The gender pay gap： Review and update

This paper explores the research behind the wage gap between men and women, the reasons for and extent of the gap, and strategies for dealing with gender pay discrepancies. Historically, gender discrimination was the traditional and easy explanation for pay discrepancies, but more aggressive enforcement of equal pay legislations has virtually diminished the validity of rationalizing the existence of pay differences solely on gender. Statistical data surrounding the pay gap point to other factors as more causal instruments that sustain and perpetuate the gap in spite of more than forty years of enforcement of equal pay legislations. The choices we make seem to predict and explain current wage gaps better than blatant gender discrimination does, and policies directed at improving those choices appear to be better strategic tools in closing the wage gap.     

Entry and technology transfer in a Cournot model

This work studies entry and technology transfer in a Cournot model where there are two domestic firms. A foreign firm has a patent on a technological innovation that reduces the costs of all firms. The foreign firm can license the innovation to one or both domestic firms. The authors consider two standard licensing policies： （1） auction policy and （2） unit royalty policy. The foreign firm can license the innovation either by staying outside the domestic market, or it can enter the market, license the innovation and compete with the domestic firms. The authors show that （1） when the foreign firm stays outside, it is never optimal for it to use royalties, （2） if it licenses the innovation by entering the industry, then royalties could be optimal and （3） when it decides on its entry strategy by taking its optimal licensing policies into account, it always finds it optimal to enter the domestic market.     

How Firms’Ownership Structure Impacts Online Peer-to-Peer Lending Performance in China

A dramatic surge in online peer-to-peer(P2P)lending emerged in China,where(under conditions of credit deficiency)it took only three years for the size of the P2P lending market in China to reach four times that of the United States and ten times that of the United Kingdom.The literature indicates that ownership structure is an important factor that influences P2P lending firms’performance,while research on the underlying mechanisms remain insufficient.This study analyzes the data of P2P lending companies between June 2016 and March 2017.The results demonstrate that although ownership structure has minimal direct effect on the turnover volume and number of lenders and borrowers,it moderates the effects of firm age,interest rate,and loan term on firm performance.These results enrich the property theory and shed light on how P2P lending firms with different ownership structures could succeed when there is institutional deficiency.     

An Analysis of Chinese Acquisitions of Made in Italy Firms in the Luxury Sector

Outward Foreign Direct Investment （OFDI） from emerging economies has begun to increase significantly and has been growing at a faster pace than Foreign Direct Investment （FDI） from the developed world. This research seeks to assess the impact of Chinese acquisitions and their implications for the ＂Made in Italy＂ luxury sector and its firms. This paper presents a cross-case analysis of two Chinese acquisitions in order to provide some in-depth insights into the influences and the motives driving Chinese firms to invest in the luxury Made in Italy sector, the patterns and modes of the Chinese acquisitions as well as the competitive strategies and the distinctive challenges that both investors and acquired firms have to face. From the findings, it emerges that both the investor and the acquired firm need to overcome several key challenges to be mutual benefits from the acquisition.     

Globalization and Voluntary Environmental Management in Developing Countries

Weak capacity to enforce regulations and sanction violators, and an emphasis on economic growth in developing countries has led to concerns about worsening environmental conditions and the potential for these countries becoming pollution havens for multinational corporations. International environmental standards, voluntary programs, and public disclosure programs have gained popularity because they engage market participants in providing incentives for self-regulation and have the potential to substitute for the lack of domestic regulatory capacity. This paper analyzes the motivations for firms to undertake voluntary environmental management and reviews the empirical evidence on the type of firms participating in such initiatives and their effectiveness in improving environmental performance. We also consider the special case of China that has witnessed dramatic globalization following its acceptance into the World Trade Organization and participation by its firms in global supply chains. We conclude with a discussion of the effectiveness of these efforts as a substitute for weak regulatory and civic society pressures in these countries.     

Identification and decomposition of regional economic disparity for the west coast of Taiwan Strait of China

Regional economic disparity is a hot issue in the development of society and economy. As the conjunct of the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta and the frontier to Taiwan, the west coast of the Taiwan Strait （WCS） is of great social and political significance. The paper defines the connotation of the WCS, decomposed the regional economic disparity by using weighted coefficient of variation and Theil coefficient, and explores the industrial and regional source of the regional economic disparity of the WCS. The analysis results show that： （1） the WCS has important political, economic and military position, so it＇s better to regard it to be comprehensive region, not just refer to Fujian Province; （2）from the industrial decomposition of weighted variation coefficient, the influence o.f the primary industry was tiny; conversely, the development inequity of the secondary and the tertiary, indusoy was the main source of regional economic disparity. Their contribution has had the converse trend and the secondary contribution has gone beyond the tertiary since 2003; （3）from the regional decomposition of Theil coefficient, the regional economic disparity mainly came from inter-area inequity of 4 areas. Moreover, the inner economic disparity mainly drove by Fujian, suggesting that the urban development inequity in Fujian Province was comparatively outstanding.     

