Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate risk dimensions affecting food risk perceptions and to develop effective risk communication strategies based on their risk perceptions dimensions. The reason for writing this paper is that applying single risk communication strategy for public often fails because food risks are systemic risks and public perceptions toward them consist of multiple dimensions. Launching an effective risk communication need to investigate the perception dimensions of the target audience.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 2,673 parents of 3-14-year-old children from the rural area of Sichuan province in China were chosen as target audience. Based on the survey conducted about parents’ food risk perceptions, this study used factor-cluster analysis method to segment parents to sub-clusters with significantly different risk perception dimensions. Parents’ representative demographic characteristics within each cluster were further identified through cross-tabs analysis with χ2 tests.
Findings
All the parents could be segmented into four sub-clusters, namely, sensitive parents, dependent parents, familiarity-oriented parents and institutional distrust parents, according to their risk perception difference on five dimensions. A series of risk communication strategies were specifically designed for each cluster based on their risk perception features as well as demographic characteristics.
Originality/value
The insight derived from this study described a deeper image of public risk perceptions and provided suggestions for risk communication launchers to pinpoint the risk perception as well as perception dimensions of the target audience and accordingly develop effective risk communication strategies.
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Xuesong Cao, Xican Li, Wenjing Ren, Yanan Wu and Jieya Liu
This study aims to improve the accuracy of hyperspectral estimation of soil organic matter content.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to improve the accuracy of hyperspectral estimation of soil organic matter content.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the uncertainty in spectral estimation, 76 soil samples collected in Zhangqiu District, Jinan City, Shandong Province, were studied in this paper. First, the spectral transformation of the spectral data after denoising was carried out by means of 11 transformation methods such as reciprocal and square, and the estimation factor was selected according to the principle of maximum correlation. Secondly, the grey weighted distance was used to calculate the grey relational degree between the samples to be estimated and the known patterns, and the local linear regression estimation model of soil organic matter content was established by using the pattern samples closest to the samples to be identified. Thirdly, the models were optimized by gradually increasing the number of modeling samples and adjusting the decision coefficient, and a comprehensive index was constructed to determine the optimal predicted value. Finally, the determination coefficient and average relative error are used to evaluate the validity of the model.
Findings
The results show that the maximum correlation coefficient of the seven estimated factors selected is 0.82; the estimation results of 14 test samples are of high accuracy, among which the determination coefficient R2 = 0.924, and the average relative error is 6.608%.
Practical implications
Studies have shown that it is feasible and effective to estimate the content of soil organic matter by using grey correlation local linear regression model.
Originality/value
The paper succeeds in realizing both the soil organic matter hyperspectral grey relation estimating pattern based on the grey relational theory and the estimating pattern by using the local linear regression.
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Patricia A. Maguire and Muzaffer Uysal
With the end of the Cultural Revolution and the rise of Deng Xiaoping, China began a new era of economic and political reform. In 1978 the open door policy was initiated. In…
Abstract
With the end of the Cultural Revolution and the rise of Deng Xiaoping, China began a new era of economic and political reform. In 1978 the open door policy was initiated. In October of 1984, Deng Xiaoping set in motion an ambitious program of financial and industrial reform aimed at eventually restructuring China's economy into a vaguely defined market system. This “second revolution” has run into difficulties because the Chinese officials lacked experience controlling a supply and demand economy and because of the opposition from conservative factions within the Chinese bureaucracy.
Yanan Sun, Guoyin Zhang, Michael G. Edwards and Chenfeng Li
The purpose of this paper is to systematically investigate the hydraulic fracture branching phenomena in porous media under different loading conditions and the stepwise…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to systematically investigate the hydraulic fracture branching phenomena in porous media under different loading conditions and the stepwise phenomenon. The effect of the pore pressure in hydraulic fracturing branching is studied, and more evidence for the stepwise phenomenon with the peridynamics approach is provided.
Design/methodology/approach
A fully coupled fluid-filled explicit peridynamics model is developed to simulate the complex evolution of crack branching and stepwise phenomena in saturated porous media. Based on the peridynamics theory, an explicit time integration scheme is used to solve the coupled equation system including rock deformation, fluid flow and fracture propagation. Using the proposed model, a series of peridynamic computational tests are performed to examine two common kinds of phenomena observed in hydraulic fracturing: the crack branching phenomenon and the stepwise phenomenon.
