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The speed of internationalization is an important research topic in the process of internationalization. This paper aims to answer two questions: first, what is the relationship between the speed of internationalization of Chinese multinational firms and their performance? Second, how do potential slack and knowledge assets of firms affect this relationship?

The authors choose Chinese A-share listed manufacturing firms from 2009–2018 as the research sample and use the fixed-effect regression model to test the proposed hypotheses.

Firstly, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the speed of internationalization and firm performance (SI-P). Secondly, the potential slack and knowledge assets of firms moderate the inverted U-shaped relationship. Firms with a higher level of potential slack or knowledge assets have a flatter inverted U-shaped relationship between SI-P.

First, the authors develop and extend Penrose’s theory of firm growth to the research topic of speed of internationalization. Second, this paper incorporates the time dimension into the research on the internationalization process and locates the research context in emerging market firms (EMFs). This is a step forward in clarifying the complex relationship of SI-P. Third, the authors show that the SI-P relationship of EMFs is inverted U-shaped and integrate previous studies, which argue that rapid internationalization positively or negatively affects firm performance. Fourth, starting from inside the firm, the authors provide more contextual factors for better understanding and analysis of the SI-P relationship.

As the infrastructure of the railway, the rail could sink or deform to different degrees due to the impact of train operation or the geological changing force for years, which will lead to the possibility that the facilities on both sides of the rail invade the rail clearance and bring hidden dangers to the safe operation of the train. The purpose of this paper is to design the gauge to measure the clearance parameters of rail.

Aiming at the problem, the gauge for clearance measurement was designed based on a combination measurement method in this paper. It consists of the measurement box and the rail measurement vehicle, which integrates a laser displacement sensor, inclination sensor, gauge sensor and mileage sensor. The measurement box was placed outside the rail vehicle. Through the design of a hardware circuit and software system, the movement measurement of the clearance parameters was realized.

In this paper, the measurement equations of horizontal distance and vertical height were established, the optimal solutions of the structural parameters in the equations were obtained by Levenberg–Marquardt method, then the parameter calibration problem was also solved.

The gauge has high precision; its measurement uncertainty reaches 1.27 mm. The gauge has manual and automatic working modes, which are convenient to operate and have practical popularization value.

This study aims to produce composite pigments, including SHS/ZnAl-LDHs, IDS/ZnAl-LDHs and SNND/ZnAl-LDHs, with improved coloration, enhanced photostability and thermostability and biocompatibility.

The chemical structures of the composite pigments were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Photostability and thermal stability were assessed using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and colorimetry. The coverage of the dyes was determined through black-and-white tile testing, and specific RGB values were used to indicate color expressiveness. Finally, a four-color eyeshadow was formulated, and safety tests were conducted via human patch test and cellular assays to confirm the safety and reliability of the samples.

The experimental results demonstrate an enhancement in the photo and thermal stability of the SHS/ZnAl-LDHs, IDS/ZnAl-LDHs and SNND/ZnAl-LDHs composites, along with their superior performance in terms of covering power and color saturation. These composite pigments also exhibit high safety, making them well-suited for cosmetic applications.

The composite pigments based on hydrotalcite can be used in the cosmetic industry without causing any harm to the environment and human health.

The addition of hydrotalcite enables better application of pigments in cosmetics.

WO₃ particles were prepared by the sol-gel method. Tetraethyl silicate (TEOS) was used to obtain a SiO₂-coated WO₃ nanoparticle. Quantum chemical parameters of oleic acid, triethanolamine, glycerol and methyl pentane as dispersants were theoretically calculated. Tribological properties of SiO₂/WO₃ nanocomposite lubricant were carried out on an MRS-10A four-ball friction and wear tester.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the preparation and tribological properties of SiO₂/WO₃ nanocomposite lubricant.

The obtained SiO₂-coated WO₃ nanoparticle (nano-SiO₂/WO₃) with a particle size of about 70 nm. The calculated adsorption energy of triethanolamine on the surface of the steel ball is 554.6 eV, and triethanolamine is selected as the dispersant. The dispersion effect of SiO₂/WO₃ nanocomposite lubricant is good, which shows that triethanolamine oleate plays a good dispersion role in the preparation of lubricant, which is consistent with the calculation results of the adsorption capacity of dispersant. As a good auxiliary lubricant, SiO₂ can improve the tribological properties and wear resistance of WO₃.

Nanocomposite lubricants have been the focus of research in recent years, which could greatly reduce energy consumption. And the SiO₂/WO₃ exhibited excellent lubrication performance as a lubricant additive. The lubrication mechanism of SiO₂/WO₃ nanocomposite lubricant is the synergistic lubrication mechanism of friction film lubrication and antifriction bearing. This study could provide a certain reference for the practical application of nanocomposite lubricants.

This study aims to comparatively measure the impact factors of financial inclusion and their spillover effects for Belt and Road countries using panel data from 57 countries in 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2021 and relevant indicators from three dimensions: availability, usage and quality to construct a digital empowerment index of financial inclusion.

A spatial Durbin panel model is constructed to empirically test the impact mechanism of financial inclusion under digital empowerment.

Results reveal that improving a country’s quality of regulation, technology and residents’ financial literacy significantly contributes to the development of its financial inclusion, while improving its neighboring countries’ financial literacy also boosts its financial inclusion development. This study provides theoretical support for evaluating the development level of inclusive finance in “Belt and Road” countries, promoting the development of inclusive finance and alleviating the problem of financial exclusion.

