Global economic integration and sustainability challenges underscore the need to examine trade liberalization, green supply chains, and energy transitions. Using a mixed-methods framework, this study addresses the limitations associated with single-method approaches, combining thematic qualitative analysis with quantitative correlation analysis. Data were gathered from 427 participants in Chengdu, encompassing surveys and 30 semi-structured interviews. The mixed-method approach offers a more reliable assessment of policy effectiveness. Notably, this method combines quantitative analysis with real-world market insights. The study results highlight that both trade liberalization and governmental policy measures result in higher adoption of eco-friendly supply chains and energy transition efforts. Hence, the study findings put forward practical guidance to policymakers and industrial stakeholders to develop successful sustainability programs that will help advance sustainable economic growth. Based on this, policymakers must enhance regulatory frameworks and incentives for green technologies, while industries should proactively adopt flexible and sustainable supply chain strategies, in order to support long-term competitiveness and environmental performance.
This conceptual paper develops the notion of liminal ambidexterity to explain how organizations remain effective when their established routines continue to support performance but cease to orient them toward future advantage. Using concepts such as ambidexterity, liminality, dynamic capabilities, resilience, and management control, the paper argues that transitional environments require firms to maintain executional simplicity in the operational core while creating sufficient adaptive complexity at the edge. The framework recognizes three indexed domains: the Simplicity Discipline Index (SDI), the Complexity Capability Index (CCI), and the Complexity Load Index (CLI). In addition, translational governance is introduced as a mechanism that converts ambiguous signals into a limited set of executable commitments. The paper contributes a quadrant model, a capability-load fit logic, a refined definition of translational governance, illustrative empirical anchors, and a measurement architecture for future empirical testing.
This study investigates the factors and policy measures that condition the high-quality progress of China's sports economy, underpinned by the New Structural Economics approach. While there have been advancements in the sector, there are still issues such as regional imbalance, insufficient skills in the workforce, and inadequate integration with other sectors, notably tourism and technology. Six hypotheses encompassing policy support, infrastructure, human capital, technological innovation, market stimulation, and industrial structure were empirically tested using data were collected from 200 athletes, coaches, and policymakers. Descriptive statistics show that policy support (mean=4.161) and policy-market synergy (mean=4.083) received the highest mean ratings, while industrial integration received the lowest (mean=3.649). Correlation analysis confirmed that infrastructure investment (r = 0.463) showed the strongest association with high-quality development, followed by technological innovation (r = 0.445) and human capital development (r = 0.412) Path analysis had likewise shown that policy measures ( beta = 0.421 . p < 0.001 ) and technical innovation ( beta = 0.367 , p = 0.001 ) had the highest direct impact, while market demand ( beta = 0.238 , p = 0.012 ) had a moderate impact. In conclusion, as recommended by the findings, integrated policy tracks, technology, and infrastructure are critical points to improve the overall sports economy towards sustainability and inclusion. The findings provide important policy and managerial implications by emphasizing the critical role of policy support, technological innovation, and infrastructure development in driving high-quality growth. It is recommended that policymakers prioritize coordinated policy-market mechanisms and targeted investments in innovation and human capital, while managers focus on improving resource allocation and operational efficiency to achieve sustainable and inclusive development in the sports industry.
This study examines scientific research on paywalls and clickbait as contrasting revenue models in online media and explores how artificial intelligence (Al) is disrupting these models and journalism more broadly. It evaluates the scope of academic interest in these topics and identifies gaps in current scholarship. Using bibliometric analysis of Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection data and science-mapping techniques in VOSviewer, the study analyses publication trends, influential authors, and thematic clusters from the early 2010s to 2024. Findings show that although clickbait receives more scholarly attention, paywall research achieves greater impact, reflecting its focus on revenue strategies, consumer behaviour, and willingness to pay. The prominence of clickbait studies relates to concerns about engagement, credibility, and misinformation. Another key finding is that, while Al is transforming journalistic production, personalisation, and automation, its integration into media business models remains limited. The study underscores the need for interdisciplinary approaches to support sustainable digital media ecosystems.
