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The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Chinese auditors' personal values (guanxi and ethical orientations) on their ethical reasoning (ethical judgments and behavioral intentions). In addition, this study aims to explore the joint effect of guanxi and ethical orientation on auditors' ethical reasoning.

This study is based on a field survey of 191 auditors working in Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firms that operate in the People's Republic of China (China).

The main findings indicate that guanxi and relativism orientations negatively associate with, while idealism orientation positively associates with, auditors' ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. However, when decomposing the overall ethical judgment into three judgment groups, the main effects of guanxi and ethical orientations on auditors' ethical judgments become marginal and those effects fully hold only when using acceptability as criteria to judge questionable behavior in the vignettes. In addition, the results of the joint effect of guanxi and ethical orientations indicate that guanxi orientation weakens both the positive effect of idealism and the negative effect of relativism orientations on auditors' ethical reasoning.

This study contributes the literature by investigating the ethical reasoning of auditors in a country with a relatively weak legal system that relies on guanxi (literally, interpersonal relationships and connections) culture to operate business. Furthermore, this study extends the literature by documenting the moderating effect of guanxi orientation on the relation between auditors' ethical orientation and their ethical reasoning.

Some researchers have found that disasters may have a “blessing in disguise effect” that some disaster sites transformed into more popular tourism destinations; however, no studies have analyzed the heterogeneity of the “blessing in disguise effect”. This paper aims to explore and determine the effect of cultural distance on international inbound tourist arrivals to a post-disaster tourist destination that could explain this heterogeneous phenomenon.

This study used a threshold regression model and a differences-in-differences (DID) approach to analyze 2000–2016 international tourist arrival data from 13 main origin countries to Sichuan Province before and after the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in China.

The effect of cultural distance on post-disaster inbound arrivals from the various origin countries followed a non-linear U-shaped “double-edged sword” pattern rather than displaying a simple linear relationship. Most notably, the disaster appeared to have a more positive effect on arrivals from countries with larger cultural distances, while the effect on arrivals from countries with shorter cultural distances was negative.

This study found that cultural distance could explain the heterogeneous “blessing in disguise” phenomenon, and it had both positive and negative impacts on tourism destination recovery; that is, a definite “double-edged sword effect” of cultural distance was found, which could help destination marketing organizations and management departments to design appropriately targeted marketing for post-disaster tourism destination recovery.

些研究人员发现, 灾难可能会产生“因祸得福效应”, 即一些灾难现场变成了更受欢迎的旅游目的地。然而, 目前还没有研究分析这种“因祸得福效应”的异质性。本研究旨在探讨文化距离对灾后旅游目的地的国际入境旅游流的影响, 从而解释这种异质性现象。

本文采用门槛回归模型和双重差分法（DID）分析了2008年汶川地震发生前后（2000–2016年）来自13个主要来源国到中国四川省旅游的国际入境旅游流数据。

文化距离对灾后客源国的入境旅游人数的影响呈现非线性的U型“双刃剑”模式, 而不是简单的线性关系。最值得注意的是, 灾难似乎对来自文化距离较大的客源国的游客人数产生了更积极的影响, 而对来自文化距离较短的客源国的游客人数产生了消极的影响。

本研究发现, 文化距离可以解释异质性的“因祸得福”现象, 文化距离对旅游目的地恢复既有积极影响, 也有消极影响, 即文化距离具有明确的“双刃剑效应”。这可以帮助旅游目的地的灾后恢复设计合理的、有针对性的营销策略和恢复政策。

Algunos investigadores han encontrado que los desastres pueden tener la “bendición del efecto disfraz” de que algunos sitios de desastre se transformen en destinos turísticos más populares;Sin embargo, ningún estudio ha analizado la heterogeneidel “efecto de bendición disfrazado”.El objetivo de este estudio es explorar y determinar el efecto de la distancia cultural en los flujos turísticos internacionales hacia un destino turístico después del desastre, lo que podría explicar este fenómeno heterogéneo.

