This paper presents a comparative qualitative analysis of reputational crisis of four European banks, and explores how in recent years these companies have faced the manifestation of reputational risk. To achieve this...This paper presents a comparative qualitative analysis of reputational crisis of four European banks, and explores how in recent years these companies have faced the manifestation of reputational risk. To achieve this, the research follows three related steps: (1) to carry out a review of the literature on reputational risk in the banking sector aimed to identify the relationships between causes, effects, stakeholders, and key qualitative-quantitative variables involved during the reputational crisis of a bank; (2) to propose a conceptual framework for management of reputational risk (and reputational crisis) in banking; (3) to test this framework with the results of an empirical analysis, carried out through the observation of key variables of some reputational crisis of intemational banks. The main results show that: (1) the banks are not yet prepared to accurately manage a reputational crisis or to prevent them; (2) the reputational crisis is determined by several internal and external factors; (3) the conduct of the managers and the corporate communication are very important to overcome a reputational crisis. Finally, this research provides indications that will help banks to better manage their corporate reputation and prevent reputational crisis.展开更多
To study the incentive mechanisms of cooperation, we propose a preference rewarding mechanism in the spatial prisoner’s dilemma game, which simultaneously considers reputational preference, other-regarding preference...To study the incentive mechanisms of cooperation, we propose a preference rewarding mechanism in the spatial prisoner’s dilemma game, which simultaneously considers reputational preference, other-regarding preference and the dynamic adjustment of vertex weight. The vertex weight of a player is adaptively adjusted according to the comparison result of his own reputation and the average reputation value of his immediate neighbors. Players are inclined to pay a personal cost to reward the cooperative neighbor with the greatest vertex weight. The vertex weight of a player is proportional to the preference rewards he can obtain from direct neighbors. We find that the preference rewarding mechanism significantly facilitates the evolution of cooperation, and the dynamic adjustment of vertex weight has powerful effect on the emergence of cooperative behavior. To validate multiple effects, strategy distribution and the average payoff and fitness of players are discussed in a microcosmic view.展开更多
Leveraging the principal-agent theory,this study incorporates reputational capital into a continuous-time framework for analyzing venture capital exit decisions.The authors explore how the principal-agent relationship...Leveraging the principal-agent theory,this study incorporates reputational capital into a continuous-time framework for analyzing venture capital exit decisions.The authors explore how the principal-agent relationships influence the decision to take capital public by synthesizing optimal incentive alignment and IPO timing within a unified model.The results uncover an intriguing aspect of reputational capital:Despite entrepreneurial efforts to augment this capital,its growth is not linear but tends to reach the highest level before the IPO event.Furthermore,the accumulation of reputational capital expedites the capital exit process and enhances the returns from such exits.Subsequently,as the exit timeline extends,the proportion of exit returns allocated to entrepreneurs escalates to a full share,imposing a constrained decision window for investors on exit timing.The findings suggest that the timing for maximizing investor returns at an IPO is later than the timing that maximizes company revenue.Moreover,excessive IPO costs further delay this exit decision for investors.These findings offer fresh insights into the languishing IPO market observed over the last two decades.展开更多
This paper considers the supplier investment decision-making problem in a supply chain consisting of an original equipment manufacturer(OEM),a global supplier,and a local supplier.To reduce dependence on global suppli...This paper considers the supplier investment decision-making problem in a supply chain consisting of an original equipment manufacturer(OEM),a global supplier,and a local supplier.To reduce dependence on global suppliers and improve supply stability,we develop a differential game model to investigate the optimal investment decisions of the OEM towards the local supplier under different risk scenarios and the impact of different risks on the optimal decisions.The results show that investment efficiency and risks have a significant impact on OEM investment decisions.Specifically,when the OEM has higher investment efficiency,investing in the local supplier is profitable for the OEM;conversely,when the investment efficiency of the OEM is lower,it does not invest.In addition,an increase in the supply risk of the global supplier will lower the entry threshold for OEM investment,but an increase in the supply risk of the local supplier and the reputational risk of both will increase this threshold,meaning that only the OEM with significantly higher investment efficiency can profit.展开更多
Purpose:For a set of 1,561 Open Access(OA)and non-OA journals in business and economics,this study evaluates the relationships between four citation metrics-five-year Impact Factor(5IF),CiteScore,Article Influence(AI)...Purpose:For a set of 1,561 Open Access(OA)and non-OA journals in business and economics,this study evaluates the relationships between four citation metrics-five-year Impact Factor(5IF),CiteScore,Article Influence(AI)score,and SCImago Journal Rank(SJR)-and the journal ratings assigned by expert reviewers.We expect that the OA journals will have especially high citation impact relative to their perceived quality(reputation).Design/methodology/approach:Regression is used to estimate the ratings assigned by expert reviewers for the 2021 CABS(Chartered Association of Business Schools)journal assessment exercise.The independent variables are the four citation metrics,evaluated separately,and a dummy variable representing the OA/non-OA status of each journal.Findings:Regardless of the citation metric used,OA journals in business and economics have especially high citation impact relative to their perceived quality(reputation).That is,they have especially low perceived quality(reputation)relative to their citation impact.Research limitations:These results are specific to the CABS journal ratings and the four citation metrics.However,there is strong evidence that CABS is closely related to several other expert ratings,and that 5IF,CiteScore,AI,and SJR are representative of the other citation metrics that might have been chosen.Practical implications:There are at least two possible explanations for these results:(1)expert evaluators are biased against OA journals,and(2)OA journals have especially high citation impact due to their increased accessibility.Although this study does not allow us to determine which of these explanations are supported,the results suggest that authors should consider publishing in OA journals whenever overall readership and citation impact are more important than journal reputation within a particular field.Moreover,the OA coefficients provide a useful indicator of the extent to which anti-OA bias(or the citation advantage of OA journals)is diminishing over time.Originality/value:This is apparently the first study to investigate the impact of OA status on the relationships between expert journal ratings and journal citation metrics.展开更多
