Significant Positive Moderating Effect Research Articles

Impact of the digital transformation of Chinese new energy vehicle enterprises on innovation performance

Digital transformation involves fundamental changes in business models, organizational structure, corporate culture, and even the way in which customers interact. Chinese new energy vehicle companies hope to achieve faster response speeds, greater operational efficiency, and better user experiences through digital transformation. Therefore, exploring how to successfully carry out digital transformation and its true impact on enterprise performance is of profound significance. The digital transformation of enterprises requires the embedding and absorption of network relationships to acquire and transform external resources and technologies, which further affects the innovation performance of these enterprises. This article introduces absorptive capacity as a mediating variable and network embeddedness as a moderating variable to construct a theoretical model, attempting to elucidate the mechanism of the impact of digital transformation on enterprise innovation performance. By combining theoretical and empirical analysis, the research hypotheses are tested, and the results show that 1. digital transformation (digital technology, digital products, and digital platforms) has a positive impact on enterprise innovation performance, 2. absorptive capacity plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between digital transformation and enterprise innovation performance, and 3. the embeddedness of network relationships has a significant positive moderating effect on the digital transformation of enterprises and their innovation performance. This article delves into an effective approach involving digital transformation, absorptive capacity, and enterprise innovation performance; analyses the moderating effect of network embeddedness; and concludes that the research findings have implications for the development of related research on digital transformation and enterprise innovation. The timely activities of enterprises to effectively carry out digital transformation, as well as the formulation of relevant policies, have positive significance.

Research on the impact of digital transformation on innovative high-quality development in the context of environmental regulation in agricultural enterprises

Digital transformation is an important strategic choice for agricultural enterprises to adapt to economic development in the new era. The innovation quality of patents with core technology and high commercial value is significantly higher than that of low-quality patents such as weak patents developed through technological imitation. This study investigates the impact of digital transformation on innovative high-quality development in the context of environmental regulation in agricultural enterprises for the timeframe from 2012 to 2020. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the goal of improving innovation quality can be achieved through digital transformation in agricultural companies. The results show that digital transformation can effectively promote the improvement of innovation quality in companies, and environmental regulation has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between them. “Violating agricultural operation” is a specific appellation for the diversified management of listed agricultural companies, and it is one of the management modes of agricultural enterprises. For listed agricultural companies, the greater the degree of enterprise diversification, the greater the degree of “violating agricultural operation”. The influence mechanism test shows that “violating agricultural operation” plays a part in mediating effect in the process of digital transformation promoting innovation quality improvement.

Mechanisms for facilitating academic entrepreneurship in higher education

PurposeThe commercialization of research produced by universities constitutes a core facet of academic entrepreneurship (AE). Academic literature reveals the need to shed light on entrepreneurial processes in higher education institutions (HEIs). This study intends to fill this gap by researching the mechanisms for facilitating AE and the variables that can moderate the relationship between such mechanisms and AE in Portuguese HEIs.Design/methodology/approachOur research model aims to assess the mechanisms of academic entrepreneurship (AE) within a sample of 125 Portuguese public higher education institutions (HEIs). To test our research hypotheses, we employed a structural equation model (SEM) using the partial least squares (PLS) method. Additionally, our evaluation examines the potential moderating effects of incubator programs, support initiatives, and proof-of-concept programs (PoCs). Our research model seeks to evaluate the mechanisms for facilitating AE and explore the effects of including incubator programs, support initiatives, and PoCs as moderators. The seven variables (Research mobilization, Unconventionality, Industry collaboration, University policies, Incubator programs and support initiatives, Proof-of-concept programs, and academic entrepreneurship) were measured using a 7-point Likert scale.FindingsThe results revealed that different drivers of AE influence the creation and development of entrepreneurial activities. Our findings also show the moderating effects of incubator programs, support initiatives, and proof-of-concept programs on AE. We find that incubator programs, other support initiatives, and PoCs maintain a moderating effect on AE and benefit their respective HEIs.Research limitations/implicationsThe study examines only the Portuguese HEI context. Therefore, generalizing these results necessitates reservations. However, the responses came from various actors in HEIs, from different academic backgrounds and research interests. This makes the results more generalizable. Limitations are evident in external validity, given that we gathered the data over a relatively short period.Practical implicationsObserved factors are explored to gain a deeper understanding of their influence on the mechanisms of AE. The implications arise from the new perspective presented and the methodology used to identify mechanisms capable of fostering AE. We hope this research will encourage other researchers to study this topic further.Social implicationsthe engagement of universities at the global level should be emphasised in future policy. While universities in innovation systems often have a local focus, their engagement in innovation ecosystems transcends the boundaries of geographic locations.Originality/valuePoCs had a significant positive moderating effect on the impact of research mobilization and university policies on AE. Thus, we find interactions between universities and industry boost AE. This study demonstrates how AE benefits HEIs by extending orientation towards mobilizing research, unconventional approaches, cooperation with industry, and university policy implementation. We thus advocate a new approach, demonstrating the influence that the mobility of research, unconventionality, industry collaboration, and university policies hold over AE.

