ORCID Profile
0000-0002-8722-9531
Current Organisation
Curtin University
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Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-02-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2018
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 02-08-2021
DOI: 10.1155/2021/9913413
Abstract: Collusive bidding has been a deep-seated issue in the construction market for a long time. The strategies implemented by bid riggers are deliberate, interactive, and complex, suggesting that antitrust authorities have difficulty preventing collusive behaviors. Based on game payoff matrixes, this study proposes a system dynamics (SD) model to present the deterrence of punitive measures, namely the certainty of punishment (CoP) and the severity of punishment (SoP), on regular bidders’ to-collude decision-making. Data were collected from the Chinese construction industry to test the proposed SD model. While the model was supported, the results indicate that the CoP has a greater impact than the SoP on deterring regular bidders from making to-collude decisions. Furthermore, these two punitive measures cannot be replaced by each other, given the same deterrence effects. Thus, the study demonstrates the usefulness of deterrence theory to inhibit collusive bidding in the construction sector. It also sheds some light on the formulation of competition policy from the perspective of deterrence.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.JINF.2015.11.004
Abstract: Changes in circulating Bordetella pertussis genotypes, including a novel pertussis toxin promoter ptxP3 allele and absence of pertactin (Prn) antigen, have been reported from several countries but limited data on relative severity are available. We compared markers of disease severity in children with B. pertussis infection due to strains of differing genotype. Culture confirmed cases presenting to tertiary paediatric hospitals in three Australian states between 2008 and 2012 were classified as severe if they required a hospital stay greater than seven days, were admitted to intensive care, or if death occurred. Associations between age, vaccination, genotype and severity were assessed. Of 199 pertussis cases, 81 (41%) were <3 months, including 32/39 (82%) of severe cases. The proportion of isolates from these cases that were Prn deficient increased markedly between 2008 and 2012. Of B. pertussis isolates, the proportion considered severe was similar for Prn positive (27/128, 21%) and Prn deficient (12/71, 17%) cases but only 1/22 (4.5%) of non ptxP3 cases were severe versus 38/177 (21.4%) ptxP3 positive. Adjusting for ptxP type, vaccination status and age, disease severity was not significantly associated with Prn status (RRA: 0.95, [0.57-1.56] p = 0.83). In children, we found no relationship between Prn status and markers of severe pertussis. An increased proportion of severe disease in isolates with the ptxP3 allele was observed.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 16-02-2017
DOI: 10.3390/SU9020289
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 14-09-2022
DOI: 10.1108/ECAM-07-2021-0603
Abstract: The interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become burgeoning in the construction industry as firms are under constant pressure from socially conscious stakeholders to demonstrate their efforts to address various CSR issues. This study aims to unveil the key practices and impact factors (KPIFs) of CSR implementation in construction firms and the interrelationships among different key impact factors toward attaining CSR practices. Mobilizing the integrated institutional, stakeholder and self-determination theories, a theoretical framework was first developed to elaborate the potential inter-relationships among the key impact factors toward CSR implementation. Data were collected from extra-grade contractors through an online questionnaire survey and was then analyzed by the partial least square structural equation modeling method. The results show that construction firms' CSR practices could be classified into eight distinct key dimensions, e.g. shareholders' interests, government commitment and environment preservation. It is found that three groups of key impact factors – external institutional factors (especially coercive-normative factors), intrinsic factors (especially strategic business direction and organizational culture) and identified factors (i.e. the perceived importance of CSR practices) – have statistically significant positive impacts on most key dimensions of CSR practices. The research findings have implications for top management to better understand CSR implementation, thereby helping them secure legitimacy to survive and advance in the competitive construction businesses. The findings contribute to the theoretical body of knowledge in CSR by modeling and empirically demonstrating the influence mechanism of CSR implementation in construction within an integrated model.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 12-10-2022
DOI: 10.3390/BUILDINGS12101666
Abstract: The prevalence of the sophisticated doctrine of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasing, given the perennial environmental concerns and social demands in the construction industry worldwide. Firms’ CSR implementation has been influenced by a broad spectrum of external impetuses and internal motives, yet fragmented assessments of such influences make the prediction and implementation of CSR in construction problematic. This study aimed to validate and apply mathematical models for predicting CSR practices in construction firms. Mobilizing integrated institutional theory, stakeholder theory, and self-determination theory, a questionnaire survey within the top-tier construction contractors was undertaken. Eight mathematical models were developed to predict the key dimensions of CSR practices, such as “government commitment” and “environmental preservation”, and validated by five subjective matter expert interviews. The results demonstrated the comprehensiveness, practicality, and robustness of the CSR prediction models in the construction industry. The results also highlighted the perceived importance of CSR practices external coercive and normative forces, together with internal organizational culture, were the most influential factors directly enhancing construction firms’ CSR implementation. Conceptually, the findings refined CSR practice prediction in a construction management context. The proposed CSR assessment checklists can help practitioners improve the often-tenuous overall CSR performance and spur competitiveness in the construction market.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 16-02-2023
DOI: 10.1108/ECAM-11-2020-0973
Abstract: The ability of construction firms to become more environmentally conscious and socially responsible for their business activities has been touted as the key driver for improved in idual firms' competitiveness. This study explores the key dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and their impact factors among construction firms. Through the institutional, stakeholders and self-determination theories, this study proposed a conceptual framework of CSR implementation. For its validation, data were collected from 90 top-tier construction firms using an online survey and analyzed via a two-pronged factor analysis method. The empirical results demonstrate that the CSR practices of construction firms include eight key dimensions, e.g. shareholders' interests, government commitment and CSR institutional arrangement. The three key groups of impact factor of CSR implementation are (1) identified factors (i.e. contractors' perceived importance of CSR practices) (2) external institutional factors (i.e. coercive and normative factors and mimetic factors) and (3) intrinsic factors (i.e. strategic business direction, resource and capability and organizational culture). The research findings inform the practitioners about how to enact, manage and improve firms' socially responsible goals so as to fulfill their key stakeholders' requirements and expectations and thus enhance their legitimacy in construction businesses. This study contributes to CSR knowledge by identifying and empirically demonstrating valid measurements of the key dimensions of practices and impact factors toward CSR implementation by construction firms.
