This study aims to examine why women transition from wage work to self-employed entrepreneurship, the seemingly insecure and unruly economic sector compared with the stable iron…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine why women transition from wage work to self-employed entrepreneurship, the seemingly insecure and unruly economic sector compared with the stable iron rice bowl and the fancy spring rice jobs.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on in-depth interviews in Zhejiang, the entrepreneurial hotbed in coastal China, this study examines the experiences of self-employed female entrepreneurs who used to work in the iron rice bowl and the spring rice jobs and explores their nonconventional career transition and its gendered implications.
Findings
This study finds that these women quit their previous jobs to escape from gendered suppression in wage work where their femininity was stereotyped, devalued or disciplined. By working for themselves, these women embrace a rubber rice bowl that allows them to improvise different forms of femininity that are better rewarded and recognized.
Originality/value
The study contributes to studies on gender and work by framing femininity as a fluid rather than a fixed set of qualities and fills the research gap by illustrating women’s agency in reacting to gender expectations in certain workplaces. The study develops a new concept of rubber rice bowl to describe how entrepreneurship, a seemingly women-unfriendly sphere, attracts women by allowing them to comply with, resist, or improvise normative gender expectations.
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Qingpeng Wang, Baodong Bai, Zhen An and Dezhi Chen
The purpose of this paper is to solve the reactive power adjustment and the overvoltage suppression problems in the extra high voltage (EHV) long distance grid, which often…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to solve the reactive power adjustment and the overvoltage suppression problems in the extra high voltage (EHV) long distance grid, which often appears transient overvoltage, light load loss and other issues.
Design/methodology/approach
One 800 kV EHV magnetically saturation controllable reactor (MSCR) used self-power supply control system is designed. The structure and the working mechanism of the novel MSCR are analyzed in detail. Then the control and capacity step adjustment characteristics are obtained by experiments. The harmonic characteristic is studied by theoretical analysis and low voltage test.
Findings
To solve the problem of harmonics in the working current of nets windings, the fifth and the seventh filers are equipped between the compensation windings and the control system. The effectiveness of the harmonic suppression method is proved by simulation and experiments.
Originality/value
It proves that the 800 kV EHV MSCR design in this paper can achieve the purpose of the reactive power continuous linear adjustment, and the capacity adjustment is sensitive. After filtering, the harmonics level of the working current meets the standard of the EHV grid.
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Wanyue Jiang, Daobo Wang and Yin Wang
The purpose of this paper is to find a solution for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) rendezvous problem, which should be feasible, optimal and not time consuming. In the existing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to find a solution for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) rendezvous problem, which should be feasible, optimal and not time consuming. In the existing literatures, the UAV rendezvous problem is always presented as a matter of simultaneous arrival. They focus only on the time consistency. However, the arrival time of UAVs can vary according to the rendezvous position. The authors should determine the best rendezvous position with considering UAVs’ maneuver constraint, so that UAVs can construct a formation in a short time.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors present a decentralized method in which UAVs negotiate with each other for the best rendezvous positions by using Nash bargain. The authors analyzed the constraints of the rendezvous time and the UAV maneuver, and proposed an objective function that allows UAVs to get to their rendezvous positions as fast as possible. Bezier curve is adopted to generate smooth and feasible flight trajectories. During the rendezvous process, UAVs adjust their speed so that they can arrive at the rendezvous positions simultaneously.
Findings
The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by simulation experiments. The proposed method can successfully and efficiently solve the UAV rendezvous problem.
Originality/value
As far as the authors know, it is the first time Nash bargain is used in the UAV rendezvous problem. The authors modified the Nash bargain method and make it distributed, so that it can be computed easily. The proposed method is much less consuming than ordinary Nash bargain method and ordinary swarm intelligence based methods. It also considers the UAV maneuver constraint, and can be applied online for its fast calculation speed. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
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Benjian Wu, Linyi Niu, Ruiqi Tan and Haibo Zhu
This study explores whether targeted microcredit can effectively alleviate households’ multidimensional relative poverty (MdRP) in rural China in the new era following the poverty…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores whether targeted microcredit can effectively alleviate households’ multidimensional relative poverty (MdRP) in rural China in the new era following the poverty elimination campaign and discusses it from a gendered perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies a fixed-effects model, propensity score matching (PSM) and two-stage instrumental variable method to two-period panel data collected from 611 households in rural western China in 2018 and 2021 to explore the effects, mechanisms and heterogenous performance of targeted microcredit on households’ MdRP in the new era.
