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The purpose of this paper is to present a new model which combines the non-equidistant GM(1,1) model with GCHM_WBO (generalized contra-harmonic mean (GCHM); weakening buffer operator (WBO)). The authors use the model to solve the deadlock that for a large number of non-equidistant corrosion rate, it is difficult to establish a reasonable prediction model and improve the prediction accuracy.

This research consists of three parts: non-equidistant GM(1,1) model, GCHM_WBO operator, and the optimization of morphing parameter (contained in GCHM, control the intensity of the weakening operator). The methodology is explained as follows. First, the authors built a non-equidistant GM(1,1) model with GCHM_WBO weakened data, of which morphing parameter was randomly selected. Next, the authors calculated the error between prediction data of model and the real data, and adjusted the morphing parameter according to the error and property of GCHM. Then, the authors generated a new non-equidistant GM(1,1) based on new morphing parameter, and repeated the previous step until the termination condition was satisfied. Finally, the model with appropriate morphing parameter was used to implement the prediction of new data.

This paper finds a property of GCHM, which is a monotonic increasing function of morphing parameter in some specific conditions. Based on the property and the fixed point axiom of WBO, an algorithm was designed to search an appropriate morphing parameter. The appropriate morphing parameter was implemented for the purpose of improving the accuracy of the model. The model was applied to predict the corrosion rate of six steels at Guangzhou experimental station. The results showed that the proposed method can get more accuracy in prediction capability compared to the models with the original data and AWBO weakened data. The method is applicable to long-term forecasts in case of data scarcity.

Corrosion will cause huge economic loss to a country; therefore, it is important to judge the remaining useful life of a material or equipment; the foundation for judgement of which is the prediction of material corrosion rate. However, the prediction of corrosion rate is very difficult because of corrosion data’s features, such as small sample size, non-equidistant, etc. The proposed method can be used to implement long-term forecast of corrosion data with only one sample and non-equidistant samples.

This paper presented a model which combines the non-equidistant GM(1,1) model with GCHM_WBO to handle the problem of long-term forecasting of corrosion data. In the modelling process, the proposed morphing parameter searched through algorithm can improve the prediction accuracy of the model. Therefore, the model can provide effective and reliable result when data are of a small sample size and non-equidistant.

The purpose of this paper is to predict the main economic indices of online shopping in China.

A fractional order weakening buffer operator (WBO) for the GM(1,1) model is put forward in order to solve the problem of limited nonlinear data. The order number of WBO can adjust in line with the scenario.

The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can consider the scenario and obtain more accurate forecasting results.

This study found that the slowdown of growth trend after the previous high speed expansion period will continue, and the online shopping sellers should make more efforts to develop potential consumers to increase its turnover.

Worker-recuperated enterprises have appeared in Europe with increasing frequency since 2008, following the Great Recession that hit the western economies. The purpose of this paper is to depict the phenomenon of worker-recuperated enterprises in Italy, focusing on two different types of business recovery, that of workers buyouts and that of recovered social spaces. The paper compares these on the basis of four analytical dimensions: resilience/resistance, relationship with the market, relationship with the territory and workplace democracy.

The corpus of the research is based on the cross-sectional analysis of workers’ narratives. These were collected, within a small sample of theoretically relevant cases, in order to retrace and analyse the path from the crisis of the former companies to establishment of the workers’ cooperatives and their social and economic features.

The collected narratives allowed for a multi-level comparison between different types of worker-recuperated enterprises, providing some insights on their emergence, their features in terms of resilience and resistance, their relationship with the market economy and their outcomes in terms of workplace democracy and support to employment.

Worker buyouts are gaining ground in Europe as an effective mechanism to oppose the fall of the employment rate in consequence of economic crises. This research intends to offer some data and arguments to the current international debate on the effectiveness of these mechanisms in coping with economic shocks and opening up to a sustainable and cooperative work-driven economy.

This study aims to investigate the role of board gender diversity in explaining the effects of board members’ political connections on banking performance in the Eurozone.

This paper analyses panel data on 83 banks supervised by the European Central Bank (ECB) for the period 2013–2017, using a generalized moment method-type estimation methodology.

Results suggest that when gender diversity is high, there is a U-shaped nonlinear relationship between political connections and banking performance. Empirical evidence also indicates that differentiating characteristics of women, such as greater ethical concern and risk aversion, help mitigate the negative effects of political connections on banking performance, safeguarding the institutions’ interests from the adverse effects of personal agendas. In addition, these results also suggest that a minimum of 14% of gender diversity can contribute to greater social justice and beneficial structural change.

The period studied may not yet fully reflect the impact of the assessment of the board members’ suitability.

The paper contributes to the growing literature on political connections and gender diversity, providing greater insight into their role as determinants of banking performance. The study also suggests the benefits and possible limitations of the regulator’s two impositions – gender diversity quotas and members’ repute (members’ political connections).

The effect of gender diversity on the impact of board members’ political connections on banking performance has not been studied, as these relationships have not been analysed separately for banks directly supervised by the ECB.

