Search Results (15)

Financial fraud, as a salient manifestation of corporate governance failure, erodes investor confidence and threatens the long-term sustainability of capital markets. This study aims to develop and validate SFG-2DCNN, a multimodal deep learning framework that adopts a configurational perspective to diagnose financial fraud under class-imbalanced conditions and support sustainable corporate governance. Conventional diagnostic approaches struggle to capture the higher-order interactions within covert fraud patterns due to scarce fraud samples and complex multimodal signals. To overcome these limitations, SFG-2DCNN adopts a systematic two-stage mechanism. First, to ensure a logically consistent data foundation, the framework builds a domain-adaptive generative model (SMOTE-FraudGAN) that enforces joint distribution alignment to fundamentally resolve the issue of economic logic coherence in synthetic samples. Subsequently, the framework pioneers a feature topology mapping strategy that spatializes extracted multimodal covert signals, including non-traditional indicators (e.g., Total Liabilities/Operating Costs) and affective dissonance in managerial narratives, into an ordered two-dimensional matrix, enabling a two-dimensional Convolutional Neural Network (2D-CNN) to efficiently identify potential governance failure patterns through deep spatial fusion. Experiments on Chinese A-share listed firms demonstrate that SFG-2DCNN achieves an F1-score of 0.917 and an AUC of 0.942, significantly outperforming baseline models. By advancing the analytical paradigm from isolated variable assessment to holistic multimodal configurational analysis, this research provides a high-fidelity tool for strengthening sustainable corporate governance and market transparency. Full article

Achieving organizational efficiency requires the selection of an appropriate operating model. To date, no objective indicators, methods of measuring, or criteria for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of forest management organizations have been developed. In the heterogeneous forest management of the European Union (EU), multiple objectives and functions—from production to social and ecological services—coexist at regional and national levels. This study provides an overview of the organizational and legal forms of EU forestry, taking into account environmental conditions, ownership structures, and the role of the forestry sector in national economies. The legal information of EU countries on forest management was verified. We examine the impact of the entity’s organizational and legal form on the implementation of sustainable forest management and the objectives of the New EU Forest Strategy 2030, particularly in terms of absorbing external capital for forest protection and climate-related activities. Joint stock companies, public institutions, and enterprises are the most relevant. The private sector is dominated by individual farms, associations, chambers of commerce, and federations. A clear trend toward transforming state-owned enterprises into joint-stock companies and expanding their operational scope has been confirmed. Multifunctional forest management is practiced in both state and private forests. Economic efficiency, legal and property liability, and organizational goals depend on the chosen organizational and legal form. Full article

Managing risk, matching resources efficiently, and ensuring fair allocation are fundamental challenges in both finance and decision-making processes. In many scenarios, participants contribute unequally to collective outcomes, raising the question of how to distribute costs, benefits, or opportunities in a justifiable and optimal manner. This paper applies the Shapley value—a solution concept from cooperative game theory—as a principled tool in the following two specific financial settings: first, in tax cooperation games; and second, in assignment markets. In tax cooperation games, we use the Shapley value to determine the equitable tax burden distribution among three firms, A, B, and C, which operate in two countries, Italy and Poland. Our model ensures that countries participating in coalitions face a lower degree of tax evasion compared to non-members, and that cooperating firms benefit from discounted tax liabilities. This structure incentivizes coalition formation and reveals the economic advantage of joint participation. In assignment markets, we use the Shapley value to find the optimal pairing in a four-buyers and four-sellers housing market. Our findings show that the Shapley value provides a rigorous framework for capturing the relative importance of participants in the coalition, leading to more balanced tax allocations and fairer market transactions. Our theoretical insights with computational techniques highlights the Shapley value’s effectiveness in addressing complex allocation challenges across financial management domains. Full article

Joints are the weak plane structures in coal. The existence of joints leads to coal failure, with different fracture modes and energy evolution laws. In this paper, the energy evolution and bursting liability index of coal failure with different joint inclination angles (JIAs) are analyzed. The results show that with an increase in joint inclination angle (JIA), the total energy and elastic energy of coal first decrease and then increase and the dissipation energy decreases gradually. The existence of joints changes the bursting liability of coal. With an increase in the JIA, the uniaxial compressive strength (Rc) of coal first decreases and then increases, the dynamic failure time (DT) gradually decreases, and the impact energy velocity index (W_ST) and the impact energy index (K_E) gradually increase. With an increase in the JIA, coal went from tensile failure to shear failure and tension shear mixed failure. After coal failure, the fractal dimension was between 1.7 and 2.4, decreasing first and then increasing; the larger the JIA and the degree of fragmentation, the more energy consumed at the moment of failure and the stronger the bursting liability of coal. The results have a guiding significance for the monitoring and prevention of rock bursts in coal mines. Full article

