Given that a prerequisite for COVID-19 transmission is the interaction between individuals, it is reasonable to suspect that transportation networks may have contributed to the…
Abstract
Given that a prerequisite for COVID-19 transmission is the interaction between individuals, it is reasonable to suspect that transportation networks may have contributed to the spread of COVID-19. This study uses the air transportation network to quantify the risk of COVID-19 spread in the United States. The proposed model is applied at the county level and identifies the risk of importing COVID-19-infected passengers into a given county. We also undertake an examination of the factors influencing the spread of COVID-19 in relation to air travel. Utilizing an extensive dataset encompassing various socioeconomic, demographic, and healthcare-related variables, our results indicate a positive relationship between these factors and the relative risk of COVID-19 spread, highlighting the pronounced impact of population density, air travel volume, and larger household sizes on increasing travel-related risk. Conversely, greater healthcare capacity, particularly in terms of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) beds, is associated with reduced risk. We provide estimates of expected relative risk for each county and a ranking that can be useful for informing public health policies to stem the spread of the virus by devoting resources such as screening and enhanced travel protocols to airports located in at-risk counties.
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Wenfang Lin, Yifeng Wang, Georges Samara and Jintao Lu
The sustainable development of the platform economy has been hindered by the absence and alienation of platform corporate social responsibility. Previous studies have mainly…
Abstract
Purpose
The sustainable development of the platform economy has been hindered by the absence and alienation of platform corporate social responsibility. Previous studies have mainly focused on the contents and governance models for platform corporate social responsibility. This study seeks to explore which strategy participants choose in the governance of platform corporate social responsibility and their influencing factors.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a platform ecosystem approach, a quadrilateral evolutionary game model was developed, and the stabilities of subjects’ behavioral strategies and their combinations in various scenarios were analyzed. Additionally, the effects of key parameters on the system’s evolutionary path were simulated.
Findings
The ideal steady state system is achieved when platform enterprises, complementors and consumers adopt positive strategies while the government adopts lax regulation. Moreover, the evolutionary strategies of the subjects are influenced by several factors, including the participation costs of governance, the rewards and punishments imposed by platform enterprises, as well as the reputational losses of platform enterprises and complementors due to media coverage.
Practical implications
This study offers insights into improving the governance effectiveness of platform corporate social responsibility for managers and practitioners.
Originality/value
This study contributes to existing literature by considering the rational orientation of platform ecosystem members and revealing the interaction mechanisms among members. Furthermore, this study combines collective action theory and reputation theory to clarify the influencing factors on members’ behaviors.
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Qiao Yang, Xiao H. Yang, Pan Wang, Wei L. Zhu and Xiao Y. Chen
The purpose of this paper is to measure the apparent and complex viscosities of the zinc‐rich coatings derived from sodium silicate solution modified with aluminium chloride (AlCl3…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to measure the apparent and complex viscosities of the zinc‐rich coatings derived from sodium silicate solution modified with aluminium chloride (AlCl3), and then theoretically analyse the relation between viscosity behaviour and physiochemical mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
According to the different dosages of AlCl3, five coatings were prepared. The apparent viscosities as functions of shear rate, time and temperature, complex viscosity with variations of temperature and heating rate of these coatings were measured using an AR500 rheometer.
Findings
Results showed that the zinc‐rich coatings possessed the typical shear thinning behaviour and the apparent viscosity increased with time until solidification. Complex results showed that the complex viscosity depended strongly on heating rate. Both apparent and complex viscosities initially decreased to minimum and then started to increase, while temperature was ramped from 0 to 70°C.
Originality/value
It is believed that there is no published literature about the apparent and complex viscosities of the zinc‐rich coatings from sodium silicate solution modified with AlCl3. This paper presents the first attempt to obtain the rheological data of these zinc‐rich coatings.
