Energy benchmarking in support of low carbon hotels: Developments,challenges, and approaches in China

Achieving effective and objective energy benchmarking for hotels is integral in fostering the sustainable development of the lodging sector. In this work, we reveal the major and minor streams of hotel energy benchmarking and ascertain that the most popular approach in benchmarking is normalized energy use intensity (EUI) based on floor level. Previous efforts to establish EUI indicators using subsystem average, data envelopment analysis (DEA), and regression technique are also studied. We propose that hotel energy benchmarking based on floor area is useful from the top-down management perspective. However, on a practical perspective, energy benchmarking based on facilities should be the first priority for hotel management or owners. Compared with the general energy benchmarking in the building sector, we find that the hotel sector lags behind in the adoption of computer modeling for benchmarking.     

The economic burden of depression among adults with rheumatoid arthritis in the United States

Aims: Depression is the most frequent comorbidity reported among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Comorbid depression negatively impacts RA patients’ health-related quality-of-life, physical function, mental function, mortality, and experience of pain and symptom severity. The objective of this study was to assess healthcare utilization, expenditures, and work productivity among patients with RA with or without depression.

Materials and methods: Data from adult patients who had at least two visits each related to RA and depression over a 1-year period were extracted from the Truven Health MarketScan research databases. Outcomes comprised healthcare resource utilization, work productivity loss, and direct healthcare costs comparing patients with RA with depression (n?=?3,478) vs patients with RA without depression (n?=?43,222).

Results: Patients with RA and depression had a significantly greater relative risk of hospitalization and number of all-cause and RA-related hospitalizations, utilization of emergency services, days spent in the hospital, physician visits, and RA-related surgeries compared with RA patients without depression. Patients with RA and depression had a higher risk of and experienced more events and days of short-term disability compared with patients without depression. The incremental adjusted annual all-cause and RA-related direct costs were $8,488 (95% CI = $6,793–$10,223) and $578 (95% CI = –$98–$1,243), respectively, when comparing patients with RA and depression vs RA only.

Limitations: The current analysis is subject to the known limitations of retrospective studies based on administrative claims data.

Conclusions: This study suggested increased healthcare utilization, work productivity loss, and economic burden among RA patients due to comorbid depression. These findings emphasize the importance of managing depression and including depression as a factor when devising treatment algorithms for patients with RA.     

FDI对高新技术产品出口比较优势的影响分析

改革开放30年来,中国吸收外资取得了举世瞩目的成就,外商直接投资(FDI)对我国的贸易,特别是对高新技术产品出口的贡献作用非常大。文章采用线性回归模型进行实证分析,得出FDI作为解释我国高新技术产品出口竞争力提升的解释变量是显著的,特别是滞后一期的FDI对我国高新技术产品出口竞争力的影响更明显,并根据该结论为发展我国高新技术产品出口提出建议。     

Industry-region Position and Economic Performance of Travel and Tourism Service Industry: An Agglomeration Perspective

Numerous studies have attempted to examine industry performance from an agglomeration perspective. However, many are still focused on the manufacturing sector. This study examines the travel and tourism service industry's economic position using an agglomeration perspective and whether this relates to its economic performance. This study discovered that, apart from being related to its intra-region position relative to other industries within the region, the economic performance of an industry in a region is also related to its intra-industry position relative to other distributive regions within the industry and to its national geographical concentration. A more significant finding is that regardless of either the intra-industry or intra-region position of the industry in a region, enhancing agglomeration not only increases competition and profit erosion but also improves labour productivity. For employment creation, it is more effective to develop an industry with more uniform national geographical distribution.     

Destination Image of Taiwan From the Perspective of Hong Kong Residents: Revisiting Structural Relationships Between Destination Image Attributes and Behavioral Intention

Destination image plays an important role in how tourists make their travel and purchase decisions. This study examines the perceived image of Taiwan as a travel destination from the perspective of Hong Kong residents. The Hong Kong outbound tourism market is important for Taiwan. Using a self-completed questionnaire, this research examines the destination image of Taiwan among 213 Hong Kong residents. The results indicate that affective image is a stronger predictor of travel intention than cognitive image. Affective image also plays a mediating role in the relationship between cognitive image and behavioral intention. Hence, affective image is an important intangible quality for today’s destinations.     

Understanding the leadership perceptions of staff in China's hotel industry: Integrating the macro- and micro-aspects of leadership contexts

The objective of this paper is to understand the leadership perceptions of staff in China's hotel industry. This study integrates the macro- and micro-aspects of leadership contexts by identifying the contextual variables that affect leadership perceptions. In leadership research, industry setting, the hierarchical levels of an organization, and national culture are recognized as the contextual constraints that affect leadership perceptions, and these constraints were used in this empirical study. Four factors emerged from the factor analysis of a survey study: professionalism; integrity; masculinity or yang; and femininity or yin. A key finding indicates that both the industry setting and the hierarchical levels of an organization affect professionalism. Implications for the training and development of future international hospitality leaders and local staff are considered.     

Philosophical Foundations of Eminent Hong Kong Chinese CEOs’ Leadership

Because of the importance of Confucian doctrines in shaping ethical business practices under Chinese leadership, revealing the roles of other Chinese ethical doctrines in modern Chinese leadership is informative. A thorough understanding of the ethical foundations of Chinese leadership is necessary for fruitful interaction with Chinese leaders, according to cultural fit theory. The present study illustrates the philosophical foundations of business management, based on dialogues with five eminent corporate executive officers (CEOs). It reveals that the CEOs practice a style of Chinese leadership synthesizing Confucian, Daoist, Mohist, and Legalist doctrines. The Confucian doctrines advocate benevolence, harmony, learning, loyalty, righteousness, and humility. They are the most prevalent tenets that support paternalism and collectivism. The Daoist doctrines emphasize flexibility and reversion (e.g., the principle that the weak can defeat the strong). They bolster the leader’s forbearance. The Mohist doctrines underpin thrift and working with the masses whereas the Legalist doctrines inculcate self-control and innovativeness. Hence, contemporary Chinese leadership does not rely exclusively on Confucian ethics and this reflects evolution over 1000s of years.     

企业债务融资的竞争策略效应研究

债务融资类型的不同对企业竞争行为具有异质性影响。依据资本结构产业组织理论,利用2012-2017年我国A股上市公司数据,同时考虑企业广告与R&D投入,验证企业负债的竞争策略效应及行业差异。结果表明：首先,企业负债对其广告投入具有刺激作用,对R&D投入有抑制作用。其次,进一步分析债务结构,发现流动负债刺激企业广告投入,非流动负债刺激企业R&D投入;通过设计竞争对手负债加权平均数,在行业层面衡量竞争对手负债,发现竞争对手流动负债抑制企业广告与R&D投入,竞争对手非流动负债刺激企业R&D投入。第三,负债与企业广告和R&D投入之间存在U型或倒U型的非线性关系。研究结论对企业调整自身负债结构以及预判竞争对手的竞争策略具有很好的指导意义,同时也对资本结构产业组织理论进行了补充与拓展。