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Based on the research of free trade agreements on alleviating service trade policy heterogeneity and its impact on manufacturing exports, this article aims to not only provide a basis for China's strategy of promoting regional economic integration, but also provide a policy reference for the manufacturing industry to expand the export market space.

This study uses the two principles of “answering” and “scoring” to quantify the indicators of service trade policy heterogeneity to test the relationship between heterogeneity of service trade policy, free trade agreement and manufacturing export.

According to empirical study, the export of Chinese manufacturing firms is severely hampered by the variety of service trade regulations, and the bigger the enterprise, the more hampered it is. In comparison to communications, transport and commerce, the financial industry's policy heterogeneity has a greater negative impact on certain industries. The major methods used to reduce the impact of service trade policy heterogeneity on manufacturing exports are product price increases and product quantity reductions. Also, by reducing the heterogeneity of service trade regulations and fostering industrial exports, the free trade agreement that China has signed can be quite successful. The open commitment in the area of national treatment, however, can reduce policy heterogeneity and advance manufacturing.

In the area of market access, the effect of export is superior to the open promise. Thus, in order to effectively support the stabilization of international trade, China should actively encourage the negotiation and signing of higher-quality and mutually beneficial free trade agreements.

This study investigates the influence of augmented reality (AR) on consumer behavior and decision-making in the context of retail. By developing a conceptual framework that highlights AR’s distinct characteristics and its contribution to the theme of human-centricity and resilience, this research explores the cognitive and affective responses triggered by AR experiences and their subsequent impact on consumer choices.

The study employs a comprehensive literature review approach, delving into the intricate relationships between AR, consumer behavior and decision-making. Through the exploration of factors such as interactivity, vividness, body image perception, narcissism, information processing preference, privacy concerns and situational surroundings, the study develops a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms underlying AR’s effects.

The study aligns with the contemporary focus on human-centeredness and resilience in the digital age. It reveals that interactive and vivid AR experiences significantly enhance consumer enjoyment and influence decision-making processes. Furthermore, the study uncovers how individual traits and contextual factors shape consumer responses to AR, shedding light on the broader landscape of consumer behavior.

While acknowledging limitations in generalizability and potential publication bias, this study offers a fresh perspective by accounting for moderating effects and situational contexts. Future research directions might involve longitudinal studies to capture evolving trends in the dynamic realm of AR in retail.

Businesses and marketers have the opportunity to utilize the knowledge acquired from this study to effectively integrate AR technologies into their customer engagement strategies, thereby promoting a customer-centric approach in their operations. The results emphasize the utmost importance of creating AR experiences that align with user preferences and provide meaningful interaction, ultimately leading to the development of sustainable consumer decisions in the digital age.

Distinct from existing literature, this study contributes to the theme of human-centricity and resilience by examining the influence of AR on consumer behavior. This contribution enriches discussions on sustainable consumer choices in the digital era. Employing a comprehensive literature review approach, we explore key factors including interactivity, vividness, body image perception, narcissism, information processing preference, privacy concerns and situational surroundings. This approach deepens our understanding of AR’s influence on consumer behavior, presenting a valuable addition to the field.

Recent growth of metaverse adoption has impacted the adoption of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) which is becoming increasingly attractive. Recently, researchers have explored the adoption of NFTs in metaverse platform. However, considering the risk involved in the transaction, the need for trust on NFT transaction arises. Drawing on trust transfer theory, this study aims to fill this gap by investigating the trust transfer process from trust on metaverse platform and online payment. Moreover, the moderating effect of perceived effectiveness of dispute resolution (PEDR) between trust and adoption of NFT transaction in metaverse platform is explored.

This study adopts an empirical approach using a questionnaire survey in India based on simple random sampling technique and is analyzed using structural equation modeling through the Smart PLS software.

