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This study aims to investigate the effects of moral hazard on quality and satisfaction of public–private–partnership (PPP) construction projects in Ghana.

After undertaking a literature review, questionnaires were used to elicit responses from respondents. Population consisted of quantity surveyors, project managers, procurement officers, consultants, public agency officers involved in PPP projects, private partners and contractors. A total of 211 questionnaires were received from 250 distributed. Purposive and snowballing sampling techniques were adopted. Analytical tools were Cronbach’s alpha for testing reliability, regression, mean score ranking and relative importance index.

Reduced mutual trust and respect, poor clarity of project objectives; consequence on decision-making; less effective construction process; and increased construction risks were the significant effects of moral hazard on satisfaction of PPP construction projects. Value-based effects; manufacturer-based effects; product-based effects; user-based effects; and transcendent-based effects were the significant effects of moral hazard on quality of PPP construction projects.

Construction stakeholders involved in delivering PPP projects ought to take note of the findings and recommendations arising. Further studies should explore the effects on other project performance indicators apart from satisfaction and quality.

This paper extends knowledge in the area of exploring the effects of moral hazard on PPP project satisfaction and quality. The findings are beneficial to both academia and industry practitioners.

The construction industry has long been criticized for unethical conduct. The owner usually manages the contractor's opportunistic behaviors by employing a professional supervisor, but there is a risk of covert collusion between the supervisor and contractor. Based on the principal–agent theory and collusion theory, this paper aims to investigate optimal collusion-proof incentive contracts.

This paper presents a game-theoretic framework comprising an owner, supervisor and contractor, who interact and pursue maximized self-profits. Built upon the fixed-price incentive contract, cost-reimbursement contract, and revenue-sharing contract, different collusion-proof incentive contracts are investigated. A real project case is used to validate the developed model and derived results.

This paper shows that the presence of unethical collusion undermines the owner's interests. Especially, the possibility of agent collusion may induce the owner to abandon extracting quality information from the supervisor. Furthermore, information asymmetry significantly affects the construction contract selection, and the application conditions for different incentive contracts are provided.

This study still has some limitations that deserve further exploration. First, this study explores contractor–supervisor collusion but ignores the possibility of the supervisor abusing authority to extort the contractor. Second, to focus on collusion, this paper ignores the supervision costs. What's the optimal supervision effort that the owner should induce the supervisor to exert? Finally, this paper assumes that the colluders involved always keep their promises. However, what if the colluders may break their promises?

Several collusion-proof incentive contracts are explored in a project management setting. The proposed incentive contracts can provide the project owner with effective and practical tools to inhibit covert collusion in construction management and thus safeguard construction project quality.

This study expands the organization collusion theory to the field of construction management and investigates the optimal collusion-proof incentive contracts. In addition, this study is the first to investigate the effects of information asymmetry on contract selection.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the implementation of edge computing can enhance the progress of the circular economy within supply chains and to address the challenges and best practices associated with this emerging technology.

This study utilized a streamlined evaluation technique that employed Latent Dirichlet Allocation modeling for thorough content analysis. Extensive searches were conducted among prominent publishers, including IEEE, Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, MDPI and Hindawi, utilizing pertinent keywords associated with edge computing, circular economy, sustainability and supply chain. The search process yielded a total of 103 articles, with the keywords being searched specifically within the titles or abstracts of these articles.

There has been a notable rise in the volume of scholarly articles dedicated to edge computing in the circular economy and supply chain management. After conducting a thorough examination of the published papers, three main research themes were identified, focused on technology, optimization and circular economy and sustainability. Edge computing adoption in supply chains results in a more responsive, efficient and agile supply chain, leading to enhanced decision-making capabilities and improved customer satisfaction. However, the adoption also poses challenges, such as data integration, security concerns, device management, connectivity and cost.

This paper offers valuable insights into the research trends of edge computing in the circular economy and supply chains, highlighting its significant role in optimizing supply chain operations and advancing the circular economy by processing and analyzing real time data generated by the internet of Things, sensors and other state-of-the-art tools and devices.

This paper aims to explore augmented reality (AR) applications in construction safety academic literature and propose possible improvements for future scholarly works. The paper explicitly focuses on AR integration with Construction 4.0 technologies as an effective solution to safety concerns in the construction industry.

