Jie Meng and Fenghua Wu
As a crucial institutional form established since the Chinese economic reform, the system of competitive local governments has been shaping the characteristics of China's…
Abstract
Purpose
As a crucial institutional form established since the Chinese economic reform, the system of competitive local governments has been shaping the characteristics of China's socialist market economy to a considerable degree.
Design/methodology/approach
This study not only adopts the view of existing studies that attribute the economic motive of local governments to rent and consider land public finance as a means through which local governments carry out strategic investment but also attempts to further develop the view within a Marxist analytical framework.
Findings
As a result, the local governments have helped to maintain an incredibly high investment rate over a considerable period of time, facilitating the continuous, rapid growth of the Chinese economy.
Originality/value
This study concludes that China's local governments function as the productive allocator and user of rent in the strategic investment based on land public finance and thereby embed themselves in the relative surplus-value production initially arising from competition amongst enterprises, forming the dual structure of relative surplus-value production unique to China's economy.
Details
Keywords
Feng Feng, Xiaoxiao Ge, Stefania Tomasiello and Jianke Zhang
As social networks have developed to be a ubiquitous platform of public opinion spreading, it becomes more and more crucial for maintaining social security and stability by…
Abstract
Purpose
As social networks have developed to be a ubiquitous platform of public opinion spreading, it becomes more and more crucial for maintaining social security and stability by accurately predicting various trends of public opinion dissemination in social networks. Considering the fact that the dissemination of online public opinion is a dynamic process full of uncertainty and complexity, this study establishes a novel conformable fractional discrete grey model with linear time-varying parameters, namely the CFTDGM(1,1) model, for more accurate prediction of online public opinion trends.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the conformable fractional accumulation and difference operators are employed to build the CFTDGM(1,1) model for enhancing the traditional integer-order discrete grey model with linear time-varying parameters. Then, to improve forecasting accuracy, a base value correction term is introduced to optimize the iterative base value of the CFTDGM(1,1) model. Next, the differential evolution algorithm is selected to determine the optimal order of the proposed model through a comparison with the whale optimization algorithm and the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The least squares method is utilized to estimate the parameter values of the CFTDGM(1,1) model. In addition, the effectiveness of the CFTDGM(1,1) model is tested through a public opinion event about “IG team winning the championship”. Finally, we conduct empirical analysis on two hot online public opinion events regarding “Chengdu toddler mauled by Rottweiler” and “Mayday band suspected of lip-syncing,” to further assess the prediction ability and applicability of the CFTDGM(1,1) model by comparison with seven other existing grey models.
Findings
The test case and empirical analysis on two recent hot events reveal that the CFTDGM(1,1) model outperforms most of the existing grey models in terms of prediction performance. Therefore, the CFTDGM(1,1) model is chosen to forecast the development trends of these two hot events. The prediction results indicate that public attention to both events will decline slowly over the next three days.
Originality/value
A conformable fractional discrete grey model is proposed with the help of conformable fractional operators and a base value correction term to improve the traditional discrete grey model. The test case and empirical analysis on two recent hot events indicate that this novel model has higher accuracy and feasibility in online public opinion trend prediction.
Details
Keywords
Liyang Wang, Feng Chen, Pengcheng Wang and Qianli Zhang
Salt rock from salt lakes can serve as a cost-effective material for subgrade filling, as demonstrated in projects like the Qarhan Salt Lake section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway…
Abstract
Purpose
Salt rock from salt lakes can serve as a cost-effective material for subgrade filling, as demonstrated in projects like the Qarhan Salt Lake section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and the Qarhan Salt Lake section of the G215 Highway. This state-of-the-art paper aims to summarize the engineering properties of salt rock filling and present the advances of its utilization.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper collects and analyzes laboratory and field data of salt rock filling from previous studies to present a comprehensive analysis of the engineering properties and utilization of salt rock fillings.
Findings
Salt rock primarily contains minerals such as halite and glauberite, which contribute to its unique phase-changing behavior under varying environmental conditions, impacting its mechanical properties. Salt rock filling shrinks when in contact with vapor or unsaturated brine and expands under cooling or evaporation. Its use is particularly recommended for arid regions, with specific restrictions depending on the structure type. This paper discusses suggested countermeasures to mitigate these issues, as well as key quality acceptance indices for salt rock filling compaction. Moisture content after air-drying is recommended as a crucial parameter for construction quality control.
Originality/value
This review aims to support future research and engineering practices in salt rock subgrade applications.
Details
Keywords
Anna Visvizi, Miltiadis D. Lytras, Wadee Alhalabi and Xi Zhang