In response to the challenges presented by the unreliable identity of the master node,high communication overhead,and limited network support size within the Practical Byzantine Fault-Tolerant(PBFT)algorithm for conso...In response to the challenges presented by the unreliable identity of the master node,high communication overhead,and limited network support size within the Practical Byzantine Fault-Tolerant(PBFT)algorithm for consortium chains,we propose an improved PBFT algorithm based on XGBoost grouping called XG-PBFT in this paper.XG-PBFT constructs a dataset by training important parameters that affect node performance,which are used as classification indexes for nodes.The XGBoost algorithm then is employed to train the dataset,and nodes joining the system will be grouped according to the trained grouping model.Among them,the nodes with higher parameter indexes will be assigned to the consensus group to participate in the consensus,and the rest of the nodes will be assigned to the general group to receive the consensus results.In order to reduce the resource waste of the system,XG-PBFT optimizes the consensus protocol for the problem of high complexity of PBFT communication.Finally,we evaluate the performance of XG-PBFT.The experimental results show that XG-PBFT can significantly improve the performance of throughput,consensus delay and communication complexity compared to the original PBFT algorithm,and the performance enhancement is significant compared to other algorithms in the case of a larger number of nodes.The results demonstrate that the XG-PBFT algorithm is more suitable for large-scale consortium chains.展开更多
Blockchain-based user-centric access network(UCAN)fails in dynamic access point(AP)management,as it lacks an incentive mechanism to promote virtuous behavior.Furthermore,the low throughput of the blockchain has been a...Blockchain-based user-centric access network(UCAN)fails in dynamic access point(AP)management,as it lacks an incentive mechanism to promote virtuous behavior.Furthermore,the low throughput of the blockchain has been a bottleneck to the widespread adoption of UCAN in 6G.In this paper,we propose Overlap Shard,a blockchain framework based on a novel reputation voting(RV)scheme,to dynamically manage the APs in UCAN.AP nodes in UCAN are distributed across multiple shards based on the RV scheme.That is,nodes with good reputation(virtuous behavior)are likely to be selected in the overlap shard.The RV mechanism ensures the security of UCAN because most APs adopt virtuous behaviors.Furthermore,to improve the efficiency of the Overlap Shard,we reduce cross-shard transactions by introducing core nodes.Specifically,a few nodes are overlapped in different shards,which can directly process the transactions in two shards instead of crossshard transactions.This greatly increases the speed of transactions between shards and thus the throughput of the overlap shard.The experiments show that the throughput of the overlap shard is about 2.5 times that of the non-sharded blockchain.展开更多
Taking China’s 2018 value-added tax(VAT)credit refund reform as an exogenous shock to improve VAT neutrality,we use a difference-in-differences approach to explore how the reform affected corporate social responsibil...Taking China’s 2018 value-added tax(VAT)credit refund reform as an exogenous shock to improve VAT neutrality,we use a difference-in-differences approach to explore how the reform affected corporate social responsibility(CSR).We find that the reform motivated firms to improve CSR performance.The reform has a“resource”effect,increasing internal funds and reducing financing costs,thereby enhancing firms’ability to undertake CSR.The reform also has a“reputation”effect,stimulating firms’willingness to engage in CSR to improve their reputations.CSR following the reform increases firm values and reduces bankruptcy risk.Our study provides fresh insights into VAT neutrality theory and is a reference for tax reform in emerging economies.展开更多
With the development of vehicle networks and the construction of roadside units,Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks(VANETs)are increasingly promoting cooperative computing patterns among vehicles.Vehicular edge computing(VEC)of...With the development of vehicle networks and the construction of roadside units,Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks(VANETs)are increasingly promoting cooperative computing patterns among vehicles.Vehicular edge computing(VEC)offers an effective solution to mitigate resource constraints by enabling task offloading to edge cloud infrastructure,thereby reducing the computational burden on connected vehicles.However,this sharing-based and distributed computing paradigm necessitates ensuring the credibility and reliability of various computation nodes.Existing vehicular edge computing platforms have not adequately considered themisbehavior of vehicles.We propose a practical task offloading algorithm based on reputation assessment to address the task offloading problem in vehicular edge computing under an unreliable environment.This approach integrates deep reinforcement learning and reputation management to address task offloading challenges.Simulation experiments conducted using Veins demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.展开更多
In mega-constellation Communication Systems, efficient routing algorithms and data transmission technologies are employed to ensure fast and reliable data transfer. However, the limited computational resources of sate...In mega-constellation Communication Systems, efficient routing algorithms and data transmission technologies are employed to ensure fast and reliable data transfer. However, the limited computational resources of satellites necessitate the use of edge computing to enhance secure communication.While edge computing reduces the burden on cloud computing, it introduces security and reliability challenges in open satellite communication channels. To address these challenges, we propose a blockchain architecture specifically designed for edge computing in mega-constellation communication systems. This architecture narrows down the consensus scope of the blockchain to meet the requirements of edge computing while ensuring comprehensive log storage across the network. Additionally, we introduce a reputation management mechanism for nodes within the blockchain, evaluating their trustworthiness, workload, and efficiency. Nodes with higher reputation scores are selected to participate in tasks and are appropriately incentivized. Simulation results demonstrate that our approach achieves a task result reliability of 95% while improving computational speed.展开更多
The integration of photovoltaic,energy storage,direct current,and flexible load(PEDF)technologies in building power systems is an importantmeans to address the energy crisis and promote the development of green buildi...The integration of photovoltaic,energy storage,direct current,and flexible load(PEDF)technologies in building power systems is an importantmeans to address the energy crisis and promote the development of green buildings.The friendly interaction between the PEDF systems and the power grid can promote the utilization of renewable energy and enhance the stability of the power grid.For this purpose,this work introduces a framework of multiple incentive mechanisms for a PEDF park,a building energy system that implements PEDF technologies.The incentive mechanisms proposed in this paper include both economic and noneconomic aspects,which is the most significant innovation of this paper.By modeling the relationship between a PEDF park and the power grid into a Stackelberg game,we demonstrate the effectiveness of these incentive measures in promoting the friendly interaction between the two entities.In this game model,the power grid determines on the prices of electricity trading and incentive subsidy,aiming to maximize its revenue while reducing the peak load of the PEDF park.On the other hand,the PEDF park make its dispatch plan according to the prices established by the grid,in order to reduce electricity consumption expense,improve electricity utility,and enhance the penetration rate of renewable energy.The results show that the proposed incentive mechanisms for the PEDF park can help to optimize energy consumption and promote sustainable energy practices.展开更多
