The impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on the expansion of China's higher education in overseas markets along the route

Due to the differences in economic and social conditions among the Belt‐and‐Road (B&R) countries, resources exchange might bring significant effect on companies and organizations in these countries. In recent years, vigorously developing university education and attracting more outstanding international students have become important means for “B&R” countries to expand education market and enhance international influence. However, there is limited research discussing the impact of “B&R” on the internationalization of higher education. Taking the sponsoring country (China) of the “B&R” strategy as an example, this article explores the impact of this strategy on Chinese universities' expansion in the education market, and further analyzes the important relevant factors from the perspectives of international competitiveness. The findings show that the B&R Initiative has a significant impact on the expansion of Chinese universities in overseas markets along the route. Furthermore, we have found “push” factors related to China's macro and micro environments, and “pull” factors associated with countries along the B&R route.     

Dual liability and the moderating effect of corporate social responsibility–Evidence from Belt&Road investment of Chinese firms

Our examination of 796 Chinese firms that invested in the Belt&Road (B&R) region from 2008 to 2015 shows that Chinese firms often encounter liability of foreignness (LOF) and liability of origin (LOR). Our empirical results reveal that larger institutional distance is related to significant performance decrease, which evidences liability of foreignness for Chinese multinationals. Moreover, Chinese firms with concentrated ownership see their financial performance adversely affected after the B&R initiative, which further validates the argument for liability of origin. We found that firms' Corporate Social Responsibility performance (CSR) has a significant, positive “institutional moderating” effect, that is buffering conflicts between Chinese firms and local stakeholders, and projecting a favorable institutional image to mitigate Chinese multinationals' dual liabilities in the B&R region. Firms with better Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance are more likely to avoid political risk. CSR has been a buffering and bridge mechanism in government inefficiency, lower regulatory quality, lower rule of law and less control of corruption and reducing rent seeking behavior.Therefore, investment in CSR and more inclusive ownership schemes may assist Chinese firms' long survival across the B&R region.     

Chinese multinationals on the New Silk Route: Managing political risk by branding the nation

Though Chinese multinational enterprises (CMNEs) have brought investment and opportunities to countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, there has been scepticism regarding the content and context of their investment. On the one hand, infrastructural development contributes to GDP formation and enhances the efficiency of productive inputs where international trade enhances technology and export development, which jointly provides a path to economic growth. On the other hand, critical issues such as debt sustainability and national sovereignty among countries that have gone through the decolonization process mean that CMNEs need to grasp the implication of political risk when investing. This article focuses on South and Southeast Asia, where China has historical socio‐economic relationship, and proposes a nation branding model combining tradition and modernity which can be the way forward for CMNEs to mitigate political risk in relation to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investment. Nation branding of BRI could be seen as a continuity of China's unfinished business in globalization that has preceded the modern polity; nevertheless, there is a need to communicate a coherent and authentic message that reflects the reality of business operations.     

Belt‐and‐Road Initiative: Driving the need to understand intellectual capital in Chinese multinational enterprises

China's Belt‐and‐Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the most ambitious trade and development projects in history which intends to link Chinese multinational enterprises (CMNEs) to the Asian subcontinent, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe through two trade routes, land and sea. The project involves infrastructure development, human knowledge, and international relations to develop trade relationships. Increased competition along the two routes will see other governments taking initiatives to protect the business community in their nations; thus, adding barriers that must be overcome by CMNEs. The success of CMNEs in the BRI relies on the three components—structural, human, and relational—which are the three components of intellectual capital (IC). Through the use of IC CMNEs can assess their strengths and weaknesses. It will be the understanding of these strengths and weaknesses which will drive the success or failure of CMNEs.     

Chinese cross‐border mergers and acquisitions in the developing world: Is Africa unique?

