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Motivated by the evidence highlighting the role of sentiments and cognitive biases in investors' decision-making, this study examines a novel behavioral finance-based asset pricing model incorporating the prospect theory framework in the Indian equity market. Specifically, the study’s primary objective is to investigate the importance of Prospect Theory Value (PTV) in the cross-sectional pricing of stocks.

The empirical findings rely on data taken from NIFTY 500 and BSE S&P 500 stocks, encompassing daily, weekly and monthly observations. The analysis employs diverse statistical techniques, including Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Fama–Macbeth Cross-section Regressions, Panel Fixed Effect and Quantile Regression.

The study demonstrates an asymmetric association between PTV and subsequent stock returns. The findings maintain their robustness even when factoring in stock-specific attributes such as market capitalization and book-to-market ratio, market beta and indicators related to lottery-like behavior such as skewness and MAX. This observed pattern persists when analyzing data at various frequencies, including daily, weekly and monthly intervals. Loss aversion behavior dominates among Indian equity investors, contrary to lottery preferences in the US equity market.

As far as the authors are aware, the study is the first to introduce a new behavioral finance-motivated stock return predictor (PTV) in the Indian stock market. The study also marks the pioneering use of a novel method that evaluates the predictability of PTV across various sections of the conditional return distribution using quantile regression.

This study aims to investigate the tensile strength and compressive behaviour of two thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filaments produced via material extrusion (ME): TPU 95A and Reciflex (recycled).

Tensile strength and compressive behaviour are assessed. The influence of extrusion temperature and infill pattern on these properties is examined, supported by thermal characterization, surface morphology analyses and a comprehensive comparison with existing literature. An analytical method is presented for estimating the solid ratio of ME parts, using an ellipse model to describe the material bead geometry.

Reciflex is generally stiffer than TPU 95A in both tensile and compressive tests. Specimens loaded orthogonally in compression tests exhibited stiffer behaviour than those loaded parallelly, and higher tensile properties were typically observed when material beads were deposited parallel to the load direction. Unlike TPU 95A, Reciflex is sensitive to extrusion temperature variations.

By comparing recycled and virgin TPU filaments, this research addresses waste management concerns and advocates for environmentally sustainable production practices in the broadly used filament/based ME technique.

This study provides an extensive comparison of computed values with existing literature, offering insights into how different materials may behave under similar processing conditions. Given ongoing challenges in controlling melt flow during extrusion, these results may offer insights for optimizing the production of ME parts made with thermoplastic elastomers.

Using the person-organization (P-O) fit perspective, the present study explores the interlinkages between workplace spirituality (WPS) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). It further attempts to understand the mediating effects of psychological ownership and innovative work behavior (IWB) for the association.

Data was collected in three waves from 283 frontline hotel employees in the Delhi NCR region of India. Partial least square (PLS-structural equation modeling) was used to test the hypothesized model.

A significant association was found between WPS and OCB. Psychological ownership and IWB had a significant serial mediation effect on WPS and OCB relationship.

The involvement of spirituality in the workplace is one of the significant factors contributing to positive organizational performance from the perspective of perishable services. Hence, understanding and implementing best practices to encourage WPS and strengthening psychological ownership for favorable behavioral outcomes must be one of the significant priorities for human resource managers in the hospitality industry.

WPS is an under-explored area in the hospitality industry. The present study will be novel and critical in bridging the research gap wherein psychological ownership and IWBs mediate the relationship between WPS and OCB in the hospitality sector. Furthermore, the present study notably contributes to using person organizational fit theory for the hypothesized relationships between study variables for the hospitality sector employees in India.

This paper aims to investigate how the build orientation simultaneously affects the tensile properties, geometrical measurements and surface roughness in material extrusion (MEX) produced parts.

An extensive experimental campaign was designed and carried out to elucidate the relationship between the rotation angles (input), defining the part orientation within the build volume, and the (output) variables measured by using 3D models reconstruction, roughness tester and tensile testing machine. Response surface methodology is used to capture the trend of each output relative to the input, while principal component analysis is used to identify relationships among outputs, providing a holistic understanding of how build orientation simultaneously influences mechanical properties, geometrical measurements and surface characteristics.

The study reveals that build orientation significantly affects nearly all output variables, with a pronounced dependency on the out-of-plane rotation angle. A key finding is the inverse correlation between mechanical strength and both geometrical measurements and surface roughness. This indicates that optimizing build orientation can enhance mechanical strength while minimizing geometrical defects.

This research, a newer addition to the existing literature, contributes to the field of additive manufacturing (AM) by offering an innovative analysis of the interaction between mechanical properties, geometric precision and surface roughness in relation to build orientation. It enhances the understanding of MEX processes and provides valuable insights into optimizing build orientation, thereby improving the competitiveness of AM over traditional production methods.

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 investigate the effectiveness of widely adopted but under-studied synthetic humanlike spokespersons (SHS) compared to organic human spokespersons in workplace training videos. The primary aim is to evaluate whether employees will rate training videos more negatively when they perceive their trainer to be synthetic such as those videos made with the AI-powered tools Synthesia or HeyGen. Results suggest that while ratings are more negative when the viewer perceives syntheticness, the change is only mild across most measures deployed here. When measures were calculated by using actual modality and not perceived modality, no significant change in rating was found. This study deployed three measures: actual knowledge transfer, perceived effectiveness and brand impression. It is guided by a convergence of AI Literacy Theory, the Technology Acceptance Model and the Theory of Reasoned Action.