Crowdsourcing holds broad applications in information acquisition and dissemination,yet encounters challenges pertaining to data quality assessment and user reputation management.Reputation mechanisms stand as crucial...Crowdsourcing holds broad applications in information acquisition and dissemination,yet encounters challenges pertaining to data quality assessment and user reputation management.Reputation mechanisms stand as crucial solutions for appraising and updating participant reputation scores,thereby elevating the quality and dependability of crowdsourced data.However,these mechanisms face several challenges in traditional crowdsourcing systems:1)platform security lacks robust guarantees and may be susceptible to attacks;2)there exists a potential for large-scale privacy breaches;and 3)incentive mechanisms relying on reputation scores may encounter issues as reputation updates hinge on task demander evaluations,occasionally lacking a dedicated reputation update module.This paper introduces a reputation update scheme tailored for crowdsourcing,with a focus on proficiently overseeing participant reputations and alleviating the impact of malicious activities on the sensing system.Here,the reputation update scheme is determined by an Empirical Cumulative distribution-based Outlier Detection method(ECOD).Our scheme embraces a blockchain-based crowdsourcing framework utilizing a homomorphic encryption method to ensure data transparency and tamper-resistance.Computation of user reputation scores relies on their behavioral history,actively discouraging undesirable conduct.Additionally,we introduce a dynamic weight incentive mechanism that mirrors alterations in participant reputation,enabling the system to allocate incentives based on user behavior and reputation.Our scheme undergoes evaluation on 11 datasets,revealing substantial enhancements in data credibility for crowdsourcing systems and a reduction in the influence of malicious behavior.This research not only presents a practical solution for crowdsourcing reputation management but also offers valuable insights for future research and applications,holding promise for fostering more reliable and high-quality data collection in crowdsourcing across diverse domains.展开更多
In permissioned blockchain networks,the Proof of Authority(PoA)consensus,which uses the election of authorized nodes to validate transactions and blocks,has beenwidely advocated thanks to its high transaction throughp...In permissioned blockchain networks,the Proof of Authority(PoA)consensus,which uses the election of authorized nodes to validate transactions and blocks,has beenwidely advocated thanks to its high transaction throughput and fault tolerance.However,PoA suffers from the drawback of centralization dominated by a limited number of authorized nodes and the lack of anonymity due to the round-robin block proposal mechanism.As a result,traditional PoA is vulnerable to a single point of failure that compromises the security of the blockchain network.To address these issues,we propose a novel decentralized reputation management mechanism for permissioned blockchain networks to enhance security,promote liveness,and mitigate centralization while retaining the same throughput as traditional PoA.This paper aims to design an off-chain reputation evaluation and an on-chain reputation-aided consensus.First,we evaluate the nodes’reputation in the context of the blockchain networks and make the reputation globally verifiable through smart contracts.Second,building upon traditional PoA,we propose a reputation-aided PoA(rPoA)consensus to enhance securitywithout sacrificing throughput.In particular,rPoA can incentivize nodes to autonomously form committees based on reputation authority,which prevents block generation from being tracked through the randomness of reputation variation.Moreover,we develop a reputation-aided fork-choice rule for rPoA to promote the network’s liveness.Finally,experimental results show that the proposed rPoA achieves higher security performance while retaining transaction throughput compared to traditional PoA.展开更多
Enhancing the security of Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)improves the usability of their applications.Therefore,finding solutions to various attacks,such as the blackhole attack,is crucial for the success of WSN applic...Enhancing the security of Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)improves the usability of their applications.Therefore,finding solutions to various attacks,such as the blackhole attack,is crucial for the success of WSN applications.This paper proposes an enhanced version of the AODV(Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector)protocol capable of detecting blackholes and malfunctioning benign nodes in WSNs,thereby avoiding them when delivering packets.The proposed version employs a network-based reputation system to select the best and most secure path to a destination.To achieve this goal,the proposed version utilizes the Watchdogs/Pathrater mechanisms in AODV to gather and broadcast reputations to all network nodes to build the network-based reputation system.To minimize the network overhead of the proposed approach,the paper uses reputation aggregator nodes only for forwarding reputation tables.Moreover,to reduce the overhead of updating reputation tables,the paper proposes three mechanisms,which are the prompt broadcast,the regular broadcast,and the light broadcast approaches.The proposed enhanced version has been designed to perform effectively in dynamic environments such as mobile WSNs where nodes,including blackholes,move continuously,which is considered a challenge for other protocols.Using the proposed enhanced protocol,a node evaluates the security of different routes to a destination and can select the most secure routing path.The paper provides an algorithm that explains the proposed protocol in detail and demonstrates a case study that shows the operations of calculating and updating reputation values when nodes move across different zones.Furthermore,the paper discusses the proposed approach’s overhead analysis to prove the proposed enhancement’s correctness and applicability.展开更多
In the lithium-ion battery(LIB)supply-chain,transactions involve several rounds of ordering,production and delivery between LIB suppliers and electric vehicle(EV)manufacturers.The sustainable performance of LIB suppli...In the lithium-ion battery(LIB)supply-chain,transactions involve several rounds of ordering,production and delivery between LIB suppliers and electric vehicle(EV)manufacturers.The sustainable performance of LIB suppliers,related to various characteristics,significantly affects the participants’sustainable reputations.The EV-LIB supply-chain transaction mechanism is explored from the perspective of the exchange economy comprehensively addressing both short-term economic profit and long-term sustainable reputation.Specifically,a“profit-reputation”utility function is proposed to reflect participants’expectations regarding cooperation profit and sustainable reputation.Additionally,an Edgeworth box model is developed to describe the participant’s balance determinations as a contract curve,revealing the Pareto conditions for mutually beneficial transactions based on sustainable performance.Furthermore,several principal-agent models are established to analyze the equilibrium of sustainable transactions within the EV-LIB supply-chain under varying dominance scenarios.A case study of an EV-LIB transaction is conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness.This study aims to assist supply chain managers,researchers and decision-makers in exploring the role of participant’s sustainable reputation and its influence on supply-chain transaction and equilibrium,particularly in the context of designing cooperative contracts and negotiation process to foster sustainable supply chains.展开更多