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Lara Agostini, Anna Nosella, Riikka Sarala and Corinne Nkeng
Strategic flexibility (SF) has become increasingly important for firms because of the fast changes in the external environment. In line with the practical importance of SF, an…
Abstract
Purpose
Strategic flexibility (SF) has become increasingly important for firms because of the fast changes in the external environment. In line with the practical importance of SF, an emerging research field has developed around it that has attempted to understand the nature of SF and the key relationships. The aim of this study is to unveil the semantic structure of the recent literature on SF and to suggest new promising areas for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct a systematic literature review with a bibliographic analysis technique, which allows authors to identify the main recent streams in the literature, as well as offer reflections and suggestions for future research.
Findings
The authors uncover three main emerging areas in the research on SF, namely SF as a dynamic capability, the role of knowledge management for SF and the relationship between a firm SF and the external environment. The authors put forward three avenues for future research on SF: Avenue 1. SF, business model innovation (BMI) and other dynamic capabilities (DC), Avenue 2. Digital technologies and SF/organizational agility and Avenue 3. SF and sustainability. Articles included in the special issue entitled “A strategic perspective on flexibility, agility and adaptability in the digital era” contribute to Avenue 2, thus paving the way for filling some of the identified gaps regarding the relationship between SF and digitalization.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first literature review on SF that uses a bibliometric approach to draw conclusions on the findings in the literature. The review contributes to the theoretical understanding of SF by illustrating and explicating core topics that have persisted over time, as well as by presenting three main avenues for further developing authors’ knowledge around SF.
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Ting Ren, Youzhi Xiao, Daniel Pinto and Hongyan Yang
As majority of studies of employee ownership (EO) take place in developed markets and primarily focus on the impact on firm performance, scholars have recently called for other…
Abstract
Purpose
As majority of studies of employee ownership (EO) take place in developed markets and primarily focus on the impact on firm performance, scholars have recently called for other markets, especially large developing markets to be considered, as well as alternative outcome measures.
Design/methodology/approach
Through the examination of the implementation of EO by Chinese listed firms during the period of 2011–2019 with total 3,473 firms and 21,204 observations, the authors provide empirical evidence on the positive effect of EO on firm R&D investment within the rapidly growing Chinese market.
Findings
The authors find that the adoption of EO promotes higher level of firm R&D investment. This positive relationship is more evident among small firms, non-state-owned firms and local state-owned-firms, compared with their counterparts. As for the plausible channels, the authors find that adopting EO provides a favorable institutional environment, which attracts more technical staff, improves workplace quality, and encourages job stability and greater employee effort, leading to greater R&D investment.
Originality/value
Though the connection between R&D investment/innovation and firm survival performance has been known for decades, the innovation side of outcomes has been ignored by EO research. Therefore, the authors explore the relationship between EO implementation and firm R&D investment within the rapidly growing Chinese market.
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Xiaona Pang, Wenguang Yang, Wenjing Miao, Hanyu Zhou and Rui Min
Through the scientific and reasonable evaluation of the site selection of the emergency material reserve, the optimal site selection scheme is found, which provides reference for…
Abstract
Purpose
Through the scientific and reasonable evaluation of the site selection of the emergency material reserve, the optimal site selection scheme is found, which provides reference for the future emergency decision-making research.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, we have chosen three primary indicators and twelve secondary indicators to construct an assessment framework for the determination of suitable locations for storing emergency material reserves. By mean of the improved entropy weight-order relationship weight determination method, the evaluation model of kullback leibler-technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (KL-TOPSIS) emergency material reserve location based on relative entropy is established. On this basis, 10 regional storage sites in Beijing are selected for evaluation.
Findings
The results show that the evaluation model of the location of emergency material reserve not only respects the objective knowledge, but also considers the subjective information of the experts, which makes the ranking result of the location of the emergency material reserve more accurate and reliable.
Originality/value
Firstly, the modification factor is added to the calculation formula of traditional entropy weight method to complete the improvement of entropy weight method. Secondly, the order relation analysis method is used to assign subjective weights to the indicators. The principle of minimum information entropy is introduced to determine the comprehensive weight of the index. Finally, KL distance and TOPSIS method are combined to determine the relative entropy and proximity degree of alternative solutions and positive and negative ideal solutions, and the scientific and effective of the method is proved by case study.