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.     

Chinese companies＇ outward internationalization to emerging countries： The case of Latin America

This paper aims to review and analyze the literature on the expansion of Chinese firms to Latin America. In order to achieve this objective, it first reviews the literature on the internationalization of Chinese MNCs, the theoretical frameworks discussed in the literature and the principal features of companies from China. Second, it describes the economic and political relations between the countries, specifically the threats and opportunities for Latin America and the trade and investment trends. The review shows that the majority of the current literature on Chinese MNCs has a focus on their expansion to developed countries, on the conceptual framework needed to understand this expansion, and on the competition for foreign investments from developed countries. As a result, the analysis makes evident that research gaps seem to exist in the following areas： （1） the relative value of Chinese companies＇ existing advantages, （2） the sustainability of these advantages once the lead, probably given by OEMs or JVs, had been exhausted, （3） research works based on quantitative and comparative data, （4） the motives for FDI, （5） the entry mode, configuration, control and strategy of Chinese companies investing in Latin America, and （6） the potential opportunities presented to European companies operating in Latin America.     

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.     

Market Transition and Income Inequality in Urban China： Evidence from Shapley Value Decomposition

China＇s market-oriented reform is expected to strengthen the role of the market in allocating resources, which raises concerns over the impact of market transformation on income distribution and earnings inequality in the past decades. This paper decomposes the sources of inequality based on the newly developed Shapley value approach and examines the contributions of the market, along with other nonmarket factors, to total inequality. Using the China Health and Nutrition Survey data over the period 1989-2009, we find that the income gap between laborers with a higher level of education and those with a lower level has widened since the transformational reforms of the economy. Our results suggest that the largest contribution of changes in income inequality can be attributed to the increase in returns to education, while the relative contributions of the household registration （hukou） system, type of sector ownership, geographic location, and gender to inequality experienced a downward trend between 1989 and 2009. The authors argue that rising income inequality is the consequence of efficiency improvements and an imperfect economic system, and that the market is a decisive force in economic development as it releases competitive signals and creates incentive mechanisms for innovation. Creating a more efficient labor market and increasing investment in human capital, particularly equalizing educational opportunities and improving the quality of education in lagging rural and inland regions to disadvantaged groups, are significant for an equitable distribution of income and sustainable development in the long run.     

Defining the Entrepreneurial Capital Construct

The purpose of this paper is to show preliminary results from an international research project on intellectual capital and value creation led by Lappeenranta University of Technology （Finland）. In the case of this paper, results from Italy will be reported and specifically. The Italian analysis focuses on the entrepreneurial capital （EC） and it analyses how large Italian companies develop and enhance this intangible element. The main research question is： What is the current level of EC in Italian organizations and how does it affect value creation.＇？ To this end, the research addressed the different definitions of EC that literature offers. As a secondary step, this paper analysed the variables suggested by previous literature and proposed an original definition for the research project. The definition is that EC is a stock of competences and the personnels＇ attributes related to proactive, risky, and aggressive decision-making and behaviour. This research provides researchers and managers with unique insights into the evolutionary nature of the relationships between distinct 1C variables and draws a picture on the state of art of corporate EC in the selected sample. This research highlights and improves companies＇ abilities to manage their EC. Furthermore, this research will set the agenda for improving the EC practices of Italian companies and will allow future comparison with firms from other countries that are participating in the same project identifying different pathways to success.     