Housing affordability has become an increasingly important socio-economic issue across the European Union, as housing prices have grown faster than household incomes in many countries. This study investigates the macroeconomic determinants of housing affordability using the house price-to-income ratio as the main indicator. The empirical analysis is based on panel data for EU member states covering the period 2000-2024 and combines macroeconomic indicators from Eurostat, including GDP per capita, purchasing power parity indicators, and GDP price level indices. Panel econometric models with country-and time-fixed effects are used to estimate the relationship between macroeconomic variables and housing affordability dynamics. In addition, cluster analysis is applied to identify groups of countries with similar housing affordability trajectories. The results indicate that macroeconomic factors play a significant role in shaping housing affordability in EU countries. Higher price levels are associated with higher house price-to-income ratios, while income growth partially mitigates affordability pressures. Cluster analysis reveals substantial heterogeneity between European housing markets, highlighting different housing market regimes across EU member states.
Annotation. Brand value co-creation is one of the most influential concepts in modern marketing. The involvement of consumers in a range of active activities, including development, feedback, advocacy, and support, can co-create brand value. Brands engage consumers in brand value co-creation by satisfying their needs. The benefits of brand value co-creation for companies include increased sales, market share, brand awareness, brand satisfaction, and consumer loyalty. The present article analyses brand value co-creation through Pierre Bourdieu"s approach to the structures of power. The investigative problem of this study is expressed through the following research question: What power structures do brands use in the brand value co-creation? The main objective of this paper is to analyse brand value co-creation through Pierre Bourdieu"s approach to the structures of power. The methods employed include scientific literature review, systematic and comparative analyses, semi-structured interviews, and generalization. The results of the study reveal that brand value co-creation functions as a power structure. This power manifests through the satisfaction of consumer desires and needs. In the case of the BMW brand, the brand allows consumers to express and create their identity, improve their image, belong to a community, and feel part of it. The BMW brand creates an attractive image that influences consumers" thinking and behaviour in the direction desired by the brand, and consumers do not directly experience the effects of this power structure, as it exists in a way that is not directly understood. The study conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with members of the BMW brand community. It is revealed that most informants associated the brand with exclusivity, power, and high status. By internalising brand values and conforming to community norms, consumers may unconsciously recreate and reinforce brand power structures. This may involve symbolic violence, as the pressure to conform to brand-related standards may reinforce social inequality. Thus, brand value co-creation may function not only as a collaborative process but also as a mechanism that recreates power structures.
Why should institutions consider stakeholders' perceived institutional resilience when developing Al deployment strategies? This study investigates how institutional resilience influences Al adoption intention, addressing the gap between capability-based management and stakeholder behavior intention, with an application to higher education. Using PLS-SEM and Necessary Condition Analysis in a multi-group design, we examine differences between faculty and students (Study 1) and across program delivery modes (Study 2). Results show that the effect of perceived institutional resilience on Al adoption intention is fully mediated by stakeholders' perceived value of Al. This mechanism is robust across groups and program delivery modes. However, while perceived Al value acts as a driver of adoption for both stakeholder groups, behavioral conditions differ: students require a minimum perceived Al value for high adoption intention, while faculty respond to perceived value in a more gradual, stepwise manner to achieve high levels of adoption. This underscores the need for value-based Al deployment strategies that account for institutional context and stakeholder constraints.
As China's financial industry enters a new digital era, the scope of financial technology services to the real economy has expanded and deepened. This paper adopts spatial econometrics to examine the impact of FinTech on manufacturing productivity, specifically on manufacturing technology progress and efficiency improvement. The following conclusions are drawn. First, FinTech development levels in China vary, with the highest level in the east, followed by the central region, and is the lowest in western China. Second, China's total factor productivity presents clear spatial autocorrelation characteristics. Third, the development of FinTech can improve the manufacturing total factor productivity nationwide, and this effect occurs mainly through efficiency improvements, and the influence of technological progress is not significant. This study helps elucidate the possible spatial correlation effects of FinTech on manufacturing total factor productivity in terms of geographic location or socioeconomic factors. We also provide a reference for national policy departments to formulate differentiated interregional FinTech strategies.
