New infrastructure has great potential to promote integrated urban-rural development. Based on the panel data of 31 provincial-level administrative regions in China from 2012 to 2021, this paper applies spatial lag modeling to test the mechanism of how new infrastructure drives integrated urban-rural development. The results demonstrate that the new infrastructure has a driving effect on integrated urban-rural development, and there is a significant spatial spillover effect. The three types of new infrastructure, namely information-based infrastructure, integrated infrastructure, and innovation infrastructure, all have a positive effect on integrated urban-rural development. Specifically, the effect of information-based infrastructure relies on the digital economy, the effect of innovation infrastructure relies on industrial structure upgrading, and the effect of integrated infrastructure can be transmitted through both the digital economy and industrial structure upgrading. Therefore, the investment and construction of the three types of new infrastructure should be planned scientifically, considering the digital economy and industrial structure of the region, and the interregional planning of new infrastructure should be strengthened, to give full play to the spatial spillover effect of the new infrastructure, and to promote integrated urban-rural development.

It is prevalent in the audit market that larger audit firms tend to have higher audit quality. This study employs the occurrence of accounting fraud as a proxy variable for audit quality to investigate whether the implementation of margin trading rules can enhance audit quality for large-scale audit firms. The research finds that the implementation of margin trading rules significantly enhances the ability of large-scale audit firms to deter accounting fraud. Furthermore, the impact of margin trading rules on the audit quality of large-scale firms is more pronounced in highly market-oriented regions, companies under poor internal governance and privately-owned companies. Mechanism tests reveal that margin trading rules enhance the ability of large-scale audit firms to prevent accounting fraud through two channels: facilitating negative information dissemination and increasing litigation risks. This study enriches theoretical perspectives on audit reputation and litigation risk theories, and practically provides experiential insights for the transformation of Chinese audit firms from “expansion” to “strengthening”.

In recent years, green credit has played an increasingly important role in promoting the construction of China’s green financial system and facilitating high-quality economic development. However, default activities of listed companies in green credit may pose a trust crisis in the financial market and hinder the achievement of the "dual carbon" goals. Therefore, accurately identifying and predicting the green credit default risk of listed companies has become a focus in both academia and the industry. To address this, this paper first constructs a comprehensive measure of default risk, by incorporating the proportion of green credit defaults and the credit ratings of entities. And we process feature engineering by excavating the characteristics of green credit data for listed companies. Subsequently, a hybrid deep learning model, named AE-MACNN-LSTM, is designed by incorporating an AutoEncoder mechanism and various neural networks to predict the green credit default risk of listed companies. Finally, an empirical test is conducted based on samples of A-share listed companies in China. The results indicate that the proposed method achieves significant improvements in multiple evaluation metrics, such as high recall rates and AUC values. This research provides a novel perspective for identifying and mitigating the green credit risk of listed companies, offering valuable insights for the government and investors to timely grasp the dynamics of corporate green credit.

Weak industrial base capacity has become a key factor limiting the improvement of China’s industrial chain supply chain level. Based on the data of Chinese provinces from 2013 to 2019, this paper constructs an index system for evaluating industrial base capacity, analyzes the change characteristics of industrial base capacity in China’s provinces by using the coefficient of variation σ convergence model, and empirically analyzes the effect of China’s “manufacturing superpower” policy on the industrial base capacity in China by using continuous and spatial continuous DID models. The main conclusions are as follows. (1) China’s provincial industrial base capacity shows an upward trend in general, especially after the implementation of the China’s “manufacturing superpower” policy in 2015, when China’s provincial industrial base capacity began to break away from the convergence trend as proposed by the neoclassical economic growth theory and instead show further growth potential without σ convergence. (2) China’s “manufacturing superpower” policy has improved the industrial base capacity to a certain extent, and the positive promoting effect of the policy is more sustainable. (3) Considering the spatial dimension of the policy, it is evident that China’s “manufacturing superpower” policy has a positive spatial impact on industrial basic capabilities, benefiting not only local and neighboring areas, but also the entire region. Furthermore, the spillover effect on neighboring areas and the entire region is more substantial than the direct effect it has on local area. (4) Further analysis reveals that the China’s “manufacturing superpower” policy mainly improves industrial base capacity by enhancing industrial innovation capacity and industrial infrastructure service capacity. Its impact on industrial supply capacity exists only in terms of total spatial effects, with no clear impact on industrial competitiveness and industrial chain control capacity. (5) Mechanism analysis indicates that the digital economy and financial technology are two mechanisms through which China’s “manufacturing superpower” policy affects industrial base capacity. These mechanisms positively influence both local area and the entire region, but negatively affect neighboring areas.