se empleun modelo de regresión de umbral y un enfoque de diferencias en diferencias (DID) para analizar los datos de llegada de turistas internacionales de 2000–2016 de trece países de origen principal A la provincia de Sichuan antes y después del terremoto de Wenchuan de 2008 en China.

el efecto de la distancia cultural en las llegde los diversos países de origen después del desastre siguió un patrón de “espada de doble filo” no lineal en forma de u, en lugar de mostrar una relación lineal simple.Más notablemente, el desastre pareció tener un efecto más positivo en las llegde países con distancias culturales más grandes, mientras que el efecto en las llegde países con distancias culturales más cortas fue negativo.

este estudio encontró que la distancia cultural podría explicar el heterogéneo fenómeno de la “bendición disfrazada” y que tenía impactos tanto positivos como negativos en la recuperación de un destino turístico;Es decir, se encontró un “efecto de doble filo” de la distancia cultural, que podría ayudar a las organizaciones de comercialización de destinos turísticos y a los departamentos de administración a diseñar estrategias de comercialización dirigidas adecuadamente para la recuperación de destinos turísticos después del desastre.

This study investigates the potential association between corporate digitization and disclosure quality, and how this relationship is moderated by non-state ownership and institutional environment.

Drawing on signaling theory and factors that affect disclosure quality, the authors developed a framework to study how corporate digitization is associated with disclosure quality. The proposed framework was empirically tested using a comprehensive analysis that integrated corporate-level data on digitalization, disclosure quality, and ownership structure, with regional-level data on the institutional environment. The authors employed linear panel regression models with fixed effects.

The authors found that corporate digitization is significantly and positively associated with higher disclosure quality. This positive association is particularly pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises compared to state-owned enterprises. Additionally, an improvement in the institutional environment strengthens the positive relationship between digitization and disclosure quality.

This work contributes to the literature on corporate digitization by empirically investigating its impact on disclosure quality. The study also extends previous research by considering the moderating roles of ownership structure and institutional environment on the digitization-disclosure quality relationship.

This study aims to provide new insights into aerodynamic drag reduction for increasingly faster blunt-nosed trains, such as urban and freight trains. Specifically, this work investigates two distinctly different wake structures and associated aerodynamic drag of blunt-nosed trains.

Three typical cases of blunt-nosed trains with 1-, 2- and 3-m nose lengths are selected. The time-averaged and unsteady flow structures around the trains are analyzed using the improved delayed detached eddy simulation model and proper orthogonal decomposition method.

The simulation results indicate that for 2- and 3-m nose lengths, the flow separates at first and then reattaches to the slanted surface of the tail, with a pair of longitudinal vortices dominating the wake. In contrast, for the 1-m nose length case, the wake structure is characterized by complete separation, attributed to the larger curvature of the slanted tail surface. Consequently, the total time-averaged drag coefficient is reduced by 27.2% and 19.2% for the 1-m nose length case compared to the 2- and 3-m cases, respectively. Moreover, the predominant unsteady structures with Strouhal numbers St = 0.30 and St = 0.28 are detected in the near-wake of the 2- and 3-m nose length cases, respectively. These structures result from periodic vortex shedding at the lower slanted tail surface. In contrast, for the 1-m nose length case, the predominant unsteady structure with St = 0.19 is induced by the nearly periodic expansion and contraction of the upper bubbles.

Two distinctly different wake structures in blunt-nosed trains are identified. Unlike high-speed trains with longer, streamlined noses, for blunt-nosed trains, shorter nose lengths result in lower aerodynamic drag. Insights for reducing energy consumption in blunt-nosed trains are provided.

This study aims to apply deep convolutional neural network Mask-R-CNN algorithm based on transfer learning to realize the segmentation of online wear fragments.