This study analyses all A-share listed companies from 2015 to 2020 to empirically examine the impact of inquiry supervision on corporate value and the moderating influence of corporate social responsibility(CSR)on thi...This study analyses all A-share listed companies from 2015 to 2020 to empirically examine the impact of inquiry supervision on corporate value and the moderating influence of corporate social responsibility(CSR)on this relationship.Research has shown that inquiry supervision significantly reduces corporate value,and the corporate social responsibility previously performed by companies can weaken this negative impact.Furthermore,the heterogeneity test based on internal and external controls shows that the reputation protection effect of CSR is more significant for companies with a higher proportion of independent directors,companies with a higher proportion of institutional investors investing in stocks,regions with a higher degree of marketization,and regions with a higher level of rule of law.The research in this article validates the effectiveness of reputation protection and verifies that reputation protection,as an informal mechanism,is easier to fulfil a role in areas where formal mechanisms are perfect.In other words,formal and informal mechanisms appear to complement each other.These findings provide empirical insights into the governance of CSR.展开更多
Countries implement corporate communication initiatives to improve their international relations,achieve different business objectives,and reinforce their brands.Nation branding activities are mainly based on internat...Countries implement corporate communication initiatives to improve their international relations,achieve different business objectives,and reinforce their brands.Nation branding activities are mainly based on international events:sport,culture,social issues.This paper evaluates the Expo 2020 Dubai’s impact on the United Arab Emirates’brand.We conducted a literature review about nation branding,and then we resorted to 15 indicators to analyze how the most important newspapers from some of the most influential countries(United States,Russia,France,and Germany)covered this event from a journalistic and corporate communication perspective.Our results proved that 82 articles were published about this topic,and the most common criteria respected were quoting organizers(n=61),using the Expo’s logo(n=45)and the image of a falcon(n=43).We concluded that most media companies focused on facts related to the Expo and did references to the country’s identity(values,flag,falcon),but most of them did not include links to the Dubai Expo’s and UAE public authorities’websites.展开更多
This study aims to determine whether the involvement of prestigious attorneys in issuing companies affects withdrawals in the initial public offering(IPO)market.There is little evidence on how the involvement of famou...This study aims to determine whether the involvement of prestigious attorneys in issuing companies affects withdrawals in the initial public offering(IPO)market.There is little evidence on how the involvement of famous lawyers affects IPO withdrawal.The study considers a large dataset consisting of 24,312 IPOs that were either successful or withdrawn from 22 distinct IPO marketplaces between January 1995 and December 2019.We find that IPO issuers may benefit from engaging with reputed attorneys by leveraging exceptional legal or negotiating abilities as quality certification signals to reduce IPO investors’ex-ante uncertainty.Here,the objective is to protect their IPOs from withdrawal of at least by 22%.Multiple robustness tests validate the reliability of the results of this study.These findings have significant implications for researchers,legislators,investors,and issuers.展开更多
This study explores the integration of predictive analytics in strategic corporate communications, with a specific focus on stakeholder engagement and crisis management. Our mixed-methods approach, which combines a co...This study explores the integration of predictive analytics in strategic corporate communications, with a specific focus on stakeholder engagement and crisis management. Our mixed-methods approach, which combines a comprehensive literature review with case studies of five multinational corporations, allows us to investigate the applications, challenges, and ethical implications of leveraging predictive models in communication strategies. While our findings reveal significant potential for enhancing personalized content delivery, real-time sentiment analysis, and proactive crisis management, we stress the need for careful consideration of challenges such as data privacy concerns and algorithmic bias. This emphasis on ethical implementation is crucial in navigating the complex landscape of predictive analytics in corporate communications. To address these issues, we propose a framework that prioritizes ethical considerations. Furthermore, we identify key areas for future research, thereby contributing to the evolving field of data-driven communication management.展开更多
Aim To study the implicit restriction mechanism for hidden action in multi stage dynamic game. Methods A reputation model for restriction on repeated principal agent relationship was established by using the theor...Aim To study the implicit restriction mechanism for hidden action in multi stage dynamic game. Methods A reputation model for restriction on repeated principal agent relationship was established by using the theory on principal agent problem in information economics and the method of game theory to study the implicit restriction mechanism for hidden action. Results and Conclusion It is proved that there exists implicit restriction mechanism for the multi stage principal agent relationship, some conditions for effective restriction are derived, the design methods of implicit restriction mechanism are presented.展开更多
文摘This paper presents a comparative qualitative analysis of reputational crisis of four European banks, and explores how in recent years these companies have faced the manifestation of reputational risk. To achieve this, the research follows three related steps: (1) to carry out a review of the literature on reputational risk in the banking sector aimed to identify the relationships between causes, effects, stakeholders, and key qualitative-quantitative variables involved during the reputational crisis of a bank; (2) to propose a conceptual framework for management of reputational risk (and reputational crisis) in banking; (3) to test this framework with the results of an empirical analysis, carried out through the observation of key variables of some reputational crisis of intemational banks. The main results show that: (1) the banks are not yet prepared to accurately manage a reputational crisis or to prevent them; (2) the reputational crisis is determined by several internal and external factors; (3) the conduct of the managers and the corporate communication are very important to overcome a reputational crisis. Finally, this research provides indications that will help banks to better manage their corporate reputation and prevent reputational crisis.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.62062049)the Social Science Project of the Ministry of Education of China(Grant No.20YJCZH212)the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province,China(Grant No.20JR5RA390).
