This study examines the impact of chief executive officer ability on firms’ corporate social responsibility performance. We find that firms’ CSR performance increases with CEO ability. Specifically, firms with more able CEOs are associated with more socially responsible activities and fewer socially irresponsible activities, and are associated with more stakeholder CSR rather than third-party CSR. We further find that the positive relation between CEO ability and CSR is weakened for CEO who is also the chair of the board and for (...) CEO who is close to retirement; and is weakened when the CSR emphasis exerted by a firm’s external environment is high. Our results are robust after controlling for firm fixed effects and to the use of multiple measures of CSR performance and CEO ability. Overall, our evidence is consistent with our conjecture that more able CEOs have less career concerns so that these CEOs are more willing to undertake long-term investments in socially beneficial activities, leading to better CSR performance. (shrink)

Enterprise Network has increasingly gained popularity in academia. Over the past few decades, a substantial amount of EN studies have been published in China. Drawing upon a sample of 603 papers retrieved from the Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index database between 1998 and 2020, this study aims to delve into the status quo, knowledge base, research focus, and evolutionary trends of EN research in China. A multifaceted bibliometric analysis was performed using CiteSpace. The findings mainly indicate that the research on (...) EN in China has a clear development context, and the research content gradually changes from macro to micro. In addition to foreign Social Network theories, the research results of domestic scholars have become the basic knowledge in this field. The research includes these topics: the conceptualization of EN, EN as indicators of enterprise development, EN’s impact on start-ups, mechanisms of EN’s effect and governance of EN. The potential direction for future research has been identified as the integration between EN and other forms of networks, and the structure of EN. (shrink)

Firms are central to wealth creation and distribution, but their role in economic inequality in a society remains poorly studied. In this essay, we define and distinguish value distribution from value creation and value appropriation. We identify four value distribution mechanisms that firms engage in and argue that shareholder wealth maximization approach skews the value distribution toward shareholders and top executives, which in turn contributes to rising economic inequalities around the world. We call on organizational scholars to study the value (...) distribution role of firms and its consequences for society, and introduce the articles in this volume of the special issue on economic inequality, business, and society. (shrink)

This study examines the effects of corporate governance mechanisms on CSR performance in an emerging economy, China. Because of the need of gaining legitimacy in the new institutional context, Chinese firms have to adopt global CSR practices in order to remain competitive. Using the corporate governance framework, this study examines how board composition, ownership, and TMT composition influence corporate social performance. The propositions are tested using data gathered from 471 firms in China. By and large, empirical findings supported the hypothesized (...) relationships. (shrink)

This article proposes an interpretation of the ‘Thesis that Things do not Shift’ (Wu bu qian lun, 物不遷論) of the early Chinese Buddhist philosopher Sengzhao. We understand Sengzhao to be proposing a version of the philosophy of time found in Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma, and then interpreting statements about time from Mahāyāna texts in light of that account. But whatever his limitations as a cross-cultural interpreter, we find Sengzhao surprisingly impressive philosophically, as he proposes a view that is noticeably more advanced towards (...) a modern conception of time than the accounts found in South Asian Buddhist sources. Ironically, his earnest efforts to present his view as falling within the Mahāyāna may have functioned to conceal Sengzhao’s true philosophical achievement. (shrink)

This study examines the relation between a firm’s business strategy and its corporate social responsibility performance. Using a comprehensive measure of business strategy based on the Miles and Snow theoretical framework, we find that firms following an innovation-oriented strategy are associated with better CSR performance than those following an efficiency-oriented strategy. Specifically, compared with defenders, prospectors engage in more socially responsible activities, fewer socially irresponsible activities, and perform better in both stakeholder- and third-party-related CSR areas. Taken together, our results suggest (...) that business strategy is an important determinant of CSR performance. Prospectors take advantage of CSR, as their innovation-oriented strategy allows them not only to benefit more from CSR, but also to have more tolerance for the uncertainty, risk, and long time-horizon associated with CSR engagement. (shrink)