China has emerged as an important partner for Africa. Not surprisingly, Chinese business and investment relations with Africa have been growing. This article contends that Africa offers a different proposition to Chinese business interests in non‐African developing economies. In this optic, it takes a “comparative” institution‐based view treating factors that determine Chinese multinationals' cross‐border merger and acquisition (CBMA) decisions as comparatively different for Africa to the rest of the developing world. From a panel data estimation of the number of Chinese CBMAs from 2007 to 2016, we find among market size, natural resources, strategic assets, labor productivity, and institutional governance, only natural resources and market size have a distinctive effect, with Chinese investors being more attracted to African natural resources than the African market. The drive for natural resources provides impetus for Chinese MNEs to choose CBMAs over greenfield investment, and through majority ownership to exercise control. Our inference is that Africa is “significantly” different from other developing regions, in terms of CBMAs, as Chinese multinationals have a strong motive to control access to natural resources.     

欢盟外资并购国家安全审查制度对中国的启示

21世纪以来,欧盟主要国家纷纷修改外资并购立法,加大对外资并购国冢安全的审查,审查标准趋亍严格．审查范围愈发扩大。这种外资审查立法权扩张的冲动受到来自《欧共体条约》所确立的资本自由化原则的制约。在国际投资政策趋紧的背景下,中国公司近年来在欧美国家的外资并购不断受阻。深入理解欧盟外资并购立法的规定是当前中国企业制定国际化战略的基本要求。     

The demand for safe assets in emerging economies and global imbalances: New empirical evidence

Recent economic theory has singled out mismatches between the supply and the demand of safe financial assets in emerging countries as drivers of international capital flows and, ultimately, global current account imbalances. This paper assesses empirically the contribution of such “search for safe assets” to the size and composition of emerging economies’ international asset portfolios. Excess demand for safe assets in financially less‐developed countries would imply that these countries hold disproportionately high shares of their total portfolios in foreign assets. Moreover, financially less‐developed countries would hold disproportionately high shares of their foreign portfolios in financially developed countries, which are the major producers of ostensibly safe assets. This paper finds little empirical support for these predictions. Financially less‐developed countries allocate a larger proportion of their total holdings to domestic assets. Even when focusing on their foreign portfolios, there is no evidence of a general bias towards the assets of financially developed countries. Overall, asset mismatches do not appear to explain the asset allocation of financially less‐developed countries.     

塞尔维亚商业环境调查分析及投资政策建议

中国秉承共商共建共享原则与“一带一路”沿线国家开展多种形式的合作。塞尔维亚地理位置重要,经济处于扩张周期,是“一带一路”在中东欧推进的重要国家。近年来中塞两国政治、经济、文化关系全面升温。本文通过问卷和实地走访两种方式,调查中资企业在塞尔维亚的商业环境,包括投资软环境、投资硬环境、商业景气度和“一带一路”推进情况,分析在塞尔维亚投资的优势和风险,并在此基础上提出政策建议,为中国企业“走出去”提供参考。     

“一带一路”沿线国家投资便利化对中国对外直接投资的影响:理论与经验证据

文章通过构建投资便利化评价指标体系,运用熵值法定量测度"一带一路"沿线国家的投资便利化水平,并基于拓展引力模型实证检验其对中国对外直接投资(OFDI)的影响。研究发现:"一带一路"沿线国家投资便利化建设能够显著促进中国OFDI增长,其中制度质量改善对中国OFDI的促进作用最大。异质性分析表明,亚非地区、中等收入水平、资源禀赋欠丰富、市场潜力大以及与中国投资合作信任度高的沿线国家通过推进投资便利化建设,对中国OFDI的促进作用更明显。机制检验表明,沿线各国推进投资便利化建设,可以通过削减投资成本、提高投资效率以及降低投资风险等渠道对中国OFDI产生显著正向影响。最后聚焦行业差异的分析表明,沿线国家投资便利化建设能显著促进中国制造业和服务业OFDI扩展边际的提高,且对后者的促进作用更大。