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Opportunistic behaviors are common in public–private partnership (PPP) projects. The contractor involvement in a whole project lifecycle is essential to ensure successful project planning, delivery, and operation, namely, through whole-process engineering consulting. Grounded with prospect theory, this study developed a tripartite evolutionary model among government, social capital, and whole-process engineering consulting enterprise for their opportunistic behavior in the delivery process of PPP projects. The model analyzed the risk attitude and loss avoidance of game subjects for strategic decision-making. MATLAB simulation was employed to validate the model. The results show that the risk attitude coefficient and loss aversion coefficient significantly affect the strategy choices of game subjects including reputation loss. The stability of the PPP project regulation system depends on several factors, including the severity of government punishment, the cost of rent-seeking, and the frequency of regulatory failure. The findings contribute to the current literature of risk assessment in PPP projects as well as the development and practice of whole-process engineering consulting in PPP projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We empirically examine the effect of customers' social capital on the financial performance of suppliers. Social capital, as captured by the strength of secular norms and the density of social networks in local geographical regions, reflects social influences surrounding corporate headquarters. Because customers' social capital could constrain their opportunistic behaviors and improve supply chain collaboration through its influence on managers' moral values and external monitoring, we hypothesize and find a positive association between customer social capital and supplier profitability. The association is more pronounced when customers reside closer to suppliers, have more short-horizon incentives, and possess stronger bargaining power. Collectively, our findings suggest that social capital arising from institutions in local areas may mitigate customer opportunism and highlight its real effects that spill over to suppliers' operational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study attempted to determine and analyze the effect of (1) local revenue, (2) general allocation funds, (3) special allocation funds, (4) profit-sharing funds, (5) excess differences in budget calculations on opportunistic behavior government budget in Indonesia. This type of research is quantitative research. The researcher used secondary data. The population were all provinces in Indonesia during the research period 2014-2019. Based on the existing criteria, the sample size was 18 provinces. The data were tested using multiple linear regression. The results indicated that local revenue did not affect the opportunistic behavior of provincial government budgeting in Indonesia; general allocation funds did not affect the opportunistic behavior of provincial government budget formulation in Indonesia; special allocation funds affected the opportunistic behavior of provincial government budgeting in Indonesia; funds profit-sharing did not affect the opportunistic behavior of provincial government budget formulation in Indonesia; and the excess budget calculation did not affect the opportunistic behavior of provincial government budgeting in Indonesia. The further investigation with wider sample size was needed to clarify the finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of urban rail transportation, people's demand for subways has gradually manifested itself. The inherent complex attributes of subway project construction determine that subway project construction has a relatively high risk, resulting in huge losses. This paper takes the opportunistic behavior of the subway project as the research object, proposes the opportunistic behavior identification process, and constructs the opportunistic behavior identification model based on the BP neural network. Firstly, through the collection and analysis of subway accident cases, the main forms of opportunistic behavior are summarized, and the primary characteristic indicators for opportunistic behavior recognition are extracted using cluster analysis. Secondly, a recognition model based on a BP neural network is designed. The number of neurons in the input layer, hidden layer, and output layer of the model is determined, and the recognition model is subsequently trained and tested to validate its feasibility. Finally, the constructed opportunistic behavior recognition model is applied to an actual subway construction project, revealing that the construction enterprise of the project in question exhibits a high level of opportunistic behavior risk. Overall, the research results of this paper have important theoretical significance and practical value for the management level of subway project construction enterprises under the new situation and the identification and governance of opportunistic behavior of subway project construction enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether companies actively use social responsibility to divert public attention from the quality of their accounting information when implementing earnings management. The results show a significant positive relationship between EM and CSR. The mechanism of influence suggests that the risk of share price collapse, investor sentiment and the cost of capital play a mediating role. Subgroup tests reveal that this corporate masking and rent-seeking motive is more pronounced in underperforming, non-family-owned and non-state owned firms. Further research finds that corporate governance mechanisms such as equity incentives, fund ownership, and high concentration of equity can moderate this opportunism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many researchers argue that the adoption of agricultural mechanization services (AMSs) is an important way for smallholder farmers in China to engage in modern agricultural production. However, the impact of the adoptionmode of agricultural machinery on food