This study applied a systematic review approach. In total, 387 potentially relevant articles from databases were identified. Once filtering criteria were applied, 29 eligible papers where selected. The inclusion criteria were being directly associated with construction safety focused on an AR application and AR interactions associated with the Construction 4.0 technologies.

This study investigated the structure of AR applications in construction safety. To this end, the authors studied the safety purposes of AR applications in construction safety: pre-event (intelligent operation, training, safety inspection and hazard alerting), during-event (pinpointing hazard) and post-event (safety estimation) applications. Then, the integration of AR with Construction 4.0 technologies was elaborated. The systematic review also revealed that the AR integration has contributed to developing several technical aspects of AR technology: display, tracking and human–computer interaction. The study results indicate that AR integration with construction is effective in mitigating safety concerns; however, further research studies are required to support this statement.

This study contributes to exploring applications and integrations of AR into construction safety in order to facilitate the leverage of this technology. This review can help encourage practitioners and researchers to conduct further academic investigations into AR application in construction safety.

Developments regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in transportation systems, one of the important stakeholders of tourism, are remarkable. However, no review thus far has provided a comprehensive overview of research on AI in transportation systems.

To fill this gap, this study uses the VOSviewer software to present a bibliometric review of the current scientific literature in the field of AI-related tourism research. The theme of AI in transportation systems was explored in the Web of Science database.

The original search yielded 642 documents, which were then filtered by parameters. For publications related to AI in transportation systems, the most cited documents, leading authors, productive countries, co-occurrence analysis of keywords and bibliographic matching of documents were examined. This report shows that there has been a recent increase in research on AI in transport systems. However, there is only one study on tourism. The country that contributed the most is China with 298 studies. The most used keyword in the documents was intelligent transportation system.

The bibliometric analysis of the existing work provided a valuable and seminal reference for researchers and practitioners in AI-related in transportation system.

The study is aimed at analyzing the perceptions of students and teachers regarding the effectiveness of massive open online courses (MOOCs) on learning efficiency of students and also evaluating MOOCs as an ideal tool for designing a blended model for education.

The analysis was carried out by using the data gathered from the students as well as teachers of University of Mysore, Karnataka, India. Two separate sets of questionnaires were developed for both the categories of respondents. Also, the respondents were required to have prior experience in MOOCs. Further, the collected data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).

The study showed that MOOCs have a more positive influence on learning efficiency, as opined by both teachers and students. Negative views such as cheating during the assessment, lack of individual attention to students and low teacher-student ratio were also observed.

Many educational institutions view that the MOOCs do not influence learning efficiency and also do not support in achieving their vision. However, this study provides evidence that MOOCs are positively influencing the learning efficiency and also can be employed in a blended model of education so as to promote collaborative learning.

Technology is playing a pivotal role in all fields of life and the education sector is not an exception. It can be rightly said that the technology-based education models such as MOOCs are the need of the hour. This study may help higher education institutions to adopt MOOCs as part of their blended model of education, and, if already adopted, the outcome of the present study will help them to improve the effectiveness of the MOOCs they are offering.

As the cost of completing a transaction, the green merger and acquisition (M&A) premium paid on mergers can influence whether the acquisition creates value or not. However, studies linking M&A premiums to firm value have had mixed results, even fewer studies have examined the effect of green M&A premiums on bidders’ firm value. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and how green M&A premiums affect firm value in the context of China’s heavy polluters.

Using 323 deals between 2008 and 2019 among China’s heavy polluters, this paper estimates with correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis.

Green M&A premiums are negatively associated with firm value. The results are more significant when firms adopt symbolic rather than substantive corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Robustness and endogeneity tests corroborate the findings. The negative relation is stronger when acquiring firms have low governmental subsidy and environmental regulation, when firms have overconfident management, when firms are state-owned and when green M&A occurs locally or among provinces in the same region. This study also analyzes agency cost as an intermediary in the relationship between green M&A premium and firm value, which lends support to the agency-view hypothesis.

