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This study aims to understand the impact of market power and competition on earnings management, particularly discretionary accruals, in the Chinese and Taiwanese tourism industries. China and Taiwan differ not only in their political and social systems but also in their economic systems. The research aims to provide managers and investors with stock selection strategy in the decision-making process.

Accounting data consisted of 60 publicly traded travel companies in China and Taiwan from 2000 to 2014. Methodology included correlation matrix for the variables, univariate and multivariate regression and competition analysis.

Based on empirical results, the authors found a significant negative correlation between market power and discretionary accruals and market concentration (or lower market competition) and discretionary accruals in both the Chinese or Taiwanese markets. Although the Chinese travel companies enjoyed higher market power and market concentration, they engaged in less earnings manipulation than their Taiwanese counterparts as a result of the Chinese Government regulation.

Based on listed travel companies, generalization of the research results to entire tourism industry is limited. This study compares the travel companies’ practices of smoothing out earnings between China and Taiwan, thus helping managers and investors in making their financing, investment decisions.

This research contributes to the earnings management literature by examining a specific industry of tourism. This paper is original in two ways. The authors linked market power and market competition with earnings management simultaneously and then compared the Chinese and Taiwanese tourism industries in manipulating earnings.

The subject of “well-being” has attracted attention from tourism scholars, but differences and misuses in approach have meant that academic contributions and knowledge accumulation to the tourism literature remain relatively little. This paper attempts to clarify the theoretical source of subjective well-being, and critically reflect on the problems existing in the study of well-being when applied to tourism. It is suggested that subjective well-being belongs to the category of “quality of life” and has multiple philosophical foundations and theoretical sources including theories of hedonism, expectation, happiness and various itemised lists of emotions. A hybrid research method is suggested when applying the concept to tourism.

Waiting is associated with pain and stress that leads to frustration. However, consumer narratives may help cope with the stress associated with such waiting. This study aims to understand consumer waiting behaviours within online communities.

Data was gathered following a netnographic approach from a Facebook brand community (FBC) by downloading and archiving the threads related to members’ waiting behaviours. This resulted in 91 pages of data, with 438 individual comments and 179 distinct threads.

The data revealed that members of the sampled FBC exercised waiting behaviour. The authors confirm that waiting for a product is associated with both negative outcomes (frustration, boredom, etc.), but positive ones (create stronger ties with the brand and fellow members, etc.). Members of the FBC exhibited reduced consumer anxiety and stress during the waiting period.

This study found 13 waiting behaviours within the FBC and supports the idea that new value-creating behaviours are noticed within the context of FBCs.

This study focuses on waiting within a goods-based context (waiting to be served has been examined predominantly within the service sector). The study explored the behaviours of consumers who use social media to complain about extended waiting periods to receive the product along with other consumer reactions to these waiting crowds to reduce the emotional pain associated with such delays.

La espera se asocia con el dolor y el estrés, lo que lleva a la frustración. Sin embargo, el relato de otros consumidores puede ayudar a hacer frente al estrés asociado a dicha espera. Este trabajo busca entender el comportamiento de espera de los consumidores dentro de las comunidades online.

Los datos fueron recopilados siguiendo un enfoque netnográfico de una comunidad de marca en Facebook (CMF) mediante la descarga de mensajes; sólo los hilos relacionados con los comportamientos de espera de los miembros fueron descargados y archivados. Esto resultó en 91 páginas de datos con 438 comentarios individuales y 179 hilos distintos.

Los datos revelan que en Facebook se dan comportamientos de espera. Confirmamos que la espera de un producto no sólo está asociada a resultados negativos (frustración, aburrimiento, etc.), sino también a resultados positivos (crear lazos más fuertes con la marca y los compañeros). Además, se comprueba que los miembros de la CMF reducen la ansiedad y el estrés del consumidor durante el período de espera.

Este trabajo encuentra 13 comportamientos de espera dentro de una CMF

Este trabajo se centra en la espera dentro del contexto basado en los bienes (la espera para ser atendido ha sido examinada principalmente dentro del sector de servicios). Además, no sólo nos centramos en los consumidores que utilizan los medios sociales para quejarse de una espera más larga en la recepción del producto, sino también en la reacción de otros consumidores a estas esperas para reducir el dolor emocional asociado a dicho retraso.

The primary purpose of this paper is to identify the so-called core authors and their publications according to pre-defined criteria and thereby direct the users to the fastest and easiest way to get a picture of the otherwise pervasive field of bankruptcy prediction models. The authors aim to present state-of-the-art bankruptcy prediction models assembled by the field's core authors and critically examine the approaches and methods adopted.

The authors conducted a literature search in November 2022 through scientific databases Scopus, ScienceDirect and the Web of Science, focussing on a publication period from 2010 to 2022. The database search query was formulated as “Bankruptcy Prediction” and “Model or Tool”. However, the authors intentionally did not specify any model or tool to make the search non-discriminatory. The authors reviewed over 7,300 articles.

