Kelly Anh Vu, Greg Tower and Glennda Scully
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of independent directors and ownership structure on voluntary disclosures of Vietnamese listed firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of independent directors and ownership structure on voluntary disclosures of Vietnamese listed firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Year‐ending 2008 annual report disclosures of 45 Vietnamese listed firms are analyzed. Voluntary disclosure is measured using a Vietnamese Disclosure Index adapted from prior literature. Descriptive and inferential statistics (T‐test, analysis of variance, multiple regressions (ordinary least squares)) are employed to generate empirical insights.
Findings
The results indicate that the level of voluntary disclosure among Vietnamese listed firms is relatively low (24.23 per cent). There are higher levels of disclosure relating to director and senior management details but far lower in regards to social issues. State ownership and managerial ownership are negatively and positively related to the extent of voluntary disclosure respectively. Moreover, bigger firms are found to be positively associated with voluntary disclosure.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study are limited to one year – 2008 – and thus, could be biased as disclosures can change over time.
Practical implications
Vietnamese regulators should focus on strengthening the regulations governing the level of corporate communication in firms with high state ownership as well as encouraging more disclosure of non‐financial information to strengthen its market information transparency.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first examining the level of corporate voluntary disclosure practices among Vietnamese listed firms. Evidence from this study extends the existing voluntary disclosure literature on emerging economies whilst providing valuable insights to Vietnamese policy makers in the process of developing and improving its financial reporting regulatory framework.
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Shuhuan Wen, Xiaohan Lv, Hak Keung Lam, Shaokang Fan, Xiao Yuan and Ming Chen
This paper aims to use the Monodepth method to improve the prediction speed of identifying the obstacles and proposes a Probability Dueling DQN algorithm to optimize the path of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to use the Monodepth method to improve the prediction speed of identifying the obstacles and proposes a Probability Dueling DQN algorithm to optimize the path of the agent, which can reach the destination more quickly than the Dueling DQN algorithm. Then the path planning algorithm based on Probability Dueling DQN is combined with FastSLAM to accomplish the autonomous navigation and map the environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes an active simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) framework for autonomous navigation under an indoor environment with static and dynamic obstacles. It integrates a path planning algorithm with visual SLAM to decrease navigation uncertainty and build an environment map.
Findings
The result shows that the proposed method offers good performance over existing Dueling DQN for navigation uncertainty under the indoor environment with different numbers and shapes of the static and dynamic obstacles in the real world field.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a novel active SLAM framework composed of Probability Dueling DQN that is the improved path planning algorithm based on Dueling DQN and FastSLAM. This framework is used with the Monodepth depth image prediction method with faster prediction speed to realize autonomous navigation in the indoor environment with different numbers and shapes of the static and dynamic obstacles.
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Behrokh Khoshnevis, Xiao Yuan, Behnam Zahiri, Jing Zhang and Bin Xia
This paper aims to report on the experiments with the Contour Crafting Automated Construction process using sulfur concrete as the choice of construction material.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report on the experiments with the Contour Crafting Automated Construction process using sulfur concrete as the choice of construction material.
Design/methodology/approach
Several experiments have been performed at centimeter and meter scales. A finite element analysis simulation model for the behavior of sulfur concrete-based structures has been developed. Experimental results were compared with the results of simulation.
Findings
Sulfur concrete has numerous terrestrial applications and is potentially an ideal construction material for planetary construction.
Originality/value
Experimental samples of sulfur concrete were fabricated using a novel mixer/extrusion system. The mechanism was proven to be durable and stable after more than 500 h of work.
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Wen Qu, Mong Shan Ee, Li Liu, Victoria Wise and Peter Carey
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between corporate governance mechanisms and quality of forward-looking information in the Chinese stock market which…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between corporate governance mechanisms and quality of forward-looking information in the Chinese stock market which presents a mandatory disclosure environment for forward-looking information.
Design/methodology/approach
Using sales forecasts to proxy forward-looking information and using precision and accuracy to measure the quality of information disclosure, the authors investigate the impact of corporate governance attributes on the precision and accuracy of sales forecasts made by listed Chinese firms in their 2010 annual reports, using logistics and ordinary least squares regressions.
Findings
The authors find good corporate governance has a positive and significant impact on the precision choice of sales forecasts disclosure. Firms with good corporate governance are more likely to disclose more precise sales forecasts than providing qualitative discussions on firms’ sales trend. In addition, good corporate governed firms are found more likely to provide precise non-financial information. The authors also find that good corporate governance is positively associated with making more conservative sales forecasts disclosure. However, the authors find no significant relationship between good corporate governance and smaller forecast error.