Annotation. Women's soccer in Spain has captured global attention, propelled by Spain's victory in the World Cup (2023) and the global scandal involving the President of the Federation. Nonetheless, this competition remains modest in terms of revenue. Although support for and concern about feminism vary among Generation Z, they remain notably strong in Spain (Hernandez-Arriaza et al., 2023, p.1; Vilanova, 2019, p.43) and beyond (Twenge, 2023). This article examines Generation Z's perception of the Spanish women's soccer league to assess their interest and verify whether it is driven by the hypotheses in the theoretical framework of feminism and gender equality or by the appeal of sportainment and communication. To achieve this, a quantitative survey was conducted with 203 students to carry out an exploratory analysis and hypothesis testing. The results confirm the influence of sportainment and communication (p < 0.05), but do not provide statistical support for the gender equality hypothesis (p > 0.05). The study concludes that while members of Gen Z acknowledge and support gender equality, their interest in following a competition such as Liga F would require a major dose of sportainment through gamification, free access, which is the opposite of what Liga F offers.
This study focuses on the concept of team viability. Following a literature review on team viability, this study first analyses the historical confusion and inconsistency in how team viability has been defined and measured, as well as compared to similar constructions such as team satisfaction, cohesion, or willingness to stay in the team. The literature synthesis helped categorise the various conditions essential for team viability into six distinct groups: organisational context, team composition, leadership style, team synergy, and teamwork results, which were drawn from both theoretical and recent empirical research. Finally, a new, more precise definition of team viability is formulated to guide future research and the development of a more reliable team viability assessment instrument.
Based on the framework of public value and cost structure, combined with the characteristics of China's ecological policies, this study constructs an evaluation index system from four dimensions: fairness, efficiency, participation, and sustainability. Weights of indicators are determined using the analytic hierarchy process and the entropy method. Furthermore, the public value performance model, cost structure performance model, and their integrated model are applied to evaluate China's ecological governance performance from 2015 to 2024. Results show that over the decade, China's ecological governance performance has improved from "average" to "good," with all four dimensions exhibiting an upward trend. However, the overall level remains relatively low. Spatially, performance has improved across all regions, with the eastern region outperforming the northeastern, centrai, and western regions. The findings indicate that despite significant achievements and continuous growth in the performance index of China's ecological governance, deficiencies in fairness, participation, efficiency, and sustainability have constrained further improvement. Therefore, additional effort is needed to improve the ecological compensation system; stimulate the enthusiasm of multiple subjects for participation; clarify the rights, responsibilities, and interests of all parties; and establish a multigovernance and collaborative governance mechanism . This study clarifies the dynamic evolution characteristics and care dilemmas of China's ecological governance performance. Therefore, it provides support for promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and realizing high-quality development characterized by the coordinated coupling of economic society and ecology.
The main objective of the article was to examine the relationship between work demands and their impact on the personal and family life of Generation Z employees. The research was based on the theoretical frameworks of Work Connectivity Behavior After-hours (WCBA) and the Job Demands - Resources (JD-R) theory, which explain the "double-edged" nature of technological connectivity - as both a source of flexibility and a factor increasing psychological strain. The empirical part was conducted in 2025 on a sample of 67 Generation Z respondents through an online questionnaire evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale. Correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used to process the data. The results confirmed two out of the three proposed hypotheses. A moderately strong negative relationship was identified between the perceived impact of work on personal and family commitments and the perception of increasing work demands, suggesting that when employees already perceive work as a source of private life disruption, they tend to be less sensitive to further increases in demands. At the same time, a weak but statistically significant positive relationship was confirmed between the expectation of work availability outside working hours and the perception of increasing demands. Conversely, the relationship between the impact of work on personal commitments and the expectation of availability was not confirmed. The findings highlight the need for targeted organizational policies focused on managing boundaries between work and private life. It is recommended to strengthen the culture of the "right to disconnect," promote psychological detachment, foster digital leadership, and implement measures to prevent burnout. Effective management of digital availability appears to be a key prerequisite for sustainable work performance, mental well-being, and long-term job satisfaction among Generation Z employees.
Annotation. Grounded in the intertemporal budget constraint theory, this paper defines 'fiscal space' as a core indicator of debt sustainability and employs a VECM model to analyze China's national debt data from 1994 to 2023. The findings reveal that economic growth is the most critical factor for expanding fiscal space, exerting a rapid and sustained positive effect in both the short and long term. The tax burden and population aging have a limited positive impact on fiscal space but may exert long-term pressure on its growth. The effect of inflation on fiscal space is minor and inconsistent. A mismatch between the fiscal revenue and expenditure significantly hinders the expansion of fiscal space. Fostering the high-quality economic growth, enhancing fiscal revenues, and optimizing the management of fiscal revenues and expenditures are crucial for safeguarding China's government debt sustainability.
