The Chinese business system and its authoriliberal economic model

China's position as one of the most powerful nations in the world is undisputed. However, in an evolving landscape, China's utilization of a path-dependent business system may hinder the ability of the country's institutions to undergo necessary change, which will have important implications for international business literature. Through business system theory, empirical evidence, and a mixed methods approach, we discuss China's business system explaining how the system may impair sustainable growth and the transformation required by a less dependent industrial society. Our research suggests that the Chinese business system is still very arrested due to its recent past, and the Chinese Communist Party has only partial interest in improving some of the most important bases for the development of modern enterprises, even if fostering a somewhat liberal economic approach. Since similar political (authoritarian) and economic (liberal) approaches are found elsewhere, we theorize on what we called an authoriliberal economic approach.     

Jamaican ambassador Richard L. Bernal on Jamaica's contemporary business environment

Natural beauty is often thought to be the Caribbean's real resource. Jamaica, located in the Caribbean Sea, benefits from this natural splendor of mountains, plains, plateaus, and waterfalls, but also from its people, whose charm and elegance are unsurpassed. Historically, there has been considerable global interest in the Caribbean Sea in general and in Jamaica in particular because of the natural, social, strategic, and economic resources which this region possesses. Today, the contemporary global business environment and the dynamics of hemispheric free trade in the Americans create new and complex challenges for the region's natural and human resources. This article will first present a background to the recent economic and political events which have placed Jamaica as a critical, stable, and important player in the Caribbean Basin economy. The remainder of the article will be based on an interview with Ambassador Richard L. Bernal,¹ who will offer an assessment of Jamaica's commitment to economic stabilization, infrastructure capability, foreign investment incentives, financial and trade services, and democratization. In addition, Dr. Bernal provides an evaluation of the relationship of Jamaica and the Caribbean Basin with the United States in the post-cold war liberal economy. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

New international business perspectives on Pakistan

What image comes to mind when one thinks of Pakistan? Prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, many businesspeople had little information about this ancient land. Recently, Pakistan has come to the world's attention as a powerful ally in the U.S.‐led war against terrorism. Situated at the crossroads of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China, and member nations of the former Soviet Union, Pakistan has long been a leading player in regional political and economic activity. This article presents some new perspectives on Pakistan as a market worthy of a closer look. We survey Pakistan's history and geography, as well as its sociocultural, political‐legal, economic, and competitive environments with a view to identifying new opportunities for foreign investors and global marketers. Current business trends and marketing opportunities are discussed, concluding with an outlook for future growth and development. Valuable insights are offered to businesspeople interested in doing business in Pakistan, a little‐studied but vitally important newly industrializing country (NIC) and big emerging market (BEM). © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Modeling a country's political environment using dynamic factor analysis (DFA): A new methodology for IB research

Political uncertainty generates non-trivial costs for business, resulting in suboptimal decision-making and suppression of economic activity. Managing political uncertainty and attaining greater accuracy in risk analysis of a country's political environment remain a challenge. Our research attempts to fill this gap by re-directing scholarly attention from the questions of what and why to how political uncertainty and political risks can be identified and assessed by (1) offering a process-based theoretical framework of a country's political environment that explicitly incorporates its dynamic structure; and (2) proposing a new methodological framework based on DFA to empirically estimate it. We demonstrate how DFA enables evaluating the country's political environment, in terms of: (1) complexity of the political environment, (2) potency (or importance) of the dimensions of the political environment; (3) stability of the political environment, and (4) nomological validity of the model. To demonstrate the application of this methodology, we analyze Brazil's political environment for the period 1984–2018 using monthly political risk time-series data. The paper then maps Brazil's political environment using political science scholarship with our empirical results triangulating the insights. The final section discusses contributions to research on political risk in IB as well as the methodological challenges and opportunities of using DFA.     

How Chinese Children's Commercials Differ from Those of the United States: A Content Analysis

Abstract

A content analysis was conducted of children's television commercials from China and the United States that were recorded over a period of eighteen months. We describe how the content of the two sets of commercials differs and the underlying reasons for the differences, including cultural, economic, and social conditions. The results suggest that, for the most part, Chinese children's commercials reflect China's traditional cultural values and its social and economic development level. However, the analysis was able to detect a shifting in power in Chinese society from the elderly to the young, resulting mainly from its one-child policy implemented during the past two decades. We also found some evidence of Western values creeping into Chinese children's commercials. Limitations are noted, and suggestions are offered for additional research that will corroborate these findings.     

