H. Holly Wang, Shaomin Huang, Linxiu Zhang, Scott Rozelle and Yuanyuan Yan
Since 1999, China has undergone reform of its healthcare system. City‐based social health insurance (SHI) is the primary form of current health insurance, supplemented by various…
Abstract
Purpose
Since 1999, China has undergone reform of its healthcare system. City‐based social health insurance (SHI) is the primary form of current health insurance, supplemented by various commercial health insurance programs. The rural new cooperative medical system (NCMS) was introduced in 1993 and extended to cover the whole of rural China in 2003.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper developed a theoretical model for consumer demand of medical services and health insurance based on an expected utility framework with a two‐stage decision under uncertainty. The model is then applied to current health insurance systems in China for urban citizens and rural residents separately. Least square and logistic regressions are employed.
Findings
The major results are that although the factors driving the decisions on health insurance participation are basically the same for rural and urban citizens, the participation levels are quite different. The major difference is that urban SHI has higher coverage and urban citizens have higher income, resulting in a much larger urban medical expenditure.
Practical implications
The empirical analysis reveals that health insurance programs have played an important role in the healthcare expenditure for urban residents, while the NCMS has not made a significant impact towards increasing the ability of rural residents to seek more medical services, based on data at 2004.
Originality/value
This is the first paper employing a health production theory on China's new urban and rural healthcare programs.
Details
Keywords
Tiedan Huang and Alexander W. Wiseman
Tingting Qi's chapter titled, “Moving toward Decentralization? Changing Education Governance in China After 1985,” provides the historical and policy context for the volume. This…
Abstract
Tingting Qi's chapter titled, “Moving toward Decentralization? Changing Education Governance in China After 1985,” provides the historical and policy context for the volume. This chapter integrates the post-1978 Chinese educational reforms into the socioeconomic context of China. The special contribution of this chapter is that it explores the complexity of educational decentralization in China through an in-depth analysis of changes in education finance, administration, and curriculum. Qi reviews prior studies, government documents, laws, and regulations related to Chinese education reform since 1978 within the context of education decentralization in China. Qi also demonstrates that China's educational policy reforms are moving China toward “centralized decentralization” because decentralization is driven by a common, centralized national goal of economic modernization. The chapter presents evidence that “centralized decentralization” is a strategic maneuver that maintains centralized control while providing the reform legitimacy of decentralization. By focusing on decentralization as the core of Chinese educational policy reforms, this chapter situates the following chapters within the social, cultural, and political context of post-1978 China.
Robert F. Bruner, Marc L. Lipson and Sean Carr
In early 2006, the anticipated expansion of package delivery services in China provided a great opportunity for the two package delivery giants FedEx and UPS. It was unclear which…
Abstract
In early 2006, the anticipated expansion of package delivery services in China provided a great opportunity for the two package delivery giants FedEx and UPS. It was unclear which of these firms would make the most of this opportunity. An analysis of financial performance suggests that UPS is the better performer. On the other hand, the FedEx stock price performance has been far stronger. This apparent conflict highlights the fact that stock prices reflect anticipated future performance and new information. A teaching note and instructor and student spreadsheets are available.
Details

Keywords
Chunling Liang, Ting Zou, Yan Zhang, Yuanyuan Li and Ping Wang
This paper aims to design a composite, aiming to improve the static puncture resistance through polyurethane impregnated treatment with five concentration gradients.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to design a composite, aiming to improve the static puncture resistance through polyurethane impregnated treatment with five concentration gradients.
Design/methodology/approach
The relationship between polyurethane concentration, the number of polyester nonwovens, component fiber type (filament or staple) and the static puncture resistance is explored respectively and elaborately.
Findings
This study provides a new perspective to design flexible composites with better static puncture resistance, feasible preparation process as well as low cost.
Originality/value
The results show that the static puncture resistance of nonwovens impregnated by polyurethane is improved obviously. Meanwhile the puncture strength-T of nonwovens increases first and then decreases with the increase of the number of layers, and the maximum puncture strength-T is found at 20 layers. Moreover, the composite with filaments illustrates better mechanical resistance.
Details
Keywords
Yan Li, Yuanyuan Qu, Yunjiu Zhang and Qingling Li
This paper aims to develop resonant vibratory gyroscopes for high sensitive detection. The dynamic characteristics of resonant vibratory gyroscopes are investigated.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop resonant vibratory gyroscopes for high sensitive detection. The dynamic characteristics of resonant vibratory gyroscopes are investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
Firstly, the working principle and the dynamic output characteristics of the resonant vibratory gyroscope could be described by the damped Mathieu equation. Moreover, an approximate analytical method based on the small parameter perturbation has been used for the purpose of investigating the approximate solution of the damped Mathieu equation. Finally, to verify the feasibility of the approximate analytical method of the damped Mathieu equation, dynamic output characteristics’ experiments of the resonant vibratory gyroscope are built.