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Tong-Tong Lin, Ming-Zhi Yang, Lei Zhang, Tian-Tian Wang, Yu Tao and Sha Zhong
The aerodynamic differences between the head car (HC) and tail car (TC) of a high-speed maglev train are significant, resulting in control difficulties and safety challenges in…
Abstract
Purpose
The aerodynamic differences between the head car (HC) and tail car (TC) of a high-speed maglev train are significant, resulting in control difficulties and safety challenges in operation. The arch structure has a significant effect on the improvement of the aerodynamic lift of the HC and TC of the maglev train. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of a streamlined arch structure on the aerodynamic performance of a 600 km/h maglev train.
Design/methodology/approach
Three typical streamlined arch structures for maglev trains are selected, i.e. single-arch, double-arch and triple-arch maglev trains. The vortex structure, pressure of train surface, boundary layer, slipstream and aerodynamic forces of the maglev trains with different arch structures are compared by adopting improved delayed detached eddy simulation numerical calculation method. The effects of the arch structures on the aerodynamic performance of the maglev train are analyzed.
Findings
The dynamic topological structure of the wake flow shows that a change in arch structure can reduce the vortex size in the wake region; the vortex size with double-arch and triple-arch maglev trains is reduced by 15.9% and 23%, respectively, compared with a single-arch maglev train. The peak slipstream decreases with an increase in arch structures; double-arch and triple-arch maglev trains reduce it by 8.89% and 16.67%, respectively, compared with a single-arch maglev train. The aerodynamic force indicates that arch structures improve the lift imbalance between the HC and TC of a maglev train; double-arch and triple-arch maglev trains improve it by 22.4% and 36.8%, respectively, compared to a single-arch maglev train.
Originality/value
This study compares the effects of a streamlined arch structure on a maglev train and its surrounding flow field. The results of the study provide data support for the design and safe operation of high-speed maglev trains.
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Henda Abdi, Henda Kacem and Mohamed Ali Brahim Omri
This paper aims to examine the factors influencing the extent of information disclosed on the companies’ websites in the Middle East region.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the factors influencing the extent of information disclosed on the companies’ websites in the Middle East region.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses multiple regression models to examine the impact of some companies’ characteristics (company size, leverage, profitability, size of the audit firm, ownership concentration) on the extent of online disclosure. The study was conducted on 170 listed companies in seven countries (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey). The website content was analyzed during the period from September 2015 to December 2015.
Findings
The results reveal that the most important factors influencing the level of Web-based disclosure are company size, leverage and the size of the audit firm.
Practical implications
The results of the study will help regulators to formulate policies about Web-based disclosure as they offer insights into the characteristics of those companies which do and do not meet investors’ demands for online information. Thereby, the regulators might expect that the Middle East companies engage in the online reporting to be larger, have higher debt levels and audited by a big-four audit firm.
Originality/value
This study, added to the existing literature by analyzing seven countries in the Middle East region, allows having a clearer idea on the online disclosure in this region as a whole, which has not been examined before. In this paper, to assess the information’s disclosure on the website, the study has been interested in all of the information presented on the websites: financial and non-financial information.
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Mohamed A.K. Basuony, Ehab K.A. Mohamed and Khaled Samaha
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of board structure on voluntary corporate disclosure via social media among the top 150 companies listed on the London Stock…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of board structure on voluntary corporate disclosure via social media among the top 150 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Design/methodology/approach
A disclosure index comprising of a set of items that encompass two facets of disclosure, namely corporate disclosure via social networks and social media sites, is developed and used. Binary logistic regression is used to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
The results of this study reveal the underlying relations between board composition and control variables as the determining factors of corporate disclosure, i.e. board size, board activism, board independence and board diversity (gender and ethnicity). The gender of the board can affect the corporate disclosure via a social network. The results of this study indicate that an increase in the number of female in the board members leads to higher corporate disclosure using social network. Moreover, firm size has a positive effect on corporate disclosure indicating that large firms tend to disclose more information on their websites and social networks.
Practical implications
The paper provides new insights into the role played by the non-executive female directors in monitoring and controlling managerial processes related to corporate disclosure using social media.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that examines the role of board structure in monitoring and controlling management decisions and managerial processes in the area of corporate disclosure via social media.