Findings
(i) Targeted microcredit can alleviate MdRP among rural households in the new era, mainly by reducing income and opportunity inequality. (ii) Targeted microcredit can promote women’s empowerment, mainly by enhancing their social participation, thereby helping alleviate households’ MdRP. The effect of the targeted microcredit on MdRP is more significant in medium-educated women households and non-left-behind women households. (iii) The MdRP alleviation effect is stronger in villages with a high degree of digitalization.
Research limitations/implications
Learn from the experience of targeted microcredit. Accurately identify poor groups and integrate loan design into financial health and women empowerment. Particularly, pay attention to less-educated and left-behind women households and strengthen coordination between targeted microcredit and digital village strategies.
Originality/value
This study clarifies the effect of targeted microcredit on women’s empowerment and households’ MdRP alleviation in the new era. It also explores its various effects on households with different female characteristics and regional digitalization levels, providing ideas for optimizing microcredit.
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China is a fast‐growing economy, and many multinational companies (MNCs) have found their ways to infiltrate that market. The competition among the MNCs has generated human…
Abstract
Purpose
China is a fast‐growing economy, and many multinational companies (MNCs) have found their ways to infiltrate that market. The competition among the MNCs has generated human resource management (HRM) problems. When formulating approaches in dealing with these problems, the expatriate management of the MNCs often “speak for” their local employees, as if the latter has no voice of its own. It is suspected that MNCs know partly what their local employees value. With such limited understanding, the former may be ineffective in managing their local staff. The purpose of this paper is to report a study that explores the HRM problems from local employees' perspectives. To understand Chinese employees, the conceptual lens, stemmed from Chinese philosophical traditions instead of that derived from western experience, is used.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with Chinese employees working in MNCs.
Findings
The findings suggest that “asymmetrical understanding” exists between expatriate managers and their Chinese employees, and that the former may know much less about the latter than it is normally assumed.
Research limitations/implications
The findings, illustrated through interviews, have shed light on how MNCs could manage their Chinese employees, and how a meaningful dialogue could take place: understanding the other (Chinese employees) on their own intellectual ground to overcome “asymmetrical understanding”.
Originality/value
By allowing the voice of the other to come forth rather than to keep it in the background as, at best, a whisper, the study helps create a platform for a meaningful cross‐cultural dialogue between voices from the west and the other.
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Chuanjin Ju, Songyan Hou, Dandan Shao, Zhijun Zhang and Zhangli Yu
The purpose of this report is to demonstrate open and distance education (ODE) can support poverty alleviation. Taking the practices of the Open University of China (the OUC) as an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this report is to demonstrate open and distance education (ODE) can support poverty alleviation. Taking the practices of the Open University of China (the OUC) as an example, this paper aims to reveal how open universities make contributions to local residents in rural and remote areas.
Design/methodology/approach
Focusing on 25 poverty-stricken counties, the OUC had invested 58 million RMB to its learning centers in these counties from 2017 to 2020. The first one is to improve ICT and educational facilities in these learning centers. The second approach is to cultivate local residents with degree programs through ODE so as to promote local economic development. The third one is to design and develop training programs according to local context to meet the specific needs of local villagers.
Findings
After 3 years working, cloud-based classrooms and computer rooms have been set up. Bookstores have been founded and printed books have been donated. Hundreds of thousands of digital micro lectures have been supplied to these learning centers which have been improved and fully played their functions. Nearly 50,000 local residents have been directly benefited. Village leaders have helped lift local residents out of poverty. Poverty-stricken villagers have been financed to study on either undergraduate or diploma programs. Local residents have improved their skills by learning with the training programs offered by the OUC.
Originality/value
ODE is proved to be an effective way to eradicate poverty. Open universities are proved to be able to make contributions to social justice. By fulfilling its commitments to eliminate poverty within the national strategy framework, the OUC has built its brand nationwide.
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Michaele L. Morrow, Jacob Suher and Ashley West
This research investigates the effect of imposing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on the likelihood of purchasing SSBs. We design and test an experimental framework that…
Abstract
This research investigates the effect of imposing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on the likelihood of purchasing SSBs. We design and test an experimental framework that examines this and the effects of providing an explanation about the presence of an SSB tax and information about the negative health effects of consuming SSBs. Consistent with Elbel, Taksler, Mijanovich, Abrams, and Dixon (2013) and Taylor, Kaplan, Villas-Boas, and Jung (2019), we find that imposing a tax, in addition to increasing the conspicuousness of the tax by explaining the presence of a tax (and in some cases, the negative health effects) reduces the likelihood of purchasing an SSB anywhere from 8.39% to 18.15%. We contribute to the public health and tax policy literature by testing consumer choice in a controlled experimental setting and considering the effect of individual differences on the choice to purchase SSBs. Imposing a tax on SSBs may be an effective tool for decreasing SSB consumption that is made more effective when the tax is conspicuous.
