Entrenched Board in New Public Firms： An Empirical Study of Chinese IPOs

This study empirically investigates the impact of managerial entrenchment on firm financial performance of Chinese firms initial public offerings （IPOs）. Using 142 firms listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange （SZSE）, which was collected from the Guotaian Research Service Center （GTA-RSC） databases, this study uses two proxies to measure firm performance and three proxies to measure managerial entrenchment. The two proxies for firm performance are Tobins＇ Q and return on assets （ROA）, and the three proxies for managerial entrenchment are entrenchment 1, entrenchment 2, and entrenchment 3. These three entrenchment proxies are derived from the principal component analysis （PCA）. Though previous studies of managerial entrenchment and firm performance variables suffer from endogeneity, with respect to the corporate governance it is unclear as to which variables are endogenous and which are exogenous. This study confirms that the data are linear and no endogeneity issue should be address in this study, but only heteroskedasticity, non-normality for Tobins＇ Q are a problem, therefore, the regression method employed for Tobins＇ Q is the generalised least square （GLS） and the ordinary least square （OLS） between estimators for ROA. The regression result for Tobins＇ Q reveals that managerial entrenchment is negatively impact on firm performance. The results are in contradiction to the stewardship theory for new firms whereas the managerial entrenchment for new firms is positive. Furthermore, only one entrenchment proxy yields a significant coefficient. In conclusion, the negative results of entrenchment proxies were caused by the different institutional structures and legal systems which are the Chinese corporations that are still largely owned and controlled by a state and hence the centralised state controlled was responsible for all managerial actions.     

How Green is China＇s Path of Catching Up？ An International Comparative Evaluation

China＇s rise as a global economic power in recent decades has been achieved with tremendous environmental costs. Has China been an abnormally heavier polluter in its development path？ How has pollution accounted for China＇s hyper economic growth？ This study answers these questions by evaluating the environmental effects of China＇s growth using a data set of 61 countries over a period of four decades. The analysis is focused on two pollutant emissions： CO2 emissions, which carry global externalities, and particulate emissions, of which the environmental cost is more domestic. A fractional polynomial （FP） regression model is estimated to project emissions levels per worker based on lagged values of per capita GDP and other variables. It reveals that China＇s CO2 emissions have been higher than the projection for most years with an average margin of over 5.3% while its particulate emissions have exceeded projection by an average margin of more than 7.5%. The excessive emissions levels of both pollutants confirm the severity of China＇s environmental challenges and indicate great potential for the economy to work for a greener growth pattern. On the other hand, contributions of emissions to multi-factor productivity （MFP） growth are estimated by FP regressions based on a human-capital augmented growth model. The results show opposing trends of CO2 and particulates in their ＂contributions＂ to GDP growth, which imply asymmetric incentives to abate the two types of pollution. These findings have important implications for China＇s environmental policy making.     

Semantic Differential as an Assessment Tool of （Dis） Advantages of QMS in the Light of Accredited Certification in Poland

This article is a continuation of the issue in the field of assessment of （dis）advantages resulting from the implementation of the quality management systems （QMS） in a structure of the organization. The publication uses the results of studies conducted in the range of assessment＇s information completeness provided by the certification bodies （CBs） in the context of advantages and disadvantages of the QMS implementation in accordance with PN-EN ISO 9001. In addition, an attempt to define a tool for the QMS assessment of （dis）advantages in the organization has been made. The basis for empirical analysis of the issue was the information provided by an accredited management systems CBs recommended by the Polish Centre for Accreditation （PCA）. There are 33 units in Poland, which were granted by PCA with the accreditation within the range of ISO 9001：2008. In the first stage of the research work, a substantive analysis of websites content among mentioned CBs has been carried out. In addition, the paper proposes use of semantic differential method （SD） to evaluate （dis）advantages of the QMS. SD adaptation for the assessment of the QMS （dis）advantages is the authorial concept. The authors hope for polemic in this area. In the face of obtained results, an authorial SD construction has been proposed, which is useful and may help in the formulation and conveying of the relevant （reliable） information to potential clients in the range of （dis）advantages resulting from the QMS implementation to the organization. As a consequence, the recommendations have been set, which are kind of guidelines that could significantly influence the realignment of the information state conveyed on the internet by the CBs.     