This paper has addressed the research questions: (1) What are the most important publications of the core authors in terms of the target country, size of the sample, sector of the economy and specialization in SME? (2) What are the most used methods for deriving or adjusting models appearing in the articles of the core authors? (3) To what extent do the core authors include accounting-based variables, non-financial or macroeconomic indicators, in their prediction models? Despite the advantages of new-age methods, based on the information in the articles analyzed, it can be deduced that conventional methods will continue to be beneficial, mainly due to the higher degree of ease of use and the transferability of the derived model.

The authors identify several gaps in the literature which this research does not address but could be the focus of future research.

The authors provide practitioners and academics with an extract from a wide range of studies, available in scientific databases, on bankruptcy prediction models or tools, resulting in a large number of records being reviewed. This research will interest shareholders, corporations, and financial institutions interested in models of financial distress prediction or bankruptcy prediction to help identify troubled firms in the early stages of distress.

Bankruptcy is a major concern for society in general, especially in today's economic environment. Therefore, being able to predict possible business failure at an early stage will give an organization time to address the issue and maybe avoid bankruptcy.

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to identify the core authors in the bankruptcy prediction model and methods field. The primary value of the study is the current overview and analysis of the theoretical and practical development of knowledge in this field in the form of the construction of new models using classical or new-age methods. Also, the paper adds value by critically examining existing models and their modifications, including a discussion of the benefits of non-accounting variables usage.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether, in the context of making a go/no-go decision regarding a failing new product, the use of a stopping rule and/or a new decision-maker would reduce the escalation of commitment (EOC).

This study uses a classroom experiment design and uses logistic regression and a chi-square test to analyze its data.

The findings show that both responsible and non-responsible participants are more likely to perceive the negative performance of a new product as less negative and believe that the goal for the product can be reached when there is a stopping rule and proximal negative feedback indicates a level of performance below but very close to it than when there is no stopping rule. Therefore, they are more likely to continue the failing new product, whether they are responsible for the product or not. However, non-responsible decision-makers are more likely than their responsible counterparts to discontinue the failing new product in the absence of a stopping rule.

This paper extends the theory of EOC by showing that the use of a stopping rule and/or a new decision-maker may not reduce EOC.

This paper provides useful guidelines for managers on how to reduce EOC.

The originality and value of this paper are found in the investigation of a situation in which the use of a stopping rule and/or a new decision-maker may not reduce the EOC.

In this paper, the C80 special coal gondola car was taken as the subject, and the load test data of the car body at the center plate, side bearing and coupler measured on the dedicated line were broken down to generate the random load component spectrums of the car body under five working conditions, namely expansion, bouncing, rolling, torsion and pitching according to the typical motion attitude of the car body.

On the basis of processing the measured load data, the random load component spectrums were equivalently converted into sinusoidal load component spectrums for bench test based on the principle of pseudo-damage equivalence of load. Relying on the fatigue and vibration test bench of the whole railway wagon, by taking each sinusoidal load component spectrum as the simulation target, the time waveform replication (TWR) iteration technology was adopted to create the drive signal of each loading actuator required for the fatigue test of car body on the bench, and the drive signal was corrected based on the equivalence principle of measured stress fatigue damage to obtain the fatigue test loads of car body under various typical working conditions.

The fatigue test results on the test bench were substantially close to the measured test results on the line. According to the results, the relative error between the fatigue damage of the car body on the test bench and the measured damage on the line was within the range of −16.03%–27.14%.

The bench test results basically reproduced the fatigue damage of the key parts of the car body on the line.

Petroleum hydrocarbons are naturally occurring flammable fossil fuels used as conventional energy sources. It has carcinogenic, mutagenic properties and is considered a hazardous pollutant. Soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons adversely affects the properties of soil. This paper aim to remove pollutants from the environment is an urgent need of the hour to maintain the proper functioning of soil ecosystems.

The ability of micro-organisms to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons makes it possible to use these microorganisms to clean the environment from petroleum pollution. For preparing this review, research papers and review articles related to petroleum hydrocarbons degradation by micro-organisms were collected from journals and various search engines.

Various physical and chemical methods are used for remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminants. However, these methods have several disadvantages. This paper will discuss a novel understanding of petroleum hydrocarbons degradation and how micro-organisms help in petroleum-contaminated soil restoration. Bioremediation is recognized as the most environment-friendly technique for remediation. The research studies demonstrated that bacterial consortium have high biodegradation rate of petroleum hydrocarbons ranging from 83% to 89%.

Proper management of petroleum hydrocarbons pollutants from the environment is necessary because of their toxicity effects on human and environmental health.

