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This study investigates the impact of customer stability on the cost of debt and the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the above relationship.

An empirical analysis based on the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model is conducted using China’s A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2007 to 2021.

The results indicate that customer stability significantly inhibits the cost of debt, and the higher the environmental uncertainty, the more significant the inhibitory effect of customer stability on the cost of debt. The results of heterogeneity analyses indicate that the more intense the industry competition, the higher the customer concentration or the older the average customer age, the more significant the inhibiting effect of customer stability on the cost of debt.

This study highlights the importance of customer relationship management and supply chain risk management, which have both theoretical and managerial implications. Despite its contributions, this study has limitations, such as China’s institutional context limits, which the generalisability of our results, and the sample size for this study is small because of limitations in measuring customer stability.

Existing literature has not yet reached a consistent conclusion on how customer relationships affect the cost of debt, and such studies are mainly centered around perspectives such as customer concentration and the contagion effect of supply chains. This study constructs an indicator of customer stability using detailed information on the top five customers of China’s A-share listed companies and dynamically examines the impact of customer stability on the cost of debt, which expands the research on the influencing factors of the cost of debt, the economic consequences of customer stability and the theory of customer relationship management.

This study aims to investigate the effect of top management team (TMT) stability on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) of Chinese firms and the moderating effects of state ownership and managerial ownership on this relationship.

An empirical analysis based on the ordinary least square regression model is conducted using Chinese A-share listed firms that engaged in OFDI from 2008 to 2021.

TMT stability has a positive effect on firms’ OFDI. Moreover, state ownership significantly strengthens the positive relationship between TMT stability and OFDI, while managerial ownership weakens this positive relationship.

The findings help firms to effectively retain TMT talents and promote the smooth internationalization of firms, thereby enhancing their long-term development capabilities and competitive advantages.

This study expands the investigation of the factors influencing OFDI at the micro level of the TMT, providing valuable decision-making insights for firms.

The purpose of this study is to examine how national logistics performance facilitates new venture creation and innovation. The authors propose that national logistics performance is a key mediator in a national system of entrepreneurship.

The sample for this study combines secondary data from multiple sources with survey data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor to create an unbalanced panel spanning 84 countries across five points in time. The authors test for the mediating role of national logistics performance using a Monte Carlo method.

The results of mediation analysis confirm that national logistics performance is an important causal link in a national system of entrepreneurship. High-performing logistics networks at the national level help entrepreneurs launch new ventures and innovate by linking economic conditions and formal regulatory institutions with productive entrepreneurship.

This study identifies logistics as an overlooked but important component of a national system of entrepreneurship. For policymakers, this study identifies critical linkages among economic conditions, regulatory institutions, logistics and entrepreneurship. The study also has practical implications for entrepreneurs.

The construction industry plays a significant economic role but has struggled with improving labor productivity. Understanding the reasons behind this slow growth is valuable for the industry’s sustainability and improving wages. This study aims to explore the impact of capital intensity and the interaction effect of market regulations on construction labor productivity.

Using two-stage least squares panel data modeling, financial data from 55 Malaysian construction firms and economic data from 2009 to 2020 are analyzed.

The findings reveal that higher capital intensity associated with mechanization and innovation generally boosts labor productivity. However, certain market regulations, such as economic and capital freedom (ECF) and foreign debt rules (FDR), can counteract this positive effect. This suggests that poorly developed financial regulations may lead to inefficient capital allocation, reducing labor productivity in the long run.

The study highlights the importance of policymakers understanding these dynamics to develop effective strategies for enhancing labor productivity in the construction industry by considering the impact of capital intensity and the moderating effect of market regulation.

This study aims to comprehensively analyze the current developments and applications of paper-based electrochemical platforms for blood glucose detection, focusing on their potential to revolutionize point-of-care testing through cost-effective and accessible diagnostic solutions.

The review systematically examines fundamental principles of paper-based platforms, including substrate properties, fluid transport mechanisms and electrochemical detection methods. It critically evaluates recent technological advances in materials science, fabrication techniques and signal amplification strategies while analyzing various case studies demonstrating successful implementations.

Recent innovations in paper-based glucose sensors have achieved remarkable performance metrics, with detection limits reaching sub-millimolar ranges and response times within seconds. The integration of nanomaterials, particularly graphene-based composites and carbon nanotubes, has significantly enhanced sensor sensitivity and stability. Advanced enzyme immobilization techniques using layer-by-layer assembly have demonstrated sustained activity for up to 10 weeks, while novel signal amplification strategies incorporating bimetallic nanoparticles have pushed detection limits into the sub-picogram range.