Gestures have been used for nonverbal communication for a long time, but human–computer interaction (HCI) via gestures is becoming more common in the modern era. To obtain a greater recognition rate, the traditional interface comprises various devices, such as gloves, physical controllers, and markers. This study provides a new markerless technique for obtaining gestures without the need for any barriers or pricey hardware. In this paper, dynamic gestures are first converted into frames. The noise is removed, and intensity is adjusted for feature extraction. The hand gesture is first detected through the images, and the skeleton is computed through mathematical computations. From the skeleton, the features are extracted; these features include joint color cloud, neural gas, and directional active model. After that, the features are optimized, and a selective feature set is passed through the classifier recurrent neural network (RNN) to obtain the classification results with higher accuracy. The proposed model is experimentally assessed and trained over three datasets: HaGRI, Egogesture, and Jester. The experimental results for the three datasets provided improved results based on classification, and the proposed system achieved an accuracy of 92.57% over HaGRI, 91.86% over Egogesture, and 91.57% over the Jester dataset, respectively. Also, to check the model liability, the proposed method was tested on the WLASL dataset, attaining 90.43% accuracy. This paper also includes a comparison with other-state-of-the art methods to compare our model with the standard methods of recognition. Our model presented a higher accuracy rate with a markerless approach to save money and time for classifying the gestures for better interaction. Full article

Microfinance is used to enhance micro and small enterprise start-up and growth in developing countries. Although there is some discussion of how microfinance institutional activities lead to their own sustainability in the extant literature, the same cannot be said of the ways in which microfinance institutions shape the sustainability agendas of micro and small enterprises (MSEs). In this paper, we conceptualise and explain the way that joint liability lending in microfinance shapes the sustainability of micro and small enterprises owned by borrowers. Using sustainable leadership as a theoretical foundation, we conceptualise the strategic, operational, and community-level leadership functions associated with joint liability and construct a framework. Based on the conceptual framework, we also develop propositions and explain them using an illustrative case study. Our conceptual work reveals that leadership tasks at strategic, operational, and community levels influence MSEs’ sustainability. Our conceptual framework, propositions, and illustrative case evidence contribute to theory and practice by highlighting that joint liability mechanisms are a possible pathway for MFIs to facilitate sustainable initiatives in micro and small enterprises. Full article

Participation in the tax system of the country and tax liability itself are two of the basic characteristics of the functioning of all economically active subjects belonging to national economies. The revenues from taxes represent a substantial part of the resources in each state’s budget, so it is not easy to achieve any form of joint action by all concerned in this area. Within the revenues obtained by taxes, customs, and levies, the issue of taxes is one of the most sensitive areas. Higher efficiency of tax collection is possible to achieve by implementing not only external tools (e.g., tax control, detecting tax fraud, etc.) but also internal ones (e.g., internal motivation of taxpayers). Therefore, it is important to improve the perception of the tax system among the population and thus to influence and create a responsible approach to the collection of taxes and levies. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some changes and restrictions have been implemented into the system of tax and customs collection in the Slovak Republic, but very unexpectedly and purposefully. It results in a more complicated and confused system of tax and customs administration. Therefore, our research efforts are aiming to identify and analyze the key significant factors that affect the perception of tax and customs administration in the Slovak Republic from the perspective of its inhabitants, to capture differences in perception of taxpayers. The novelty of this study lies in its approach to identifying and eliminating redundancies and opacities in tax collection processes performed by institutions of tax and customs administration systems in Slovakia, namely the approach from the taxpayer point of view, to promote voluntary compliance with tax duties. Due to the lack of such oriented studies, a survey performed in three regions of Slovakia using the research tool (the questionnaire) developed by authors is presented in this article. To solve this complex problem, a solving strategy based on exploratory analysis (KMO = 0.641) and later confirmatory factor analysis is proposed to extract four key common factors from the items of the research tool (with a total value of 80.623% of the explained variability). The reliability of the used research tool, pre-tested in the pilot study, is demonstrated by the achieved Cronbach coefficient value of 0.827%. In order to evaluate the obtained data, the respondents were divided into groups by gender, residence, and occupation, in accordance with the indications and outputs of the pilot study. Finally, experimentally obtained data were analyzed and compared. The significant differences in the respondents’ perceptions of the extracted factors between selected groups are confirmed by applied analysis, both between men and women and between respondents depending on the place of residence. The main differences are observed in the questionnaire items Q10 “Administrative complexity of the tax and customs agenda”, Q7 “Ease of tax collection”, Q16 “Labor costs for staff dealing with the tax and customs agenda”, and Q5 “Helpfulness and willingness of administrative workers”. Time costs for tax processing are considered critical. Full article

