Search results

This research examines the effects of physical proximity (close vs distant) of retailers’ private label brands (PLBs) relative to national brands (NBs) and brand display orientation (horizontal [brands occupy the same shelf] vs vertical [brands occupy different shelves]) on consumers’ PLB quality perceptions and PLB evaluations.

Two experiments involving real brands in different product categories tested the hypotheses.

A PLB positioned close (vs distant) to a NB is evaluated more favorably and this effect is mediated by increased PLB quality perceptions, but only in a horizontal brand display. In a vertical brand display, a PLB positioned close (vs distant) to a NB is evaluated less favorably and this effect is mediated by decreased PLB quality perceptions.

The findings suggest that to enhance consumers’ PLB quality perceptions and evaluations, PLBs be positioned next to (rather than on separate shelves) and close to (rather than distant from) NBs in the same product category.

Although the literature suggests that the best shelf position for PLBs is close to NBs, there is a lack of empirical research on the effects of relative shelf positioning on consumers’ quality perceptions and subsequent PLB evaluations. This research finds that both physical proximity and brand display orientation play an important role.

This study aims to estimate the synergy effect of agricultural dual-scale management (ADM) on farmers' total household income, its heterogeneous effects and its mechanisms.

This study constructs a theoretical analysis framework based on the division of labor and synergy theory, empirically assesses the impact of ADM on farmers' income, and further discusses the heterogeneity and mechanisms using the propensity score matching (PSM) and quantile treatment effect (QTE) models. Data is collected from 1,076 households across 4 cities in Liaoning Province of China in 2021.

ADM can improve the total household income of farmers, and the impact force is greater than that of the single-scale management mode. ADM is more conducive to improving the income of farmers with low income and low labor endowment. Moreover, ADM can improve agriculture production efficiency, increase net grain production income. Nevertheless, it has no significant effect on farmers' off-farm employment income.

Previous studies have mainly focused on the income effect of land scale management or service scale management. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to identify the synergy effect of ADM on farmers' income in China. It provides new insights into the process of agricultural production and management mode transitions in rural China.

This study aims to analyze the influence of farmers’ degree of participation in collective action on their adoption decisions and waiting time regarding soil and water conservation (SWC) measures.

The Probit model and Generalized Propensity Score Match method are used to assess the effect of the degree of participation in collective action on farmers’ adoption decisions and waiting time for implementing SWC measures.

The findings reveal that farmers’ engagement in collective action positively influences the decision-making process regarding terrace construction, water-saving irrigation and afforestation measures. However, it does not significantly impact the decision-making process for plastic film and ridge-furrow tillage practices. Notably, collective action has the strongest influence on farmers’ adoption decisions regarding water-saving irrigation technology, with a relatively smaller influence on the adoption of afforestation and terrace measures. Moreover, the results suggest that participating in collective action effectively reduces the waiting time for terrace construction and expedites the adoption of afforestation and water-saving irrigation technology. Specifically, collective action has a significantly negative effect on the waiting time for terrace construction, followed by water-saving irrigation technology and afforestation measures.

The results of this study underscore the significance of fostering mutual assistance and cooperation mechanisms among farmers, as they can pave the way for raising funds and labor, cultivating elite farmers, attracting skilled labor to rural areas, enhancing the adoption rate and expediting the implementation of terraces, water-saving irrigation technology and afforestation measures.

Drawing on an evaluation of farmers’ degree of participation in collective action, this paper investigates the effect of participation on their SWC adoption decisions and waiting times, thereby offering theoretical and practical insights into soil erosion control in the Loess Plateau.

The rapidly changing international business landscape, driven by dynamic factors such as technology, emerging markets, and unpredictable crises, demands that organizations innovate to survive while gaining and sustaining competitive advantages. Culture, an intricate multilevel construct, presents challenges for transnational enterprises and international business as a key “soft” element of organizational strategy.

This paper employs a triangulated method combining a systematic literature search, machine learning, and qualitative thematic content analysis to explore the relationship between culture and innovation within the context of international business. The analysis involved scrutinizing 697 journal articles indexed in the Web of Science database.