The findings reveal that users with a higher trust disposition will trust the metaverse platforms, online payments and NFT transactions in the metaverse. Also, the study reveals that trust transfers from the metaverse platform and online payments toward NFT transactions in the metaverse, which further leads to the adoption intent of NFT. The study provides information for platforms on how the trust transfer process occurs and how to manage conflict resolution to attract the trust of users to use NFTs in their transaction.

The study makes a valuable contribution by identifying the significant impact of trust disposition and social influence in explaining user trust in NFT transactions within the metaverse. Also, the study explores how established trust in conventional online payment mechanisms translates and contributes to trust-building on NFTs and transactional contexts within virtual worlds.

This study implies that ensuring robust security measures for NFT transactions, such as two-factor authentication, blockchain verification and secure wallets, can reassure users with different levels of trust disposition.

Metaverse platforms should focus on educating users about how trust operates within their environment by providing tutorials, FAQs and support channels to help users navigate the process confidently. Highlighting security measures, user rights and privacy protections can enhance trust toward NFT payment.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study contributes to research as it is the first of its kind study to explore the factors affecting adoption intent of NFTs transaction in metaverse platform using trust transfer theory. Thereby, developing substantial theoretical and practical contributions by considering an emerging technology.

The study aims to explore the role of non-mainstream financial schemes in supporting innovation within SMEs in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. It investigates how informal credit, business group affiliation and foreign and state ownership arrangements influence SMEs’ innovative activities in environments with limited access to formal financial resources.

The research utilizes data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys, focusing on 8,466 firms across 11 sub-Saharan African countries from 2011 to 2020. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the impact of various financial sources on SMEs’ innovation outputs, particularly incremental innovations, due to data constraints on radical innovations.

The findings reveal that informal credit significantly supports SME innovation, while business group resources can hinder innovative activities by restricting firms to routine tasks. State ownership positively influences innovation, whereas the impact of foreign ownership is inconclusive. These results highlight the critical role of alternative financial mechanisms in the innovation activities of SMEs in resource-limited settings.

This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the effects of non-mainstream financial schemes on SME innovation in developing countries. It offers new theoretical insights into how SMEs navigate financial constraints to foster innovation and suggests policy implications for improving financial support systems for SMEs in such contexts. The research underscores the importance of contextualizing entrepreneurship studies to better understand the unique challenges and opportunities faced by SMEs in developing regions.

The author aims to walk beside the singular privileged class of White women’s suffrage feminist origin story to (re)construct plausible feminist fragmented threads as antenarratives in the context of business management education. To accomplish this (re)assembling of threads, the author examined two North American business trade publications created and used within two business schools, Harvard University’s Harvard Business Review (HBR), established in 1922, and Western University’s The Quarterly Review of Commerce (The Quarterly), established in 1933.

The author carefully reviewed almost 4,000 articles from HBR and The Quarterly, focusing on 308 articles that addressed the experiences of complex women. With this subset of collected articles, the author highlighted overlooked details, accidents and errors, generating interest and curiosity about the emergence of these fragmented and paradoxical origins that align with Foucault's histories of errors. By grouping these narrative fragments into themes and conducting a critical discourse analysis that incorporated influences from the external environment, the author reconstructed plural feminist origins antenarratives.

The themes discovered, including women as consumers, explicit working women concerns, women as authors/coauthors, diversity and social justice initiatives, and women in higher education/training, are not merely descriptive observations. They are the building blocks for identifying and analyzing the power relations circulating among feminist origins antenarratives within management education circles. These antenarratives include shedding light on women working in capitalist contexts, the educational needs of business women, and men and naming (but not breaking) the “mythologies” of women at work. These findings are transformative to the understanding of plural feminist origins.

The uniqueness of this work lies in its threefold contributions: moving away from the notion of a singular feminist origin story and instead embracing the complexity of multiple, paradoxical and incomplete origins; shedding light on the spectrum of power relations – ranging from productive to oppressive – that shaped the experiences of women in two management educational circles during the first half of the 20th century; and introducing the concept of inflection points, which underscores the fluidity of knowledge.

