This paper explores the complex relationship between market power and consumer welfare through theoretical and empirical perspectives. Market power, the ability of firms to set prices above marginal cost, has multifaceted implications for economic efficiency and consumer wellbeing. Drawing on established economic theory and recent developments, we analyze how various market structures—from perfect competition to monopoly—affect consumer surplus, pricing mechanisms, and resource allocation. The paper investigates the diverse sources of market power, including market concentration, entry barriers, product differentiation, and information asymmetries, while examining their distinct welfare consequences. We further assess the interplay between static efficiency losses and potential dynamic gains from innovation incentives, incorporating environmental considerations and policy implications. By synthesizing traditional economic frameworks with emerging perspectives on digital markets and environmental externalities, this analysis offers a nuanced understanding of how market power manifests across different contexts and provides insights for designing effective competition policies that enhance consumer welfare while addressing market imperfections.

This study investigates the influence of board independence on corporate performance. A multi-dimensional measurement system is proposed, integrating financial and non-financial indicators. Through cross-regional comparisons, four crucial mechanisms are identified: supervisory checks, decision optimization, strategic guidance, and interest alignment. However, their effectiveness is moderated by contextual factors including directors' professional backgrounds, ownership structures, and the institutional environment. Excessive independence may increase coordination costs and reduce decision-making efficiency, emphasizing the necessity for board structures to adapt dynamically to a company's development stage and industry characteristics. Current research has limitations, such as single - index usage, sample bias towards developed markets, and neglect of cultural and institutional differences. To address these, this paper constructs a comprehensive framework by introducing longitudinal data, ESG dynamic indicators, and industry regulation effect analysis, enhancing the conclusion's universality. Future research should further refine the multi-dimensional measurement of board independence, strengthen cross-regional institutional and cultural difference comparisons, and incorporate long-term performance and dynamic criteria. This study offers empirical evidence for policymakers and enterprises to optimize governance frameworks and drive the adaptive evolution of global governance practices in a complex economic context.

In the context of global digital transformation, inclusive finance is facing systemic bottlenecks such as insufficient service coverage, low efficiency and lagging risk control, while artificial intelligence technology provides technological breakthroughs for cracking the 'impossible triangle’ of traditional finance through the innovative application of machine learning and natural language processing. This paper analyses the role of artificial intelligence in driving the high-quality development of inclusive finance and its practical path from the dual perspective of 'technology empowerment and institutional innovation’. The study finds that artificial intelligence (AI) significantly strengthens the risk control ability through multi-dimensional data integration and algorithm optimisation; mobile service sinking and intelligent customer service technology promote the increase of financial service coverage in counties, but remote areas are still constrained by the lack of network infrastructure suitability; Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and intelligent investment advisor technology reduces the operating costs of financial institutions, and commercial banks and fintech companies present progressive optimisation and disruptive innovation paths respectively. Differentiated paths of innovation. This study provides policymakers with operational guidelines to balance the inclusiveness of technological innovation and risk control, and contributes to the paradigm of technology governance to achieve the goal of financial inclusive growth.

The integration of Internet technology and financial services has revolutionized global financial ecosystems, but it has also introduced unprecedented risks. This paper systematically reviews literature from 2010 to 2023 to analyze the evolution of technology-driven risks (e.g., algorithmic discrimination, smart contract vulnerabilities), divergent regulatory frameworks (e.g., China’s "penetrative regulation" and the EU’s "sandbox supervision"), and challenges in cross-border coordination. Key findings include: (1) A paradigm shift from credit risks to technology-centric risks; (2) Regulatory tools increasingly rely on real-time monitoring, yet face ethical and technical adaptability barriers. The study proposes solutions such as blockchain-based data-sharing platforms, explainable AI governance frameworks, and multilateral regulatory dialogues to balance innovation and security.

As global climate governance enters a critical phase, the European Union (EU), as a pioneer in climate action, has given priority to environmental protection, climate change, and sustainable development in the EU 2023 Model BIT. Through integrating sustainable development into the preamble, affirming the regulatory right to address climate change, emphasizing corporate social responsibility, including specific provisions on “Investment and Environment” and “Investment and Climate Change,” and introducing climate-related exceptions to indirect expropriation, the Model BIT provides legal safeguards for host states implementing climate policies. Based on an analysis of these key provisions, this paper explores how China may draw legislative insights from the EU’s approach, including conducting a systematic review of existing BITs, incorporating exemptions for environmental and climate measures, and promoting environmental due diligence by enterprises—thereby proactively addressing climate change and contributing to global sustainable development.