productivity remains under-analyzed. We investigate the links between the adoption mode of agricultural machinery and food productivity using data on 795 grain farmers collected from the North China Plain. The results indicate that, compared with service outsourcing (SO), self-purchase (SP) improves the technical effciency of farms; however, it reduces the input effciency of agriculturalmachinery. The channel of the effect is that, although SO can reduce the redundancy of agricultural machinery's input, the opportunistic behavior of AMS suppliers and labor supervision problems lead to a decline in agricultural machinery's operation quality. The impact of the adoption mode of agricultural machinery on food productivity is asymmetrical among different types of farmers. Large-scale and professional farmers benefit more from SP, whereas small-scale and part-time farmers benefit more from SO. The AMS is not perfect, and the Chinese government should pay close attention to the loss of technical efficiency in agricultural production caused by the opportunistic behavior of AMS suppliers. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the agricultural machinery subsidy policy and reduce the transaction cost of AMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marriage and making a family is one of the most important non-market choices in every person's life cycle with its own particular economic, social and even political effects. This choice is being made within a framework of both formal and informal institutions. By institution, we mean the rules of the game. This paper purports to apply "Family Economics" and "Economic Analysis of Law" to investigate the philosophy of family law from an economic perspective. From this approach, marriage is a long-run contract with obligations for spouses the enforcement of which brings benefits to the parties. These benefits heavily depend on the investment of the parties in the marriage that itself is associated with costs and risks. Indeed, there is an asymmetry of costs of investments and risks of utilizing of benefits over the time for the wife and the husband. This might lead to opportunistic behavior from the husband, specifically at the early years of marriage. From the economic perspective, the most important function of family law (which appears in divorce law) is to manage and cover this risk for the wife and deter the husband from opportunistic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study draws on theory of dyadic morality and categorization to disentangle opportunistic behaviors from the perception by their victim that leads to the moral categorization of the perpetrator as an opportunist. We show that it is this moral categorization, not the behaviors, that determines the trust beliefs of the victim. Further, the effect of psychic distance on the process of perpetrator moral categorization as an opportunist depends on the form of opportunistic behaviors. Finally, this study questions the cultural universality of opportunism by showing that effects of opportunistic behaviors on categorization vary across national cultures—based on data sets of French and Slovene exporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current studies on trust relationships and their impact on project cooperation efficiency tends to start from a binary perspective of project owners and contractors; however, this viewpoint is problematized with the concept of network-level trust. This study attempted to reveal the relationship between trust networks, opportunistic behaviours, and cooperation efficiency among all participants of public–private partnership (PPP) projects and to fill in the research gaps. PLS-SEM was used to analyze 189 valid questionnaires from PPP projects of China urban rail transit. Data analysis found that opportunistic behavior is negatively correlated with project cooperation efficiency, and its moderating effect on the relationship between trust network density and project benefits efficiency is supported by data. Trust network density is positively correlated with cooperation efficiency, and negative correlation with opportunistic behavior is supported by data. There is a positive correlation between trust network centralization and opportunistic behavior, and a negative correlation between trust network centralization and cost efficiency is supported by data. The relationship between network centralization and benefits efficiency has not been supported. These conclusions can help optimize cooperation efficiency from the perspective of stakeholder management and trust networks governance.

With the rapid development of urban rail transportation, people’s demand for subways has gradually manifested itself. The inherent complex attributes of subway project construction determine that subway project construction has a relatively high risk, resulting in huge losses. This paper takes the opportunistic behavior of the subway project as the research object, proposes the opportunistic behavior identification process, and constructs the opportunistic behavior identification model based on the BP neural network. Firstly, through the collection and analysis of subway accident cases, the main forms of opportunistic behavior are summarized, and the primary characteristic indicators for opportunistic behavior recognition are extracted using cluster analysis. Secondly, a recognition model based on a BP neural network is designed. The number of neurons in the input layer, hidden layer, and output layer of the model is determined, and the recognition model is subsequently trained and tested to validate its feasibility. Finally, the constructed opportunistic behavior recognition model is applied to an actual subway construction project, revealing that the construction enterprise of the project in question exhibits a high level of opportunistic behavior risk. Overall, the research results of this paper have important theoretical significance and practical value for the management level of subway project construction enterprises under the new situation and the identification and governance of opportunistic behavior of subway project construction enterprises.

