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This study examines the role of financial service providers (FSPs) in assessing the supply chain credit of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and how they help SMEs obtain supply chain finance (SCF) through an established digital platform using big data analytics (BDA).

This study conducted data mining analysis on the archival data of China's FSPs in the mobile production industry from 2015 to 2018, using neural networks in the first stage and multiple regression in the second stage.

The findings suggest that digital platforms sponsored by FSPs have a discriminative effect based on implicit BDA on identifying the quality and potential risks of borrowers. The results also show that tailored information utilised by FSPs has a supportive effect based on explicit BDA in helping SMEs obtain financing.

This study contributes to the emergent research on BDA in supply chain management by extending the contextual research on information signalling and platform theory in SCF. Furthermore, it examines the distinctive financing decision models of FSPs and provides a solution that addresses the information deficiency and overload of both lenders and borrowers and plays a certain reference role in alleviating the financing problems of SMEs.

This study aims to explore whether face recognition technology – as it is intensely used by state and local police departments and law enforcement agencies – is racism free or, on the contrary, is affected by racial biases and/or racist prejudices, thus reinforcing overall racial discrimination.

The study investigates the causal pathways through which face recognition technology may reinforce the racial disproportion in enforcement; it also inquires whether it further discriminates black people by making them experience more racial discrimination and self-identify more decisively as black – two conditions that are shown to be harmful in various respects.

This study shows that face recognition technology, as it is produced, implemented and used in Western societies, reinforces existing racial disparities in stop, investigation, arrest and incarceration rates because of racist prejudices and even contributes to strengthen the unhealthy effects of racism on historically disadvantaged racial groups, like black people.

The findings hope to make law enforcement agencies and software companies aware that they must take adequate action against the racially discriminative effects of the use of face recognition technology.

This study highlights that no implementation of an allegedly racism-free biometric technology is safe from the risk of racially discriminating, simply because each implementation leans against our society, which is affected by racism in many persisting ways.

While the ethical survey of biometric technologies is traditionally framed in the discourse of universal rights, this study explores an issue that has not been deeply scrutinized so far, that is, how face recognition technology differently affects distinct racial groups and how it contributes to racial discrimination.

I estimate that a margin as trading frictions has an effect on the strategies of writing options. The important results are as follows.

First, by the margin requirement is increased, the size of short position is reduced. Second, the discrimination of a margin requirement is due to the way that the member margin is imposed less about 1/3 than the customer margin by derivatives market business regulation in KRX. Third, the customer margin is from 1.4 to 1.6 times more than the member margin, and the margin “haircut” ratio is similar to that of the margin. Fourth, by target weight increases, the difference between target weight and effective weight is increased. Fifth, by target weight is increased, the member have higher returns on writing combination position than the customer have. It means that when investors increase the size of short position using all of account, they not only can suffer loss because of margin call but also can make profit.

Overall, the difference between the returns of the member and the returns of the customer can be quite substantial. So, this paper contributes to the literature that studies the impact of the different imposition of margins by showing how frictions limit the customer from supplying liquidity to the market and hence releasing pressure on the member.

Both labour groups and the national press frequently justify demands for protection against industrial adjustment on the grounds that it leads to the destruction of communities and traditional ways of life, with a devastating effect on welfare. To justify this claim in the context of a Ricardian open‐economy model requires quite strong restrictions on worker preferences, but a plausible case can be made. Presents a model based on the attachment of workers to their socio‐cultural environment, and suggests some policy options for redressing trade‐induced inequities.

In accordance with Bagozzi’s self-regulation theory, the aim of this paper is to explore the enablers and inhibitors of continuance intention from the perspective of bullet curtain, a new form of commentary on online video websites.

A total of 350 questionnaires were collected for the final analysis (covering 101 questionnaires for the pilot test) from China’s bullet curtain website. To analyze the model, the authors adopted SmartPLS 3.2, a structural equation modeling software.

As the results suggest, there is a positive correlation between satisfaction and continuance intention and a negative association between social network fatigue and continuance intention. In addition, synchronicity between the comments and video content, a dimension of synchronicity proposed in this study, improves the satisfaction. Furthermore, information overload significantly intensify social network fatigue.

The results help bullet curtain providers offer better interactive environment and improve websites’ functions to stimulate users.

By combining positive effect and negative effect of commentary, this study investigates Bagozzi’s theory in a context of bullet curtain. Besides, combinations of these factors help to gain insights in how the bullet curtain works in online video websites. These offer useful guidelines for managers to optimize a better system.

