This study examines the extent to which existing foreign direct investment (FDI) theories apply to Chinese investment in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. This is important because existing explanations of Chinese outward FDI (OFDI) generally make scant reference to these theories. By using OFDI data for BRI countries between 2003 and 2017, we tested hypothesizes applicable to existing theories by using both pooled ordinary least squares (PLOS) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) methods. The results show that a large part of the existing theories apply to Chinese OFDI. Chinese OFDI is likely to choose countries with big market size, abundant natural resources, cheap unskilled labor, stable politics, good infrastructure, high trade cost and high investment cost. These positive findings notwithstanding, they do not invalidate the alternative factors cited by commentators which have not been subject to direct testing, which may require the use of qualitative analytical approaches.

Purpose: The Chief Financial Officer (CFO), despite being a critical organization member responsible for ensuring quality of financial reporting, audit and compliance, is under-researched. Grouped as a member of top management teams (TMS) in studies, factors influencing decision making in this group rely on static measures of characteristics without regard for dynamic and longitudinal influences of career trajectories and industry occupational group memberships. The relationship between the high-tech industry as a site of notable reported internal control (IC) weakness and influences on CFOs requires closer examination. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach: The study draws together the upper echelons theory and occupational communities (OCs) to explore the impact of shared values and behavioral norms from different sources on executive decision making. Internal and external sources of OC are proposed and their influence on activities with respect to corporate IC is tested. The sample of 1,573 firm/year observations includes high-tech firms listed on major US exchanges was developed using data from five distinct databases. Executives’ biographic information was manually collected.Findings: Results indicate that senior financial executives belong not only to their firm and its culture but also to OCs that extend beyond the firm. Membership in professional credential granting occupational groups has less impact on effective IC than experience in the high-tech industry. In combination, multiple OCs show evidence of compound and counteracting effects on IC. The OC that arises in the high-tech industry makes a measurable positive difference in the quality of IC in sample firms, in contrast with the OC among credentialed accounting and financial professionals.Research limitations/implications: This quantitative study of OC reveals the differential impact of different sources of OC and contributes to the literature on TMS a new framework for examining decision making. OC is typically studied through qualitative methods and, thus, potential exists to further explore the specific nature and dynamics of the OCs identified in this study.Practical implications: The study highlights the role of broad affiliations and networks among senior financial executives which may have bearing on their ability to effectively manage IC. The role of these networks may also partially explain instances of CFO failure and thus dismissal. Knowledge of the role of OC may help boards of directors in the selection and promotion of senior financial officers of the firm.Originality/value: The paper offers a different perspective on professional accounting expertise in one specific industry where incidence of IC weakness is high relative to other industries. Study results expand recent research on TMS to include sociological impacts of cohort groups. Despite generally weaker IC in the high-tech sector, this study demonstrates the value of exploring group membership within the industry as an important predictor of behavior. The result is a new perspective to CFO decision making which illustrates the relevance of OCs among upper echelons. The implications of findings for CFO recruitment and promotion are borne out in recent instances of senior financial executive failure in the sector.

In this study, we intend to obtain a novel luminous fiber with colour-tuned luminescence via the photoelectron transfer of a phosphomolybdic acid pigment (PAP). The luminous fiber include the SrAl₂O₄: Eu²⁺, Dy³⁺ materials as the luminescence sources, a solid solution of PAP and polyvinyl alcohol as the photoinitiator, amino silicone resin (ASR) as the surface-modified film-forming material and polypropylene (PP) as the matrix, which are prepared by the melt spinning method. The surface morphology was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, photoluminescence emission spectroscopy, and CIE-1931 chromaticity coordinates. Thus, promising results were obtained, which denoted that the luminescence colour of the luminous fibers could transform from yellow–green to blue by adjusting the PAP concentration. The PL emission spectra of these luminous fibers consisted of two emission peak regions in the range of 430–530 nm. The intensity of the two emission peaks in the fiber reaches the maximum when the concentration of the PAP was 50%. Further, the fibers gradually turned blue with luminescence decay when the fiber was placed in a dark place. The existence of photosensitive discoloration was found to be directly related to the amino groups embedded in the silicone resin coated with the luminous surface material, which reacted with PAP to develop phosphorous molybdenum blue via the photo-reduction process. These findings provide valuable insights toward developing next-generation luminescent materials and multicolor luminous fibers.

In recent years, luminous coated fabrics based on SrAl₂O₄: Eu²⁺, Dy³⁺ luminescent materials have attracted more attention. However, due to the single emission color of SrAl₂O₄: Eu²⁺, Dy³⁺ luminescent materials, the application of prepared coated fabrics has certain liminations. Therefore, at present, there is a need to develop a kind of luminous coated fabric which has the capability of emitting multiple colors of light. In this work, fluorescent pigments and SrAl₂O₄: Eu²⁺, Dy³⁺ luminescent materials were added to a coating slurry and uniformly coated over a woven fabric substrate. The effects of adding fluorescent pigments on the spectral characteristics of luminous coated fabrics were evaluated. The blue fluorescent pigment causes a significant blue shift in the emission spectrum of the blue light-emitting coated fabric, whereas the emission spectra of the orange and red light-emitting coated fabrics exhibit a significant red shift. The yellow-green fluorescent pigments significantly affect the coated fabric. The emission spectrum shows no evident change and is similar to the emission spectrum of white (without any fluorescent pigment) luminescent coated fabric. The afterglow brightness of the colored luminous coated fabrics decreases exponentially with time. Adding blue fluorescent pigments has a greater impact on the brightness of the coated fabrics. The initial brightness is lower and the afterglow brightness loss is higher when using yellow-green fluorescence. The pigment has little effect on the brightness loss of coated fabrics, and the initial brightness of the coated fabric increases when adding yellow-green fluorescent pigments. Fluorescent pigments result in relatively low color purity for each colored coated fabric. However, the color rendering index is high, and the color rendering performance for the light source is excellent.