Social media is one of the key topics of research today. Researchers have found that the use of social media for communication and marketing is very common, however, there is a lack of unified knowledge on how to optimise communication and marketing strategies based on user sentiment analysis. Therefore, the research topic of this paper is the optimisation of social media marketing communication strategies based on user sentiment analysis. The research method of this paper is to collect data by distributing questionnaires to get consumers' subjective data, and at the same time to analyse relevant cases to achieve a combination of subjective and objective. The research data shows that there is a significant difference in the emotion communication mechanism of different social media platforms, and this difference will affect the path of brand reputation shaping and the purchase decision process of consumers through multiple dimensions. It is worth noting that although emotional marketing can effectively enhance user engagement, it should essentially be used as an auxiliary means of the core value of the product. If enterprises want to achieve sustainable development, the key is to consolidate the foundation of the product - including but not limited to quality control, pricing system and user experience optimisation, and at the same time, through the establishment of membership system, to create a community ecological and other long-term operational mechanisms to enhance user stickiness.

Taking China's A-share listed companies from 1990 to 2024 as the research sample, this paper analyzes the impact of corporate energy conservation and emission reduction on enterprise internationalization under the “dual-carbon” strategy and explores the underlying mechanisms. The study finds that energy conservation and emission reduction facilitate the internationalization process of enterprises. The mechanism lies in digital transformation: the implementation of energy-saving and emission-reduction policies acts as a driving force that compels enterprises to increase R&D investment, thereby fostering green technological innovation and accelerating digital transformation. This in turn provides new momentum for internationalization. This study provides empirical evidence for carbon reduction practices and international strategies and offers theoretical and practical insights into promoting enterprise internationalization through digital transformation under the dual-carbon goals.

Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) provides a framework for constructing portfolios that minimize associated risk parameters. The author searched Google Scholar for applications of Modern Portfolio Theory from 2015 to 2024, with a focus on uses of the theory in investments. The article discusses some scenarios involving applying MPT. This mean-variance optimization approach revolutionizes investment strategies by replacing speculative decisions with systematic risk management. The study’s applications extend beyond traditional equity markets to many other circumstances, such as resource allocation and asset management by employing case studies. The findings highlight MPT's empirical validity in optimizing investment strategies through diversification principles, with extensible frameworks for risk-return analysis applicable to logistics, resource allocation, and cross-disciplinary decision-making systems. This study assesses Modern Portfolio Theory's enduring relevance and limitations in dynamic markets, bridging theoretical constructs with practical portfolio management applications to inform academic and practical investment strategies.

Against the backdrop of the popularization of the Internet, the marketing environment of enterprises has ushered in new changes. The real economy industry has gradually entered the Internet, which has brought about huge changes in the original marketing landscape and led to intensified competition: expensive advertising has become inexpensive. It can be said that new marketing strategies and tactics have become particularly important at present. This paper will study and discuss the marketing methods of enterprises in the new era, with a focus on psychological marketing and illusion marketing, shifting from the forced infusion of marketing concepts to making consumers subjectively and spontaneously recognize and consume. This study mainly uses three research methods: literature analysis, questionnaire survey, and data analysis. Through the research, the common characteristics of psychological marketing and illusion marketing are summarized, and the subsequent application scenarios, application scope, and impacts and roles on enterprise marketing of psychological marketing and illusion marketing are analyzed. The research conclusions indicate that the essence of marketing lies in capturing consumers' core demands and certain implicit demands. For example, enterprises achieve a certain psychological resonance with consumers or satisfy their potential psychological needs, such as stress relief. For enterprises, psychological marketing should be given due attention.

Along with the development of the platform economy, another form of employment has emerged in enterprises like Meituan, namely the employment of people as “Platform Labor”. This type of platform does not directly enter into labor contracts with delivery workers, but only applies algorithms to issue instructions, monitor the work process, and carry out evaluation, reward, and punishment, so as to realize the control and management of labor. Using Meituan riders as a case study, this paper examines the inherent management logic of the model and ethical risks through literature review and case study analysis, aiming to identify flaws in algorithmic governance. While enhancing efficiency, the model exacerbates power asymmetry, labor-management opacity, and systemic risks, which lead to irresponsibility and inadequate worker protection. This reveals that current labor policies fail to adapt to platform realities and require institutional reforms to hold enterprise accountable.