Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of political connections on the association between firms' business strategy and their tax aggressiveness in an emerging economy such as China.

The authors study a large sample of Chinese public firms from 2011 to 2017 using a panel regression model. In addition, a change analysis, an instrument variable test and alternative measures/samples are implemented as robustness tests.

Firms adopting innovative business strategy are more tax aggressive overall. However, innovative firms with political connections are less tax aggressive compared to those without political connections.

This paper contributes to the understanding of firms' tax behaviors in an emerging economy setting. It suggests that there are costs associated with political connections, such as foregone tax saving opportunities, which are understudies in the prior literature.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how managerial risk-taking incentives affect the sensitivity of R&D investments to the availability of a firm’s internal finance.

The author studies a large panel sample of US firms from 1992 to 2013 using a dynamic structural model and estimates a system GMM estimator that accounts for unobserved firm-specific effects, and that allows the author to address the potential endogeneity of all of the financial and executive compensation variables.

Managerial risk-taking incentives, in particular CEO portfolio vega, have a significantly positive impact on the financial constraints that bind R&D investments. Moreover, the author finds that CEO portfolio vega has stronger impacts on the investment-cash flow sensitivity of R&D in firms that are more likely to face binding financial constraints.

Prior studies on the financial constraints of R&D investments do not consider the potential impact of executive compensation on R&D investments. The author complements this stream of literature by providing novel results showing that managerial risk-taking incentives have a significant impact on the severity of the financial constraints on R&D investments.

Since the reform and opening up, the economy of China has rapidly developed. The system, structure, mode, and pattern of the foreign trade in China must be adjusted accordingly to adapt to new economic normality. In this study, the main types of free trade areas worldwide were analyzed, and the necessary conditions for their successful development were examined on the basis of an ecological economic perspective. The Shanghai free trade area is a typical representative of a new type of Trade Zone in China. It introduces the principles of sustainable development, people oriented, green, low-carbon and other eco free trade zones. The planning characteristics of Shanghai free trade zone were studied from the point of view of planning economy and land use. Taking Shanghai Yangshan land free trade zone as an example, the planning research was carried out in terms of functional zoning, environment, transportation and facilities. In summary, this study provided theoretical and technical references for the construction of free trade areas and for the formulation of significant policies.

In order to alleviate China's crisis of marginalization in international trade, combined with the development characteristics of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, the development direction of the bonded cold chain business of Shanghai Yangshan Comprehensive Bonded Port Area was proposed. From a long-term perspective, a free trade zone integrating processing, logistics, finance, culture, and internal and external market trade was formed. By taking advantage of the huge consumption of imported food in the Yangtze river delta region, the policy advantages of Yangshan Port Area are exploited. Combined with the development of cross-border e-commerce, innovative experiences that could be replicated and promoted are formed. The results showed that the free trade zone is the development direction of the bonded port area. Therefore, the Shanghai Bonded Port Area should focus on the integration with the development of the free trade zone in the initial stage. This lays a solid foundation for the construction of the bonded port area as a comprehensive internal and external trade platform for ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the domestic market. Research on the planning and layout of trade zones can help plan the future development of trade zones and their direction. The trade zone is pre-controlled. The efficiency of future construction and upgrading of the bonded area is improved. It is of great practical significance to the current development and construction of the Shanghai Bonded Port Area.

The purpose of this paper is to study the tribological properties of a thiazole derivatives (T561), overbased alkyl benzene calcium sulfonate (T106A) compounded with T561 and overbased alkyl benzene magnesium sulfonate (T107) compounded with T561 in rapeseed oil (RSO).

A four-ball machine was used to evaluate the tribological properties of each compound and their combinations with T561 in RSO. Scanning electron microscopy, EDX and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were applied to analyze the tribofilm formed on the worn surfaces.

Results of tribotesting demonstrated that synergistic effects exist between the overbased sulfonates, T106A and T107, and the thiazole derivative, T561. The texts of tribofilm indicated that iron sulfide and iron oxides exist in T561 single agent lubricant film and two composite additives lubricant film, and no sulfates were detected. It suggested that the addition of alkyl benzene sulfonate did not hinder the formation of iron sulfides and iron oxides. Meanwhile, CaSO₄ (MgSO₄) and CaCO₃ (MgCO₃) were detected on the worn surface of the composite additives, which were not detected on the single agent friction surface.

A tribofilm mainly contains CaSO₄ (MgSO₄) and CaCO₃ (MgCO₃) formed on the worn surfaces, which is responsible for excellent extreme pressure and anti-wear properties of the compound agents because of their high melting point and high shear stress.

