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This chapter examines China’s corporate governance and accounting environment that shapes the adoption of internationally acceptable principles and standards. Specifically, it examines international influences, including supranational organizations; foreign investors and international accounting firms; domestic institutional influences, including the political system, economic system, legal system, and cultural system; and accounting infrastructure. China’s convergence is driven by desired efficiency of the corporate sector and legitimacy of participating in the global market. Influenced heavily by international forces in the context of globalization, corporate governance and accounting practices are increasingly becoming in line with internationally acceptable standards and codes. While convergence assists China in obtaining legitimacy, improving efficiency is likely to be adversely affected given that corporate governance and accounting in China operate in an environment that differs considerably from those of Anglo-American countries. An examination of the corporate governance and accounting environment in China suggests heavy government involvement within underdeveloped institutions. While the Chinese government has made impressive progress in developing the corporate governance and accounting environment for the market economy, China’s unique institutional setting is likely to affect how the imported concepts are interpreted and implemented.

This study aims to examine the association between firm size, profitability, leverage, auditor type and internet reporting and investigate the moderating effect of legal system, investor protection, masculinity, economic development, construction of disclosure index and measurement proxies of independent variables.

This study conducts a meta-analytic review for 59 research papers to synthesise quantitatively the results of previous literature on the determinants of internet reporting. This study uses Hunter and Schmidt’s (2004) procedures to conduct the analysis. There are three main procedures to be followed: calculating the weighted effect size, calculating observed correlation variance and sampling error variance and, finally, testing for homogeneity and moderating effects.

The results indicate a significant positive association between firm size, profitability, leverage, auditor type and internet reporting. The results confirm the prediction of agency theory, signalling theory, political cost hypothesis and diffusion of innovation theory. Moreover, the results show that investor protection, masculinity, economic development, construction of disclosure index and measurement proxies for independent variables moderate the association between profitability, leverage and internet reporting.

This study suffers from some limitations. First, corporate governance variables such as board size, role duality and board independence were not included in the analysis due to the limited number of studies that discuss the association between corporate governance and internet reporting. Second, the study does not control for the endogeneity problem.

Future research has to consider the moderating effect of investor protection, masculinity, economic development, construction of disclosure index and measurement proxies for independent variables on the association between corporate characteristics and internet reporting. Future research can extend this work by examining the association between corporate governance, ownership structure and internet reporting. The findings regarding the determinants of internet reporting should be on concern of regulatory authorities.

This study contributes to and extends previous meta-analysis literature by examining internet reporting determinants, as previous financial reporting meta-analysis studies give no attention to internet reporting.

High speed axial flow pumps are widely used in aircraft fuel systems. Conventional axial flow pumps often generate radial secondary flows at partial-load conditions which influence the flow structure and form a “saddle-shaped” region in the Q-H curve that can destabilize the operation. Thus, the “saddle-shaped” Q-H region must be eliminated. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The swept stacking method is often used for radial flow control in turbo-machinery impeller blade design. Hence, this study uses the swept stacking method to design a high speed axial flow pump. The detached eddy simulation method and experiments are used to compare the performance of a swept blade impeller in a high speed axial fuel pump with the original straight blade impeller. Both the pump performance and internal flow characteristics are studied.

The results show separation vortices in the impeller with the straight blade design at partial-load conditions that are driven by the rotating centrifugal force to gather near the shroud. The swept geometry provides an extra force which is opposite to the rotating centrifugal force that creates a new radial equilibrium which turns the flow back towards the middle of the blade which eliminates the vortices and the “saddle-shaped” Q-H region. The swept blade impeller also improves the critical cavitation performance. Analysis of the pressure pulsations shows that the swept blade design does not affect the stability.

This study is the initial application of swept blades for axial flow liquid pumps. The results show how the swept stacking changes the radial equilibrium of the high density, high viscosity flow and the effects on the mass transfer and pressure pulsations. The swept blade effectively improves the operating stability of high speed fuel pumps.

In customized production such as plate workpiece grinding, because of the diversity of the workpiece shapes and the positional/orientational clamping errors, great efforts are taken to repeatedly calibrate and program the robots. To change this situation, the purpose of this study is to propose a method of robotic direct grinding for unknown workpiece contour based on adaptive constant force control and human–robot collaboration.

First, an adaptive constant force controller based on stiffness estimation is proposed, which can distinguish the contact of the human hand and the unknown workpiece contour. Second, a normal vector search algorithm is developed to calculate the normal vector of the unknown workpiece contour in real-time. Finally, the force and position are controlled in the calculated normal and tangential directions to realize the direct grinding.

The method considers the disturbance of the tangential grinding force and the friction, so the robot can track and grind the workpiece contour simultaneously. The experiments prove that the method can ensure the force error and the normal vector calculating error within 0.3 N and 4°. This human–robot collaboration pattern improves the convenience of the grinding process.

The proposed method realizes constant force grinding of unknown workpiece contour in real-time and ensures the grinding consistency. In addition, combined with human–robot collaboration, the method saves the time spent in repeated calibration and programming.

Compared with other related research, this method has better accuracy and anti-disturbance capability of force control and normal vector calculation during the actual grinding process.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the index system of leading industries in Kashgar urban agglomeration, and use the multi-attribute weighted intelligent grey target decision-making evaluation model to measure the comprehensive effect, so as to select the leading industries of Kashgar urban agglomeration.

