沙南污水处理厂一期改造及中水回用工程实践

河南省漯河市沙南污水处理厂一期升级改造及中水回用工程新增深度处理单元处理规模8万m3/d,中水回用工程输水规模9万m3/d,设计出水执行《城镇污水处理厂污染物排放标准》(GB18918-2002)一级A排放标准。介绍了深度处理设计方案中各个工艺单元的比选,就设计排放标准,对比了一期升级改造后与原工程的污水处理工艺及污染物去除效果,以及一期升级改造工程的社会环境效益等。升级改造工程经过1年多的连续运行和在线检测,出水指标达到设计要求。     

The Importance of an Innovative Product Design on Customer Behavior: Development and Validation of a Scale

The importance of innovative product design (IPD) has increased in recent years because customers' decision‐making factors have changed from product price to product design. However, a definition and measurement of IPD have not been developed adequately. Building on the customer perspective, this study defines IPD and develops its standard measurement with three product design attributes: aesthetics, features, and ergonomics. Results of the empirical test indicate strong evidence for the reliability and validity of the measurement. Overall, this study shows that our measurement captures unique customer perceptions on product innovativeness from the product design. Additionally, theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Vertical alliance portfolios and the business performance of small technology-based firms

This paper discusses how small technology-based firms (STBFs) effectively manage vertical alliances by choosing proper alliance structures to both manage challenges and pursue higher performance. We consider the main challenges of STBFs’ vertical alliances as opportunistic risk and coordination concern between partners, and derive four types of vertical alliance portfolios with different extents of risk and return based on the relational perspective. We then examine the impact of each portfolio on performance and the moderating effect of STBFs’ age and technological capability. The results show the portfolio focusing on bilateral alliances is not helpful for STBFs, while the others are useful. The portfolio focusing on unilateral alliances promises young firms better performance, while hybrid portfolios of unilateral and bilateral alliances are more helpful for older STBFs. In hybrid portfolios, bilateral alliance in the upstream is beneficial to specific technology-focused firms, while bilateral alliance in the downstream is recommended to STBFs whose technology covers a wider range.     

深度休闲对主观幸福感的影响研究——以苏南地区城市居民为例

深度休闲对优化苏南地区休闲产业建设,进一步提升居民休闲生活质量有重要影响。文章通过问卷调查的方式收集苏南地区城市居民深度休闲行为的数据,研究苏南地区城市居民深度休闲行为特征及深度休闲对主观幸福感的影响。结果发现:(1)苏南地区城市居民进行深度休闲活动的场所主要为户外;(2)闲暇时间不足是限制苏南地区城市居民进行深度休闲活动的主要因素;(3)苏南地区城市居民的深度休闲活动总体程度不高,愿意在深度休闲活动上投入大量时间和金钱的人更是少数;(4)苏南地区城市居民从事深度休闲活动产生的强烈认同感和坚持不懈的毅力对主观幸福感有着显著的积极影响。     

Does high‐speed rail connection really promote local economy? Evidence from China’s Yangtze River Delta

High‐speed rail (HSR) has led to a transportation revolution in China. This paper uses the county‐level panel data of China’s Yangtze River Delta to investigate the effect of HSR connection on local economy. To address the issue of endogenous HSR route placement, we use a straight‐line strategy to construct potential HSR connection variables as instrumental variables of the actual HSR connection. Both the difference‐in‐differences and instrumental variable methods show that HSR connection impedes local economy, especially in peripheral regions. The impediment effect is channeled through population reallocation from peripheral to core areas and the restructuring of industries.     

Interpoint Distance Test of Homogeneity for Multivariate Mixture Models

Finite mixtures offer a rich class of distributions for modelling of a variety of random phenomena in numerous fields of study. Using the sample interpoint distances (IPDs), we propose the IPD‐test statistic for testing the hypothesis of homogeneity of mixture of multivariate power series distribution or multivariate normal distribution. We derive the distribution of the IPDs that are drawn from a finite mixture of the multivariate power series distribution and multivariate normal distribution. Based on the empirical distribution of the IPDs, we construct a bootstrap test of homogeneity for other multivariate finite mixture models. The IPD test is applied to mixture models for matrix‐valued distributions and a test of homogeneity for Wishart mixture is presented. Numerical comparisons show that IPD test has accurate type I errors and is more powerful in most multivariate cases than the expectation–maximization (EM) test and modified likelihood ratio test.     

Can Pokémon GO catch brands? The fit effect of game characters and brands on efficacy of brand communications

Given the recent popularity of augmented reality (AR) games, such as Pokémon GO, this study explores the congruence effect of game characters and brands on brand evaluations and the underlying mechanisms of the effect. Prior gaming experience and motivations are taken into account. An experiment reveals that inexperienced gamers are likely to have more favorable evaluations of the target brands when the images of game characters match the brand images, whereas these effects disappear for experienced gamers. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that experienced gamers are more likely to hold game-specific motivations than the inexperienced, while inexperienced gamers are motivated more by social interaction for playing AR games. Lastly, a mediation analysis reveals that social interaction-related motivation mediates inexperienced gamers’ preference of character–brand congruence. This study sheds light upon how AR games can be utilized by brand communicators.     

The effects of slack resource of R&D professionals on firm performance: evidence from traditional manufacturing firms in an emerging economy

Abstract

As an important component of organizational human resource slack (HR slack), the slack of research-and-development (R&D) professionals has been studied by several authors. However, it remains unclear whether and how this small component of general HR slack, i.e. the slack of research-and-development professionals (RHR slack), may affect overall firm performance in an emerging economy without much R&D tradition or pro-R&D institutions. Based on two organizational theories, i.e. institutional theory and the resource-based view of the firm (RBV), we propose competing hypotheses on the relationship between RHR slack and firms’ accounting performance. We also examine whether the relationship between RHR slack and firm performance should be linear or curvilinear. Finally, we also test the relationship between RHR slack and other dimensions of firm performance. Several interesting findings have been obtained. For instance, neither the perspective based on institutional theory nor that based on RBV can fully predict all types of RHR slack-performance relationships, be these relationships linear or curvilinear.     

Understanding the travel motivation and patterns of international students in Korea: using the theory of travel career pattern

This study examined the travel motivation of international students in Korea using the theory of travel career pattern (TCP). In particular, latent profile analysis (LPA) was applied to identify latent classes within international students. Based on the results, four latent profiles were derived and named “Core,” “Longing,” “Middle,” and “Veteran.” The results described the travel motivation and patterns across these four profiles to enhance the understanding of international students in the context of tourism. There were significant differences in travel patterns (i.e. travel companion and information sources) among the profiles segmented by motivation. This study has expanded travel motivation research by (a) applying TCP to an understudied population (i.e. international students in a non-English-speaking country); (b) comparing travel careers between the home country, Korea (i.e. a study abroad destination), and the third countries; and (c) highlighting LPA as a clustering tool to understand travel motivation.