Effect modification of diet and vitamins on the association between air pollution particles of different diameters and hypertension: A 12-year longitudinal cohort study in densely populated areas of China

IntroductionParticulate matter (PM) is identified as one of the exacerbating and triggering factors for hypertension. Diet intake and the consumption of vitamins may potentially moderate the impact of PM on hypertension. MethodsA 12-year longitudinal cohort study was conducted on a population in densely populated areas of China. Residual balancing with weighted methods was employed to control for time-varying and no time-varying confounding factors. Stratified Cox proportional hazards models were conducted to examine the moderating effects of diet and vitamins on the risk of hypertension with PM. ResultsThere was a significant positive association between long-term exposure to different diameter PM and the risk of developing hypertension. The hazard ratios (HRs) for hypertension were 1.0200 (95 % CIs: 1.0147, 1.0253) for PM1, 1.0120 (95 % CIs: 1.0085, 1.0155) for PM2.5, and 1.0074 (95 % CIs, 1.0056, 1.0092) for PM10. The diet and vitamins moderated these associations, the intake of healthy foods and vitamins exhibited a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between PM exposure and hypertension risk. Among all participants, the high intake of fruit (PM1 (HRs: 1.0102, 95 % CIs: 1.0024, 1.0179), PM2.5 (HRs: 1.0060, 95 % CIs: 1.0011, 1.0109), and PM10 (HRs: 1.0044, 95 % CIs: 1.0018, 1.0070)) and vitamin E (PM1 (HRs: 1.0143, 95 % CIs: 1.0063, 1.0223), PM2.5 (HRs:1.0179, 95 % CIs: 1.0003, 1.0166), and PM10 (HRs: 1.0042, 95 % CIs: 1.0008, 1.0075)) with lower risk of hypertension than the overall level and low intake of related foods and vitamins, exhibited a strong positive moderating effect on the relationship between PM and hypertension. Similar trends were observed for the intake of fish, root food, whole grains, eggs, fungus food, vitamin B2, B3. However, Na, meat, sugary and alcoholic exhibited opposite trends. The moderating effect of vitamin E intake was stronger than vitamin B and C. ConclusionsDiet and vitamins intake may moderate the association between PM exposure and the risk of hypertension in adults.

The impact of green-listed companies on rural ecological environments in China: A spatial heterogeneity and empirical analysis