Copyright of Journal of Engineering Management / Gongcheng Guanli Xuebao is the property of Journal of Engineering Management Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mist nets are one of the most widely used techniques in the study of birds and bats worldwide. However, a number of risks are involved, including opportunistic predation. Given this potential cost, here we: (1) review the global literature to understand the factors that might contribute to predation risk for birds and bats captured in mist nets; (2) review existing guidelines for best practice use of mist nets; and (3) based on our reviews, recommend new guidelines for the use of mist nets to minimize the risk of opportunistic predation. Based on keyword in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and using Google Scholar, Scopus, SciElo, and Web of Science, we found 48 articles reporting opportunistic predation. In the included articles, 178 predation events, involving 52 predator and 84 prey species, were reported. In most of the reports, the mist nets were placed at ground level, the bats and birds were preyed on from the shelf closest to the ground, the mist‐net checks occurred at intervals of 1 h or 30 min and the most common predators were arboreal and scansorial species (primates and marsupials). Despite the occurrences of predation in 13 countries, guidelines for best practice mist‐net use were found in only three, despite extensive searches and contact with key people in each country. Based on the existing guidelines and our results, we recommend that mist nets be fixed with the lowest shelf at least 50 cm above ground level and be checked at 15‐min intervals; when predators are observed near mist nets, the nets either be constantly observed, closed, or relocated; suppressed the vegetation around the mist nets; captured animals be removed from the mist nets as soon as possible, and more than one researcher/technician should be in the field at all times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-seven years have elapsed since Bergen, Dutta, and Walker Jr. (1992) published their work on agency theory in marketing. Agency theory is still relevant in marketing today. However, since 1992, there has been no comprehensive update of the literature on agency theory in marketing-related contexts despite the various developments in marketing, such as the advent of the internet, that have occurred in the interim. This paper covers the application of agency theory to marketing-related topics between 1992 and 2018. It seeks to update the overall knowledge of this application, suggesting new areas of research and managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Engineering Management / Gongcheng Guanli Xuebao is the property of Journal of Engineering Management Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Engineering Management / Gongcheng Guanli Xuebao is the property of Journal of Engineering Management Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Transaction cost economics can be used to detect opportunistic behavior by one or more actors within a sales network. Using a sample of firms in the medical industry, where the role of salespeople is important, this study examines network centrality as a determinant of a salesperson's opportunistic behavior in intrafirm relationships. The results indicate that opportunistic behavior is affected differently depending on a salesperson's relational and positional centralities. While relational centrality decreases opportunistic behavior by providing motivation to protect one's reputation, positional centrality negatively moderates the effect of relational centrality on opportunistic behavior. However, with a high relational centrality, a salesperson is less likely to be opportunistic when she or he is low in positional centrality than when her or his positional centrality is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the relationship between opportunistic behavior, monitoring mechanisms, and financial distress on earnings management. The population of this study is 796 companies listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange year 2015-2019. Fourty three sample companies were selected using purposive sampling method, resulting 215 firm-year observation data. Using ordinary least square (OLS) regression as the main data analysis, the study observed that monitoring mechanism variable proxied by leverage has a positive effect on earnings management. However, there is no correlation between opportunistic behavior proxied by free cash flow and profitability as well as financial distress proxied by Altman Z-Score on earnings management. A robustness test using additional data of the samples companies during the COVID-19 pandemic was carried out. The test provides evidence that the results of this study's are robust. This study contributes empirically to the literature on the relationship between opportunistic behavior using free cash flow and profitability proxies, monitoring mechanisms using leverage, financial distress, and earnings management. It also provides valuable information for stakeholders to observe the quality of firm’s financial statements.