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to “actively and steadily promote carbon peaking and carbon neutralization”. The improvement of corporate carbon performance is crucial for achieving the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization. Previous studies on corporate carbon performance have not paid enough attention to the initiative of stakeholders. To solve this problem, based on WSR methodology, this paper highlights the dynamic role of stakeholders, analyzes the impact of stakeholder drivers on carbon performance and the intermediary role of carbon strategic management between the two. The conclusions are as follows. (1) Stakeholder drivers have a significant positive impact on corporate carbon performance. Specifically, government driver, shareholder driver, creditor driver and customer driver have a positive effect on corporate carbon performance; (2) Carbon strategic management plays a significant intermediary role in the positive impact of stakeholder drivers on corporate carbon performance; (3) The effect of stakeholder drivers on corporate carbon performance is stronger in non-state owned enterprises, large scale enterprises and enterprises in low carbon pilot cities, and the mediating effect of carbon strategy management is stronger in state owned enterprises, large scale enterprises and enterprises in low carbon pilot cities. The WSR methodology provides a humanistic perspective for enterprises to improve carbon performance, and provides theoretical basis and practical guidance for enterprises to conduct carbon strategic management and stakeholder management.

As an important area of energy saving and carbon reduction, public institutions play an exemplary and leading role in the implementation of carbon peaking and carbon neutral decision making. This paper takes Beijing’s public institutions as an example, measures carbon emissions based on the energy consumption statistics of various jurisdictions and types of public institutions from 2014 to 2020, and conducts a study on the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of carbon emissions of Beijing’s public institutions by using the Theil index, Slope value and ESDA method. The study shows that: ① From 2014 to 2020, public institutions in Beijing had achieved significant results in energy conservation and emission reduction, with overall carbon emissions showing a fluctuating downward trend, achieving a cumulative carbon emission reduction of 572,000 tonnes from fossil energy consumption; ② In 2020, Beijing’s public institutions emitted 4.577 million tonnes of carbon, of which 83.5% is from three types of public institutions: educational institutions, state agencies and health institutions; ③ There are significant differences in carbon emissions from public institutions in various districts of Beijing, with central urban districts being the dominant carbon emitters, followed by emerging outskirts, ecological conservation areas and the sub-centre of Beijing; ④ There are positive spatial correlation characteristics of carbon emissions from public institutions in various regions of Beijing, with high-high agglomeration (HH) and low-low agglomeration (LL) being the main types of local spatial auto correlation, while the degree of spatial agglomeration shows a trend of fluctuation between weakening and enhancing.

Green innovation is a key driver of sustainable, low-carbon development. This study analyzes a sample of listed Chinese companies from 2010 to 2018, utilizing complex network community segmentation techniques to construct networks of interlocking corporate directors. We empirically investigate whether peer effects within these networks influence corporate green innovation. Our findings indicate that green innovation is positively affected by peer firms within the same network community, an effect that intensifies under economic policy uncertainty. Further analysis reveals that peer effects are more pronounced in larger groups, in more competitive industries, and among firms with non-state ownership. Mechanistic tests suggest that these peer effects arise from diverse information learning and imitation behaviors within the network. Additionally, variations in green innovation peer effects are influenced by the directors’ green experience and international background. This research not only expands the theoretical understanding of factors driving corporate green innovation but also offers practical insights and evidence to support the promotion of green innovation in Chinese enterprises.

