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Water resource allocation in multinational river basins has been a major concern for all riparian countries. From the perspective of cooperative and sustainable water resource development, considering the spatiotemporal characteristics of the water demand, namely, the priority of water use due to the geographic location of each riparian country, the seasonality of water demand, and the differences in the net utility of water utilization, this paper constructs a fuzzy coalition game model for multinational water resource allocation and provides the optimal allocation strategy using the example of the Lancang-Mekong River. The study indicates that considering the geographic locations and the differences in the water utility of each country compared with the initial allocation strategy based on agricultural water demand, the cooperative strategy increases the allocated water resources in high-utility countries (expect countries near the estuary) and the overall water utility in the entire basin. Then, considering the seasonality of the water resource reallocation, the fuzzy coalition among riparian countries further increases the net water utility of each country and achieves the optimal allocation. As the preconditions for the establishment of cooperative relationships, upstream countries need to transfer partial water rights to downstream countries in certain seasons. The basic idea that is presented in this paper, the fuzzy coalition model of water resource allocation with spaciotemporal constraints, can be applied to the water allocation of other multinational rivers.

Due to the large area and small population of Canada, the efficiency of logistics enterprises is low, and each logistics enterprise needs to cooperate to save energy and reduce emissions. Considering that each logistics enterprise can realize the maximization of its own benefit by controlling the distribution volume and the input of facilities. In this article, the differential game model of individual distribution, coordinated distribution and paid introduction of customers for each logistics enterprise is constructed, the balanced distribution volume, capital input and social welfare functions of each logistics enterprise under the three modes are obtained, and the applicable conditions of various distribution cooperation channels are compared. The research results show that if the organizational cost between logistics enterprises is greater than the communication cost, the benefits of large-scale logistics enterprises under the introduction customer mode are greater than those under the collaborative distribution mode. However, only the communication cost and organizational cost are relatively small, and the profit of small-scale logistics enterprises under the introduction of the customer mode is smaller than that under the collaborative distribution mode.

The direct and rapid construction of carbazoles was achieved via the reaction of 2-methyl-indole-3-carbaldehydes with enals promoted by LiCl/DBU in a single operation. This mild and green reaction proceeds through a [4 + 2] cycloaddition/dehydration/oxidative aromatization cascade to generate carbazoles in good to excellent yields. The reaction features mild reaction conditions, a broad substrate scope, and excellent functional group tolerance, using O2 (1 atm) as the sole oxidant and affording H2O as the only by-product. More importantly, 4-fluoroquinocarbazole, a significant bioactive compound, was generated in 80% yield in only one step from the obtained carbazole.

Due to the characteristics of bounded rationality for labor dispute mass emergencies in China, the Perles−Maschler (M−P) solution is applied to analyze the bargaining process between the employer and the employees. Considering that social mediation is a treatment method for labor dispute mass emergencies with Chinese characteristics, this paper compares the Nash solution for social mediation, the Kalai−Smorodinsky (K−S) solution for rational bargaining based on bargaining power, and the M−P solution for bounded rationality search. The results show that the final outcome for labor disputes not only depends on the different treatment models but also has the feature of “path dependence”. The Nash solution for social mediation can reach an outcome that benefits both the employees and the employer. By taking advantage of the social mediation in labor−capital conflicts and building a three-party mechanism for labor unions to take part in the negotiation, we can obtain a win−win outcome that can maintain both the employees’ benefits and rights, and the employer's productivity as well.

The periodical fluctuation phenomenon appears in coal mine and other fields of government safety supervision. The paper provides a theoretical explanation by building an evolutionary game model between coal mine industry and governmental supervision institutions. Moreover, the paper provides a numerical example to demonstrate how the initial state and the costs (or gains) influence the fluctuation amplitude and the equilibrium position. We find that the initial state and the payoffs of different strategies are the two main determinants of periodical fluctuation phenomenon. The successful experience of coal mine safety supervision in China shows the importance of highly efficient government safety governance in developing countries.

