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1 – 10 of 289
Article
Publication date: 16 April 2018

Jinglai Wu, Zhen Luo, Nong Zhang and Wei Gao

This paper aims to study the sampling methods (or design of experiments) which have a large influence on the performance of the surrogate model. To improve the adaptability of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the sampling methods (or design of experiments) which have a large influence on the performance of the surrogate model. To improve the adaptability of modelling, a new sequential sampling method termed as sequential Chebyshev sampling method (SCSM) is proposed in this study.

Design/methodology/approach

The high-order polynomials are used to construct the global surrogated model, which retains the advantages of the traditional low-order polynomial models while overcoming their disadvantage in accuracy. First, the zeros of Chebyshev polynomials with the highest allowable order will be used as sampling candidates to improve the stability and accuracy of the high-order polynomial model. In the second step, some initial sampling points will be selected from the candidates by using a coordinate alternation algorithm, which keeps the initial sampling set uniformly distributed. Third, a fast sequential sampling scheme based on the space-filling principle is developed to collect more samples from the candidates, and the order of polynomial model is also updated in this procedure. The final surrogate model will be determined as the polynomial that has the largest adjusted R-square after the sequential sampling is terminated.

Findings

The SCSM has better performance in efficiency, accuracy and stability compared with several popular sequential sampling methods, e.g. LOLA-Voronoi algorithm and global Monte Carlo method from the SED toolbox, and the Halton sequence.

Originality/value

The SCSM has good performance in building the high-order surrogate model, including the high stability and accuracy, which may save a large amount of cost in solving complicated engineering design or optimisation problems.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 35 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 November 2024

Feng Zhao, Jianbao Zhang and Zhen Luo

The correlations and deviations between market prices, production prices and values are critical indexes for testing the labor theory of value. However, there is not yet a…

Abstract

Purpose

The correlations and deviations between market prices, production prices and values are critical indexes for testing the labor theory of value. However, there is not yet a universally accepted method of solving for the production price vector, and given the complexity and volatility of economic dynamics, production prices based on the assumption of economic equilibrium cannot be accurate measuring. This paper attempts to propose a new approach to test the labor theory of value.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a different approach. From the perspective of disequilibrium price, the paper deduces that the range of the relative prices of commodities is determined by the relative value, the rate of surplus-value and the technical structure of production inputs, with relative price fluctuating within the value range specified by the labor theory of value under market competition influences.

Findings

With empirical research results based on China’s economic data, this paper not only affirms the scientific and practical explanatory power of the labor theory of value in a more general sense but also uncovers how surplus value is distributed across sectors, which can be used to analyze market competition and technical relations and their impacts on industrial structure and distribution.

Originality/value

The disequilibrium analytical framework provides a new perspective for the empirical study of labor theory of value. Moreover, it evolves the labor theory of value into a robust empirical framework, breaking through the theoretical path of the traditional labor theory of value that is mostly limited to the normative discussion of exploitation.

Details

China Political Economy, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-1652

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 June 2022

Zhen Luo, Julie Callaert, Deming Zeng and Bart Van Looy

Shifting focus from innovation quantity to innovation quality becomes a priority in innovation study, business and policy. This paper aims to figure out whether and how knowledge…

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Abstract

Purpose

Shifting focus from innovation quantity to innovation quality becomes a priority in innovation study, business and policy. This paper aims to figure out whether and how knowledge recombination (recombinant exploration/recombinant exploitation) affects firms' innovation quality (technological value/economic value) and how these relationships are moderated by environmental turbulence (technological turbulence/market turbulence) in the context of open innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

A panel data set is built on 373 Chinese pharmaceutical firms' patents and new product data from 1997 to 2020. And a negative binomial regression model is applied to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The analyses indicate that (1) recombinant exploration favors technological value but hinders economic value, while (2) recombinant exploitation benefits both. Regarding environmental turbulence's moderating effects, (3) technological turbulence has opposite moderating effects on the impacts of recombinant exploration versus exploitation on technological value, whereas (4) market turbulence benefits the impacts of both on economic value.

Practical implications

This research provides the answer to practitioners' question that “How to improve innovation quality?” That is “Think from a recombination logic, clarify your internal value preference and the external turbulence.”

