Xiaolong Tian and Tom Christensen
Compared with the worldwide reform trend of transcending new public management (NPM) during the past two decades, China's service-oriented government (SOG) reforms are a…
Abstract
Purpose
Compared with the worldwide reform trend of transcending new public management (NPM) during the past two decades, China's service-oriented government (SOG) reforms are a relatively different reform approach. After building an SOG was politically identified in 2004, China launched three rounds of SOG reforms in 2008, 2013 and 2018. The purpose of this article is to examine what is meant by China's SOG approach and analyze the reasons behind its emergence. In particular, it explores how this approach might be interpreted in NPM, and particularly post-NPM terms.
Design/methodology/approach
The main theoretical basis of the paper is three theoretical perspectives from organizational theory – the instrumental, cultural and myth perspectives, but more specifically, the concepts complexity and hybridity. The empirical examples are selected from the SOG reforms of 2008, 2013 and 2018. The data used are a combination of public documents and scholarly secondary literature.
Findings
This paper discusses the SOG approach in China as a response to the negative effects of NPM-related reforms and informed by the western post-NPM reforms. It contends that China's SOG is a complex and hybrid approach in which NPM and post-NPM elements coexist and their balance is different from the west.
Originality/value
Few authors have considered China's SOG approach in NPM and post-NPM terms. This paper contributes not only to a wider understanding of the ongoing SOG reform process in China, but also to the understanding of the relevance of public administration theories in a comparative perspective.
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Zhiqiang Meng, Yingjun Chu, Zijian Zhang and Xiaolong Tian
Cobalt is an extremely useful element, but there are very few separate cobalt deposits in China and imported cobalt ores are usually toxic. In order to develop more low-toxicity…
Abstract
Cobalt is an extremely useful element, but there are very few separate cobalt deposits in China and imported cobalt ores are usually toxic. In order to develop more low-toxicity cobalt resources, China has to encourage exploration and development of this element. Samples are taken from Hanxing iron ore tailings and analyzed by ICP-MS and barium chloride titration experiments. The results indicate that the cobalt content is relatively high in Hanxing iron ore tailings, and some exceed the industrial grade. Therefore, with the depletion of cobalt resources, iron ore tailings are bound to become an important resource in China, and as these tailings are abundant in the Hanxing area, this area is expected to be of high development value.
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Xiaolong Li, Lin Tian, Liang Han and Helen (Huifen) Cai
The purpose of this paper is to use samples from Chinese-listed companies to investigate the effects of interest rate deregulation and earnings transparency on company’s capital…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use samples from Chinese-listed companies to investigate the effects of interest rate deregulation and earnings transparency on company’s capital structure in China over the period of 2003–2015. In particular, the authors study the link between state-owned enterprises (SOEs), economic growth targets and marketization in China’s unique institutional context.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the methodology of quantitative analysis, the authors use baseline and cluster analysis for all samples with full set of controls, for robustness tests of alternative proxy of interest rate control by using a cluster analysis at the firm level, regarding endogeneity tests conducted fixed effect model with adding instrument variables (IV), two-period factors regression method via IV and system generalized method of moments for dynamic analysis.
Findings
The results show that earnings transparency increases firm leverage and the additional tests suggest that such an effect takes place via a mechanism by reducing the cost of debt finance. However, information transparency could moderate the effects of interest rate deregulation on corporate capital structure. In addition, it finds that SOEs are less sensitive toward the changes of interest rates in China because lending to SOEs is policy-oriented and lacks of market evaluation of business risk. Government control is conducive to enhancing the transparency of the whole industry; however, market-oriented reform is conducive to enhancing the transparency of the company’s own information.
Research limitations/implications
The paper makes contribution to the relationship between earnings disclosure quality and capital structure in the Chinese unique institutional context, such as taking the progressive interest rate reform, SOES, different economic growth target and different marketization level in each province of China. The authors suggest that investors will pay more attention to the company’s own unique information transparency in the provinces with a high degree of marketization. As a potential direction for future research, the authors will investigate how the earnings transparency has impact on capital structure, and how such impact would depend on the transparency of specific business, the cap of foreign shareholding and the convenience of investment.
