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The purpose of this study is to delve into the mechanism of Si3N4 nanowires (NWs) in Sn-based solder, thereby furnishing a theoretical foundation for the expeditious design and practical implementation of innovative lead-free solder materials in the electronic packaging industry.

This study investigates the effect of adding Si₃N₄ NWs to Sn58Bi solder in various mass fractions (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 Wt.%) for modifying the solder and joining the Cu substrate. Meanwhile, the melting characteristics and wettability of solder, as well as the microstructure, interfacial intermetallic compound (IMC) and mechanical properties of joint were evaluated.

The crystal plane spacing and lattice constant of Sn and Bi phase increase slightly. A minor variation in the Sn58Bi solder melting point was caused, while it does not impact its functionality. An appropriate Si₃N₄ NWs content (0.2∼0.4 Wt.%) significantly improves its wettability, and modifies the microstructure and interfacial IMC layer. The shear strength increases by up to 10.74% when adding 0.4 Wt.% Si₃N₄ NWs, and the failure mode observed is brittle fracture mainly. However, excessive Si₃N₄ will cause aggregation at the junction between the solder matrix and IMC layer, this will be detrimental to the joint.

The Si₃N₄ NWs were first used for the modification of lead-free solder materials. The relative properties of composite solder and joints were evaluated from different aspects, and the optimal ratio was obtained.

This study aims to examine the causal relationship between mandatory CSR disclosure and financial audit efficiency.

The authors use the unique institutional setting of China, where a subset of listed firms are mandated to disclose their corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. The authors use propensity score matching and difference-in-differences approaches to compare audit efficiency in the pre- and post-mandatory CSR disclosure periods between the treatment and control groups. The regression models are estimated with robust standard errors clustered at the firm level.

This study finds that following China’s adoption of the mandatory disclosure of CSR, audit report lags decreased by 6% on average, suggesting that audit efficiency improved greatly following mandatory CSR disclosure. Moreover, this association is stronger when firms have better CSR performance, higher CSR report preparation costs, more earnings management before disclosure regulations and better internal controls and when firms belong to high-profile industries and in Big 4 (Big 10) accounting firms. Moreover, neither audit quality nor audit fees decrease when shorter audit lags occur for firms with mandatory CSR disclosures. Overall, the evidence suggests that mandatory CSR disclosure has a positive effect on audit efficiency and that the improvement of audit efficiency does not come as a consequence of reducing audit fees or deteriorating audit quality.

The results reported in this study have practical and policy implications for policymakers, accounting firms and auditors to pay more attention to CSR information.

This study provides evidence of the causal relationship between mandatory CSR disclosure regulation and audit efficiency. It enriches the research on audit service production efficiency from the perspective of nonfinancial information disclosure.

This study aims to investigate the impact of the development of high-speed rail (HSR) network on earnings management, especially on the trade-off between the usage of accruals-based earnings management (AM) and real earnings management (RM) techniques, and consequently, examines the extent to which the HSR network–earnings management nexus is moderated by governance and religion factors.

Using a sample of Chinese A-listed firms over an 11-year period, this study uses regression techniques as the baseline methodology while controlling for industry and year-fixed effects. The authors also use endogeneity tests (including instrumental variable method, Generalized Methods of Moments estimation and difference-in-difference) and different robustness checks.

The key findings are threefold. First, the HSR network development reduces AM. This suggests that the presence of HSR network is effective in reducing information asymmetry. Second, the use of RM technique increases with the HSR network development. This indicates that managers do not seem to engage in less earnings management with the HSR network development but instead appear to switch from the easy-to-detect AM to the more costly RM approach. Finally, the HSR network and earnings management nexus is moderated by governance and religion factors.

This study provides new evidence on the trade-off between AM and RM by managers and pioneers in examining the impacts of governance and religion factors on the relationship between the HSR network and the trade-off of earnings management techniques.

From the perspective of local government tax administration, the impact of geographic dispersion on the corporate tax burden is investigated in this paper.

Using unbalanced panel data with a sample of listed companies from 2003 to 2020 in China, this paper focuses on the effect of geographic dispersion on corporate tax burden and the mechanisms.

It is found that corporate tax burden is positively related to geographic dispersion. It is also found that geographic dispersion affects the corporate tax burden by increasing the effort of local government tax administration. In addition, the relation between geographic dispersion and corporate tax burden is more pronounced for local SOEs prior to the implementation of Golden Tax Project III and in cases where local governments face stronger financial pressure to obtain revenue.

This study has important implications for the promotion of the coordinated development of the regional economy, as well as the legalization, modernization and informatization of tax administration.

This article attempts to investigate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the earnings management (EM) for listed Tunisian companies.

The study focuses on both accrual-based and real EM (REM) practices. With panel data, the authors employ the multiple regression approach and the generalized least squares (GLS) estimate method. The sample is made up of 41 listed companies observed from the first half of 2016 to the second half of 2020.

This study finds that, during the pandemic period, Tunisian firms use decreasing income discretionary accruals. Also, with regard to REM, the COVID-19 variable displays a negative response coefficient but of lesser magnitude.