Chinese rural labor transfer is characterized by acquaintance introduction and is mainly composed of young people, consistent with the bounded rationality hypothesis in evolutionary games. The paper first applies evolutionary game theory combined with scenario analysis for the quantitative prediction of long term trends in rural labor transfer in China. First, it discusses the evolutionary mechanism of the general replicator dynamic model in rural labor transfer. In particular, we use evolutionary games to build a causality prediction model forecasting the long term trends in rural labor transfer, where the residuals of the forecasting model, after removing the economic payoff differences, are considered as the social factors, i.e., the employment barriers in the urban sectors, affecting the transfer decision-making. Based on the historical time series data of income and population distribution of rural employment in various sectors, the paper builds a time series forecasting model of employment barriers of different urban sectors. Given the future uncertainties in economic factors, i.e., the urban–rural income gaps which affect the rural labor transfer, we introduce scenario analysis into the evolutionary game forecasting model. We consider three scenarios of the urban–rural income differences: (1) the average situation – no change in the current urban–rural income differences, (2) the pessimistic situation – the income differences fall into the middle-income trap, and (3) the optimistic situation – the income gap approaches the level in developed countries, to forecast the long term trends in the rural labor transfer in China.

Based on the works of Doreian [Doreian, P., 2006. Actor network utilities and network evolution. Social Networks 28, 137–164] and Xie and Cui [Xie, F., Cui, W., 2008b. A note on the paper ‘cost range and the stable network structures’. Social Networks 30, 102–103], the paper applies exhaustive search and inductive approaches to analyze possible transitions among isomeric social networks with five vertices. A total of seven types of stable network structures are identified, which include the complete, star, chain, cycle, near-chain, near-cycle and null graphs. Then, a modified theorem for the equilibrium forms which corrects the previous work is presented.

This paper studies evolutionary mechanism and information supervision of public opinions in Internet emergency. The netizen behaviors are characterized by observation, imitation and learning, which well fits the hypothesis of bounded rationality in evolutionary games. In this paper, we define the “netizen acceptance degree” in cases of some social hot topics as the payoff in factor games, and build the evolutionary equation of public opinions, which is the infectious diseases diffusion model with changing population size. After that, we apply the theoretical model to the evolutionary course of pubic opinions in a real Internet emergency case, i.e., the “10.24 Self-sacrifice Event” in China. The effects of Internet information supervision and control measures for social affairs on the evolutionary course of public opinions are discussed based on results of numerical simulation.

The concept of zero emission contributes significantly to sustainable development. China is planning to build a circular economy pilot area with zero emissions in the Western Qaidam Basin. The paper discusses some theoretical and practical issues in the regional planning. In particular, the paper proposes a constructivism scenario evolutionary analysis based on the bargaining games among the involved stakeholders, which embodies the harmonic society criteria in regional plannings. Then, the paper applies the scenario evolutionary analysis method to the multi-objective programming model of the Qaidam Circular Economy Pilot Area, where the objective of environmental pollution minimization can be converted into constraint conditions. Therefore, the problem is converted into the a single objective mixed-integral programming model of the maximal profit under various constraint conditions including natural resources, environment capacity, and social and economic factors, etc. Furthermore, the model provides solutions to the optimal expected output levels of main chemical products and minimal quantity of pollution treatment facilities according to the optimal scenario evolutionary path which embodies the self-purification emission with moderate resource exploitation. The results of the paper will have important policy implications to the regional development planning in China.

Two evolutionary mechanisms of mass contingency events are discussed, which are the cognition structure and the social network structure of the vulnerable groups and also the important problem in public security engineering of developing country. The paper analyzes the developing process of social network driven by conflict. Because the abundant participants share the expensive protest cost, the opinion leaders or sponsors organize the social network in the vulnerable group to maintain their legitimate rights and interests. The theoretical research shows that the protest strategy is feasible as soon as the social network reaches the minimal numbers. The CHAM strike event in 2010 provides an excellent case to explain the three-phase developing process of mass contingency events and the hiberarchy social network driven by the conflict. Lastly, it makes the simulation analysis about the social network of the CHAM strike under the Netlogo platform, where the simulating result is in accordance with the theoretical analysis.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the root cause of a large number of quality problems in the current Chinese construction market.Design/methodology/approachInformation economics theory is used to analyze the cause of construction quality problems related to the specific case of the Wenchuan earthquake of China.FindingsThe single low price competition in the construction tender market leads to the serious adverse selection and moral hazard behavior of bidding firms. The main solution to this problem is the introduction and improvement of an independent inspection/supervision mechanism.Originality/valueThe paper systematically analyzes the evaluation method of the lowest price winning bidding policy, which is the fundamental cause of adverse selection and moral hazard problems in the Chinese construction market.