Over 250 professionals assessed the effectiveness of training videos in a 2 × 2 trial design. Participants were randomly assigned to view one of four training videos featuring either a synthetic or organic spokesperson for a fictional business. After watching the video, participants answered Likert-scale survey questions and multiple-choice quiz-style questions to provide comparative measurements of actual knowledge transfer effectiveness, perceived effectiveness, brand impression and the effectiveness of the synthetic deception. The study used both ANOVA and multiple regression analyses to control for potential confounding variables and ensure the robustness of the findings.

The results indicate no significant differences between SHS and organic human spokespersons in terms of actual effectiveness (quiz scores), perceived effectiveness or brand impression, based on actual modality comparisons. However, when respondents perceived syntheticness, the avatar triggered the negative uncanny valley phenomenon and slightly decreased overall scores in perceived effectiveness and brand impression. Notably, more than half of respondents did not detect that the SHS was synthetic. Demographic variables such as gender, age or household income had no significant impact on the results.

Organizations can justifiably consider incorporating SHS into their training programs, leveraging these synthetic agents to deliver cost-effective and scalable learning solutions. The findings suggest that SHS can be used effectively for goals such as actual knowledge transfer without compromising training quality, and that other perceptual goals may be within reach as well. This may offer a viable alternative to traditional, organic human spokespersons, opening up new opportunities for enhancing training efficiency and accessibility across various industries.

Synthetic avatars, as outlined here, are a demonstrably effective new option in the array of available learning technologies. They are being adopted en masse but without significant study of their effectiveness. This research provides foundational quantitative assessments designed to address that gap in the literature and practice. The data presented here is highly valuable for practitioners and scholars interested in cutting-edge learning tools. Given the rapid advancement of technology, this study provides an important benchmark for evaluating future improvements in these tools. Furthermore, it offers actionable recommendations for integrating AI-powered avatars into professional development, enhancing understanding of the roles advanced technologies play in educational and training programs.

The business landscapes in Asia and Africa are predominantly characterized by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) facing significant resource constraints. Understanding the capability dynamics of these enterprises in such contexts carries significant implications for theory and practice. This paper aims to addresses a crucial question of whether increasing customer involvement capability consistently yields the necessary rent for enterprises operating under resource constraints in emerging markets in Asia and Africa. By investigating this question, the paper offers SMEs a more nuanced approach to capability development, enabling them to achieve better returns on their investments.

To ensure the robustness of the findings, data were collected from SME service firms operating in two emerging economies: India (Asia) and Ghana (Africa). Data were collected in two waves to allow for catering to specific environmental conditions not accounted for in the study. Two-stage data analysis was then conducted to test the hypothesized relationships across the two countries.

The findings reveal that customer involvement capability does not always lead to an increase in firm-level competitiveness, and the effect follows an inverted U-shaped pattern. However, the nature of this relationship varies under different market conditions in both contexts. Specifically, in periods of low customer demand and intense competition, the relationship is linear and positive. On the other hand, in periods of high demand and competition, the relationship becomes inverted U-shaped, returning to a direct relationship with firm-level competitiveness.

This paper provides a resolution to the critical issue of whether customer involvement capability consistently delivers firm performance benefits, particularly for resource-constrained SMEs in emerging markets. By explaining how SMEs in emerging markets can fully capitalize on their capability development to optimize their resources, this paper makes a distinctive contribution. Moreover, it sheds light on the importance of aligning involvement capabilities with prevailing market conditions for SMEs to reap the maximum benefits.

The authors originally explore the factors for blockchain technology (BCT) adoption in agricultural supply chains (ASCs) to enhance circularity and understand the dependencies, hierarchical structure and causalities between these factors.

Based on an extant literature review and expert opinion, the present study identified ten enablers for adopting BCT to leverage the circular economy (CE) practices in the ASCs. Then, using an integrated interpretive structural modeling and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (ISM-DEMATEL) approach, hierarchical and cause–effect relationships are established.

It was observed that traceability is the most prominent enabler from the CE perspective in ASCs. However, traceability, being a net effect enabler, will be realized through the achievement of other cause enablers, such as seamless connectivity and information flow and decentralized and distributed ledger technology. The authors also propose a 12 Rs framework for enhancing circularity in ASC operations.

The paper identifies enablers to BCT adoption that will enhance circularity in ASC operations. The ISM hierarchical model is based on the driving and dependence powers of the enablers, and DEMATEL aids in identifying causal relationships among the enablers.

The study's findings and proposed 12 Rs framework may help the practitioners and policymakers devise effective BCT implementation strategies in ASCs, thereby empowering sustainability and circularity.

This study enriches the literature by identifying and modeling enablers for BCT adoption in ASCs. The study also proposes a new 12 Rs framework to help enhance ASC circularity.

This study aims to investigate the relationship of corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimensions on the financial and nonfinancial performance of Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) amidst crises.

Survey data was collected from 204 SME owner-managers in Finland during the COVID-19 pandemic using a purposive sampling technique, focusing on SMEs in South Ostrobothnia representing Finnish SMEs. The study tests the direct and indirect effects of CSR dimensions on both financial and nonfinancial performance during challenging times using linear regression analysis and path analysis with SEM.

The analysis reveals that CSR systems thinking competence positively affects financial performance but does not significantly impact nonfinancial performance. On the other hand, community social responsibility and socially responsible human resource management positively influence nonfinancial performance and have an indirect effect on financial performance.

This research underscores the beneficial performance outcomes of SME engagement in CSR during challenging times, emphasizing the enduring value of investing in employees. It highlights that despite industry performance affecting financial outcomes, CSR systems thinking competence contributes to financial performance and community social responsibility and socially responsible human resource management maintain a positive association with nonfinancial performance. Furthermore, this study enriches the existing literature on the CSR-SME performance relationship by exploring its effects within the unique context of a Nordic welfare society facing a crisis.