Savannah (Yuanyuan) Guo, Sabrina Chi and Kirsten A. Cook
This study examines short selling as one external determinant of corporate tax avoidance. Prior research suggests that short sellers have information advantages over retail…
Abstract
This study examines short selling as one external determinant of corporate tax avoidance. Prior research suggests that short sellers have information advantages over retail investors, and high short-interest levels are a bearish signal of targeted stock prices. As a result, when short-interest levels are high, managers have been shown to take actions to minimize the negative effect of high short interest on firms’ stock prices. Tax-avoidance activities may convey a signal of bad news (i.e., high stock price crash risk). We predict that, when short-interest levels are high, managers possess incentives to reduce firm tax avoidance in order to reduce the associated stock price crash risk. Consistent with this prediction, we find that short interest is negatively associated with subsequent tax-avoidance levels. This effect is incremental to other factors identified by prior research. We conclude that short selling significantly constrains corporate tax avoidance.
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Shengli Deng, Yong Liu and Yuanyuan Qi
The purpose of this paper is to identify the driving factors of web based question‐answer services (WBQAS) adoption. As an emerging knowledge acquisition method and service there…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the driving factors of web based question‐answer services (WBQAS) adoption. As an emerging knowledge acquisition method and service there are currently few studies addressing the antecedents of the service's acceptance, in particular concerning Chinese users.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology as its theoretical background and applies it to the field of WBQAS. A survey was conducted.
Findings
Based on 169 useful questionnaires the results show that both performance expectancy and effort expectancy are significant predictors of the intention to use WBQAS. Additionally behavioural intention, together with facilitating intention, significantly influences the actual use of WBQAS. Social influence has no significant impact on the intention to use the service.
Originality/value
As research on WBQAS is in its infancy this paper is among the first in the field, in particular regarding Chinese users. In addition the research applied the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model to the context of WBQAS and validated the adoption model using structural equation modelling.
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Yuanyuan Guo, Yilang Chen, Antonio Usai, Liang Wu and Wu Qin
Multinational small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly participating in cross-border digital platforms – especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly…
Abstract
Purpose
Multinational small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly participating in cross-border digital platforms – especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, knowledge integration (KI) has become more and more important. In fact, it has been deemed by many as the key to organizational resilience. Given this burgeoning phenomenon, this study aims to explore a path for improving the resilience of multinational SMEs. Through this process, this study also finds a relationship between the KI processes associated with adopting global digital platforms and the resiliency of local–global businesses. Hence, in part, this paper also explores the effectiveness of all these mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used the stepwise regression method in Stata 16.0 to analyze the direct effects of both horizontal and vertical KI processes on the resilience of local–global businesses. Additionally, t-tests were also used to compare the differences in coefficients between the mechanisms. The sample analyzed comprised data on multinational manufacturing SMEs in the Yangtze River Delta region of China who are using global digital platforms.
Findings
The KI processes of these firms, both horizontal and vertical, positively correlate to resilience. Horizontal KI processes more efficiently increase the resilience of global businesses, whereas vertical processes more efficiently increase the resilience of local businesses.
Originality/value
First, this study provides insights into how multinational SMEs can improve their resilience in a crisis. In addition to adding to the knowledge of KI processes, this expands the KM literature on pandemics. Second, by creating two KI processes based on global digital platforms and discussing their influence on resilience, this research deepens the understanding of affordance in the KM literature. Third, focusing on the KI research stream, the results shed light on how KI processes might occur and how firms develop their KI processes.
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Christina Geng-qing Chi, Chaozhi Zhang and Yuanyuan Liu
This study aims to examine how tourism impacts on local community, managers’ attachment to the community and their identification with the value of heritage resources influence…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how tourism impacts on local community, managers’ attachment to the community and their identification with the value of heritage resources influence managers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) attitudes, utilizing the value identification and agency theories.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed hypotheses were tested utilizing cross-sectional data collected from 228 managers of a plethora of travel and tourism companies that operate at a UNESCO World Heritage site in China. A structured questionnaire was administered in person in managers’ offices by a team of trained research assistants. A total of 202 valid surveys were included in the data analysis. A two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to first examine the psychometric properties of the measurement model, and then test the causal relationships proposed in the structural model.
Findings
The findings indicate that managers’ place attachment, their heritage value identification and their perceptions of positive tourism impacts affect their CSR attitudes. However, the negative effects of tourism do not significantly influence CSR attitudes. Data collected through open-ended questions incorporated in the structured survey have provided justification for the insignificant relationship.
