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Since IT investment constitutes a significant portion of a firm’s budget, evaluating IT investment performance is important for both research and firms’ operations. In the digital era, there are significant disparities in the effects of IT investment on firm performance.

Drawing on the resource-based view and upper echelons theory, we investigate the effect of IT investment on the business performance of manufacturing firms. We also explore the moderating role of digital transformation and dual moderating effect of digital transformation and CEO age in this relationship.

Analyzing a sample of Chinese manufacturing firms spanning 2016–2020, we find that IT investment by Chinese manufacturing firms has a negative effect on business performance. However, this negative effect is moderated by digital transformation. Furthermore, digital transformation has a more pronounced inverse moderating influence on this negative effect for firms with older CEOs.

Hence, we reveal that the key factors for reducing the negative effect of IT investment on China’s manufacturing firms are digital transformation and the appointment of older CEOs who actively lead firms’ digital transformation.

The study aims to explore the mechanism to strengthen service recovery performance among public sector employees. Delving on the notion that ethical aspects of public leaders could serve as reliable models, the research investigated the role of ethical leadership, thriving at work and moral self-efficacy.

A quantitative approach with two waves of data collection from both supervisors' and subordinates’ perspectives in public organizations was conducted. The final sample size was 331.

Ethical leadership has a positive effect on public sector employees' thriving at work. In turn, the state of thriving at work mediates the association between ethical leadership and service recovery performance. Public servants’ moral self-efficacy moderates both the direct relationship between ethical leadership and thriving at work, as well as the indirect effect of ethical leadership on service recovery performance through thriving at work.

The research findings suggest an understanding of how ethical leadership could cultivate public service recovery performance through employees’ thriving. The common values between subordinates and leaders were found to facilitate a better translation of the leaders’ role model into employees’ psychology and behaviors.

Although virtual anchors have emerged as potent marketing tools, their acceptance by consumers is controversial. Specifically, the relative efficacy of selecting an all-human-like or animal-human-like virtual anchor is not well-defined. However, anthropomorphic visual cues are vital in enhancing live streaming. This study aims to analyze the disparate effects of an animal-human-like or all-human-like virtual anchor on purchase intention as well as evaluate the possible underlying influential mechanisms and boundary conditions.

In this research, three different studies were carried out to elucidate the impact of virtual anchors on purchase intention. Study 1 evaluated the core impact of an animal-human-like and all-human-like virtual anchor on purchase intention, as well as the mediating role of perceived warmth and competence. Studies 2 and 3 were then performed to investigate the moderating impacts of product type and certainty of consumer needs, respectively. Furthermore, research data for these studies was collected using the Credamo tool and analyzed via SPSS, using PROCESS for moderation and mediation analyses.

The research findings indicate that virtual anchors can trigger purchase intention, with perceived warmth and competence acting as mediating factors. Based on the utilitarian products and high certainty of consumer needs, the influence of perceived competence on purchase intention is augmented. Therefore, an all-human-like virtual anchor increases purchase intention. In contrast, the impact of perceived warmth on purchase intention is supplemented for hedonic products and low certainty of consumer needs. Thus, an animal-human-like virtual anchor increases purchase intention.

This research study evaluated consumer reactions to all-human-like and animal-human-like virtual anchors for different product types and the certainty of consumer needs to optimize the comprehension of a virtual anchor. Furthermore, the assessment of the mediating roles of perceived warmth and competence provided valuable insights into the influential mechanisms by which virtual anchors affect purchase intention. Moreover, this study provided managerial implications to guide retailers and brands on the strategic adoption of virtual anchors to enhance purchase intention based on the product type and the certainty of consumer needs.

As an ancient art form, embroidery has strong practicality and artistic value. However, current embroidery style migration models produce images with unclear textures and a lack of stitch detail. So, in this paper, we propose a cyclic consistent embroidery style migration network with texture constraints, which is called Texture Cycle GAN (TCGAN).

The model is based on the existing Cycle GAN network with an additional texture module. This texture module is implemented using a pre-trained Markovian adversarial network to synthesize embroidery texture features. The overall algorithm consists of two generative adversarial networks (for style migration) and the Markovian adversarial network (for texture synthesis).

Qualitative and quantitative experiments show that, compared with the existing convolutional neural network style transfer algorithm, the introduction of the texture-constrained embroidery style transfer model TCGAN can effectively learn the characteristics of style images, generate digital embroidery works with clear texture and natural stitches and achieve more realistic embroidery simulation effects.

By improving the algorithm for image style migration and designing a reasonable loss function, the generated embroidery patterns are made more detailed, which shows that the model can improve the realism of embroidery style simulation and help to improve the standard of embroidery craftsmanship, thus promoting the development of the embroidery industry.

This study aims to investigate the impact of virtual tours on the engagement and travel intentions of older adults, emphasizing the role of emotional and informative content. It aims to enhance travel confidence and reduce stress among older travelers, fostering inclusive tourism through advanced avatar technology.

Using two between-subjects experiments, this research compares the effects of emotion-driven and knowledge-centric virtual tours on older adults. It explores the mediating role of travel confidence and stress reduction, along with the moderating influence of positive psychological cues on engagement and travel intentions.

The results highlight the potential of technology in promoting inclusive tourism. Emotionally engaging virtual tours significantly increase travel intentions among older adults by boosting confidence and alleviating stress, with positive psychological cues enhancing these effects.

This study offers valuable insights for tourism industry stakeholders by suggesting the development of avatar-based virtual tours tailored to the emotional and cognitive needs of older travelers. This approach could create more accessible and satisfying tourism experiences for older travelers.