Forest eco-compensation mechanism： a survey

China is a country with a vast territory and a large population but limited forest resources, which is mainly distributed in the economically less developed regions. Therefore, it is particularly important to address the issue to establish forest eco-compensation mechanism to overcome the problems of inequity between the people and promote the public incentive for forest management and conservation. The definition of eco-compensation is deeply discussed based on the literature review of national and international initiatives. According to summary and analysis of the empirical work of forest eco-compensation at international level,some significant inspirations are duaw on this paper. Based on them, this paper focuses on the forest eco-compensation mechanism of china. Firstly, integrating with the actual situation of china, the paper puts forward the policy framework of eco-compensation .The institutional framework of eco-compensation should be established among the multi-departments with different temporal and spatial scales. Secondly, the types and ranges of forest eco-compensation are further studied, that is three levels of forest eco-compensation such as micro-level, macro-level as well as media-level, and then the standards of eco-com-pensation are primarily estimated which include the three factors, namely direct expense of plantation opporiunity cost for forests protection and benefits of forest ecosystem services.Finally the recommendation is created in terms of above research conclusions, which is provide the vital important references for government policy making in the forest eco-compensation domain.     

Principal Features of Building Social Accounts Matrix and Improving Statistical Database for Eco-countries

With common borders of the population, total area, and GDP （PPP-based） of Economic Cooperation Organization （ECO） member states are estimated as 416 million persons, 7.9 million m2, and US$2.7 trillion respectively （2010 data）. Although heterogeneous in the extent, there is economic development, overall, with serious energy and transport-transit relations among countries that is reflected in growing trade turnover year-by-year. However, there are still rather unused resources and capacity in such areas of cooperation among countries as exchange of energy, transport services, agricultural and industrial goods, use of opportunities for tourism, promoting investment and innovation processes and other areas. Certainly, maximum and optimal use of these resources calls for availability of analytical means capable of accounting for relations both within member states and among them. The implementation of computable general equilibrium （CGE） modeling in each member state would thus be of great significance in resolution of these problems both in terms of accounting for input-output linkages within the countries as well as enabling impact of main trading partners and goods and services among countries. The analysis carried out indicates that there are a number of problems in application of CGE model in most of the member states. As such, input-output tables are not compiled in some countries, while in others despite the fact that these tables are compiled, there are no attempts to build the model, yet in other countries, even if the CGE model is implemented, there are difficulties in taking into account the real results in the face of serious problems related to improving national accounts system database. Summarizing these problems, it is possible to conclude that to ensure the application of a CGE model,there is a great need to work out procedures of compilation of a social accounts matrix （SAM） that lies on the basis of this model, for which the relevant statistics of a member state must be improved     

Quantificational analysis and simulation of Technical Barriers to Trade with two country model

The Technical Barriers to Trade （TBT） is an important problem faced to the export of China. Based on the number differences of TBT notifications between countries, we propose the concept and computational method of the technical barrier coefficient. By means of price-production and price-demand functions, a trade model with a developed country and a developing country is designed. The available trade policies such as technical barriers, tariffs and export subsidies are simulated and analyzed. According to the simulation results, several trade strategies to come over technical barriers are suggested. These suggestions were provided to several export enterprises for their export strategy design.     

The Motivation Factors of Sales Personnel in Financial Institutions

The motivation is an employee＇s internal relationship in the form of behaviour directed towards a specific goal and is manifested as an important factor for overall organisation performance. The goal of any business is to motivate employees to perform work with the maximum results. The work motivation is complex and dynamic feature of human resources and influences to motivation are very broad and diverse. The material forms of motivation are different compensation that employees receive for their work in the company. They appear in the financial and non-financial forms （paid or in the form of various services）. The goal of this research is to identify the main factors of human resources motivation in financial institutions （banks）. The questionnaire will be used as a research instrument and consists of two parts. The first part of the questionnaire will focus on socio-demographic characteristics and the second part concentrates on the motivation variables of material and immaterial character. Applying adequate knowledge discovery research methods will be identified as the main motivation components of selling persons in financial institutions.     

Emergy evaluation of the artificial forest ecosystems in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir：a case study for ecosystems valuation and environmental management

To build the artificial forest ecosystem is the major eco-economic development model in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir. It is very important to evaluate the benefits of those ecosystems. Emergy theories are very helpful for us to establish a science-based assessment framework. Emergy evaluation of the artificial forest ecosystems in the watershed of Miyun Reservoir is used to asses the relative values of several ecological functions （sometimes called ecosystem services） and main ecosystem storages （sometimes called natural capital）. The main driving energies, internal processes and storages are evaluated. The main functions, including transpiration, GPP and infiltration, are evaluated, which are 609em$/ha/yr, 6,245em$/ha/yr and 340em$/ha/yr respectively. The total values of major environmental services are 4,683em$/ha/yr in the artificial forest ecosystem. The main storages of natural capital including live biomass, soil moisture, organic matter, underground water and landform are estimated, which are 112,028em$/ha, 9em$/ha, 40,718em$/ha, 34em$/ha and 6,400,514em$/ha respectively. The largest value is landform, which accounts for 97.7% of these calculated total emdollar values. The concept of replacement value is explored using the emergy values of both ecosystem services and natural capital. The total calculated replacement values are 302,160em$/ha.     

