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This paper aims to provide a more inclusive perspective on corporate greenwashing. Major ideas from impression management and transaction cost theory (TCT) helped in evaluating the likelihood of greenwashing within the Chinese context.

The sample consists of 184 Chinese public companies – 104 participating and 80 not participating in China’s green watch (GW) program. Using logistic regression, the analysis illustrates the importance of impression management and TCT as indicators of GW participation.

GW participation reduced the likelihood of GW firms joining substantive codes of conduct outside the GW program, indicating an important role of impression management and power relationships; a higher level of firm risk is associated with greater GW participation, signaling a higher level of risk tolerance; and higher levels of asset intensity increase the likelihood of GW participation, indicating a TCT connection.

These findings present a strong case for going beyond greenwashing and further exploring the organizations’ multiple motives for sustainability. They “force” the authors to study impression management and greenwashing from a more “human” perspective.

Besides establishing sustainability legitimacy, substantive codes of conduct enhance a firm’s ability to attract capital – impression management behavior falls within the rules of the game to achieve legitimacy and competitive advantage.

This paper provides a complementary explanation for firms engaging in sustainability acts, beyond that offered by the greenwashing concept. It is demonstrated that firms do not necessarily desire to deceive others, but to realistically impress and influence them, most likely in pursuit of corporate objectives.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a human activity-aware adaptive shared control solution for human–robot interaction in surgical operation. Hands-on control and teleoperation are two main procedures switched frequently in teleoperated minimally invasive surgery (MIS). The detailed human activity in the procedures can be defined and recognized using the sensor information. In this paper, a novel continuous adaptive shared control method is proposed for manipulators with Cartesian impedance control in the surgical scenario.

A human activity-aware shared control solution by adjusting the weight function is introduced to achieve smooth transition among different human activities, including hands-on control and teleoperation. Instead of introducing various controllers and switching among them during the surgical procedures, the proposed solution integrated all the human activity-based controllers into a single controller and the transition among the procedures is smooth and stable. The effectiveness of the proposed control approach was verified in a lab setup environment. The results prove that the robot behavior is stable and smooth. The algorithm is feasible and can achieve a human activity-aware adaptive shared control solution for human–robot interaction in surgical operation.

Based on the experiment, the results confirm that the proposed human activity-aware adaptive shared control solution can switch the device behavior automatically using the real-time sensor information. The transition between different activities is smooth and stable.

For teleoperated surgical applications, the proposed method integrated different controllers for various human activities into a single controller by recognizing the activities using the real-time sensor information and the transition between different procedures is smooth and stable. It eases the surgical work for the surgeon and enhances the safety during the transition of control modes. The presented scheme provides a general solution to address the switching of working procedures in teleoperated MIS.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to propose human activity-aware adaptive shared control solution for human–robot interaction in surgical operations.

The purpose of this paper is to mainly center on the touchless interaction between humans and robots in the real world. The accuracy of hand pose identification and stable operation in a non-stationary environment is the main challenge, especially in multiple sensors conditions. To guarantee the human-machine interaction system’s performance with a high recognition rate and lower computational time, an adaptive sensor fusion labeling framework should be considered in surgery robot teleoperation.

In this paper, a hand pose estimation model is proposed consisting of automatic labeling and classified based on a deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) structure. Subsequently, an adaptive sensor fusion methodology is proposed for hand pose estimation with two leap motions. The sensor fusion system is implemented to process depth data and electromyography signals capturing from Myo Armband and leap motion, respectively. The developed adaptive methodology can perform stable and continuous hand position estimation even when a single sensor is unable to detect a hand.

The proposed adaptive sensor fusion method is verified with various experiments in six degrees of freedom in space. The results showed that the clustering model acquires the highest clustering accuracy (96.31%) than other methods, which can be regarded as real gestures. Moreover, the DCNN classifier gets the highest performance (88.47% accuracy and lowest computational time) than other methods.

This study can provide theoretical and engineering guidance for hand pose recognition in surgery robot teleoperation and design a new deep learning model for accuracy enhancement.

