID-19 virus spread rapidly around the world within months. After countries around the world announced the outbreak of COVID-19, many industries suffered a severe recession, but a few industries were able to buck the trend and maintain good performance. The outbreak has driven strong demand for medical products and pharmaceuticals. As the epidemic continues to spread, people are in urgent need of drugs and vaccines to treat COVID-19, which directly promotes the development of the pharmaceutical industry (Alam et al., 2021). This study aims to explore the impact of announcements from the World Health Organization (WHO) or similar official agencies on the development of the epidemic during the COVID-19 epidemic on the stock prices of specific pharmaceutical companies. The study uses event study methodology to analyze the impact of events in the COVID-19 pandemic on these companies. Through an event study on 7 major events during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study found that the stock price changes of different pharmaceutical companies are not uniform. The WHO announcement of a global pandemic and the emergency authorization announcement of drugs have had different significant impacts on different types of pharmaceutical companies. This study provides new information for understanding the stock return change of specific pharmaceutical companies during the COVID-19 epidemic

The rapid development of counselling began after World War II. Meanwhile, texting services became available in the 1980s. Texting has been widely applied in both health area and mental health areas. A chatbot is a specific type of artificial intelligence (AI) that can have conversations with humans through texting. The combination of counselling and texting is known as chat counselling. The effectiveness of chatbots in alleviating psychological symptoms was supported by scientific research. Nonetheless, people hold different perceptions towards chatbots. Some common factors in counselling, including empathy and warmth, were also important in evaluating AI chatbots. Other important factors included acceptability, satisfaction and trust. The current study is the first to use AI as a counsellor. This study investigates people’s perceptions of human and AI counsellors (ChatGPT) and whether people can differentiate between human and AI. Participants needed to rate the counsellors in three scenarios: the original scenario taken from a training book, the human counsellor scenario generated from a text conversation with a human counsellor and the AI counsellor scenario produced by texting with ChatGPT, which acts as the counsellor. Prompts used to generate conversation with ChatGPT are included. The dialogues were parts of the conversations containing similar client responses and were presented using the WhatsApp interface. Questionnaires were delivered both online and in paper form. Results demonstrated that people’s ratings of human counsellors and AI counsellors did not differ in perceived empathy, acceptability, and satisfaction. While the warmth and trustworthiness of AI counsellors were perceived to be higher than those of human counsellors. On the other hand, people were unable to differentiate between human and AI counsellors in uncertain conditions. Younger people and the general population are more accurate in identifying between humans and AI, while people above 40 and psychologists or counsellors are less capable of doing so. The current study supports the potential of utilising ChatGPT in counselling. Having people experience and evaluate real chat counselling with human and AI counsellors can potentially eliminate some limitations of the current studies. Future studies can investigate how prior knowledge contributes to AI detection and examine AI counsellors' efficiency in longitudinal studies

The current study examined responses from 342 full-time and part-time employees in Macau’s gaming and public sector. The intention was to examine the relationship and explore the effect of organizational culture (innovative, supportive, and bureaucratic) and organizational leadership (transformational and transactional) on employee work engagement (cognitive, emotional, and physical) with the moderating role of organizational commitment (affective and continuance). The objectives of this study are mainly: 1) to explore the relationship between organizational culture and leadership with employee engagement respectively; 2) to further investigate employee engagement and the difference between the gaming sector and the public sector, and 3) to explore the moderating role of organizational commitment between the organizational culture and leadership to employee engagement respectively. Understanding the relationship between these essential elements is crucial for the individual and organization which ultimately leads to a sustainable and utmost performance for the benefit of Macau's constant economic development. While regression analysis represented transformational leadership as the powerful predictor of the three facets of work engagement to employees in both sectors. Though there was no relationship between the variables and the moderators, there was a positive interaction between transformational leadership, affective commitment (TFL x AC), and emotional and physical work engagement of the employees from the gaming sector, there was a positive interaction between innovative culture, affective commitment (IC x AC) and cognitive work engagement and a negative interaction between transactional leadership, continuance commitment (TL x CC) and emotional work engagement in the public sector subgroup. Results were interpreted concerning the organizations, leaders, and employees in both sectors in Macau, followed by a discussion on the implications of enhancing work engagement

