I Feel Your Pain: The Effect of Regulator as a Minority Shareholder on Merger and Acquisition Performance

We examine the effect of a regulator-led advocate for minority shareholders on merger and acquisition (M&A) performance in China. In recent years, the China Securities Regulatory Commission established the China Securities Investor Services Center (CSISC), which began its ownership of 100 shares of public firms in 2016. The CSISC advocates for the interests of minority shareholders proactively. Focusing on abnormal stock returns in M&A announcements, we find that acquirers that have the CSISC as a shareholder (CSISC acquirers) exhibit higher positive abnormal stock returns than non-CSISC acquirers. Cross-sectional analysis suggests that the core results are mainly driven by firms with severe agency problems and weak external/internal monitoring, and those not controlled by the state. In addition, we find that CSISC acquirers have better long-term performance and encounter more M&A failures than non-CSISC acquirers. Our findings indicate that although the CSISC only holds 100 shares of listed companies, it plays an effective role in monitoring and driving firms to make appropriate M&A decisions.     

金融支持国防知识产权成果转化问题及策略研究

国防知识产权成果转化应用是国防科技创新体系建设落地见效的关键环节，引入现代金融体系能够有效促进国防知识产权成果转化。目前我国国防知识产权转化工作在组织管理体制、工作运行体系、法规政策制度和信息化建设等方面初显成效，但仍面临整体转化形势不容乐观、金融支持体系尚未成熟等问题，根本原因在于国防知识产权与发明人割裂导致一般金融产品难以通过审核，使融资渠道狭窄；其保密性进一步加大了与金融机构间的信息不对称，使得金融资源配置效率低下；国防知识产权专用性较强，相应抬高了融资成本。为有效解决上述问题，提出3条改进措施，以实现对国防知识产权转化的金融支持，即①从顶层设计上优化解密脱密流程，明确发明人与知识产权的权属关系，细化财税优惠等支持措施；②加强政府财政税收政策支持，引导创新利用多元社会资本进入支持转化领域；③建立各主体参与的金融服务协调保障机制、监测评估体系，启动国防知识产权转化的金融支持试点工作，构建符合国情的国防知识产权转化金融支持体系。     

Chinese investment in the Brazilian soybean sector: Navigating relations of private governance

This paper examines how Chinese agribusiness firms are engaging with established systems of private governance in the Brazilian soybean sector and how that engagement is variously accommodated, contested, and configured by local realities that reflect the uneven history of transnational agribusiness development across the Brazilian agro‐export region. Using qualitative data collected at three research sites that represent different historical moments in the Brazilian agro‐export region (Mato Grosso, Goiás, and Bahia), the paper argues that the social structures underlying the particular agrarian histories of these three subregions create unique contexts Chinese firms must navigate, which in turn shapes their engagement with the private agribusiness regime across space. Although the private agribusiness regime is often portrayed as a top‐down system of governance that subjugates the polity to the demands of capital, this framing neglects to understand how that system of power is contested, negotiated, and reshaped on the ground. These three cases serve to historicize the uneven penetration of Chinese firms across the Brazilian soybean sector.     

20世纪50—60年代的中国财政学:一个传统的移入与退出

20世纪50—60年代既是新中国财政学初建时期,也见证了苏联财政学传统移入和退出的过程。就其理论和实践来源看,苏联财政学是苏联化的马克思主义、苏联特殊年代政治实践和计划经济体制等诸多因素的混合物。虽然它在发展和创新马克思主义财政理论方面作出了首创性的贡献,但其历史局限性也不可避免。在苏联财政学移植中国之时,其中一些负面特征也参与了新中国财政学的重建,并对其后中国财政学的发展起到了长久的羁绊作用。20世纪50年代后期以来,中国财政学“去苏联化”的目标未能完全实现,这一方面源于塑造苏联财政学的思维模式仍然在当时的中国财政学界起着支配作用;另一方面在那些影响财政学发展的主要因素上,当时的中苏两国极为雷同。吸取20世纪50年代中国移植苏联财政学的历史经验和教训,对当下中国合理借鉴域外学术资源、发展和创新马克思主义财政理论,有着重要的借鉴意义。     

