Knowledge capital,CEO power,and firm value: Evidence from the IT industry

Disruptive innovation dramatically changes the demand of a product market in the information technology (IT) industry. In response to the impact of disruptive innovation, IT firms that may be eliminated from the competitive race actively develop innovative products and adjust their operating strategies to strengthen their survivability in the fiercely competitive market. Thus, this study explores the factors that affect firm value in the IT industry under the impact of disruptive innovation. The empirical results reveal that knowledge capital and CEO power play crucial roles in explaining firm value. IT firms with powerful CEOs and increased knowledge capital have high firm values. The effects of knowledge capital and CEO power on firm value are especially significant for founder and duality CEO firms. Furthermore, the influence of CEO power is more prominent in periods of financial crisis.     

A truly global crisis? Evidence from contagion dependence across international REIT markets

This study examines the global nature of the recent crisis under bivariate Markov-switching models for pre- and post-crisis periods using the breakpoint of August 9, 2007. It quantifies international synchronization of boom-bust regime switches to investigate contagion-type dynamic comovements of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Global REIT markets display persistent bust regimes from September 2008 to May 2009, whereas the regime-switching patterns are not significant in the pre-crisis period. The results provide new evidence for global REIT contagion phenomena and suggest greater difficulties in diversifying risks across global REIT markets during the post-crisis period.     

新时代中国国际政治经济学研究:问题与方向

国际形势的迅速变化为国际政治经济学研究提供了更为广阔的研究视野,但面对复杂多变的世界经济和政治形势,单纯的经济学研究往往无法解释现实,经济学、政治学以及社会学等诸多学科间的分立与隔绝状态不利于国际政治经济学的深入发展。中国的国际政治经济学研究需要关注五个方面的问题:第一,打破经济学尤其是国际经济学研究的专业壁垒;第二,加强对经济全球化问题的综合性研究;第三,注重对美国国内经济结构变化及其对社会生活、政治生活与对外政策影响的研究;第四,加强对国际货币、资本、金融运行机制的深入研究并从货币权力视角构建国际政治经济学框架;第五,加强对1500年以来大国兴衰过程中"挑战国陷阱"问题的研究。只有在解决好上述五个问题的基础上,国内理论界才能构建一个符合新时代要求的国际政治经济学理论和大国关系理论,并以此支撑中国的可持续崛起。     

环境规制、市场势力与企业创新

具有市场势力的企业面临环境规制时可以通过研发创新实现波特效应，也可以通过转嫁合规成本实现利润最大化。本文利用新《环境保护法》实施这一准自然实验，基于双重差分和三重差分模型系统地评估了环境强监管对具有不同市场势力的上市公司研发创新的影响。研究发现，新《环境保护法》的实施显著促进了企业的研发创新，市场势力本身与企业创新呈现倒“U”型关系，同时市场势力显著抑制了新《环境保护法》的波特效应。     

Board faultlines and the value of cash holdings: Evidence from Chinese listed companies

Faultlines can affect a board of director’s effectiveness in supervising senior managers, which in turn affects the value of a company’s cash holdings. Based on sample data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2004 to 2016, we examine the relationship between board faultlines and the value of cash holdings. The empirical results indicate that board faultlines have a significant inhibitory effect on cash holding value. This inhibitory effect is stronger for board faultlines resulting from deep-level attributes. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of board faultlines is stronger in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than in non-SOEs. As an important governance mechanism, management shareholdings can reduce agency costs and mitigate the negative impact of board fissures on cash holdings. Overall, we enrich the literature on the economic consequences of board faultlines and their influence on cash holding value. We also offer companies practical suggestions for improving the supervisory mechanism of their board of directors.     

市场环境、企业社会责任与基金安全投资转移

当市场环境不好以及不确定性增加时，基金进行安全投资转移。企业积极履行社会责任所形成的声誉资本具有“类保险”作用，在面临负面事件或不确定性环境冲击时能够防止股价大幅下跌和市值损失；基金是否会在市场环境不好时将投资组合转向社会责任绩效更高的股票进行安全投资转移呢？使用2010—2017年开放式基金样本，实证检验了企业社会责任、市场环境与安全投资转移之间的关系。研究发现，在市场环境表现不佳时，基金避险需求增加，倾向将投资组合更多地转向社会责任绩效高的股票进行安全投资转移；进一步研究发现基金和基金经理特征影响基金的安全投资转移行为，净资金流入较少、历史业绩差、经理选股能力差的基金根据企业社会责任进行安全投资转移的程度大。研究还发现，基金的安全投资转移行为对基金业绩和基金收益波动产生了积极影响。     

The use of landslide hazard maps to determine mitigation priorities in a dam reservoir and its protection area