Using k-means, which is an unsupervised machine-learning tool in Python, and hypertext preprocessor language scripting, we identified seven topic clusters and 94 keywords. Qualitative thematic content analysis facilitated the recognition of prevailing patterns in researchers' conceptualizations of the interplay between innovation and culture. We identified influential relationships between cultural configurations and innovation.

Our analysis contributes to developing a comprehensive research field map encompassing international business, innovation, and culture.

This study significantly enhances our knowledge of culture and international innovation. Future research that recognizes culture as a dynamic configuration at multiple levels (e.g. national, organizational, professional, and individual) and employs more comprehensive measures of innovation and culture could substantially advance our understanding of the intersection of culture and innovation in international business.

This study aims to discuss appropriate individual, organizational and macroleveled conditions when it is desired to foster intrapreneurship with nudge techniques.

Conceptual paper.

This paper aims to provide theoretical framework on the relationship between nudges approach and intrapreneurship and offer measurable propositions at different level of analysis for future research.

At the individual level it is theorized that nudges techniques on intrapreneurship will work when: “agents are aware of being nudged”, “choice architect is a well-recognized leader”, “perception of meaningful work is high” and “agents had former experience about being nudged”. At the organizational level it is claimed that the “number”, “type” and “frequency” of nudges plays the prominent role. Lastly, at the macrolevel it is postulated that “cultural adjustments”, “providing education” and “forming networks” sets the ground for pushing masses to intrapreneurial activities via nudges.

From a target perspective, this paper aims to examine the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transaction valuations.

This paper uses a sample of 629 international transactions conducted between 2002 and 2020. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was applied by using ESG aggregate score and the three ESG pillars: environment, social and governance.

This paper finds that the ESG performance of targets has a negative and significant impact on acquisition premiums. However, this paper finds that targets receive lower premiums by increasing their ESG score, suggesting that targets would do better to focus on ESG to increase shareholder wealth. Thus, results of this paper support the view that ESG-focused firms create shareholder value through the M&A process. Furthermore, results of this paper indicate that environmental and social aspects of ESG drive the acquisition premium. The governance score does not seem to be related to acquisition premiums.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study to assess whether ESG performance impacts the valuation of M&A transactions by decomposing ESG into its three components.

The call for supply chain transparency (SCT), especially the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspect, is getting increasingly louder. Based on the signaling theory, our study investigates the operational benefit of supply chain transparency in terms of ESG (SCT-ESG). To further clarify the signaling process, the moderating roles of digitalization of the firm and signal strength are also examined.

Longitudinal secondary data from multiple databases are matched and analyzed using ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions to validate the proposed hypotheses.

Results suggest that with SCT-ESG, firms have a weakened disparity between production variance and demand variance, and the supply chain experiences a reduced bullwhip effect. Further, digitalization of the focal company and signal strength reinforce the negative effect of SCT-ESG on the bullwhip effect.

The study integrates the SCT and ESG literature through SCT-ESG, extending benefits of ESG disclosure to the supply chain context. It extends the application of the signaling theory in OSCM by including contextual factors of digitalization and signal strength.

The spatiotemporal compression effect of China–Europe Railway Express (CR-Express) can reduce the flow costs of resources between China’s node cities. Additionally, it can break through the limitations of low-added-value marine products, significantly impacting the logistics industry efficiency. However, there are few literature verifying and analyzing its heterogeneity. This study explores the impact of CR-Express on the efficiency of logistics industry in node cities and analyzes the heterogeneity.

First, this study uses panel data to measure the efficiency of node city logistics industry. Secondly, this study discusses the impact of the opening of CR-Express on the efficiency of logistics industry in node cities based on the multi-period differential model. Finally, according to the node city difference, the sample city experimental group is grouped for heterogeneity analysis.

The results show that CR-Express can promote the urban logistics industry efficiency, with an average effect of 4.55%. According to the urban characteristics classification, the heterogeneity analysis shows that the efficiency improvement effect of logistics industry in inland cities is more obvious. The improvement effect of node cities and central cities in central and western China is stronger, especially in the sample of megacities and type I big cities. Compared with non-value chain industrial products, the CR-Express has significant promotion effects on the logistics efficiency of the cities where main goods are value chain products.

Under the background of double cycle development, this paper can provide a scientific basis for the investment benefit evaluation of CR-Express construction and the follow-up route planning.