This study investigates the causal effects of climate policy on greenwashing behavior among financially constrained firms in China. By exploiting the staggered implementation of the Low-Carbon City Pilot policy as an exogenous shock and using cash flow sensitivity of investment as a proxy for financial constraints, a staggered difference-in-difference-in-differences estimation reveals that firms under greater financial pressure exhibit a significantly higher tendency toward greenwashing practices in low-carbon pilot cities. An underlying mechanism is that stricter climate policies are associated with higher non-compliance costs and greater financial distress, particularly for firms with limited financial resources in low-carbon pilot cities, thereby intensifying greenwashing incentives. Furthermore, the observed effects are more pronounced among firms with lower information disclosure quality, non-state-owned firms, and firms operating in industries with lower competition intensity. This study contributes to the existing literature on climate policy by moving beyond its well-documented positive effects on firm's environmental performance to highlight unintended consequences for financially constrained firms. It also provides timely policy implications for central regulators seeking to curb ESG-related misleading practice.

This study examines the long-term impact of the African slave trade on present-day corporate corruption in Africa. Analyzing data from over 30,000 firms across 41 African countries between 2006 and 2021, we find a robust positive relationship between historical slave export and modern firm-level corruption. The results suggest that ethnic fractionalization, diminished trust, and weak institutions are potential channels linking the slave trade to current corruption. In countries with a history of extensive slave export, firms are more likely to engage in tax avoidance, circumvent government interactions, and operate informally due to prevalent corruption.

This paper examines the causal effects of data element agglomeration on firm information disclosure in China. By introducing the shock of Chinese digital policy on the regional data element agglomeration, our staggered difference-in-differences estimations demonstrate that data element agglomeration has a significantly positive effect on firms’ information disclosure quality. The potential explanation is that the agglomeration of data elements improves the regional information infrastructure, and firms optimize their information disclosure behavior in response to the improved information supervision. Our findings provide timely policy implications for regulators to understand the unintended consequences of digital economy policies in developing countries and the potential financial value of data elements.

The reading behaviors and library use of older people have not received sufficient attention in academic research. This study conducted a questionnaire survey (N = 487) in eastern China to examine the relationships between reading motivation, reading self-efficacy, library use, positive affect, and life satisfaction among older adults. The results revealed that reading motivation does not have a direct effect on library use; instead, it operates through the complete mediation of reading self-efficacy. Interestingly, compared to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation has a greater impact on reading self-efficacy, which may be a phenomenon unique to East Asia. In addition, library use is positively correlated with positive affect among older adults, suggesting that libraries have the potential to play a more significant role in the context of rapid aging in developing countries. To enhance their services, libraries should consider strategies to better support the extrinsic motivations of older people and foster their positive affect.

This study investigates the causal impact of regional climate policy on corporate cross-regional investment location choices in China. Exploiting the quasi-experimental shock of the Low-Carbon City Pilot program through a staggered difference-in-differences method, we find that the policy implementation significantly reduces the Mergers and Acquisitions activities targeting firms in regulated cities. In addition, firms within regulated regions exhibit a higher propensity to establish subsidiaries in non-regulated regions, reflecting strategic relocation to mitigate regulatory risks. One potential explanation is that the climate policy introduces region-specific uncertainty, amplifying investors' and managers' risk perceptions regarding climate transition exposure in regulated areas. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effects are more pronounced in firms with lower information disclosure quality, entrenched management, financial constraints, and firms under non-high-tech industries. Our findings highlight unintended consequences of climate policy, and provide timely policy implications for central regulators in developing economies to balance environmental objectives with firms' adaptive investment behaviors when designing place-based climate policies.

Emerging knowledge-based virtual communities have gained significant popularity among young people worldwide. Drawing on the technology acceptance model, flow theory, and social capital theory, this study explores the impact of video book review communities on the flourishing among Chinese young adults. A survey was conducted in Shanghai (N = 777). The results indicate that perceived enjoyment ( β = 0.23, p < 0.001), interactivity ( β = 0.11, p < 0.05), and engagement ( β = 0.24, p < 0.001) positively predict the flow experience. Notably, social capital fully mediates the relationship between flow experience and flourishing, with bridging social capital (effect = 0.144, 95

This paper aims to examine the impact of corporate digital transformation on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of Chinese listed enterprises during 2018-2022. We also explore the chain mediating role of technological innovation and financing constraints. The paper suggests a positive relationship between digital transformation and ESG performance, and this impact is more prominent in private-owned enterprises, in large enterprises, and in high-tech and heavy-polluted industries. In addition, technological innovation and financing constraints have a chain mediating role in the influence of digital transformation on ESG performance. The findings will aid companies in improving ESG performance and achieving digital maturity.