Brazil Post‐Lula: Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Brazilian Business Environment

The Brazilian economy indicates great potential for future economic growth. An increasing and affluent middle class, expanding exports, and foreign reserves are testimonies of Brazil's recent accomplishments. The country, however, still faces a number of challenges that may compromise its sustainable long‐term economic goals and objectives. This article focuses on the Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva government's economic performance. The article's main findings show increasing bottlenecks being created as a result of the Lula government's eight years of low economic growth rates, which have penalized the country's competitiveness. The newly elected president, Dilma Rousseff, will inherit a substantial investment deficit in the areas of infrastructure, education, health care, research and development (R&D), and innovation, as well as Brazil's worst public debt/gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in the past 100 years. These conditions will prevent Brazil from growing and developing at faster rates. This article also elaborates on Dilma Rousseff's most recent statements and discusses likely future paths for the Brazilian economy. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Economy suspended: the possibilities of a Badiouian business ethics

In the philosophy of Alain Badiou, ethics can only arise in relation to an evental truth procedure that breaks from the economic logic of a situation. Further, because for Badiou there cannot be economic truths per se – rather, economic matters must be understood in their relation to one or more truths in the domain of love, art, science or politics – a Badiouian business ethics would look entirely distinct from any ethics that simply places limits on certain kinds of economic activity. Although Slavoj ?i?ek, among others, has suggested that this marks an essential weakness in Badiou's economic/political theory, it may actually be the greatest strength of his position. Within a capitalist system, a Badiouian business ethics would then be a question of mobilizing economic resources in order to serve the ongoing construction of a truth procedure. For a business to be considered ethical on Badiou's terms, it must break – and continue to break – from the dominant logic of capitalism and its merely economic pursuit of profit maximization.     

‘Accountable creatures’: Scottish Presbyterianism,accountability and managerial capitalism

Max Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism remains a seminal text for social theory and economic and social history. Weber suggests a general relationship between religious belief and economic action. We argue that only by examining the practices of individuals and institutions can we adequately address Weber's question. Specifically, we re-examine the role of the confessional diary and Church governance practices as forms of accountability. Accountability practices were central to Scottish Presbyterian churches and made an important contribution to the development of managerial capitalism. This article is both a response to and a development of Sam McKinstry and Y.Y. Ding's micro-history of Charles Cowan and the business practices of his family's papermaking firm.     

The Growing Dominance of China in South Asia: An Indian Perspective

India's economic relations with its neighbors are important for the stable and peaceful development of the South Asian region and for its own security. In a globalized world, economic relations play a major role in deciding political relations and collaboration at multilateral fora. In the context of China's increasing trade and investment relations with India's neighboring countries, the present study examines where and how China has been improving its presence vis-à-vis India in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Further, the study also explores the factors of India's loss of market in its neighboring countries and suggests remedial measures.     

From reform to neo-regulation: An assessment of recent political/economic developments in Nigeria

The Nigerian political economy was placed on the path of economic and political liberalization from the mid-1980s. About a decade later, both processes had experienced great reversals. This article examines the social forces that are arrayed against the reform processes. It focuses on recent political and economic developments in Nigeria with a view to understanding the nature of the emerging business environment for the purpose of potential investors, international managers, aid agencies, and donor countries in Africa's most populous country. While noting the inevitability of a modicum of regulation in the nation's economic adjustment program, this study contends that the regulatory measures contained in the 1994 budget prepared by the new military junta in Nigeria is stifling investment, and can neither lay the basis for the recovery of, nor engender sustainable development in the nation's economy. A more appropriate management of the exchange and interest rate regimes, and the democratization of the political processes as the minimum prerequisite for stability, growth, and development in the Nigerian political economy is recommended. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Trade Liberalisation,Economic Development and Poverty Alleviation

In a distinguished career spanning more than four decades, Jagdish Bhagwati has made numerous contributions to both trade theory and trade policy analysis. The current paper focuses on Bhagwati's major contribution to the ongoing debate surrounding the influence of trade liberalisation upon economic development and its potential to alleviate poverty in the world's poorest economies. In order to highlight Bhagwati's contributions in these fields we focus on the arguments developed in two of his numerous landmark publications; first his seminal 1964 paper on the Pure Theory of International Trade and, second, his 2004 book entitled In Defense of Globalization. Although separated in time by some four decades we argue that these two publications, despite their very different characters, each demonstrate beyond doubt the significance of Bhagwati's work in improving our understanding of the true nature of international trade and its potential to address questions of global poverty.     