Findings
The theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that the approximate solution of the damped Mathieu equation is close to the dynamic output characteristics of the resonant vibratory gyroscope. On the other hand, it is concluded from the tested result that there exists a correlation between the theoretical curve and the experimental data processing result, meaning the damped dynamics analytical method is effective in building resonant vibratory gyroscopes.
Originality/value
This paper seeks to establish a foundation for optimizing and testing the performance of the resonant vibratory gyroscope. To this end, the approximate analytical method of the damped Mathieu equation was discussed. The result of this research has proved that the dynamic characteristics based on the damped Mathieu equation is an effective approach and is instructional in the practical resonant sensor design.
Details
Keywords
Huimei Zhang, Jiawen Zhang, Yan Zhang, Xu Ye, Yuanyuan Li and Ping Wang
In this paper, a new flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor which uses non-woven fabric as the flexible substrate and sliver nanowires (AgNWs) as the conductive materials was…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, a new flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor which uses non-woven fabric as the flexible substrate and sliver nanowires (AgNWs) as the conductive materials was reported.
Design/methodology/approach
The compression test of the pressure sensors was carried out at different compression frequencies and found that the sensors had more than 5,000 times reusability at high frequency.
Findings
When pressure sensors were applied to different parts of the human body, such as fingers, elbows, knees and throat, the sensors respond differently to different degrees of movement.
Originality/value
The proposed pressure sensor has broad application prospects in the human motion detection.
Details
Keywords
Yuanyuan Dang, Shanshan Guo, Haochen Song and Yi Li
Prior studies on the impact of incentives on physicians’ online participation mainly focused on different incentives while ignoring the difficulty of setting monetary incentives…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior studies on the impact of incentives on physicians’ online participation mainly focused on different incentives while ignoring the difficulty of setting monetary incentives efficiently. Based on goal-setting theory, the current research examines the relationship between incentives with goals of varying difficulty and professional health knowledge sharing (PHKS) in online health knowledge-sharing platforms (OHKSPs).
Design/methodology/approach
Four field experiments with different monetary incentives were conducted by one of China’s largest OHKSPs, with whom the researchers cooperated in data collection. Monthly panel data on 10,584 physicians were collected from September 2018 to December 2019. There were 9,376 physicians in the treatment group and 1,208 in the control group. The authors used a difference-in-difference (DID) model to explore the research question based on the same control group and the Chow test with seemingly unrelated estimation (sureg) to compare regression coefficients between four groups. Several robustness checks were performed to validate the main results, including a relative time model, multiple falsification tests and a DID estimation using the propensity score matching method.
Findings
The results show that the monetary incentive significantly positively affected the volume of physicians’ PHKS directly with negative spillover to the duration of physicians’ PHKS. Moreover, the positive effect of incentives with higher difficulty on the volume of physicians’ PHKS was significantly smaller than that of incentives with low difficulty. Finally, professional title had a positive moderating effect on the volume of goal difficulty setting and did not significantly moderate the effect on the duration of physicians’ PHKS.
Research limitations/implications
Some limitations of this study are: firstly, because the field experiments were enterprise benefit oriented, the treatment and control groups were not balanced. Secondly, the experiments for different incentive measures were relatively similar, making it challenging to validate a causal effect. Finally, more consideration should be given to the strategy for setting hierarchical incentives in future research.
Originality/value
The research indicates that monetary incentives have a bilateral effect on PHKS, i.e. a positive direct effect on the volume of physicians’ contributions and a negative spillover effect on the duration of physicians’ PHKS. The professional titles of physicians also moderate such bilateral switches of PHKS. Furthermore, when a physician’s energy is limited, the goal difficulty setting of the incentive mechanism tends to be low. The more difficult the incentives are, the more inefficient the effects on physicians’ PHKS will be.
Details
Keywords
Xiaodong Sun, Yuanyuan Liu, Bettina Chocholaty and Steffen Marburg
Prior investigations concerning misalignment resulting from journal deformation typically relied on predefined misaligned angles. Nevertheless, scant attention has been devoted to…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior investigations concerning misalignment resulting from journal deformation typically relied on predefined misaligned angles. Nevertheless, scant attention has been devoted to the determination of these misaligned angles. Furthermore, existing studies commonly treat the journal as rigid under such circumstances. Therefore, the present study aims to introduce a framework for determining misaligned angles and to compare outcomes between rigid and flexible journal configurations.