This research is to assess the current status quo, strengths, and weaknesses of financial consumer protection mechanisms in Macao. According to the World Bank, financial consumer protection can bring positive impact on the development of financial sector, broadening financial inclusion and fostering economic growth. In 2022, under the backdrop of COVID-19 and downturn in economy, Macao Government announced its ambition to recover and diversify the economy of Macao by leveraging “1+4” Diversified Development Strategy, in which developing modern finance is one of the main priorities. The new Financial System Act took into effect on 1st November 2023 and this Act will enable non-financial institutions to apply for temporary licenses on fin-tech innovations within a controllable risk area. In the local context, does Macao have a strong financial consumer protection mechanism in place to goal for developing modern finance and face challenges brought by fin-tech? In this research, a mixed method consisting of doctrinal legal research method and comparative legal research method is adopted. 10 jurisdictions (Ireland, Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, European Union, Canada, and United States) were selected in comparison of rights for financial consumer protection based on the G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection and the results of which were then compared to the rights for financial consumer protection in Macao. The findings of this study show that the main strength of financial consumer protection mechanisms in Macao lies on the supervision of the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) on the banking sector and insurance sector, other financial institutions according to international principles; however, the in-depthness of work done by Macao in financial consumer protection is not as much as those done by other jurisdictions: in Macao, there is no policyholder protection scheme in the event of failure of insurance companies; no mystery shopping and consumer survey done by oversight bodies; narrow range of definition of vulnerable consumers; no financial literacy survey; no in-depth competition law; no in-depth guidelines to monitor advertising materials for financial products; no database for consumers to search for unregulated firms and scammers; no in-depth financial educational materials about the rights of financial consumers. It is recommended that Macao Government can learn from United Kingdom, Canada and European Union to adopt behavioural insights in developing financial consumer protection policy to protect financial consumers from being exploited by the financial service providers based on the consumers’ behavioural biases. Some literature suggested that consumers are vulnerable in digital landscape. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that Macao Government shall take proactive actions to strengthen the current financial consumer protection mechanism by adhering to the G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection, in order to develop modern finance and protect consumers from the risks posed by fin-tech

The extent of citizens' trust in government determines the success or failure of e-government initiatives. Nevertheless, the idiosyncrasies of the concept and the broad spectrum of its approach still present relevant challenges. This work presents a systematic literature review on e-government trust while elaborating and summarizing a conceptual analysis of trust, introducing evaluation methods for government trust, and compiling relevant research on e-government trust and intentional behavior. A total of 26 key factors that constitute trust have been identified and classified into six categories: Government trust, Trust in Internet and technology (TiIT), Trust in e-government (TiEG), Personal Beliefs, Trustworthiness, and Trust of intermediary (ToI). The value added of this work consists of developing a conceptual framework of TiEG to provide a significant reference for future in-depth studies and research on e-government trust.

The understanding of how people accept and embrace new policies is vital in today's world. This paper introduces an original way of looking at this by adapting the widely recognized Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT-2). The goal is to provide a foundational model for assessing policy acceptance. More specifically, we adapted the UTAUT-2 framework to study how Macau residents perceive the "Northbound Travel for Macau Vehicles" policy, which allows cars with Macau registration plates to enter China. Using structural equation modeling software (SmartPLS), we analyze data collected from 136 respondents who experienced the policy.Our findings reveal that Performance Expectancy (PE) and Habit (HB) significantly influence individuals' intention to take advantage of the policy. In other words, people are more likely to embrace policies they perceive as beneficial and that align with their existing habits. Effort Expectancy (EE) and Facilitating Conditions (FC) do not significantly impact acceptance, perhaps as a result of participants' familiarity with the policy and their resource availability. Surprisingly, while not directly tied to usage, Social Influence (SI) shows a high mean value, suggesting its potential role in policy acceptance when influential individuals adopt the policy. This pioneering research contributes to the field by bridging the gap between technology acceptance models and policy studies. Most importantly, it validates the use of the UTAUT-2 as a technology framework that is adapted for assessing policy acceptance.