Based on the fact that overseas mergers and acquisitions (M&As) of environmental protection enterprises have surged in recent years, this paper uses the difference-in-differences model to empirically test the impact of technology-oriented overseas M&As on the innovation level of environmental protection enterprises and its underlying mechanism. The study finds that technology-oriented overseas M&As have significantly improved the innovation level of environmental protection enterprises. Compared with direct M&As by parent company, M&As through overseas subsidiaries is more conducive to improving the innovation level of environmental protection enterprises. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive effect of technology-oriented overseas M&As on the innovation level of ecological protection enterprises is more significant in non-state-owned enterprises, enterprises with strong absorptive capacity, and enterprises with strong cross-cultural integration ability. The mechanism test shows that technology-oriented overseas M&As mainly improve the innovation level of environmental protection enterprises by providing heterogeneous knowledge resources, enhancing learning ability, and improving R&D efficiency. The research conclusions of this paper can not only enrich the relevant literature on overseas M&As and enterprise innovation but also provide policy enlightenment for guiding the high-quality development of environmental protection enterprises.

Building effective innovation network is a crucial pathway for fostering the innovative enterprises embeddedness and achieving innovation-driven development. This study constructs a theoretical model to explain how innovation networks drive the innovative enterprises embeddedness, employs structural equation model and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify the mechanisms through which innovation network affect enterprise embedding. The study finds that (1) Innovation network has a positive effect on the innovative enterprises embeddedness. Specifically, network size, network relationships, and network position significantly contribute to innovative enterprises embeddedness. Moreover, the innovation environment positively moderates the relationship between innovation network and innovative enterprises embeddedness. Further analysis shows that no single factor is a necessary condition for generating high or low levels of innovative enterprises embeddedness. Two configurations lead to high innovative enterprises embeddedness: S1, the “scale-position-environment-driven” configuration, and S2, the “scale-relationship-position-environment-driven” configuration, with asymmetric mechanisms compared to low innovative enterprises embeddedness. Based on these insights, this study provides managerial implications, including enhancing innovation network relationships and expanding the scale of innovation networks, strengthening the centrality of innovative enterprises within networks to fully leverage the value of innovation networks, optimizing the innovation environment to cultivate the innovative enterprises embeddedness.

It is of great significance for the formulation and implementation of subsidy policies to explore how the government can reasonably pick subsidy targets to achieve innovative growth of enterprises. Based on the large-scale innovation survey data set and considering endogeneity, this paper explores the mechanism of how government subsidies influence enterprise innovation from two aspects: “picking winners” and “building winners”. The empirical study finds that government subsidies have a “picking winner” strategy to select enterprises with high organizational learning ability. Empirical learning, cognitive learning and inter-organizational learning are the important selection criteria for government subsidies. The internal mechanism of “picking winners” is that enterprises with high organizational learning ability tend to adopt external technology acquisition mode to obtain stable innovation output in the short term, and it is easier to achieve the goal of government subsidies. On the basis of controlling selection bias, government subsidies have a significant “building winners” effect, which is the most, the less and the least pronouced respectively for universal subsidies, discretionary subsidies and selective subsidies. Further analysis by type of enterprises finds that empirical learning is not a selection criterion for the government to grant subsidies to state-owned enterprises, large enterprises and non-start-up enterprises, for which the “building winner” effect of government subsidies is more significant.

Owing to the increasingly dynamic and complex external environment, informal leadership is beneficial to teams in effectively changing procedures and coordination, which is favored by practitioners and scholars. However, dispute exists regarding whether leadership emergence can improve employees’ job performance, so the relationship between them and its mechanism need to be further explored. Drawing on the cognitive appraisal theory and through 507 dyads (87 supervisors and 507 subordinates), we examine the dual-path model of leadership emergence, involving strengthening path and weakening path, to explain why and when leadership emergence affects employees’ job performance. The results show that leadership emergence not only improves employees’ strengths use which in turn increases employees’ job performance, but also aggravates employees’ image risk, which in turn decreases employees’ job performance. In addition, distributed leadership can enhance the positive indirect effect of leadership emergence on employees’ job performance via strengths use, and buffer the negative effect of leadership emergence on employees’ job performance via image risk. These findings offer significant implications for theoretical research and practices.