Based on the panel data of 22 inland provinces in China from 2010 to 2020, this study constructs and measures the level of rural ecological environment in China. The impact of the financial performance of green-listed companies on the rural ecological environment and its moderating and threshold effects are analyzed. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) During 2010–2020, China's rural ecological environment shows a trend of “fluctuating-decreasing-rising” with significant regional non-equilibrium characteristics. (2) The financial performance of green-listed companies has a significantly negative impact on rural ecology. This negative impact has a crucial heterogeneous feature, with a more significant negative impact in areas with a higher rural ecological environment index and less substantial performance in regions with a lower rural ecological environment index. (3) There is a significant positive moderating effect of education level and digitalization on the relationship between the financial performance of green-listed companies on the level of rural ecological development. As moderating variables, the digitalization and education level weakens the negative impact of green-listed companies' performance on the ecological environment. The positive impact of the financial performance of green-listed companies on the development level of the rural ecological environment is more vital in areas with higher per capita education levels and digitalization in rural areas. (4) There is a significant threshold effect on the financial performance of green-listed companies on the level of rural ecological development. When the financial performance of green-listed companies exceeds a particular threshold value, the impact of the financial performance of green-listed companies on the development level of the rural ecological environment is significantly positive. Based on the above findings, this paper puts forward corresponding countermeasure suggestions.

Effect of Investment Diversification in Real Estate on the Financial Performance of Retirement Benefits Schemes in Kenya

Purpose: Prudence investment calls for investment diversification so as to subvert the tendon of subpar performances. The study investigated the effect of investment diversification in real estate on the financial performance of the retirement benefits schemes in Kenya. The study further investigated the moderating effect of the foreign exchange rate on the relationship between the independent and the dependent variable.
 Methodology: The study embraced a descriptive research design and the study population constituted of 87 retirement benefits schemes. The stratified random sampling technique used resulted into having 72 units of analysis. Primary and secondary quantitative data were employed in this study. The primary data was collected using questionnaires, whereas the secondary data was collected via data observation schedules. Data analysis was through the regression model enshrined in the statistical package for social sciences version 20.
 Findings: The hypothesis testing led to the rejection of H01, and H02. The rejection H01 confirmed that investment diversification in real estate has a significant positive effect on the financial performance of the retirement benefits schemes in Kenya. The rejection of H02 confirmed that foreign exchange rate has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between investment diversification in real estate and the financial performance of the retirement benefits schemes in Kenya.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study supported the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) which advocates for investors to build optimal investment portfolios out of the risky assets at their disposal through diversification so as to arrive at an optimal investment portfolio. The concept of investment diversification is essential since it presents investors with an opportunity of not losing everything, since when one asset within their portfolio fails, the loss may be borne by the other assets within the same investment portfolio which will have posted positive returns on investment. The study recommends that the retirement benefits authority should devise policies which support investment diversification in the retirement benefits schemes.

Unveiling green digital transformational leadership: Nexus between green digital culture, green digital mindset, and green digital transformation

The study's primary purpose has been to examine the association between Green Digital Transformational Leadership, Green Digital Mindset, and Green Digital Transformation Under Varying Permutations of Organizational Green Digital Culture. Using the Stimuli-Organism-Response theory and the transformational leadership theory as the underpinning theoretical frameworks, the direct, indirect, and moderated roles of in effectuating have been investigated. After performing PLS-based structural equation modeling on the data collected from 240 respondents approached via LinkedIn, a direct as well as indirect positive linkage between Green Digital Transformational Leadership, Green Digital Mindset, and Green Digital Transformation has been empirically substantiated, emphasizing the importance of Green Digital Transformational Leadership in enabling Green Digital Transformation through the cultivation of an ecologically aware mindset among their followers. The significant positive moderation effect of Organizational Green Digital Culture on the Green Digital Transformational Leadership - Green Digital Mindset relationship reveals that the nurturing of an effective Organizational Green Digital Culture could amplify the instrumentality of Green Digital Transformational Leadership in maturing Green Digital Mindset among the followers, which has been regarded as an essential precursor for Green Digital Transformation. Besides expanding the body of knowledge by offering rare insights into the interplay among Green Digital Transformational Leadership, Green Digital Mindset, and Green Digital Transformation, the newfangled model provides significant implications for the organizations'’, teams', and/or leaders' pursuits of capacitating green digital transformation through the culmination of green digital mindset among the followers, and the cultivation of an enabling green digital culture.

