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We employ an experiment with experienced Chinese auditors to examine how family firm structures influence auditors' reliance on management's explanations for evidence and their assessments of fraud risk. Our findings indicate that for firms with family ownership, high levels of family managerial control cause auditors to rely less on management's explanations and assess higher levels of fraud risk when a firm's control environment is strong. However, when the control environment is weak, auditors' judgments are not influenced by family firm structure.

At present, research on the preparation of corrosion inhibitors using modified pyrimidine derivatives is still blank. The purpose of this study is to synthesize a new cationic mercaptopyrimidine derivative quaternary ammonium salt, known as DTEBTAC, that can be used as a corrosion inhibitor to slow down the metal corrosion problems encountered in oil and gas extraction processes.

A new corrosion inhibitor was synthesized by the reaction of anti-Markovnikov addition and nucleophilic substitution. The weight loss method was used to study the corrosion inhibition characteristics of synthetic corrosion inhibitors. Electrochemical and surface topography analyses were used to determine the type of inhibitor and the adsorption state formed on the surface of N80 steel. Molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemistry calculations were used to investigate the synthetic corrosion inhibitor’s molecular structure and corrosion inhibition mechanisms.

The results of the weight loss method show that when the dosage of DTEBTAC is 1%, the corrosion rate of N80 steel in hydrochloric acid solution at 90? is 3.3325 g m-2 h-1. Electrochemical and surface morphology analysis show that DTEBTAC can form a protective layer on the surface of N80 steel, and is a hybrid corrosion inhibitor that can inhibit the main anode. Quantum chemical parameter calculation shows that DTEBTAC has a better corrosion inhibition effect than DTP. The molecular dynamics simulation results show that DTEBTAC has stronger binding energy than DTP, and forms a network packing structure through hydrogen bonding, and the adsorption stability is enhanced.

A novel cationic mercaptopyrimidine derivative quaternium-ammonium salt corrosion inhibitor was designed and provided. Compared with the prior art, the preparation method of the synthesized mercaptopyrimidine derivative quaternary ammonium salt corrosion inhibitor is simple, and the presence of nitrogen-positive ions, sulfur atoms and nitrogen-rich atoms has an obvious corrosion inhibition effect, which can be used to inhibit metal corrosion during oil and gas field exploitation. It not only expands the application field of new materials but also provides a new idea for the research and development of new corrosion inhibitors.

Research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the real estate sector is limited, and the precise workings of its impact are still unclear. Under the premise that real estate enterprises face environmental uncertainty in China, this study explored the impact of CSR on real estate enterprise value.

To investigate the impact of CSR on enterprise value, we studied 111 real estate enterprises with A-shares listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2010 to 2020, and performed empirical tests to determine the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on this relationship.

(1) The fulfillment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) significantly influences the value of real estate enterprises. A sub-dimensional analysis reveals that fulfilling stakeholder and social welfare responsibilities within CSR positively impacts enterprise value, whereas environmental responsibility does not exert a notable effect. (2) The uncertainty associated with environmental changes profoundly affects the relationship between CSR and the value of real estate enterprises. More precisely, as environmental uncertainty increases, it amplifies the beneficial impact of CSR on enterprise value.

These findings are valuable for real estate enterprises as they navigate the transition towards sustainable development, and they also provide insight for the government in formulating policies aimed at regulating the real estate sector.

This study complements the existing discussion and research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and enterprise value in the real estate industry, while elucidating the underlying mechanism of how environmental uncertainty mediates the relationship between the two.

Predicting commodity futures trading volumes represents an important matter to policymakers and a wide spectrum of market participants. The purpose of this study is to concentrate on the energy sector and explore the trading volume prediction issue for the thermal coal futures traded in Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange in China with daily data spanning January 2016–December 2020.

The nonlinear autoregressive neural network is adopted for this purpose and prediction performance is examined based upon a variety of settings over algorithms for model estimations, numbers of hidden neurons and delays and ratios for splitting the trading volume series into training, validation and testing phases.

A relatively simple model setting is arrived at that leads to predictions of good accuracy and stabilities and maintains small prediction errors up to the 99.273th quantile of the observed trading volume.

The results could, on one hand, serve as standalone technical trading volume predictions. They could, on the other hand, be combined with different (fundamental) prediction results for forming perspectives of trading trends and carrying out policy analysis.

The purpose of this study is to propose a path-planning strategy based on the velocity-virtual spring method to realize collision-free tasks in dynamic environments and further improve the effect.

By considering factors such as the relative velocity and direction of dynamic obstacles, the repulsive force of the robot is improved, thereby enhancing the adaptability of the strategy and achieving flexible and effective avoidance against dynamic obstacles. The attraction formula has been designed to allow the robot to have better smooth changes and higher gradients near the target, helping robots better reach the target and follow formations. Moreover, to meet the demands of the various stages during the driving process, the null space behavioral control is used to solve multi-task conflict problems and strengthen formation coordination and control.

Comparison of the planning path and formation effects through simulation and physical experiments, the results of this study show that the algorithm proposed can successfully maintain formation stability and plan smooth and safe paths in static or dynamic environments.

This paper proposes a path-planning strategy based on the velocity-virtual spring method to plan collision-free paths for formation in dynamic environments.

With the continuous improvement of public–private partnership (PPP) projects, the participants' value creation goals are not only limited to achieving the basic performance objectives but also to realising value added. However, the effect of traditional contract management on realising the value creation objectives of PPP projects is limited. According to the view of multifunctional contract, joint-contract functions that integrate contract control and flexibility are likely to be effective in enhancing the value creation of PPP projects. This study aims to explore the effects of joint-contract functions on PPP project value creation and relevant influencing mechanism by investigating the mediating effect of in-role behaviour and extra-role behaviour.