The term “blue economy” has become synonymous with generating income from maritime pursuits while protecting and improving marine environments. Oceans provide both solutions and boosts to a sustainable environment and economy, given the growing need for resources to accomplish the global food, water, and energy nexus and the rapid reduction in land-based supplies. However, the ecological footprint (EF) is one of the significant factors that may influence the sustained capacity of oceans to deliver economic and environmental value. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of ecological footprints on the sustainability of the blue economy (BE) while controlling for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), population growth (POT), and economic growth (GDP). The study applied Bayesian neural network (BNN), OLS, fixed effects, and a two-step generalized method of moments on the panel dataset of G20 countries over the period 2000 to 2021. The study shows that the ecological footprint exerts a negative influence on the blue economy, while greenhouse gas emissions, population growth, and economic growth exhibit a positive impact. This study, by realizing the importance of blue economy development in various nations, suggests that all nations must incorporate ocean strategies within their national climate pledges in order to effectively meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially those outlined in SDG 14 (Life Below Water).

This study applied a web survey to explore what factors explain Chinese residents' evaluation of COVID-19 governance in China. The authors found that the use of official news sources and collectivist cultural orientation can explain more positive evaluations of government, but neither the actual nor perceived pandemic severity was directly associated with evaluations of government performance. Applying a multilevel analysis, two divergent effects were found associated with the severity of the pandemic: the positive rally effect and the negative attribution effect. In areas where the pandemic was particularly severe such as Hubei, the two divergent effects were especially evident.

Medical large language models are being introduced to the public in collaboration with governments, medical institutions, and artificial intelligence (AI) researchers. However, a crucial question remains: Will patients follow the medical advice provided by AI doctors? The lack of user research makes it difficult to provide definitive answers. Based on the clinician-patient communication pathway model, this study conducted a factorial experiment with a 2 (medical provider, AI vs. human) × 2 (information support, low vs. high) × 2 (response latency, slow vs. fast) between-subjects design (n = 535). The results showed that participants exhibited significantly lower adherence to AI doctors' advice than to human doctors. In addition, the interaction effect suggested that, under the slow-response latency condition, subjects perceived greater health benefits and patient-centeredness from human doctors, while the opposite was observed for AI doctors.

Numerous universities nationwide announced urgent implementation of closed campus management due to the epidemics of COVID-19 in Chinese universities since March 2022, and a large number of students were under quarantine. This study aims to explore how embodied experiences (i.e., centralized quarantine and self-quarantine) and mediated experiences (i.e., exposure to media sources, pandemic information overload, and online help seeking) influence the acquisition of learned helplessness during the campus epidemics among the Chinese university students, besides, how do these two types of experiences interact with each other to elicit learned helplessness is another interested research question. The data was collected nationwide via an online survey platform from March 22nd to April 16 2022 immediately after the outbreak of campus epidemics. A total of 1267 valid student samples were retained. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that embodied experience of centralized quarantine is positively related to learned helplessness. Mediated experience of information access from friends on social media and government official media as well as online help seeking are negatively related to learned helplessness. Information access from overseas media and pandemic information overload are positively related to learned helplessness. Besides, the interaction between self-quarantine and pandemic information overload is positively related to learned helplessness. Theoretical contributions and intervention strategies aimed at enhancing authoritative communication and managing information overload during public health crisis were discussed.

Many innovative forms of media entered the online mediascape and can potentially set public agendas. This study drew on peer-produced news content on Wikipedia and theorized its unprecedented agenda building power within a network of diverse media sources. Adopting the network agenda-setting model, this study collected comprehensive global news coverage and Wikipedia coverage of top US political news events from 2015 to 2020. Time series analysis found that none of the media types (Wikipedia, elite media, and non-elite media) exhibited dominant agenda-setting power, while each of them can lead the agenda in certain circumstances. Wikipedia was a critical agenda setter for other media entities, and it also reflected the public's collective evaluation of existing news agendas from multiple sources. This article proposed a multi-agent and multidirectional network architecture to describe agenda-setting relationships. We also highlighted four unique characteristics of Wikipedia that matter for digital journalism.

