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This chapter introduces the book’s purpose: to explore the niche technology space of Web3 and use it as a lens to reflect on the internet’s future. I’ll discuss the internet’s current state and key issues and then move into a definitional tour of Web3 and its underlying technology. The book’s core argument is presented: Web3 provides tangible social proof of what people want for the internet’s future. I’ll examine current challenges such as privacy concerns, unclear data ownership, and lack of transparency in online systems, which create power imbalances between technology controllers and users. The book argues for striving towards a more equitable and transparent digital future. This chapter serves as a starting point, offering insight into my decade-long research. It aims to familiarise readers with the case study approach and Web3 terminology used throughout the book. A chapter-by-chapter roadmap is provided to guide readers through the exploration of Web3 and its implications. Additionally, this chapter introduces my writing style and voice, preparing readers for the deeper analysis to come. While grounded in sociological knowledge, the chapter aims to make Web3 accessible and spark readers’ curiosity, encouraging them to pursue their own inquiries into this emerging field.

Although regulations to prevent financial wrongdoing exist in the USA, whistleblowing (WB) remains important in deterring unethical corporate behavior. The purpose of this study is to address the tension in the audit continuance literature by examining auditor resignations following a WB allegation.

WB allegation data is obtained from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration and through manually collecting media-reported WB allegations. The authors use a difference-in-difference research design to examine auditor resignations around WB allegations. The test sample is compared against a propensity-score-matched (PSM) sample of control firms.

Auditors are significantly less likely to resign from an engagement following a WB allegation. Auditors prefer to increase their fees and continue with the engagement rather than resign, even when faced with the heightened risks posed by WB allegations. These findings suggest that auditors value the ability to earn a consistent stream of increased revenue from their clients, in agreement with the risk-spreading theory of audit continuance literature.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines auditor resignations following a WB allegation. These findings contribute to the existing WB and auditing literature and add to the auditor acceptance/continuance literature. The findings are meaningful to shareholders, managers, researchers and especially to standard setters who are tasked with ensuring that auditors provide assurances about the accuracy of financial statements.

This study aims to examine the relationship between managerial ability and innovation efficiency, the mediating effect of digital transformation and the moderating effect of internal control.

This study collected A-share manufacturing listed companies in China from 2008 to 2019 and analyzed the data by means of multiple regression analysis, mediating effect test, moderating effect test and heterogeneity test. Finally, the authors conducted robustness test by remeasuring key variables and adding control variables.

The empirical results show that the higher managerial ability can improve innovation efficiency, internal control has a positive moderating effect and digital transformation plays a partial mediating effect on the relationship between managerial ability and innovation efficiency. Specially, it is found that the mediating effect of digital transformation is not significant in non-state-owned firms.

This study suggests that it is necessary to focus on the managerial ability in terms of both cultivation and supervision, to further deepen the digital transformation from the aspects of firms, government and society, especially to support the digital transformation of non-state-owned firms, and to make efforts to improve the corporate governance mechanism and internal control system, so as to better comprehensively realize the improvement of enterprise innovation efficiency.

Based on the mediating effect analysis of digital transformation and the moderating effect analysis of internal control, this study explores the role of managerial ability on innovation efficiency from a new perspective, expanding the related theoretical framework and research boundaries.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of venture capital (VC) in supporting corporate growth and innovation through participation in private placements. While VC provides essential financial support to companies, it remains unclear whether this involvement serves a strategic investment role or a purely financial one. This study seeks to elucidate the role of VC by analyzing changes in the price discount of private placements following VC participation.

The authors take the private placement events of China A share listed companies from April 2005 to January 2023 as the sample, and examine the influence of VC subscriptions on price discount rate.

VC subscriptions to private placements increase information asymmetry, consequently raising the discount rate. This relationship is influenced by the transaction characteristics and information environment. Specifically, VC subscriptions further elevate the discount rate when VC are geographically dispersed from the issuers, possess industry expertise in the issuers’ sector, allocate raised funds for asset restructuring or non-digital investments and when the issuers are in their growth stages. Moreover, the positive correlation between VC subscriptions and the discount rate is more pronounced under conditions of lower internal control quality and weaker external media supervision. Higher discount rates in VC-subscribed private placements result in lower R&D investment and investment efficiency by the issuers, leading to larger-scale VC sell-offs and ultimately diminishing the market and financial performance of the issuers.

The issuers should diligently assess the behaviors and motives of VC and selectively choose issuance targets and methods to manage risks associated with price deviations in private placements. Additionally, this study recommends that regulatory authorities develop a more detailed regulatory framework that considers transaction characteristics and the information environment. This strategy should help optimize external regulatory measures like media coverage and protect the interests of small and medium-sized investors.