This study investigates how social capital affects managers’ use of corporate resources. We find that for firms located in U.S. counties with a high level of social capital, (i) corporate cash holdings have higher marginal value, (ii) the contribution of capital expenditures to shareholder value is higher, and (iii) acquirers experience higher announcement-period abnormal stock returns. We further find that social capital decreases both over- and under-investment, and thus improves ex post corporate investment efficiency. Our evidence suggests that in communities (...) with a high level of social capital, strong social norms and dense social networks constrain unethical corporate behavior, which induces more efficient use of corporate resources. (shrink)

Students’ active learning behavior determines learning performance. In post-COVID-19 period, Online Merging Offline method become a common way of university students’ learning. However, at present, there are few studies in active learning behavior in the OMO mode. Combined with learning satisfaction and Technology Acceptance Model, this paper proposes an Online Active Learning Model to predict the influencing factors of college students’ active learning behavior and then analyzes the differences between OMO model and pure online model by multi-group analysis based on (...) the model. The designed questionnaire was distributed, and a total of 498 valid questionnaires were collected. Using SmartPLS to analyze partial least squares structural equation modeling and MGA, it is found that: there are differences in the influencing factors of active learning between OMO and pure online model; the moderating effect of learning complaint in OMO mode is not established, and social isolation and age does not affect active learning in OMO mode; learning quality, perceived ease of use, expectation, perceived usefulness, and social isolation indirectly affect active learning through learning satisfaction in both OMO model and pure online model; learning satisfaction is an important mediating variable affecting active learning; and learning complaints will negatively regulate the relationship between learning satisfaction and active learning only in pure online model. According to these findings, the paper provides theoretical and practical implementation suggestions implications for OMO teaching and OAL to ensure the expected learning outcome. (shrink)

This study examines the conditions under which local social environments are likely to influence corporate tax behavior. Using a social capital index at the county level, we find that on average, social capital reduces firms’ aggressive tax avoidance behavior. The impact of social capital on corporate tax avoidance is weaker when managers are under excessive pressure to meet earnings targets, during the periods of financial constraints, and when managers are incentivized to undertake risk. We further find that corporate tax avoidance (...) activities engaged by firms headquartered in high-social-capital counties tend to be less value-increasing, indicating that potential social sanctions in these areas may reduce the benefits of tax avoidance activities accrue to firms. However, the negative impact of tax avoidance on firm value in high-social-capital counties tends to be lower for firms with strong corporate governance, which suggests that managers in well-governed firms can better exploit tax avoidance opportunities. Overall, our evidence is consistent with our conjecture that although the local social environments have a significant influence on corporate tax behavior, this influence is fragile in the presence of excessive earnings pressure, financial constraints, and equity risk incentives. (shrink)

This volume explores the cross-linguistic diversity, and possibly inconsistency, of the span of linguistic means that signal reported speech and thought. The integration of broad linguistic (viewpoint in conversation and narrative) and cognitive (theory of mind and understanding the inner life and thought of others) strategies for handling mixed points of view will be considered.

This study attempts to investigate the relationships among the ethical beliefs of Chinese consumers and orientations based on attitudinal attributes: materialism and moral philosophies (idealism and relativism). In addition, this study examines Chinese consumers' ethical beliefs in relation to five selected demographic characteristics (gender, age, religion, family income and education). Based on this exploratory study of 284 Chinese consumers, the following statistically significant findings were discovered. First, Chinese consumers regard that a passively benefiting activity is more ethical, but actively benefiting (...) from an illegal or a questionable activity is unacceptable. Second, the two dimensions of passively benefiting and no harm/no foul can be used to distinguish the consumers who endorse higher levels of idealism or relativism. Third, Chinese consumers with a high level of materialism are more likely to actively benefit from illegal and questionable activities, and the passively benefiting actions. Finally, the more ethical Chinese consumers seem to be younger, be religious, and have a lower family income. (shrink)

Previous literature has demonstrated that ethical leadership could predict employees’ voice behavior. However, it’s not clear how to heighten these positive effects of ethical leadership on employees’ voice behavior. Building on the AET and moral disengagement studies, we developed an integrated model. A three-wave field study investigated the relationship between ethical leadership and voice behavior by focusing on the mediating role of employees’ affective commitment and the moderating role of employees’ moral disengagement. Our matched data analysis results indicated that: employees’ (...) affective commitment partly mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ voice behavior. In addition, employees’ moral disengagement moderated the effect of ethical leadership on employees’ affective commitment and the effect of employees’ affective commitment on voice behavior, similarly, the indirect effect of ethical leadership on employees’ voice behavior via employees’ affective commitment. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. (shrink)

