The Relationship Between the Intensity of Competition in China’s Real Estate Industry and its Return on Equity

Does the rate of return from the Chinese real estate industry correlate with the intensity of competition among real estate firms? If China’s equity market performs efficiently, the rates of return of real estate firms should vary indirectly with their level of monopoly power. Greater monopoly power reduces earnings risk and leads to lower costs of capital. The authors analyze empirical evidence and indicate no relationship exists between returns and competition. Speculation may induce stock prices to deviate from normal values. Because normal values assume no speculation, Chinese markets are not likely to be economically efficient.     

The Comparative Analysis of Grain Trade Policies between China and South Korean after Joining the WTO

In view of different grain trade structure and protectionism period, it is well known that China difficultly uses the technology and the green barriers to protect her domestic market as same skilled as Japan and European Union. At the same time, China often encounters above two barriers when it exports Japan and European Union. This article thinks mat mere is the certain commeasurability between the grain trade policy of China and that of South Korean:     

Marginal Intra-Industry Trade and Employment Reallocation: The Case Study of Iran’s Manufacturing Industries

The purpose of this paper is to test the smooth adjustment hypothesis by using panel technique for Iran’s manufacturing industries at the 4-digit aggregation level of ISIC classification, during time period 2001–2006. According to the smooth adjustment hypothesis, intra-industry trade expansion entails lower adjustment costs than inter-industry one. In this paper, by distinguishing marginal intra industry trade to its horizontal and vertical types and employing the total reallocation effect as a proxy of the adjustment cost of reallocation between sectors and occupations, we’ve tested smooth adjustment hypothesis for both marginal intra industry trade and its types. So, comparing with other empirical studies, this paper has used marginal vertical and horizontal intra industry trade as well as marginal intra industry trade to test the hypothesis. The obtained results do not support the hypothesis for marginal intra industry trade. On the other hand, by distinguishing marginal intra industry trade to marginal horizontal and vertical intra-industry trade, this hypothesis is expectedly confirmed. This result is justifiable since marginal horizontal intra industry trade is a change of intra industry trade with the similar factor intensity while marginal vertical intra industry trade is mainly based on the differences in factor endowment.     

The Unique Practice of Russia＇s National Defense Industry and Its Enlightenm ents for China

俄罗斯大力推行国防科技工业企业一体化,并在许多领域,特别是在电子技术和信息技术领域都采取了许多有效的措施。同时国家政策倾向于对国防工业进行各种形式融资支持,其实践经验对中国有所启示。     

Uncertainty and affluent teenagers’ luxury buying-decision: The role of avoidance-related indecisiveness

Global teen population constitutes a sizable market in the luxury brands industry. However, little is known about the mechanism through which teens form an attitude towards luxury brands, particularly in the context of emerging economies. Drawing insights from self-concept theory, self-discrepancy theory, and social consumption motivation, our study proposes a theoretical framework to explain how teenagers' self-related perception influence social consumption motives through avoidance-related indecisiveness, thereby determining teenagers' attitude towards luxury brands. Using a sample of 610 affluent private school students across five major cities of India, we empirically validate our theoretical framework through structural equation modelling. Our study contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating the impact of teenagers’ self-perception on the display of avoidance-related indecisiveness and resisting social consumption motives of luxury brand purchases.     

Determinants of an Organization’s Website Ease of Use: The Moderating Role of Product Tangibility

The ease of use of an organization’s website is central to determining users’ experiences and behavioral intentions. Understanding how the site-related factors contribute to shaping perceived ease of use is thus critical. Nonetheless, we contend that the relative importance of these factors in shaping ease of use may vary according to the product offered by the organization. This research hypothesizes that the information quality of a website and its interactivity and aesthetics are antecedents to perceived ease of use and that the relative tangibility of the offered products moderates these relationships. The hypotheses are examined by performing a large-scale study in which each participant performs a task on one of 59 organizational websites. The study’s hypotheses were supported, and the results were then replicated using a second study conducted on a French-speaking sample. Site information quality is the strongest predictor of perceived ease of use, followed by the site interactivity and aesthetics. The results, however, underscore the moderating role of product tangibility. While the effects of interactivity and aesthetics are greater for sites offering services (e.g., communication, travel, insurance, and financial services), the effect of information quality is stronger for sites offering tangible products (e.g., electronics, books, and home improvement goods). The findings suggest that organizations offering tangible products should focus on providing their sites’ visitors with quality information, whereas organizations offering services should primarily focus on their sites’ aesthetics, interactive, and personalization features.     