文摘To study the incentive mechanisms of cooperation, we propose a preference rewarding mechanism in the spatial prisoner’s dilemma game, which simultaneously considers reputational preference, other-regarding preference and the dynamic adjustment of vertex weight. The vertex weight of a player is adaptively adjusted according to the comparison result of his own reputation and the average reputation value of his immediate neighbors. Players are inclined to pay a personal cost to reward the cooperative neighbor with the greatest vertex weight. The vertex weight of a player is proportional to the preference rewards he can obtain from direct neighbors. We find that the preference rewarding mechanism significantly facilitates the evolution of cooperation, and the dynamic adjustment of vertex weight has powerful effect on the emergence of cooperative behavior. To validate multiple effects, strategy distribution and the average payoff and fitness of players are discussed in a microcosmic view.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos.72401001,72188101 and 72271080Scientific Research Projects of Anhui Province under Grant Nos.2022AH050104,2022AH050035+2 种基金Anhui Province Social Science Innovation Development Research Project under Grant No.2023CX056Double First-Class Discipline Construction Project under Grant No.PA2024GDGP0032The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China under Grant No.PA2024GDSK0110。
文摘Leveraging the principal-agent theory,this study incorporates reputational capital into a continuous-time framework for analyzing venture capital exit decisions.The authors explore how the principal-agent relationships influence the decision to take capital public by synthesizing optimal incentive alignment and IPO timing within a unified model.The results uncover an intriguing aspect of reputational capital:Despite entrepreneurial efforts to augment this capital,its growth is not linear but tends to reach the highest level before the IPO event.Furthermore,the accumulation of reputational capital expedites the capital exit process and enhances the returns from such exits.Subsequently,as the exit timeline extends,the proportion of exit returns allocated to entrepreneurs escalates to a full share,imposing a constrained decision window for investors on exit timing.The findings suggest that the timing for maximizing investor returns at an IPO is later than the timing that maximizes company revenue.Moreover,excessive IPO costs further delay this exit decision for investors.These findings offer fresh insights into the languishing IPO market observed over the last two decades.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)under Grant No.72271208the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grant No.2023M741907.
文摘This paper considers the supplier investment decision-making problem in a supply chain consisting of an original equipment manufacturer(OEM),a global supplier,and a local supplier.To reduce dependence on global suppliers and improve supply stability,we develop a differential game model to investigate the optimal investment decisions of the OEM towards the local supplier under different risk scenarios and the impact of different risks on the optimal decisions.The results show that investment efficiency and risks have a significant impact on OEM investment decisions.Specifically,when the OEM has higher investment efficiency,investing in the local supplier is profitable for the OEM;conversely,when the investment efficiency of the OEM is lower,it does not invest.In addition,an increase in the supply risk of the global supplier will lower the entry threshold for OEM investment,but an increase in the supply risk of the local supplier and the reputational risk of both will increase this threshold,meaning that only the OEM with significantly higher investment efficiency can profit.
文摘Purpose:For a set of 1,561 Open Access(OA)and non-OA journals in business and economics,this study evaluates the relationships between four citation metrics-five-year Impact Factor(5IF),CiteScore,Article Influence(AI)score,and SCImago Journal Rank(SJR)-and the journal ratings assigned by expert reviewers.We expect that the OA journals will have especially high citation impact relative to their perceived quality(reputation).Design/methodology/approach:Regression is used to estimate the ratings assigned by expert reviewers for the 2021 CABS(Chartered Association of Business Schools)journal assessment exercise.The independent variables are the four citation metrics,evaluated separately,and a dummy variable representing the OA/non-OA status of each journal.Findings:Regardless of the citation metric used,OA journals in business and economics have especially high citation impact relative to their perceived quality(reputation).That is,they have especially low perceived quality(reputation)relative to their citation impact.Research limitations:These results are specific to the CABS journal ratings and the four citation metrics.However,there is strong evidence that CABS is closely related to several other expert ratings,and that 5IF,CiteScore,AI,and SJR are representative of the other citation metrics that might have been chosen.Practical implications:There are at least two possible explanations for these results:(1)expert evaluators are biased against OA journals,and(2)OA journals have especially high citation impact due to their increased accessibility.Although this study does not allow us to determine which of these explanations are supported,the results suggest that authors should consider publishing in OA journals whenever overall readership and citation impact are more important than journal reputation within a particular field.Moreover,the OA coefficients provide a useful indicator of the extent to which anti-OA bias(or the citation advantage of OA journals)is diminishing over time.Originality/value:This is apparently the first study to investigate the impact of OA status on the relationships between expert journal ratings and journal citation metrics.