The article focuses on the issue of data governance in connected vehicles through a novel analysis of current legal frameworks in the European Union. The analysis of relevant legislation, judicial decisions, and doctrines is supplemented by discussions relating to associated sustainability issues. Relevant notions of autonomous vehicles are analyzed, and a respective legal framework is introduced. Although fully automated vehicles are a matter for the future, the time to regulate is now. The European Union aims to create cooperative, connected, and automated mobility based on cooperation between different interconnected types of machinery. The essence of the system is data flow, as data governance in connected vehicles is one of the most intensively discussed themes nowadays. This triggers a need to analyze relevant legal frameworks in connection with fundamental rights and freedoms. Replacing human decision-making with artificial intelligence has the capacity to erode long-held and protected social and cultural values, such as the autonomy of individuals as has already been in evidence in legislation. Finally, the article deals with the issue of responsibility and liability of different actors involved in processing personal data according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applied to the environment of connected and automated vehicle (CAV) smart infrastructure. Based on a definition and analysis of three model situations, we point out that in several cases of processing personal data within the CAV, it proves extremely demanding to determine the liable entity, due to the functional and relatively broad interpretation of the concept of joint controllers, in terms of the possibility of converging decisions on the purposes and means of processing within the vehicles discussed. Full article

In this paper, we consider a two-dimensional risk process in which the companies split each claim and premium in a fixed proportion. It serves as a classical framework of a quota-share reinsurance contract for a given business line. Such a contract reduces the insurer’s exposure to the liabilities created through its underwriting activities. For the analyzed model, we derive a joint infinite-time ruin probability formula for exponentially distributed claims. To this end, we apply a change of measure technique. We illustrate the admissible range of parameters of the risk process. We also justify our result using Monte Carlo simulations and compare it with Theorem 2 in Avram, Palmowski and Pistorius [Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 42 (2008) 227], which was obtained by explicitly inverting a Laplace transform of the ruin probability. Our formula leads to a correction of that result. Finally, we note that the obtained formula leads to efficient approximation of the ruin probability for other claim amount distributions using De Vylder’s idea. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a market-consistent valuation of life insurance participating liabilities sold to a population of partially heterogeneous customers under the joint impact of biometric and financial risk. In particular, the heterogeneity between groups of policyholders stems from their offered minimum interest rate guarantees and contract maturities. We analyse the effects of these features on the company’s insolvency while embracing the insurer’s goal to achieve the same expected return for different cohorts of policyholders. Within our extensive numerical analyses, we determine the fair participation rates and other key figures, and discuss the implications for the stakeholders, taking account of various degrees of conservativeness of the insurer when pricing the contracts. Full article

International joint ventures (IJVs) have long been considered a vibrant venue for innovation, one source of sustainable competitive advantage. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of research that seeks to understand what determines their innovative performance. We draw attention to and examine the control structure of IJVs as a determinant of innovation. Using the complementary lenses of local embeddedness, the liability of outsidership, and open innovation, we argue that foreign managerial control reduces IJV innovation and that equity ownership balance between foreign and local parent firms and affiliation of IJVs with local market business groups weaken this negative relationship. Using panel data of 48 IJVs in Korea during the periods between 2000 and 2016, we find empirical support for these arguments. This study contributes to the literature by extending our understanding of how to design IJVs for enhancing innovative output and consequently improving their sustainability. Full article

