Purpose Existing research rarely provides an integrated analysis of the interaction between remanufacturing models and platform sales strategies. To address this underexplored issue, this paper aims to explore the strategic interplay and joint decision-making mechanism that enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to optimize their choice of remanufacturing models among in-house, outsourced and authorized remanufacturing, while simultaneously determining optimal online sales strategies between agency and resale within the platform economy. Design/methodology/approach This study constructs a single-cycle supply chain involving an OEM, a remanufacturer and an e-commerce platform. Using consumer utility theory and Stackelberg game models, it systematically analyzes the impact of different combinations of remanufacturing models and platform sales strategies on product pricing, production decisions and the profits of supply chain members. Findings The results indicate that the choice of remanufacturing model is influenced by the cost structure of new and remanufactured products, as well as the platform’s commission rate. OEMs tend to prefer outsourced or authorized remanufacturing under resale strategies, while in-house remanufacturing is often the superior choice under agency strategies. Additionally, the cost of remanufactured products and market dynamics significantly affect the profits of supply chain members, with profit distribution between platforms and OEMs differing across sales strategies. Originality/value This paper is the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to comprehensively consider the interaction between remanufacturing models and platform sales strategies, offering a more complete analytical framework. It reveals the specific conditions and actionable pathways through which OEMs can maximize profits and increase market share in the platform economy by optimizing both remanufacturing and sales strategies.

Purpose This paper aims to theorize and empirically examine the impact of media attention on corporate social responsibility (CSR) through the lens of legitimacy theory, and to uncover the boundary conditions (celebrity CEOs and market value) that shape this relationship in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach Using a panel of Chinese nonfinancial firms (2010–2020), this paper used ordinary least squares regression and robustness checks including alternative media attention measurements, media divergence analysis and Heckman two-stage regression. Findings Media attention significantly increases CSR engagement, consistent with its role in amplifying legitimacy pressures. Notably, this effect is contingent. It is strengthened for firms with celebrity CEOs but attenuated for those with high market value. These findings hold across multiple robustness checks. Practical implications The findings offer insights for policymakers, managers and investors. Policymakers may harness media oversight to incentivize CSR, while firms with celebrity CEOs or low market value should prioritize CSR to mitigate legitimacy risks. Investors should look beyond superficial CSR claims to discern strategic motives. Originality/value This study advances institutional theory by framing CSR as a strategic legitimacy response to media-driven visibility. It further contributes by identifying how internal agency (celebrity CEOs) and external contingencies (market value) distinctly moderate the media–CSR link, offering a nuanced framework for understanding the interplay between media visibility and corporate legitimacy.

Purpose Drawing upon dual legitimacy theory, this study aims to examine the influence of corporate nationalism on innovation performance and its boundary conditions. Design/methodology/approach The sample comprises A-share listed enterprises on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2007 to 2022. Corporate nationalism was measured using text analysis and machine learning methods. The authors establish baseline regression, mediating-effect and moderating-effect models using OLS regression to test the impact of corporate nationalism on innovation performance and examine the proposed hypotheses. Findings The results indicate that corporate nationalism significantly enhances innovation performance, a robust finding. Moderation analysis reveals that state ownership exerts a positive moderating influence, whereas internationalization level exerts a negative moderating influence. Mechanism tests grounded in adaptive legitimacy theory identify productivity, governance and R&D effects as the three potential pathways. From a strategic legitimacy perspective, financing, profit and talent effects emerge as three potential pathways. Furthermore, distinguishing between rational and radical nationalisms reveals that rational nationalism fosters corporate innovation, whereas radical nationalism inhibits it. Originality/value This study posits that nationalism is an informal institutional factor enhancing corporate innovation performance, thereby expanding the theoretical boundaries in this field. Leveraging dual legitimacy theory, this study clarifies the underlying channels through which corporate nationalism affects innovation performance. It also deepens their understanding of the contextual roles of nationalism in promoting innovation by examining the moderating effects of ownership attributes and internationalization levels.