This review uniquely synthesizes the latest developments in paper-based electrochemical glucose sensing, providing critical insights into the synergistic integration of advanced materials, fabrication methods and detection strategies. It offers valuable perspectives on overcoming current technical challenges and highlights emerging opportunities in smart device integration and artificial intelligence applications, serving as a comprehensive resource for researchers and practitioners in the field of point-of-care diagnostics.

This study explores the contingent relationship between technological diversification (TD) and innovation performance, particularly in the context of China’s high-tech firms. It aims to understand how the structure of firm ownership influences the allocation of innovation resources and, consequently, the efficiency of innovation activities.

The research employs a fixed-effect regression model to analyze a unique panel dataset of 1,139 Chinese listed high-tech firms over a nine-year period. The dataset includes firm-year observations from 19 industries, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of the relationships between TD, innovation performance and ownership structure.

This study finds an inverted U-shaped relationship between TD and innovation performance, indicating that while a certain level of TD can enhance innovation performance, excessive diversification can lead to diminishing returns. The findings also reveal that ownership concentration amplifies this relationship, suggesting that firms with more concentrated ownership structures can quickly reach optimal levels of innovation performance but are also more susceptible to the “over-diversification trap.” In contrast, equity restriction and ownership type (state-owned vs privately owned enterprises) moderate the relationship, indicating that firms with these structures may maintain optimal innovation performance levels for longer periods.

This research provides novel insights by confirming a nonlinear, inverted U-shaped relationship between TD and innovation performance, specifically within the context of Chinese high-tech firms. By integrating corporate governance theory, our study advances understanding of how ownership structure – through ownership concentration, equity restriction and ownership type – moderates the TD-innovation performance relationship. This perspective offers a deeper understanding of resource allocation and innovation efficiency in emerging markets. The findings hold practical implications for managers and policymakers, underscoring the importance of aligning TD strategies with firm ownership structures to optimize innovation outcomes.

The operation of water environment treatment Public-Private Partnership projects (WETP-PPP) is crucial to the project effectiveness. However, there are often problems in projects that attach importance to construction and neglect operation management, which seriously affect the project operation effect. To ensure the good operation effect of the WETP-PPP, an evolutionary game model of the regulation strategy during the operation period of WETP-PPP is constructed.

An evolutionary game model of regulation is established which considers the government, the project company and the public in water environment treatment Public-Private Partnership projects (WETP-PPP). Five scenarios of equilibriums and the game's evolutionary stable strategies are analyzed, and the corresponding stability conditions are then obtained. Finally, through the simulation, the influence of different factors on the choice of the three-party strategy is analyzed.

First, the key factors that affect the evolution game are the regulation costs and performance rewards of the government, the project company's operation costs and penalties for opportunism and the public supervision costs and rewards. Second, in order to ensure the operation effect, the government needs the performance incentive from the superior government. Third, the public's supervision enthusiasm needs to be mobilized by the government. Last, the penalty strength of speculative operation should be strong enough to play a deterrent role.

The theoretical research in this paper has some limitations. Initially, due to the large number of participants in WETP-PPP, in addition to the government department, the project company and the public studied in this paper, it also involves the consulting industry and financial institutions. In the future, more participants can be added to form four-party interest relationships and conduct four-party evolutionary game research. Second, the operation environment of WETP-PPP is complex and changeable, and various influencing factors are intertwined, the number of parameters involved in this paper is limited, and further detailed research is needed in the future.

Based on the evolutionary game theory, this article discusses the evolution law of the tripartite game behavior of the government department, the project company and the public, which is helpful to clarify the strategy evolution path of the tripartite in the WETP-PPP, and the generation condition and evolution mechanism of the equilibrium strategy of the tripartite game. The key parameters affecting the tripartite strategy selection are analyzed through simulation, which can provide reference for the government department to formulate relevant measures. At the same time, it broadens the application field of evolutionary games and supplements the research on the management mechanism of WETP-PPP during the operation period.

Based on the evolutionary game theory, this paper introduces the supervision behavior of the public, which can provide a new perspective for researchers to conduct relevant research. Secondly, for the regulation during the operation of WETP-PPP, this paper can provide reference for the government department to establish a scientific public supervision system, improve the government supervision mechanism and other relevant measures, which can help promote the public supervision willingness, improve the regulation efficiency of the government and guide the project company to reduce speculation, so as to ensure the effect of water environment management.

This paper focuses on the regulation of WETP-PPP during the operation period to research interactions among the government, the project company and the public. Based on the analysis of the evolutionary game, some suggestions are put forward, such as perfecting the government regulation mechanism, optimizing the reward and punishment system for the project company and broadening the channels of public supervision. The research results of this paper can provide support for the government's regulation of WETP-PPP and ensure the project operation effect.

