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In the platform era the informal employment in China is tremendously huge in quantities. This paper sets out the changes of traditional regulatory rules status, the new web of rules and, with a particular focus on, the impacts of main actors’ interacts, from an industrial relations ‘web of rule’ perspective. The subjects involved in this paper are multiple, including labour law, collective labour relations institution, enterprise human resources management, CSRs and NGOs in production supply chains. It argues the inappropriate impacts on the perseverance of right and interests of workers are consequences of the current national labour law and collective labour relations institutions. It witnesses the emerging innovative methods, employment relations system in a self-dependent economic transaction, the rule of production supply chain in a multi-stake-holder context and the new intervening method of NGOs. It is in scrutiny of the commence of such a transformation in China, nevertheless, transforming from the authoritarian regime to a more fair market establishing via the intervention of multiple social forces, and consequently the transformation from informal employments to formal ones in a comprehensively complex domestic and global context.

The purpose of this paper is to study the mechanical and corrosion behaviors of selective laser melting (SLM) 30CrMnSiA steel.

The microstructure, mechanical behavior and corrosion resistance of SLM 30CrMnSiA steel were studied by electrochemical test and immersion experiment.

The results showed that the microstructure of SLM 30CrMnSiA steel contained equiaxed fine (25.0 µm) ferrite and lamellar pearlite. The tensile strength of SLM 30CrMnSiA steel under the process parameters is 1,447 MPa and the elongation is 7.5%. As the immersion/salt spray test time increased to 15 days/48 h, corrosion mainly occurred in the local position of the sample and corrosion resistance decreased. When the immersion/salt spray test time increased to 30 days/168 h, the corrosion production covered the surface of the samples and the corrosion resistance increased.

The paper can guide the application and in situ repair for low-alloy steel by additive manufacturing.

The safety and reliability of high-speed trains rely on the structural integrity of their components and the dynamic performance of the entire vehicle system. This paper aims to define and substantiate the assessment of the structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains in both theory and practice. The key principles and approaches will be proposed, and their applications to high-speed trains in China will be presented.

First, the structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains are defined, and their relationship is introduced. Then, the principles for assessing the structural integrity of structural and dynamical components are presented and practical examples of gearboxes and dampers are provided. Finally, the principles and approaches for assessing the dynamical integrity of high-speed trains are presented and a novel operational assessment method is further presented.

Vehicle system dynamics is the core of the proposed framework that provides the loads and vibrations on train components and the dynamic performance of the entire vehicle system. For assessing the structural integrity of structural components, an open-loop analysis considering both normal and abnormal vehicle conditions is needed. For assessing the structural integrity of dynamical components, a closed-loop analysis involving the influence of wear and degradation on vehicle system dynamics is needed. The analysis of vehicle system dynamics should follow the principles of complete objects, conditions and indices. Numerical, experimental and operational approaches should be combined to achieve effective assessments.

The practical applications demonstrate that assessing the structural integrity and dynamical integrity of high-speed trains can support better control of critical defects, better lifespan management of train components and better maintenance decision-making for high-speed trains.

Fix-position preloading, centrifugal force and higher temperatures cause the bearing units in angular contact ball bearings to expand, changing the contact load and affecting bearing life. This study aims to examine the effect of thermal and centrifugal expansion on the fatigue life of fix-position preloaded angular contact ball bearings in high-speed operating conditions.

The contact loads on the inner and outer bearing rings were resolved according to the thermal and centrifugal expansion factors in the quasi-static position preloading model. The pressure and frictional stress distribution were used to calculate the subsurface stress in the contact area, while the Zaretsky model was used to determine the relative fatigue life of the inner and outer bearing rings.

Under fix-position bearing preloading, thermal and centrifugal expansion significantly affected the contact load and relative fatigue life. At the same axial preload, the inner ring contact load was higher than the outer ring contact load, with a maximum difference of 132.3%. The decrease in the inner ring relative life exceeded the outer ring contact load, with a maximum difference of 7.5%, compared to the absence of thermal and centrifugal expansion.

This study revealed the influence of thermal and centrifugal expansion on the fatigue life of angular contact ball bearings in high-speed service conditions.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-03-2023-0065/

This paper aims to construct a simplified distributed hydrological model based on the surveyed watershed soil properties database.

The new established model requires fewer parameters to be adjusted than needed by former hydrological models. However, the achieved stream-flow simulation results are similar and comparable to the classic hydrological models, such as the Xinanjiang model and the TOPMODEL.

Good results show that the discharge and the top surface soil moisture can be simultaneously simulated, and that is the exclusive character of this new model. The stream-flow simulation results from two moderate hydrological watershed models show that the daily stream-flow simulation achieved the classic hydrological results shown in the TOPMODEL and Xinanjiang model. The soil moisture validation results show that the modeled watershed scale surface soil moisture has general agreement with the obtained measurements, with a root-mean-square error (RMSE) value of 0.04 (m³/m³) for one of the one-measurement sites and an averaged RMSE of 0.08 (m³/m³) over all measurements.

In this paper, a new simplified distributed hydrological model was constructed.

Purpose: The global financial services business has been transformed by Blockchain technology, making it safer and more efficient. Keeping this fact in mind, the authors will study how Blockchain technology improves financial services, including the banking and insurance sectors. The risks and roadblocks in the path of Blockchain adoption in financial services will also be discussed.