The Way of the Social and Economic Development of China An Attempt of Historical and Synthetic Representation

The issue of social and economic development is an important part of theoretical and empirical research of the contemporary economy. China is an example of an economy which in a short period of time achieved success within this scope. Therefore it seems to be justified to draw the reader＇s attention to the factors and determinants which may be regarded as the key ones for the economy of China, both in the period of 1949-1978, namely, in the period of real socialism, and in the period after 1978, so-called ＂socialist market economy＂ to date. On the basis of an analysis of Polish and foreign reference sources and source materials, the author tried to trace both similarities and differences in China＇s economic development over those two periods, first of all paying attention to the Chinese authorities＇ pragmatism of governing in the other period, accompanied by limiting ideological influences. Maintaining the socialist system, in that period China worked out its own, specific principles, and rules of internal activities and activities in the international arena, which enabled to it the creation of a model, especially for developing countries, the system of economic planning and programming, its constant modernization during the implementation of economic tasks, with the consideration given to changing conditionings in the world economy. It was pointed out that with maintaining the laboriousness of the Chinese and their loyalty to authority, they make up China＇s economic power. The aim of the article is to pay special attention to the circumstances, phenomena, conditionings, and factors which occurred on the way to the social and economic development of China, which enabled it to achieve the economic success in a relatively short period of time. This success can be expressed by such indicators as for instance the poverty rate, the unemployment rate, gross domestic product, the value of export, and the value of foreign direct investment as well as other factors.     

The effects of corporate governance compliance on market valuation in Malaysia

This study investigates the effects of corporate governance compliance on market valuation in Malaysia using a sample of 164 companies listed on the Main Board in Bursa Malaysia from 5 different industries （consumer, trading ＆ services, industrial, constructions and properties） within 2001 to 2005. Throughout, this study will use correlation and regression analysis in the SPSS software to determine the effects of corporate governance practices on Market Valuation. In analyzing firms＇ market valuation, we will use the Tobin＇s Q formula and for the corporate governance compliance, we will look at 4 criteria to compare with market valuation, which are （1） Board of Director＇s composition, （2） Board of Director＇s remuneration （salaries）, （3） Board of Director＇s training and development, （4） Board of Director＇s meeting. In order to determine the effects between the corporate governance compliance and market valuation, we will use regression analysis. Based on the correlation analysis, the first null hypothesis must be rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted, in which dependent variable and independent variables are significantly correlated with BOD remuneration and BOD training availability. Overall, there is a significant relationship between Tobin＇s Q and independent variables （BOD remuneration and BOD training）. This study also recommends that for the company who did not comply with the code, they should follow the best practice because it will be a pivotal weapon in facing with the fierce competition in era globalization.     

Circuit breakers： Development of testable hypothesis

In October 1996, The Dhaka Stock Exchange （DSE） adopted trading halts for individual stocks, collectively known as ＂circuit breakers＂, to reduce the stock market volatility. This paper reviews the existing circuit breakers literature and developed five hypothesis--＂Magnet Effect＂, ＂Cool off-Heating （C-H） Effect＂, ＂Information Hypothesis＂, ＂Volatility Spillover Hypothesis＂ and ＂Trading Interferences Hypothesis＂--which could be tested empirically not only in the Dhaka Stock Exchange but any stock exchanges around the world. This paper also suggests most appropriate econometric models for empirical testing. GARCH for inter day data and Event Study methodology for intra day data. Moreover, to test the robustness non-parametric tests need to use along with parametric one. Considering the stock market bubbles in 1996, it has been found that it was optimal for the regulators to adopt this trading halt, but not for the market. It failed to protect the market. However, this might be the consequences of misconceptions about the purpose and effectiveness of circuit breakers. Despite many arguments contrary to this mechanism and absence of any conclusive empirical evidence for a fragile stock exchange like DSE, it may be useful sometimes to replace the ＂invisible hand of the marketplace＂ with the ＂visible hand of the market regulators＂.     

Bar in Questionnaires

Vougiouklis ＆ Vougiouklis have proposed the replacement of Likert scales, usually used in questionnaires, with a bar. With this proposal a discrete situation is replaced by a fuzzy one. There are identified certain advantages concerning the use of the bar as compared to that of a scale during both the stages of filling-in as well as processing a questionnaire. The main advantage associated with business research requirements is the fact that it is expected to be much quicker to fill in and much easier to explain to participants. The bar provides the potential for different types of processing Likert scales cannot. Therefore the researchers are allowed to ascertain that the given answers follow not only the already suggested and used Gauss distribution but also a parabola distribution as it will be suggested in present paper, and which is expected to give the researcher the opportunity to ＂correct＂ this tendency. Therefore, a possibility of choosing amongst a number of alternatives is offered, by utilizing fuzzy logic in the same way as it has already been done in industry and combining mathematical models with multivalued operations.     