This paper aims on the trajectory tracking of the developed six wheel-legged robot with heavy load conditions under uncertain physical interaction. The accuracy of trajectory tracking and stable operation with heavy load are the main challenges of parallel mechanism for wheel-legged robots, especially in complex road conditions. To guarantee the tracking performance in an uncertain environment, the disturbances, including the internal friction, external environment interaction, should be considered in the practical robot system.

In this paper, a fuzzy approximation-based model predictive tracking scheme (FMPC) for reliable tracking control is developed to the six wheel-legged robot, in which the fuzzy logic approximation is applied to estimate the uncertain physical interaction and external dynamics of the robot system. Meanwhile, the advanced parallel mechanism of the electric six wheel-legged robot (BIT-NAZA) is presented.

Co-simulation and comparative experimental results using the BIT-NAZA robot derived from the developed hybrid control scheme indicate that the methodology can achieve satisfactory tracking performance in terms of accuracy and stability.

This research can provide theoretical and engineering guidance for lateral stability of intelligent robots under unknown disturbances and uncertain nonlinearities and facilitate the control performance of the mobile robots in a practical system.

The study investigates the inter-linkages between geopolitical risk (GPR) and food price (FP).

By employing the bootstrap full- and sub-sample rolling-window Granger causality tests.

The empirical results show that there is a time-varying bidirectional causality between GPR and FP. High GPR leads to a rise in FP, suggesting that geopolitical events usually may disrupt supply and demand conditions in food markets, and even trigger global food crises. However, the negative effect of GPR on FP does not support this view in certain periods. This is mainly because GPR is also related to the global economic situation and oil price, which together have impacts on the food market. These results cannot always be supported by the inter-temporal capital asset pricing model, which states that GPR affects FP in a positive manner. Conversely, there is a positive impact of FP on GPR, indicating that the food market is an effective tool that can reflect global geopolitical environment.

In the context of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, these analyses can assist investors and policymakers to understand the sensitivity of FP to GPR. Also, it will provide significant revelations for governments to attach importance to the role of food price information in predicting geopolitical events, thus contributing to a more stable international environment.

This research examines the dynamic interrelationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and the inflows of foreign direct investment (IFDI) in China.

This research used the Granger causality and sub-sample time-varying rolling window causality method.

The empirical results reveal that EPU tends to have a negative impact on the IFDI in most periods that have been taken into consideration. However, there has been a positive relationship observed between the periods of the US subprime crisis. That is to say that the uncertainty of the Chinese economic policy does not always impede the IFDI. These results are supported by the general equilibrium model, which states that there are certain influences that come into play when moving from EPU to IFDI. On the other hand, the IFDI exert a positive influence on EPU during times of economic crisis and trade war, which indicates that the uncertainty in the economy may increase due to the sudden soar of foreign investment.

During tense global trade situations and complicated economic scenarios, the results suggest the Chinese government should dedicate itself to expanding its initiatives to open up and improve the domestic business environment in order to increase the foreign investors' confidence and prevent the decline in the IFDI. In addition to this, it also suggests that multinational companies pay attention to the policy environment of the host country, especially when they decide to invest there.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the non-linear threshold effects between trade openness and female labours to participate in the labour markets.

The authors consider data for nine Asian countries from 1990 to 2016 period and perform the panel threshold regression method.

Empirical results indicate that the threshold value is occurred. With the increase of trade openess, the female labour force participation rate shows a trend of rising first and then declining. Furthermore, exports also have an asymmetric threshold effect on female labour force participation, which is partly in accordance with the discrimination model (Becker, 1957). On the other hand, imports dependency will hinder female labour force participation regardless of a threshold effect. The authors obtain similar results when the authors consider the female employment rate as substitution.

Specifically, increased trade openness may contribute positively or negatively towards overall female labour force participation rate (FLFPR), attributed to the relative importance of these opposing effects. Thus, when the cost reduction effect, resulting from intensified competitive pressure and comparative advantages would enhance the participation rate, the technology channel operates in the opposite direction. Therefore, from the perspective of female employment, trade openness is not the more the better.