Research limitations/implications
The study makes significant contributions to corporate disclosure literature. The authors investigate the determinants of the quality of forward-looking information in a mandatory disclosure regime while most forward-looking information disclosure literature have been conducted in a voluntary-based disclosure environment. The authors examine whether in a mandatory disclosure regime, corporate governance mechanisms can play a positive role in precision choices and accuracy of forward-looking information. Further, the study is the first to examine corporate governance and the quality of non-financial forward-looking information (sales target and production goal). The research findings therefore extend forward-looking information disclosure research from financial information to non-financial information.
Practical implications
The empirical findings will provide regulators with evidence on the quality of forward-looking information in a mandatory disclosure regime and the influence of corporate governance on forward-looking disclosure. The properties of forward-looking information disclosure in China should be of interest to policy makers, investors and financial analysts in other international jurisdictions.
Originality/value
The study investigates forward-looking information in a mandatory disclosure regime while most extant forward-looking information studies have been conducted in a voluntary disclosure environment. The study is the first to examine the quality of non-financial forward-looking information such as operational goals and plans, and to investigate the association between the quality of non-financial forward-looking information and corporate governance mechanisms. The research findings extend forward-looking information disclosure research from quantitative financial information to quantitative non-financial information.
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Hui Ma, Shenglan Chen, Xiaoling Liu and Pengcheng Wang
To enrich the research on the economic consequences of enterprise digital development from the perspective of capacity utilization.
Abstract
Purpose
To enrich the research on the economic consequences of enterprise digital development from the perspective of capacity utilization.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of listed firms from 2010 to 2020, this paper exploits text analysis of annual reports to construct a proxy for enterprise digital development.
Findings
Results show that enterprise digital development not only improves their own capacity utilization but also generates a positive spillover effect on the capacity utilization of peer firms and firms in the supply chain. Next, based on the incomplete information about market demand and potential competitors when making capacity-building decisions, the mechanism tests show that improving the accuracy of market forecasts and reducing investment surges are potential channels behind the baseline results. Cross-sectional tests show the baseline result is more pronounced when industries are highly homogeneous and when firms have access to less information.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the research related to the economic consequences of digital development. With the development of the digital economy, the real effects of enterprise digital development have also triggered extensive interest and exploration. Existing studies mainly examine the impact on physical operations, such as specialization division of labor, innovation activities, business performance or total factor productivity (Huang, Yu, & Zhang, 2019; Yuan, Xiao, Geng, & Sheng, 2021; Wang, Kuang, & Shao, 2017; Li, Liu, & Shao, 2021; Zhao, Wang, & Li, 2021). These studies measure the economic benefits from the perspective of the supply (output) side but neglect the importance of the supply system to adapt to the actual market demand. In contrast, this paper focuses on capacity utilization, aimed at estimating the net economic effect of digital development by considering the supply-demand fit scenario. Thus, our findings enrich the relevant studies on the potential consequences of digital development.
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Wen Qu, Philomena Leung and Barry Cooper
The aim of this paper is to investigate stakeholder power changes and their impact on firms' disclosure decisions in the Chinese stock market. Using legitimacy theory and…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to investigate stakeholder power changes and their impact on firms' disclosure decisions in the Chinese stock market. Using legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory, the paper identifies newly emerged stakeholder groups for listed Chinese firms during three distinguished periods of the development of the Chinese stock market.
Design/methodology/approach
Panel data analysis was undertaken over a period from 1995‐2006 with an aim to examine the influence of stakeholder power changes on voluntary disclosures made by 297 listed firms in their 12 years of annual reports. A voluntary disclosure checklist has been used for hand‐collecting data from annual reports.
Findings
The finding shows that different stakeholder groups exert different degrees of influence on firms' decision‐making in respect of information disclosure during different stages of the development of the Chinese stock market.
Research limitations/implications
The impact of a stakeholder power changes on corporate disclosure has not been well addressed and how listed Chinese firms respond to these changes is still a significant gap in the Chinese corporate disclosure literature. In this study, the paper uses proxies to represent each stakeholder group, discuss power changes of each group and predict the impact of power changes on firms' voluntary disclosure.
Originality/value
The paper identifies the new content of the “social contract” between listed firms and Chinese society and identifies various stakeholder groups of listed Chinese firms in the context of a new “social contract”. The paper predicts that voluntary corporate disclosure is the result of stakeholder pressures and firms use voluntary disclosure as one of their strategies to manage the firm‐stakeholder relationship.
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Xie-Fei Ding, Lin Zhan, Hui-Feng Xi and Heng Xiao
A direct and unified approach is proposed toward simultaneously simulating large strain elastic behaviors of gellan gels with different gellan polymer concentrations. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
A direct and unified approach is proposed toward simultaneously simulating large strain elastic behaviors of gellan gels with different gellan polymer concentrations. The purpose of this paper is to construct an elastic potential with certain parameters of direct physical meanings, based on well-designed invariants of Hencky’s logarithmic strain.