The Formation of Distribution Keiretsu: The Case of Matsushita Electric

The Japanese keiretsu, specifically vertically linked firms, have attracted global attention, and there is continuing dispute over their purpose. They act as close, long-term business relationships between large corporations and a number of selected smaller firms. They have been seen as rational effective systems, especially suited to the circumstances of Japan's industrialisation, and as a factor in its economic success. On the other hand, they have been criticised as closed systems that exclude potential competitors. Keiretsu are generally divided into production keiretsu, financial keiretsu, and distribution keiretsu. As a pioneer of distribution keiretsu, Matsushita (Panasonic) grew in Japan by securing the outlet of its products at ‘appropriate’ prices, and is now its nation's largest electronics manufacturer. Its distribution structure was founded in the 1930s, but the changes introduced in the 1950s finally brought it substantial commercial advantages, and encouraged rivals to form similar networks.     

Country Resources,Country Image,and Exports: Country Branding and International Marketing Implications

ABSTRACT

A country's economic, political, and socio-cultural institutions have always been regarded as important determinants of a company's exports and international marketing strategies. With the recent thinking about countries becoming more like a brand, these factors should impact a country's marketing and branding strategies. There has been a call for more research on how countries can use their institutions and resources to enhance their globalization efforts. This study intends to fill this gap by examining the relationships between country institutions and resources, country image, and exports based on institution theory and resource advantage theory. Both archival and primary data for 24 countries over 12 years (1995–2006) were used to assess a random-effects panel data model. The results reveal the significance of economic development and communication infrastructure on exports. In addition, country image was found to indirectly affect exports. The theoretical and practical implications on country branding and international marketing conclude the article.     

Mercosur After Chavez

A redesigned “Tordesillas Line” is being drawn in Latin America that will divide “Atlantic” and “Pacific” nations. Atlantic nations are rapidly turning into protectionist nations plagued by heavy bureaucracy, heavy taxes, and an intervening and expanding state. Pacific nations, however, are embracing transparency and market‐driven policies, bringing a new dynamism to their economies. The legacy of Hugo Chavez (“Chavismo”) is capable of perpetuating Chavez's legacy in Mercosur, impregnating the trading bloc with a strong political and economic bias, further moving the trading bloc away from mainstream globalization forces. This article will elaborate on the main challenges and opportunities permeating Mercosur after Chavez. The recently created “Alliance of the Pacific” (AP) revives the economic agenda for Latin American trading blocs, and provides a comparison to Mercosur's agenda, impregnated with ideologies and political agendas. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The influence of entrepreneurial marketing processes and entrepreneurial self-efficacy on community vulnerability,risk, and resilience

This paper uses the 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquake and re-development efforts as an exemplar to explore how entrepreneurial marketing processes combined with entrepreneurial self-efficacy can be leveraged to help a community reduce its vulnerability to natural disasters and enhance its resilience. Manyena's (Manyena, S. B. (2006). The concept of resilience revisited. Disasters, 30, 433–450; Manyena, S. B. (2012). Disaster and development paradigms: Too close for comfort? Development Policy Review, 30, 327–345) vulnerability–resilience theory is used as the conceptual framework to delineate the prophylactic benefits of building a community's entrepreneurial marketing process capabilities and the notion of entrepreneurial self-efficacy as defensive mechanisms to mitigate the effect of disasters. This work has resulted in an augmented disaster risk equation that considers: (1) the risk that a natural disaster poses on a community (as a function of the vulnerability of the community's tangible assets); (2) the hazard potential of the disaster; and (3) the resilience of its social and economic systems. This paper develops a measure of the symbiotic interrelationship of a community's entrepreneurial marketing process capabilities and community-level entrepreneurial self-efficacy to illustrate how leveraging the entrepreneurial, marketing, social, and engineering educational resources of a community can create a less vulnerable and more resilient community. In doing so, the paper develops a set of research propositions to guide future research and policy.     

