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Galvanic corrosion It is commonly held that it is the electrochemical potential between two surfaces that is the controlling factor for the rate of corrosion. Table 1.2 in chapter one of this series lists the standard oxidation potentials. However, the difference between the potentials of the two metals plus the difference in the e.m.f. due to the concentration of ions is the reversible electrochemical potential, which only applies when there is no current flowing. The degree of corrosion that occurs is based on the potential difference existing when there is a known current flowing. Thus the baser of two connected metals can be extremely corrosion‐resistant, even if the potential difference is quite large, provided at least one of them has good polarisation characteristics. Metals that are particularly damaging to ferrous metals not only have a very low potential, but are also to all practical purposes insoluble in the corrosive environment around the steel. Thus it is that one of the worst is copper.

The purpose of this paper is to generate quantitative managerial insights for the improvement of the energy-saving potential and the coordinated development between economic growth and environmental protection.

A novel data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, based on the classical DEA theory, is developed from the perspective of emission reduction.

The empirical results indicate that China’s overall environmental efficiency is low and that there is huge improvement space for energy saving. Under the concerns of emission reduction, the energy-saving potential of the central region exceeds that of both the eastern and western regions. With regard to water, electricity and gas consumption, the electricity-saving potential exceeds the potential for both water saving and gas saving.

Previous studies rarely focused on the energy-saving potential, while considering environmental pollution. This paper applies a novel DEA method to evaluate the energy-saving potential of 30 Chinese provinces for 2015 with a focus on emission reduction concerns. Furthermore, both regional differences and energy type differences of the saving potential were analyzed.

Ascription theory together with human capital theory both predict that, over time, the scarcity of knowledge and skills in increasingly complex working contexts will “crowd out” the influence of arbitrary characteristics such as gender. The purpose of this paper is to test the extent to which job performance determinants of research productivity differ by gender in their contributions to research productivity, in the developing country (South Africa) context, in which gender and other forms of historical discrimination were previously endemic.

Research output was measured as published journal articles indexed by Thomson Reuters Institute for Scientific Information, ProQuest’s International Bibliography of the Social Sciences and the South African Department of Higher Education and Training, as well as conference proceedings publications, conference papers presented and published books and book chapters. Structural equation modelling, with critical ratio and χ² tests of path moderation were used to test theory predicting gender (sex) differences moderate the potential influence of certain intrinsic determinants of job performance on research productivity, as a form of academic job performance.

Gender is found to moderate the relationship between experience and research productivity, with this relationship stronger for men, who are also found to have higher research output. This is considered a paradox of sorts, as English and African home languages, which proxy racial differences in societal and economic disadvantages and unequal opportunities, are not significantly associated with research output differences. Findings further suggest none of the tested intrinsic effects are moderated by gender, contesting theory from general work contexts.

This research applied a cross-sectional design, and did not apply causal methods, instrumental variables or controls for endogeneity. Nevertheless, these are limitations shared with most research in the human resources field, which is constrained by the type of data available in organisational contexts. Further research might do well to investigate non-intrinsic influences on research productivity which may be vulnerable to differences in societal gender roles.

This research offers a novel perspective of research productivity and gender inequality in a developing country context of increasing diversity, which might offer useful insights into other contexts facing increasing diversity in higher education. The problem of gender-based inequality in research productivity is empirically identified, and little evidence is found to support the notion that intrinsic effects, including core self-evaluations, are at the heart of this problem. Arguably, these findings reduce the problem space around gender inequality in research productivity, in a context in which other forms of disadvantage might no longer manifest in research productivity inequality.

Numerical three-dimensional formulations using vector potential A have been examined for magnetic fields, with emphasis on the finite difference (FDM) and edge element (EEM) methods, with the view to establish common features. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

It has been shown that for hexahedral elements the FDM equations may be presented in the form similar to the EEM equations, providing the products of the nodal potentials and distances between the nodes are used as unknowns in FDM, instead of the usual nodal potentials.

The analogy between the FDM and the EEM approach has been established.

It has been demonstrated, following from this and previous publications, that analogy exists between all fundamental methods of field solutions relying on space discretisation. This is helpful in terms of classification of the methods and aids the understanding of physical processes involved.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and explain the unexpected current flow patterns and twisting equipotential surfaces observed in strongly anisotropic materials.

Potential distributions and current flow paths in highly anisotropic composite materials were studied via numerical simulation and experimentally. Simplified composite panels with two plyes were analysed using a finite‐element model; the predictions were then confirmed experimentally.

The unexpected twisting equipotential surfaces and current flow patterns were found to be consistent with minimising of Joule heat release in the material. Numerical modelling suggests that the twisted profiles of the potential are highly sensitive to the anisotropic electrical conductivity.

This paper discusses the reverse current flows witnessed in a two‐layer anisotropic system. Such behaviour has never been predicted or observed experimentally before. The reported results will be of interest to anyone who is considering using anisotropic materials such as carbon fibre composites which might experience applied potential difference, such as lightning strikes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether migrants from Bangladesh choose the destination that offers them the highest earnings and whether the relative stock of the skilled migrants in a destination increases with the earnings differences between the skilled and the unskilled.