The Effect of Light on Negative Emotion and Cognitive Regulation in Individuals with Depressive Tendencies

ABSTRACT Light has been demonstrated to influence transient mood states in healthy populations and can be used as a treatment for clinical mood disorders. However, it is still interesting to know whether stimulus with relatively low light levels can moderate the transient mood state of people with depressive tendencies, and what are the effects respectively from light levels and light color. In this study, 10 subjects with depressive tendencies were recruited and screened to receive a typical lighting intervention, including five crossover conditions with the 300 l×-isoluminance groups (red, 6500 K-white, blue) and 6500 K-isospectral groups (50 lx, 300 lx, and 1500 lx). Negative cognitive bias, high-frequency heart rate variability, and subjective emotion were measured at different stages during the lighting intervention. Statistical results demonstrated that the lighting condition of 1500 lx-6500 K was associated with a transient positive mood state (p < 0.001) and had a significant positive moderating effect on the negative cognitive biases compared with the other groups (p = .017). Colored lights are more likely to trigger negative emotions and negative cognitive biases.

Exploring the impact of rider–driver ethnicity match/mismatch in ride-hailing

PurposeDrawing on the social identity theory, this paper explores the impact of rider–driver ethnicity match on the driver’s expected ride satisfaction and willingness to perform, and rider’s trust on the driver.Design/methodology/approachThe study relies on scenario-based online experiments with 291 ride-hailing drivers and 282 riders in the USA.FindingsThe findings indicate that ethnicity match between ride-hailing drivers and riders positively impact driver’s ride satisfaction and willingness to perform, and rider’s trust in the driver. The study also revealed a significant positive moderation effect of ethnic identity on the relationship of ethnicity match and those constructs.Practical implicationsWhile it may be challenging to influence an individual’s level of ethnic identity, managers can take steps to educate and train their employees regarding the impact of ethnic identity and discrimination, with a particular focus on those individuals who possess a strong sense of ethnic identity.Originality/valueThe findings of this research provide theoretical contributions to the existing literature on ride-hailing services and adds to the limited stream of logistics research that examines the impact of ethnicity on ride-hailing operations.

How does managerial ability affect R&D efficiency of emerging-economy high-tech enterprises

ABSTRACT Numerous publications have discussed the nexus between managerial ability (MA) and innovation capability; however, regarding the hi-tech enterprises in transition economies, the nexus between MA and R&D efficiency will be discussed in depth. Considering the data from high-tech listed companies A-shares in Mainland China in 2012–2017, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) window, Tobit panel model, and panel threshold model is utilised to analyse the direct, moderating effects and threshold effect of MA on R&D efficiency of China’s high-tech enterprises. The findings illustrated that MA could significantly facilitate R&D efficiency, and this enhancement effect is interestingly more evident in state-owned enterprises. Enterprise ownership exerts a significant positive moderation effect between MA and R&D efficiency of China’s hi-tech enterprises. Both equity incentive and salary incentive exerts a significant negative moderation effect between MA and R&D efficiency of China’s hi-tech enterprises. In addition, the panel threshold model proved a nonlinear nexus between MA and its R&D efficiency. Based on the abovementioned findings, corresponding countermeasures are proposed.

The Impact of Rural Industrial Integration on Agricultural Carbon Emissions Evidence from China Provinces Data

Based on the data from China’s provincial panel from 2008 to 2019, this paper explores the impact of rural industrial integration (RII) on agriculture carbon emissions (ACE). It is found that RII has significantly inhibited ACE. The 1% increase in RII led to a 2.133% reduction in ACE; the RII can realize the goal of green agriculture by accelerating urbanization, thus inhibiting ACE. The labor structure has a significant positive moderating effect on agricultural carbon emission reduction in the process of RII. In the threshold analysis, it is found that the rural labor structure has a single threshold nonlinear effect, and the effect of RII on inhibited ACE is more pronounced when the level of labor structure is more than the threshold of 0.829. This conclusion not only contributes to understanding the relationship between the RII, urbanization, labor structure, and carbon emissions, but also provides substantial support for further promoting the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy and achieving the dual-carbon goal.