Purpose This study aims to analyze in depth the internal mechanism and boundary conditions of the role of institutional investor distraction in corporate green innovation on the basis of insights from agency theory and from the perspective of the willingness and ability of executives to engage in opportunistic behavior in green innovation decisions. Design/methodology/approach Using the panel data of Chinese listed companies from 2007 to 2023, the authors obtained empirical evidence to support the arguments. Findings First, this study reveals that institutional investor distraction inhibits corporate green innovation. Second, the authors also find that chief executive officer green experience and digital transformation mitigate the negative impact of institutional investor distraction on corporate green innovation. Contrary to theory, but interestingly, analyst coverage enhances the above negative relationship. Finally, the authors find that the negative impacts of positive institutional investor distraction on corporate green innovation and of institutional investor distraction on green invention innovation are stronger. Originality/value This study enables scholars to develop a more refined understanding of how institutional investors influence corporate green innovation and provides important insights for shareholders and policymakers to better promote corporate green innovation.

Purpose Deviant workplace behavior (DWB) poses significant challenges to occupational safety and organizational effectiveness, particularly in the coal mining industry, where high-risk and high-pressure working conditions are prevalent. This study aims to examine how coal miners’ work environment relates to DWB, using the stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) framework. It further explores the mediating role of self-experience and the moderating effect of differential susceptibility in the relationship between environmental stimuli and behavioral responses. Design/methodology/approach A large-scale survey was conducted with data from 3,516 Chinese coal miners. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and multi-group analysis (MGA) were conducted using Mplus to test the hypotheses. Findings The results show that the physical environment and social identity are positively related to DWB, while organizational harmony and family support are negatively related to it. Self-experience mediates the relationship between environmental factors and DWB. Differential susceptibility positively moderates the effects of both physical environment and social identity on DWB. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on workplace deviance by constructing a theoretical framework that explains how complex environmental stimuli shape deviant behavior through internal psychological processes. It also provides practical guidance for behavioral intervention and organizational management optimization in the coal mining industry, aiming to reduce deviant behaviors and improve safety performance and managerial effectiveness.

Purpose The purpose of this study uses data of companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares between 2012 and 2021 and uses the staggered difference-in-differences (DID) causal inference method to evaluate the impact and mechanisms of China’s social credit system construction (CSCSC) on labor employment decisions. Design/methodology/approach This scenario conforms to two key elements of staggered DID. First, micro-enterprises were not uniformly affected by policy shocks over time (2017 with 12 cities, 2019 with 16 cities and 2021 with 34 cities). Second, since the onset of policy impacts, there has been no instance of micro-enterprises exiting the pilot policies, meaning there was no occurrence of policy withdrawal or reversal. Findings The findings of this study are as follows: first, the pilot policy for CSCSC has resulted in an approximate increase of 3.10% in enterprise labor employment. Second, the CSCSC has facilitated the expansion of labor employment by augmenting the scale of debt financing, diminishing the cost of debt financing and curtailing the supply of commercial credit. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis demonstrated that the pilot policy for CSCSC has a more pronounced effect on enhancing enterprise labor employment when the labor market supply is abundant and the degree of regional marketization and the relationship between government and market are both relatively low, particularly for small-scale, non-state-owned enterprises with weak profitability. Research limitations/implications Chinese listed companies constitute only a subset of the firms affected by the credit policy. An analysis of how the social-credit-system reform influences employment structure within this sector cannot, by definition, demonstrate that the same effects apply to unlisted firms. Future research could usefully examine whether, and the extent to which, China’s social-credit-system reform and related policy measures influence the evolution of employment structures. Practical implications Given that the construction of the social credit system has been shown to significantly increase the scale of enterprise labor employment, policymakers are advised to consider the continued expansion of this system to foster the growth and development of additional enterprises. Considering that China’s central regions derive greater benefits from the social credit system, it is imperative that the state intensifies its support for these areas, including measures such as fiscal and tax incentives, to promote balanced regional development. Social implications The policymaker should take into account the positive impacts of the social credit system construction on different regions and types of enterprises, and accordingly adjust and refine related policies and measures to fully leverage the role of the social credit system in promoting economic development and corporate growth. Employment is recognized as the paramount aspect of people’s welfare and acknowledged as the most fundamental foundation of economic growth. Originality/value The marginal contribution of this study is mainly reflected in the following three aspects. First, it supplements the literature on the impact of social credit on macro-employment behavior. Second, this study innovatively explores the impact of the social credit system construction on labor employment decisions from a human capital perspective. Finally, the limitations of existing research have been addressed by this study, contributing to an enhanced understanding of the effects of social credit system construction on labor employment decisions in pilot area enterprises.