Purpose:In the intersection of the aging and information era, the development of digital aging significantly influences the well-being of older individuals. Given the divergent findings in various studies exploring the effects of social media use on mental health, this study specifically examined the impact of forwarding, a prevalent social media behavior among older individuals, focusing on the effects of use intensity on their subjective well-being (SWB) and the specific mechanisms involved.Materials and Methods:A total of 323 Chinese older adults completed the questionnaire. SPSS along with Hayes Process Models 4 and 7 was employed to test the hypotheses.Results:The results indicated that social media forwarding intensity significantly and positively predicted SWB of older adults. This association was partially mediated by perceived social support (PSS) and self-esteem. Gender served as a moderator, highlighting that the positive predictive effects of forwarding intensity on PSS and self-esteem were more pronounced for older men than for older women. Further, the findings confirmed the existence of the moderated mediating effect such that the impact of forwarding on SWB was mediated through both PSS and self-esteem for older men, while, for older women, it was solely mediated by PSS.Conclusion:This study revealed the positive impact of forwarding, a user-friendly social media function, on the well-being of older adults and elucidated the specific mechanisms through a moderated mediation model. In light of these findings, we propose customizing the development of age-friendly social media functions to address the diverse psychological needs of older adults, taking into account gender differences. These findings may offer valuable insights for constructing digital age-friendly platforms and fostering active aging development.

The commercialization of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is accelerating, yet academic research on its users remains scarce. To what extent are they willing to disclose personal health privacy to AI doctors compared to traditional human doctors? What factors are shaping these decisions? The lack of user research has left these questions unanswered. This article, based on privacy calculus theory, conducted a multi-factorial between-subjects online experiment (N = 582) with a 2 (medical provider: AI vs. human) x 2 (emotional support: low vs. high) x 2 (information sensitivity: low vs. high) design. The results indicated that AI doctors lead participants to perceive both lower health benefits and privacy risks. Emotional support is not always beneficial. On one hand, high emotional support can provide patients with more health benefits, but on the other hand, it also poses higher levels of privacy risks. Additionally, high emotional support responses from AI doctors could enhance patients' health benefits, trust, and willingness to disclose health privacy, while the opposite was observed for human doctors.

使用电子束直写加工工艺,在石英基底上完成了亚微米级8台阶二元光学元件的光刻加工.由于石英基底为绝缘体,导电性差,不利于电子束直写时电荷的传导.为了抑制石英基底上电荷的积累,探讨了不同的增强导电技术对电子束直写效果的影响,最终选择了光刻胶表面沉积金属的方式,同时配合优化的特定对准标记设计,不仅提高了电子束直写在石英基底上加工二元光学元件的对准精度,套刻误差小于400 nm,而且拼接缺陷大幅度减少,显著提升了元件的加工质量.

Purpose - The objective of this study is to investigate how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affects firms' financial management in China's manufacturing sector. In addition, the authors analyze the changes in various financial indicators before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the authors make a cross-country comparison of the COVID-19's impact on financial management between China and Romania. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses the balanced panel data of 2,272 manufacturing listed companies from 2019 to 2020, and applies the t-test method and multiple regression method. Findings - The results show that firms' financial performance in most manufacturing sub-sectors decreased during the observed period. In addition, the authors find that equity financing, proper liquidity management and an expanded firm scale can improve firms' financial performance. The authors further compare the results with the Romanian results, and find that the negative impact of debt-to-equity ratio on firms' financial performance in Romania is greater than that in China and the positive impact of financial autonomy ratio and working capital ratios is greater in China than that in Romania. Practical implications - The findings can help corporate managers make the best financial management decision in response to crisis. Originality/value - This study is one of the pioneers that analyze how manufacturing companies carried out their financial management during the COVID-19 crisis in the Chinese context, and provides a cross-country analysis of corporate financial management practices in China and Romania.

We examine the long-term impact of the slave export, one of the most traumatic events in African history, on firm corruption and corruption-related outcomes using data from over 30,000 firms across 41 African countries from 2006 to 2021. Our results show that the slave export is positively associated with reported corruption obstacles, bribes requested, and bribes paid by African firms. These findings are both statistically and economically significant and robust under various identification and robustness tests. We also demonstrate a positive relationship between the slave export and corruption perception at the country and individual levels. Our results reveal that corruption activities reported by firms are primarily a demand-side phenomenon. Additionally, our findings indicate that in high slave export countries, firms are more likely to engage in various activities to avoid taxes, evade interactions with government officials, and remain unregistered due to rampant corruption. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of firm corruption and corruption-related outcomes from a historical perspective.