文摘In response to the challenges presented by the unreliable identity of the master node,high communication overhead,and limited network support size within the Practical Byzantine Fault-Tolerant(PBFT)algorithm for consortium chains,we propose an improved PBFT algorithm based on XGBoost grouping called XG-PBFT in this paper.XG-PBFT constructs a dataset by training important parameters that affect node performance,which are used as classification indexes for nodes.The XGBoost algorithm then is employed to train the dataset,and nodes joining the system will be grouped according to the trained grouping model.Among them,the nodes with higher parameter indexes will be assigned to the consensus group to participate in the consensus,and the rest of the nodes will be assigned to the general group to receive the consensus results.In order to reduce the resource waste of the system,XG-PBFT optimizes the consensus protocol for the problem of high complexity of PBFT communication.Finally,we evaluate the performance of XG-PBFT.The experimental results show that XG-PBFT can significantly improve the performance of throughput,consensus delay and communication complexity compared to the original PBFT algorithm,and the performance enhancement is significant compared to other algorithms in the case of a larger number of nodes.The results demonstrate that the XG-PBFT algorithm is more suitable for large-scale consortium chains.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)under Grant 61931005.
文摘Blockchain-based user-centric access network(UCAN)fails in dynamic access point(AP)management,as it lacks an incentive mechanism to promote virtuous behavior.Furthermore,the low throughput of the blockchain has been a bottleneck to the widespread adoption of UCAN in 6G.In this paper,we propose Overlap Shard,a blockchain framework based on a novel reputation voting(RV)scheme,to dynamically manage the APs in UCAN.AP nodes in UCAN are distributed across multiple shards based on the RV scheme.That is,nodes with good reputation(virtuous behavior)are likely to be selected in the overlap shard.The RV mechanism ensures the security of UCAN because most APs adopt virtuous behaviors.Furthermore,to improve the efficiency of the Overlap Shard,we reduce cross-shard transactions by introducing core nodes.Specifically,a few nodes are overlapped in different shards,which can directly process the transactions in two shards instead of crossshard transactions.This greatly increases the speed of transactions between shards and thus the throughput of the overlap shard.The experiments show that the throughput of the overlap shard is about 2.5 times that of the non-sharded blockchain.
基金Scientific Research Project of Higher Education Institutions in Hebei Province in 2025“Research on Government Procurement-Driven Green Governance of Hebei’s Manufacturing Industry”(Project No.:QN2025662)Social Science Fund of Hebei Province in 2024“Research on Informal Environmental Regulation Promoting Green Development of Hebei’s Manufacturing Industry”(Project No.:HB24GL036)Hebei Provincial Social Science Development Research Project,“Study on the Constraints and Implementation Paths of the Transformation from Dual Control of Energy Consumption to Dual Control of Carbon Emissions in Hebei Province”(Project No.:HBSKFZ25QN199)。
文摘Taking China’s 2018 value-added tax(VAT)credit refund reform as an exogenous shock to improve VAT neutrality,we use a difference-in-differences approach to explore how the reform affected corporate social responsibility(CSR).We find that the reform motivated firms to improve CSR performance.The reform has a“resource”effect,increasing internal funds and reducing financing costs,thereby enhancing firms’ability to undertake CSR.The reform also has a“reputation”effect,stimulating firms’willingness to engage in CSR to improve their reputations.CSR following the reform increases firm values and reduces bankruptcy risk.Our study provides fresh insights into VAT neutrality theory and is a reference for tax reform in emerging economies.
基金supported by the Open Foundation of Henan Key Laboratory of Cyberspace Situation Awareness(No.HNTS2022020)the Science and Technology Research Program of Henan Province of China(232102210134,182102210130)Key Research Projects of Henan Provincial Universities(25B520005).
文摘With the development of vehicle networks and the construction of roadside units,Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks(VANETs)are increasingly promoting cooperative computing patterns among vehicles.Vehicular edge computing(VEC)offers an effective solution to mitigate resource constraints by enabling task offloading to edge cloud infrastructure,thereby reducing the computational burden on connected vehicles.However,this sharing-based and distributed computing paradigm necessitates ensuring the credibility and reliability of various computation nodes.Existing vehicular edge computing platforms have not adequately considered themisbehavior of vehicles.We propose a practical task offloading algorithm based on reputation assessment to address the task offloading problem in vehicular edge computing under an unreliable environment.This approach integrates deep reinforcement learning and reputation management to address task offloading challenges.Simulation experiments conducted using Veins demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No.U2268204,62172061 and 61871422National Key R&D Program of China under Grant No.2020YFB1711800 and 2020YFB1707900+2 种基金the Science and Technology Project of Sichuan Province under Grant No.2023ZHCG0014,2023ZHCG0011,2022YFG0155,2022YFG0157,2021GFW019,2021YFG0152,2021YFG0025,2020YFG0322Central Universities of Southwest Minzu University under Grant No.ZYN2022032,2023NYXXS034the State Scholarship Fund of the China Scholarship Council under Grant No.202008510081。
文摘In mega-constellation Communication Systems, efficient routing algorithms and data transmission technologies are employed to ensure fast and reliable data transfer. However, the limited computational resources of satellites necessitate the use of edge computing to enhance secure communication.While edge computing reduces the burden on cloud computing, it introduces security and reliability challenges in open satellite communication channels. To address these challenges, we propose a blockchain architecture specifically designed for edge computing in mega-constellation communication systems. This architecture narrows down the consensus scope of the blockchain to meet the requirements of edge computing while ensuring comprehensive log storage across the network. Additionally, we introduce a reputation management mechanism for nodes within the blockchain, evaluating their trustworthiness, workload, and efficiency. Nodes with higher reputation scores are selected to participate in tasks and are appropriately incentivized. Simulation results demonstrate that our approach achieves a task result reliability of 95% while improving computational speed.
