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This paper aims to examine the relation between managerial ability and stock price crash risk, conditional on managerial overconfidence. In addition, conditional on managerial overconfidence, the authors investigate the effect of managerial ability on firms’ choice of bad news hoarding channels, which result in a stock price crash.

Using a sample of 24,289 firm-years from companies listed on Compustat and CRSP from 1994 to 2018, the authors conduct panel regression analysis.

The authors find that managerial ability is positively associated with stock price crash risk only when managerial overconfidence is high. Furthermore, the authors find that managerial ability seems to exacerbate (attenuate) the bad news withholding by the overconfident managers using the earnings guidance (earnings management) channel. The authors find limited evidence that high-ability managers are likely to withhold bad news through the overinvestment channel and “other channels” when managers are overconfident. Finally, the authors find that the joint effect of managerial overconfidence and managerial ability on firms’ crash risk is more pronounced when there is a material weakness in firms’ internal controls, high investor belief heterogeneity and high information asymmetry. However, this effect appears to dissipate during the recent financial crisis in 2008.

This research reveals that managerial ability is costly to firms by engendering bad news hoardings and stock price crash risk when managers are overconfident. It also sheds light on how managerial overconfidence and managerial ability affect managers’ choice of bad news withholding channels and stock price crash risk. Finally, the paper is of practical value to the board of directors in selecting the prospective executives.

This paper aims to investigate whether the two dominant financial reporting regimes, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), are associated with audit pricing and audit report lags.

In 2007, the US SEC eliminated the requirement for foreign registrants to reconcile their financial statements to US GAAP from IFRS. In this post-reconciliation setting in the USA, the authors use panel ordinary least square regressions to examine a sample of foreign firms cross-listed in the USA reporting under IFRS and US domestic firms reporting under US GAAP during the fiscal year 2007–2019.

The authors find that the firms reporting under IFRS have longer audit report lags than firms reporting under US GAAP. In addition, the authors find that firms reporting under IFRS pay higher audit fees than their US GAAP counterparts. The results are robust after controlling for the firm- and country-specific characteristics as well as using propensity-score matching.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to provide empirical evidence that the differences between the two reporting regimes are associated with auditor behavior, possibly through additional audit efforts and audit complexity associated with auditing the principle-based IFRS relative to the rule-based US GAAP.

Alternating current (AC) corrosion is a type of corrosion that occurs in buried pipelines under AC stray current interference, which can increase the hydrogen embrittlement sensitivity of pipelines. However, rare research works have been conducted on the hydrogen permeability characteristics of pipeline steel under AC stray current interference. The purpose of this paper is to study hydrogen permeation behavior of X80 steel under AC stray current interference.

In this paper, the hydrogen permeation behavior of X80 steel under AC interference is studied by AC hydrogen charging experiment in a dual electrolytic cell. The relationship between hydrogen evolution rate and hydrogen permeation flux is studied using the gas collection method. The difference between AC hydrogen permeability and direct current (DC) hydrogen permeability is also discussed.

The anodic dissolution caused by AC corrosion promotes the chemical desorption reaction of the adsorbed hydrogen atoms on the surface, reducing the hydrogen atom absorption ratio by 70%. When the AC is smaller than 150░ A/m², the hydrogen permeation process is controlled by the hydrogen atom generation rate, and the hydrogen permeation flux increases with the increase in hydrogen atom generation rate. When the AC exceeds 400░ A/m², the hydrogen permeation process is controlled by the absorption ratio. The hydrogen permeation flux decreases with the decrease in the absorption ratio. Under AC interference, there is a maximum hydrogen permeation flux that linearly correlates to the H⁺ concentration in the solutions.

The high-strength steel is very sensitive to hydrogen embrittlement, and X80 steel has been widely used in oil and gas pipelines. To date, no research has been conducted on the hydrogen permeation behavior of pipeline steel under AC interference, and the hydrogen permeability characteristics of pipeline steel under AC interference are not clear. The research results of this paper are of great significance for ensuring the intrinsic safety of high-strength pipelines under AC stray current interference.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain the environmental factor, which has the greatest effect on the corrosion rate of Q235 carbon steel under thin electrolyte layer, and to analyze the effect of this factor on the corrosion morphology, corrosion products and polarization process of Q235 carbon steel.

An electrochemical device, which can be used under thin electrolyte layer is designed to measure the corrosion current in different environments. Response surface methodology (RSM) is introduced to analyze the effect of environmental factors on corrosion rate. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique are used to analyze the results. The Tafel slopes of anode and cathode in different humidity and solution are calculated by least square method.

The three environmental factors are ranked according to importance, namely, humidity, temperature and chloride ion deposition rate. In a high humidity environment, the relative content of α-FeOOH in the corrosion product is high and the relative content of β-FeOOH is low. The higher the humidity, the lower the degree of anodic blockage, whereas the degree of cathodic blockage is independent of humidity. The above experiments confirm the effectiveness and efficiency of the device, indicating it can be used for the screening of corrosive environmental factors.

In this paper, an electrochemical device under thin film is designed, which can simulate atmospheric corrosion well. Subsequent SEM and XRD confirmed the reliability of the data measured by this device. The introduction of a scientific RSM can overcome the limitations of orthogonal experiments and more specifically and intuitively analyze the effects of environmental factors on corrosion rates.

This paper reviews the synergy of Industry 4.0 and additive manufacturing (AM) and discusses the integration of data-driven manufacturing systems and product service systems as a key component of the Industry 4.0 revolution. This paper aims to highlight the potential effects of Industry 4.0 on AM via tools such as digitalisation, data transfer, tagging technology, information in Industry 4.0 and intelligent features.

In successive phases of industrialisation, there has been a rise in the use of, and dependence on, data in manufacturing. In this review of Industry 4.0 and AM, the five pillars of success that could see the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, robotics and materials science enabling new levels of interactivity and interdependence between suppliers, producers and users are discussed. The unique effects of AM capabilities, in particular mass customisation and light-weighting, combined with the integration of data and IoT in Industry 4.0, are studied for their potential to support higher efficiencies, greater utility and more ecologically friendly production. This research also illustrates how the digitalisation of manufacturing for Industry 4.0, through the use of IoT and AM, enables new business models and production practices.

The discussion illustrates the potential of combining IoT and AM to provide an escape from the constraints and limitations of conventional mass production whilst achieving economic and ecological savings. It should also be noted that this extends to the agile design and fabrication of increasingly complex parts enabled by simulations of complex production processes and operating systems. This paper also discusses the relationship between Industry 4.0 and AM with respect to improving the quality and robustness of product outcomes, based on real-time data/feedback.

This research shows how a combined approach to research into IoT and AM can create a step change in practice that alters the production and supply paradigm, potentially reducing the ecological impact of industrial systems and product life cycle. This paper demonstrates how the integration of Industry 4.0 and AM could reshape the future of manufacturing and discusses the challenges involved.