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1 – 10 of 67Xiaohui Huang, Qian Lu, Lili Wang, Maosen Cui and Fei Yang
Based on the survey data of 1,152 households in three provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia on the Loess Plateau, this paper aims to empirically analyze the impact of aging and…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the survey data of 1,152 households in three provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia on the Loess Plateau, this paper aims to empirically analyze the impact of aging and off-farm employment on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. This paper analyzes the moderating effect of social network and the mediating effect of technological cognition in this impact relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the above analysis, the second part of this paper is based on relevant theories and constructs a theoretical model of the relationship of aging, off-farm employment, social network, technology cognition and farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. The third part introduces research methods, variable selection and descriptive statistics analysis of variables. The fourth part, based on the data of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia provinces in the Loess Plateau in 2016, empirically analyzes the impact of aging, off-farm employment and social network on the farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. This paper further examines the moderating effect of social network and the mediating effect of technology cognition in this influence relationship. Finally, based on the findings of the empirical study, this paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions.
Findings
First, aging and off-farm employment have a significant negative impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology, while social network has a significant positive effect. Second, social network has alleviated the effect of aging and off-farm employment on restraining farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. Third, aging and off-farm employment have restrained farmers’ cognition of soil and water conservation technology. Social network has promoted farmers’ cognition of soil and water conservation technology. Social network plays a moderating role in the impact of aging and off-farm employment on farmers’ cognition of soil and water conservation technology. Technology cognition plays a mediating role in the impact of social network on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology.
Originality/value
This paper integrates the aging, off-farm employment and social network into the same analytical framework and reveals their impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology and its action mechanism, which enriches the impact of human capital and social network on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. Then taking the social network as a moderator variable, the paper verifies its moderating effect on the relationship of aging, off-farm employment and farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. Farmers’ technology cognition should be included in the analysis framework to examine the impact of aging, off-farm employment and social network on farmers’ cognition of soil and water conservation technology. Taking the technology cognition as a mediator variable, the paper verifies its mediating effect on the relationship of aging, off-farm employment and farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology.
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Zheng Xu, Yihai Fang, Nan Zheng and Hai L. Vu
With the aid of naturalistic simulations, this paper aims to investigate human behavior during manual and autonomous driving modes in complex scenarios.
Abstract
Purpose
With the aid of naturalistic simulations, this paper aims to investigate human behavior during manual and autonomous driving modes in complex scenarios.
Design/methodology/approach
The simulation environment is established by integrating virtual reality interface with a micro-simulation model. In the simulation, the vehicle autonomy is developed by a framework that integrates artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms. Human-subject experiments are carried, and participants are asked to virtually sit in the developed autonomous vehicle (AV) that allows for both human driving and autopilot functions within a mixed traffic environment.
Findings
Not surprisingly, the inconsistency is identified between two driving modes, in which the AV’s driving maneuver causes the cognitive bias and makes participants feel unsafe. Even though only a shallow portion of the cases that the AV ended up with an accident during the testing stage, participants still frequently intervened during the AV operation. On a similar note, even though the statistical results reflect that the AV drives under perceived high-risk conditions, rarely an actual crash can happen. This suggests that the classic safety surrogate measurement, e.g. time-to-collision, may require adjustment for the mixed traffic flow.
Research limitations/implications
Understanding the behavior of AVs and the behavioral difference between AVs and human drivers are important, where the developed platform is only the first effort to identify the critical scenarios where the AVs might fail to react.
Practical implications
This paper attempts to fill the existing research gap in preparing close-to-reality tools for AV experience and further understanding human behavior during high-level autonomous driving.
Social implications
This work aims to systematically analyze the inconsistency in driving patterns between manual and autopilot modes in various driving scenarios (i.e. multiple scenes and various traffic conditions) to facilitate user acceptance of AV technology.
Originality/value
A close-to-reality tool for AV experience and AV-related behavioral study. A systematic analysis in relation to the inconsistency in driving patterns between manual and autonomous driving. A foundation for identifying the critical scenarios where the AVs might fail to react.
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Bachtiar Akob, Aulia Rahman and Guntur Arie Wibowo
Purpose – The purpose of this study focuses on the reconstruction of Aceh culture as a learning discourse of Acehnese language towards elementary school students. The author also…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study focuses on the reconstruction of Aceh culture as a learning discourse of Acehnese language towards elementary school students. The author also wants to see more closely the process of learning the language of Aceh in elementary school as a part of the reconstruction of local culture of Aceh.
Design/Methodology – This research is a qualitative research by using critical discourse analysis. The data source of this research is the textbook of Aceh language class 2 of elementary school. Data collection was done using documentation techniques and validity analysis the opinion of Ibn Hamad (2012), namely holistic, historical situatedness, and theory was referred.