This study proposes a novel method utilising a speech-word pair bipartite network to examine the correlation structure between members of parliament (MPs) in the context of the UK- China relationship.

We construct MP-word pair bipartite networks based on the co-occurrence relationship between MPs and words in their speech content. These networks are then mapped into monopartite MPs correlation networks. Additionally, the study calculates correlation network indicators and identifies MP communities and factions to determine the characteristics of MPs and their interrelation in the UK-China relationship. This includes insights into the distribution of key MPs, their correlation structure and the evolution and development trends of MP factions.

Analysis of the parliamentary speeches on China-related affairs in the British Parliament from 2011 to 2020 reveals that the distribution and interrelationship of MPs engaged in UK-China affairs are centralised and discrete, with a few core MPs playing an integral role in the UK-China relationship. Among them, MPs such as Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, David Cameron, Lord Hunt of Chesterton and Lord Howell of Guildford formed factions with significant differences; however, the continuity of their evolution exhibits unstableness. The core MP factions, such as those led by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and David Cameron, have achieved a level of maturity and exert significant influence.

The research has several limitations that warrant acknowledgement. First, we mapped the MP-word pair bipartite network into the MP correlation network for analysis without directly analysing the structure of MPs based on the bipartite network. In future studies, we aim to explore various types of analysis based on the proposed bipartite networks to provide more comprehensive and accurate references for studying UK-China relations. In addition, we seek to incorporate semantic-level analyses, such as sentiment analysis of MPs, into the MP-word -pair bipartite networks for in-depth analysis. Second, the interpretations of MP structures in the UK-China relationship in this study are limited. Consequently, expertise in UK-China relations should be incorporated to enhance the study and provide more practical recommendations.

Firstly, the findings can contribute to an objective understanding of the characteristics and connotations of UK-China relations, thereby informing adjustments of focus accordingly. The identification of the main factions in the UK-China relationship emphasises the imperative for governments to pay greater attention to these MPs’ speeches and social relationships. Secondly, examining the evolution and development of MP factions aids in identifying a country’s diplomatic focus during different periods. This can assist governments in responding promptly to relevant issues and contribute to the formulation of effective foreign policies.

First, this study expands the research methodology of parliamentary debates analysis in previous studies. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study the UK-China relationship through the MP-word-pair bipartite network. This outcome inspires future researchers to apply various knowledge networks in the LIS field to elucidate deeper characteristics and connotations of UK-China relations. Second, this study provides a novel perspective for UK-China relationship analysis, which deepens the research object from keywords to MPs. This finding may offer important implications for researchers to further study the role of MPs in the UK-China relationship.

This study proposes a novel scheme for analysing the correlation structure between MPs based on bipartite networks. This approach offers insights into the development and evolving dynamics of MPs.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges of implementing accountable artificial intelligence (AI) systems in India, focusing on the need for algorithms to justify their decisions, especially in subjective and complex scenarios. By analyzing various government projects, documented biases and conducting empirical case studies and experiments, the study highlights the limitations of AI in recognizing the nuances of India’s unique social landscape. It aims to underscore the importance of integrating political philosophy to ensure that AI systems are held accountable within India’s sociopolitical context, urging policymakers to develop frameworks for responsible AI decision-making.

The research adopts a mixed-methods approach to address the five research questions. It begins with an extensive literature review, focusing on AI’s transformative potential, algorithmic bias and accountability in the Indian context. Data is collected from 15 AI use cases in health care, education and public safety, 13 government automated decision tools and five bias cases, including facial recognition and caste-based discrimination. Additionally, ten case studies and three experiments on ChatGPT are analyzed. Content analysis is used to interpret and categorize the data, identifying patterns and themes. Specific case studies and experiments on autocompletion in search engines further support the findings.

The study revealed significant limitations in current AI systems when applied to India’s complex socio-cultural landscape. Analyzing 15 AI applications and 13 government projects, the research identified multiple instances of algorithmic bias. Experiments with Google’s autocomplete and ChatGPT showed that these systems often reinforce social stereotypes and struggle with nuanced, subjective situations. The findings emphasize the accountability gap in AI-driven decisions, highlighting the need for rigorous oversight, particularly in welfare projects where errors could lead to severe consequences. The study recommends developing regulatory frameworks, improving AI design and raising public awareness to address these challenges.