Findings
For crack branching phenomenon, the results obtained indicate that sufficient loading is required in order to initiate the crack branching process. Compared with the stress applied on crack surfaces condition, crack branching is more easily induced with the stress applied on boundaries. In addition, for the fluid-driven crack (stress applied on crack surfaces), the existence of pore pressure will depress the growth and branching of the crack. For stepwise phenomena, the results obtained indicate that the peridynamics is a promising tool to study the stepwise phenomenon. The stepwise phenomenon is more distinct under mechanical loading conditions due to the solid behaviour. A sudden jump or crack extension will happen when enough energy is accumulated in the hydraulic fracturing system.
Research limitations/implications
In this study, the explicit method is used, which means it is conditionally stable, and the critical time step needs to be decided. The reason to use the explicit method is for the study purpose; the explicit method is faster and has no need for matrix inversions.
Originality/value
This study helps to understand the effect of the pore pressure in hydraulic fracturing branching and provides more evidence for the stepwise phenomenon with peridynamics.
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Jiangfeng Ye, Yingna Jiang, Bin Hao and Yanan Feng
This study aims to explore the impact of search breadth and depth on corporate entrepreneurship (CE) through the mediating effect of opportunity discovery under the consideration…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of search breadth and depth on corporate entrepreneurship (CE) through the mediating effect of opportunity discovery under the consideration of the technological environmental dynamism as a moderating factor.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a quantitative method, collecting 246 questionnaires from high-tech firms in the national industrial park of the Yangtze River Delta zone in China. The authors examine the hypotheses using multiple hierarchical regressions and conduct Sobel and bootstrapping tests to further assess the mediating and moderated mediating effects of the variables.
Findings
The results indicate that both the relationship between search breadth and CE and the relationship between search depth and CE are mediated by opportunity discovery. The authors further show that technological environmental dynamism positively moderates the indirect effect of knowledge search breadth on CE and negatively moderates the indirect effect of knowledge search depth and CE.
Originality/value
This study provides a valuable theoretical framework for entrepreneurship literature by differentiating the effects of search depth and search breadth on the promotion of CE in established firms and pioneers the examination of the mediating role of opportunity discovery and the moderating role of technological environmental dynamism in these links as well.
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Ya’nan Zhang, Xuxu Li and Yiyi Su
This study aims to explore the extent to which Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) rely on supranational institution – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – versus host…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the extent to which Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs) rely on supranational institution – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – versus host country institutional quality to navigate their foreign location choice.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a conditional logit regression model using a sample of 1,302 greenfield investments by Chinese MNEs in 54 BRI participating countries during the period 2011–2018.
Findings
The results indicate that as a supranational institution, the BRI serves as a substitution mechanism to address the deficiencies in institutional quality in BRI participating countries, thereby attracting Chinese MNEs to invest in those countries. In addition, the BRI’s substitution effect on host country institutional quality is more pronounced for large MNEs, MNEs in the manufacturing industry and MNEs in inland regions.
Originality/value
This study expands the understanding of the BRI as a supranational institution for MNEs from emerging markets and reveals its substitution effect on the host country institutional quality. Furthermore, it highlights that MNEs with diverse characteristics gain varying degrees of benefits from the BRI.
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Xin Kang, Danni Zhao and Qiang Liu
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how different strengths of simmelian ties affect knowledge spirals and investigate which major factors affect the influence of simmelian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how different strengths of simmelian ties affect knowledge spirals and investigate which major factors affect the influence of simmelian ties on knowledge spirals.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data in this paper were collected through e-mail and interview questionnaires to R&D teams in high-tech manufacturing enterprises in China. The authors obtained 132 teams' valid responses. The interval decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (interval DEMATEL) method, differential evolution (DE) algorithm and Bayesian structural equation modelling (BSEM) were employed to test the theoretical framework developed for this paper.
Findings
The results show that strong simmelian ties have positive associations with high-performance work practices (HPWPs). Meanwhile, weak simmelian ties have positive associations with HPWPs. Furthermore, HPWPs and knowledge fermentation play a conducive role in the relationship between simmelian ties and knowledge spirals.