Design/methodology/approach
The bearing forces are considered as an external load leading to journal deformation. This deformation is calculated using the finite element method. The pressure distribution producing the bearing force is solved using the finite difference method. The mesh grids in the finite element and finite difference methods are matched for coupling calculation. By iteration, the pressure distribution of the lubricant film at the equilibrium position is determined.
Findings
Results show that the deformation-induced misalignment has a significant influence on the performance of the bearing when the journal flexibility is taken into account. The parametric study reveals that the misalignment relies on system parameters such as bearing length-diameter ratio and static load.
Originality/value
The investigation of this work provides a quantification method of misalignment of hydrodynamic bearings considering the elastic deformation of the journal, which assists in the design of bearing in a rotor-bearing system.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-10-2023-0337/
Details
Keywords
Shuxin Ding, Tao Zhang, Kai Sheng, Yuanyuan Chen and Zhiming Yuan
The intelligent Central Traffic Control (CTC) system plays a vital role in establishing an intelligent high-speed railway (HSR) system. As the core of HSR transportation command…
Abstract
Purpose
The intelligent Central Traffic Control (CTC) system plays a vital role in establishing an intelligent high-speed railway (HSR) system. As the core of HSR transportation command, the intelligent CTC system is a new HSR dispatching command system that integrates the widely used CTC in China with the practical service requirements of intelligent dispatching. This paper aims to propose key technologies and applications for intelligent dispatching command in HSR in China.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper first briefly introduces the functions and configuration of the intelligent CTC system. Some new servers, terminals and interfaces are introduced, which are plan adjustment server/terminal, interface for automatic train operation (ATO), interface for Dynamic Monitoring System of Train Control Equipment (DMS), interface for Power Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (PSCADA), interface for Disaster Monitoring, etc.
Findings
The key technologies applied in the intelligent CTC system include automatic adjustment of train operation plans, safety control of train routes and commands, traffic information data platform, integrated simulation of traffic dispatching and ATO function. These technologies have been applied in the Beijing-Zhangjiakou HSR, which commenced operations at the end of 2019. Implementing these key intelligent functions has improved the train dispatching command capacity, ensured the safe operation of intelligent HSR, reduced the labor intensity of dispatching operators and enhanced the intelligence level of China's dispatching system.
Originality/value
This paper provides further challenges and research directions for the intelligent dispatching command of HSR. To achieve the objectives, new measures need to be conducted, including the development of advanced technologies for intelligent dispatching command, coping with new requirements with the development of China's railway signaling system, the integration of traffic dispatching and train control and the application of AI and data-driven modeling and methods.
Details
Keywords
This study investigates, from a resource dependence perspective, the effects of domestic private firms' political connections and economic power on their labor law compliance in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates, from a resource dependence perspective, the effects of domestic private firms' political connections and economic power on their labor law compliance in China.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used data from a large-scale nationwide survey on Chinese domestic private firms, the Chinese Private Enterprise Survey collected from 2004 to 2012, to examine factors of interest that affect firms' compliance to labor laws. Hypotheses were tested using OLS regression models with robust standard errors.
Findings
The results indicate that domestic private firms' institutional political connections specified by the presence of a union or a Chinese Communist Party committee is positively related to firms' labor law compliance, and firm owners' formal political connections indicated by their membership in the People's Congress or the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference have a somewhat negative effect. The post-hoc analysis shows that firm owners' political representation at the county and city levels is negatively related with labor law compliance, while the political representation at the national level is positively related to labor law compliance. Moreover, the economic power of a domestic private firm is related positively to its labor law compliance. Finally, although the authors did not find evidence that the 2008 Labor Contract Law increased labor contract coverage, it did increase pension coverage after 2008.
Research limitations/implications
The present study reveals a more refined relationship between domestic private firm owners’ political connections and the degree of labor law compliance. It also demonstrates that the economic power of domestic private firms has a positive effect on their labor law compliance. This implies the importance of the contribution of domestic private firms to economic and social development in China, warranting continued support of the development of the private sector in China.
Originality/value
This study adds to the sparse literature on the determinants of domestic private firms' labor law compliance in China. It also sheds light on whether political connections and the rising economic power of Chinese domestic private firms influence their compliance with labor laws.