The entrepreneur’s mode of entry: the effect of social and financial capital

This article uses a French database of firms set up in 1998 to investigate the determinants of takeovers versus startups as a mode of entry. It focuses on two determinants that previous research has not fully analyzed: social capital and financial capital. Our findings suggest social capital affects the mode of entry. They show that entrepreneurs with social capital are more likely to create new firms from scratch than to take over existing firms. We confirm the effect of financial capital on the mode of entry. Bank loans are more often associated with takeovers than with startups and low initial wealth is more often associated with startups than with takeovers. These results show that finance affects the mode of entry.     

The Coatings Industry—Beautifying,Protecting, and Preserving the Nation’s Assets

Paints and coatings preserve and beautify structures, equipment, and other objects. Although coatings have been used for millennia, the modern coatings industry began in the industrial revolution. The past 30 years have seen a great deal of consolidation in the industry, but there are still a number of niche and regional firms. There are three market segments. In the order of their size, by both value and volume, they are: architectural, original equipment manufacturer, and special purpose. This paper describes the factors determining the market for each, the critical role of coatings in preventing economic loss owing to corrosion, and technological change in the industry.     

The Influence and Driving Factors of Foreign Trade on China＇s CO2 Emission

本文采用多边投入产出模型的贸易数据计算1997—2008年贸易内涵CO2量,结果显示,对外贸易不利于我国CO。减排量（BEET）目标的实现,但有利于降低我国的碳排放强度（PTT）。本文同时利用Divisia指数分解模型对上述结果进行了解释。各部门BEET的分解结果显示,规模效应是造成我国净内涵CO2增加的重要原因,而技术效应有利于我国环境质量（CO2减排量）的提高,但结构效应的作用并不明显。对各部门的PTT做Divisia指数分解结果表明,技术效应有利于降低我国污染强度,结构效应的影响并不统一,可以通过结构效应和技术效应的“交叉”作用,降低CO2排放强度。     

In the Bear’s Shadow? Russia’s International Image and Its Influence on Investments of Russian Companies in Post-Socialist Europe

The paper examines Russia’s international image and its influence on investment by Russian companies in post-socialist Europe. Findings are based on the cases of Gazprom’s South Stream Pipeline project, and Sberbank’s acquisition of Volksbank’s Central and Eastern European assets in Hungary and Serbia. The paper demonstrates that international positions and economic interests of two countries determinate decisions regarding investments of Russian companies, while Russia’s image to some extent accelerates these decisions in Serbia. The paper is based on the results of interviews with representatives of business communities conducted in Hungary and Serbia in 2012–2017, professional reports, and official documents.     

The Effects of Management’s Preannouncement Strategies on Investors’ Judgments of the Trustworthiness of Management

This paper examines the role of management’s earnings preannouncements on judgments about its trustworthiness by nonprofessional investors. We predict that management’s preannouncement decision and the resulting direction (e.g., favorable vs. unfavorable) of the earnings surprise influence investors’ ethical judgments about management’s trustworthiness; these judgments, in turn, are associated with investors’ other investment related judgments. We test our predictions in an experiment in which MBA students make investment-related judgments under four different preannouncement strategies. Consistent with our predictions, the results of our study show that managers’ preannouncement decisions are significantly associated with investors’ evaluations of management’s trustworthiness. Specifically, holding the size of the earnings surprise constant, we find that judgments of management’s trustworthiness are damaged more following (a) a negative as opposed to a positive earnings surprise, and (b) the release of a preannouncement compared to when management does not issue a preannouncement. Also consistent with our predictions, we find that evaluations of management’s trustworthiness are significantly and positively associated with judgments of the attractiveness of the firm’s equity as an investment. Based on our findings, we encourage further research to explore whether managers understand the trust implications associated with their preannouncement decisions and the extent to which this understanding influences their disclosure decisions. Anna M. Cianci is an Assistant Professor in the Accounting Department at Drexel University. She received her Ph.D. from Duke University in Accounting. Her primary research interests are judgement and decision making issues in financial accounting and auditing. Steve Kaplan is a Professor of Accounting at Arizona State University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1981. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. He␣has published widely in journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Business Ethics Quarterly and Journal of Business Ethics. He is the Previous editor of Behavioral Research in Accounting, a section journal of the American Accounting Association. His primary research interests are behavioral issues, judgment and decision making, and ethics     

The influence of the CEO’s business education on the performance of hybrid organizations: the case of the global microfinance industry

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are typical examples of hybrid organisations, meaning organisations pursuing both a financial and social logic. This study examines the question of whether financial and social performance improves when an MFI’s chief executive officer (CEO) has a business education. We apply the random effects instrumental variable regression method to examine the influence of the CEO’s business education on the MFI’s financial and social performance. Our panel dataset that includes 353 MFIs from across the globe indicates that ‘only’ 55% of the MFIs have a CEO with a business education. The empirical results indicate that MFIs with CEOs who have a business education perform significantly better, financially and socially, than MFIs managed by CEOs with other types of educational backgrounds. The findings suggest that CEOs with a business education seem better at managing the much-debated tradeoff between providing small loans and producing healthy financial results.     