Originality/value
CSR perceptions of managers, especially those at heritage sites, have not received much attention from tourism scholars. Because travel and tourism companies at heritage sites are integral in the preservation and conservation of heritage sites while managers of those companies are the ones who initiate and implement socially responsible policies and practices, it is important to understand the factors that may influence those managers’ CSR attitudes and behaviors.
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Shuanping Dai, Yuanyuan Wang and Yang Liu
This paper aims to explore empirically the emergence of entrepreneurs in China’s transition context since the 1980s.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore empirically the emergence of entrepreneurs in China’s transition context since the 1980s.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies the China Private Enterprises Survey Database and historical evidence and Chi-Square test to identify the emergence patterns of China’s entrepreneurs in different historical stages.
Findings
This longitudinal study finds that factors such as working experience, education background and social connection had strong influences on entrepreneurship, but the impact of these have varied significantly along with institutional changes over the past three decades. It also identifies that the majority of emergent entrepreneurs were formerly low-level public servants and high-qualified managers in state-owned enterprises. Additionally, significant trends including an increasing number of female entrepreneurs, a decreasing impact from political networks, improving investment in innovation and diversifying financial sources are also found.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to apply the Chinese Private Enterprises Survey database to investigate the emergence patterns of China’s entrepreneurs in different historical stages after the 1978 reform.
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Guodong Ni, Qi Zhou, Xinyue Miao, Miaomiao Niu, Yuzhuo Zheng, Yuanyuan Zhu and Guoxuan Ni
New generation of construction workers (NGCWs) who were born in the 1980s and later have gradually become the main workforce of Chinese construction industry. They may behave…
Abstract
Purpose
New generation of construction workers (NGCWs) who were born in the 1980s and later have gradually become the main workforce of Chinese construction industry. They may behave differently when dealing with knowledge-related activities due to divergent characteristics caused by generational discrepancy. To provide a theoretical foundation for construction companies and safety managers to improve safety management, this research explores the factors and paths impacting the NGCWs' ability to share their safety knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on literature review, main factors that influence the safety knowledge sharing of the NGCWs were identified. Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory and Interpretive Structural Modeling were applied to identify the hierarchical and contextual relations among the factors influencing the safety knowledge sharing of the NGCWs.
Findings
The results showed that sharing atmosphere ranked first in centrality and had a high degree of influence and being influenced, indicating itself an extremely important influencing factor of safety knowledge sharing of NGCWs. Six root influencing factors were identified, including individual characteristics, work pressure, sharing platform, incentive mechanism, leadership support and safety management system.
Research limitations/implications
The number of influencing factors of safety knowledge sharing of the NGCWs identified in this study is limited, and the data obtained by the expert scoring method is subjective. In future studies, the model should be further developed and validated by incorporating experts from different fields to improve its integrity and applicability.
Practical implications
The influencing factors identified in this paper can provide a basis for construction companies and safety managers to improve productivity and safety management by taking relevant measures to promote safety knowledge sharing. The research contributes to the understanding knowledge management in the context of the emerging market. It helps to answer the question of how the market can maintain the economic growth success through effective knowledge management.
Originality/value
This paper investigates the influencing factors of NGCWs' safety knowledge sharing from the perspective of intergenerational differences, and the 13 influencing factor index system established expands the scope of research on factors influencing safety knowledge sharing among construction workers and fills the gap in safety knowledge sharing research on young construction workers. Furthermore, this paper establishes a multi-layer recursive structure model to clarify the influence path of the influencing factors and contributes to the understanding of safety knowledge sharing mechanism.
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Wenjing Li, Qi Wang, Yongshan Ma, Tianyi Jiang, Yanyan Zhu, Yuanyuan Shao, Cuizhen Sun and Junsen Wu
Self-organization has been regarded as a tool for the synthesis of well-defined organic nanostructures. Heterocyclic annulated perylene diimides are the subjects of considerable…
Abstract
Purpose
Self-organization has been regarded as a tool for the synthesis of well-defined organic nanostructures. Heterocyclic annulated perylene diimides are the subjects of considerable current research studies. The purpose of this study is to reveal the photophysical property, electronic structure and solid-state packing of O-heterocyclic annulated perylene diimide.
Design/methodology/approach
Asymmetrically five-membered O-heterocyclic annulated perylene diimide (OAPDI) was synthesized. Structure and purity of OAPDI were confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR and mass spectral techniques. Photophysical properties of OAPDI were studied using UV–vis absorption and fluorescence in both solution (CHCl3) and solid state. Scanning electron microscopic and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the surface morphology of OAPDI. Conducting properties of the OAPDI were evaluated by current–voltage measurements. The compounds geometries were also optimized at 6-31G* using density functional theory.