In the context of complex societies like India, a pressing concern arises: who should assume responsibility for the repercussions stemming from algorithmic failures to comprehend subjective complexities? To this end, there exist no serious scholarly works toward which present paper tries to shed new insights. It draws upon insights from the corpus of political philosophy literature, encompassing both classical and contemporary notions of responsibility, and seeks to establish connections between these concepts and the unique sociopolitical structure of India. The work is unique in the focus of the paper and is original in the direction projected.

The purpose of this research is to examine the role of anticipation as a source of well-being in extended service contexts involving constraints on one’s agency (e.g. aged care). In these service contexts, consumers have limited ownership over their time usage and foci of anticipation, which affects their well-being.

Semi-structured interviews (n = 35) were conducted with members of the aged care ecosystem (residents, family and staff). Two separate aged care service models were investigated as they typically reflect different levels of agency/constraint: retirement villages and residential aged care facilities.

Results indicate that the subjective passage of time is influenced by one’s foci of anticipation. Having regular foci of anticipation both at a micro- and macro-level can generate well-being benefits for recipients. The importance of restabilization and building positive curves to counteract potential negative implications was identified.

This research is the first service study to investigate the concept of anticipation and subjective time perception as key components of one’s well-being in extended service encounters. We propose a novel conceptual model that combines micro- and macro-level foci into an iterative package to mitigate the after-effects of anticipation. We also demonstrate how Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) (good health for well-being) can be addressed through service research.

The George Floyd anti-police protests had substantial material and social impacts on police departments around the country in 2020, yet, little is known about the correlates of attitudes towards police during this period. Even less is known about what role key aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic context, in addition to misinformation about police, might have played.

I construct two regression models (one multinomial, one ordinary least squares) analyzing a sample of 1,401 adults in the United States, collected between September and October of 2020. I include key indicators of institutional trust (e.g. trust in news media and trust in medical authorities), of pandemic context (e.g. importance of mask wearing and of social distancing) and of misinformation about policing (e.g. accuracy in estimates about police killings).

Results indicate that people reporting higher trust in news media were more fearful of police mistreatment and that those who were more objectively inaccurate about the number of unarmed Black men killed by police were also more fearful of police mistreatment. These effects were found net of demographic controls (i.e. race, age, sex, SES) and net of attitudes about the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, trust in news media was directly associated with objective statistical inaccuracy about the racial distribution of people killed by police.

This is the first study to show that, in 2020, both fear of police mistreatment and being misinformed about police behavior were connected and appear to have been exacerbated by peoples’ trust in news media. An implication of this is that exposure to misinformation in news media may have a direct effect on negative attitudes towards police which, in turn, may increase peoples’ fear of police mistreatment.

College student’s mental health issues have emerged as a significant public health concern. The urban campus environment, being the primary habitat for college students, plays a crucial role in influencing their mental health.

Based on survey data from 34 Chinese universities and 1173 college students in 2021, this study utilized deep learning and street view images to explore the relationship between various urban campus landscapes, college students' exercise participation, and mental health.

The study revealed substantial variations in campus landscape features, particularly in terms of spatial openness. While green campus landscapes (measured by the Green View Index and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) showed no significant impact on exercise participation or mental health, the Sky View Factor did. Higher levels of campus openness and exercise frequency were associated with better mental health. The study also underscored that the influence of urban campus landscapes on college students' mental health was mediated by their exercise participation. Notably, spatial openness emerged as the most prominent differentiating factor among urban campus landscape attributes, significantly affecting students' exercise participation and mental health.

Thus, fostering open campus environments and reducing spatial constraints are vital steps in creating a sustainable urban landscape that can help alleviate potential negative effects on college students' mental health issues.