The purpose of this research is to examine how the fit between the strategy of business and HRM would affect HRM effectiveness and organizational performance. The paper aimed to find whether a better fit between firm's strategy and HRM strategy would strengthen HRM effectiveness and organizational performance.

The literature was reviewed from both the theoretical and empirical perspectives. Four hypotheses were formulated. Top 1,000 manufacturing companies in Taiwan were sampled, yielding valid questionnaire data and objective performance indexes from 181 firms. Multiple regressions and LISREL was employed to test the four hypotheses empirically.

The main findings were: the strategy fit between a firm's business and HRM strategy has a positive and direct impact on HRM effectiveness and labor productivity after analyzing by hierarchical multiple regression. HRM effectiveness could directly increase labor productivity while strategy fit strengthened the relationship between HRM effectiveness and labor productivity.

This study found that the alignment between the business and HRM strategy was the key factor of success for organizations. When the HRM strategy and business strategy were aligned, the effectiveness of HR practices and organizational performance were better than “that of not aligned” by contingency perspective. This study also estimated the practical significance through calculating the impact of HRM effectiveness and strategy fit on labor productivity by each standard deviation increase, respectively.

This study confirmed that a firm's competitive advantage can be enhanced by HRM practices and strategy fit. Strategy fit could also moderate the relationship between HRM effectiveness and labor productivity.

This paper aims to examine the impact of general elections on the stock returns of the politically connected group affiliated firms of Pakistan.

This study uses the market model to assess the impact of political connections (PCs) on abnormal stock returns, before and after election events. We have used share price data of non-financial firms of Pakistan for the years 2008-2013.

It has been found that behavior of cumulative average abnormal returns (CAAR) is significantly different for standalone and politically connected group affiliated firms. The results reveal that CAARs of politically connected group affiliated firms have experienced less deviation as compared to stand alone firms. Therefore, it is argued that politically connected group firms may reduce the impact of political uncertainty on stock returns in comparison to stand alone firms.

This study is helpful for policy regulators of Pakistan to devise appropriate policies to maintain a level playing field for politically connected and standalone firms.

This study provides a new dimension to understand the role and association of PCs and general elections with stock markets returns.

The purpose of this paper is to study the problem of clothing uniform assignment (CUA) and propose an immune co‐evolutionary algorithm to search optimal assignments of uniform garments to employees.

Multi‐size fitting measures are proposed based on multi‐attribute decision making. An immune co‐evolutionary algorithm incorporating immune inspired mechanisms is proposed to search optimal assignments.

The experimental results show promising performance. The model and the algorithm are aiming at a valuable problem and can be incorporated into the information systems for large‐scale industrial companies.

Uniform assignment problem is modeled with garment size fitting constraints. Multi‐size fitting measures are proposed based on multi‐attribute decision making and an immune co‐evolutionary algorithm is proposed to search optimal assignments.

Presents some of the main results from a comprehensive survey among Danish librarians and their activities within, and attitudes towards, the Danish Union of Librarians. Analysis of librarians’ responses to the survey indicates that both occupational setting and age play a significant role in forming attitudes among members. The age structure appears to have the greatest significance. The employment of different statistical tools, like factor and cluster analysis, make it possible to classify librarians as either sceptical or loyal in relation to their union. The two groups differ with regard to activities, age, employment, and general professional orientation. The groups also differ in relation to how they perceive their union ought to prioritise its services. The future for all the Danish unions probably depends on how successful they are in creating loyalty and satisfaction among members. This task seems to be difficult because the members differ much in relation to an individualistic and a communalistic view of the profession in society.

This study aims to explore the dynamics involved in the non-medical use of tramadol among manual labourers in Nigeria.

Using the phenomenological approach, we conducted in-depth interviews with forty (40) manual labourers (age: 19–36 years). These participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling techniques from two cities in Anambra state, Nigeria, and the data was analysed with thematic analysis.

The results revealed that most of the participants were introduced to tramadol use by their friends. They used tramadol for pain relief, euphoric feeling, energy for work and sexual performance. Unfortunately, most of them may have gradually become dependent on this drug to function well in life without knowing the possible medical and psychological implications.

The sample choice may limit the generalization of the findings; however, the study indicates a need to improve working condition, access to healthcare and awareness of the negative effects of non-medical use of tramadol.

Non-medical use of tramadol may have started as an attempt to help self in performing the daily routine. This action can jeopardize an individual’s mental health and, at the extreme state, hinder performance of daily routine. Friends and the quality of information they provide play a significant role in the onset of this action. The strong point is that many people who are involved in the non-medical use of tramadol are unaware of the possible risks. Improving working conditions and access to healthcare for chronic pain could help reduce these risks.