This study extends research on the “name chasing” motive and certification effect of VC in private placements, enriches the literature on the mechanisms forming discount rates and provides insights for refining regulatory policies on private placements.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the twin transition of textile firms operating in an industrial district. The twin transition comprises two interconnected but distinct processes: the sustainable transition and the digital transition. The study specifically considers sustainability goals in terms of the triple bottom line and digitalization as the adoption of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies. The study aims to understand how the characteristics of Italian districts influence the choices related to the twin transition and how it affects textile industrial firms.

The author conducts a multiple-case study involving five firms of industrial textile district of Prato.

The results show the relationship between the characteristics of the district, such as fragmentation of the supply chain, lean manufacturing, territorial proximity and attachment to origins and traditions and the sustainable goals and I4.0 technologies adoption. Moreover, the study proposes a framework for twin transition. Market and technology drive the process in which sustainability represents the aim, I4.0 serves as enablers and the relevant outcome is the implementation of the business model innovation.

These findings offer valuable insights for textile firms, policymakers and stakeholders seeking to navigate the complexities of twin transition.

The study contributes to the broader topic of twin transition. In particular, it links the particular context represented by the industrial district in which the textile firms operate to their conduct, and the two interconnected and distinct processes, sustainable transition and digital transition, with the business model innovation topic.

The objective of this study is to use non-destructive testing of corrosion on coated aluminium alloys using differential eddy current detection (DECD), with the aim of elucidating the relationship between the characteristics of corrosion defects and the detection signal.

Pitting corrosion defects of varying geometrical dimensions were fabricated on the surface of aluminium alloy plates, and their impedance signals were detected using DECD to investigate the influence of defect diameter, depth, corrosion products and coating thickness on the detection signals. Furthermore, finite element analysis was used to ascertain the eddy current distributions and detection signals under different parameters.

The size of the defect is positively correlated with the strength of the detection signal, with the defect affecting the latter by modifying the distribution and magnitude of the eddy current. An increase in the diameter and depth of corrosion defects will enhance the eddy current detection (ECD) signal. The presence of corrosion products in the corrosion defects has no significant effect on the eddy current signal. The presence of a coating results in a decrease in the ECD signal, with the magnitude of this decrease increasing with the thickness of the coating.

The objective is to provide experimental and theoretical references for the design of eddy current non-destructive testing equipment and eddy current testing applications.

This study disentangles the impact of consumers’ adoption of mini-program channels on social media on their purchase behavior in e-marketplaces from a multichannel retailer’s perspective and examines the moderating roles of two types of brand messages (informational and transformational messages).

Based on 2,204 transaction records from a Chinese multichannel retailer, this study used a Poisson regression model with fixed effects for empirical testing. The case of the WeChat mini-program in China was employed.

Adopting mini-program channels on social media reduces consumers’ purchase frequency but increases their purchase breadth in e-marketplaces. Moreover, informational messages worsen the negative effect of mini-program channel use on purchase frequency. In contrast, transformational messages reduce the negative effect of mini-program channel use on purchase frequency and amplify its positive effect on purchase breadth.

Managers can effectively leverage mini-programs to widen the range of consumers’ product purchases in e-marketplaces and the intensity of transformation messages posted within mini-programs to alleviate their negative impact on purchase frequency in e-marketplaces.

Previous studies only focus on the intrachannel impact of mini-program channels; however, this study highlights their cross-channel impact. Its findings underscore the dual role of mini-program channel use in e-marketplaces. Additionally, the nuanced moderating effects of informational and transformational messages enrich our understanding of mini-program channels on social media. Moreover, a substitution framework is utilized to understand the cross-channel effects generated by mini-program channels, demonstrating the applicability and generalizability of the framework in a new context.

Fake news refers to intentionally fabricated or misleading information designed to deceive the public and manipulate opinions for personal, political or financial gain. Most existing detection methods primarily focus on capturing language features from news content. However, these methods neglect the varying importance of different news entities. Additionally, these methods tend to overlook the auxiliary role of external knowledge, resulting in an incomplete understanding of the entity. To address these issues, this paper aims to propose a Dual-layer Semantic Information Extraction Network with External Knowledge (DSEN-EK) for fake news detection.

This approach is proposed to comprise three parts: Dual-layer Semantic Information Extraction Network, Entity Integration Network with External Knowledge and Classifier. Specifically, Dual-layer Semantic Information Extraction Network is designed to enhance relationships between entities and the influence of important entity representations. The Entity Integration Network with External Knowledge is proposed to extract entity descriptions from external knowledge bases.

The DSEN-EK model performs well on the Liar, Constraint, Twitter15 and Twitter16 data sets, achieving accuracy of 98.02%, 94.61%, 90.09% and 93.65%, respectively. These results highlight its effectiveness in detecting fake news across different types of content.

The Dual-layer Semantic Information Extraction Network is proposed to capture the relationships between entities and enhance the continuous semantic information of the news. The Entity Integration Network with External Knowledge is designed to enrich entity descriptions, leading to a more comprehensive capture of semantic details.