This study provides systemic evidence that green M&A premiums damage firm value through agency cost channel and the choice of CSR strategies from the perspective of acquirers. These findings enrich the literature on both the economic consequences of green M&A premiums and the determinants of firm value and provide a plausible explanation for mixed findings on the relationship between green M&A premiums and firm value.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel integrated risk assessment method from the system perspective to evaluate the risk of the cross-regional mega construction project (CMCP). Furthermore, this paper aims to confirm the core risk source factors and refine the risk management strategies of CMCPs through a case study.

Based on the analysis of the risk system of CMCPs, the concept model and risk assessment principles of integrated risk assessment were confirmed. The risk source factors and project objectives of the CMCP were identified from a literature review, export interview and case analysis. According to the vulnerability theory, the integrated risk assessment model was developed by involving vulnerabilities, threats, objectives and interaction of those factors synthetically. Then, ZW high-speed railway from China was analyzed to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

As a result, 12 threat factors and 12 vulnerability factors were identified. Based on the case study, the main external threat comes from T13 (conflicts of interest between local governments) and T23 (harsh natural environment); the most easily exploited internal vulnerabilities were V11 (complexity of technology), V13 (lack of experience in technical application), V21 (inadequate experience) and V23 (lack of interest coordination mechanism). Moreover, the economic objective was most affected.

It is essential to develop an interest coordination mechanism for CMCPs. The harsh natural environment is a critical factor, but it also promotes technological innovation and iteration. Public opinions in different regions are critical for CMCPs, and more emphasis should be placed on public opinion surveys of CMCPs. Moreover, diverse and flexible environmental protection strategies should apply in CMCPs.

This research has the following three contributions. First, based on vulnerability theory, an integrated risk assessment approach of CMCPs is developed, which enriches the risk measurement method system and provides inspiration for future research on risk in the construction industry. Second, the risk sources of CMCPs are identified from the perspective of vulnerability and threat to provide clear guidance for the risk management of CMCPs. Third, the core risk source factors and management strategies confirmed by the case study will be beneficial for various governments in different regions and project managers to optimize the project management scheme, as they are transferable management experiences.

This study explores the influence of heritage brand extension on consumer purchase intention and analyses the effects of pop culture involvement. The extension of heritage brands is becoming increasingly difficult because such an extension needs to be consistent with the unique characteristics of brands and resonate with consumers. However, few scholars discuss the influence of consumers' level of pop culture involvement on brand extension and purchasing behaviour.

Taking time-honoured brands as an example, this study established a conceptual model based on a comprehensive review of the literature, and then tested the model using a sample of 255 respondents who were familiar with one of the selected Chinese time-honoured brands. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the relationships amongst brand extension fit, pop culture involvement, perceived value and purchase intention.

Time-honoured brand extension fit has a positive impact on consumer purchase intention, and this path is significantly influenced by the mediation mechanisms of perceived value. Situational pop culture involvement can significantly strengthen the relationship between time-honoured brand extension fit and perceived value, whereas enduring pop culture involvement does not.

The results clarify and expand on the different roles of cultural involvement in time-honoured brands and broaden research on the influence of cultural involvement in this regard. This study has significant theoretical value for the inheritance and revival of heritage brands and provides a reference for the practice of time-honoured brands.

The study aims to examine how different types of green brand ritual (GBR) influence customer engagement behavior and the mediation mechanisms and boundary conditions of the positive and negative pathways.

The study conducts two online experiments to collect data from a total of 940 consumers in China. Hypotheses are tested by independent samples t-test, two-way ANOVA and Hayes' PROCESS model.

Different kinds of GBR have different effects on customer engagement behavior. Internal GBR is more likely to play a positive role by inciting connectedness to nature. External GBR is more likely to play a negative role by inciting psychological resistance. This dual effect is especially pronounced for warm brands rather than competent brands.

The study pioneers the brand ritual into the field of interactive marketing and enriches its dual effect research. Additionally, the study figures out whether the category of brand ritual can trigger negative effect.

Inappropriate brand rituals are worse than no rituals at all. The results provide guidance for green companies to design effective brand rituals to strengthen the connection with consumers. Green brands should describe brand rituals in vivid detail and consciously lead consumers to immerse themselves in them.