Study on regional material flow analysis of Chengyang District in Qingdao

Base on the framework of material flow analsis （MFA） proposed by Eurostat, this paper collected related data and conducted a regional MFA for the Chengyang Districgt in Qingdao. The indicators such as Direct Material Input（DMI）, Direct Material Consumption （DMC） and Exports are calculated or estimated for the period of year 1995 through 2004. Several derivable iudicators defining direct material productivity and material intenstiy are also evaluated and some valuable conclusions were drawn. DMI in absolute number increased from about 1645.9 kilotons in 1995to about 8052.5 kilotons in 2004. Imports contribute to about 47 to 69% of DMI, and the biggest component of imports is fossil fuel that approximatley accounts far 50% of imnports. DMI per capita of Chengyang District increased rapidly and reached 17. 4 tons in 2004. Compared with other five economies studied by WRI, material consumption intensity of Chengyang District is significantly lower than developed countries, which indicates that Chengyang District is still in a development stage The direct material productivity （actual GDP per DMI） increased 59.1% from 1995 to 2004 and has been higher than either of stadies in China, which indicates efficiency of resources utilization has improved obviously in Chengyang District. But there was significant increase in material input in the last decade, which shows that rapid increase of economy is highly dependent on requirement and consumption of natural resources. Therefore, in order to promote the sustainahility, it is essential to develop circular economy and improve utilization efficiency of resources.     

The Impact of Automation in Service Industries＂ An Empirical Study

Academic research into service industries has explored the characteristics of interpersonal interactions between employees and customers, but there are few studies addressing the issues of consumer interaction with technology and its influence on the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. This study examines the elements of the service encounter, and the changes automation originates in them and their relationships. The paper also examines changes in the elements and results of the operations subsystem, as a result of automation. We propose that the customer＇s relationship with employees and/or technology and automated systems for the service impact the objectives and results of the operations subsystem, all of which could have an effect on the company＇s competitive position. The empirical study is focused on four industries, namely, toll motorways, car parks, carwash and video/DVD rental companies, in an attempt to identify objectives that lead companies to implement automated processes affecting the customer＇s relationship with the company. The hypotheses generated are contrasted with a structural equation modelling. The results confirm that the customer＇s relationship with employees and automated systems for the service impacts the objectives and results of the operations subsystem. Also, the results show how automation can enable firms simultaneously to achieve acceptable levels of flexibility and productivity, two dimensions that have traditionally been considered opposites.     

International Development Strategies of Luxury-goods Players in China

The aim of this paper is to study and analyse the intemationalisation strategies chosen by the main luxury-goods players in the Chinese market, demonstrating the business intemationalisation processes. The research questions are： ttow luxury companies have developed distribution strategies in the Chinese markets？ What are the main formats of distribution for the Chinese markets？ Are there any differences in the internationalization process between the main players of the luxury markets and the smaller ones？ The methodology is based on the analysis on multiple-case ~.nalysis on a sample of luxury-goods companies and identifies and compares the different strategies used by the players analysed. The research process starts from identifying and selecting the most well-known companies operating in the luxury branded sector, which have established a presence in the Chinese market with their own brand, collecting secondary data for the selected companies （website, corporate profile, articles on websites and in trade magazines and interviews with the management）, analysing the data collected and interpreting the main results to have emerged from the research. The main findings and conclusions are that the route to development in the Chinese market taken by the players in the luxury-goods sector, historically undertaken by delocalising production operations, has in recent years begun to accelerate with new forms in play, principally linked to distribution. The Chinese market tbr luxury brands is ever more an outlet market rather than a production hub. The ability to create brand awareness will become a key factor for successful consolidation of the competitive position in this market, an operation that can only be performed through distribution. Moreover, Chinese high-end consumers are becoming ever more demanding, seeking out an ever more sophisticated shopping experience. Just as happening in other markets, opening directly operated stores is a strategic choice for reaching and convincing end-consumers, sinc     