How does digital transformation affect the ESG performance of Chinese manufacturing state-owned enterprises?-Based on the mediating mechanism of dynamic capabilities and the moderating mechanism of the institutional environment.

Against the background of sustainable development policies, the ESG performance of Chinese manufacturing enterprises is still generally poor. As the leading enterprises in the manufacturing industry, state-owned enterprises should take the lead in responding to the national call for sustainable development and actively explore the path to improve their ESG performance. This study aims to explore whether and how state-owned manufacturing enterprises can improve their poor ESG performance through digital transformation in the digital economy. This study takes Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share state-owned listed manufacturing enterprises as the research sample and constructs an unbalanced panel. OLS regression analysis is used to empirically test the impact of digital transformation on the ESG performance of the sample firms. Further attempts are made to discuss the influence mechanism of digital transformation from the perspectives of dynamic capabilities and the institutional environment through stepwise and hierarchical regression methods, respectively. The study shows that, firstly, digital transformation is an important influencing factor in promoting the improvement of enterprises' ESG performance, and at the same time, there are significant structural differences in this influence. Second, under the dynamic capability perspective, digital transformation can improve corporate ESG performance through an absorptive feedback mechanism, matching response mechanism, and innovation efficiency enhancement mechanism. Third, from the perspective of the institutional environment, the informal system has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between digital transformation and ESG performance, i.e., the informal system and digital transformation have a synergistic governance effect on corporate ESG performance. The moderating effect of the formal institutional environment on digital transformation and ESG performance is not significant. The findings of the study clarify the controversy over the relationship between digital transformation and ESG performance of manufacturing state-owned enterprises and enrich the research on the influencing factors of corporate ESG performance. It also provides a theoretical foundation and empirical evidence for manufacturing SOEs to improve ESG performance and lead to sustainable development.

Going green with artificial intelligence: The path of technological change towards the renewable energy transition

Research background: The twin pressures of economic downturn and climate change faced by countries around the world have become more pronounced over the past decade. A renewable energy transition is believed to play a central role in mitigating the economic-climate paradox. While the architectural and computational power of artificial intelligence is particularly well suited to address the challenges of massive data processing and demand forecasting during a renewable energy transition, there is very scant empirical assessment that takes a social science perspective and explores the effects of AI development on the energy transition. Purpose of the article: This paper aims to answer two key questions: One is, how does AI software development promote or inhibit the shift of energy consumption towards renewables? The other is, under what policy interventions does AI software development have a more positive effect on promoting renewable energy consumption? Methods: We employ a dataset of 62 economies covering the period 2011–2020 to analyze the impact of AI software development on the energy transition, where possible confounders, including political and economic characteristics and time-invariant elements, are controlled using fixed-effects estimation along with specified covariates. Findings &amp; value added: AI software development can promote the energy transition towards renewables. There is suggestive evidence that the core mechanism linking such a positive relationship tends to lie in improving innovation performance in environmental monitoring rather than in green computing. Government support for R&amp;D in renewable energy technologies is found to be significantly beneficial for harnessing the positive impact of AI software development on the energy transition. Compared to non-market-based environmental policies, market-based environmental policies have a more significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between AI software development and energy transition.

The Power of Big Data: The Impact of Urban Digital Transformation on Green Total Factor Productivity

Focusing on the construction of the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone (NBDCPZ), we adopted the difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of big data on green total factor productivity (GTFP), using data from 276 cities in China for the period of 2012 to 2019. We also conducted mediating effects and moderating effects tests to explore whether a factor exists through which, or relying on it, big data influences the GTFP. The result of the baseline regression showed that the construction of the NBDCPZ significantly increased GTFP. After a series of robustness tests, this conclusion remains valid. In addition, we examined the mediating effects of industrial structure and green innovation and found that the construction of the NBDCPZ increased the level of GTFP, mainly by promoting industrial structure upgrading and green innovation activities. We identified the moderating effects of different types of environmental regulation on the relationship between urban digital transformation and GTFP and found that market incentive environmental regulation (MIER) has a significant positive moderating effect on big data increasing GTFP. Conversely, the moderating effects of command and control environmental regulation (CCER) and social participation environmental regulation (SPER) were found to be insignificant. These findings suggest that urban digital transformation, through its contribution to increasing GTFP, is an important pathway to high-quality development.