Originality/value

From an emerging perspective of innovation, this research expands the innovation quality research to a recombination logic. A multi-dimensional research framework is developed to clarify the complex relationships between knowledge recombination and innovation quality. Finally, two moderators, technological versus market turbulence, formulate more targeted implications for firms' innovation management in open innovation.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2017

Gaoliang Tian, Yi Si and M.M Fonseka

In China, private equity placement (PEP) has become the most important equity refinancing method because most listed firms issue new stocks in this method. However, previous…

Abstract

Purpose

In China, private equity placement (PEP) has become the most important equity refinancing method because most listed firms issue new stocks in this method. However, previous literature has not paid much attention to the impact of political connections on PEP. In this paper, the authors aim to focus on the effect of ultimate ownership types and political connections on approval, approval time, approval results and proceeds of PEP. Besides that the authors also explore the influence of different types and levels of political connections on PEP.

Design/methodology/approach

This study investigates the impact of ultimate ownership and political connections of private firms on the approval of PEPs. The authors obtain a final sample of 1,651 private placement events of Chinese-listed firms. To test the hypothesis that the authors developed in this paper, the authors use empirical models from the existing literature about political connections and corporate finance. They establish multiple linear regressions to test Hypothesis 1 and 3 and introduce a logit model to test Hypothesis 2.

Findings

First, this study documents that state-owned firms have significant advantages over private firms in approval procedure. Second, political connections seem to help private firms obtain approval of placements from China Securities Regulatory Commission. Third, political connections through government officers are not useful for firms to obtain refinance resources, whereas the connections of being members of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and People’s Congress are the two valuable types of political connections to help private firms obtain approval.

Originality/value

This paper has three main contributions to the previous literature. The first contribution is to provide an evidence for the relation between political connections and PEP approval procedures. The second contribution is to provide a comparison between government officer’s connection and social title’s connection. The third contribution of this paper is to reveal the influence of non-disclosed political connection on PEP approval. All the three contributions are important for understanding the relation between political connections and firm refinancial policy.

Details

Nankai Business Review International, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2009

Chunlu Liu, Le Ma, Zhen Qiang Luo and David Picken

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the interdependencies of the house price growth rates in Australian capital cities.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the interdependencies of the house price growth rates in Australian capital cities.

Design/methodology/approach

A vector autoregression model and variance decomposition are introduced to estimate and interpret the interdependences among the growth rates of regional house prices in Australia.

Findings

The results suggest the eight capital cities can be divided into three groups: Sydney and Melbourne; Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane; and Hobart, Perth and Darwin.

Originality/value

Based on the structural vector autoregression model, this research develops an innovative interdependence analysis approach of regional house prices based on a variance decomposition method.

Details

International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Kun Cai, Zhen Luo and Qing H. Qin

The purpose of this paper is to develop a heuristic method for topology optimization of a continuum with bi-modulus material which is frequently occurred in practical engineering…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a heuristic method for topology optimization of a continuum with bi-modulus material which is frequently occurred in practical engineering.

Design/methodology/approach

The essentials of this model are as follows: First, the original bi-modulus is replaced with two isotropic materials to simplify structural analysis. Second, the stress filed is adopted to calculate the effective strain energy densities (SED) of elements. Third, a floating reference interval of SED is defined and updated by active constraint. Fourth, the elastic modulus of an element is updated according to its principal stresses. Final, the design variables are updated by comparing the local effective SEDs and the current reference interval of SED.

Findings

Numerical examples show that the ratio between the tension modulus and the compression modulus of the bi-modulus material in a structure has a significant effect on the final topology design, which is different from that in the same structure with isotropic material. In the optimal structure, it can be found that the material points with the higher modulus are reserved as much as possible. When the ratio is far more than unity, the material can be considered as tension-only material. If the ratio is far less than unity, the material can be considered as compression-only material. As a result, the topology optimization of continuum structures with tension-only or compression-only materials can also be solved by the proposed method.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is twofold: the bi-modulus material layout optimization in a continuum can be solved by the method proposed in this paper, and the layout difference between the structure with bi-modulus material and the same structure but with isotropic material shows that traditional topology optimization result could not be suitable for a real bi-modulus layout design project.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 April 2018

Guoliu Hu and Yu Wang

The purpose of this paper is to research the impact of firms’ political connections on the stock price crash risk.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to research the impact of firms’ political connections on the stock price crash risk.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical methodology is used in this study.

Findings

Using a large sample of Chinese firms for the period 2008-2013, the authors find that corporate political connections can reduce the stock price crash risk. When managers are still in politics or firms are in high financial transparency of local governments, the relationship between political connections and the stock price crash risk is weakened. In addition, the authors’ research shows that the corporate political connections influence the stock price crash risk by affecting the speed of confirmation of bad news.

Research limitations/implications

The findings in this study suggest that political connections will affect corporate disclosure.