After collecting 258 valid questionnaires from PPP professionals in China, this study used structural equation modelling to validate the hypotheses.

Contract control and flexibility can improve PPP project value creation. Specifically, contract control improves the achievement of the basic contract objectives of PPP projects, whereas contract flexibility enhances the achievement of the value-added of PPP projects. Moreover, only in-role behaviour mediates the effect of contract control on value creation. In addition, the mediating effect of extra-role behaviour on the impact of contract flexibility on value creation is stronger than that of in-role behaviour. The mediating effect of in- and extra-role behaviour is mainly reflected in the realisation of basic and value-added performance, respectively.

The findings of this study can help realise value creation in three ways. Firstly, new perspectives for PPP project value creation should be proposed by combining the improvement of contract objectives and the realisation of the participants' implicit demands. Secondly, the effects of different contract functions on value creation should be analysed instead of a single dimension of contractual governance. Thirdly, the mediating effects of different types of cooperation behaviour that may influence the relationship between contractual governance and value creation should be evaluated.

This study verifies the impacts of different contract functions on PPP project value creation. In addition, cooperative behaviour is embedded as a mediating variable, and the mediated transmission path from contract function to cooperative behaviour and further to PPP project value creation is systematically analysed.

To examine the impact of manufacturer reputation, retailer reputation, and product price on consumers’ perceived quality and purchasing behavior regarding organic milk.

Employing a 2 × 2 experiment, data were collected from 1,259 consumers in 32 provinces in China.

When a low-reputation manufacturer sells products through a high-reputation retailer, it improves consumers’ perception of quality and positively influences their purchasing behavior. Interestingly, setting higher prices for products manufactured by low-reputation companies and selling them through high-reputation retailers did not significantly enhance consumers’ perceived quality and deter their purchasing behavior.

The analysis expands the framework for cue diagnosis. While the existing framework primarily focuses on the influence of cue-type combinations on perceived quality, it does not integrate purchasing behavior into the conceptual framework. This limitation hinders people understanding of the theoretical mechanisms underlying the use of cues in purchasing decisions. This paper address this by gradually introducing variables, such as retailer reputation and product price, into the baseline model, thereby extending this theory. In addition, this paper advances the marketing research literature within the business-to-business-to-consumer context by examining the additive effects of manufacturer reputation, retailer reputation, and product price on consumers’ perception of quality and purchasing behavior.

By investigating trust in the organization as a mediator and traditionality as a moderator, this study aims to examine the effect perceived organizational exploitation poses on frontline hotel employees’ service performance.

A three-wave survey that targets 219 supervisor–subordinate dyads from four Chinese hotels was conducted to test the hypotheses. The authors used SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 21.0 to analyze the data and verify the theoretical model.

This study found that perceived organizational exploitation exerts a destructive impact on frontline hotel employees’ service performance. Trust in the organization is a full mediator of the link connecting perceived organizational exploitation to service performance. Furthermore, traditionality weakens perceived organizational exploitation’s impact on trust in the organization and subsequent service performance.

The authors’ findings remind hotels to cease exploiting their employees to avoid compromising service performance. Hotels should also endeavor to instill trust among employees toward the hotel and allocate more attention to employees with lower levels of traditionality.

First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to explore the impact of perceived organizational exploitation on frontline hotel employees’ service performance. Second, this study reveals a novel mechanism underlying the connection between perceived organizational exploitation and service performance. Finally, this study identifies frontline hotel employees’ traditionality as a vital moderator that mitigates the negative relationships among perceived organizational exploitation, trust in the organization and service performance.

Corporate site visits increase labor investment efficiency.

Our empirical model for the baseline analysis follows those of Jung et al. (2014) and Ghaly et al. (2020).

We show that corporate site visits are associated with significantly higher labor investment efficiency; more specifically, site visits reduce both over-hiring and under-hiring of employees. The effect of site visits on labor investment efficiency is more pronounced for firms with higher labor adjustment costs, greater financial constraints, weaker corporate governance and lower financial reporting quality. We also find that site visits mitigate labor cost stickiness.

First, while the literature has suggested how the presence of institutional investors and analysts may affect labor investment decisions, we focus on institutional investors and analysts’ activities and interactions with firm executives. We provide direct evidence that institutional investors and analysts may use corporate site visits to improve labor investment efficiency. Second, our study adds to a line of recent studies on how corporate site visits reduce information asymmetry and agency conflicts. We show that corporate site visits allow institutional investors and analysts to influence labor investment efficiency. We also provide new evidence that corporate site visits reduce labor cost stickiness.

Virtual reality (VR) offers unprecedented immersion and interactivity in education, and working and learning from home have become the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study empirically investigated the factors affecting the use of a VR online learning system (VROLS).

To explore factors affecting users’ continuance behavioral intentions toward using VROLSs, a research framework was formed comprising factors that constitute benefits (i.e. pull factors) and costs (i.e. push factors); these factors included perceived value, flow and social influence. The data for this study were collected via online survey questionnaires. A total of 307 valid responses were used to examine the hypotheses in the research model, employing structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques.

Perceived value, flow experience and the number of peers using VR primarily affect the decision to adopt a VROLS. The pull factors of spatial presence, entertainment and service compatibility, along with the push factors of complexity and visual fatigue, affect perceived value. Therefore, we conclude that perceived value is a primary factor positively influencing both flow experience and the decision to adopt the service.

This study contributes to a theoretical understanding of factors that explain users’ intention to use VROLSs.