Practical implications
This research would be the target of banking market reform in order to bring a fair financing environment for all businesses in China. It implies that current experiment of interest rate liberalization in China is not as efficient as it could be in allocating funds across all businesses. State banks, SOEs and local governments are still the biggest players on both the demand and supply sides of the Chinese credit markets.
Social implications
The social implication of this paper lies in the fact that first, it provides additional evidence on the effect of market-oriented reforms through how the information transparency interacts with the financial decisions making of corporations. Second, it offers policy implication to banking market deregulation in China.
Originality/value
The paper makes contribution to the relationship between earnings disclosure quality and capital structure in the Chinese unique institutional context. This research tests the existing literature, such as Francis et al. (2004) and Zhang and Lu (2007), and suggests that informationally transparent firms have a higher debt ratio and lower effective interest costs on bank loans. In addition, this paper further explores the role played by interest rate deregulation in corporate finance, and in turn market fund allocation. This paper sheds new light on information transparency and explores the relationship between earnings disclosure quality and debt financing behaviors of Chinese publicly listed companies over the period of 2003–2015.
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Huanguang Qiu, Ganxiao Leng, Xiaolong Feng and Sansi Yang
This paper aims to examine impacts of the poverty alleviation relocation (PAR) program on diet quality of low-income households in China. We explore the impact mechanism of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine impacts of the poverty alleviation relocation (PAR) program on diet quality of low-income households in China. We explore the impact mechanism of relocation on diet quality and the heterogeneous effects of different relocation modes.
Design/methodology/approach
A fixed effects model is constructed using panel data of 1126 low-income households collected over three years in eight provinces of China. The PAR program provides a natural experiment which dramatically changes the living conditions surrounding farmers. We are able to identify the causal effects of relocation on diet quality free from selection bias.
Findings
The empirical results show that the PAR program improves diet quality of low-income households and that better market access and increasing incomes induced by relocation play an important role in this improvement. Improved market access significantly reduces the over-consumption of staple foods, whereas higher income significantly reduces the intake divergences of non-staple foods. The impacts of different relocation modes on diet quality are highly heterogeneous.
Practical implications
Our findings indicate that the PAR program benefits diet quality of low-income households through greater market access and increases in total household income. Market improvements and food subsidies are conducive to improving the diet quality of the low income.
Originality/value
Despite widespread evidences of healthy diets being associated with household environments and income, selection bias remains. This paper utilizes an exogenous program to explore the causal impacts of market access and family income on diet quality and to separate their different effects.
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Yudan Dou, Xiliang Sun, Ankang Ji, Yuna Wang and Xiaolong Xue
Owing to multiple superiorities to traditional counterparts, prefabricated construction (PC) has gained increasing attention worldwide. The development of PC projects reflects the…
Abstract
Purpose
Owing to multiple superiorities to traditional counterparts, prefabricated construction (PC) has gained increasing attention worldwide. The development of PC projects reflects the effects of both policy supervision and PC practice, which aids the government in reasonably identifying the key issues of PC's promotion and rationally improving the policy deployment. However, existing studies fail to address this aspect, especially lacking quantitative exploration. This study explores the micro mechanism of PC's promotion, from the perspective of developing PC projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A tripartite evolutionary game model based on prospect theory of the government, developers and contractors is constructed. After rigorous theoretical deduction, this study adopts Changchun in China as a case city and collects the data using the Delphi technique, policy documents and literature analysis.
Findings
Results indicate that contractors are generally willing to implement PC projects and the government chooses to actively supervise PC's promotion. The negative investment behavior of developers is the main obstacle to promote PC in Changchun currently.
Practical implications
The conclusions are applicable to other comparable regions. This study is of value to promote PC with high efficiency and effect.
Originality/value
The tripartite evolutionary game model based on prospect theory proposed in this study is conducive to reveal the essence of PC's promotion. This is an important breakthrough in extant studies, with a broad applicability in the PC domain beyond China.