Financial statements are a crucial source of information for decision-making, yet their reliability may be undermined by creative accounting, particularly in small enterprises that operate under limited regulation and weak internal controls. This paper examines the extent and causes of creative accounting risks in small enterprises in the Czech Republic, with a focus on discrepancies between earnings before tax and cash flows as indicators of accounting errors and fraud. The analysis is based on a dataset of small enterprises operating in the manufacturing, construction, and trade sectors during the period 2010-2024. Creative accounting risks are identified using the Beneish M-score methodology applied at all three analytical levels. To improve diagnostic precision, the analysis is complemented by six financial indicators and twelve accounting items. Inter-industry differences are assessed using the z-test for equality of proportions. The results reveal that significant earnings -cash flow discrepancies are widespread across all analysed sectors. While impact risks measured by the M-score do not differ substantially between industries, statistically significant differences are observed in cause risks, particularly in profitability-related and accrual-based indicators. Accruals, provisions, and selected revenue and cost items emerge as the most frequent sources of elevated risk, especially in the construction and manufacturing sectors. These findings are consistent with previous evidence for Czech publicly traded companies. The study extends the application of the M-score framework to small enterprises within a European accounting context and provides useful benchmarks for auditors, external users of financial statements, and financial managers aiming to strengthen internal controls and support faithful and fair financial reporting.
This study examines whether corporate ESG ratings can be predicted using multi-year lagged financial indicators. The objective is to evaluate the extent to which historical financial information explains ESG performance among Slovak manufacturing firms. The analysis uses a sample of 974 Slovak manufacturing firms with ESG ratings for 2023 and financial data from 2018-2022. The primary model applies XGBoost with recursive feature elimination and SHAP analysis, while a PCAbased one-vs-rest XGBoost model is used as a robustness check. The findings show that historical financial indicators provide meaningful but incomplete information about ESG performance. Leverage, liquidity, debt-servicing capacity, firm age, and tax-related indicators emerge as important predictors. Older lagged variables also remain significant, suggesting that ESG outcomes reflect longer-term financial patterns. The alternative model improves prediction, particularly for the Environmental and Governance pillars, whereas the aggregate ESG score remains more difficult to classify. The models predict the middle ESG rating category most reliably, while performance for extreme categories is limited by class imbalance and the ordinal structure of ESG scores. The study concludes that financial data can support ESG prediction, especially at the pillar level, but cannot replace qualitative and ESGspecific information.
Amid rising global economic volatility and the advancing rural revitalization strategy, strengthening the resilience of county economies has become a key prerequisite for safeguarding overall national economic stability. Although previous studies have explored various determinants of economic resilience, empirical evidence remains insufficient with regard to the role and mechanisms of government-led digital policy interventions. To assess whether institutional digitalization serves as a channel through which digital village initiatives shape county-level resilience, this study utilizes the National Digital Village Pilot Program as an exogenous policy shock. Drawing on regional economic resilience theory and technology-biased innovation frameworks, we assemble county-level panel data that cover 2006-2023 and implement a difference-in-differences identification strategy to evaluate the policy's causal impact. Empirical evidence demonstrates that digital village programs generate significant and robust gains in county economic resilience, and these improvements are primarily driven by two underlying mechanisms: by improving county innovation capacity and increasing local fiscal investment. The findings provide important managerial and policy implications for enhancing regional economic stability and optimizing rural development strategies in the digital era, suggesting that strengthening inclusive digital infrastructure and establishing coordinated fiscal and digital mechanisms are essential for systematically building counties' capacity for risk resistance and recovery.