A model of techno-economic evaluation for eco-industrial park project

An eco-industrial park or estate is a community of manufactaring and service businesses located together on a common property. The goat of ElP is to create a win-win harmonious development aspect of ecooomic development and environmental protection. This paper emphasizes that the external .effect of an EIP is its main characteristic of technoeconomic evaluation for eco-industrial park project. From the view of the property, rights, the EIP＇s product is typicalty public-private. The government should take some inca.rares for the quantitative analysis on ecological positive externalities of the enterprises in EIP, and also should adopt Coase＇s Theorem, which supports that the market transaction is the best way to deal with positive externalities （external economics or diseconoraics）, or Pigou＇s Theorem, which holds that the government anti-positive externalities programs are the best way to cope with positive externalities, to internalize the EIP＇s external effects, which is also a fundamental tool to encourage investors to actively invest in EIP projects, Furthermore. this paper thinks that the EIP ＇s income should be equal to the income of staple products of the private property, and that of its by-products of the public property. According to this principle, this paper has put forward three major indicators, net present value （NPV）, internal rate of renan （IRR）, and investment repayment period （IRP）, which are also extensively used indicators in ardinary project techno-economic evaluation model to evaluate EIP technoeconomic effects. Theoretically, the indicatory not only can be used in EIP project evaluation, but also can provide a quantitative measure toot for the government to support EIP＇s construction to the maximum. In the end. a case is analyzed.     

Socio economic impact of vegetable production in Senegal：a case study of Niayes area

Vegetable production plays a very important role not only as a source of foreign exchange for Senegal and an appreciation of the dietary needs of populations,but also in the context of the policy of diversification.Thus the aim of this analysis is to measure the important economic impact and vegetable industrial actors,find the limited factors of the horticulture development and the perspectives for improving the vegetable production in the area.Our results show that the National production of fruits and vegetables is estimated approximately at 370,000 tons and the Niayes zone constitutes 80%of the domestic production.Horticulture is a sector which creates employments in that area with important incomes earned by both producers and the various intermediaries（commercial process） .The volume of exports has reached 14,321.588 tons in（2002-2003） against 11,125.132 tons in（2001-2002） witnessing than an increase of 28.7%,but the one of imports is very important and represents an outflow of foreign currency estimated at about 3 billion per year.     

Disruptive Innovation in the Nordic Countries＇ Healthcare Systems

The Nordic healtheare model is recognized to be one of the most innovative in the world. Here billions of USD are annually invested in developing new treatments, drugs, robots etc. to diagnose and cure diseases. Nevertheless, this study establishes that there is a fundamental shortcoming in the system that supports healthcare innovation： It is strongly biased towards micro-level innovation projects focusing on new products, alternative processes, and new financial solutions. The problem with this approach to support new projects is that the results are created as inventions within the system thus lacking holistic perspectives. This has consequently contributed with increasing costs that are out of proportion with existing budgets. Therefore this study seeks to analyze the current understanding of the Nordic healthcare system from a business model perspective. Here other aspects of the healthcare system are explored to determine if they could be redesigned to promote new types of innovation projects. The purpose of undertaking this task is to challenge the established patterns of the current healthcare innovation support practices. Here the vertical innovation process （VIP） framework, which is a systematic radical innovation model that seeks macro-level outcomes based on standalone inventions （see more below）, is applied to analyze the current state-of-the-art in Nordic healthcare innovation projects. The results determine that very little attention is given to rethink and redesign the healthcare system at a macro-level, and it is discussed that stand-alone inventions ought to be rethought into the entire healthcare system to create a larger impact. Finally, it is argued that existing performance measures are inappropriate to foster projects that innovate the existing system： New measuring points should be developed to promote macro-level projects and to avoid the current rapid increase of costs in the Nordic healthcare system.     

Empirical analysis on TFP change in Chinese logistics industry： A nonparametric Malmquist index approach

Through a nonparametric Malmquist index approach, this paper analyzes the total factor productivity change in China＇s logistics industry with panel data of logistics listed corporation from 1999 to 2006, which decomposed into technical efficiency and technical progress. The result shows： （1） The average growth rate of Chinese logistics corporations from 1999 to 2006 is 0.4%, which is mainly due to the improvement of technical efficiency; （2） Technical progress which took the negative effect of the decline could not be neglected; （3） The role of technical efficiency and technical progress are different with time varying.     

The Latvian Road to the Euro

The article presents the situation in Latvia ahead of the country＇s adoption of the euro by offering an analysis of the extent to which the country is prepared for the move and of general economic difficulties as well as indicating possible threats to its future development. The article talks about difficulties caused by the great unemployment connected with the specific economy of the country, political problems of the post-socialistic multinational country and steps done towards the fulfilling of all the convergence criteria. Its aim is to present the moments around the change of the currency which is done by the material＇s analysis because there are not enough statistical data for the mathematical analysis. It can be concluded that the adoption of the euro will probably be beneficial in the long run for Latvia＇s economy. The conclusions may be done by comparison with the situation of Estonia and its foreign trade with Poland which is shown in the article because there are a lot of similarities between the two Baltic countries.     