Work–Life Conflict and Job Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Gender and Household Income in Western Europe

Although many potential moderators of the work–life conflict and job satisfaction relationship are well-studied, previous research has often overlooked the potential influence of different income groups on this dynamic. Our aim in this paper is to test this moderation effect within the context of Western Europe. Additionally, we carry out the analysis for men and women separately, as this dynamic may be strongly influenced by gender. Using data from the tenth round of the European Social Survey for twelve countries (Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland), we found a significant positive moderating effect of household income on the relationship between work–life conflict and job satisfaction for women, while for men the moderation effect is not significant. Our results thus suggest that for women, higher household income may serve as a buffer, alleviating the detrimental impact of individual work–life conflict on job satisfaction.

Privacy paradox resolution in mHealth: the moderating effect of rationality degree

PurposeThe collection and use of personal medical information for mobile health (mHealth) service raise significant privacy concerns. In this context, this study aims to explore the privacy paradox and its impact from the perspective of paradox resolution.Design/methodology/approachBased on social support theory and privacy calculus theory, this study first studies the effect of social support on perceived benefits, and explores the moderating effect of perceived health status on the privacy trade-off process. Secondly, the study examines the path of “privacy concerns – disclosure intention – disclosure behavior” to verify the existence of the privacy paradox. Following this, based on rational choice theory, the rationality degree is introduced as a moderating variable to investigate both its impact on the central route and the strength of this impact on the privacy paradox.FindingsEmpirical results show that informational support and emotional support influence perceived benefits significantly. Perceived benefits significantly influence privacy concerns, and perceived health status has a significant positive moderating effect. The authors further find that there is a privacy paradox within the mHealth context, and the privacy paradox is moderated negatively by rationality degree. The findings indicate that the impact strength of the privacy paradox will decrease with increases in rationality degree.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings indicate that it is crucial to evaluate the privacy paradox and its impact from the perspective of paradox resolution.Originality/valueThis study offers a complete comprehension of the privacy paradox in mHealth and provides several valuable recommendations for enhancing both mHealth services and privacy controls.

A Mediated Moderation Model of Destination Social Responsibility and Residents’ Support for Tourism Development in Saudi Arabia

Based on stakeholder and social exchange theories, support for tourism development is strongly influenced by destination social responsibility (DSR). Despite the grand intentions, DSR is still being sparingly employed by Saudi destination management, probably because its effects on tourism impacts (economic, socio-cultural and environmental) are still unknown. In the context of Saudi Arabia, this study sought to provide an empirical examination of the relationship between DSR and tourism impacts, which in turn influenced residents’ support for tourism development. The study sample consisted of 452 residents gathered from three main destinations in Saudi Arabia. PLS-SEM was used to analyse the data and test hypotheses. The results indicated a positive relationship between DSR and tourism impacts such as economic, socio-cultural and environmental. Another notable finding was that two tourism impacts mediate the relationship between DSR and support for tourism development. Furthermore, community participation had a statistically significant positive moderating effect on DSR perceptions and support for tourism development. The moderation effect of community participation on this relationship was found to be a theoretical contribution to this study.

Low-Carbon Travel Behavior in Daily Residence and Tourism Destination: Based on TPB-ABC Integrated Model

