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This study investigates the role of environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies in enhancing the resilience of Chinese firms during the COVID-19 crisis. By analyzing data from over 3,069 publicly listed companies, the research aims to elucidate the impact of robust ESG practices on stock market performance and operational outcomes during economic disruptions.

Using a dataset comprising ESG scores and financial performance metrics of Chinese firms, we conduct an empirical analysis to assess the correlation between ESG practices and corporate resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study focuses on evaluating the individual contributions of the social and governance components to overall firm performance.

The analysis reveals that firms with higher ESG scores, especially in social and governance aspects, exhibit superior stock market performance and operational outcomes during the pandemic. Companies with strong governance mechanisms demonstrate more pronounced benefits, including better long-term sales growth and return on equity (ROE). The findings highlight the critical role of ESG policies in ensuring corporate stability and competitive advantage during crises.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of corporate ESG ratings on corporate trust and offers a detailed discussion on the protective role of ESG/CSR on firm value during crises, thus providing an original literature contribution.

In this paper, the authors aim to study the relationship between hydrogen embrittlement (HE) susceptibility and cathodic current density applied on the X70 steel girth welds.

The HE susceptibility of X70 steel girth welds were investigated through slow strain rate tensile test and observed and analyzed by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope methods.

The results show that HE susceptibility of X70 girth weld was basically unchanged with increasing of ion concentration while gradually increased and maintain at a specific value with the increase of cathodic current density. As for same ion content, a dense calcareous deposit layer generated on the sample surface in soil simulation solution with Ca2+ and Mg2+ resulted a decreased HE susceptibility while the porous calcareous deposit layer resulted a increased HE susceptibility.

A logistic regression model was established to describe the correlation between HE index and the cathodic current density.

This study aims to elucidate the process and internal mechanism of place identity construction in traditional villages under the impact of tourism by taking Cuandixia village as a case. The research methods comprise participatory observation and in-depth interviews with the residents. The main results are as follows: the impact of tourism on traditional villages is mainly reflected in space reconstruction, livelihood change, social relations restructuring and culture change; under the impact of tourism, the representation of residents’ identity construction shows complexity, with positive and negative effects; and the place identity construction of residents affects their perception of and attitudes toward tourism. Moreover, self-esteem and self-efficacy principles play a key role in their perception of tourism. This study provides some reference for further investigation of the tourism development model and the mental mechanism of residents in traditional villages.

Tourism and hospitality employment have long faced widely recognised challenges with regard to employment, its workforce and the workplace environment, issues that have been addressed by generations of policymakers and practitioners without evident success or solution. These wicked problems are frequently characterised by inherent paradoxes and, therefore, accepting the tenets of paradox theory provides the basis for recognising the need to accept contradictions as a reality which a search for solutions will not resolve. This chapter presents six examples of wicked problems in tourism and hospitality employment, which are underpinned by paradoxes as proxies for the much wider range of intractable problems that beset policy-making and practice in this vital area of tourism and hospitality. The chapter concludes by suggesting ways in which wicked problems can be accommodated, and stakeholders can learn to understand and live with paradoxes.

Despite the unparalleled importance of value within healthcare, value-based models remain underutilised in the procurement of medical devices. Research is needed to understand what factors incentivise standard, low-priced device purchasing as opposed to value-adding devices with potentially higher overall health outcomes. Framed in agency theory, we examine the conditions under which different actors involved in purchasing decisions select premium-priced, value-adding medical devices over low-priced, standard medical devices.

We conducted 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects scenario-based vignette experiments on three UK-based online samples of managers (n = 599), medical professionals (n = 279) and purchasing managers (n = 449) with subjects randomly assigned to three treatments: (1) cost-saving incentives, (2) risk-sharing contracts and (3) stronger (versus weaker) clinical evidence.

Our analysis demonstrates the harmful effects of intra-organisational cost-saving incentives on value-based purchasing (VBP) adoption; the positive impact of inter-organisational risk-sharing contracts, especially when medical professionals are involved in decision-making; and the challenge of leveraging clinical evidence to support value claims.

Our results demonstrate the need to align incentives in a context with multiple intra- and inter-organisational agency relationships at play, as well as the difficulty of reducing information asymmetry when information is not easily interpretable to all decision-makers. Overall, the intra-organisational agency factors strongly influenced the choices for the inter-organisational agency relationship.

We contribute to VBP in healthcare by examining the role of intra- and inter-organisational agency relationships and incentives concerning VBP (non-) adoption. We also examine how the impact of such mechanisms differs between medical and purchasing (management) professionals.