Corporate governance or governance by corporates? Testing governmentality in the context of China's national oil and petrochemical business groups

Like other industrial sectors with significant – ‘pillar’ – importance in China's overall economy and development, oil and petrochemicals are governed by state-owned business groups. In this context, ‘corporate governance’ of these groups is of fundamental interest. This study probes corporate governance of 31 national oil and petrochemical business groups by examining their structure, development and business activities in the period from 2007 to 2011. The post-1998 restructuring of China's qiyejituan business groups, their related party transactions and related party corporate finance all yield insight into how property rights are decisive in how corporate governance based on governmentality – or the interrelation of corporate, state and social relations – is structured. This study sheds light on how China's big business policy and governance of the state-business interface progresses in a socialist market economy. It has clear implications international trade and investment as well as multinational corporations doing business with China.     

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.     

Attracting Comments: Digital Engagement Metrics on Facebook and Financial Performance

Many companies are now using social media such as Facebook for advertising and marketing purposes. To understand how using social media affects a company's business performance from a digital engagement perspective, this study examines how user comments on company Facebook posts influence company revenue. S&P 500 companies' revenue information in a five-year time span (from 2010 to 2015) is collected, and this information is matched to more than 24 million user comments directed at these companies' Facebook posts. The hypotheses are tested using static (fixed effects [FE] and random effects [RE]) as well as dynamic (generalized method of moments [GMM]) panel data analyses in econometric methods. The estimation results indicate that digital engagement volume, defined as the total number of Facebook comments a company received, has a significant and positive effect on revenue. In addition, digital engagement valence, defined as the average tone of Facebook comments directed toward a company, also has a significant and positive effect on revenue. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Learning to do Business in China: The Evolution of BAT's Cigarette Distribution Network, 1902–41

This article traces the development of BAT's cigarette distribution network in China. It demonstrates that BAT utilised the connections that expatriate managing agencies had developed with Chinese merchants in the treaty port economy of Shangai during the late nineteenth century, and shows how these linkages were subsequently developed into a distribution network to serve the whole of China. The keys to the success of BAT's selling organisation in China lay in two main areas of competence: first, the company's ability to develop accounting and credit control systems that both monitored its cigarettes and minimised the risk of bad debts; and, secondly, in its ability to foster competition within its own sales teams by creating parallel distribution mechanisms throughout much of China, in particular through the creation of a joint venture with the Chinese-run Wing Tai Vo Corporation. By the 1930s BAT's products were widely available in China, despite the upheavals that acted to undermine the development of a national market there.     

Managing Corporate Networks from America to China

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are making a major contribution to China's economic development. This analysis examines how eight prominent American MNCs are handling the process of linking the management of their China joint ventures into their global structures. It looks at how the MNCs are addressing the tensions that arise between maintaining control in terms of their worldwide standards while attempting simultaneously to adapt to the complex and dynamic environment of China. The reconciliation of these requirements depends on a relatively few focal actors, who are located at critical interfaces within the MNCs' internal networks between the China joint ventures and the corporate level.     

The globalization of Chinese enterprises

The question of how and why Chinese firms globalize is one of the most pressing issues for businesses today. China's globalization process is nothing less than remarkable. The twenty‐first century will feature a developing country as the leader of the global economy by 2020, when, by most estimates, China's purchasing power parity (PPP) gross domestic product (GDP) surpasses America's. With China's new role on the world's stage, global economic and political institutions are likely to change. China's foray into Latin America, for example, has changed the traditional role that America has played in its “backyard.” While the Chinese government was given much credit for China's globalization, Chinese private‐ and family‐owned businesses have also propelled China outward. Our research stream and annual China Goes Global conference at Harvard has attempted to frame the questions associated with China's globalization. This special issue is another important step in this direction. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On the New Economic Policies Promoted by the 17th CCP Congress in China

The 17th Chinese Communist Party Congress in October 2007 attracted attention within and outside China for the bold development agenda that was placed before delegates. After 30 years of economic reform that has produced a remarkable improvement in living standards and China's reintegration into the world economy, the Party unveiled a programme that would push China to become a world superpower over the next 30 years. China's ambition is to become a technologically innovative state, to make China a ‘moderately prosperous’ and ‘harmonious society’ with a ‘scientific outlook on development’, and to achieve full industrialisation and sustainable prosperity. Whether China is able to attain its objectives will critically depend on the Party's ability to implement the new economic policies and address the social and political challenges that economic growth has created. The aim of the paper is to examine the policies, motivations and constraints that China faces in achieving the objectives laid out at the Party Congress.     

