Domestic political connections and international expansion: It's not only ‘who you know’ that matters

Former politicians on the board of directors bring to the firm domestic political connections and political knowledge. Previous research has mainly highlighted the role of contacts, without fully recognizing the role of political knowledge accumulated at home. By focusing on the effect of domestic political connections on foreign direct investment, we show that domestic political knowledge also shapes foreign expansion. We argue that contacts provided by former politicians may not be useful for foreign expansion whilst their political knowledge can be of help in countries with discretionary governments and with similar institutional environments to the one of the home country.     

复杂山区铁路客运站自动选址研究

无备选站址条件下的客运站自动选址是线站协同优化的前提和基础,而不局限于车站选址的代价最小化,同时考虑连接车站间区间线路的代价具有重要意义。构建复杂山区铁路客运站自动选址模型,首先,建立综合地理信息模型,基于线站一体化的设计理念,实现单个车站选址,确定站心位置及站坪方向;其次,以公路线形优化模型的改进算法完成站—站间自动选线设计;最后,将车站选址代价与区间线路代价紧密结合起来,计算综合代价,实现站址方案的优选。以山区铁路为例对该方法进行验证,结果表明,该方法能高效生成山区铁路车站方案集,并辅助设计人员进行方案优化。     

Relationship between city size and firm productivity – A new interpretation using the Chinese experience

This paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between city size and firm productivity by focusing on agglomeration, selection (market competition), and sorting (presence of firms with diverse productivity) effects using Chinese firm-level data for 1998–2013. Contrary to the existing literature, our parametric regression estimates from nearly two million firms show that when the selection effect is controlled, productivity advantage in big cities is reversed. This outcome is explained through a quantile regression showing the existence of left-sided sorting (inefficient firms sort themselves to larger cities) in big cities which is not captured in existing empirical literature. We further find that (1) left-sided sorting is stronger in exporters than non-exporters; (2) is also generated mainly in enterprises with high asset-liability ratios; and (3) selection has a positive effect on firm productivity, suggesting that market competition is key in an explanation of the rapid growth of big cities in China.     

基于快铁融合的上海铁路集装箱快运站选址研究

快铁融合可以充分发挥快递企业和铁路运输的优势,有效提升物流作业效率,达到运输资源分配平衡的效果,是多元化运输的发展方向。在既有和计划建设的铁路货运站中选择铁路集装箱快运站与快递企业集散网络衔接,以快递企业时间满意度和集散运输成本为目标,构建基于时间满意度的铁路集装箱快运站选址模型,以上海铁路集装箱快运站为例进行实证分析,提出保证铁路集装箱快运站与快递企业合理衔接的对策,为铁路集装箱运输融入快递市场提供决策支持,加速快铁融合的实施。     

A supplier side view of digital nomadism: The case of destination Gran Canaria

Digital nomadism is a rapidly growing lifestyle for living and working. Despite its potential transformative effect on destinations, little attention has been paid to destination communities in which digital nomads reside. This paper aims to examine the interface between the destination communities and digital nomadism: how the stakeholders in a destination community perceive and accommodate digital nomads. The case study comes from a popular European destination, the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. The study proposes an original supply side framework to theoretically inform the phenomenon of digital nomadism. Stakeholder theory is also applied to examine the interface between the local communities and the phenomenon. Applying the proposed conceptual framework, the results reveal a novel perspective on digital nomads, which is “new locals”. The results show that the accommodative strategies of local stakeholders correlate strongly with the stakeholder’s specializations, and include strategies such as: provider, communicator, integrator, and embracer.     

中国企业对外直接投资的区位选择和路径安排

随着中国综合国力增强和国内企业参与国际经济分工的深化,目前中国企业具有对外直接投资的基本条件和现实需要,近年来关于中国企业如何实施“走出去”战略已成为学术界和企业界共同关注的热点问题之一。文章综合发达国家和发展中国家的对外直接投资理论,结合我国企业的具体实际,对我国企业在实施“走出去”战略过程中的东道国区位选择和路径安排进行研究。     

承接服务业国际转移:中国区位比较优势的实证

服务业离岸外移是当前国际产业转移的重要内容,抓住机遇承接服务业国际转移,提升自身的产业结构对于包括中国在内的发展中国家具有十分重要的战略意义。本文在回顾相关文献研究成果的基础上,利用面板数据模型对对华服务业直接投资的主要区位影响因素进行了实证研究,结果显示人均国内生产总值和人力资本存量是影响中国吸引服务业直接投资的重要区位因素。     

我国服务业外国直接投资的区位因子分析

本文运用多元线性回归计量分析方法,从实证角度对近10年来影响我国服务业外国直接投资的区位因子进行了分析。结果表明,市场开放度、服务业外国直接投资集聚效应对我国服务业外国直接投资影响最大,彼此间存在着显著的线性关系。而影响外国直接投资的传统区位因素,如市场规模、市场增长潜力、劳动力成本等,虽然与服务业外国直接投资也存在着一定的相关关系,但其线性关系并不显著。     

Isolating the geodemographic characterisation of retail format choice from the effects of spatial convenience

The authors analyze the relationship between the geodemographic profile of consumers and retail format choice while accounting for the effects of spatial convenience. The proposed analytic model assumes that format choice is an implicit portion of store choice, such that a geodemographic profile functions as a determinant of format choice, and spatial convenience is a determinant of store choice. The results show that some geodemographic dimensions capture preferences for certain store formats and thereby facilitate retailers’ selection of geographic markets. The results also indicate that obviating the effect of spatial convenience may lead to biased estimations.     

Integrating uncertain user-generated demand data when locating facilities for disaster response commodity distribution

This paper presents a new facility location problem variant with application in disaster relief. The problem is unique in that both verified data and unverified user-generated data are available for consideration during decision making. The problem is motivated by the recent need of integrating unverified social data (e.g., Twitter posts) with data from more traditional sources, such as on-the-ground assessments and aerial flyovers, to make optimal decisions during disaster relief. Integrating social data can enable identifying larger numbers of needs in shorter amounts of time, but because the information is unverified, some of it may be inaccurate. This paper seeks to provide a “proof of concept” illustrating how the unverified social data may be exploited. To do so, a framework for incorporating uncertain user-generated data when locating Points of Distribution (PODs) for disaster relief is presented. Then, three decision strategies that differ in how the uncertain data is considered are defined. Finally, the framework and decision strategies are demonstrated via a small computational study to illustrate the benefits user-generated data may afford across a variety of disaster scenarios.