It is essential to avoid opportunistic behaviors of food supply chain members to guarantee food safety and sustainable supply. This research adopted the perspective of supply chain membership governance to discuss the critical mechanisms of opportunistic behavior avoidance and performance improvement in the food supply chain. Two information-sharing mechanisms (information sharing with customers and information sharing with suppliers) were used as mediating variables to explore the mechanisms of how social control, information sharing, and opportunistic behavior worked on supply chain performance. Furthermore, an online questionnaire survey was conducted to collect 210 data samples from the food manufacturing industry in China, and the structural equation model method was applied to test the research hypotheses. According to the empirical research findings, social control can directly reduce opportunistic behaviors of supply chain members and reduce such behaviors indirectly via the mediating factor of information sharing; social control affects the supply chain performance via the mediating factors of information sharing and opportunistic behavior, instead of directly improving supply chain performance. Two information sharing mechanisms vary in their mechanism of influence. Information sharing with customers reduces opportunistic behaviors, but does not directly improve supply chain performance. Information sharing with suppliers enhances supply chain performance and reduces opportunistic behaviors. This research offers theoretical and practical suggestions for performance improvement and opportunistic behavior avoidance to promote food supply chain management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the other hand, substrate-gleaning bats utilize a combination of echolocation, perhaps vision, and very often prey-generated sounds to detect, localize, and take prey from the ground, foliage, and other terrestrial surfaces (Norberg & Rayner, [29]; Razak, [34]). Keywords: aerial hawking bats; echolocation; insectivore; opportunistic behavior; quadruped locomotion; sensory mechanisms EN aerial hawking bats echolocation insectivore opportunistic behavior quadruped locomotion sensory mechanisms 1 6 6 01/04/23 20230101 NES 230101 Insects are the primary food of most bats, and insect-eating bats display a variety of foraging strategies molded by different sets of selective pressures on morphology, echolocation, vision, and nervous system to optimize prey capture in different habitats (Norberg & Rayner, [29]; Razak, [34]). Although some bats can switch their foraging strategies, and thereby exploit more than one foraging niche (Daniel, [14], [15]; Faure & Barclay, [17]; Ratcliffe & Dawson, [32]), reliable records of morphologically specialized aerial hawking bats adopting alternative foraging strategies in natural conditions are rare. [Extracted from the article]

Hospitality studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR) have largely examined its role in stimulating positive behaviors but overlooked its role in preventing negative behaviors among employees. Drawing from social identity theory, the present study addresses this gap by investigating four CSR dimensions' impact on employee opportunistic behavior. The joint use of covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) supported examining the research model. Using two-wave data from 281 U.S. hospitality employees, SEM findings reveal that legal and philanthropic dimensions of CSR serve as a valuable shield against opportunistic behavior. Moreover, organizational identification (OI) fully mediates the effects of economic, legal, and ethical CSR on opportunistic behavior, whereas philanthropic CSR exerts no effect through OI. This study advances CSR studies by examining the CSR–opportunistic behavior nexus using combined symmetric and asymmetric approaches. FsQCA findings make a methodological contribution to the net effects of CSR, by determining two configurations that explain opportunistic behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management abilities can speed up the achievement of the company's overall goals. Company managers always seek to make decisions that get the highest return for their stakeholders. Investigating the relationship between opportunistic behaviors (free cash flow and profitability ratio), monitoring mechanism (leverage ratio) and behaviors under pressure (financial helplessness) and profit management. As the risk increases, the expected return also increases in the efficient market. Capable managers can identify existing risks and turn them into opportunities for the organization. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between management ability and the components of integrated risk management and its components. For this purpose, according to the information of 153 companies admitted to the stock exchange, the model was estimated. The results of the hypothesis test of the research showed that the effect of management ability on integrated risk management was positive and significant. But the effect of management ability on risk management components, strategic risk, rules and regulations, operational and reporting alone is not effective, and only the positive effect on operational risk management and the meaning of management abilities can accelerate the achievement of the company's overall goals. Company managers always They seek to make decisions that get the highest return for their beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Praying mantids (class Insecta, order Mantodea) are a group of predatory insects comprising