Findings – The results show that Aceh’s cultural identity depicted in textbooks includes both religious and social-humanist identities.
Originality/Value – This study is the first in terms of reviewing and analyzing a text in an textbook in elementary.
This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of investors’ cognition and decision-making process with regard to internet financial products. The objective is to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of investors’ cognition and decision-making process with regard to internet financial products. The objective is to effectively guide users’ rational investments.
Design/methodology/approach
First, based on grounded theory, this study develops a tool for measuring users’ perceived value (PV) of internet financial products via in-depth interviews. Then, after comprehensively considering users’ environmental, individual and psychological characteristics, this study proposes a theoretical model of internet financial product investment decisions based on the PV of users. Finally, an empirical study is conducted on 693 valid sample data from e-commerce and online banking financial platforms.
Findings
The empirical results suggest that network externalities influence users’ financial behavior by herding (HE) (imitating others and discounting their own information) and PV. PV and HE are key factors in users’ investment decisions with regard to internet financial products. Moreover, users’ self-efficacy (SE) and platform type play moderate roles in the influence mechanism.
Practical implications
The research conclusions provide valuable references for designing financial products and establishing regulatory rules, which will help the internet financial industry to grow soundly and innovatively.
Originality/value
This study uncovers the mediating effect of HE and PV between network externalities and users’ investment intentions in the context of internet financial products. In addition, the moderating effect of users’ SE and platform types is revealed.
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This article analyzes the implementation of anti-corruption reforms in Taiwan by two former presidents, Chen Shui-bian (2000-2008) and Ma Ying-jeou (2008-2016).
Abstract
Purpose
This article analyzes the implementation of anti-corruption reforms in Taiwan by two former presidents, Chen Shui-bian (2000-2008) and Ma Ying-jeou (2008-2016).
Design/methodology/approach
A three-tier research approach, including in-depth interviews, questionnaire survey, and descriptive and inferential analysis, is adopted. In addition to Chen and Ma, 11 senior anti-corruption officials who served under both presidents were interviewed by the author. The survey questions cover 12 factors which are later grouped into the five dimensions of ethical leadership, considerate leadership, delegating leadership, participatory leadership, and performance to illustrate the causal relationship between these dimensions and performance.
Findings
Ma’s personal ethics are distinct from Chen’s in kind but Ma’s overall leadership and performance outshine Chen’s in degree rather than in kind. While the gap of ethical leadership between two Taiwan presidents is significantly wider than other dimensions of leadership, the outcome of the national integrity is not proportionate to the ethical leadership gap. In other words, personal ethics are not automatically transformed into political will for enhancing anti-corruption effectiveness. Three popular forms of corruption, red envelopes (bribing), influence-peddling, and vote-buying are analyzed in the context of changing political culture through national leadership. Unfortunately, both Chen and Ma produce insignificant contributions based on public surveys.
Originality/Value
Policy-makers and scholars can use these research findings to further explore how ethical leadership can enhance a country’s anti-corruption performance.
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Haitao Ding, Wei Li, Nan Xu and Jianwei Zhang
This study aims to propose an enhanced eco-driving strategy based on reinforcement learning (RL) to alleviate the mileage anxiety of electric vehicles (EVs) in the connected…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose an enhanced eco-driving strategy based on reinforcement learning (RL) to alleviate the mileage anxiety of electric vehicles (EVs) in the connected environment.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, an enhanced eco-driving control strategy based on an advanced RL algorithm in hybrid action space (EEDC-HRL) is proposed for connected EVs. The EEDC-HRL simultaneously controls longitudinal velocity and lateral lane-changing maneuvers to achieve more potential eco-driving. Moreover, this study redesigns an all-purpose and efficient-training reward function with the aim to achieve energy-saving on the premise of ensuring other driving performance.
Findings
To illustrate the performance for the EEDC-HRL, the controlled EV was trained and tested in various traffic flow states. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed technique can effectively improve energy efficiency, without sacrificing travel efficiency, comfort, safety and lane-changing performance in different traffic flow states.
Originality/value
In light of the aforementioned discussion, the contributions of this paper are two-fold. An enhanced eco-driving strategy based an advanced RL algorithm in hybrid action space (EEDC-HRL) is proposed to jointly optimize longitudinal velocity and lateral lane-changing for connected EVs. A full-scale reward function consisting of multiple sub-rewards with a safety control constraint is redesigned to achieve eco-driving while ensuring other driving performance.
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Nan Li and Liu Yuanchun
The purpose of this paper is to summarize different methods of constructing the financial conditions index (FCI) and analyze current studies on constructing FCI for China. Due to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to summarize different methods of constructing the financial conditions index (FCI) and analyze current studies on constructing FCI for China. Due to shifts of China’s financial mechanisms in the post-crisis era, conventional ways of FCI construction have their limitations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper suggests improvements in two aspects, i.e. using time-varying weights and introducing non-financial variables. In the empirical study, the author first develops an FCI with fixed weights for comparison, constructs a post-crisis FCI based on time-varying parameter vector autoregressive model and finally examines the FCI with time-varying weights concerning its explanatory and predictive power for inflation.