This study's findings can help Tunisian authorities, listed companies and market investors to better understand EM practices during a negative shock and to better understand the various internal and external factors influencing the quality of financial reporting. These findings may contribute, also, significant EM implications for scholars interested in other emerging markets. As limitations, the authors point out mainly to the small sample size used in this study and that the authors used a single model, namely the modified Jones model (1995), to measure the accounting EM. Also, the authors used a binary variable as a proxy for the COVID- 19 pandemic.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, it is the first in Tunisia, if not in Africa, to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on EM practices. Second, this study builds on previous work by examining both the accrual-based EM and the REM.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of board gender diversity on the relationship between sustainability reporting (SR) and earnings management (EM) in the East Africa Community (EAC).

The study analyzed a sample of 71 publicly traded companies from 2011 to 2021.

The study finds that both SR and board gender diversity have a negative and significant effect on EM and that board gender diversity moderates the relationship between SR and EM.

The findings suggest that boards should support the adoption of SR and increase female representation as a practical way to reduce EM. Policymakers should also implement appropriate measures, such as imposing mandatory SR and gender quotas on corporate boards, to address EM.

This research adds to the limited knowledge of SR and EM in the EAC and also fills a gap in the existing literature by investigating the influence of board gender diversity on the link between SR and EM.

The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on earnings management practices in China using a sample of family and non-family enterprises. More specifically, this study aims to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic causes variation in Chinese listed family and non-family enterprises' operations, as reflected in the level of real earnings management (REM).

This study uses three standardised REM indicators, namely, the abnormal level of cash flows from operations, the abnormal level of production costs and the abnormal level of discretionary expenses. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions are applied to compare the earnings management of Chinese family and non-family enterprises during the pre-pandemic period (2017–2019) and the pandemic period (2020).

The authors find that Chinese listed non-family enterprises tend to participate in more REM activities than family enterprises before the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the opposite is true during the pandemic. The authors also find that COVID-19 has increased the involvement of family and non-family enterprises in REM activities.

The results of previous studies based on REM using Chinese listed firms may not be applicable under the new social background of COVID-19. As the period after the COVID-19 outbreak is relatively recent, Chinese researchers have yet to study it comprehensively. The present study is amongst the first empirical attempts investigating the effect of a pandemic financial reporting by investigating whether and how the burst of the COVID-19 crisis affected financial reporting through the earnings management practices of listed Chinese family and non-family enterprises. Such information is crucial because it can provide analysis for all stakeholders to make better decisions.

Although manufacturer-initiated rewards are widely used to secure distributors’ compliance, the spillover effect on unrewarded distributors (i.e. observers) in the same distribution channel is under-researched. Using insights from social learning theory, this paper aims to investigate how manufacturer-initiated rewards affect observers’ expectation of reward and shape observers’ compliance toward the manufacturer. Furthermore, this paper explores how such effects are contingent upon distributor relationship features.

To test the hypotheses, hierarchical multiple regression and bootstrapping analyses were performed using survey data from 280 Chinese distributors.

The magnitude of a manufacturer-initiated reward to a distributor stimulates expectation of reward among observers, which enhances compliance; observers’ expectation of reward mediates the impact of reward magnitude on compliance. Moreover, network centrality (of the rewarded peer) negatively moderates the positive impact of reward magnitude on observers’ expectation of reward, whereas observers’ dependence (on the manufacturer) positively moderates this dynamic.

Manufacturers should pay attention to the spillover effects of rewards. Overall, they should use rewards of appropriate magnitude to show willingness to recognize outstanding distributors. This will inspire unrewarded distributors, which will then be more compliant. Furthermore, manufacturers should know that specific types of distributor relationship features may significantly vary the spillover effects.

This study illuminates the spillover effects of manufacturer-initiated reward by opening the “black box” of the link between reward magnitude and observers’ compliance and by specifying the effects’ boundary conditions.

Teacher well-being has been a concern, but there has been a lack of research on how teacher leadership can contribute to teacher well-being in a high-accountability context and a hierarchical education system such as that of China, particularly through the meditating roles of trust in the leader and teacher efficacy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being while exploring the mediating roles of trust in leaders and teacher efficacy in this relationship.

Using structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrap methods with valid answers from 1,144 teachers in 25 primary schools in 1 Chinese city, this study mainly answered three questions: Is there a significant relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being? Is there a significant mediating effect of trust in leaders on the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being? Is there a significant mediating effect of teacher efficacy on the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being?

This study reported a positive relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being. This study also found positive mediating roles for trust in leaders and teacher efficacy in the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being in a high-accountability and hierarchical system like that of China.

This study provides an understanding of the transferability of teacher leadership theories across cultures and has practical significance for educational practice in high-accountability and hierarchical education contexts similar to that of China.

Project managers bear the responsibility of selecting and developing resource scheduling methods that align with project requirements and organizational circumstances. This study focuses on resource-constrained project scheduling in multi-project environments. The research simplifies the problem by adopting a single-project perspective using gain coefficients.

It employs uncertainty theory and multi-objective programming to construct a model. The optimal solution is identified using Matlab, while LINGO determines satisfactory alternatives. By combining these methods and considering actual construction project situations, a compromise solution closely approximating the optimal one is derived.

The study provides fresh insights into modeling and resolving resource-constrained project scheduling issues, supported by real-world examples that effectively illustrate its practical significance.

The research highlights three main contributions: effective resource utilization, project prioritization and conflict management, and addressing uncertainty. It offers decision support for project managers to balance resource allocation, resolve conflicts, and adapt to changing project demands.