approximately 2500 described species, that occur across all continents except Antarctica, with the greatest species diversity in tropical and subtropical regions. Mantids predominantly prey on other invertebrates but are known to feed on small vertebrates. During April and May 2021, we observed mantid feeding events in Manujan County, Kerman Province in southern Iran. Two distinct feeding events were observed where female European Mantids (Mantis religiosa) preyed on Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus) and Crested Lark (Galerida cristata) nestlings. In addition, we collated information from online searches of mantids feeding on nestlings elsewhere in the world, revealing two more observations. In Taiwan, a Giant Asian Mantid (Hierodula patellifera) was recorded preying on a nestling Warbling White‐eye (Zosterops japonicus) and in Brazil, a mantid (Stagmatoptera sp.) was recorded feeding on a nestling White‐throated Seedeater (Sporophila albogularis). To date, the only existing scientific evidence of praying mantids feeding on passerine nestlings was recorded in 1922. We propose two potential explanations for the observed trophic interactions between mantids and passerine nestlings: (1) during egg production female mantids, especially those in poor physical condition, may opportunistically feed on nestlings in order to increase fecundity via nutrient gain and (2) mantids may initially be attracted toward the nest by parasitic or coprophagous insects, as a result of poor nest sanitation, and subsequently prey on nestlings after detecting movements. Our unusual observations represent the first records of praying mantids feeding on nestling passerines in nearly 100 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the role of value congruence and top management support on salespeople's customer-oriented selling behavior and adaptive selling behavior. Moreover, this study has also explored the effects of salespeople's customer-oriented selling behavior and adaptive selling behavior on sales performance and opportunistic behaviors, respectively. An online survey was administered to collect the data from salespeople in South Korea, and a total of 204 responses were undergone for formal analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The results showed that salespeople's value congruence has a significant positive effect on customer-oriented selling behavior and top management support has a significant positive effect on salespeople's adaptive selling behavior. The salespeople's customer-oriented selling behavior has a significant positive effect on sales performance and a significant negative effect on opportunistic behavior. Similarly, salespeople's adaptive selling behavior has significant positive effects on sales performance and opportunistic behaviors. Based on these findings, the implications for theory and practice are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contracts are crucial for curbing opportunism, a common phenomenon in construction projects. This article differentiates among the contractual mechanisms of obligatoriness, monitoring, and coordination, and studies the relationships between the complexity of the above functions and different types of opportunistic behavior. Using data from 262 clients (i.e., the parties issuing contracts) in the Chinese construction industry, this article reveals that contractual obligatoriness has a negative effect on strong-form opportunistic behavior. At the same time, contractual monitoring and coordination have positive and negative effects, respectively, on weak-form opportunistic behavior. Furthermore, we find that goodwill trust mediates contractual coordination's effect on weak-form opportunistic behavior. This article contributes to both the contract management literature and the interorganizational relationship governance literature by providing more nuanced findings that speak to the debate surrounding the relationship between contractual governance and opportunistic behavior, elaborate the mediation mechanism, and provide insights into the contractual function view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work seeks to statistically verify the hypothesis that there is a link between violations of environmental legislation and distortions in the financial reporting of economic entities. For this purpose, the authors studied the reporting documents of companies that are operating in Russia and have violated environmental legislation. The financial reporting of the latter was analyzed based on the authors' methodology. In order to determine the probability of distortion, companies were typologized and a probit model was constructed. The results confirmed the working hypothesis that economic entities' opportunistic behavior in the area of environmental protection is, as a rule, accompanied by distortions of financial information about their activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curculio glandium females associated with the pedunculate oak were investigated in order to fill the knowledge gap on acorn structure preferences and shell-hardening influence on ovipositional behavior and fecundity. Shell solidification progression of weekly harvested acorns was measured using penetration and force–deformation tests along with fruit mass within a time frame covering weevils' reproduction period. Captured females were offered regular acorns (uncracked, soft enough to drill into) and older seeds (with natural cracks) for behavior recordings and preferences tests. Young acorns and fruits ripe enough to be too hard for females to drill (artificially pierced and untouched) were used for egg output assessment throughout the shell-hardening progression. Experiments revealed that naturally cracked acorns were chosen significantly more often, which resulted in reduced drilling-phase duration. Egg number did not differ significantly before and after the threshold of acorn hardening; however, having passed it, females significantly more frequently deposited eggs in artificially pierced seeds. Results indicate the opportunistic nature of female preferences. Oviposition in cracked or pierced acorns facilitates the process and lowers competition for relatively shortly available soft and healthy seeds, the first of which reach impenetrability in the third week of August. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to evaluate the existence of earnings management in Brazilian closed supplementary pension funds. Our earnings management hypothesis was tested using a model of specific accruals, using the variable "annual results excluding legal contingencies", among others, to explain the dependent variable "provisions for legal contingencies", in a sample of 5,892 observations. We were able to verify that the former explains the latter and that this relationship is positive, which is an argument in favor of our hypothesis. The findings suggest that pension funds choose to make provisions when their plans tend to be in surplus before recognizing these provisions and reverse them when deficits could be revealed. That is, there are indications that managers act opportunistically to artificially improve the economic health of their plans, smoothing out or hiding any possible negative results from their contributors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of project governance in curbing opportunistic behavior (OB) has been clearly established in the project literature. Although contract governance and trust are considered critical factors that explain project governance, there is a lack of understanding regarding their interplay at various stages of project development. The current study takes a dynamic perspective and breaks down contract governance into contract completeness (CC) and contract enforcement (CE), while differentiating ex-ante trust from ex-post trust. As such, the current study takes a dynamic perspective and the Grossman-Hart-Moore (GHM) model, which aims to investigate how each of the two facets of contract governance and trust intertwine during the management of construction projects as well as their effects on OB. We undertook a questionnaire survey of individuals involved in 342 construction projects in China, and our research results show that, first of all, governance mechanisms at different stages have different inhibitory effects on OB. Taking contract-signing as the boundary, the governance effect of a contract is gradually enhanced, while the governance effect of trust is gradually reduced. Second, ex-ante trust is more important than ex-post trust: the former moderates not only the relationship between CE and OB, but also the influence of CC on OB. Finally, a contract that is overly complete is not conducive to precluding OB, as such completeness can give the contract parties a sense of security that is guaranteed. The current study not only garners insights into project governance research but also provides implications for architectural practitioners in deploying resources that relate to governance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In public–private partnership (PPP) projects, the government delegates the design, construction, and maintenance of an infrastructure system to the private sector. The concessionaire is responsible for the operation over a long duration before the ownership is transferred back to the government. A key factor affecting the success of PPP projects is that concessionaires often engage in opportunistic behavior to gain extra benefits at the expense of the public interest. Corresponding regulations to curb such opportunistic behavior are necessary by governments. In the PPP context, the regulations involve life-cycle activities covering all the stages. To overcome opportunistic behavior and establish regulations, the interaction between the government and the concessionaire in various stages of a PPP project is analyzed extensively in the current study based on the principal–agent theory. Overall, this study contributes a whole-life governance model to analyze the concessionaire's behavior at every step, and the effect on the social welfare of a PPP project investigates the interaction effects between different PPP stages and helps the government to determine a suitable incentive mechanism to decrease the occurrence of opportunistic behavior. Subsequently, a decision support system is proposed for policy implementation based on the developed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that opportunistic insiders can be identified through the profitability of their trades prior to quarterly earnings announcements (QEAs) and that opportunistic trading is associated with various kinds of firm or managerial misconduct. A value-weighted trading strategy based on (not necessarily pre-QEA) trades of opportunistic insiders earns monthly four-factor alphas of over 1%, which is much higher than in past insider trading literature and substantial and significant even on the short side. Firms with opportunistic insiders have higher levels of earnings management, restatements, US Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions, shareholder litigation, and executive compensation. These findings suggest that opportunism is a domain-general trait.