Low-carbon travel is considered as one of the most important strategies to reduce transportation carbon emissions, and its success is decided by the active participation of residents. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and Attitude-Behavior-Context theory (ABC), this study explores the influencing factors and formation paths of individual low-carbon travel behavior, and analyzes low-carbon travel behavior regarding both daily commuting from residence and tourism destinations. This study collects a sample of 506 respondents and uses Mplus 8.0 to examine the hypotheses. Empirical research results indicate that: (1) A certain gap exists in the individuals’ low-carbon travel behavior between daily residence and tourism destination. Differences exist in direct effects, mediating effects and moderating effects. (2) Low-carbon travel behavioral intention plays a significant mediating role in both daily residence and tourism destination, especially the former. Regarding daily residence, individuals’ attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have a positive effect on behavior through behavioral intention. Regarding tourism destination, only the attitude-low-carbon travel behavioral intention-behavior path is significant. (3) Situational factors play a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between low-carbon travel behavioral intention and behavior, especially in tourism destination. This study reveals the internal mechanism of individuals’ low-carbon travel behavior and the differences between travel in daily life and tourism, helping to deepen understanding of individuals’ low-carbon travel behavior and providing guidance for promoting individuals’ low-carbon travel.

Research on the Improvement of Digital Literacy for Moderately Scaled Tea Farmers under the Background of Digital Intelligence Empowerment

In the context of digital intelligence empowerment, the digital literacy level of tea farmers has a significant impact on the intelligent development and transformation of the tea industry. This study extends the original model of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) by introducing the personal innovativeness theory and the self-efficacy theory and constructs a new model to explore the influencing factors of moderately scaled tea farmers’ digital literacy improvement behavior. There are a total of 22 research hypotheses. Using structural equation modeling and collecting questionnaire data for analysis, the following research results were obtained. (1) The performance expectancy, social influence, effort expectancy, personal innovativeness, and self-efficacy all significantly positively affected the willingness of tea farmers to improve their digital literacy, according to the path coefficient in descending order: social influence (0.226) &gt; self-efficacy (0.224) &gt; effort expectancy (0.178) &gt; performance expectancy (0.157) &gt; personal innovativeness (0.155). (2) Facilitating conditions and the willingness to improve digital literacy had a significant positive impact on tea farmers’ digital literacy improvement behavior, according to the size of the path coefficient: the willingness to improve (0.271) &gt; facilitating conditions (0.106). (3) The willingness of tea farmers to improve their digital literacy played a complete mediating role between personal innovativeness and self-efficacy on their digital literacy improvement behavior, and was partially mediated between the performance expectancy, social influence, and effort expectancy on their digital literacy improvement behavior. According to the proportion of indirect effects, the order was effort expectancy (27%), performance expectancy (47%), and social influence (49%). (4) The gender and age of tea farmers had a significant positive moderating effect on the impact of performance expectancy on the willingness to improve digital literacy. Age and experience had a significant positive moderating effect on the impact of effort expectancy on the willingness to improve digital literacy. The age of tea farmers had a significant positive moderating effect on the improvement of digital literacy behavior through the facilitating conditions. This study extended the applicability of the UTAUT theoretical model and proposed six strategies to improve the digital literacy of tea farmers, which helps policymakers and industry leaders provide practical guidance for tea farmers to improve their digital literacy and provide reference for research related to farmers’ digital literacy.

The impact of carbon neutrality policies on the stock market from a supply chain perspective

PurposeThis study explores the impact of carbon neutrality policies on Chinese stock market from a supply chain perspective. Specifically, the carbon policy refers to the Action Plan for Carbon Dioxide Peaking Before 2030 (the Plan) in China.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the resource dependence theory (RDT) and applies the event study methodology to explore the impact. It uses the cross-sectional regression model to reveal the moderating effect of supply chain characteristics on the stock market reaction with a data set of 354 listed companies in A-shares (excluding ChiNext and SME board).FindingsThe promulgation of the Plan shows a significant negative stock market reaction. Customer concentration, out-degree centrality and smart supply chains (SSCs) have a significant negative moderating effect. In-degree centrality and supplier concentration have a significant positive moderating effect. Furthermore, the conclusions concerning out-degree centrality, supplier concentration and SSCs are counterintuitive.Practical implicationsFor policymakers, the study results provide a reference for evaluating the carbon neutrality policy. For managers, this study provides theoretical support for strategically adjusting and designing supply chain structures in the context of advocating peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality.Originality/valueThis paper is the first attempt that includes the supply chain structure factors into the impact of carbon neutrality policies on the stock market.