Which foreign states support the global use of the Chinese renminbi? The international political economy of currency internationalisation

The internationalisation of the Chinese renminbi has taken a path distinct from most cases involving previous international currencies, in that policy measures adopted by governments have played crucial roles in it. This paper conducts a cross‐country analysis of the factors that have led foreign governments to introduce three primary policy infrastructures to support renminbi use—renminbi swap lines, Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor quotas and renminbi clearing banks. Our analysis shows that a state holding renminbi assets among its reserves or having more developed financial markets is likely to establish a higher level of policy infrastructure supporting renminbi use. We also find that a country's economic and political relations with China may have meaningful impacts on the level of its establishment of those renminbi‐related policy infrastructures. These findings significantly expand our understanding of renminbi internationalisation, by identifying which non‐Chinese factors have affected its progress to date. They also contribute meaningfully to the literature on currency internationalisation and international currencies in general, by calling attention to the roles of foreign states in the process of a currency's internationalisation.     

Dimensions of cosmopolitanism and their influence on political consumption: an analysis focused on Spanish consumers

The purpose of this study was to confirm the hypothesis that political consumption – a form of consumerism whose importance has increased during the past few years – can be considered a form of critical action, and that cosmopolitanism contributes to its development. The main objective was, first, to analyse an unexplored dimension of political consumption and, second, to obtain a measurement proposal for what some authors have called ordinary cosmopolitanism. The study, based on a survey, was divided into three sections. The first section offers a theoretical introduction to the study proposal. The second describes the hypothesis and the data analysis strategy, and proposes an operationalization of cosmopolitanism in three dimensions – symbolic cosmopolitanism, experiential cosmopolitanism and moral cosmopolitanism – which have been obtained by means of the application of categorical principal components analysis. By applying one‐way analysis of variance and Tukey's test, the third section shows the existence of significantly higher scores in these three dimensions for those individuals who have bought or boycotted products for ethical, political or environmental reasons. Finally, an ordinary least squares regression analysis was performed to test the association between cosmopolitanism and political consumerism, controlling the effect of the main socio‐demographic variables. The study confirms the initial hypothesis; therefore, political consumption could be considered a type of consumerism that is clearly related to cosmopolitanism.     

Russian Competitiveness in the Global Economy

Abstract

Using data on Russia's competitiveness collected by our research team as part of the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report (GCR), literature on competitiveness, in particular Michael Porter's theories on economic development and competitiveness, and benchmarking data from the global competitiveness project for other countries, this paper analyzes Russia's comparative strengths in its macro and microeconomic competitiveness. We investigate Russia's movement in ranks over a three-year period, discussing Russia's strengths in its macroeconomic climate and the weaknesses of its institutions. We illustrate the effects of these on three-key growth industries in Russia: oil, IT outsourcing, and the food sector.     

Formulating Trade Policy in a Small Hydrocarbon‐dependent Economy: The Case of Trinidad and Tobago

We examine the status of Trinidad and Tobago's trade policy regime based mainly on the WTO's Trade Policy Review 2005 and to a lesser extent the Review of 1998. The paper highlights the areas identified by the WTO that the country needs to address to ensure compliance with the rules, disciplines and commitments made under the Multilateral Trade Agreements and the existence of a trade regime characterised by little or no distortions. It undertakes this discussion against the background of Trinidad and Tobago's role as a founding member of CARICOM and the increasing influence of this body in determining its trade policies in particular and economic policies in general. The study highlights the progress made by Trinidad and Tobago in establishing an outward‐oriented trade regime since embracing reforms in the mid‐1980s. However, the need for much deeper reforms is stressed if the country is to realise its ambitious objective of becoming the manufacturing base and the commercial, trans‐shipment and financial hub of the western hemisphere. Further, it points to the inextricable link between the country's economic fortunes and international petroleum prices, and increasing over‐reliance on the hydrocarbons sector. Consequently, it stresses the need for getting its diversification strategy ‘right’ if it is to minimise the fallout effects associated with the bust that inevitably follows a petroleum boom.