Can Zhong Yao, Peng Cheng Kuang and Ji Nan Lin
The purpose of this study is to reveal the lead–lag structure between international crude oil price and stock markets.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to reveal the lead–lag structure between international crude oil price and stock markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The methods used for this study are as follows: empirical mode decomposition; shift-window-based Pearson coefficient and thermal causal path method.
Findings
The fluctuation characteristic of Chinese stock market before 2010 is very similar to international crude oil prices. After 2010, their fluctuation patterns are significantly different from each other. The two stock markets significantly led international crude oil prices, revealing varying lead–lag orders among stock markets. During 2000 and 2004, the stock markets significantly led international crude oil prices but they are less distinct from the lead–lag orders. After 2004, the effects changed so that the leading effect of Shanghai composite index remains no longer significant, and after 2012, S&P index just significantly lagged behind the international crude oil prices.
Originality/value
China and the US stock markets develop different pattens to handle the crude oil prices fluctuation after finance crisis in 1998.
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C.S. Agnes Cheng, Peng Guo, Cathy Zishang Liu, Jing Zhao and Sha Zhao
We examine whether the social capital of the area where a firm’s headquarters is located affects that firm’s credit rating. Given that credit rating agencies only infrequently…
Abstract
Purpose
We examine whether the social capital of the area where a firm’s headquarters is located affects that firm’s credit rating. Given that credit rating agencies only infrequently visit a firm’s headquarters, it is pertinent to investigate whether this soft information is considered.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to test whether social capital affects firms’ credit ratings, we estimate the following model using an ordinary least squares regression: Ratingit = β0 + β1 Social Capitalit + ∑ Controlsit + Industry fixed Effectsi + State−year fixed effectsit + εit. We follow recent accounting and finance research and measure societal-level social capital at the county level (Jha & Chen, 2015; Cheng et al., 2017; Hasan et al., 2017a, b; Jha, 2017; Hossain et al., 2023). We use four inputs to calculate social capital: (1) voter turnout in presidential elections, (2) the census response rate, (3) the number of social and civic associations and (4) the number of nongovernmental organizations in each county.
Findings
W provide evidence that social capital has a causal effect on credit ratings. Interesting is that this effect is not merely localized to firms near credit rating agencies. We also find that the effect of social capital on credit ratings is concentrated among firms with moderate levels of default risk. For firms with extremely low or extremely high default risk, social capital appears irrelevant to credit ratings, suggesting that social capital plays a larger role in more ambiguous contexts or when greater judgment is required. We demonstrate that the effect of social capital on credit ratings disappears when the rating agency has extensive experience in a particular region. This result is consistent with rating agencies stereotyping certain regions of the USA and using that information to inform their ratings when they have less experience in the region. Finally, we find that while social capital is associated with credit ratings, it has no association with future defaults.
Research limitations/implications
Though we cautiously followed prior studies and were confident in our data construction process, it is possible that we are measuring social capital with error.
Practical implications
Our findings suggest that credit rating agencies could benefit from reevaluating how they incorporate non-financial information, such as social capital, into their assessment processes, potentially leading to more nuanced and equitable credit ratings. Additionally, firms could use these insights to bolster their engagement with local communities and stakeholders, thereby enhancing their creditworthiness and attractiveness to investors as part of a broader corporate strategy. The findings also underline the need for regulatory frameworks that foster transparency and the inclusion of social factors in credit evaluations, which could lead to more comprehensive and fair financial reporting and rating systems.
Social implications
Recognizing that social capital can influence economic outcomes like credit ratings may encourage both communities and firms to invest more in building and maintaining social networks, trust and civic engagement. By demonstrating how social capital impacts credit ratings, our research highlights the potential to address inequalities faced by regions with lower social capital, guiding targeted social and economic development initiatives. Moreover, understanding that regional social capital can influence credit ratings might affect public perception and trust in the impartiality and accuracy of these ratings, which is essential for maintaining market stability and integrity.
Originality/value
Our research provides fresh insights into how social capital, an intangible asset, influences credit ratings – a topic not extensively explored in existing literature. This sheds light on the dynamics between social structures and financial outcomes. Methodologically, our use of the 9/11 attacks as an exogenous shock to measure changes in social capital introduces a novel approach to study similar phenomena. Additionally, our findings contrast with prior studies such as Jha and Chen (2015) and Hossain et al. (2023), by delving deeper into how proximity and familiarity impact financial assessments differently, enriching academic discourse and refining existing theories on the role of local knowledge in financial decisions.