基金supported by Guangxi Power Grid Science and Technology Project(GXKJXM20222069).
文摘The integration of photovoltaic,energy storage,direct current,and flexible load(PEDF)technologies in building power systems is an importantmeans to address the energy crisis and promote the development of green buildings.The friendly interaction between the PEDF systems and the power grid can promote the utilization of renewable energy and enhance the stability of the power grid.For this purpose,this work introduces a framework of multiple incentive mechanisms for a PEDF park,a building energy system that implements PEDF technologies.The incentive mechanisms proposed in this paper include both economic and noneconomic aspects,which is the most significant innovation of this paper.By modeling the relationship between a PEDF park and the power grid into a Stackelberg game,we demonstrate the effectiveness of these incentive measures in promoting the friendly interaction between the two entities.In this game model,the power grid determines on the prices of electricity trading and incentive subsidy,aiming to maximize its revenue while reducing the peak load of the PEDF park.On the other hand,the PEDF park make its dispatch plan according to the prices established by the grid,in order to reduce electricity consumption expense,improve electricity utility,and enhance the penetration rate of renewable energy.The results show that the proposed incentive mechanisms for the PEDF park can help to optimize energy consumption and promote sustainable energy practices.
基金This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.U21A20463,62172117,61802383)Research Project of Pazhou Lab for Excellent Young Scholars(No.PZL2021KF0024)Guangzhou Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(Nos.202201010330,202201020162,202201020221).
文摘Crowdsourcing holds broad applications in information acquisition and dissemination,yet encounters challenges pertaining to data quality assessment and user reputation management.Reputation mechanisms stand as crucial solutions for appraising and updating participant reputation scores,thereby elevating the quality and dependability of crowdsourced data.However,these mechanisms face several challenges in traditional crowdsourcing systems:1)platform security lacks robust guarantees and may be susceptible to attacks;2)there exists a potential for large-scale privacy breaches;and 3)incentive mechanisms relying on reputation scores may encounter issues as reputation updates hinge on task demander evaluations,occasionally lacking a dedicated reputation update module.This paper introduces a reputation update scheme tailored for crowdsourcing,with a focus on proficiently overseeing participant reputations and alleviating the impact of malicious activities on the sensing system.Here,the reputation update scheme is determined by an Empirical Cumulative distribution-based Outlier Detection method(ECOD).Our scheme embraces a blockchain-based crowdsourcing framework utilizing a homomorphic encryption method to ensure data transparency and tamper-resistance.Computation of user reputation scores relies on their behavioral history,actively discouraging undesirable conduct.Additionally,we introduce a dynamic weight incentive mechanism that mirrors alterations in participant reputation,enabling the system to allocate incentives based on user behavior and reputation.Our scheme undergoes evaluation on 11 datasets,revealing substantial enhancements in data credibility for crowdsourcing systems and a reduction in the influence of malicious behavior.This research not only presents a practical solution for crowdsourcing reputation management but also offers valuable insights for future research and applications,holding promise for fostering more reliable and high-quality data collection in crowdsourcing across diverse domains.
基金supported by the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program under Grants KCXST20221021111404010,JSGG20220831103400002,JSGGKQTD20221101115655027,JCYJ 20210324094609027the National KeyR&DProgram of China under Grant 2021YFB2700900+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 62371239,62376074,72301083the Jiangsu Specially-Appointed Professor Program 2021.
文摘In permissioned blockchain networks,the Proof of Authority(PoA)consensus,which uses the election of authorized nodes to validate transactions and blocks,has beenwidely advocated thanks to its high transaction throughput and fault tolerance.However,PoA suffers from the drawback of centralization dominated by a limited number of authorized nodes and the lack of anonymity due to the round-robin block proposal mechanism.As a result,traditional PoA is vulnerable to a single point of failure that compromises the security of the blockchain network.To address these issues,we propose a novel decentralized reputation management mechanism for permissioned blockchain networks to enhance security,promote liveness,and mitigate centralization while retaining the same throughput as traditional PoA.This paper aims to design an off-chain reputation evaluation and an on-chain reputation-aided consensus.First,we evaluate the nodes’reputation in the context of the blockchain networks and make the reputation globally verifiable through smart contracts.Second,building upon traditional PoA,we propose a reputation-aided PoA(rPoA)consensus to enhance securitywithout sacrificing throughput.In particular,rPoA can incentivize nodes to autonomously form committees based on reputation authority,which prevents block generation from being tracked through the randomness of reputation variation.Moreover,we develop a reputation-aided fork-choice rule for rPoA to promote the network’s liveness.Finally,experimental results show that the proposed rPoA achieves higher security performance while retaining transaction throughput compared to traditional PoA.