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Zhen Chen, Heng Li and Conrad T.C. Wong
Although the Trip‐ticket System (TTS) has been implemented to manage construction and demolition (C&D) waste in Hong Kong for over three years, problems still exist in the…
Abstract
Although the Trip‐ticket System (TTS) has been implemented to manage construction and demolition (C&D) waste in Hong Kong for over three years, problems still exist in the landfill disposal of the C&D waste. For example, it is reported that fees are difficult to collect from waste transporters for tipping the C&D waste at the landfill site. Based on an examination of the flexibility of the TTS, this paper proposes an e‐commerce model, namely the Webfill system, in order to enhance the TTS. The computational structure of the Webfill system is described and the usefulness of Webfill is evaluated based on a simulation which provides a direct comparison between the existing TTS and the Webfill‐enhanced TTS.
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Nai-ming Xie, Song-Ming Yin and Chuan-Zhen Hu
The purpose of this paper is to study a new approach by combining a multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) algorithm with a GM(1, N) model in order to estimate the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study a new approach by combining a multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) algorithm with a GM(1, N) model in order to estimate the development cost of a new type of aircraft.
Design/methodology/approach
First, data about developing costs and their influencing factors were collected for several types of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Second, a GM(1, N) model was constructed to simulate development costs for a civil aircraft. Then, an MLPNN algorithm was added to optimize and revise the simulative and forecasting values. Finally, a combined approach, using both a GM(1, N) model and an MLPNN algorithm was adopted to forecast development costs for new civil aircraft.
Findings
The results show that the proposed approach could do the work of cost estimation for new types of aircraft. Rather than using a single model, the combined approach could improve simulative and forecasting accuracy.
Practical implications
Scientific cost estimation could improve management efficiency and promote the success of a new type of civil aircraft development. Considering that China’s civil aircraft research and development is at its very beginning stages, only very limited data could be collected. The development costs for civil aircraft are affected by a series of factors. The approach outlined by this paper could be applied to development cost estimations in China’s civil aircraft industry.
Originality/value
The paper has succeeded by constructing a cost estimation index system and proposing a novel combined cost estimation approach comprised of a GM(1, N) model and an MLPNN. It has undoubtedly contributed to improving the accuracy of cost estimations.
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More and more statistics have repeatedly shown that as the economic development has entered the New Normal, the Chinese fiscal system has experienced tremendous changes. Although…
Abstract
Purpose
More and more statistics have repeatedly shown that as the economic development has entered the New Normal, the Chinese fiscal system has experienced tremendous changes. Although chance cannot be ruled out, much of those changes indicate trends, and they can even be said to be the result of the law of economic development. These trends and changes have repeatedly demonstrated that, as a reflection and an inevitable result of the economic developing speed shift, structural adjustment and energy conversion, the Chinese fiscal system, far from the conventional operating state, has progressed on a new path. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper systematically analyzes several new trends and changes in the Chinese fiscal system under the New Normal. First, revenue growth has experienced a sharp downward trend, while the tax elasticity coefficient has declined rapidly. Second, fiscal expenditure has risen against the tendency, while the rigidity of expenditure has kept on increasing.
Findings
Considering the present fiscal and taxation system reform with the analysis above, it can be seen that if the reform’s progress for the past two years is slower than expected – thus, preventing the effects of all aspects from a timely achievement – then, in the recent period, the agreement on the fiscal and taxation system reform will be reached and challenges entirely different from the past, including sharp slowdown in revenue growth rate, fiscal expenditure rising against trend and increases in fiscal deficit and government debts will be faced. The factors encouraging the reform are gathering gradually. The growth of the strength to push the reform forward is speeding up. And the pace of the reform in relevant areas is quickening.
Originality/value
In the face of those trends and changes, on the one hand, the authors should deeply understand and accurately grasp them through a comprehensive summary and systematic analysis. On the other hand, a series of conventional ideas, thoughts and strategies should be adjusted comprehensively and duly. Taking a train of new ideas, thoughts and strategies, the authors ought to actively adapt to and initiate a new Chinese fiscal structure under the New Normal of China’s economy.