This study aims to investigate how the frame orientation format and visual content of tourism short videos interact to influence tourists’ travel intention.

Two scenario-based experiments were designed and conducted through Credamo. The researchers enrolled 187 participants for Study 1 using convenience sampling, measuring the impact of video frame orientation and visual content on travel intention by conducting a two-factor analysis of covariance. Study 2 retested the interaction effect using 237 sample data and conducted bootstrapping to examine the serially mediating effect of imagery fluency and travel inspiration.

Frame orientation formats and visual content interactively affect the video audience’s travel intention: For site-centric tourism short videos, the horizontal frame orientation format can help inspire audiences’ travel intention; However, for activity-centric tourism short videos, the vertical frame orientation format is more suitable. Imagery fluency and travel inspiration have serially mediated effects in the above interactions.

Destination marketers can use a combination of vertical format and activity-centric content (or horizontal format and site-centric content) to ensure the marketing effectiveness of short videos.

This study explores how frame orientation and visual content interact to influence video audiences’ travel intention. The findings challenge the traditional understanding of frame orientation selection in short videos, provide a meaningful extension of construal-level theory and contribute to the research on visual effects in short tourism videos.

本文旨在研究旅游短视频的画面方向格式和视觉内容如何交互影响游客的出游意愿。

本研究利用见数平台开展了两个情景实验。实验1招募了187名被试者, 利用双因素方差分析测量了视频画面方向和视觉内容对出游意愿的交互效应。实验2利用237个样本数复测了交互效应, 并验证了图像流畅性和旅游灵感对上述交互效应的链式中介作用。

框架方向格式和视觉内容交互影响视频受众的旅游意向：对于以景点为中心的旅游短视频而言, 水平方向的画面形式有助于激发受众的出游意愿; 但对于以活动为中心的旅游短视频而言, 垂直方向的画面形式更为适合。在上述交互作用中, 图像流畅度和旅游灵感具有链式中介效应。

目的地营销人员可以将垂直格式和以活动为中心的内容（或水平格式和以景点为中心的内容）结合起来使用, 以确保短视频的营销效果。

本研究探讨了框架取向和视觉内容如何相互作用并影响视频受众的出游意愿。研究结果挑战了关于短视频中画面方向选择的传统理解, 为旅游短视频构图相关理论提供了有意义的延伸, 并为旅游短视频中视觉效果的研究做出了贡献。

Este estudio investiga cómo el formato de orientación del marco y el contenido visual de los vídeos cortos turísticos interactúan para influir en la intención de viaje de los turistas.

Se diseñaron y llevaron a cabo dos experimentos basados en escenarios a través de Credamo. Los investigadores reclutaron a 187 participantes para el Estudio 1 mediante un muestreo de conveniencia, y midieron el impacto de la orientación del fotograma de vídeo y el contenido visual en la intención de viajar realizando un análisis de covarianza de dos factores. El Estudio 2 volvió a probar el efecto de interacción utilizando 237 datos de muestra y realizó bootstrapping para examinar el efecto de mediación en serie de la fluidez de las imágenes y la inspiración para viajar.

Los formatos de orientación de los fotogramas y el contenido visual influyen de forma interactiva en la intención de viajar del público del vídeo: Para los vídeos turísticos de corta duración centrados en un lugar, el formato de orientación horizontal puede ayudar a inspirar la intención de viajar del público; sin embargo, para los vídeos turísticos de corta duración centrados en una actividad, el formato de orientación vertical es más adecuado. La fluidez de las imágenes y la inspiración para viajar tienen efectos mediados en serie en las interacciones mencionadas.

Los responsables de marketing de destinos pueden utilizar una combinación de formato vertical y contenido centrado en la actividad (o formato horizontal y contenido centrado en el sitio) para garantizar la eficacia de marketing de los vídeos cortos.

Este estudio explora cómo la orientación del encuadre y el contenido visual interactúan para influir en la intención de viaje de los espectadores de vídeos. Los resultados cuestionan la interpretación tradicional de la selección de la orientación del encuadre en los vídeos cortos, proporcionan una ampliación significativa de la teoría del nivel de construcción y contribuyen a la investigación sobre los efectos visuales en los vídeos turísticos cortos.

This study aims to investigate how digital technology influences the happiness of villagers in traditional ethnic minority communities, with Waipula Village as a focal case study. Recognized as a forerunner in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Waipula Village exemplifies how digital innovation can transform rural communities.

Using an exploratory case study approach, the research reveals that digital technology enhances villagers’ happiness by improving market access, mitigating geographical limitations and fostering entrepreneurship and innovation.

In addition, digital technology has led to new consumption patterns and cultural values, significantly contributing to the village’s sustainable development and overall well-being.

This analysis expands the understanding of the role of digital technology in ethnic minority villages and offers valuable insights for rural revitalization strategies, highlighting its importance in enhancing happiness and preserving cultural heritage.