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This paper examines whether technological changes that promote communications between investors and managers help bridge the gap in the cost of equity capital among firms in different regions.

We use the online interaction platforms of listed firms in China and utilize brokerage presence (BP) to capture the geographic distribution of financial factors. We explore whether online interactions would reduce the cost of equity to a greater extent for firms located in low brokerage presence regions (hereafter “low-BP firms”) than those in high brokerage presence regions (hereafter “high-BP firms”).

We find low-BP firms benefit more from an improved information environment created by online interactions. We also find that posts about low-BP firms are more value-relevant and useful in processing corporate disclosures. Further, a higher number of interactions significantly enhances more informational efficiency for low-BP firms, and the effect of reducing the gap in financing costs is more pronounced when corporate information is complex.

We conclude that online interactions alleviate geography-induced information frictions and create a relatively level playing field for firms located in all regions.

This study aims to regarding the application of traditional pulse frequency modulation control full-bridge LLC resonant converters in wide output voltage fields such as on-board chargers, there are issues with wide frequency adjustment ranges and low conversion efficiency.

To address these issues, this paper proposes a fixed-frequency pulse width modulation (PWM) control strategy for a full-bridge LLC resonant converter, which adjusts the gain by adjusting the duty cycle of the switches. In the full-bridge LLC converter, the two switches of the lower bridge arm are controlled by a fixed-frequency and fixed duty cycle, with their switching frequency equal to the resonant frequency, whereas the two switches of the upper bridge arm are controlled by a fixed-frequency PWM to adjust the output voltage. The operation modes of the converter are analyzed in detail, and a mathematical model of the converter is established. The gain characteristics of the converter under the fixed-frequency PWM control strategy are deeply analyzed, and the conditions for implementing zero-voltage switching (ZVS) soft switching in the converter are also analyzed in detail. The use of fixed-frequency PWM control simplifies the design of resonant parameters, and the fixed-frequency control is conducive to the design of magnetic components.

According to the fixed-frequency PWM control strategy proposed in this paper, the correctness of the control strategy is verified through simulation and the development and testing of a 500-W experimental prototype. Test results show that the primary side switches of the converter achieve ZVS and the secondary side rectifier diodes achieve zero-current switching, effectively reducing the switching losses of the converter. In addition, the control strategy reduces the reactive circulating current of the converter, and the peak efficiency of the experimental prototype can reach 95.2%.

The feasibility of the fixed-frequency PWM control strategy was verified through experiments, which has significant implications for improving the efficiency of the converter and simplifying the design of resonant parameters and magnetic components in wide output voltage fields such as on-board chargers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of transparency on consumers' judgment and decision-making.

This study uses an experimental research design in which participants' negative emotions dynamically change driven by group emotional interactions when they are experiencing a group complaint.

The experimental results show that compared with opaque products, transparent products make consumers rely more on emotions to make judgments and decisions (Experiment 1). It is precise because transparency increases the influence of emotion on consumers' judgment and decision-making that positive emotion makes consumers' evaluation and willingness to pay higher, while negative emotion makes consumers' evaluation and willingness to pay lower (Experiments 2 and 3). Transparency will also affect consumers' subsequent judgment and decision-making methods, so they are more inclined to choose the option with the dominant emotional dimension (Experiment 4).

Previous studies mainly focus on the impact of transparent packaging on consumers and discuss the impact of transparent packaging on consumer product evaluation and consumption quantity. This study proves that product-related transparent elements can also affect consumers' decision-making methods, making them more dependent on emotions to make decisions, enriching the research on the influencing factors of consumer decision-making methods.

This paper aims to explore the impact of product market competition (PMC) on companies’ investment in external auditing.

This paper applies a conceptual framework derived from demand–supply analysis and a panel data set of 2,263 listed manufacturing companies in China covering the period 2012–2019. In the assessment of PMC, this study measures industry-level competition intensity and company-specific market power separately.

Industries appear to engage in a lower average level of external auditing if industrial competition intensity is either too high or too low. Similarly, companies spend less on external auditing if their market power is either too strong or too weak, and the company-level inverted U-shaped relationship is much more evident in industries with weak PMC.

This paper shows that a company’s external audit strategy is affected by the level of competition it faces in its market. The findings of this paper can improve the current linear PMC–auditing theoretical framework and provide insights into the strategic auditing of listed companies in China. The findings also have significant implications for policy recommendations regarding corporate governance and market scrutiny regulations.

This study aims to examine how the political career concerns of top executives affect corporate environmental practices.

Based on rent-seeking theory, this work uses empirical analysis to investigate the impact of top executives’ political connection and political promotion on corporate environmental information disclosure (EID). Data were collected from Chinese listed firms in heavily polluting industries in the Shanghai Stock Market in 2014–2016.