文摘Enhancing the security of Wireless Sensor Networks(WSNs)improves the usability of their applications.Therefore,finding solutions to various attacks,such as the blackhole attack,is crucial for the success of WSN applications.This paper proposes an enhanced version of the AODV(Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector)protocol capable of detecting blackholes and malfunctioning benign nodes in WSNs,thereby avoiding them when delivering packets.The proposed version employs a network-based reputation system to select the best and most secure path to a destination.To achieve this goal,the proposed version utilizes the Watchdogs/Pathrater mechanisms in AODV to gather and broadcast reputations to all network nodes to build the network-based reputation system.To minimize the network overhead of the proposed approach,the paper uses reputation aggregator nodes only for forwarding reputation tables.Moreover,to reduce the overhead of updating reputation tables,the paper proposes three mechanisms,which are the prompt broadcast,the regular broadcast,and the light broadcast approaches.The proposed enhanced version has been designed to perform effectively in dynamic environments such as mobile WSNs where nodes,including blackholes,move continuously,which is considered a challenge for other protocols.Using the proposed enhanced protocol,a node evaluates the security of different routes to a destination and can select the most secure routing path.The paper provides an algorithm that explains the proposed protocol in detail and demonstrates a case study that shows the operations of calculating and updating reputation values when nodes move across different zones.Furthermore,the paper discusses the proposed approach’s overhead analysis to prove the proposed enhancement’s correctness and applicability.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No.72071181]Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province [Grant No.LY21G 020004].
文摘In the lithium-ion battery(LIB)supply-chain,transactions involve several rounds of ordering,production and delivery between LIB suppliers and electric vehicle(EV)manufacturers.The sustainable performance of LIB suppliers,related to various characteristics,significantly affects the participants’sustainable reputations.The EV-LIB supply-chain transaction mechanism is explored from the perspective of the exchange economy comprehensively addressing both short-term economic profit and long-term sustainable reputation.Specifically,a“profit-reputation”utility function is proposed to reflect participants’expectations regarding cooperation profit and sustainable reputation.Additionally,an Edgeworth box model is developed to describe the participant’s balance determinations as a contract curve,revealing the Pareto conditions for mutually beneficial transactions based on sustainable performance.Furthermore,several principal-agent models are established to analyze the equilibrium of sustainable transactions within the EV-LIB supply-chain under varying dominance scenarios.A case study of an EV-LIB transaction is conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness.This study aims to assist supply chain managers,researchers and decision-makers in exploring the role of participant’s sustainable reputation and its influence on supply-chain transaction and equilibrium,particularly in the context of designing cooperative contracts and negotiation process to foster sustainable supply chains.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(72293573)the New Era Education Quality Project of Anhui Province(2022zyxwjxalk003)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(YD2160004004,WK2040000090).
文摘This study analyses all A-share listed companies from 2015 to 2020 to empirically examine the impact of inquiry supervision on corporate value and the moderating influence of corporate social responsibility(CSR)on this relationship.Research has shown that inquiry supervision significantly reduces corporate value,and the corporate social responsibility previously performed by companies can weaken this negative impact.Furthermore,the heterogeneity test based on internal and external controls shows that the reputation protection effect of CSR is more significant for companies with a higher proportion of independent directors,companies with a higher proportion of institutional investors investing in stocks,regions with a higher degree of marketization,and regions with a higher level of rule of law.The research in this article validates the effectiveness of reputation protection and verifies that reputation protection,as an informal mechanism,is easier to fulfil a role in areas where formal mechanisms are perfect.In other words,formal and informal mechanisms appear to complement each other.These findings provide empirical insights into the governance of CSR.
文摘Countries implement corporate communication initiatives to improve their international relations,achieve different business objectives,and reinforce their brands.Nation branding activities are mainly based on international events:sport,culture,social issues.This paper evaluates the Expo 2020 Dubai’s impact on the United Arab Emirates’brand.We conducted a literature review about nation branding,and then we resorted to 15 indicators to analyze how the most important newspapers from some of the most influential countries(United States,Russia,France,and Germany)covered this event from a journalistic and corporate communication perspective.Our results proved that 82 articles were published about this topic,and the most common criteria respected were quoting organizers(n=61),using the Expo’s logo(n=45)and the image of a falcon(n=43).We concluded that most media companies focused on facts related to the Expo and did references to the country’s identity(values,flag,falcon),but most of them did not include links to the Dubai Expo’s and UAE public authorities’websites.
基金funded by the Taif University Researchers Taif University,Taif,Saudi Arabia.
文摘This study aims to determine whether the involvement of prestigious attorneys in issuing companies affects withdrawals in the initial public offering(IPO)market.There is little evidence on how the involvement of famous lawyers affects IPO withdrawal.The study considers a large dataset consisting of 24,312 IPOs that were either successful or withdrawn from 22 distinct IPO marketplaces between January 1995 and December 2019.We find that IPO issuers may benefit from engaging with reputed attorneys by leveraging exceptional legal or negotiating abilities as quality certification signals to reduce IPO investors’ex-ante uncertainty.Here,the objective is to protect their IPOs from withdrawal of at least by 22%.Multiple robustness tests validate the reliability of the results of this study.These findings have significant implications for researchers,legislators,investors,and issuers.
文摘This study explores the integration of predictive analytics in strategic corporate communications, with a specific focus on stakeholder engagement and crisis management. Our mixed-methods approach, which combines a comprehensive literature review with case studies of five multinational corporations, allows us to investigate the applications, challenges, and ethical implications of leveraging predictive models in communication strategies. While our findings reveal significant potential for enhancing personalized content delivery, real-time sentiment analysis, and proactive crisis management, we stress the need for careful consideration of challenges such as data privacy concerns and algorithmic bias. This emphasis on ethical implementation is crucial in navigating the complex landscape of predictive analytics in corporate communications. To address these issues, we propose a framework that prioritizes ethical considerations. Furthermore, we identify key areas for future research, thereby contributing to the evolving field of data-driven communication management.
文摘Aim To study the implicit restriction mechanism for hidden action in multi stage dynamic game. Methods A reputation model for restriction on repeated principal agent relationship was established by using the theory on principal agent problem in information economics and the method of game theory to study the implicit restriction mechanism for hidden action. Results and Conclusion It is proved that there exists implicit restriction mechanism for the multi stage principal agent relationship, some conditions for effective restriction are derived, the design methods of implicit restriction mechanism are presented.