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Zhicheng Song, Xiang Li, Xiaolong Yang, Yao Li, Linkang Wang and Hongtao Wu
This paper aims to improve the kinematic modeling accuracy of a spatial three-degrees-of-freedom compliant micro-motion parallel mechanism by proposing a modified modeling method…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to improve the kinematic modeling accuracy of a spatial three-degrees-of-freedom compliant micro-motion parallel mechanism by proposing a modified modeling method based on the structural matrix method (SMM).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyzes the problem that the torsional compliance equation of the circular notched hinge is no longer applicable because it is subject to bilateral restrained torsion. The torsional compliance equation is modified by introducing the relative length coefficient. The input coupling effect, which is often neglected, is considered in kinematic modeling. The symbolic expression of the input coupling matrix is obtained. Theory, simulation and experimentation are presented to show the validity of the proposed kinematic model.
Findings
The results show that the proposed kinematics model can improve the modeling accuracy by comparing the theoretical, finite element method (FEM) and experimental method.
Originality/value
This work provides a feasible scheme for CMPM kinematics modeling. It can be better applied to the optimization design based on the kinematic model in the future.
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Guangde Zhou, Menghao Zhan, Dan Huang, Xiaolong Lyu and Kanghao Yan
By seamlessly integrating physical laws, physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) have flexibly solved a wide variety of partial differential equations (PDEs). However, encoding…
Abstract
Purpose
By seamlessly integrating physical laws, physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) have flexibly solved a wide variety of partial differential equations (PDEs). However, encoding PDEs and constraints as soft penalties in the loss function can cause gradient imbalances, leading to training and accuracy issues. This study aims to introduce the augmented Lagrangian method (ALM) and transfer learning to address these challenges and enhance the effectiveness of PINNs for hydrodynamic lubrication analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
The loss function was reformatted by ALM, adaptively adjusting the loss weights during training. Transfer learning was used to accelerate the convergence of PINNs under similar conditions. Additionally, the iterative process for load balancing was reframed as an inverse problem by extending film thickness as a trainable variable.
Findings
ALM-PINNs significantly reduced the maximum absolute boundary error by almost 80%. Transfer learning accelerated PINNs for solving the Reynolds equation, reducing training epochs by an order of magnitude. The iterative process for load balancing was effectively eliminated by extending the thickness as a trainable parameter, achieving a maximum percentage error of 2.31%. These outcomes demonstrated strong agreement with FDM results, analytical solutions and experimental data.
Originality/value
This study proposes a PINN-based approach for hydrodynamic lubrication analysis that significantly improves boundary accuracy and the training process. Additionally, it effectively replaces the load balancing procedure. This methodology demonstrates considerable potential for broader applications across various boundary value problems and iterative processes.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-07-2024-0277/
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Ting Luo, Xiaolong Xue, Yongtao Tan, Yuna Wang and Yuanxin Zhang
This paper aimed to introduce a systematic body of knowledge via a scientometric review, guiding the sustainable transition from conventional construction to prefabricated…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aimed to introduce a systematic body of knowledge via a scientometric review, guiding the sustainable transition from conventional construction to prefabricated construction. The construction industry currently faces a challenge to balance sustainable development and the construction of new buildings. In this context, one of the most recent debates is prefabricated construction. As an emerging construction approach, although existing knowledge makes contributions to the implementation of prefabricated construction, there is a lack of a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the critical knowledge themes and gaps.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the scientometric analysis to review the state-of-the-art knowledge of prefabricated construction. It retrieved data from the Web of Science core collection database. CiteSpace software was used to conduct the analysis and visualization; three analysis methods identify the knowledge hotspots, knowledge domains and knowledge topics. Finally, according to integrating the hidden connections among results, a body of knowledge for prefabricated construction application can be inferred.
Findings
The results show that 120 knowledge hotspots, five critical knowledge domains and five prominent knowledge topics are vital for promoting implementation of prefabricated construction. Based on the afore analysis, a body of knowledge for prefabricated construction that can systematically cover a broad knowledge of prefabricated construction-related research and activities are integrated and proposed in this paper.