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Lifeng He, Yuegu Huang, Shuyan Li and Xiaohang Zhou
User engagement is critical for online health Q&A communities. Financial incentives, which vary across different communities and reward schemes, are expected to motivate such…
Abstract
Purpose
User engagement is critical for online health Q&A communities. Financial incentives, which vary across different communities and reward schemes, are expected to motivate such contribution behaviors. Even though financial incentives have been extensively examined in prior studies, the impact of newly designed contingent financial incentives of a new pay-for-answer reward scheme has not been empirically examined in any online health Q&A community. Given this research gap, our study aims to perform an exploratory investigation of the effects of contingent financial incentives on user engagement in terms of knowledge contribution and social interactions.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on expectancy-value theory and equity theory, a research model was developed to reflect the influences of contingent financial incentives on user engagement. A unique dataset was gathered from a large online health Q&A community utilizing this contingent financial incentive reward structure, and the Heckman selection model was applied using a two-step procedure to test these hypotheses. Possible endogeneity issues were also addressed in the robustness check.
Findings
Our results demonstrate that the effect of contingent financial incentives on answer quantity and quality is quadratic. Additionally, our study reveals that this contingent financial incentive enhances both comment and emotional interactions among users.
Originality/value
Our study enriches the literature on financial incentives, knowledge contribution and user engagement by revealing the nuanced effects of financial incentives within a novel pay-for-answer scheme. This study also offers significant implications for practitioners involved in online community incentive design.
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Lixiang Li, Hongxia Ge and Rongjun Cheng
This paper aims to put forward an extended lattice hydrodynamic model, explore its effects on alleviating traffic congestion and provide theoretical basis for traffic management…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to put forward an extended lattice hydrodynamic model, explore its effects on alleviating traffic congestion and provide theoretical basis for traffic management departments and traffic engineering implementation departments.
Design/methodology/approach
The control method is applied to study the stability of the new model. Through nonlinear analysis, the mKdV equation representing kink-antikink soliton is acquired.
Findings
The predictive effect and the control signal can enhance the traffic flow stability and reduce the energy consumption.
Originality/value
The predictive effect and feedback control are first considered in lattice hydrodynamic model simultaneously. Numerical simulations demonstrate that these two factors can enhance the traffic flow stability.
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Qingying Wang, Rongjun Cheng and Hongxia Ge
The purpose of this paper is to explore how curved road and lane-changing rates affect the stability of traffic flow.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how curved road and lane-changing rates affect the stability of traffic flow.
Design/methodology/approach
An extended two-lane lattice hydrodynamic model on a curved road accounting for the empirical lane-changing rate is presented. The linear analysis of the new model is discussed, the stability condition and the neutral stability condition are obtained. Also, the mKdV equation and its solution are proposed through nonlinear analysis, which discusses the stability of the extended model in the unstable region. Furthermore, the results of theoretical analysis are verified by numerical simulation.
Findings
The empirical lane-changing rate on a curved road is an important factor, which can alleviate traffic congestion.
Research limitations/implications
This paper does not take into account the factors such as slope, the drivers’ characters and so on in the actual traffic, which will have more or less influence on the stability of traffic flow, so there is still a certain gap with the real traffic environment.
Originality/value
The curved road and empirical lane-changing rate are researched simultaneously in a two-lane lattice hydrodynamic models in this paper. The improved model can better reflect the actual traffic, which can also provide a theoretical reference for the actual traffic governance.
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Chen-Yueh Chen, Yi-Hsiu Lin and Yen-Kuang Lin
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) experienced a rapid decline in attendance after the mid 1990s. In this study, market demand analysis is used to discover the causes…
Abstract
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) experienced a rapid decline in attendance after the mid 1990s. In this study, market demand analysis is used to discover the causes of variation in CPBL attendance from 1990 to 2008. The ordinary least squares (OLS) is employed for model estimation. From this model, empirical evidence reveals that a homogenous sport substitute, Taiwan Major League (TML), the Major League Baseball (MLB) effect and game-fixing scandals in CPBL negatively influence CPBL attendance. Additionally, real income is found to negatively affect CPBL attendance, making CPBL games an inferior product. The proposed model accounts for approximately 91% of variation in CPBL attendance between 1990 and 2008.
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Shan Jiang, Duc Khuong Nguyen, Peng-Fei Dai and Qingxin Meng
In the hybrid knowledge-sharing platform where paid and nonpaid (“free”) knowledge activities coexist, users’ free knowledge contribution may be influenced by financial factors…
Abstract
Purpose
In the hybrid knowledge-sharing platform where paid and nonpaid (“free”) knowledge activities coexist, users’ free knowledge contribution may be influenced by financial factors. From the perspective of opportunity cost, this study investigates the direct effect of how the amount of monetary income from users’ contribution to paid knowledge activities influences their free knowledge contribution behavior in the future. Further, this study aims to verify the interaction effect of financial and nonfinancial factors (i.e. the experience of free knowledge contribution and social recognition) on free knowledge contribution.
Design/methodology/approach
Objective data was collected from a hybrid knowledge-sharing platform in China and then analyzed by using zero-inflated negative binomial regression model.