First, 18 industries in Kashgar urban agglomerations are taken as objectives, and four indexes, namely, demand income elasticity index, growth rate index, labor productivity growth rate index and contribution rate of output value, are selected to construct an evaluation system for leading industry selection in Kashgar urban agglomerations. Then, grey incidence degree method is used to determine the decision-making power of each decision-making objective. Finally, multi-attribute weighted intelligent grey target decision-making evaluation model is used to measure the comprehensive effect of the objective system of leading industries in Kashgar urban agglomerations.

It can be seen that the multi-attribute weighted intelligent grey target decision-making evaluation model is more convenient to be used in selecting regional leading industries, and the results are accurate and feasible. Based on the calculation results and the actual economic development requirements of Kashgar urban agglomeration, the leading industries of Kashgar urban agglomeration can be determined as: wood processing, furniture, paper making and printing; wholesale and retail; construction; equipment manufacturing; transportation, storage and postal services.

First, it is a new method in selecting regional leading industry by using the multi-attribute weighted intelligent grey target decision-making evaluation model. Second, since there is relatively little research on Kashgar urban agglomeration, especially on leading industries in Kashgar urban agglomeration. The research in this paper can not only enrich the research on selecting leading industries in urban agglomeration but also provide scientific reference for relevant government agencies to formulate economic development plans.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, experimentally and numerically, the pressure pulse characteristics and unsteady flow behavior in a Francis turbine runner for moderate flow heads. The pressure pulses in the runner blade passage were predicted numerically for both moderate and high heads. The calculations were used to partition the turbine operating regions and to clarify the various for the unsteady flow behavior, especially the blade channel vortex in the runner.

Experimental and numerical analyses of pressure pulse characteristics at moderate flow heads in a Francis turbine runner were then extended to high heads through numerical modeling with 3D unsteady numerical simulations performed for a number of operating conditions. The unsteady Reynolds‐averaged Navier‐Stokes equations with the k‐ω‐based shear stress transport turbulence model were used to model the unsteady flow within the entire flow passage of a Francis turbine.

The dominate frequency of the predicted pressure pulses at runner inlet agree with the experimental results in the head cover at moderate flow heads. The influence of the blade passing frequency causes the simulated peak‐to‐peak amplitudes in the runner inlet to be larger than in the head cover. The measured and predicted pressure pulses at different positions along the runner are comparable. At the most unstable operating condition of 0.5a₀ guide vane opening, the pressure pulses in the runner blade passage are due to the blade channel vortex and the rotor‐stator interference. The predictions show that the frequency of the blade channel vortex is relatively low and it changes with the operating conditions.

The paper describes a study which experimentally and numerically investigated the pressure pulses characteristics in a Francis turbine runner at moderate flow heads. The pulse characteristics and unsteady flow behavior due to the blade channel vortex in the runner at high heads were investigated numerically, with the turbine operating regions then partitioned to identify safe operating regions.

This research explores whether gender affects faculty satisfaction with opportunity for advancement in rank at two elite liberal arts colleges in the United States.

We analyze survey data from associate and full professors to identify predictors of satisfaction with advancement. Focus group and interview data supplement our interpretations of regression results.

The two colleges differ in the impact of gender, rank, perceptions of the full professor promotion process, and quality of department relationships on satisfaction with advancement. At one college, there is no gender difference, while at the other, women are less satisfied than men. The effect of gender at this college is fully mediated by department relationship quality.

This cross-sectional study was conducted at only two colleges. Interpretations of the quantitative results are inductively generated and not tested in the analysis.

We make recommendations to improve processes and pathways for promotion that recognize the role of department climates in fostering or hindering career progression. Gender may be less salient in contexts in which associate professors have positive department relationships and in which promotion criteria value their administrative service and other institutional contributions sufficiently.

Previous research about promotion to full professor has focused on research universities while we examine the issue at liberal arts colleges, institutions that emphasize undergraduate study.

This paper explores the association between directors’ and officers’ liability insurance (D&O insurance) and management tone manipulation.

This study uses data from A-share listed non-financial companies from 2009 to 2021 as its sample for empirical tests. In addition, the study relies on text analysis and the construction of models to investigate the relationship between D&O insurance and management tone manipulation.

The authors find that the purchase of D&O insurance will lead to management tone manipulation in the “management discussion and analysis” part of companies’ annual reports, and operating risk and agent cost are the two paths for the effect. Further analysis shows that having a male CEO and employing high-quality auditors can weaken the positive impact of D&O insurance on tone manipulation.

This paper provides a new approach for studying the literature related to D&O insurance and management behavior, and the findings enrich our understanding of the influencing factors and the mechanism of management tone manipulation, thus revealing policy implications for further standardization of the terms and system of D&O insurance in China.

Researchers have shown increased interest in open innovation – that is, the inflow and outflow of ideas, or the collaborative efforts of innovating – while previous research on acquisitions of innovative firms has foremost focused on the inflow only. Open innovation, however, introduces several new challenges related to acquisitions of such firms, not the least related to intellectual property rights and innovative skills that may be distributed among several parties. This paper explores what issues the literature on open innovation and acquisitions deals with related to acquisitions in open innovation environments.

A systematic literature review is conducted to achieve the purpose of the paper. Two main questions are addressed. First, how can acquisitions be understood in relation to open innovation? Second, what does the open innovation literature say on matters of distributed innovations in relation to acquisitions?

The paper concludes that there is a quite limited amount of research concerning itself with open innovation and acquisitions combined. Furthermore, acquisitions are for the most part seen as a means to reach innovation in transaction-based transfers between parties.

With acquisitions of innovative firms, in general, being seen as an important means to reach new ideas, while open innovation is on the rise, the juxtaposing of these phenomena would be of high practical and theoretical relevance to study further.