This study innovatively discusses the non-linear correlation between trade openness and FLFPR and distinguishes the different contributions from exports and imports. The advanced threshold regression model assumes the existence of threshold value from trade to female employment. Thereby, targeted policies for the government should be applied to promote active female in the labour market.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the causal relationship between Chinese housing and stock markets. The authors discuss the three transmission mechanisms between the two markets: wealth effect, modern portfolio theory and credit-price effect. Moreover, the authors focus on the effects of inflation on the relationship between the two markets.

This paper uses wavelet analysis to test the housing and stock markets relationship both in the frequency domain and time domain.

The empirical results indicate that housing prices have a positive effect on stock prices, and these have the same effect on housing prices. Moreover, this positive effect means that stock prices have a wealth effect on housing prices and these have a credit-price effect on stock prices.

These results provide information to financial institutions and individual investors in China to assist them in constructing investment portfolios within these two asset markets.

The authors first use wavelet analysis to analyze Chinese housing and stock markets and to provide information both on the frequency domain and time domain. Moreover, the authors take the inflation factor as a control variable in the causal relationship between the housing and stock markets.

This study aims to examine the unemployment hysteresis effects from the perspective of the heterogeneity of genders within Asian countries.

The authors use the annual unemployment rate dataset of 12 Asian countries ranging from 1991–2020. Traditional unit root tests are initially employed to investigate the unemployment hysteresis effect. Considering the structural break and cross-section dependence problems, the sequential panel selection method (SPSM) and the Kapetanios–Snell–Shin (KSS) panel unit root test with Fourier functions have proven to be more applicable.

The empirical results indicate that the unemployment rate is stationary in most Asian regions for both females and males, which confirms the mean reversion process of the natural unemployment hypothesis. This suggests that these countries' unemployment rates are flexible to quickly revert to its long-run equilibrium determined by the labor markets. However, only the female unemployment rate in Pakistan and Nepal and adult female unemployment rates in these two economies present non-stationary series. In line with the unemployment hysteresis effect, it means shocks will leave a permanent impact on their labor market.

On the one hand, in most of the Asian countries, it can be inferred that the trade-off between inflation and unemployment is temporary because the natural unemployment hypothesis holds. Therefore, policymakers may consider using monetary policy as a tool to control inflation and stimulate growth during a recession. Such policy measures should not have a long-run impact on unemployment or cause a permanent shift in the natural unemployment rate. On the other hand, the government should implement active labor protective programs such as education or training schemes, job search assistance programs and maternity protection, especially for female adults, to reduce the negative shocks in the economic downturn, which is beneficial for them away from being long-term unemployed. It is also necessary to improve the labor unions to reduce the discrimination between female and male labors.

This paper innovatively concentrates on the heterogeneity performances between genders about the unemployment hysteresis effect within Asian countries. Furthermore, taking into account the age-specific characteristics, the youth and adult unemployment rates have been investigated. Additionally, the approximation of bootstrap distribution and the advanced panel KSS unit root test with a Fourier function are employed. Thereby, targeted policies for the government can be applied to reduce the discrimination and negative shocks on female adults in the labor market.

This study aims to obtain the speed and angle during safe and comfortable standing of elderly people. With the advancement of society, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the elderly to sit-to-stand (STS) independently and comfortably in a safe and comfortable manner. Safety is essentially a prerequisite for the elderly to achieve a comfortable STS. The speed, angle and power of the STS process can all affect safe STS. From the standpoint of health-care delivery and administration, comfortable STS can be realized easily by addressing the safety issues during STS.

This paper summarizes the research progress on speed and angle during safe and comfortable standing of older people. The authors analyzed the speed and angle of the STS using the Vicon optical gait acquisition system and plantar pressure sensor to find the appropriate angle and speed thresholds.

The center of gravity movement is a prerequisite for the elderly to achieve a comfortable STS. The authors found that the standing speed during the STS process should not be higher than 103.8 mm/s so that the elderly can stand comfortably and safely (safe and dangerous speeds are 72.8 mm/s and 125.2 mm/s). The limitations of waist angle, waist angle speed and the acceleration are also obtained.

This paper analyzes and summarizes the research status of speed and angle during safe and comfortable standing of elderly people, which is essentially a prerequisite for the elderly to achieve a comfortable STS. These results can lay the foundation for the development of assistive devices and related technologies that meet the needs of older adults.