Originality/value
Body of knowledge systematically covers a broad knowledge of prefabricated construction applications and is vital to guide researchers and practitioners to conduct related research and activities, thereby promoting the sustainable transition to prefabricated construction implementation.
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Xiaolong Yuan, Yongyong Yang, Feng Wang, Qian Ding, Mianlin Deng, Wendian Shi and Xudong Zhao
Drawing upon social information processing theory, this study investigates the correlation between self-serving leadership and employee expediency. It also explores the mediating…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing upon social information processing theory, this study investigates the correlation between self-serving leadership and employee expediency. It also explores the mediating effect of self-interest motivation and the moderating effect of trait mindfulness.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 147 part-time MBA students were enlisted to participate in a scenario experiment (Study 1), and 291 valid employee questionnaires were collected through a multiple-time point survey (Study 2). SPSS 23.0, MPLUS 8.0 and PROCESS programs were used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses.
Findings
Study 1 illustrated a positive correlation between self-serving leadership and employee expediency. It also identified self-interest motivation as a mediating factor in the correlation between self-serving leadership and expediency. Study 2 replicated the results obtained in Study 1 and expanded upon them by demonstrating that trait mindfulness moderates the association between self-serving leadership and self-interest motivation. Additionally, trait mindfulness moderates the indirect effect of self-serving leadership on expediency.
Practical implications
This research argues that organizations should take steps to prevent self-serving leadership in order to reduce employee expediency. Furthermore, it is advisable to provide ethics training to employees who exhibit high trait mindfulness, as they show increased sensitivity to self-serving leadership and are more likely to engage in unethical behavior.
Originality/value
This study expands the existing research on the ethical outcomes of self-serving leadership and contributes to a deeper understanding of the negative aspects of trait mindfulness.
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Chen Wang, Xuejiao Ren, Xiaolong Jiang and Guangren Chen
The study aimed to analyze the influence of network embeddedness on the innovation performance of high-tech enterprises in Guangdong Province.
Abstract
Purpose
The study aimed to analyze the influence of network embeddedness on the innovation performance of high-tech enterprises in Guangdong Province.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model of the influence of network embeddedness on the innovation performance of high-tech enterprises in Guangdong province is established, which takes the business model as the mediating variable and political association as the moderating variable. Multivariate statistical analysis and the MacKinnon confidence interval method were used to analyze 418 questionnaires.
Findings
The results show that both relational embeddedness and structural embeddedness have significant positive effects on the innovation performance of high-tech enterprises in Guangdong Province. The business model has a partial mediating effect between relationship embeddedness, structure embeddedness, and innovation performance of high-tech enterprises in Guangdong Province, respectively. Political relevance has a significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between the relationship embeddedness and innovation performance of high-tech enterprises in Guangdong Province, but the moderating effect on structural embeddedness and innovation performance of high-tech enterprises in Guangdong province has not been verified.
Research limitations/implications
The study of this paper also has some shortcomings: very few data research samples exist; the external factors affecting the performance of high-tech enterprises in Guangdong Province need to be further refined. The research scale needs further improvement.
Practical implications
In this paper, embedding theory, transaction cost theory, resource dependence theory, rent-seeking theory, new institution theory and uncertainty management theory were integrated by system attempt to reveal the mediating and moderating roles of business model and political relevance, respectively, between network embeddedness behavior and entrepreneurial innovation performance of high-tech enterprises. The research conclusions expand the relevant research in the field of entrepreneurial innovation. At the same time, the research results provide theoretical support and reference for the innovative growth of high-tech enterprises and government behavior decision-making in Guangdong province.
Originality/value
Network embeddedness will have a profound impact on the entrepreneurial innovation performance of high-tech enterprises. Existing research has overlooked discussing this issue from the perspective of internal and external influencing factors within the enterprise. Therefore, this study addresses this issue by (1) introducing the business model as the mediating variable from an internal perspective of the enterprise, (2) introducing political association as the moderating variable from an external perspective of the enterprise and (3) 418 original questionnaires of high-tech enterprises in Guangdong Province were used to test the effect of the study variables.