Providing ethically competent care requires nurses to reflect not only on nursing ethics, but also on their own ethical traditions. New challenges for nurse educators over the last decade have been the increasing globalization of the nursing workforce and the internationalization of nursing education. In New Zealand, there has been a large increase in numbers of Chinese students, both international and immigrant, already acculturated with ethical and cultural values derived from Chinese Confucian moral traditions. Recently, several incidents involving Chinese nursing (...) students in morally conflicting situations have led to one nursing faculty reflecting upon how moral philosophy is taught to non-European students and the support given to Chinese students in integrating the taught curriculum into real-life clinical practice settings. This article uses a case study involving a Chinese student to reflect on the challenges for both faculty members and students when encountering situations that present ethical dilemmas. (shrink)

Music not only regulates mood but also promotes the development and maintenance of empathy and social understanding. Since empathy is crucial for well-being and indispensable in social life, it is necessary to develop strategies to improve empathy and prosocial behaviors. To fulfill this aim, researchers have extensively investigated the effect of intensive musical training on the development of empathy. Here, we first summarize evidence showing the powerful influence of musical training on the development of empathy and then discuss psychological mechanisms (...) responsible for those observations. The conclusions drawn from most previous studies were mainly based on behavioral measurements, while the neural basis of musical training in the development of the empathic brain is still unclear. Fortunately, brain imaging research has contributed greatly to our understanding of the neural underpinnings associated with musical training and its possible connection to the development of the empathic brain. One of the most distinctive signatures of musical training is structural and functional changes of multiple brain regions, and such changes might be related to some of the empathic behaviors observed in musically trained children. Therefore, intensive musical training in childhood may increase levels of empathy, and applied research is required to optimize the training strategy before implementing music education in empathy regulation. Moreover, future longitudinal studies are needed to better understand neural mechanisms underlying the causal effect of musical training on empathy development. These findings have important implications for understanding the development of the empathic brain and for improving prosocial behaviors. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

Business groups dominate the economic landscape in many economies around the world. While business groups overcome the institutional voids arising due to inefficiencies of external markets, they also possess market power, which could be economically and socially counterproductive, especially for unaffiliated firms. Drawing on the transaction cost and industrial organization economics, we examine whether the presence of business group affiliated firms in industries restricts the entry of unaffiliated firms or firms affiliated with small- and medium-size business groups. Findings based on (...) Indian firms suggest that investments by business group affiliated firms in an industry have an inverted U-shaped relationship with the investment by unaffiliated firms. However, investments by firms affiliated with large-sized business groups have a U-shaped relationship with the investment by affiliates of small and medium business groups. These findings suggest that the market power of business groups and entry barrier relationship is contingent on the size of the business groups. (shrink)

Chinese consumers comprise a unique subculture that exerts a considerable influence on the market and are treated as a collective group by researchers. However, few studies have examined the effects of collectivism and consumer attitudinal attributes on consumer ethics. Although the practice of religion was prohibited in China before economic reforms in the late 1970s, religion remains a major factor that affects the ethical judgment of consumers. The present study, based on the Hunt–Vitell model, examines the influence of culture and (...) personal characteristics on consumer ethics. A total of 284 Chinese consumers were surveyed. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships in the research model. The results indicate that collectivism had a significant explanatory power for four dimensions of consumer ethical beliefs: actively benefiting from illegal activities; passively benefiting from questionable activities; actively benefiting from deceptive legal activities; and engaging in no harm and no foul activities. However, consumer attitude toward business significantly explained only the passive dimension of consumer ethics, and religious beliefs significantly explained only the active dimension of consumer ethical beliefs. (shrink)