Findings
Results show that the amount of monetary income that knowledge suppliers gain from paid knowledge contribution negatively influences their free knowledge contribution. Experience of free knowledge contribution strengthens the negatively main effect, while social recognition has the weakening moderating role.
Originality/value
Although some studies have explored and verified the positive spillover effect of financial incentives on free knowledge contribution, the quantity dimension is ignored. This study examines the hindering influence of the quantity of monetary income from the perspective of opportunity cost. By taking the characteristic of knowledge suppliers and platforms as moderators, this study deepens the understanding of the influence of monetary income on free knowledge contribution in the hybrid knowledge-sharing platform.
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Guiwen Liu, Yue Yang, Kaijian Li, Asheem Shrestha and Taozhi Zhuang
Micro-regeneration can effectively enhance a neighborhood’s commercial vitality and serve as a viable approach to boost economic benefits. However, the small scale of…
Abstract
Purpose
Micro-regeneration can effectively enhance a neighborhood’s commercial vitality and serve as a viable approach to boost economic benefits. However, the small scale of micro-regeneration efforts and the fragmented nature of information currently limit the availability of strong empirical evidence demonstrating its impact on neighborhood commercial vitality. The aim of the study was to examine the link between micro-regeneration and neighborhood commercial vitality, focusing on the average, time-lag, spatial spillover, and spatial heterogeneity effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the panel data set of 1,755 neighborhoods in Chongqing from 2016 to 2021 as the research sample, the difference-in-differences (DID) method was employed in this study to explore the impact micro-regeneration has on neighborhood commercial vitality.
Findings
The results illustrate that: (1) micro-regeneration can promote neighborhood commercial vitality in terms of the number and types of local consumption amenities by 27.76 and 5.89%, respectively, with no time-lag effect; (2) the positive spillovers can exist within the range of 5,000 meters–5,500 meters of regenerated neighborhoods; and (3) the effect of micro-regeneration on neighborhood commercial vitality can be greater in peripheral areas than in core areas of the city.
Originality/value
The findings fill the knowledge gap on the relationship between micro-regeneration and neighborhood commercial vitality. Additionally, the results on the time-lag effect, spatial spillover effects, and spatial heterogeneity provide practical implications that can support the government and private sector in developing temporal and spatial arrangements for micro-regeneration projects.
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Yating Zhang, Chung-Han Tsai, Wei Liu and Kun Weng
This research examines farmers’ cognitions to the policy and how such cognitions influence their intentions and behaviors of land transfer, with the implementation of the Three…
Abstract
Purpose
This research examines farmers’ cognitions to the policy and how such cognitions influence their intentions and behaviors of land transfer, with the implementation of the Three Rights Separation (TRS) policy.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected from the Beijing area, this research tests the relationship between farmers’ policy cognition and their intention/behavior through the mediation of their psychological constructs. Both Causal step test and Bootstrap test are adopted.
Findings
Farmers’ intention of land transfer is influenced by their cognition of the TRS policy. In this process, farmers’ psychological constructs play a mediating role between their policy cognition and their intentions of land transfer, thereby eventually influencing their behaviors. This research confirms that institutions are not exogenous and the policy is not wishful thinking from the government. Instead, any policies, even enacted by governmental authority, have to be internalized within target groups’ cognition to be implemented.
Originality/value
Land transfer deserves close attention since it is the direct aim of the TRS reform. In this regard, this paper, based on an institutional perspective, aims to extend our understanding on the incentives of land transfer. This research proposes a revised model of planned behavior and argues that farmers’ intention of land transfer is influenced by their cognition of the TRS policy. On one hand, this study is the first to examine farmers’ cognition formed through the implementation of the TRS policy. On the other hand, it reveals the path of how policy can finally influence farmers’ intentions and behaviors through shaping their cognitions and changing subjective perceptions, which enriches our understanding of the mechanism of how policy has a concrete impact on society.
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The purpose of this paper is to study the electrochemical behavior of 690 alloy with corrosion products in simulated pressurized water reactor (PWR) primary water environment.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the electrochemical behavior of 690 alloy with corrosion products in simulated pressurized water reactor (PWR) primary water environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper opted for a laboratory study using simulation of high temperature and high pressure environment immersion testing. The electrochemical behavior was studied by potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKP). Moreover, the corrosion products were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
Findings
The results demonstrated that the particle majority in the 690 alloy corrosion products subsequent to high temperature and high pressure immersion testing were mainly oxides of Fe and Ni, which protected the matrix. As the immersion testing duration increased, the corrosion potential of the 690 alloy apparently increased, and the corrosion current density de'creased, while the corrosion resistance Rf increased gradually along with the density. The SKP demonstrated that the EKP increased by nearly 400 mV from −0.42 to −0.03 V following the immersion testing, indicating that the corrosion product film played an apparent protective role on the substrate.
Originality/value
This paper provides a theoretical basis for the corrosion behavior and inhibition mechanism of 690 alloy in PWR primary water environment.