Practical implications

These results can help senior executives and investors make better decisions to prevent the stock price crash risk.

Originality/value

This paper empirically analyzes the impact of different types of political connections on the stock price crash risk for the first time.

Details

China Finance Review International, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-1398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Weian Li and Pengcheng Wang

Philanthropy is taken as a strategic behavior by private enterprises to obtain financial resources from governments. This paper aims to examine the relationship between private…

Abstract

Purpose

Philanthropy is taken as a strategic behavior by private enterprises to obtain financial resources from governments. This paper aims to examine the relationship between private enterprise philanthropy and the debt finance, further investigating the way by which governments exchange resources with private enterprises.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper opted for an empirical study using a sample of 1,489 Chinese private-listed companies from 2007 to 2010. The study analyzed the relationship between philanthropy and debt finance based on the resource dependence theory and social exchange theory and tested the moderating effect of political connection.

Findings

Philanthropy can help private enterprises to get the debt finance, and this effect occurs mainly among the political connected private enterprises; the higher degree of credit allocation marketization is, the less philanthropy can affect the debt finance and the less influence political connection can exert on that relationship. Philanthropy contributes to debt financing mainly because it can help obtain more long-term loan, and this effect is more obvious for politically connected private enterprises in regulated industries.

Originality/value

This paper verifies the action logic of private enterprises philanthropy from the perspective of exchange behavior, which is helpful to understand the motive and influence of private enterprises philanthropy.

Details

Nankai Business Review International, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8749

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 November 2012

Jinyu Yang, Jun Lian and Xing Liu

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of political connections and institutional environment differences on private enterprises' acquiring bank loans, and to analyze…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of political connections and institutional environment differences on private enterprises' acquiring bank loans, and to analyze the governance effect of bank debts and its impact on firm value.

Design/methodology/approach

Choosing private listed enterprises in China as samples, this study builds equation models and uses the three‐stage least squares estimation method to estimate these models.

Findings

The results show that: political connections influence lending policies of banks; the politically connected private enterprises could acquire more loans from banks. In poorer institutional environment, political connections can help private enterprises to acquire more bank loans; building political connections is an informal substitute mechanism for private enterprises to overcome the drawbacks of market institutions. The bank loans have governance effects on politically connected private enterprises and can increase firm value; the allocation of bank loans through political connections is efficient.

Originality/value

This study provides a meaningful perspective for understanding the impact of political connections on firm value and allocation of social resources.

Details

Nankai Business Review International, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8749

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 July 2024

Bo Zhang, Shengjun Wang and Ruixue Zhou

This paper examines the impact of corporate digital transformation on employee satisfaction. Therefore, this study extends our understanding of the economic consequences of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper examines the impact of corporate digital transformation on employee satisfaction. Therefore, this study extends our understanding of the economic consequences of corporate digital transformation from employees’ perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

The data used to construct our main proxy of employee satisfaction are collected from Kanzhun.com, which provides reviews by rank-and-file employees on their employers. This study uses a large sample of Chinese firms and adopts various empirical methods to examine the impact of digital transformation on employee satisfaction.

Findings

We find a significant positive relationship between corporate digital transformation and employee satisfaction. Moreover, we document that the relationship between corporate digital transformation and employee satisfaction is more pronounced in firms with higher labor intensity and in state-owned enterprises (SOE).

Research limitations/implications

One significant limitation is that corporate digital transformation is constructed based on word frequency analysis. This approach may be influenced by variations in corporate disclosure practices and might not accurately capture the true extent of corporate digital transformation. This limitation is not only present in our research but is also pervasive in many other studies that utilize similar methodologies. Therefore, our results should be interpreted with this caveat in mind.

Practical implications

Our study suggests that corporate digital transformation enhances employee satisfaction, providing direct evidence for managers and regulators to promote corporate digital transformation. Through digital transformation, companies can not only improve operational efficiency but also foster employee satisfaction. This dual benefit underscores the importance of investing in corporate digital transformation for long-term success.

Social implications

Our study suggests that corporate digital transformation enhances employee satisfaction, providing direct evidence for managers and regulators to promote corporate digital transformation. Through digital transformation, companies can not only improve operational efficiency but also foster employee satisfaction. This dual benefit underscores the importance of investing in corporate digital transformation for long-term success.

Originality/value

Our study contributes to the literature on the economic consequences of corporate digital transformation and extends existing research on the determinants of employee satisfaction. Additionally, it provides a novel measurement of employee satisfaction for a large sample of Chinese firms.

Details

China Accounting and Finance Review, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1029-807X

Keywords

1 – 10 of 289