Despite longstanding research on the landslide hazard assessment and mapping, the use this information in regional planning applications remains largely unclear. There is still a need for novel methods to interpret the results of hazard analyses. In this respect, the main research question of this study is how the landslide hazard maps can be evaluated in planning practice. To evaluate this issue, a comprehensive case study was carried out and a new methodology, defining the order of priority for the locations where mitigation measures are applied was developed. The investigations were carried out in the Melen Dam reservoir, which provides potable water to the city of Istanbul, and the dam protection area (Duzce, Turkey) in four main stages: (i) Evaluation of the general characteristics of the study area, (ii) preparation of landslide inventory, (iii) development of landslide hazard model, and (iv) implementation of the results of hazard analyses in planning. As a consequence, a decision support system that can evaluate analytically complicated outputs “P_Combined”, “P_{AL min.}”, and “L_Total” and provide clear decisions “Urgent”, “Primary”, and “Secondary” was suggested. Considering the limited resources available for the mitigation measures, the determination of mitigation priorities for the micro-catchments constitutes the key land-use policy for the protection of the dam reservoir.     

A typology of actors and their strategies in multi-scale governance of wind turbine conflict within forests

Wind turbine construction, governed by complex multi-scale governance systems, can cause conflict between actors interested in forest management. We examined wind turbine conflicts in forests in two case studies, the state of Maine, USA and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Specifically, we examined based on triangulation of documents, participant observation, and qualitative interviews with 46 actors how actors argued in favor of certain scales within the wind turbine multi-scale governance systems and how they applied scalar strategies within them. In this paper, we propose a typology that describes actor behavior within multi-scale governance systems. Seven different actor types within multi-scale governance were identified: the Knowledge Exchanger, the Linker, the Creator, the Maintainer, the Power Shifter, the Mobile Learner, and the Overwhelmed & Passive. Actors involved in wind turbine conflicts within forests re-shaped and re-defined the governance system by their actions in the conflict process. However, not all actors could equally participate in scalar strategies. Therefore, only some actors had advantages in re-shaping the governance system according to their interests.     

Do housing prices promote total factor productivity? Evidence from spatial panel data models in explaining the mediating role of population density

The issue of what to promote in total factor productivity (TFP) in urban areas has been widely discussed in academia and housing prices and population density are confirmed to be two of the most essential driving factors. However, research into the interaction of housing prices and population density with TFP has been neglected, with no previous studies taking spatial factors into consideration, which may bias the results. From this perspective, using spatial panel data models and employing instrumental variables to solve the endogenous problem, this study examines the impact of housing prices on TFP through the mediating effect of population density for 283 Chinese cities during the period 2000–2013, and confirms that the mediating effect accounts for 18.70 % of the total effect. The results show the positive and significant association of housing prices with TFP and the inverted U-shape of population density. The underlying logic is that housing prices change population density by attracting people with high purchasing power and discouraging those unable to afford housing, whereas increased density helps to promote productivity since the settled inhabitants always have highly developed work skills and are well educated. The influencing mechanism of housing prices on TFP through population density is analyzed, namely the spillover effect. We find that the spillover effect exists in the eastern and central regions, as well as first, second, and third tier cities, while for western regions and fifth tier cities, population mobility and increased in housing prices slows their economic development. There is no evidence of any spillover effect in fourth tier cities. A discussion and suggested policy implications are also provided.     

LADM-based profile for farmland Tripartite Entitlement System in China

Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has undergone a promotion of industrialisation, urbanisation and agricultural modernisation. This promotion has triggered the mass migration of rural labour forces into cities, leading to the virtual situation of the separation of farmland contract and operation rights. To respond to this issue, the central government proposed a strategy of farmland reform in China. Such reform aims to transform the former ‘Bipartite Entitlement System’ into a ‘Tripartite Entitlement System (TES)’.¹ Land registration provides the means for recognising formalised property rights and regulating the characteristics and transfer of land-related rights. As for farmland registration in China, it serves as a basis to explore effective forms of collective farmland ownership by implementing collective farmland ownership, stabilising farmers’ contract rights and liberalising farmland operation rights. Thus, in this study, on the basis of the farmland tripartite entitlement (hereinafter referred to as ‘FTE’) reform in China, we develop a Land Administration Domain Model (LADM)-based TES model that will serve as the basis of subsequent system development. Specifically, first, we summarise the evolution process of China’s farmland rights system since the foundation of new China. Second, we propose a farmland rights system after the FTE reform. Then, the corresponding TES model is developed based on the LADM standard and some instance-level diagrams for farmland administration activities. The new functionality of the model includes improved structuring of farmland rights and restrictions (and related source documents) and improved expansion of the land information infrastructure to rural areas.