Wear debris analysis is considered to be one of the most effective methods to maintain the condition of mechanical equipment. In this paper, the friction and wear testing machine was used to design pin-disk rotation, pin-disk reciprocation and four-ball test to produce cutting, sliding, laminar and fatigue debris. A semi-online sampling system was designed to collect ferrographic images containing various fragments. The images were rotated and flipped to augment the data and enhance the generalization ability of the model. The data set required for data analysis is established. Using COCO pre-trained Mask R-CNN data set as a benchmark, the region proposal network (RPN) is trained with labeled wear debris images to enhance the ability of RPN to recognize background and wear debris. Two transfer learning scenarios are tested in the network head of the Mask R-CNN.

The results show that the deep convolutional neural network is suitable for the automatic classification and detection of wear fragments. Through transfer learning and proper training configuration, the ferrographic image recognition based on Mask R-CNN achieves high accuracy.

The results show that the deep convolutional neural network is suitable for the automatic classification and detection of wear fragments. Through transfer learning and proper training configuration, the ferrographic image recognition based on Mask R-CNN achieves high accuracy.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-05-2024-0182/

Using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, this work examines the relationship between housing price and the probability of marriage among the young.

By exploiting land reform as an exogenous change in housing price and employing a differences-in-differences framework, this study investigates the effects of housing price on the marriage probability of young people.

This work confirms that land reform decreased young people's likelihood of marriage. This finding is robust to a series of model specifications. The effects of land reform increased over time because of rising housing unaffordability from progressively inflating housing prices. Moreover, land reform had larger effects on renters and young adults aged below 30 than homeowners and young adults aged above 30.

Overall, this study highlights the negative consequences of an overheated housing market on marriage in developing countries.

Housing prices have increased dramatically in urban China after 2002 upon the implementation of the assignment system of the use right of all kinds of profit-oriented lands by means of public bidding, auction and quotation. High housing prices indicate serious housing unaffordability, especially for young people who typically have low income and wealth. Homeownership that comes with various benefits can theoretically increase the likelihood of marriage, particularly in China where a house is often regarded as a prerequisite for marriage.

Individuals who spend a large percentage of their incomes on consumption are perceived to prefer risks. Since entrepreneurs are well recognized as risk-takers, this chapter investigates whether consumption propensity is associated with entrepreneurship. Using micro-level data from Chinese Household Income Project, we find that households with a higher income–consumption ratio on average have a higher preference for risk-seeking, while they have a lower probability to be entrepreneurs. However, households who have higher consumption–income ratio and are in the top 10% of the wealth distribution are more likely to embark on entrepreneurship. In addition, we find that in-system connection (relationship with government-related units) decreases the likelihood of starting new business, while out-system connection (relationship with market units) increases it. These findings suggest that in an imperfect financial market, start-up finance and connections play important roles for entrepreneurship.

This paper aims to identify the sources of innovation in the current business environment of China. With the set target of transforming China into an innovative society by 2020, the Chinese government has taken dramatic measures to foster the nation’s innovation capability. Whether this Chinese model of promoting innovation has been successful and can be sustainable are controversial issues which need to be analyzed from an academic perspective. In recent years, there have been successful cases of innovation driven by grassroots entrepreneurs, especially in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. Therefore, it is time to analyze their success factors from the perspectives of both corporate strategy and government policy.

The methodology used in this research is a comparative case analysis, and several high-profile cases in China’s ICT industry have been selected for this comparative study. Information used in the analysis comes from publicly available sources such as business school case studies and industry and news media reports. The authors have been following the evolution of China’s ICT industry for more than a decade; insights from their prior research and knowledge gained through industry contacts are also used in the analysis.