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 10-11-2022
DOI: 10.1155/2022/1027673
Abstract: Land subsidence is one of the serious natural disasters which can cause heavy casualties and economic losses. As a vital method, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) can provide quick and efficient solutions for analysis. Currently, most reviews on InSAR application in land subsidence only focused on single types of land areas, such as the land around groundwater and land of the mining area. There is a lack of discussion on all types of land areas. This study thus aims at conducting a bibliometric literature analysis of the existing literature from 2000 to 2021 to fill this gap. The authors used scientific mapping methods to analyze the InSAR applications in land subsidence so that researchers and practitioners can comprehend the procedure. Then, the authors identified the major research areas, development milestones, evolutionary stages, and the transaction dynamics of evolutionary stages. Knowledge maps of five aspects were applied and analyzed in this research, including temporal development analysis, countries and institutions, major research disciplines, high-frequency terms, and cocitation of high-citation papers. The results reveal that the research of land subsidence monitoring with InSAR is in the stage of diffusion from developing many tools and techniques to integrating with other research areas. Overall, the bibliometric results combined with evolutionary stages provide a holistic picture of the status quo and future trends in InSAR application in land subsidence.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2022
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Date: 11-2021
Publisher: SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications
Date: 2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.JINF.2016.01.005
Abstract: Despite high pertussis vaccination coverage, Australia experienced a prolonged epidemic in 2008-2012. The predominant Bordetella pertussis genotype harboured pertussis toxin promoter allele, ptxP3, and pertactin gene allele, prn2. The emergence and expansion of prn non-expressing isolates (Prn negative), were also observed. We aimed to investigate the microevolution and genomic ersity of epidemic B. pertussis isolates. We sequenced 22 B. pertussis isolates collected in 2008-2012 from two states of Australia which are geographically widely separated. Ten of the 22 were Prn negative isolates with three different modes of silencing of prn (prn::IS481F, prn::IS481R and prn::IS1002). Five pre-epidemic isolates were also sequenced for comparison. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms were common in the epidemic isolates and differentiated them from pre-epidemic isolates. The Australian epidemic isolates can be ided into five lineages (EL1-EL5) with EL1 containing only Prn negative isolates. Comparison with global isolates showed that three lineages remained geographically and temporally distinct whereas two lineages mixed with isolates from 2012 UK outbreak. Our results suggest significant ersification and the microevolution of B. pertussis within the 2008-2012 Australian epidemic.
Publisher: Springer Nature Singapore
Date: 2023
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-03-2023
Publisher: SCITEPRESS - Science and Technology Publications
Date: 2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.VACCINE.2015.09.064
Abstract: Whooping cough or pertussis is a highly infectious respiratory disease in humans caused by Bordetella pertussis. The use of acellular vaccines (ACV) has been associated with the recent resurgence of pertussis in developed countries including Australia despite high vaccination coverage where B. pertussis strains that do not express pertactin (Prn), a key antigenic component of the ACV, have emerged and become prevalent. In this study, we used an in vivo competition assay in mice immunised with ACV and in naïve (control) mice to compare the proportion of colonisation with recent clinical Prn positive and Prn negative B. pertussis strains from Australia. The Prn negative strain colonised the respiratory tract more effectively than the Prn positive strain in immunised mice, out-competing the Prn positive strain by day 3 of infection. However, in control mice, the Prn positive strain out-competed the Prn negative strain. Our findings of greater ability of Prn negative strains to colonise ACV-immunised mice are consistent with reports of selective advantage for these strains in ACV-immunised humans.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Qian Zhang.