Workplace loneliness is crucial to employee health and organizational development. Given the gap in existing literature concerning workplace loneliness among gig workers, this study, drawing on social identity theory, explores the mechanism of stigma’s multi-path influence on gig workers’ workplace loneliness and the moderating effect of social integration practices. Using a multi-wave survey involving 495 gig workers and 62 leaders from 62 teams, the study finds that perceived stigma among gig workers disrupts both their team-member exchange (TMX) with formal employees and their leader-member exchange (LMX), thereby exacerbating workplace loneliness. However, social integration practices can mitigate these negative effects. By integrating research on stigma and workplace loneliness, this study expands the understanding of workplace loneliness to include gig workers and its antecedents. Furthermore, it elucidates the underlying mediating mechanisms and offers practical human resource management strategies to help organizations address workplace loneliness among gig workers.

Given the national strategic imperative of speeding up the realization of high level scientific and technological self-reliance, both business and academic circles are searching for ways for scientific and technological innovation enterprises to construct their organizational resilience. Based on the attention-based view, this paper explores into the effect of CEO mindfulness on organizational resilience and its internal mechanism, and examines the mediating effect of organizational mindfulness and organizational emotional capability as well as the moderating effect of organizational interpersonal harmony. Through the leader-member matching survey, 90 valid CEO questionnaires and 293 executive questionnaires are obtained at 2 time points. empirical study shows that CEO mindfulness has a positive influence on organization resilience, and both organizational emotional capability and organizational mindfulness have partial mediating effect between CEO mindfulness and organization resilience. Organizational interpersonal harmony positively moderates this process, which means the higher level of organizational interpersonal harmony, the more positive effect of CEO mindfulness on organizational resilience, and the greater indirect effect on organizational resilience through the mediation of organizational mindfulness and organizational emotional capability. This study extends the research on the construction mechanism and boundary conditions of organization resilience, and also provides theoretical reference and management inspiration for managers to construct organization resilience effectively.

Fear of missing out is ubiquitous in the entrepreneurial process, and it has both negative and positive effects on entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurial efforts. However, research on how entrepreneurial fear of missing out affects entrepreneurial efforts is relatively scarce in academia. Based on the cognitive-emotional dual system theory, this paper constructs a “double-edged sword” mechanism for the influence of entrepreneurial fear of missing out on entrepreneurial efforts, in order to expand the research on antecedents and mechanisms of entrepreneurial efforts. Through the analysis of 281 valid questionnaires collected from entrepreneurs, it is found that entrepreneurial fear of missing out inhibits entrepreneurial efforts by triggering entrepreneurial burnout and promotes entrepreneurial efforts by stimulating self-control. In addition, social support not only weakens entrepreneurial burnout induced by entrepreneurial fear of missing out and strengthens self-control stipulated by it, but also moderates the mediating process by which entrepreneurial fear of missing out has a two-sided effect on entrepreneurial effort. The results of this study help to further open the “black box” regarding how entrepreneurial fear of missing out affects entrepreneurial effort and provide empirical evidence and inspiration for a comprehensive view of the impact of entrepreneurial fear of missing out.

Using data from A-share listed non-high carbon corporations from 2015 to 2021, this paper focuses on the relationship between customers and suppliers, and empirically tests the impact of customer concentration on the greenwashing behavior of non-high carbon corporations, as well as the moderating effect of geographical proximity and industrial competition. The results indicate that customer concentration can promote the greenwashing behavior of non-high carbon corporations, and this effect is more pronounced in corporations geographically distant from their major customers and exposed to intense industry competition. Further research finds that the promoting effect of customer concentration on non-high carbon corporations’ greenwashing behavior is mainly due to the reduction of substantive information disclosure, but the impact of this effect on upstream enterprises of supplier companies is less significant. The moderating effect of geographical proximity is mainly reflected at the intercity level. The paper provides a new research perspective for exploring the motivation of corporate greenwashing, and provides theoretical basis and decision-making reference for environmental regulatory policy formulation, low-carbon collaborative development of supply chain, and the fulfillment of corporate environmental responsibilities.