This study extends the socioemotional selectivity theory to the realm of metaverse travel, providing a novel perspective on the emotional and cognitive engagement of older adults in the metaverse. This underscores the importance of inclusive technology in addressing the needs of older travelers.

The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of sustainable finance and accounting (SFA) literature by identifying the influential aspects, main research streams and future research directions in SFA.

The results are obtained using bibliometric citation analysis and content analysis to conduct a bibliometric review of the intersection of sustainable finance and sustainable accounting using a sample of 795 articles published between 1991 and November 2023.

The most influential factors in the SFA literature are identified, highlighting three primary areas of research: corporate social responsibility and environmental disclosure; financial and economic performance; and regulations and standards.

SFA has experienced rapid development in recent years. The results identify the current research domain, guide potential future research directions, serve as a reference for SFA and provide inspiration to policymakers.

SFA typically encompasses sustainable corporate business practices and investments. This study contributes to broader social impacts by promoting improved corporate practices and sustainability.

This study expands on previous research on SFA. The authors identify significant aspects of the SFA literature, such as the most studied nations, leading journals, authors and trending publications. In addition, the authors provide an overview of the three major streams of the SFA literature and propose various potential future research directions, inspiring both academic research and policymaking.

This paper aims to explore the impact of Sc element on the microstructure and corrosion properties of Mg-0.5Zn alloy.

Three kinds of Mg-0.5Zn-xSc (x = 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 Wt.%) alloys were obtained, and the microstructure and corrosion properties were both analyzed.

As the Sc concentration increases, the corrosion resistance of the alloys initially improves and subsequently deteriorates. The trace addition of Sc can effectively reduce the grain size of Mg-Zn-Sc alloys and enhance the density of the corrosion products film. Consequently, an appropriate amount of Sc can reduce the corrosion rate of Mg-0.5Zn alloy.

However, the addition of Sc also introduces the second phase particles in the alloy, leading to galvanic corrosion, which adversely affects the corrosion resistance of Mg-0.5Zn alloy. Therefore, the amount of Sc added should be carefully controlled.

This study examines the impact of climate legislation on green agricultural production and tests the heterogeneous impact of different types of climate legislation on agricultural green production.

In this study, the super-slacks-based measure (super-SBM) model is used to calculate agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP). The impact of climate legislation (including legislative acts and executive orders) on AGTFP is examined through regression analysis. The transmission mechanism of climate legislation affecting agricultural green production is further investigated.

This study shows that climate legislation has a positive long-term effect on AGTFP. It stimulates innovation in agricultural green technology but has a negative impact on resource allocation efficiency. Executive orders have a more significant effect on AGTFP than climate legislative acts. The effectiveness of climate legislation is more significant in countries with stronger legislation. Moreover, climate legislation reduces AGTFP in low-income countries while enhancing AGTFP in high-income countries. This effect is most prominent in upper-middle-income countries.

This study examines the different effects of various types of climate legislation, considering the level of economic development and the strength of the legal system on AGTFP. The findings can offer a global perspective and insights for China’s policymaking.

The purpose of this study is to enhance the safety and comfort of tourists in scenic areas undergoing renovation and transformation by developing a comprehensive safety assessment model that takes into account both internal and external factors affecting tourist and construction safety.

The research employs a multi-level tourist-construction interaction safety assessment index system, which is constructed through a deep analysis of factors such as the construction environment, tourist behavior and safety signs. The study utilizes game theory in conjunction with three main objective and subjective weight distribution methods to determine the weights of the index system, ensuring the objectivity and effectiveness of the assessment results. The cloud model and cloud generator are applied for the language transformation of the indicators, leading to a comprehensive assessment of construction safety.

The survey results indicate that the safety risks of the case project are relatively high, with limited impact of time segments on safety risks, and the risk level during weekends is slightly higher than on weekdays, but the difference is not significant. Among the reviewed influencing factors, compliance with safety signs and the proportion of people crossing construction areas are the factors with the highest risk level, representing a large number of tourists ignoring safety guidance and forcibly crossing construction areas, facing construction dangers, posing a great challenge to safety management.

This study offers a novel methodological approach to safety risk assessment in similar environments, contributing to the field by improving the systematicness and scientific nature of safety management. It provides a scientific assessment tool for the safety management of tourists in scenic area renovation projects, aiming to achieve the dual objectives of tourist safety and construction efficiency.

Building a smart city is a necessary path to achieve sustainable urban development. Smart city public–private partnership (PPP) project is a necessary measure to build a smart city. Since there are many participants in smart city PPP projects, there are problems such as uneven distribution of risks; therefore, in order to ensure the normal construction and operation of the project, the reasonable sharing of risks among the participants becomes an urgent problem to be solved. In order to make each participant clearly understand the risk sharing of smart city PPP projects, this paper aims to establish a scientific and practical risk sharing model.

This paper uses the literature review method and the Delphi method to construct a risk index system for smart city PPP projects and then calculates the objective and subjective weights of each risk index through the Entropy Weight (EW) and G1 methods, respectively, and uses the combined assignment method to find the comprehensive weights. Considering the nature of the risk sharing problem, this paper constructs a risk sharing model for smart city PPP projects by initially sharing the risks of smart city PPP projects through Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to determine the independently borne risks and the jointly borne risks and then determines the sharing ratio of the jointly borne risks based on utility theory.

Finally, this paper verifies the applicability and feasibility of the risk-sharing model through empirical analysis, using the smart city of Suzhou Industrial Park as a research case. It is hoped that this study can provide a useful reference for the risk sharing of PPP projects in smart cities.

In this paper, the authors calculate the portfolio assignment by EW-G1 and construct a risk-sharing model by TOPSIS-Utility Theory (UT), which is applied for the first time in the study of risk sharing in smart cities.