Using a nationally representative sample of both stayers and migrants from Bangladesh to all destinations and correcting for self-selection bias in earnings using a semi-parametric method developed by Dahl (2002), the author tests whether selection and sorting of Bangladeshi migrants depend on cross-country differences in the rewards to skills as suggested by the Roy (1951) model of comparative advantage.

Migrants from Bangladesh not only choose the destinations that offer the highest earnings but also the destination that offers the highest earnings relative to the skill level of the migrants.

Due to the unavailability of data on recruiting agencies, we cannot investigate the role played by recruiting agencies in the migrant’s decision.

Policy-makers in both the sending and destination countries need to know how migrants choose their destinations in order to formulate effective and welfare-enhancing migration policies.

This paper is the first to study how skill composition and earnings shape migration from Bangladesh using micro-level data. It is also the first to study sorting behavior of migrants from any South Asian countries.

A striking feature of Jaques' work is his “no nonsense” attitude to the “manager‐subordinate” relationship. His blunt account of the origins of this relationship seems at first sight to place him in the legalistic “principles of management” camp rather than in the ranks of the subtler “people centred” schools. We shall see before long how misleading such first impressions can be, for Jaques is not making simplistic assumptions about the human psyche. But he certainly sees no point in agonising over the mechanism of association which brings organisations and work‐groups into being when the facts of life are perfectly straightforward and there is no need to be squeamish about them.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategy that a turnaround in the USA will portend a turnaround in the UK's economy and property market. For this strategy to operate, it is assumed that the capital and property markets in and between the two nations are highly integrated with endogenous pricing functions.

Given the endogenous assumptions of the conjectured research statement, tests of integration (or segmentation) between two capital and property markets are conducted. Correlation, tracking error analysis, and a multiple systematic risk factor model are used to test the pricing relationships. The methodological form employs variant macroeconomic variable pricing models (MVM) of alternative combinations of systematic affects operating across and between the national markets.

Pricing integration is noted between the UK and US capital markets, while the property markets are economically and statistically segmented. Opportunities for arbitrage based on different prices/returns for equivalent risk exposures are statistically observed between the UK and USA. The effect is that systematic pricing between the two markets cannot be addressed solely by diversification options. This infers a potential for arbitrage (statistically, strategically or in practice) is possible, given that systematic risk exposures between the two markets are not equivalently priced across cyclical phases. In this context it is inferred that the probable measure of pricing differences across the two markets is more than a cyclical lag effect.

The paper delineates the degrees of integration/segmentation in the UK and US property and capital markets as a function of systematic risks in changing economic conditions. These differences support the existence of statistical arbitrage and the specification of investment behaviour as a function of differencing pricing expectations. These findings can assist in the formulation of investment and hedging strategies to assist in managing international portfolios subject to cyclical market exposures. This paper contributes to an understanding of and foundation for testing the nature and impact of cycles on property investment performance as a function of pricing changes.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how different types of user experience in TikTok impact purchase intention via commitment to the influencer and commitment to the platform, with customer type included to determine moderating effects. Three types of user experience are considered: information experience, entertainment experience and parasocial-relationship-based experience.

This study collected 458 valid questionnaires from TikTok users, employing the structural equation modeling approach to examine the proposed research model.

Information experience, entertainment experience and parasocial-relationship-based experience are found to critically stimulate user commitment to the influencer and commitment to the platform, in turn driving TikTok-based purchase intention. Tests incorporating customer type reveal that commitment to the influencer more strongly influences the purchase intention of repeat customers, with commitment to the platform more likely to stimulate purchase intention among potential customers.

On a theoretical level, the paper is among the first to examine TikTok-based user purchase intention with customer type as a moderator. On a practical level, the results can guide marketers to effectively promote products using TikTok and inspire TikTok managers to develop customized strategies to stimulate initial and repeat sales.

TikTok is moving to the stage of commercialization and monetization by introducing e-commerce features. Although this move should cultivate particularly fertile ground for companies to sell products, TikTok user purchase behavior has yet to receive sufficient research attention, with little currently known about their purchase motivations. The current study uncovers the significant antecedents of users' purchase intention through TikTok, and further reveals the motivational differences among potential and repeat customers.

The paper has two aims. The first one is to present a three‐dimensional concept of competitiveness of an enterprise. The concept of firm competitiveness discussed in the paper covers three dimensions: • competitive position of an enterprise, • competitive potential of an enterprise, • competitive strategy of an enterprise. Each of the above‐mentioned dimensions was subject to operationalization — sets of variables describing particular dimensions of firm competitiveness were suggested. The second aim of the paper is to present the results of empirical studies on the competitiveness of Polish firms in comparison with the European Union firms in the light of Poland's anticipated entry into the EU. The research is based on the concept of firm competitiveness developed in the first part of the paper. The studies were carried out in the year 2000 and included 68 firms of the manufacturing industry registered in Poland. The results obtained indicate that according to managers from those 68 enterprises, there is a significant competitive gap between the Polish firms and their rivals from the EU. This gap concerns all the three dimensions of firm competitiveness: competitive position, competitive potential and competitive strategy.