Taking China’s A-share listed companies from 2017 to 2022 as a sample, this paper examines the impact of the tenure of the accountants who signed the audit reports of listed companies on the similarity of the texts of key audit matters. The results show that the longer an accountant acts as the audit report signatory in the same listed company, the more similar texts he may work out in relation to key audit items, and the less incremental information on key audit items he may provide. In addition, this impact is positively strengthened by the importance of the client, which leads to the audit report being homogenized again. Further analysis shows that the length of tenure of the signing accountants has a more significant impact on the similarity of the disclosure texts of key audit matters in the sample with weak corporate governance. The conclusions of this study expand the research on the influencing factors of the disclosure of key audit matters, and provide an empirical reference for further improving the information disclosure of listed companies, improving the rotation system of signing accountants, and optimizing the disclosure of key audit matters.

Currently, the market environment is changing rapidly and the competition is fierce. Improving the efficiency of progress monitoring and early warning accuracy to ensure timely delivery of products is the core goal of manufacturing enterprises in production management. Buffer monitoring provides an effective method for project schedule management. In order to solve the problem that the existing buffer monitoring ignores the internal structure of the project and the process characteristic information, a comprehensive buffer monitoring method of complex equipment manufacturing project based on double sensitivity is proposed. Firstly, considering the influence of process characteristics and the phase of the process on the project duration, the sensitivity is divided into process sensitivity and phase sensitivity, and the project buffer is dynamically assigned on a rolling basis according to the double sensitivity. Second, the buffer monitoring trigger points and process sensitivity thresholds are dynamically set according to the project execution phase, and the timing of corrective actions is judged by integrating the project-level buffer consumption and process-level sensitivity information, which makes the monitoring more focused and comprehensive. The experimental results show that the proposed method reduces the frequency of red and yellow warnings while ensuring the on-time completion rate of projects. Meanwhile, it avoids the cost waste caused by false warnings and highlights the monitoring focus, which improves the efficiency of buffer monitoring management.

In the we-media information age, the role of public perception is becoming more and more obvious, and the deviation of public perception will bring significant negative impact. Establishing an effective analysis method of the dimensions of public perception and theme evolution can provide a theoretical basis for identifying public opinion biases and optimizing public opinion ecology. However, it is difficult to identify and describe the evolution process of public perception, which is characterized by fragmentation, diversification and multi-dimensionality. Based on the social amplification effect theory and big data text mining method, this paper identifies the evolution process of public concerns and sentimental attitudes from the perspective of public “amplification station” and dynamic evolution by dividing time slices, and constructs a system framework for the evolution analysis of public perception. Based on the data of public comments from 2016 to 2022, this paper explores the social amplification effect of public perception of business environment in Heilongjiang Province and its influencing factors. The results show that the combination of social amplification theory and text mining method can effectively identify the evolution of public perception and the formation process of public opinion bias, and optimize the cultural ecological environment. Under the effect of social amplification, the public perception shows an evolution process from objectiveness to subjectiveness, and finally forms the deviation of public opinion. The public perception of business environment is mainly affected by economic development, government policies and efficiency, and tourism. At the same time, the empirical analysis shows that the negative sentiment of public perception of business environment in Heilongjiang Province is caused mainly by economic depression, and intensified by the epidemic, economic downturn and the slowdown of tourism development. These conclusions provide guidance for Heilongjiang Province to formulate effective strategies for improving public perception of business environment.

