Coupled with data on the occurrence of historical epidemics, this study examines the impact of an epidemic on the labor force participation rate of the affected country. We find robust evidence that the outbreak of an epidemic alters human behavior and negatively affects the labor force participation rate. The negative impact could be attributed to cultural attitudes toward uncertainty avoidance. A country with a higher uncertainty avoidance index will suffer from a more significant decline in the labor force participation rate. The negative impact is more pronounced among males and younger workers in low-and middle-income countries.

During the process of international economic integration, the labor issue plays a vital, urgent, and long-term role in the sustainable development of the economy. The impact of employment on a country's investment decisions is significant. The material underpinning of a nation's socio-economic growth is its transport infrastructure. The impact of infrastructure upgrades on employment in Vietnam's economic sectors is the focus of this article. Furthermore, the study investigates whether the Vietnamese government's annual investment in infrastructure development benefits employees as projected (using data from the Vietnam General Statistics Office (VNGSO) for 19 economic sectors from 2005 to 2019). The results of the System Generalized Method of Moments (System-GMM) show that improving the quality of transport infrastructure can significantly increase employment rates in different sectors. The data show that transport infrastructure plays a key role in ensuring smooth connectivity of the entire national, regional and local economies. It reduces transport costs and facilitates the mobility of workers.JEL Classification J8; L91; O18

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Purpose This study aims to investigate the determinants of herd behavior in online hotel service evaluations, focusing on the cultural and geographic distance characteristics of customers. Design/methodology/approach On the basis of 381,462 TripAdvisor reviews of hotels in the USA written by more than 100,000 customers from 92 countries, this study uses the empirical analysis to explore the collective roles of cultural distance, geographic distance and hospitality experience on herd behavior in online hotel ratings. Findings Cultural and geographic distances between customers and product and service locations positively affect herding and these two effects are substitutable. The hospitality experience of customers attenuates the impacts of distances on herding. These results are robust for multiple hotel service ratings. Practical implications Findings help hotels understand perceptual biases of customers on hotel services under the social influence and consequently develop effective marketing strategies to boost hotel revenues and increase profitability. Originality/value The research contributes to hospitality and online review literature by understanding how cultural and geographic distances shape online hotel service evaluations under the root of the uncertainty of decision-making and the observation of others’ behavior. The research also contributes to the distances in international business literature by deepening the understanding of the substitution and heterogeneity of distance effects. Methodologically, a time-varying and monotonously increasing variable is constructed to depict customers’ hospitality experience. The extensive data volume ensures the generalizability of our results.