Design/methodology/approach
For each given value of the concentration, the values of the parameters incorporated may be determined in the sense of achieving accurate agreement with large strain uniaxial extension and compression data. By means of a new interpolating technique, each parameter as a function of the concentration is then obtained from a given set of parameter values for certain concentration values.
Findings
Then, the effects of gellan polymer concentrations on large strain elastic behaviors of gellan gels are studied in demonstrating how each parameter relies on the concentration. Plane-strain (simple shear) responses are also presented for gellan gels with different polymer concentrations.
Originality/value
A direct, unified approach was proposed toward achieving a simultaneous simulation of large elastic strain behaviors of gellan gels for different gellan polymer concentrations. Each parameter incorporated in the proposed elastic potential will be derived as a function of the polymer concentration in an explicit form, in the very sense of simultaneously simulating large strain data for different concentrations.
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Hang Ngoc My Le, Brendan Thomas O’Connell and Maryam Safari
Drawing from Upper-Echelons Theory (UET), this paper aims to examine whether an increasing number of board members studying and working overseas, especially in Anglo countries…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from Upper-Echelons Theory (UET), this paper aims to examine whether an increasing number of board members studying and working overseas, especially in Anglo countries, provides some impetus for increased corporate environmental disclosures (CED) in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used quantitative data collection and analysis. The data collection involved a content analysis of annual, sustainability and integrated reports to capture the quality and quantity of CED. The authors subsequently developed ordered probit models to quantitatively test the hypotheses.
Findings
The authors find that board members studying in Anglo countries positively impact firms’ levels of CED in emerging economies. However, overseas work experience is found to be an insignificant explanatory variable. Further, the findings suggest that, in Vietnam, Chairs appear to be more influential than chief executive officers in affecting CED levels.
Practical implications
Despite the positive influence of overseas study, the authors find overall levels of CED in Vietnam remain relatively low. This suggests the necessity of dialogue about potential reform in CED policies, which could involve the introduction of mandatory reporting requirements. In addition, to enhance sustainability disclosures, shareholders should appoint board members who possess international qualifications.
Originality/value
This study adds to the literature exploring the impacts of Anglo cultural traits of board members on CED levels, within an economy transitioning from a communist ideology to a market-oriented system context. The connection between international study and cultural norms, beliefs and traditions in these countries and their positive influence on directors’ values and attitudes towards CED have not yet been studied. The study also extends UET by examining the potential positive influence of different national contexts on board members’ education levels.
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Bo Zhang, Shengjun Wang and Ruixue Zhou
This paper examines the impact of corporate digital transformation on employee satisfaction. Therefore, this study extends our understanding of the economic consequences of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the impact of corporate digital transformation on employee satisfaction. Therefore, this study extends our understanding of the economic consequences of corporate digital transformation from employees’ perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
The data used to construct our main proxy of employee satisfaction are collected from Kanzhun.com, which provides reviews by rank-and-file employees on their employers. This study uses a large sample of Chinese firms and adopts various empirical methods to examine the impact of digital transformation on employee satisfaction.
Findings
We find a significant positive relationship between corporate digital transformation and employee satisfaction. Moreover, we document that the relationship between corporate digital transformation and employee satisfaction is more pronounced in firms with higher labor intensity and in state-owned enterprises (SOE).
Research limitations/implications
One significant limitation is that corporate digital transformation is constructed based on word frequency analysis. This approach may be influenced by variations in corporate disclosure practices and might not accurately capture the true extent of corporate digital transformation. This limitation is not only present in our research but is also pervasive in many other studies that utilize similar methodologies. Therefore, our results should be interpreted with this caveat in mind.
Practical implications
Our study suggests that corporate digital transformation enhances employee satisfaction, providing direct evidence for managers and regulators to promote corporate digital transformation. Through digital transformation, companies can not only improve operational efficiency but also foster employee satisfaction. This dual benefit underscores the importance of investing in corporate digital transformation for long-term success.
Social implications
Our study suggests that corporate digital transformation enhances employee satisfaction, providing direct evidence for managers and regulators to promote corporate digital transformation. Through digital transformation, companies can not only improve operational efficiency but also foster employee satisfaction. This dual benefit underscores the importance of investing in corporate digital transformation for long-term success.
Originality/value
Our study contributes to the literature on the economic consequences of corporate digital transformation and extends existing research on the determinants of employee satisfaction. Additionally, it provides a novel measurement of employee satisfaction for a large sample of Chinese firms.