Purpose Time theft is a widespread and costly workplace deviant behavior. Based on social information processing theory, the authors build a multilevel model to explore when and how team-level high involvement work systems (HIWSs) could effectively reduce time theft behavior. Specifically, this study aims to propose that HIWSs relate to employee time theft through the mediating effect of psychological empowerment and the moderating role of team-level organizational identification. Design/methodology/approach Through a three-wave field survey, this study successfully collected data from 396 employees and their 87 direct supervisors working in different industries in an eastern province of China. Findings The results suggest that HIWSs reduce employee time theft via psychological empowerment, and team-level organizational identification strengthens the indirect effect. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by introducing HIWSs as a human resource management-related antecedent of time theft. It also identifies psychological empowerment as a key mediator that links HIWSs to employee time theft and reveals the moderating role of organizational identification in the relationship.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in existing literature regarding the impact of e-government reforms on corporate investment efficiency. Specifically, it explores how such reforms influence corporate investment behavior and performance, particularly in China’s context. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a quasi-natural experiment design, using the comprehensive e-government pilot policy implemented in China in 2018. A difference-in-differences (DID) model is used to empirically examine the policy’s effects on corporate investment efficiency. The study investigates the mechanisms behind the reforms, focusing on alleviating financing constraints, reducing cash holdings, and mitigating underinvestment and overinvestment. Findings The study finds that e-government reforms significantly enhance corporate investment efficiency. Key mechanisms include alleviating financing constraints and reducing cash holdings. The reforms mitigate underinvestment and overinvestment behaviors and reduce the influence of government-business relations. The positive effects are more pronounced in cities with higher administrative ranks, advanced digital infrastructure, nonstate-owned enterprises, and firms with lower managerial capabilities. Originality/value This research offers a novel perspective by empirically analyzing the impact of e-government reforms on corporate investment efficiency, an area that has been underexplored in prior literature. The findings provide important policy insights for leveraging e-government reforms to improve investment efficiency in businesses across various contexts, particularly in China.

Purpose Although prior literature had discussed the mechanisms underlying some institutional factors, such as political connections, institutional fragility and Chinese firms’ outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), there are another two institutional forces – institutional adaptability and large foreign firms – overlooked in the IB area. This study aims to conceptualize these two institutional forces and discusses the interaction between them and the political connection according to resource dependence theory. Design/methodology/approach The authors use logit and probit regression to test the theoretical arguments by examining Chinese prefecture-level cities’ institutional environment and Chinese-listed enterprises’ OFDI in these cities from 2000 to 2013. Findings This paper finds that the firms’ political connections had significantly positive correlations with Chinese firms’ international expansion intentions. However, institutional adaptability would weaken this relationship by changing the imbalance of dependence between firms and the government. But, large foreign firms would strengthen this relationship by influencing Chinese firm’s pros and cons related to political connections. Originality/value This study offers two new institutional forces to the emerging markets’ domestic institutional environment and extends the literature on the Chinese firms’ OFDI and resource dependence theory.

Purpose On the basis of the behavioral theory of the firm, this study aim to analyze the influence of historical and social performance surpluses on executives’ trade-off between exploratory and exploitative outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). Design/methodology/approach The authors use China’s A-share listed companies from 2002 to 2022 as the research sample; on this basis, the authors conduct empirical tests to determine the credibility of the proposed theoretical views. Findings Using data on Chinese A-share listed companies, the authors find that when faced with a historical performance surplus, executives prefer exploitative OFDI to exploratory OFDI. In contrast, when faced with a social performance surplus, executives prefer exploratory OFDI to exploitative OFDI. Moreover, the authors find that these relationships are enhanced by economic policy uncertainty. Originality/value First, the authors propose and demonstrate that historical performance surplus and social performance surplus are two important but underexplored antecedents of executives’ trade-offs between exploratory OFDI and exploitative OFDI. Second, the authors add new insights into how executives can adjust OFDI when faced with performance surpluses. Finally, the authors clarify for the first time the moderating role of economic policy uncertainty in the relationship between performance feedback and firms’ OFDI actions.