In China’s pursuit of sustainable development, the policy pilot initiated by the central government is a crucial form for local governments to undertake sustainable actions. When the logic of cooperation among local governments is introduced into the design of pilot policies, what configurations will drive local governments to choose a cooperative pilot strategy in sustainable actions? Taking the pilot promotion and application of new energy vehicles in China as a case scenario, this paper utilizes Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to explore the influencing factors and pathways of local governments in choosing cooperative pilot strategies in sustainable actions. The research reveals the following findings: First, cooperation guidance and environmental governance pressure from higher-level governments, considerations of cooperation partner search costs and information communication costs, as well as the financial and technological capabilities of local governments, will converge to drive them to choose cooperative pilot strategies in sustainable actions. Second, there are four paths for local government to engage in cooperation pilots: free-rider type, development-oriented type, pressure-driven type, and proximity-driven type, reflecting the differentiated motivations of local governments. Third, lower cooperation partner search cost is a necessary condition for local governments to choose cooperative pilot strategies in sustainable actions.

As an arduous and time-consuming task, environmental governance can hardly bring about a better economic return in the short term, so rational enterprises are not motivated to implement environmental strategies on their own. Given this fact, external pressure from the government’s environmental regulation becomes indispensable for urging enterprises to implement environmental strategies. Based on institutional theory and upper echelons theory, this paper explores the impact of three types of environmental regulation, namely command and control, market incentive and public participation, on corporate environmental strategy, and further explores the mediating role of top managers’ cognition between the two. The findings confirm that command-and-control and public-involved environmental regulation have a positive impact on corporate environmental strategy, market-incentive environmental regulation significantly inhibits corporate environmental strategy, and top managers’ cognition plays a mediating role in the impact of the 3 types of environmental regulation. These findings promote the integration of institutional theory and upper echelons theory, enrich the research results of heterogeneous environmental regulation, and also provide theoretical support for the government to formulate environmental policies and for enterprises to implement environmental strategies.

Enterprise digital transformation entails more than technological shift; the comprehensive upgrade of cognition, decision-making, and operational collaboration across levels is crucial for cultivating essential digital dynamic capabilities to overcome transformation bottlenecks. However, existing research rarely explores digital dynamic capability evolution from the perspective of cognition-behavior interaction in transformation. This study employs East China Institute as a case-advancing individual, organizational, and inter-organizational cognition-behavior coevolution via its leadership project-to explore theoretical mechanisms driving digital dynamic capability evolution. Findings reveal that individual, organizational, and inter-organizational digital transformation cognition and digital resource action spiral together, drive enterprise digital dynamic capabilities’ construction, enhancement, and leap. Enterprise digital transformation sensemaking involves two rounds of transferring meaning from individual to organizational to inter-organizational level. Thus, this study distills the three-level dual-transfer cognition coupled with piecing, arranging, and orchestrating digital resources, driving digital dynamic capabilities’ construction, enhancement, and leap. It expands research on digital dynamic capability, sensemaking, and resource action, offering practical insights for enterprises to accelerate digital/intelligent transformation by cultivating these capabilities to promote China’s high-quality economic development. It also provides references for understanding how leading enterprises construct digital ecosystems and empower industrial digitization.

Digital transformation is an inevitable choice for traditional manufacturing enterprises (TMEs) to cope with digital economy and achieve high quality development. At present, there is still a lack of systematic analysis framework on how TMEs choose the appropriate digital transformation modes according to the resource constraints in different stages. In this paper, longitudinal single case study method is adopted to deconstruct the digital transformation modes and evolution mechanism of TMEs from the perspective of integrated opportunities and resources. The main findings are as follows. In the stage of channel, production and business model digital transformation, TMEs face external, internal and cooperative resource constraints respectively. Corresponding to these constraints, there are three digital transformation modes: platform embedding, process infiltration, and value symbiosis. Under different transformation modes, TMEs adopt the platform attachment strategy, process inversion strategy and digital partner synergy strategy successively, and choose the external, internal and symbiotic integration of opportunities and resources. Based on the trigger thresholds of different modes, the gradual transformation path of TMEs from platform embedding to process infiltration, and then to value symbiosis is revealed. This study elucidates the mechanisms of TMEs’ digital transformation modes and their evolution from a strategic perspective, providing insights and guidance for TMEs to select their digital transformation modes and design their transformation pathways.