The Shareholder–Manager Relationship and Its Impact on the Likelihood of Firm Bribery

We examine the impact on firm bribery of two corporate governance devices heavily studied in corporate governance research—i.e., separation of ownership and control, and equity share of the largest shareholder. In addition, we investigate the impact of the principal–owner’s gender on firm bribery. From agency theory, we predict that firms with the owner also acting as a manager (owner–manager) are more likely to engage in bribery compared to their counterparts with separation of ownership and control. We argue that an increase of the equity share of the largest shareholder can either increase or decrease firm bribery likelihood depending on the net cost-benefit effect of such bribery actions. In addition, we predict that bribery is more likely to occur when the principal–owner is male rather than female. Using a rich dataset of the World Bank Enterprise Surveys of 2002–2005, we find that the equity share of the largest shareholder is negatively and male principal–owner is positively associated with the likelihood of firm bribery. Furthermore, we reveal that owner–manager is more likely to bribe when the principal–owner is male rather than female. We also observe that the effect of owner–manager is smaller as the equity share of the largest shareholder increases.     

‘Productivity on the Cheap’? The ‘More Looms’ Experiment and the Lancashire Weaving Industry during the Inter-War Years

Two major debates in the literature, productivity performance and the decline of the cotton industry, are joined in the analysis presented in this article on the attempts to raise productivity through the introduction of the more looms per weaver system in cotton weaving in the inter-war years. We find that the limited resultant changes were the outcome of understandable predisposition to maintain co-operative behaviour which meant that productivity enhancing schemes with long term potential were sacrificed for more modest schemes which preserved consensus in the short term.     

The Mismeasure of Psychopathy: A Commentary on Boddy’s PM-MRV

Boddy and his colleagues have published several articles on “corporate psychopathy” using what they refer to as a Psychopathy Measure—Management Research Version (PM-MRV). They based this measure on the items that comprise the Interpersonal and Affective dimensions (Factor 1) of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), a widely used copyrighted and controlled instrument. The PM-MRV not only misspecifies the construct of psychopathy, but also serves as an example of the problems associated with an attempt to form a “new” scale by adapting items from a proprietary scale. The PCL-R measures a superordinate construct underpinned by four correlated dimensions or first-order factors, not just the two in the PM-MRV. The other two dimensions are Lifestyle and Antisocial, which together form Factor 2 of the PCL-R. As defined by the PCL-R, psychopathy requires high scores on both Factor 1 and Factor 2. Lack of validity aside, even if the PM-MRV were to be a useful measure of Factor 1, it would not discriminate between psychopathy and other “dark personalities,” such as Machiavellianism and narcissism, which, along with psychopathy, form the Dark Triad. This lack of discrimination stems from the fact that each of these personalities shares features measured by Factor 1 and, by implication, by the PM-MRV. Research findings based on the PM-MRV may have some meaning with respect to dark personalities in general, but their relevance to psychopathy, as measured with the PCL-R, is tenuous at best.     

Opening the OTC drug market: The effect of deregulation on retail pharmacy’s performance

Governments in many countries have deregulated the retail pharmacy market to offer easier and broader access to pharmacy services. Such deregulation has spurred the competition by allowing the entry of new drug distribution channels. Current research leverages the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law revision introduced in South Korea in November 2012. The policy change allowed 24-hour convenience stores to sell 13 first-aid drugs directly to patients. This research investigates the causal effect of new retailers’ entry on incumbent pharmacies’ financial performance in terms of pricing, revenue, and market exit. The findings, based on the panel data of 2,795 pharmacies in a 36-month period from 2011 to 2013, suggest deregulation posed a significant competitive threat to incumbent pharmacies, resulting in lower average prices for the deregulated drugs, significant drops in revenue and accelerated financial failures. A significant heterogeneity in the treatment effect is found across pharmacies. Pharmacies with less loyal customers and poorer financial performance suffered more after deregulation. Our findings suggest that although such deregulation is intended to enhance consumers’ access to health care, opening the OTC drug market to new retailers may hamper consumers’ access to pharmacy services because of the exit from the market of underperforming incumbents.     

Data Watch on China’s Foreign Trade and Investment in First Eleven Months of 2013

【正】China’s foreign trade from January to November in 2013According to statistics of the Customs,China’s exports and imports in the first eleven months of 2013 r...