Originality/value
This paper contributes in three ways. First, it extends research on the relational antecedents of knowledge spirals. Second, this paper extends the study of social capital related to knowledge spirals. Third, this paper elucidates less familiar factors relating HPWPs to knowledge fermentation by testing the mediating role of HPWPs in knowledge fermentation.
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Yanan Guo, Yuegang Tang, Shaoqing Wang, Weiwei Li, Xiaolei Yu, Xukun Lu and Qiang Wei
A detailed analytical study of Leping bark liptobiolith in Jiangxi was conducted to determine its petrographic characteristics and depositional environment based on coal…
Abstract
A detailed analytical study of Leping bark liptobiolith in Jiangxi was conducted to determine its petrographic characteristics and depositional environment based on coal petrography and geochemistry. Results indicate that barkinite mainly occurs in the middle and lower coal sea4ms, whereas less barkinite and more vitrinite occur in the middle and upper coal seams. Coal facies analysis of bark liptobiolith was performed to determine its characteristics under various depositional conditions, such as the presence of a water table and gelification during coal formation. Results indicate that the environmental evolution of bark liptobiolith begins from brackish-marine swamp facies (barkinite-rich coal seam) and ends in back barrier swamp facies (barkinite-poor coal seam).
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Xiwei Wang, Yunfei Xing, Yanan Wei, QingXiao Zheng and Guochun Xing
Social media, especially microblog, has become one of the most popular platforms for public opinion dissemination. However, so far few studies have been conducted to explore…
Abstract
Purpose
Social media, especially microblog, has become one of the most popular platforms for public opinion dissemination. However, so far few studies have been conducted to explore information dissemination under the mobile environment. This paper aims to introduce the approach to analyze the public opinion information dissemination in mobile social networks.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper chooses “network attack” as the research topic and extracts 23,567 relevant messages from Sina Microblogs to study the structure of nodes for public opinion dissemination and the characteristics of propagation paths on mobile internet. Public opinion dissemination is compared on both mobile and non-mobile terminals.
Findings
The results reveal the characteristics of public opinion dissemination in mobile environment and identify three patterns of information propagation path. This study concludes that public opinion on mobile internet propagates more widely and efficiently and generates more impact than that on the non-mobile internet.
Social implications
The methods used in this study can be useful for the government and other organizations to analyze and identify problems in online information dissemination.
Originality/value
This paper explores the mechanism of public opinion dissemination on mobile internet in China and further investigates how to improve public opinion management through a case study related to “network attack.”
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This study aims to revisit the empirical debate about the asymmetric relationship between oil prices, energy consumption, CO2 emissions and economic growth in a panel of 184…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to revisit the empirical debate about the asymmetric relationship between oil prices, energy consumption, CO2 emissions and economic growth in a panel of 184 countries from 1981 to 2020.
Design/methodology/approach
A relatively new research method, the PVAR system GMM, is applied.
Findings
The outcome of the PVAR system GMM model at the group level in the study suggests that oil prices exert a positive but statistically insignificant effect on economic growth. Energy consumption is inversely related to economic growth but statistically significant, and the correlation between CO2 emissions and economic growth is negative but statistically insignificant. The Granger causality test indicates that oil prices, CO2 emissions, oil rents, energy consumption and savings jointly Granger-cause economic growth. A unidirectional causality runs from energy consumption, savings and economic growth to oil prices. At countries’ income grouping levels, oil prices, oil rent, CO2 emissions, energy consumption and savings jointly Granger-cause economic growth for the high-income and upper-middle-income countries groups only, while those variables did not jointly Granger-cause economic growth for the low-income and lower-middle-income countries groups. The modulus emanating from the eigenvalue stability condition with the roots of the companion matrix indicates that the model is stable. The results support the asymmetric impacts of oil prices on economic growth and aid policy formulation, particularly the cross-country disparities regarding the nexus between oil prices and growth.
Originality/value
From a methodological perspective, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the study is the first attempt to use the PVAR system GMM and such a large sample group of 184 economies in the post-COVID-19 era to examine the impacts of oil prices on countries’ growth while controlling for other crucial variables, which is noteworthy. Two, using the World Bank categorisation of countries according to income groups, the study adds another layer of contribution to the literature by decomposing the 184 sample economies into four income groups: high-income, low-income, upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income groups to investigate the potential for asymmetric effects of oil prices on growth, the first of its kind in the post-COVID-19 period.