The 2007-2009 Financial Crisis on Emerging Markets： Quantitative Identification of Crisis in Continent-based Regions

This paper focuses on a direct quantitative identification of crisis periods in selected emerging stock markets from four continent-based regions of Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and Middle East and North Africa （MENA）, in the context of an influence of the 2007 U.S. subprime financial crisis. The 17 emerging stock markets and, for comparison, the U.S. stock market are investigated. A statistical method of dividing market states into bullish and bearish markets, based on monthly logarithmic returns of major stock market indexes, is employed. The analyzed sample period begins in January 2003 and ends in December 2013. As there is no unanimity in the literature about the crisis periods in the continent-based regions, a formal statistical identification of crises is worthwhile to conduct. Furthermore, the effect of increasing cross-market correlations in the crisis compared to the pre-crisis period in the context of contagion is examining. To address this issue, both standard contemporaneous cross-correlations and volatility-adjusted cross-correlations are applied. The results are consistent with the literature and confn＇m that tests for contagion based on cross-market correlations are problematic due to the bias introduced by changing volatility in market returns. As contagion can be confused with globalization, the globalization tests in the group of international investigated markets are employed. The results generally do not confirm a global world market integration effect, i.e. there is no reason to reject the research hypothesis of no globalization during the 2007-2009 financial crisis.     

Quantitative research of annual runoff distribution characteristics in the Dagujia River basin, Yantai, China

Mann-Kendall method and minimum variance method are used in this study to analyze the mean value variable-point of the runoff data observed by Fushan Hydrological Station in the Dagujia River basin from 1966 to 2004. Based on the results, the runoff time is divided into four periods with the similar hydrological variation character. The annual runoff distribution characters in the Dagujia River basin are discussed by using the non-uniform coefficients, concentration degree and concentration period, variation range, etc. The results indicate that： （1） River runoff is very unevenly distributed throughout the year in Dagujia River. About 90% of runoff is in the period from June to October, while the runoff from November to April of the next year is lower. （2） The annual runoff distribution characters during 1966-1971 are very similar to that of 1982-1996, and the runoff of1972-1981 is almost similar to that of 1997-2004. （3） The annual runoff distribution characters have changed obviously during 1997-2004 compared with the other periods, which makes it more difficult to exploit and use the water resource in the future.     

After-market liquidity and IPOs underpricing： Evidence from Shari＇ah and non Shari＇ah-based firms

The underpricing of initial public offerings （IPOs） is generally explained with asymmetric information and risk. We complement these traditional explanations with a new theory proposed by Ellul and Pagano （2006） where investors worry also about the after-market illiquidity that may result from asymmetric information after the IPO. The less liquid the after-market is expected to be, the larger will be the IPO underpricing. The samples are the 41 IPOs carried out between 2001-2005. The samples are 7 Shari＇ah-based firms and 34 non Shariah-based firms. Shariah-based firms are those included in Jakarta Islamic Index （JII）, at least one period （one semester）. Regression results show that the relationship between after-market liquidity and underpricing is insignificant unless we use trading frequency as proxy for liquidity for non Shariah-based firms.     

Comprehensive evaluation of regional ecological security for land use: a case study of Yanchi County, Ningxia Province

As an abstract study conception, most researches of ecological security generally are macro-scale theoretical study with a regional, national or global perspective. Micro-scale research mainly concentrates on ecological risk, ecosystem health and ecosystem safety. In order to assess regional ecological security and to accomplish the transition from micro-scale to macro-scale research, a Driving-Function-State-Output-Respond model framework （DFSOR model） is put forward in this paper according to the analyses on regional population, society, economy resources, environment and ecological risks＇. In empirical research an index system is set out to evaluate ecological security of land use. The DFSOR model comprises five group of indicators： （1） driving indicators, which include social population pressure and economic pressure; （2）function indicators, which include human function, hydrodynamic function, wind function and gravity.function; （3） state indicators, which include soil resources, water resources and land use/land cover; （4） output indicators, which include production output and ecological risk output; （5） response indicators, which are composed of all sorts of policies and measures for improving production of ecosystem. The method and procedure for ecological security evaluation is put forward based on DFSOR model as well. In the case study, Yanchi, the ecotone between agriculture and animal husbandry, is chosen for the study. An index system is built to evaluate ecological security based on the evaluation of regional ecological risks which including sandification, water erosion, soil salinization, soil pollution and shortage of water. The comprehensive evaluation result shows the regional ecological security index of land use in the research area increase obviously. But it is still in the state of low-graded danger.