This study explored the relationship between social support and job satisfaction in kindergarten teachers, and the mediating role of coping styles in this relationship. A sample of 617 kindergarten teachers from kindergartens in mainland China completed questionnaires measuring social support, job satisfaction, and coping style. The results showed that social support was positively related to job satisfaction and positive coping style was positively associated with social support and job satisfaction. Furthermore, the results revealed that positive coping style, but not negative (...) coping style, had a mediating effect on the relationship between kindergarten teachers’ social support and job satisfaction. This study provides initial evidence that coping style mediates the link between social support and job satisfaction in kindergarten teachers, and suggests that increasing social support and encouraging positive coping style could improve kindergarten teachers’ job satisfaction. (shrink)

This study adopts qualitative research methods, and the research texts are three Zhang Yimou films that reflect the history and social culture of the Republic of China, namely Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, and Raise the Red Lantern, also known as the Red Trilogy. This study explores the phenomenon of consuming history through the art form of films. The study finds that history is not only concerned and used by historians and archaeologists but can also be used by artists and consumed (...) by the audience. The consumption (use) of history by artists and audiences is not consuming its complete authentic history. In Zhang Yimou's Red trilogy films, the history and social culture of the Republic of China are arranged and designed. The audience can get a feeling that goes straight to the heart by watching these artfully processed. Re-made history, which is different from the historical knowledge read through words in history books, this kind of consumption is more intuitive, attractive, and acceptable to the audience. By watching these films, the audience colloquially learns about history, and although it is not a serious and complete history, it gains cultural value just as much. (shrink)

This research, focusing on the 'Oracle Bone Script' of Anyang City, China, holds significant academic value. It delves into the discovery of oracle bones and their use for divination and sacrifice during the Shang Dynasty, shedding light on the social, political, economic, and cultural aspects of the time, as well as local wisdom. The study investigates the connection between oracle bones and the lives and society of the local people in Anyang, including the construction of identity and the utilization of (...) oracle bones' value. The main findings of the study, titled 'Oracle Bone Script Culture of Anyang, China,' highlight the inseparable link between 'self-identity construction' and 'value utilization of inheritance.' These two elements interact to shape a distinctive oracle bone culture that mirrors the self-identity of the people of Anyang. The research's academic significance lies in its exploration of ancient cultural identity and its provision of crucial educational and informational value for the cultural development policies of various countries. (shrink)

The policy of government procurement of elderly care services has the vulnerability characteristics that all complex systems have. To maintain the policy’s robustness, this paper studies the vulnerability of government procurement of elderly care services from the perspective of complex network. Case analysis and sample statistics are used to obtain the vulnerability influencing factors of the policy. Then, complex network diagram of vulnerability influencing factors is constructed through Pajek software. The compatibility coefficient is used to investigate the network’s overall vulnerability (...) from a macro perspective. From a micro perspective, a vulnerability index of the complex network is applied to measure each node’s vulnerability value, and the vulnerability priority of the nodes is established. Results show that government purchasing power and supervisory bodies’ diversity are at the first priority. The remaining vulnerability influencing factors are at the second and the third priority. (shrink)

To understand how different types of cues in vaccine education messages affect attitude toward campaign messages and vaccination intention, this study examined the impact of the presence of social norm appeals and the presence of fear appeals in coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine campaign posters on perceived communication quality and vaccination intention. A 2 × 2 × 3 within-subject factorial design experiment was conducted in China. Findings demonstrated that the presence of fear appeals in COVID-19 vaccine campaign posters elicited lower levels (...) of perceived communication quality and vaccination intention than those without fear appeals. The interactive effect of fear appeals and social norm appeals was also found to be significant. Specifically, positive-framed messages with group cues and fear appeal messages with individual cues elicited higher perceived information quality and stronger vaccination intention than other types of messages. Understanding how these cues function jointly in COVID-19 vaccine campaign messages will help public health practitioners create more effective intervention strategies. (shrink)

Direct electrical stimulation has been widely applied in both guidance of lesion resection and scientific research; however, the design and selection of intraoperative cognitive mapping tasks have not been updated in a very long time. We introduce updated mapping tasks for language and non-language functions and provide recommendations for optimal design and selection of intraoperative mapping tasks. In addition, with DES becoming more critical in current neuroscientific research, a task design that has not been widely used in DES yet was (...) introduced for more delicate mapping of brain functions especially for research purposes. We also illustrate the importance of designing a common task series for DES and other non-invasive mapping techniques. This review gives practical updated guidelines for advanced application of DES in clinical and neuroscientific research. (shrink)