Widespread Hotel： An Innovative Made in Italy Model for Cultural Tourism and Local Sustainable Development The Umbria＇s Case

Widespread hotels represent a new Italian phenomenon still not much investigated, both on theoretical and empirical side, which cannot be ignored anymore. Indeed they meet the need to implement techniques and management tools which are able to improve the culture-tourism binomial. This would permit to transform into valid instruments of national economical development, the shared declaration of intents for which culture and tourism, especially in Italy and in this particular fragile period, represent even more the main strategic levers for the sustainable development. This article intends to describe the potentiality of these widespread hotels as innovations particularly suitable with trends recently emerged in tourism sector and outline the phenomenon pattern in ltaly with particular attention on Umbria region, in order to identify his main strength and weakness and some innovation to improve performance. To this end, it starts from the analysis of the national and international economic-managerial literature concerning in particular cultural and experienced trends shown in tourism. Then it introduces the main acquisitions about widespread hotels in Italy, updating and extending them through a desk survey based on indirect sources of various natures. Lastly, it describes the case of Umbria, analyzing more in depth making use of interviews with entrepreneurs/managers of hotels and based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The aspects of indeterminateness which were found, starting from the normative one, testify how the potentiality of the widespread hotels as far as regards the value creation for the enterprise itself and the territorial stakeholder, are still not properly understood and therefore used. It is clear that, therefore, new behaviors are needed for entrepreneurs and, most importantly, for local policy makers in order to create the conditions for the full success of these hospitality models.     

＂A Raft in the Stormy Sea＂： New Roles,New ＂Dresses＂ Operating in ＆ for Business Networks

This paper aims to discuss the development and functioning conditions of business networks. After recalling the main characteristics of post-fordistic environment and comparing it to a ＂stormy sea＂ （section one） of the paper focuses on the idea of networks described as ＂rafts＂ useful to firms to build their own competitive advantages. In fact, while theoretical knowledge is not so valuable because everybody can have it, practical and contextual knowledge is specific and therefore it can be defended. The development of a contextual knowledge is feasible if the firm chooses among all the possible alternatives. Subsequently in section two, it shows how fordistic principles eliminate space, reduce time, and increase the speed of communication among individuals and as entering a network has become a necessity as it allows a firm to obtain competitive advantages. The greatest benefit is the chance to share the task of creating new knowledge among different members. In section three it is discussed if navigation in the post-fordistic stormy sea could take advantage from the existence of a more certain regulation. It is necessary to underline that positive law is not a post-fordistic tool. There is no satisfactory detailed law regarding ideas, knowledge, and know-how, by now. Therefore, it is not possible to rely on a specific regulation framework to protect knowledge found on the network. In conclusion in section four, the work discusses how single organizations need to reach the ＂raft＂--which is the network--through the idea of sharing learning and distinguishing elements necessary to survive in the stormy sea post-Fordism environment. Lastly, section five would be analyzed a public institution--Milan Chamber of Commerce--which has ＂changed its dress＂ to more effectively perform its support role to firms.     

Legal regulation of enterprises＇ environmental impact：a survey

The enterprise coordinates social resources, which changes the dialogue between human and the environment into that between enterprise and environment. The profit-making character of enterprise leads to the abandonment of environmental ethics. Enterprise, which has the capability to solve environmental problems, however, lacks the motive to do it. It has controlling power over society and should assume the responsibility of environmental protection. For its lack of environmental conscience, the external institutional arrangements should be made for enterprise. The strategy for environmental cost should be designed in connection with the interest orientation of enterprise. And various legal measures in constitutional law, social law, civil law, administrative law and criminal lave should be utilized to regulate enterprise＇s behaviors regarding environmental protection.     

Positive Analysis Of Income Disparity between Towns＇ Residents and Rural Residents in Hebei Province

With the economic development, the income disparity between towns＇ residents and rural residents in China shows an enlarging trend. This phenomenon becomes a hot issue of the whole society. The income disparity between towns＇ residents and rural residents in Hebei province also shows an enlarging trend. The authors study this problem with the positive analysis method from the situation, the developing trend in the future, the reasons of the income disparity between towns＇ residents and rural residents in Hebei, and put forward proposals about how to reduce the income disparity.     

Segment Reporting： Value and Policy Choice

Evidences indicate that segment reporting has the ability to forecast firms＇ performance and reflect risks of stock market. However, there is no consensus between IAS and FASB on the choice of policy for segment reporting. Based on the analysis of IAS and FASB＇s statements for segment reporting, this paper points out that industry and geography are the two vital bases for determining the segments, and internal organizational structure also should be taken into account. Before segment reporting, a primary segment needs to be identified, and others can be regarded as secondary segments. The information of the segments can be disclosed in the form of supporting statement. This paper also gives a concrete format of segment reporting.