Migration,population aging,and income inequality in China

In this study, we examine the effects of four demographic factors, namely, birth, death, natural aging, and net migration, on population aging and income inequality in China. We use the official Chinese data and the China Household Income Project Survey data for the 2007–2013 period and apply a decomposition model based on the Shapley method. Unlike previous studies, we include migration in our decomposition model and find that natural aging is the primary factor contributing to population aging in both urban and rural areas. Further, migration may accelerate population aging in rural areas. Moreover, migration contributes to reducing income inequality in urban areas, while widening income inequality in rural areas. The effect of migration is larger than those of birth, death, and natural aging on income inequality. The robustness checks confirm these conclusions.     

Who is left behind? Exploring the characteristics of China's broadband non-adopting families

China has made significant progress in broadband development. As of September 2018, 95% of China's population was covered by 4G networks. However, our estimates show that nearly 30% of China's families did not use broadband that year. This study attempts to investigate the characteristics of China's broadband left-behind families. Overall, consistent with the findings for other countries, families with a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be broadband non-adopters. In the information society, older, poorer, rural and less educated families are left behind. It is recommended that the Chinese government shift from a top-down investment-driven policy to a user-centered demand-driven policy to address the digital divide.     

What has New Zealand gained from The FTA with China?: Two counterfactual analyses†

We investigate the effects of the 2008 New Zealand (NZ)–China free trade agreement (FTA) on exports from NZ to China, and real GDP per capita in NZ using the synthetic control method to estimate the counterfactuals. NZ exports to China were more than 200% higher in 2014 than what they would have had the FTA never been signed. NZ's food and live animals exports to China were more than 180% higher in 2014 than the counterfactual. Our counterfactuals indicate a small but negative effect of the FTA on NZ's real GDP per capita between 2009 and 2012.     

Exploring the links among corporate social responsibility,reputation, and performance from a multi-dimensional perspective

This study examines the links among corporate social responsibility (CSR), reputation, and performance in hotel companies from a multidimensional perspective. Data were collected from 322 hotels in China and partial least squares equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed for a causal-predictive analysis. Study results reveal that CSR practices influence hotel reputation as seen from both international and local perspectives. CSR and reputation influence performance dimensions (accounting-based performance, market-based performance, and non-financial performance) differently. The research findings offer specific theoretical and practical implications for hotel managers.     

Uncovering asset stripping during China's privatization

This paper empirically studies the occurrence and extent of asset stripping via undervaluing public assets during the mass privatization of state-owned and collectively owned enterprises in China. Using three waves of a national survey of private firms, we provide evidence that state-owned and collectively owned assets were substantially underpriced, indicating the presence of corruption during privatization. Further analysis shows that the extent of underpricing is more severe in regions with less market competition or weaker property rights protection, and more pronounced for intangible assets such as intellectual property rights and land use rights. When comparing firm efficiency between privatized firms and de novo private firms, we find that the former group continues to enjoy considerable preferential treatments, yet significantly underperforms the latter, possibly due to continued government control and intervention. Finally, we provide evidence that insider privatization is an important source of corruption during the privatization process.     

Mediating urban transition through rural tourism

This study examines China’s urban–rural transition in the process of development and change. Regarding tourism as a discourse of difference, it focuses on a rural ethnic community, Jiabang, in Southwest China. It aims to highlight the role of tourism in providing a stimulus for the creation of a local group identity that subverts wider discourses of rural areas. With the goal of understanding how toured places are imagined, presented and consumed, this study utilises mixed data sources collected from tourism promotional materials and ethnographic fieldwork. The findings suggest that the forces behind the touristic place creation and consumption are both integral to and the result of the changing attitudes and perceptions of people and places in contemporary China.