The international market selection of Chinese SMEs: How institutional influence overrides psychic distance

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the ongoing debate about whether psychic distance still plays a vital role in the internationalisation of SMEs from emerging markets. Drawing on the prior research which suggests the salient impact of institutional factors on internationalisation, we investigate the role of home country institutions in international market selection. Adopting a multi-case methodology, we collected semi-structured interview data from six small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in China. Our findings suggest that while psychic distance is still important in some circumstances, both formal institutions, such as government support, and informal institutions, such as business and political guanxi, enable Chinese SMEs to choose psychically distant markets. Our findings also indicate that informal institutions interact with formal institutions to further influence SMEs’ international market selection. This research contributes to SME internationalisation studies by revealing how formal and informal institutional factors override psychic distance in influencing international market selection.     

How and when does co-production facilitate eco-innovation in international buyer-supplier relationships? The role of environmental innovation ambidexterity and institutional pressures

Eco-innovation is an important element of a firm's environmental sustainability strategy and provides both competitive and environmental benefits, resulting in a win-win solution. Although previous studies have examined the influence of co-production on innovation, little is known about how and when co-production affects eco-innovation in the context of international buyer-seller relationships. Building upon the resource-based view, the dynamic capability perspective, and institutional theory, this study develops a conceptual model focusing on the effects of co-production on eco-innovation, the mediating effects of environmental innovation ambidexterity, and the moderating role of institutional pressures. The research was carried out using a survey-based quantitative study and the proposed hypotheses were tested using the hierarchical regression analysis. The results of a survey of 124 OEM suppliers in Taiwan show that co-production has a positive effect on environmental innovation ambidexterity. Our findings also show that the direct relationship between co-production and environmental innovation ambidexterity is stronger when institutional pressures are high as opposed to when they are low and that environmental innovation ambidexterity mediates the relationship between co-production and eco-innovation. This study contributes to a theoretical understanding of why some firms develop more environmental innovation ambidexterity than others, by analyzing co-production as a predictor and institutional pressures as a moderator. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.     

终身证券市场禁入的正当性难题及其化解

我国证券监管所采用的终身证券市场禁入，剥夺了行为人参与证券市场的资格或机会，需要接受“正当性”的拷问。基于公共利益理论、利益平衡分析等论证证券市场禁入的正当性，未深入到行为人自身内部寻找正当性根据，均存在一定的局限性。证券市场禁入的正当性基础，应当回归到行为人自身，注重行为人自身“适合”参与证券市场的可期待性。终身证券市场禁入具有鲜明的“惩罚性”，面临着责任追究无边界等正当性难题。化解这一难题的路径是去除证券市场禁入的“惩罚性”，允许被禁入对象“救赎”自己，建立终身证券市场禁入的适时退出程序，明确终身证券市场禁入的退出标准，动态跟踪监测被禁入对象个体情况，适时赋予其参与证券市场的“第二次机会”。     

From COVID-19 herd immunity to investor herding in international stock markets: The role of government and regulatory restrictions

We study if government response to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic can mitigate investor herding behaviour in international stock markets. Our empirical analysis is informed by daily stock market data from 72 countries from both developed and emerging economies in the first quarter of 2020. The government response to the COVID-19 outbreak is measured by means of the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, where higher scores are associated with greater stringency. Three main findings are in order. First, results show evidence of investor herding in international stock markets. Second, we document that the Oxford Government Response Stringency Index mitigates investor herding behaviour, by way of reducing multidimensional uncertainty. Third, short-selling restrictions, temporarily imposed by the national and supranational regulatory authorities of the European Union, appear to exert a mitigating effect on herding. Finally, our results are robust to a range of model specifications.     

执法监测中正确使用环境标准初探

经过近四十年的发展和完善,我国的环境标准已形成了“两级五类”的完整体系。基层监测人员在执法监测中对环境标准的选择,要结合环境影响批复和污染工艺、排放去向进行综合考虑。在排污许可证上载明的污染物排放浓度与排放标准中规定的浓度限值不一致的情况下,应慎重选取排放标准规定的浓度限值。使用环境标准的基本原则是地方标准优先于国家标准,行业标准优先于综合标准,新标准优先于旧标准,地方政府文件不具有标准效力。     

基于人力资本价值链理论的中国城市国际人才集聚研究

城市国际人才争夺战由来已久并不断升级，但针对中国城市国际人才集聚水平、影响因素和差异化政策供给的研究鲜见。以“国际人才集聚指数-国际人才集聚影响因素-国际人才集聚政策”为研究主线，以中国36个主要城市为研究对象，创新性地通过构建人力资本“投入-过程-产出”价值链理论模型进行实证研究，结果表明：中国城市国际人才集聚指数排名分为3个差异显著的层级。其中，第二和第三层级之间无较大差距，但与由北京、上海组成的第一层级相比大幅落后。中国城市国际人才集聚影响因素分化明显，第一类城市的主要影响因素为全球城市品牌文化；第二类城市为创新型经济发展；第三类为外资传统工商业企业和产业集聚。对应地，中国城市国际人才集聚政策供给围绕外资传统工商业国际人才集聚、高端生产性服务业国际人才集聚、多样性和包容性国际人才文化氛围营造存在三大差异化选择。首次构建人力资本“投入-过程-产出”价值链模型，为从机理上深入探索中国各类城市国际人才集聚模式及提升路径奠定了基础。     

The exceptional performance of exporters and labour market outcomes: evidence from Egyptian firms

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the manufacturing export market in Egypt after the Arab Spring using a novel firm-level census dataset from 2013. Export is very rare in Egypt. The conventional export premia are very high, except for total factor productivity. Exporters have stark effects on labour market outcomes, including wages, employment, demand for skilled and female workers, wage inequality, and job security. These findings have two important implications: (1) Manufacturing exports might be monopolized by large firms, and (2) promoting exports could improve labour market outcomes, especially for skilled and female workers.     

International stock return predictability

We propose a new methodology for predicting international stock returns. Our Bayesian framework performs probabilistic selection of predictors that can shift at multiple unknown structural break dates. The approach generates significantly more accurate forecasts of international stock returns than a range of popular models that are economically meaningful for a risk-averse mean–variance investor. Allowing for regime-specific variable selection reduces considerably the international diversification of an unhedged U.S. investor’s portfolio.     

Firm listing status and the investment home bias

Are public firm investment rates more sensitive than private firm rates to new investment opportunities? We offer a new explanation for differences in public and private firm investment sensitivities: investment sensitivities differ because the type of investments favored by firms varies with their listing status. Specifically, we consider the geography of investment opportunities and find that private firms have a much stronger investment home-bias than similar public firms which makes their investment decisions more sensitive to local investment opportunities than public firms. Controlling for local investment opportunities explains four-fifths of the differential sensitivity between public and private firms not explained by more traditional measures of investment opportunities.