Articles-EnPress Publisher LLC.

Aug 1, 2024

What has caused regional (relative) poverty in China? A multi-dimensional and multi-factor analysis of 295 Chinese cities

Despite ongoing economic development around the world, poverty is becoming an increasingly important problem. Although absolute poverty still appears in some countries, relative poverty (the gap between the rich and the poor) has become the focus of attention. To learn what factors affect regional economic development, and therefore affect relative poverty, we selected 295 Chinese cities and analyzed their economic development problems using spatial econometric models (ordinary least-squares, spatial lag, and spatial error models), and city classification criteria (region and size). We found that optimization of the trade structure, improvement of medical resources, and development of fiscal decentralization and a market economy promoted regional economic development, but that the gap in disposable income between urban and rural areas combined with environmental pollution to limit regional economic development. Therefore, regional governments must continuously optimize their region’s economic structure, use tax revenues rationally to solve their region’s most serious problems, continuously promote trade, and narrow the gap in disposable income between urban and rural areas to solve the problem of relative poverty. Our results provide suggestions for China’s regional economic development, but also provide a reference for other developing countries to mitigate poverty and achieve more sustainable regional economic development.

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Aug 30, 2024

Navigating the transformation of accountant’s roles through digital and environmental challenges

This research investigates how accountants in Thailand are adapting to changes driven by advances in digital technology, environmental issues, and professional accounting organizations. The study identifies key factors influencing these shifts and assesses their impact on the accounting field. A survey of accountants from large manufacturing firms in Thailand was conducted, examining internal, external, and personal factors affecting their roles and responsibilities. The study uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze data from 174 respondents, identifying leadership and digital technology readiness as internal factors; sustainability force, professional entity, and digital technology force as external factors; and competency skills and attitude as personal factors. The fit indices collectively suggest that the model has a good fit to the data, demonstrated by Comparative Fit Index (CFI) value (0.91), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) (0.891), Root Mean Squared Error of Approximation (RMSEA) (0.067), and chi-square/degree of freedom model (1.776). The combination of the indices supports the conclusion that the model is robust and well-aligned with the observed data, and importantly capturing the relationships between the constructs under the study. Results reveal a significant transformation in the professional identity of Thai accountants, primarily driven by their positive attitude towards changes. Notably, professional accounting bodies and educational institutions appear to hinder this evolution. The findings emphasize the need for professional organizations to realign their strategies to better support the evolving roles of accountants.

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Apr 30, 2026

Pareidolia in the Taupō volcanic zone: How misconstructed survey cartography condemned the white terrace, wonder of the world

Chaotic conditions prevailed after the 1886 Tarawera eruption, when the loss of the Pink and White Terraces, New Zealand’s Eighth Wonder of the World, was rapidly declared. Four days after the eruption, surveyor Percy Smith approached about four kilometres from his supposed site of the White Terrace and mistakenly identified what he described as a “west-opening horseshoe bay” adjacent to a hill, concluding that the Terrace possibly lay within the newly formed crater. Pareidolia arises where ambiguous visual information intersects with cultural attachment and confirmation bias. This paper traces the subsequent life of Smith’s claims through six parliamentary, government, and academic reports; two official audits; five survey maps; six contemporary artworks; Smith’s later reminiscences; and a final interview. Forensic analysis of his survey maps shows that Smith altered the reported position of the White Terrace on two occasions and introduced topographic features during the period in which his work was being audited by sceptical government ministers. These early representations established an intellectual primacy that shaped official and academic understandings of the Terrace’s fate into the twenty-first century. Indigenous Māori observers disputed Smith’s conclusions at the time, but their testimony was disregarded under prevailing interracial conditions. This study extends the topography of the Rotomahana Basin through new altimetry, LiDAR mapping of the Kaiwaka Channel (also misidentified by Smith), reconstruction of his lost audit bearings, and derivation of an error ellipse for the White Terrace. The delineation of Smith’s maps by Harding introduced cartographic pareidolia and confirmation bias. Taken together, the evidence indicates that Smith’s successive claims for the White Terrace’s location in the crater lake were unsupported by direct observation or by reliable survey control. This paper argues that the principal source of long-standing misinterpretation at Tarawera lies not only in the field surveys themselves, but in the later delineation process. Here, cartographic pattern completion transformed uncertain observations into apparently objective geometries that then guided subsequent perception and belief into the current century.

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Apr 22, 2024

An integrated urban water resources management approach for infrastructure and urban planning

Transportation projects are crucial for the overall success of major urban, metropolitan, regional, and national development according to their capacity by bringing significant changes in socio-economic and territorial aspects. In this context, sustaining and developing economic and social activities depend on having sufficient Water Resources Management. This research helps to manage transport project planning and construction phases to analyze the surface water flow, high-level streams, and wetland sites for the development of transportation infrastructure planning, implementation, maintenance, monitoring, and long-term evaluations to better face the challenges and solutions associated with effective management and enhancement to deal with Low, Medium, High levels of impact. A case study was carried out using the Arc Hydro extension within ArcGIS for processing and presenting the spatially referenced Stream Model. Geographical information systems have the potential to improve water resource planning and management. The study framework would be useful for solving water resource problems by enabling decision makers to collect qualitative data more effectively and gather it into the water management process through a systematic framework.

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Jan 5, 2024

Explore the Underlying Mathematical Logic of Various Games and the Existence or Non-Existence of Mathematically Calculated Winning Strategies

This paper delves into the intricate relationship between games and the mathematical structures that govern them. By exploring both traditional board games and modern video games, we assess the extent to which mathematical logic plays a pivotal role in determining gameplay and strategies. A central theme is the quest for winning strategies: their existence, their mathematical underpinnings, and their limitations. Through case studies of games like chess and poker, the study elucidates the balance between deterministic gameplay and the unpredictable nature of certain game elements.This comprehensive study offers a bridge between game theory, mathematical logic, and the practical world of gaming.

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Jun 20, 2023

When the institutional context thwarts public-private partnerships: The role of political factors in the failure of PPPs

The PPP scholarly work has effectively explored the material values attached to PPPs such as efficiency of services, value for money and productivity, but little attention has been paid to procedural public values. This paper aims to address this gap by exploring how Enfidha Airport in Tunisia failed to achieve both financial and procedural values that were expected from delivering the airport via the PPP route, and what coping strategies the public and private sectors deployed to ameliorate any resultant value conflicts. Based on the analysis of Enfidha Airport, it is argued that PPP projects are likely to fail to deliver financial and procedural values when the broader institutional context is not supportive of PPP arrangements, and when political and security risks are not adequately counted for during the bidding process.

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