Search results

Infrastructure financialization plays a critical role in infrastructure development and urban growth around the world. However, on the one hand, the existing research on the infrastructure financialization focuses on qualitative and lacks quantitative country-specific studies. On the other hand, the spatial heterogeneity and influencing factors of infrastructure financialization are ignored. This study takes China as a typical case to identify and analyze the spatial characteristics, development process and impact factors of infrastructure financialization.

To assess the development and characteristics of infrastructure financialization in China, this study constructs an evaluation index of infrastructure financialization based on the infrastructure financialization ratio (IFR). This study then analyzes the evolution process and spatial pattern of China's infrastructure financialization through the spatial analysis method. Furthermore, this study identifies and quantitatively analyzes the influencing factors of infrastructure financialization based on the spatial Dubin model. Finally, this study offers a policy suggestion as a governance response.

The results demonstrate that infrastructure financialization effectively promotes the development of infrastructure in China. Second, there are significant spatial differences in China’s infrastructure financialization. Third, many factors affect infrastructure financialization, with government participation having the greatest impact. In addition, over-financialization of infrastructure has the potential to lead to government debt risks, which is a critical challenge the Chinese Government must address. Finally, this study suggests that infrastructure financialization requires more detailed, tailored,and place-specific policy interventions by the government.

This study not only contributes to enriching the knowledge body of global financialization theory but also helps optimize infrastructure investment and financing policies in China and provides peer reference for other developing countries.

As an innovation model for infrastructure and public service delivery, public–private partnership (PPP) has been widely adopted around the world. The knowledge spillover effect and policy diffusion mechanism have played an important role in promoting the development of PPP in the context of globalization. A comparative evaluation of the policy and management of PPP in different countries will help to understand the development of PPP, provide decision-making reference for PPP policy embedded with specific national conditions of each country, and also contribute to the global PPP knowledge body.

Based on the principle of comparability and representativeness, this study selected three countries, namely, China, India, and the United Kingdom for comparative analysis. This study first introduced the policy process and key institutions of PPP in three countries. Secondly, a comparative analysis of the development characteristics and application of PPP was conducted based on the official database of three countries. Finally, the differences, influencing factors and development trends of international PPP development were analyzed based on the comparative research results, and suggestions for PPP policy and management were put forward.

The research results indicate the development fluctuation and unbalanced spatial distribution of PPPs are a common phenomenon in the three countries. The UK has a significant impact on the policy and development of PPP in other countries. However, under the combined influence of factors such as economic, urbanization, political regime and social culture, there are significant differences in the PPP institution, application, and project characteristics in various countries. Due to international exchanges and knowledge spillovers, as well as the promotion of intermediaries, the development of PPP worldwide tends to converge.

Through conducting an international comparison of PPPs based on project data, this study provides a detailed and visualized overview of PPPs and a better understanding of PPP policy and management in different countries. The findings will be of interest to PPP investors, officers, practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and analysts. It enriches the portrait of global PPP market research, helps governments to improve the design of PPP institutions and policies, and provides references for decision-making of international investors when stepping into a new market.

This study is the first attempt to systematically compare and analyze the global PPP difference and development trend based on PPP project databases of different countries. Different from previous PPP comparative research based on perception data, the project data-based comparative analysis in this study is helpful to understand the characteristics, interrelations, and trends of global PPP development and enrich the existing PPP knowledge body. This study also proposes that it is possible to establish a global PPP knowledge community in the context of globalization and global production network.

Public private partnership (PPP) has gained increasing popularity around the globe. Whether the government needs to participate in the PPP special purpose vehicle (SPV) as an equity coinvestor is a critical issue in PPP development. This research aims to examine the influence of government equity investment on PPP performance by taking public-private communication as an intermediate variable.

A questionnaire survey was adopted as the main research method. PPP practitioners with extensive experiences from both the public and private sectors were targeted respondents. The survey results were subsequently analyzed using statistical data analysis method.

Based on the results from the questionnaire survey, this research indicates an inverted U-shaped relationship between the ratio of government equity and performance in PPP projects. In addition, communication plays a mediating role between government equity investment and PPP project performance.

This research explicates the relationship between the equity structure in a PPP SPV and the project performance. It provides important guidance and reference for PPP practitioners to structure the SPV and associated financial and commercial arrangements. It also offers valuable insights into the development of PPP policy, especially regarding the structuring of PPP models in China and elsewhere.

Despite the widespread study and application of public-private partnerships (PPPs) since the 1980s, the field lacks a universally accepted definition that captures the concept's complexity. This study aims to offer a definition and foster a more substantive and comprehensive discourse on PPPs to improve communication and understanding between academics and practitioners from diverse disciplines and legislative backgrounds.

Grounded in the family-resemblance concept proposed by German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, this study conducts a comprehensive literature review to identify core and non-core elements frequently cited in PPP descriptions. The authors used these findings to develop the PPP sunflower model as a structured framework for defining PPPs.

The analysis elucidates six core elements consistently present in PPP descriptions: clarity of roles and responsibilities, appropriate risk allocation and sharing, injection of expertise and resources, cooperation and teamwork, a bundle of services, and long-term contracts. Coupled with identified non-core elements, these core components comprise the PPP sunflower model, a structured framework for defining PPPs that accommodates their multi-faceted nature.

