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The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficiencies of China's foreign and domestic life insurance providers and to explore the relationship between ownership structure and the efficiencies of insurers while taking into consideration other firm attributes.

The data envelopment analysis (DEA) method is used to estimate the efficiencies of the insurers based on a panel data between 1999 and 2004.

The results indicate that the average efficiency scores for all the insurers are cyclical. Both technical and scale efficiency reached their peaks in 1999 and 2000 and gradually reduced for the rest of the period under examination until 2004 when average efficiency were improved again. The Tobit regression results show that the insurers' market power, the distribution channels used and the ownership structures may be attributed to the variation in the efficiencies.

Based on the research findings and the discussion, the study provides several recommendations for policy makers, regulators and senior executives of insurers.

The research results highlight the importance of deregulating the sector to allow a further expansion of each individual insurer or encourage mergers and acquisitions of insurers so more efficient resource utilization can be achieved through economies of scale. It also suggests that it is imperative for insurers to recruit motivated insurance agents and offer them on‐the‐job training as a part of the management strategies for gaining technical efficiency.

The paper reports the development within China's insurance industry and is one of the few studies analyzing the efficiencies of China's insurers.

Green ambidexterity innovation and green competitive advantage are of great significance to enterprises' sustainable development. From the perspective of upper echelons theory, This paper aims to investigate the role of top managers in gaining green competitive advantage and the intermediary effect of the green ambidexterity innovation between them.

This paper uses empirical data from heavily polluting enterprises in China for constructing a model to infer how enterprises achieve the green competitive advantage.

The paper shows that (a) top managers' environmental awareness and the green ambidexterity innovation are both positively related to the green competitive advantage of enterprises, while there is a difference between the exploitative green innovation and the exploratory green innovation regarding the heterogeneity; the positive effect of the exploratory green innovation on enterprises' green competitive advantage is greater than that of the exploitative green innovation; (b) the green ambidexterity innovation plays a partial intermediary effect between top managers' environmental awareness and enterprises' green competitive advantage and (c) strategic flexibility positively moderates the relation between the green ambidexterity innovation and the green competitive advantage. The study concludes that top managers' environmental awareness has a significantly positive impact on reinforcing green competitive advantages and adopting the green ambidexterity innovation for heavily polluting enterprises in China.

This paper contributes to the green innovation management literature by offering a theoretical framework for examining how top managers' environmental awareness influences enterprises' green competitive advantage.

The purpose of this study is to explore the green innovation evolution in coal enterprises in China and the various driving mechanisms influenced by government regulations, enterprise resource capability and supply chain integration.

This paper uses the innovation data of coal enterprises in China for constructing a model to infer how enterprises achieve green innovation (the “hybrid drive effect model”).

This paper shows that various driving modes of green innovation in an enterprise are influenced by government regulations, enterprise resource and capability, supply chain integration and the interaction effects between any two actors.

By examining the evolution process of green innovation in a specific industry from the perspectives of exploitative and exploratory innovation, the paper touches a relatively novel view on green innovation.

Self-organization has been regarded as a tool for the synthesis of well-defined organic nanostructures. Heterocyclic annulated perylene diimides are the subjects of considerable current research studies. The purpose of this study is to reveal the photophysical property, electronic structure and solid-state packing of O-heterocyclic annulated perylene diimide.

Asymmetrically five-membered O-heterocyclic annulated perylene diimide (OAPDI) was synthesized. Structure and purity of OAPDI were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR and mass spectral techniques. Photophysical properties of OAPDI were studied using UV–vis absorption and fluorescence in both solution (CHCl₃) and solid state. Scanning electron microscopic and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the surface morphology of OAPDI. Conducting properties of the OAPDI were evaluated by current–voltage measurements. The compounds geometries were also optimized at 6-31G* using density functional theory.

The UV–vis absorption and fluorescence spectra of OAPDI in solution are blue-shifted in comparison with that of unsubstituted perylene bisimide. Solid-state UV–vis measurements of OAPDI indicate that it is capable of forming highly ordered structure. The non-covalent interactions, electrostatic attraction and p-p stacking moieties of OAPDI synergistically guide assembly and domain growth while maintaining the interpenetrating network of nanofibers in the solid film. The OAPDI gave higher current at −2.0 V (0.68 µA) and 4.0 V (1.0 µA).

This study will be helpful for exploring feasible routes to acquire soluble perylene diimides and well-defined organic nanostructures. Furthermore, such molecular tailoring approach would be helpful for designing and synthesizing novel organic semiconductive materials with excellent charge-transporting and light-emitting capabilities.

This cross-sectional online survey in Oman in April 2021 aimed to assess university students' resilience, stress levels and meaning during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify characteristic profiles.

A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from full-time students at one University in Oman. Outcomes included sociodemographic information, the brief resilience scale, the perceived stress scale-4 and the meaning in life questionnaire to explore the students' profiles.

A total of 964 students participated (response rate = 34.8%), of which 35% had low resilience scores. The average perceived stress, presence of meaning in life and search for meaning in life scores were 7.9 ± 2.3, 24.2 ± 6.9 and 24.9 ± 7.7, respectively. Cluster analysis identified three groups: low-risk and fewer impacts (cluster A, n = 503, 523%), moderate-risk and moderate impacts (cluster B, n = 160, 16.6%) and high-risk and more impacts (cluster C, n = 301, 31.2%). Cluster C students experienced more psychological problems and were at high risk during the pandemic.

The respondents' honesty is a possible error that could influence the results. Low response rates limit its generalizability, and cause-effect relationships among mental health outcomes cannot be discerned.

This study identified three distinct groups of students, each with different levels of severity in their health problems. There is an increased need for education and counseling to support students during this period, and university management should focus on implementing personal precautionary measures and providing high-tech, user-friendly platforms for students to enhance their learning.

These findings suggest that tailored strategies should be developed to address the unique psychological needs of each group. The study provides important information for university management to understand the pandemic's psychological impact on students and develop effective interventions to support their well-being.