This study is original as it creates a research paradigm for “Belt and Road” countries, enabling systematic testing and comparative analysis of inclusive finance development. It incorporates traditional and digital services, evaluating them based on sharing, fairness, convenience and specific group benefits. An inclusive financial index is constructed using the coefficient of variation and arithmetic weighted average methods. Additionally, it introduces a more rational analysis approach for the influence mechanism and spatial effect, using an economic geography nested matrix and spatial Durbin model to explore spatial effects in inclusive finance.

Scholars have not agreed with each other on how people would behave after experiencing a catastrophic event. They could save more as a precautionary action for future difficulties or save less with a carpe diem attitude. This study aims to attempt to shed light on this debate with empirical observations on how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected household saving decisions.

The two waves of the survey data allowed us to investigate both instantaneous and ongoing effects of Covid-19 on household saving decisions. The instantaneous effect refers to the immediate impact of the crisis, while the ongoing effect refers to the lasting impact of the pandemic when economic recovery had started. The variation in the number of confirmed cases across cities during the two waves provides the source of power for identification. The authors extend their analyses of the impact of Covid-19 on the household saving decision by using ordinary least squares models. Due to the ordered nature of survey responses, the authors also rerun all baseline models using the ordered probit regression method.

This paper studied the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on household saving decisions in China. This study found that households in the most affected cities would save more during the Covid-19 but tend to save less when the disaster started fading away. Combining findings in Kun et al. (2013) and Filipski et al. (2015), people do become more pessimistic during and after the Covid-19, possibly driving their observed precautionary and cape diem behaviors during the two points of time. Heterogeneity analysis shows that specific households would dramatically change their saving behavior. These observations might be useful for policymakers who concern the economic recovery after this pandemic disaster.

Understanding how the Covid-19 pandemic would affect household consumption vs saving decisions is important for the economic recovery after this disaster comes to an end. The analyses presented in this research could be useful for policymakers who concern appropriate policies aiming to boost consumption and economic activities after Covid.

This paper aims to explore various tensions related to the diffusion and reception of the New Qing History (NQH) in China, and more specifically, it aims at underlying a recurrent tension within the core of this debate, between a Global and a Nationalist historical narrative.

The author’s focus is to analyze various texts published in China between 2006 and 2018.

The author argues that the intensity of the current debate is partly related on the one hand, to the fact that NQH undermines various aspects of China’s Nationalist teleology and territorial claims and, on the other hand, to the basic difficulty of accepting the coexistence of various historical representations that are risking to weaken contemporary’s justifications of its rising schemes.

The text presents an original reading of some important issues raised by the NQH debate.

Various research studies have been carried out to study Chief Executive Officers’ (CEOs’) transformational leadership in driving organizational performance and success. Evidence shows that few studies were carried out on CEO transformational leadership and top management team (TMT) performance in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Thus, this study aims to provide a unique contribution and the first of its kind to examine the CEO leadership–TMT performance link across GCC countries.

In this study, the researchers approached 500 employees and 30 CEOs working in 30 different organizations operating in the GCC countries. The firms were selected conveniently from different industries located in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The researchers used the PASW (SPSS) program to analyze the data.

The findings show that psychological empowerment has no significant role in moderating the transformational leadership – TMT performance relationship. Internal support for innovation plays a significant role in mediating the relationship between transformational leadership and TMT performance.

The present study has not examined the behavioral aspects of CEO followers. Future research may study behavioral characteristics of the entire TMT.

This study contributes to body of research that identifies CEO transactional leadership as perceived by the followers was found to be more important in predicting TMT performance than transformational leadership in the context of organizations located in GCC countries. Managerial implications and future research areas are further discussed.

The paper aims to propose a virtual reality (VR) wisdom teaching model in open university English course from the perspective of “Metaverse”. The study aims to testify the stimulation for English learning and the effectiveness of English-expressing with VR tools for adult learners from the practice in a pilot reform project.

The paper opted for an exploratory study using ICARE Design Model as the framework, under the grounded theories of constructivism and multi-modal teaching. The study compared the evaluation data of one-semester English learning performance between the experimental class (67 students) with VR practice and the controlled class (67 students), including speaking test score, qualitative feedback and in-depth experience analysis. The data were complemented by reflection paper analysis, including manual evaluation (the criteria of semantics, pronunciation, fluency and completeness), questionnaire survey (in the form of five-point Likert scale) and semi-structured interview.

The paper provides empirical insights about the VR wisdom teaching model in English language teaching and learning in a Chinese Open University. The empirical results suggest that “3I” features of VR technology could make up for the shortcomings of traditional English classes in open universities in China, and VR resources designed with curriculum teaching materials could also be helpful for students’ command of knowledge points and language skills. What’s more, the sense of authentic experience in virtual could promote the teaching and learning effect in college English classes.

The present study focuses on a wisdom mode of foreign language teaching and learning for adult learners in open education, so the research results may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to further explore the deep integration of VR/artificial intelligence in foreign language teaching and learning.

This paper fulfills an identified need to study how VR tools provide an engaging, fun and immersive language learning environment, to enhance autonomous learning and learning engagement.