Knowing which services are essential to tenants gives the housing associations the background to set priorities in maintenance policy and purchasing. The purpose of this paper is to explore residents' perceived importance of various maintenance services.

The research question is explored through a large‐scale survey of more than 6,000 tenants of Dutch housing associations. Priorities were studied in three different ways: respondents were asked to provide direct importance ratings, importance weights were derived from regression analyses, and, an importance‐performance analysis (IPA) was performed.

The results with regard to the priorities differ somewhat according to which method is used. However, the methods agree in that maintenance of heating and water systems and maintenance of hinges and locks of windows and external doors should get priority. If the goal is to increase customer satisfaction, the maintenance of exterior paintwork and bathrooms should also get appropriate attention. According to the IPA, the maintenance of ventilation systems should be taken good care of.

One limitation of the study is that residents have provided their preferences in maintenance service delivery without noticing the costs that are included with the several options. Furthermore, the priorities between service aspects, i.e. the aspects that determine the service quality of the maintenance service delivery were not measured.

This paper provides insight into resident's priorities with regard to maintenance services. This can be of use for companies, such as housing associations. Furthermore, it contributes to scientific knowledge with regard to the impact of different measurement methods.

Different applied methods for measuring priorities lead to different results. Both practitioners and researchers should take this into account when measuring priorities. The goal of the research should determine the choice of which method to use.

Various theories predict that firm buyouts survive longer than newly created firms. The study aims to know whether it is the case for worker-owned firms (WOFs), i.e. firms owned and controlled mostly by their workers.

The author conducted a comparative survival analysis of French WOFs distinguished by their entry mode (i.e. newly created, worker buyouts (WBOs) of sound conventional firms, WBOs of conventional firms in difficulty or WBOs of non-profit organizations).

The hazard of exit is 32% lower for WBOs of sound conventional firms than newly created WOFs, 18% for WBOs of conventional firms in difficulty and 64% for WBOs of non-profit organizations. The current study confirms that WBOs, even of conventional firms in difficulty, have on average a survival advantage over newly created WOFs. Surprisingly, the author also shows that this survival advantage is similar across sectors with different knowledge intensity but is lower in high capital-intensive sectors than in low capital-intensive ones.

Endogeneity issues limit the scope of the results and should be tackled in future research. Overall, these findings show that WOFs are composed of groups with different survival likelihoods that are obscured if one only looks at the aggregate population.

With caution, support agencies could foster WBOs of firms in difficulty and of non-profit organizations as viable forms of entrepreneurship.

The current study offers the first survival analysis distinguishing four modes of entry among WOFs.

L'Ecole internationale des sciences touristique de Rome est un organisme privé ayant pour but de promouvoir la connaissance culturelle à caractère multidisciplinaire du phénomène touristique par I'enseignement théorique des disciplines correspondantes. Ces disciplines seront intégrées par des travaux pratiques et par des éventuels stages professionnels.

This paper aims to use Stones’ strong structuration theory (SST) that combines Giddens’ duality and Archer’s analytical dualism to deal with the paradox of embedded agency, focussing on resistance, in the budgeting literature. It also applies this framework to an illustrative case study that examines a failed attempt to implement performance-based budgeting (PBB) in the Egyptian Sales Tax Department (ESTD).

The authors have used SST as an analytical framework. Longitudinal case study data were collected from interviews, observations, discussions and documentary analysis and from publicly available reports and other media issued by the World Bank.

The SST framework identifies the circumstances in which middle managers as embedded agency have limited possibilities to change their dispositions to act and identify opportunities for emancipation in the wider social context in which they are embedded. The official explanation for the failure to implement PBB in Egypt was obstruction by middle managers. The findings of this study provide an alternative explanation to that published by the World Bank for the failure to institutionalise PBB in Egypt. It was found that the middle managers were the real supporters of PBB. Other parties and existing laws and regulations contributed to the failure of PBB.

As a practical implication of the study, the analysis presented here offers an alternative interpretation of the failure of the Egyptian project for monitoring and evaluation to that published by the World Bank. This case and similar cases may enhance the understanding of how and when monitoring and evaluation technologies should be introduced at the global level to manage conflicts of interest between agencies and beneficiaries.

This paper contributes to the extant management accounting literature on the use of ST in addressing the paradox of embedded agency in making or resisting structural change. It uses SST to integrate Giddens’ ST with critical realist theory, incorporating duality and dualism in a stronger model of structuration. The SST framework offers a means of analysing case studies that result from interactions and conjunctures between different groups of actors at different ontological levels. The paper also examines the issue of embedded agency in budgeting research using an illustrative case study from a developing country, Egypt.

Although the Peoples Republic of China's (PRC) is becoming more progressive, they are still criticized for their overcautious stance on entering the free market arena. This article explores China's reluctance toward foreign trade by examining past and present trade patterns along with future trade goals. The themes of culture, history and politics that remain blurred in Chinese culture are explored. The paper examines why foreign trade and capitalism cannot reproduce similar, instantaneous results in China to mirror western standards. Finally, the paper assesses the current and future economic climate and the emerging force of China in the global marketplace.