The results reveal that the highly politically connected top executives are more likely to be promoted in their political positions than their counterparts. However, the firms under the management of these highly politically connected executives show low level of EID. The results suggest that the political motivations of top executives with political connection hinders corporate EID.

This paper extends literature system about the impact of executives' rent-seeking on corporate EID by examining the informal mechanisms in terms of political connection and political promotion. It provides insights for studies of corporate environmental strategies and governmental environmental responsibility.

In response to increasing demand for a fully customized and individualized home environment, mass customization (MC) has been suggested as an effective strategy to fulfill the customer’s customization needs while keeping production cost-effectiveness. However, in current practice, the implementation of the MC in the industrialized housing industry has not achieved an ideal level. Little effort was devoted to customer value generation and achieving lean production in a multi-disciplinary MC environment. In this concern, a highly efficient and flexible production information system is expected to capture accurately the customer’s demand and efficiently perform work planning for encouraging customer involvement and mass efficiency production.

To gain an insight into the development of the MC production information system for the housing industry and to depict the interaction among system modules, this study used a design science research methodology for a case study of customized cabinet production information system development.

A prototype of the production information system was proposed in this paper, supported by three information technologies to facilitate the MC implementation in the millwork manufacturer. A focus group discussion method was carried out for evaluating the system feasibility and the subsequent survey analysis on the virtual reality (VR) interface experiment. The evaluation process results showed that the VR interface is an effective medium for design information communication and encourages customer involvement. Most participants believed that the proposed production information system could generally benefit the MC implementation and improve production efficiency.

This study integrated lean production principles along with building information modelling, VR and discrete-event simulation in the production information system to assist the manufacturer in effectively handling variant product information and enabling quicker reactions in response to diverse customer requirements in housing industries. The coordination among system modules and the managed information flow could be a valuable reference for future MC production system development in housing industries.

The purpose of this study is to employ a user-centered approach to identify subgroups of people with similar profiles based on their perceptions of multiple dimensions of digital products' coolness and to test the differences across subgroups in the intention to use these products.

In Study 1, 1,161 adults rated a virtual digital product on four dimensions of coolness. In Study 2, 660 college students made similar ratings and also reported their intention to use a real digital product. Participants' ratings were analyzed using a user-centered approach, namely latent profile analysis.

Study 1 identified groups of participants who had similar profiles of product ratings on the four dimensions of coolness: niche cool, mass cool, uncertain cool and uncool. Study 2 replicated the findings of Study 1 and in addition showed that these groups varied in their intention to use the product and in whether a specific dimension increased or decreased this intention.

The cross-sectional data preclude inferences about causality, calling for experimental or longitudinal research. Additionally, future research should explore whether the results generalize to other product categories and other age groups.

Managers should design digital products, segment the market and develop flexible strategies based on combined responses to dimensions of coolness perception.

The present research employed a user-centered approach to identify groups of people who share similar patterns of coolness perception. This study provides new insight that was not available in variable-centered research.

Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) are designed to benefit both the employees and employers. While plenty of previous studies uncover the outcomes of i-deals, little research has explored what drives organizations to adopt i-deals in the first place. Drawing on transaction cost economics theory, this paper aims to investigate how employee–employer exchange characteristics affect different types of i-deals.

Based on a two-wave questionnaire study of 385 employees from information technology industry in China, hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses.

The authors found that human asset specificity and task interdependence are positively related to developmental i-deals, and task interdependence was negatively related to flexible i-deals. Furthermore, environmental uncertainty positively moderates the impact of human asset specificity and task interdependence on developmental i-deals.

This paper contributes to research on i-deals by providing a theoretically more comprehensive and balanced analysis of why and when i-deals are adopted in organizations.

The aim of this study is to develop a new multidimensional index to measure export potential of textile firms by using firm-level data.

After a conceptual model, a structural equation model is developed with five dimensions and 27 observed variables based on resource-based view theory. The measurement model is solved by Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) with maximum likelihood algorithm by using data collected from 454 textile firms in Türkiye.

In this study, a new multidimensional index that measures export potential of textile firms is developed. With the proposed model, the export potential of textile firms can be calculated numerically with the five dimensions: Resources, Dynamism, Knowledge, Innovation and Sustainability. The comparison of the output of the proposed model with the control variable, firm’s actual export values, shows a significantly high success ratio of 90.76%.

The model is applicable for textile firms at different export levels, regions and sub-sectors. The Export Potential Index for Textile Industry model is verified by using Turkish textile industry data. The robustness of the model may be increased by verifying the model by using some other countries data. This model can be implemented to other industrial sectors with some modification of the dimensions and variables.

The proposed model will contribute to the firms by calculating their export potential in five dimensions with their own variables numerically. The model will help firms to develop strategies to increase their export potential and to the governmental and industrial organizations to develop incentives policies.

This paper fills the gap in the literature by proposing a multidimensional index that determines a firm’s export potential numerically by using firm-level data.