Fujin Yi, Wuyi Lu and Yingheng Zhou
The purpose of this paper is to examine the multiplier effects of the grain subsidy program in China, which is a large food self-sufficiency project that is implemented as a cash…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the multiplier effects of the grain subsidy program in China, which is a large food self-sufficiency project that is implemented as a cash transfer program. Income multiplier effects have not been empirically examined in the evaluation of the grain subsidy program although increasing the income of farmers is the original goal of this project.
Design/methodology/approach
A large number of household-level observations are employed to measure the program’s income multiplier. An unrestricted model was first employed to measure the multipliers in a period of two years, and the difference was evaluated. Then, the income promotion effects of grain subsidy on various income sources for each specific subset of the population, such as liquidity conditions and household characteristics, were estimated.
Findings
The results show that the grain subsidy program has a high income multiplier, and the income promotion effect of the transferred subsidies is from agricultural production derived by intensifying input for each unit of land. The multiplier effect of the grain subsidy program as a cash transfer program can be interpreted as the shadow value of relaxing liquidity constraints and could be particularly utilized by households with more farming land and farmers in less developed regions in China. Hence, to maximize the income multiplier effect, the grain subsidy distribution method should consider these criteria instead of retaining the prevalent standard that is based on contracted land areas.
Originality/value
This study addresses the gap that the effect of China’s grain subsidy program on income increment has not been empirically examined in nation wide.
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Ning Shen and Zhiyi Zhuo
Based on upper echelons (UE) theory, the purpose of this study is to investigate a conceptualized moderated mediation model for examining the effects of top management team (TMT…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on upper echelons (UE) theory, the purpose of this study is to investigate a conceptualized moderated mediation model for examining the effects of top management team (TMT) heterogeneity and firm value in China through the mediating effect of product diversification, the moderating effect of ownership type between TMT heterogeneity and product diversification and the moderating effect of executive shareholding between product diversification and firm value.
Design/methodology/approach
Unbalanced panel data were collected over 5 years with a total of 6,597 observations, organized through the WIND (Wind Economic Database) and CSMAR (China Stock Market and Accounting Research) Database. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and analyzed with stata15.0 software.
Findings
The results indicated that product diversification plays a mediating role between TMT heterogeneity and firm value. In China, TMT heterogeneity of non–state-owned enterprises plays a more significant role in promoting product diversification than that of state-owned enterprises; executive shareholding strengthens the relationship between product diversification and firm value.
Research limitations/implications
The characteristic dimension of TMT is seen as a relatively static factor, and it is worth looking at whether a more dynamic system of evaluation and measurement can be established.
Originality/value
This study enriches theoretical research on TMT and contributes to UE theory in several ways. First, we studied the mediation effect of product diversification between TMT heterogeneity and firm value. This extends research on UE theory to possible process variables. Second, considering the influence of the unique institutional environment in China on corporate strategic decisions, the study investigates state-owned and non–state-owned enterprises. Specifically, it looks at the influence of ownership type as a moderating variable between TMT heterogeneity and product diversification. Third, the paper discusses the moderating effect of executive shareholding on the product diversification–firm value relationship. The research contributes to agency theory and expands research on different economic systems by implementing agency theory.
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Guang-Zhi Zeng, Zhi-Wei Li, Sha Huang and Zheng-Wei Chen
Based on the aerodynamic loads and dynamic performances of trains, this study aims to investigate the effect of crosswinds and raindrops on intercity trains operating on viaducts…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the aerodynamic loads and dynamic performances of trains, this study aims to investigate the effect of crosswinds and raindrops on intercity trains operating on viaducts to ensure the safe operation of intercity railways in metropolitan areas.
Design/methodology/approach
An approach coupled with the Euler multiphase model as well as the standard k-ɛ turbulence model is used to investigate the coupled flow feature surrounding trains and viaducts, including airflow and raindrops, and the numerical results are validated with those of the wind tunnel test. Additionally, the train’s dynamic response and the operating safety region in different crosswind speeds and rainfall is investigated based on train’s aerodynamic loads and the train wheel–rail dynamics simulation.
Findings
The aerodynamic loads of trains at varying running speeds exhibit an increasing trend as the increase of wind speed and rainfall intensity. The motion of raindrop particles demonstrates a significant similarity with the airflow in wind and rain environments, as a result of the dominance of airflow and the supplementary impacts of droplets. As the train’s operating speed ranged between 120 and 200 km/h and within a rainfall range of 20–100 mm/h, the safe operating region of trains decreased by 0.56%–7.03%, compared with the no-rain condition (0 mm/h).
Originality/value
The impact of crosswind speeds and rainfall on the train’s aerodynamic safety is studied, including the flow feature of crosswind and different particle-sized raindrops around the train and viaduct, aerodynamic loads coefficients suffered by the intercity train as well as the operating safety region of intercity trains on the viaduct.
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Chengyong Zheng, Hong Li and Guokuan Li
This paper presents a novel printed circuit board (PCB) film image alignment method based on distance context of image components, which can be directly used for PCB film…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents a novel printed circuit board (PCB) film image alignment method based on distance context of image components, which can be directly used for PCB film inspection. PCB film inspection plays a very important role in PCB production.
Design/methodology/approach
First, image components of reference film image and inspected film image are extracted. Then, local distance context (LDC) and global distance context (GDC) are computed for each image component. Using LDC and GDC, the similarity of each pair of components between the reference film image and the inspected film image are computed, the component correspondences can be established accordingly and the parameters for aligning these two images can be eventually estimated.
Findings
LDC and GDC act as the local spatial distribution descriptor and the global relative position descriptor of the current component, and they are invariant to translation, rotating and scale. Experimental results on aligning real PCB film images against various rotations and scaling transformation show that the proposed algorithm is fast and accurate and is very suitable for PCB film inspection.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed algorithm is suitable for aligning those images that have some isolated connected components, such as the PCB film images. It is not suitable for general image alignment.
Originality/value
We put forward to use LDC and GDC as the local descriptor and global descriptor of an image component, and designed a PCB film image alignment algorithm that can overcome the shortcomings of that image alignment algorithm that was based on local feature descriptors such as Fourier descriptor.