This paper aims to explore the effects of normative and hedonic motivations on continuous knowledge contribution, and how past contribution experience moderates the effects of the motivations on continuous knowledge contribution.

Based on goal-framing theory, the present study proposes a comprehensive theoretical model by integrating normative and hedonic motivations, past contribution experience and continuous knowledge contribution. The data for virtual community members' activities were collected using the Python Scrapy crawler. Logit regression was used to validate the integrative model.

The results show that both normative motivation (reflected by generalized reciprocity and social learning) and hedonic motivation (reflected by peer recognition and online attractiveness) are positively associated with continuous knowledge contribution. Moreover, these effects are found to be significantly influenced by members' past knowledge contribution experience. Specifically, the results suggest that past knowledge contribution experience undermines the influence of generalized reciprocity on continuous knowledge contribution but strengthens the effect of peer recognition and online attractiveness.

Although the emerging literature on continuous knowledge contribution mainly focuses on motivations as antecedents that promote continuous knowledge contribution, most of these studies assume that the relationship between motivating mechanisms and continuous knowledge contribution does not change over time. The study is one of the initial studies to examine whether and how the influence of multiple motivations evolves relative to levels of past contribution experience.

This research aims to study the recent changes in consumer behaviour and purchase pattern during the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 pandemic has forced consumers to stockpile, which has its own consequences. The article proposes the importance of “minimalism in consumption” to avoid greed in consumer behaviour.

The data are collected from consumers across India using an online survey during the first lockdown from March 2020 to May 2020. A simple random sampling technique is used for data collection, and the collected data are analysed using SPSS version 26.

The study states that there will be a shift in the purchase pattern of the consumers if lockdowns are imposed in the future or during any other crisis. However, at present, consumers have developed a stockpiling mentality fearing the unavailability of essentials.

Pandemic has stimulated a drastic change in consumer behaviour, which is a situational effect. Each crisis affects consumer behaviour in a different way. In this research, we have considered only fear, greed and anxiety in the light of Covid-19. On the other hand, the research intends to draw realistic conclusions based on consumers' experiences during the lockdown.

The study proposes solutions that will help marketers frame exclusive strategies for a future crisis. Analysing the change in consumer behaviour and the shift in purchase patterns will emphasize the importance of market research to know consumer expectations during a crisis situation in order to cater to their new demands.

Consumers who stockpile should realize the unavailability of goods to other consumers who are in need. They also have to understand the importance of “minimalism in consumption” during a crisis.

The data are collected during the most taxing crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic. Data are collected at the peak time of the first wave of Covid-19 in India, during a major shift in consumers' behaviour and purchase pattern. The article brings to the larger consciousness and also preaches a life lesson to all consumers to execute their responsibilities in consumption without over-demands and expectations.

This paper aims to study the tribocorrosion behavior of 304 stainless steel (SS) sliding against SiC and Si₃N₄ counterparts in artificial seawater.

The tribocorrosion behavior of 304SS sliding against SiC and Si₃N₄ balls in artificial seawater has been investigated. The tests were conducted using a ball-on-disk rig equipped with an electrochemical workstation. The friction coefficient, surface morphology, wear volume and current density were determined.

When 304SS sliding against SiC ball, a smooth surface with a silica layer was formed on the top, which led to the low friction coefficient, current density and small wear volume. For 304SS-Si₃N₄ tribo-pair, a lot of metal debris was scattered on contact surfaces leading to high friction coefficient, current density and big wear volume.

This research suggests that the lubrication effect of silicon-based ceramics is related to counterpart specimen in artificial seawater.

The results may help us to choose the appropriate ceramic ball under seawater environment.

The main originality of the work is to reveal the tribocorrosion behavior of 304SS sliding against SiC and Si₃N₄ balls, which help us to realize that the Si₃N₄ ball as water-lubricated ceramics could not exhibit lubrication effect when coupled with 304SS in artificial seawater.

The objective of this research work is to study the artificial intelligence (AI)-based product benefits and problems of the agritech industry. The research variables were developed from the existing review of literature connecting to AI-based benefits and problems, and 90 samples of primary data from agritech industry managers were gathered using a survey of a well-structured research questionnaire. The statistical package of IBM-SPSS 21 was utilized to analyze the data using the statistical techniques of descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Results show that better information for faster decision-making has been ranked as the topmost AI benefit. This implies that the executives of agritech units have a concern about the quality of decisions they make and resistance to change from employees and internal culture has been ranked as the topmost AI problem.