This study distinguishes between the sectors of the sports and leisure industries and examines their characteristic sustainable development processes within the framework of social responsibility practices and principles. In recent years, the growing scale and social influence of sports and leisure activities have increased expectations for these sectors to operate more responsibly and sustainably. In this context, the role of social responsibility has become increasingly significant, as sports and leisure organizations are progressively undertaking initiatives that contribute to environmental protection, community well-being, and ethical governance. This study examines the interaction between corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in the sports and leisure sectors in Turkey and Lithuania. The empirical part of the research is based on qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 30 experts, including 15 from Turkey and 15 from Lithuania. The sample consisted of sports club and federation managers, academics, and NGO social responsibility managers. The data were analysed through descriptive and content analysis using NVivo 14. The findings show that CSR practices in both countries are mainly associated with environmental awareness, healthy living, social inclusion, community well-being and ethical governance. At the same time, major barriers include insufficient financial resources, limited institutional cooperation, low social responsibility awareness, and weak policy support. The study emphasizes that social responsibility practices in these sectors extend beyond traditional organizational responsibilities and encompass broader contributions to ecological sustainability, social equity, and responsible management. Accordingly, it highlights how sports and leisure organizations integrate ecological initiatives, promote social inclusion programs, and adopt ethical business practices and principles across their operational and strategic activities.Furthermore, the research reveals the impact of implementing social responsibility initiatives on sustainable development in the sports and leisure sectors, which involve and influence large groups of people. By examining these dynamics, the study contributes to a better understanding of how responsible management approaches in sports and leisure organizations can support long-term sustainability goals and generate positive environmental and social outcomes. The study demonstrates that CSR contributes to sustainable development not only through environmental practices but also through social equity, community participation, and inclusive governance in both sectors.
Although artificial intelligence (Al) offers numerous workplace conveniences to employees, it also poses challenges, such as occupational substitution risk and pressure to adapt to technology. Although existing studies have extensively examined the psychological stress induced by Al and its capacity for innovation, scant scholarly attention has been devoted to understanding how employees proactively manage such technological stress via job crafting -an interpersonal and cognitive process that may subsequently shape their work engagement. Grounded in the transactional model of stress (TMS) and work engagement theory, using the data collected from May to June 2025, comprising 319 valid questionnaires administered across diverse service-sector contexts, including hospitality, retail, catering, aviation, and e-commerce platforms, multiple regression analyses were employed to examine the mediating role of employees' cognitive appraisals in linking AI-induced stress to work engagement, and evaluate the extent to which information technology (IT) mindfulness moderates this sequential mechanism. Results indicate that Al-induced stress positively enhances employees' work engagement via challenge appraisal but negatively impairs work engagement through hindrance appraisal. Meanwhile, IT mindfulness exerts a significant moderating effect on the relationship between Al-induced stress and employees' cognitive appraisals. In particular, employees with high IT mindfulness tend to perceive Al-related stress as a challenge, thereby boosting work engagement, whereas those with low IT mindfulness are more inclined to frame AI-induced stress as a hindrance, leading to reduced work engagement. The conclusions enhance the theoretical model explaining how technological stress influences employees' psychological and behavioural outcomes. Furthermore, they offer valuable practical guidance for organizations to improve employees' coping strategies for technological stress and balance efficiency with employee well-being during Al implementation.
Reviewed book: Asta MIKALAUSKIENE, Dalia STREIMIKIENE, Ignas MIKALAUSKAS (2026), Climate Change and Responsible Consumption: From Crisis to Conscious Consumer Choices, Springer Cham, 252 p.
Annotation. The Chinese music industry faces significant challenges related to investment constraints and financing efficiency, which have increasingly influenced its sustainable development. The classic models of financing evaluation like OLS regression, DEA and SFA are not sufficient since they rely on past financial records and hard collateral which is not sufficient to highlight the dynamism, intangible and participatory nature of creative industries. This study attempts to overcome these limitations by offering a structural construct that incorporates Collaborative Innovation, Knowledge Sharing and Environmental Dynamism to establish efficiency in investment and financing. The quantitative survey methodology was utilized, and 502 distributed responses were collected with strategic executives working in 40 music companies and financial institutions in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Hangzhou which gave 428 valid samples. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) had been used because it is appropriate where multi-construct relationships are needed. Findings show that there are strong positive effects of Collaborative Innovation on Financing Efficiency (beta=0.391, t = 7.82, p < 0.001) and Knowledge Sharing (beta=0.487, t = 9.65, p < 0.001). Knowledge Sharing had a significant positive impact on financing efficiency (beta =0.352, t = 6.48, p < 0.001) and mediated (beta =0.171, t = 6.12, p < 0.001) it. Moderation analysis proved that Environmental Dynamism enhances the correlation between Collaborative Innovation and financing efficiency 03 =0.142, t = 2.94, p <0.003). The model showed high prediction capability with R-2 = 0.999 in the case of financing efficiency. The need for strategic initiatives that encourage technological adoption, improve collaborative knowledge exchange, and enhance data-oriented financial practices to support more efficient investment and financing outcomes in the music industry.