Findings
The UV–vis absorption and fluorescence spectra of OAPDI in solution are blue-shifted in comparison with that of unsubstituted perylene bisimide. Solid-state UV–vis measurements of OAPDI indicate that it is capable of forming highly ordered structure. The non-covalent interactions, electrostatic attraction and p-p stacking moieties of OAPDI synergistically guide assembly and domain growth while maintaining the interpenetrating network of nanofibers in the solid film. The OAPDI gave higher current at −2.0 V (0.68 µA) and 4.0 V (1.0 µA).
Originality/value
This study will be helpful for exploring feasible routes to acquire soluble perylene diimides and well-defined organic nanostructures. Furthermore, such molecular tailoring approach would be helpful for designing and synthesizing novel organic semiconductive materials with excellent charge-transporting and light-emitting capabilities.
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This study investigates whether corporate executives, who are university alumni, influence each other's firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates whether corporate executives, who are university alumni, influence each other's firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on social network theory, the authors hypothesise that a firm's CSR performance is positively associated with its peer firms' average CSR performance when the executives of the firm and its peer firms are university alumni. The study employs data from 1,685 listed firms and 4,906 executives who graduated from 585 different universities in China and runs multivariate regressions.
Findings
The results reveal a sizeable university peer influence on CSR performance. Such influence is even stronger for executives who graduated from elite universities (e.g. 985 or 211 universities), and universities or programmes that provide more opportunities for alumni reunions or networking (e.g. MBAs/EMBAs). Executives who are more influential in making firm decisions (e.g. CEOs/CFOs), as well as firms that are more likely to mimic the behaviour of others, also show higher degrees of university peer influence.
Practical implications
The results highlight the role of education in ethical decision-making.
Originality/value
This study documents evidence on a new determinant of firm CSR performance. The study sheds light on the impact of non-institutionalised personal ties, for example, university alumni networks, on CSR performance.
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Junbang Lan, Yuanyuan Gong, Tao Liu, Man-Nok Wong and Bocong Yuan
Drawing on the conservation of resource theory and emotional contagion perspective, this study aims to propose that customer mistreatment has an indirect effect on subsequent…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the conservation of resource theory and emotional contagion perspective, this study aims to propose that customer mistreatment has an indirect effect on subsequent customer mistreatment by triggering high levels of surface acting. In other words, there is a vicious circle formed as a result of customer mistreatment and surface acting. This paper further argues that emotional regulation and conscientiousness are effective in breaking this vicious circle.
Design/methodology/approach
An experience sampling study was conducted on 97 frontline service employees in a hotel chain’s restaurants in China, with two daily surveys for ten consecutive days. Multilevel path analyses were used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results indicate that employees experiencing customer mistreatment in the morning would adopt the surface acting strategy more frequently in the afternoon, which in turn induces more customer mistreatment in the afternoon. Further, this indirect effect can be mitigated by high (versus low) levels of emotional regulation and conscientiousness.
Originality/value
Recently, there has been growing recognition of the vital links between customer mistreatment and negative employee outcomes. However, these studies have failed to consider the carryover effect of customer mistreatment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first pioneer study on whether and how customer mistreatment can affect subsequent instances of customer mistreatment, thereby offering a more comprehensive understanding of the consequences of customer mistreatment.
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Yuanyuan Wu, Liuyan Chen, Eric W.T. Ngai and Pengkun Wu
The objective of this study is to investigate the interaction effect between incentive type (financial and compassionate incentives) and the ethicality of merchant strategy on…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to investigate the interaction effect between incentive type (financial and compassionate incentives) and the ethicality of merchant strategy on consumer willingness to post positive reviews, while also examining potential variations in consumer responses based on consumption experience, shopping frequency and social class.
Design/methodology/approach
Building upon construal level theory, we hypothesized the moderating influence of the ethicality of merchant strategy and examined the three-way interaction among consumers’ demographic characteristics (i.e. consumption experience, shopping frequency and social class), incentive type and the ethicality of merchant strategy. To empirically test our hypotheses, we conducted four experiments and employed ANOVA for data analysis.
Findings
The ethicality of merchant strategies moderates the association between incentive type and consumer willingness to post positive reviews, with compassionate incentives eliciting more pronounced moral judgments toward merchant strategies compared to financial incentives. The moderating effect of the ethicality of merchant strategy on the relationship between incentive type and consumer willingness to post positive reviews is particularly strong among consumers who have favorable consumption experiences, engage in frequent shopping and belong to lower social classes.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature on online reviews by examining the impact of compassionate incentives on consumer review behaviors, analyzing the ethicality of merchant strategies within the realm of online reviews and investigating variations in consumer responses to merchant strategies regarding consumption experience, shopping frequency and social class.