Resolving the challenge of flight delays caused by air traffic congestion renders it necessary to explore the mode of congestion propagation. By applying complex network theory, this article establishes a complex network structure where airspace sectors act as nodes, and the edges represent traffic flow relationships between sectors. In addition, a cascading failure model is proposed to analyze the airspace sector network’s invulnerability. The critical threshold and the sector abnormality rate are determined according to the cascading failure measurement indexes. Based (...) on the remaining capacity of sector nodes, two optimization strategies are proposed: adjacent load redistribution strategy and local load redistribution strategy. The simulation results demonstrate that the local load redistribution strategy greatly improves the airspace sector network’s invulnerability to cascading failure. (shrink)

It has been demonstrated that the propagation of information and awareness regarding a disease can assist in containing the outbreak of epidemics. Previous models for this coevolving usually introduced the dependence between these two processes by setting a lower but time-independent infection rate for individuals with awareness. However, a realistic scenario can be more complicated, as individual vigilance and the adopted protective measures may depend on the extent of the discussion on the disease, whereas individuals may be irrational or lack (...) relevant knowledge, leading to improper measures being taken. These can introduce a time-varying dependence between epidemic dynamics and awareness prevalence and may weaken the effect of spreading awareness in containing a pandemic. To better understand this effect, we introduce a nonlinear dependence of the epidemic infection rate on awareness prevalence, focusing on the effect of different forms of dependence on the coevolving dynamics. We demonstrate that a positive correlation between vigilance and awareness prevalence can enhance the effect of information spreading in suppressing epidemics. However, this enhancement can be weakened if some individuals are irrational. Our results demonstrate the importance of rational behavior in the strategy of containing epidemics by propagation of disease information. (shrink)

Previous research has almost universally shown that forgiveness is a beneficial virtue that can generate a series of positive outcomes. We challenge this prevailing view by proposing that employee forgiveness is a mixed blessing. Setting off from distinguishing the motives behind forgiveness, we integrated the relational perspective and ego depletion theory to explore the beneficial and detrimental consequences of employee forgiveness. Specifically, our study investigated when and how employee forgiveness leads to interpersonal citizenship behaviors (ICBs) and interpersonal deviance. Using a (...) sample of 349 supervisor–employee dyads, we found that employee forgiveness driven by strong relationship-oriented motives could foster high-quality relationships with coworkers and facilitate ICBs. In contrast, employee forgiveness driven by strong self-oriented motives could cause more resource depletion and increase interpersonal deviance. Furthermore, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study as well as future research directions. (shrink)

The ambiguous development trend of cultural globalization brings both opportunities and challenges to China’s cultural development. English major in colleges and universities, a discipline of cross-cultural education, should look at the cultural communication of the target country dialectically based on the national consciousness of the home country. Since the end of the 20th century, administrators and scholars have paid attention to critical thinking, critical cultural awareness, and critical skills in cross-cultural communication, which are important components of the cross-cultural meaning system. (...) Therefore, all these are collectively referred to as critical cross-cultural literacy. On the basis of the research paradigm of systemic functional linguistics, a language is a semiotic system that creates meaning. Thus, to help students construct and improve their individual CCCL repertoire, teachers need to guide them to critically study and analyze the discourse purpose of the textbook author as well as their language methods and strategies to enrich their meaning potential. (shrink)

In this first original collection of essays on Catholic Biblical Ethics ever done in English, renowned Jesuit moral theologian James Keenan brings together distinct voices from numerous cultures and language groups. The result is a volume representing a truly global community of Catholic ethics scholars. The Bible and Catholic Theological Ethics deepens contemporary understandings of the relationship between the Holy Bible and the world of Catholic ethical reflection. Like the four other books in the prestigious CTEWC Series, this volume aims (...) at offering a more systematic, comprehensive, and global perspective than typical Anglo-centric or North American-focused offerings. (shrink)