Background: Using a socioecological framework, we examined neighborhood and social stressors in concert with genetic risk for alcohol dependence in relation to externalizing behaviors, important precursors to alcohol-related problems. Methods: We used data from African American adolescents and their caregivers in the Gene, Environment, and Neighborhood Initiative, a subsample of the Mobile Youth and Poverty Study. Participants for the current analyses included 112 adolescents who reported ever having at least one full drink of alcohol. Empirical Bayes scores were used to estimate neighborhood-level violence and transitions. Multivariate models tested main effects and then interactions of family stressors, discrimination, and genetic risk with the neighborhood variables. Results: In the main effects model, adolescent externalizing behaviors were positively associated with greater family stressors, more racial discrimination experiences, and genetic liability, while neighborhood variables were nonsignificant. We found three significant interactions. Specifically, the joint effects of neighborhood violence and transitions and between these neighborhood variables and family stressors were significantly associated with externalizing behaviors. Conclusions: Our findings suggest genetic liability and complex interactions between neighborhood context and social stressors are important contributors that should be considered in the development of early prevention programs for adolescents who live in economically disadvantaged areas. Full article

Animal health and welfare are monitored during meat inspection in many slaughter plants around the world. Carcasses are examined by meat inspectors and remarks are made with respect to different diseases, injuries, and other abnormalities. This is a valuable data resource for disease prevention and enhancing animal welfare, but it is rarely used for this purpose. Records on carcass remarks on 140,375 finisher pigs were analyzed to investigate the possibility of genetic selection to reduce the risk of the most prevalent diseases and indicators of suboptimal animal welfare. As part of this, effects of some non-genetic factors such as differences between farms, sexes, and growth rates were also examined. The most frequent remarks were pneumonia (15.4%), joint disorders (9.8%), pleuritis (4.7%), pericarditis (2.3%), and liver lesions (2.2%). Joint disorders were more frequent in boars than in gilts. There were also significant differences between farms. Pedigree records were available for 142,324 pigs from 14 farms and were used for genetic analysis. Heritability estimates for pneumonia, pleuritis, pericarditis, liver lesions, and joint disorders were 0.10, 0.09, 0.14, 0.24, and 0.17 on the liability scale, respectively, suggesting the existence of substantial genetic variation. This was further confirmed though genome wide associations using deregressed breeding values as phenotypes. The genetic correlations between these remarks and finishing traits were small but mostly negative, suggesting the possibility of enhancing pig health and welfare simultaneously with genetic improvement in finishing traits. A selection index based on the breeding values for these traits and their economic values was developed. This index is used to enhance animal welfare in pig farms. Full article

In this paper, we study the valuation of stochastic cash flows that exhibit dependence on interest rates. We focus on insurance liability cash flows linked to an index, such as a consumer price index or wage index, where changes in the index value can be partially understood in terms of changes in the term structure of interest rates. Insurance liability cash flows that are not explicitly linked to an index may still be valued in our framework by interpreting index returns as so-called claims inflation, i.e., an increase in claims cost per sold insurance contract. We focus primarily on the case when a deep and liquid market for index-linked contracts is absent or when the market price data are unreliable. Firstly, we present an approach for assigning a monetary value to a stochastic cash flow that does not require full knowledge of the joint dynamics of the cash flow and the term structure of interest rates. Secondly, we investigate in detail model selection, estimation and validation in a Heath–Jarrow–Morton framework. Finally, we analyze the effects of model uncertainty on the valuation of the cash flows and how forecasts of cash flows and interest rates translate into model parameters and affect the valuation. Full article

On the basis of the unique experience of operating reactors with heavy liquid metal coolant–eutectic lead-bismuth alloy in nuclear submarines, the concept of modular small fast reactors SVBR-100 for civilian nuclear power has been developed and validated. The features of this innovative technology are as follows: a monoblock (integral) design of the reactor with fast neutron spectrum, which can operate using different types of fuel in various fuel cycles including MOX fuel in a self-providing mode. The reactor is distinct in that it has a high level of self-protection and passive safety, it is factory manufactured and the assembled reactor can be transported by railway. Multipurpose application of the reactor is presumed, primarily, it can be used for regional power to produce electricity, heat and for water desalination. The Project is being realized within the framework of state-private partnership with joint venture OJSC “AKME-Engineering” established on a parity basis by the State Atomic Energy Corporation “Rosatom” and the Limited Liability Company “EuroSibEnergo”. Full article