Generally speaking, the types of innovation in China’s ICT industry can be categorized into a top-down or a bottom-up approach. For the top-down approach of innovation driven by the government, the authors analyzed the case of the Chinese government’s effort to build an industry value chain through fostering the Chinese indigenous third-generation mobile communications standard time division–synchronous code division multiple access. In comparison, the authors use several success cases, including the ecosystem built around the highly successful XiaoMi mobile phone and Tencent’s mobile portal WeChat, as it showcases of the bottom-up approach of innovation driven by grassroots entrepreneurship. The comparison of these two approaches suggests that massive government-sponsored projects are unlikely to generate genuine innovation in the highly competitive and dynamic ICT sector. The government’s role should be to foster entrepreneurship and to create a fair business environment.

This research uses the method of comparative case studies to identify the source of innovation in a highly dynamic and uncertain business environment. Findings of this study shed light on the government policy toward innovation in the ICT industry and on the business firms’ strategy on innovation.

China is playing an increasingly prominent role in global business. However, there has been relatively little research on Chinese inpatriates working in Western countries, particularly in non-Anglo cultural contexts. This study attempts to explore the process of cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) and integration into corporate headquarters of Chinese inpatriates working in France, including the favorable factors that accelerate this process.

Based on a qualitative, single-case study of Group X, a pseudonym for a French multinational enterprise, the authors drew on semi-structured interviews with 18 Chinese inpatriates and investigated their CCA and integration process at the French headquarters of their employer.

The CCA and integration process of Chinese inpatriates at the French headquarters includes three stages: honeymoon and/or crisis period, adjustment and/or integration period and mutual growth period. Chinese inpatriates mainly face language barriers and Sino-French cross-cultural challenges. They overcome these challenges by learning the language and culture of the host country and using co-cultural and cross-cultural Guanxi. Experiences vary, with some Chinese inpatriates bypassing the honeymoon and/or crisis stage and entering directly into the adjustment and/or integration stage and some even leapfrogging both initial phases to attain a stage of mutual growth. Favorable factors for this CCA and integration acceleration include experience of living abroad, the host country language proficiency, organizational service support and the English working environment.

The study enhances the theoretical framework of Chinese expatriates’ psychological adjustment process through two key contributions. First, it enriches the three stages by incorporating new aspects, namely the honeymoon facet at the crisis stage, the integration into the headquarters facet at the self-adjust stage and the promoting organizational growth facet at self-growth stage. Second, it adds precision to the horizontal timeline by incorporating two additional initial points for the adjustment and integration process. Until now, Chinese inpatriates and the French context have received little attention, and this research takes a step forward by illuminating the CCA and integration process of Chinese inpatriates in this non-Anglophone country.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the advances in grey system theory research and various application achievements in science and engineering. At the same time, it commemorates the 40th anniversary of the birth of grey system theory and the 10th anniversary of Grey Systems–Theory and Application.

Firstly, the innovations of theoretical research in grey system theory were summarized and some of the widely recognized new results are briefly described. By searching and combing the research results of grey system theory in China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI) database and Web of Science by Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), this paper shows the rapid development trend of grey system theory in the past 40 years, and the successful applications of grey system theory in the fields of social sciences, natural sciences and engineering technologies.

More than 227 thousands literature were found by input 10 phrases such as grey system, grey number and sequence operator etc. in CNKI database. After entering the new century, the number of grey system papers included in CNKI database is increasing rapidly. Since 2008, more than 10 thousands papers have been included per year and more than 15 thousands papers have been included per year since 2014. Grey system method and model are widely used in physics, chemistry, biology and other fields of natural science, as well as transportation, electric power, machinery and other fields of engineering technology, and a large number of valuable results have been achieved.

It can be seen that the grey system theory plays an important role in promoting China’s scientific and technological progress, innovation and development and high-level talent training from tens of thousands of literatures marked with important national science and technology projects and a large number of grey system literatures published by China’s double first-class universities and double first-class discipline construction universities.

Both innovations of theoretical research and practical application play important role in the growth of new theory. The innovations of theoretical research provide methods and tools for practical application, which is conducive to improve application efficiency and broaden application fields. A large number of practical applications needs have become the source of theoretical innovation and the solid background for the birth of theoretical innovation achievements.