Need of the Study: Blockchain operates without any central authority. Instead, it could be understood as a transaction-containing ledger shared among many users. The adoption of Blockchain is gaining traction in every field, but still, a sense of doubt about its reliability can be observed among ordinary people. Thus, an investigation of the operational intricacies and technicalities could assist in clarifying the confusion associated with this technology.

Methodology: To achieve the aims mentioned above, an exploratory research design involving a review of the secondary data linked with the implementation and impact of Blockchain technology in the domain of finance is conducted.

Findings: The mode of operation of Blockchain technology is thoroughly explained, along with the influence it has exercised in the financial domain in recent years.

Practical Implications: The findings of this study can mainly assist global investors and users worldwide by clarifying the concept and operations of Blockchain technology. Also, it could guide future studies assessing the role of Blockchain in the financial domain.

Purpose: The advent of the fintech revolution has brought a tremendous increase in the dissemination of digital financial services. Although digital financial services increase financial inclusion through financial intermediation, it also increases the chances of systematic risk.

Need: In the quest to satisfy the curious minds, the authors have examined the influence of digital financial services on banking stability and efficiency.

Methodology: To achieve the above objectives, the authors have used the Auto-Regressive Distribution Lag (ARDL) estimation technique on the annual data set of India and the United States from 2004 to 2018. In addition, to estimate the long-run cointegration, the ARDL bound approach is also used.

Findings: The empirical analysis concludes that in the short run, the expansion of digital financial services in India in the form of internet-based transactions and mobile money transactions creates a negative and significant impact on banking efficiency and stability. Meaning, banking sector efficiency and stability fall by 0.09% and 0.05% with a 1% increase in digital financial services. However, in the long run, digital financial services enhance banking stability and efficiency in India. Besides, the study also reveals that in a developed country like the United States, both in the short run and long run, expansion of digital financial services helps in improving banking efficiency and stability. Furthermore, in context to control variables, the findings suggest that in the short run, industrial productivity has a negative influence on the Indian banking sector efficiency and stability, compared to the positive impact in the long run. This is unlike the United States, where both in the long-run and short-run, industrial productivity has a positive influence on the banking sector’s efficiency and stability.

Practical implication: The findings reveal several policy implications and suggest policy synergies between digital financial services, banking stability and efficiency.

The chapter examined the consumer meanings of product placements embedded in social games in different cultural contexts.

The theoretical perspective guiding the study is phenomenology, and the essay assignment and in-depth interviews were used to collect data.

The chapter was based on two qualitative research projects. Findings revealed that consumers in both countries appreciated certain characteristics of product placement in the context of social game, such as subtleness (naturalness) and unobtrusiveness (users’ freedom of choice and proactive choice); consumers’ real-world consumption in both countries seems to be more or less influenced by the product placement in social games; and while the young American consumers didn’t construct specific meanings for Facebook, the Chinese white-collar consumers actively created meanings for the Chinese social-network site.

The chapter offered some thick descriptions and in-depth analyses of product placements in social games in different cultural contexts from consumers’ experiential perspectives to enrich our theoretical understanding of product placement in the new media environment as well as to add valuable insights to the research literature on new advertising formats in general.

No study to date has been conducted to explore the product placement in social games in different cultural contexts. The study fills the research gap by exploring US college-aged consumers’ and Chinese white-collar consumers’ interpretations of product placements in the context of social games.

This chapter presents a summary of the literature on the influence of the Internet and other digital innovations on markets, consumers, and firms. The review leads to a list of topics in need of research in the general areas of big data, online and mobile advertising, consumer search, online privacy, online reviews, social networks, platforms for online transactions, and the impact of the Internet on retail markets, including multi-channel and omni-channel retailing. We discuss the big data approaches that have been applied to problems of targeting and positioning and suggest areas for further development of these approaches. We also discuss the emerging area of mobile advertising, which can further enhance targeting. On the consumer side, the evidence indicates that the Internet has greatly lowered the costs of search and access to retailers. Much of the consumer data are transmitted to sellers, and much of the online advertising is transmitted to consumers, through platforms, such as Google. We conclude that better models of competition among these platform firms are needed and that they need to be examined for anti-trust violations. While online retailing has grown rapidly, it still has a relatively small share of retail sales. Since sellers can combine the advantages of online and offline channels, it has been common for sellers to branch into multi-channel retailing. Given the increased availability of detailed consumer data, omni-channel selling, which emphasizes strategies for the various touchpoints that lead to a transaction, is an area for further development.

Technology has changed the future of money. The need to foster innovation in banking has been instigated by a shift from traditional finance provided by incumbents to fintech companies, such as challenger banks and decentralized platforms, offering new forms of money and payments services. The Bank of England has responded to this shift with the exploration of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), which in its retail form, would give the public the opportunity for the first time to directly hold state central bank money. This CBDC proposal emerges in a landscape where private money such as cryptocurrencies are increasing in capacity of coins and in trading volume; in a crypto economy with an expanding market capital. This competition opens the possibilities to reform banking to adapt to new payments platforms such as blockchains with advanced features such as smart contracts. The proposed design of a CBDC can either compete or complement such innovations which is evaluated in this review chapter. The author argues that the plethora of public and private currencies on the market, once reached legal maturity in terms of governance, can provide the element of choice to consumers in an open, innovative, and competitive free market. The author put forward that the Bank of England must act to introduce a CBDC that is interoperable with innovative payment platforms including blockchains, accompanied by a user centric design, to participate in the ever adapting fintech economy.