Findings
Results suggest that the FCI with time-varying weights performs better than one with fixed weights and the former better reflects China’s financial conditions. Furthermore, introduction of credit availability improves the FCI.
Originality/value
FCI constructed in this paper goes ahead of inflation by about 11 months, and it has strong explanatory and predictive power for inflation. Constructing an appropriate FCI is important for improving the effectiveness and predictive power of the post-crisis monetary policy and foe achieving both economic and financial stability.
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José Miguel Holgado-Herrero, F. Javier Rondan-Cataluña, Carmen Barroso-Castro and José Luís Galán-González
The purpose of this study is to explore brand customer erosion at both the category and brand levels while considering consumer socio-demographic characteristics and weight of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore brand customer erosion at both the category and brand levels while considering consumer socio-demographic characteristics and weight of purchase factors.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 3,563 buyers encompassing 20,601 purchases were collected from a prominent household data panel.
Findings
Brand customer erosion varies depending on socio-demographic factors (householder age, family size, life cycle and social class) and weight of purchase; variations are evident depending on the specific brand.
Originality/value
The paper makes a substantial contribution to the established fields of marketing and consumer behavior literature by opening a new line of research. It does so by demonstrating, the impact of socio-demographic factors on customer erosion. Simultaneously, it presents results that contradict the limited existing research on the influence of weight of purchase on brand customer erosion.
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Nan Hu, Rong Huang, Xu Li and Ling Liu
Existing literature in experimental accounting research suggests that accounting professionals and people with accounting backgrounds tend to have a lower level of moral reasoning…
Abstract
Purpose
Existing literature in experimental accounting research suggests that accounting professionals and people with accounting backgrounds tend to have a lower level of moral reasoning and ethical development. Motivated by these findings, this paper aims to examine whether chief executive officers (CEOs) with accounting backgrounds have an impact on firms’ earnings management behavior and the level of accounting conservatism.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors classify CEOs into those with and without accounting backgrounds using BoardEx data. Using discretionary accruals from several different models, they do not find that CEOs with accounting backgrounds are more likely to engage in income-increasing accruals. However, the authors find that CEOs with accounting backgrounds exhibit lower levels of conservatism, proxied by C-scores and T-scores (Basu, 1997). This finding suggests that CEOs with accounting backgrounds recognize bad news more quickly than good news, consistent with the accounting principle of “anticipating all losses but anticipating no gains”.
Findings
The authors show that firms whose CEOs have accounting backgrounds exhibit lower levels of accounting conservatism. However, these firms do not exhibit higher levels of income-increasing discretionary accruals. This study documents the impact of CEOs’ educational backgrounds on firms’ accounting choices and confirms prior findings in experimental accounting research using large sample archival data.
Originality/value
This paper is the first study that investigates the impact of CEOs’ accounting backgrounds on firms’ financial reporting policy. The findings may have some policy implications. If accounting backgrounds of CEOs can make a significant difference on firms’ behavior, it is reasonable to make CEOs accountable for the quality of financial reporting. This paper is one of the first to empirically test inferences drawn by experimental accounting research. There has been a gap between archival and experimental accounting studies. The authors propose that interesting research questions can be addressed by filling in such a gap.
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Usanun Intamas, Tassanee Rawiworrakul, Kwanjai Amnatsatsue, Sutham Nanthamongkolchai and Mary H. Palmer
This study aims to describe survivors of stroke circumstances, issues with providing care for survivors of stroke and services expected by caregivers and survivors of stroke.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to describe survivors of stroke circumstances, issues with providing care for survivors of stroke and services expected by caregivers and survivors of stroke.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research design was conducted in Singburi Province. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews, focus groups and participatory observations. Semi-structured in-depth interview guides, quality-of-life scale and depression scale were used to collect data from survivors of stroke, their caregivers, health personnel, local governors and village health volunteers. Naturalistic research tradition was used for qualitative data analysis and descriptive statistics for quantitative data analysis.
Findings
The majority of survivors of stroke had hemiplegic limb and severe deficits in their activities of daily living. Caregivers were family members, and they often developed depression. Issues with providing care to stroke survivors included lack of knowledge about stroke and home care, inadequacy and discontinuity of care and the shortage of stroke care personnel in the community. A stakeholder's expected stroke services included the provision of effective continuing care, community participation in care and enhancing the village health volunteer's capacity.
Originality/value
This study illustrated the stroke service systems in rural Thai communities. The study's findings could be applied when planning future research using community participation to test a model of care for stroke survivors to promote better outcomes and be responsive to the needs of stroke survivors, especially those who are disabled.
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