This paper discussed novel mechanisms adopted by bacteria for biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation pathways, genes and enzymes involved in petroleum hydrocarbons biodegradation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine peer-to-peer sharing platform business models, their sources of competitive advantage, and the roles, motivations and behaviors of key actors in their ecosystems.

This paper uses a conceptual approach that is rooted in the service, tourism and hospitality, and strategy literature.

First, this paper defines key types of platform business models in the sharing economy anddescribes their characteristics. In particular, the authors propose the differentiation between sharing platforms of capacity-constrained vs capacity-unconstrained assets and advance five core properties of the former. Second, the authors contrast platform business models with their pipeline business model counterparts to understand the fundamental differences between them. One important conclusion is that platforms cater to vastly more heterogeneous assets and consumer needs and, therefore, require liquidity and analytics for high-quality matching. Third, the authors examine the competitive position of platforms and conclude that their widely taken “winner takes it all” assumption is not valid. Primary network effects are less important once a critical level of liquidity has been reached and may even turn negative if increased listings raise friction in the form of search costs. Once a critical level of liquidity has been reached, a platform’s competitive position depends on stakeholder trust and service provider and user loyalty. Fourth, the authors integrate and synthesize the literature on key platform stakeholders of platform businesses (i.e. users, service providers, and regulators) and their roles and motivations. Finally, directions for further research are advanced.

This paper helps platform owners, service providers and users understand better the implications of sharing platform business models and how to position themselves in such ecosystems.

This paper integrates the extant literature on sharing platforms, takes a novel approach in delineating their key properties and dimensions, and provides insights into the evolving and dynamic forms of sharing platforms including converging business models.

The purpose of this paper is to explore China’s online wine market segmentation on the basis of the wine-related lifestyle (WRL). Moreover, this study can provide further understanding and reference about China’s wine market segmentation research, which is limited at present. This work can be helpful for those who want to do further research in the Chinese wine market. It is good for wine importers wanting to import wine to China to understand the Chinese wine consumers.

Survey data were obtained from a sample of 3,369 participants through cooperation between the College of Enology and the Yesmywine.com website. Questionnaire items included gender, age, area distribution, unit price, bottles consumed, drinking frequency, drinking time, wine-related knowledge, etc. Combined with the influence factors of the WRL, a structural equation model was developed. The data analysis, particularly employing principal component analysis, enabled the identification of five market segments.

Five distinct segments were identified within the wine market and designated as follows: wine official consumption type enthusiastic fancier; enjoyment consumption; fashionable consumption; and new, young wine drinkers.

The research data were derived from Yesmywine, one of the largest online wine sale platforms. However, the impact of yesmywine is much smaller compared with Tmall and Taobao and Jingdong. In this paper, we can see that WRL is increasingly becoming a part of Chinese people’s daily lives, especially for the enthusiastic and fancier wine consumers, which is the official type of wine consumer. Next, an analysis of time series under the data of the near future years should be conducted to find the online wine segmentation market variation trend. Moreover, it is important to conduct cross-culture comparison between the Chinese and Australians. Brand positioning can be improved by better understanding China’s online wine market segmentation.

WRL segmentation is valuable for the wine importers and producers in west France, Italian, Germany and so on, as they want to develop China’s wine market and understand the mindset of Chinese wine consumers. The wine importers in China should focus more on consumers that enjoy wine along with newer and younger wine drinkers.

This paper analyzes a large sample (3,369) and therefore is useful for understanding online wine market segmentation and wine consumption behavior in China owing to China’s limited wine market segmentation literature. This paper is the first to use WRL tool to segment China’s online wine market. Moreover, the research data have reference value for those who want to learn more about China’s online wine market, as yesmywine is one of the largest online wine-sale platforms. It also gives some managerial implications for wineries and wine marketers that will be helpful to wine companies in understanding the emerging Chinese wine market and in enacting wine marketing strategies more effectively.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding on relations between Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) and host country political risk. To contribute to a better understanding of whether traditional wisdom on foreign direct investment (FDI) is sufficient to explain the internationalization of Chinese multinational enterprises, the author collected 15 proxy variables from the PRS Group and Heritage Foundation and applied principal component analysis (PCA) to construct a new political risk index (PRI) that measures multiple facets of political risk for 139 countries.

Using this new PRI as a criterion, the author investigated changes in the political risk distribution (PRD) of Chinese outward FDI (OFDI) regarding investment destinations, large projects, annual investment outflows and sectorial distributions from 2006–2017.

The author found that the vast majority of Chinese OFDI during this period is concentrated in moderate- and low-risk countries, even at the sectorial level. This paper also shows that the continuing reform of Chinese OFDI policy and strong government support have led to an unprecedented increase in Chinese OFDI, while the PRD of Chinese OFDI has maintained a gradual decline over the past decade.

This research provides a new measurement that covers multiple facets of political risk.