The PPP sunflower model distinguishes itself as a unique contribution to the PPP literature. It offers a rigorous theoretical framework that can elucidate the complexity of PPPs for various stakeholders. The model serves as a practical tool for evaluating the authenticity and viability of PPP projects. The study's novelty lies in its adoption of the family-resemblance concept, thereby providing a comprehensive, multi-dimensional framework that enhances the understanding of PPPs across different disciplines and legislative contexts.

Over the last two decades, green supply chain management (GSCM) has enabled businesses to operate in an environmentally friendly manner. The present review examines 234 research articles and proposes a methodical literature review on GSCM, focusing on the aspects of sustainable development.

The work examines conceptual, analytical, empirical and non-empirical research articles, analyzing at all levels of the organization, such as firm, dyad, supply chain and network. The objective of the review is to provide insights into the state and scope of existing research in the domain of GSCM, to identify the prevalence of GSCM and to consolidate the trend of future research. The literature review follows a systematic methodology for analyzing the literature.

The findings can support researchers in identifying research areas with significant impact and streamline research on GSCM in the future. Practitioners can utilize this structured classification to strategize their green initiatives in their firms.

The work contributes to providing literature that explores a detailed review in GSCM. The proposed literature review captures critical aspects in the domain of GSCM and offers future research directions.

While extensive research exists on how positive life circumstances and positive personality traits promote entrepreneurship, there is little research focusing on how negative personal circumstances may potentially breed entrepreneurship. This study aims to build upon the theory of underdog entrepreneurship to examine the effect of challenging life circumstances such as poverty on the development of entrepreneurial traits in underdog entrepreneurs. This research analyzed the effect of risk-taking (RT) on the entrepreneurial success (ES) of underdog entrepreneurs and the role of optimism (OPM) and persistence (P) as mediating variables and poverty as a moderator variable.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect data from 400 micro-finance borrowers of Akhuwat Foundation Pakistan. Akhuwat provides interest-free small loans to the poor segment of society. Preliminary testing of the survey questionnaire with a sample of 35 borrowers of Akhuwat Foundation in Lahore city was conducted before data collection. Data was collected from four randomly selected branches in Lahore city.

The authors found that OPM and P significantly mediate the relationship between RT and ES. In addition, the authors analyzed the moderating effect of poverty on the relationship between OPM and ES and found a negative moderating effect. A strong positive moderating effect of poverty was found on the relationship between P and ES. The results of multi-group analysis show that successful and unsuccessful underdog entrepreneurs differ in their RT propensity, which is significantly mediated by OPM and P.

This study provides empirical evidence on entrepreneurial traits and success of poor entrepreneur in an emerging economy. This work is original and has not been submitted elsewhere.

With the rapid development of fresh food e-commerce, sustaining customer loyalty is becoming critical for fresh food e-tailers (FFE) to be competitive. This study aims to investigate how to sustain customer loyalty of FFE in China.

A comprehensive literature review leads to the development of a conceptual model using the American customer satisfaction index (ACSI). This model is then tested and validated through structural equation modelling (SEM) of the survey data in China.

The study reveals that trust and perceived product risk significantly affect customer loyalty. It states that trust is significantly influenced by customer satisfaction and perceived product risk. Furthermore, the study shows that perceived risk of online shopping does not significantly influence customer trust and loyalty.

This study is the first in China for exploring how to sustain customer loyalty of FFE. The findings are significant for FFE to develop customer loyalty by formulating appropriate policies and strategies.

In recent years, the ongoing development and rapid popularization of mobile devices, not only has brought new forms of lifestyle but also has boomed a wide array of service contents, allowing users to engage in entertainment, study and other daily activities, in addition to business transactions. To explore the factors that affect users' continued use of mobile app software, this paper aims to take into account the utilitarian value and privacy, as well as security factors and intends to propose an integrated research model based on the information systems success (ISS) model.

The data for this study were collected via an online survey questionnaire. A total of 190 valid responses were used to examine the hypotheses in the research model. The casual model was assessed using partial least squares techniques.

The results indicated that the three quality factors (information quality, system quality and service quality) in the ISS model significantly affected satisfaction and utilitarian value. Private and security have significant negative association with utilitarian value. The results also showed that private and security did not significantly affect satisfaction. The findings also provide some directions for further research.

The results show that user's continued use of mobile app software depends upon the perceived utilitarian value and satisfaction. The quality characteristics are the three critical factors that would affect the perceived utilitarian value and satisfaction. Compared to information quality and service quality, system quality has a higher degree of positive impact, which indicates that users are more concerned about the immediate download ability and ease-of-use provided by the system. Furthermore, the research also finds that privacy and security concerns have a negative influence on the utilitarian value, showing that in the context of task-oriented IS, the perceived risk of privacy and security during the process of using mobile app software services, will negatively affect users’ perception of utilitarian value. The insights provided by this study can help mobile app developers optimize design and marketing strategies.

This study provides a better understanding of how the factors in the theories influence the continuance usage intention of life style mobile applications.