The delivery drivers this paper surveyed generally intend to accept all orders to avoid missing out on potential earnings. However, uncertainty about the timing of future orders and variability in their potential earnings raises a crucial question: Would it be more beneficial for drivers to decline orders that are likely to involve low earnings or a long idle time after delivery? If so, how can they make informed choices when selecting orders? This paper aims to explore the key factors that can support drivers in making these decisions.

The role of order cancelation in Taiwan’s Uber Eats delivery process was first highlighted. This paper followed the grounded theory methodology and collected the data of completed orders from delivery drivers and authors’ participation in deliveries. The data included variables representing order characteristics, such as departure neighborhood, destination and duration for completing the order. Regression methods were then used to identify the variables that affect the driver’s evaluation of a received order in terms of the order’s earnings and idle time after completing the order and determine whether the order is desirable to the driver.

Upon receiving an order, drivers can decide whether to accept it by evaluating the earnings they will make for completing the order. The earnings are likely higher if the pay rate multiplier is higher that day or the order departure neighborhood is in a hot zone. After arriving at the restaurant, drivers can again make this decision by estimating the idle time they will spend waiting for their next order after delivering the current order. This idle time is likely longer if the driver is expected to spend greater time fulfilling the order since receipt, or if the earnings for completing the order are greater. This idle time is likely shorter if there are more restaurants in the order destination neighborhood, or if the order departure neighborhood or the order destination neighborhood is in a hot zone. Orders can be categorized as good or poor and the key factors for this categorization are whether the order departure and destination neighborhoods are in a hot zone, and the waiting time at the restaurant.

While food delivery research has commonly focused on customer satisfaction and platform efficiency, less attention has been paid to the strategic decision-making of delivery drivers – a relatively underrepresented group in the gig economy. This study aims to help these drivers become more adept participants in the competitive landscape of food delivery platforms. By examining how Taiwanese drivers navigate platform structures to maximize profitability and improve their work experience, this research contributes valuable insights to discussions on the sustainability of gig work.

Existing research on innovation has mainly focused on how to promote technological innovation in megaprojects and management innovation (MI) in megaprojects is still an unknown research field. The purposes of this study are to examine the effect of MI on megaproject performance and how the top management team (TMT) regulatory focus affects the use of MI in projects. At the same time, the moderating effects of project uncertainties are also tested.

On the basis of an explorative/exploitative ambidextrous analysis framework, this study divides MI into two dimensions: explorative and exploitative MI, and integrates the theoretical perspectives of the TMT regulatory focus and project uncertainties into a research model. Taking 314 responses from megaprojects’ TMTs in China as research data, this study empirically tests the above model.

Results show that exploratory MI has a U-shaped relationship with megaproject performance; whereas exploitative MI has an inverted U-shaped relationship with megaproject performance. The TMT promotion focus has a positive effect on exploratory and exploitative MI; and the TMT prevention focus has a negative effect on exploratory MI but has a positive effect on exploitative MI. Project uncertainties have a positive moderating effect on the positive relationship between TMT promotion focus and exploratory MI, whereas it has a negative moderating effect on the negative relationship between the TMT prevention focus and exploratory MI.

By empirically measuring the relationship between two types of MIs and megaproject performance, this study clarifies the differential mechanism of the effect of different MIs on megaproject performance. This study also examines the MI of megaprojects from the perspective of the TMT regulatory focus and expounds how changes in uncertainties affect the relationship between the TMT regulatory focus and MI.

The purpose of current systematic literature review (SLR) is to propose 1) theoretical perspectives which may be adopted in future research to explain the antecedents and outcomes of bottom-line mentality (BLM); 2) social environmental factors which may be responsible for provoking employees’ BLM and 3) buffering variables which can curtail the negative outcomes of BLM.

We searched Google Scholar and Scopus database and looked for keywords “bottomline mentality” OR “BLM” OR “bottom line mentality” in the title, abstract and keywords. This study systematically reviewed 87 articles that have empirically examined BLM phenomenon.

Certain theoretical perspectives (i.e. social information processing theory, social exchange and social-cognitive theories) have been overly utilized to explain the phenomenon of BLM. Second, we identified the person, supervisor and organization-related antecedents leading to the development of BLM. Third, we found that BLM was positively related to certain employee behaviors (i.e. knowledge hiding, unethical behavior, social undermining) and negatively related to other behaviors (i.e. helping behavior and innovative work behaviors).

The current review is the first to propose buffering variables which may likely curtail the negative effects of BLM.