工业遗产视野下的玉门油田历史及现状调查研究

20世纪中叶以后，工业的衰退给城市的发展带来一系列挑战，人们开始重新思考工业社会在人类历史中的意义，资源面临枯竭的玉门也再次以这种方式重新回到人们的视野。玉门油田诞生于抗日战争时期，是新中国成立以前投入开发规模最大、产量最高的油田，新中国成立以后更是发挥了极大的影响力，为一批新工业企业的建立和发展作出了重要贡献，是中国近现代工业史上十分重要的一环。本文通过梳理玉门油田的发展历史及现状，尝试从“工业遗产”的角度来思考玉门油田的价值与意义。     

以色列人工智能发展现状分析及政策举措

目前,世界上许多国家都在竞相发展人工智能,以创新创业见长的以色列在人工智能方面也作出了重要部署,并有突出的表现。本文基于以色列创新署发布的《2019年创新报告》等报告及数据,着重分析了以色列近年来在人工智能方面取得的成就和当前发展所面临的障碍,以及以色列为保持现有优势并进一步推动人工智能发展的政策举措,旨在为我国人工智能的发展提供参考借鉴。     

Teaching Marketing in China

With the introduction of China's modernization program, Chinese leaders have emphasized the development of managerial skills. With the increasing number of foreign educators participating in training managers in China, it is important that training efforts be effective. This study reports on a survey that focuses on understanding the perception of marketing training in China. Results identify the perceived benefits and problems of Chinese managers in learning and applying marketing, and suggestions regarding how marketing educators can become more effective in enhancing the relevance of marketing concepts for China are discussed.     

Globalization of R&D and China: An Introduction

In this introduction, we discuss the recent changes in multinational corporations' (MNCs) research and development (R&D) strategies and China's rising role in this new development. Significant changes include: 1) More and more corporations have started overseas R & D operations; 2) the missions of many overseas R&D facilities have shifted from the traditional supplementing and supporting roles to become critical and strategic components of MNCs' global R&D networks; and 3) MNC overseas R&D operations have expanded their geographic reach to carefully selected developing countries. China has benefited from such changes and has become one major attraction for such R&D facilities due to its rich endowment of low-cost and well- trained scientists and engineers as well as its fast growing domestic market and burgeoning foreign investment in manufacturing. The explosion of foreign R&D investment has also been accompanied by the rapid growth of China's domestic investment in R&D. The growth in both domestic and foreign investment in R&D implies that China will improve its position in global economic and technological competition. However, it is unclear to the rest of the world about the implications of China's rising R&D and whether or not China can capture the value from the presence of foreign R&D centres. We conclude that issues related to China's science and technology development in general and foreign R&D in China in particular warrant more research in the future.     

Strategic customer development in China

With a population of 1.2 billion people, the People's Republic of China will be a driving economic force in the 21st century. This article will provide examples of the pertinent issues in any strategic customer development effort in China and discusses current sales, marketing and strategic customer development opportunities in China. The article is based on the author's visits and interviews at corporations and organizations including Motorola's offices in Tianjin and Beijing as recently as June 1996 and on the authors survey of various corporations and organizations conducting business in China and other global markets.     

The Rise of China and East Asian Export Performance: Is the Crowding‐Out Fear Warranted?

This paper examines how China's emergence as a major trading nation is affecting export performance of its East Asian neighbours. Following a stage‐setting overview of trends and patterns of China's export performance, it probes China competition in third country markets and emerging patterns of imports. The East Asian export experience is examined in a wider global context against the backdrop of the ongoing process of global production sharing. The findings indicate that the ‘China threat’ has been vastly exaggerated in the contemporary policy debate. China's rapid market penetration in traditional labour‐intensive manufactured goods has occurred mostly at the expense of the high‐wage East Asian countries, without crowding‐out the export opportunities of low‐wage countries in the region. More importantly, China's rapid integration into global production networks as a major assembly centre has created new opportunities for the other East Asian countries to engage in various segments of the value chain in line with their comparative advantage.     

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone: Background,Developments and Preliminary Assessment of Initial Impacts

The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (SPFTZ) founded one year ago is a trial for China's new round of reform and opening up, which has promised liberalisation on the capital account and trade facilitation as its main objectives. Here, we discuss why China adopted such a pilot zone after three decades of economic development, and explore what the differences are between the SPFTZ and other free trade areas, and developments of the SPFTZ in the past year. We also make a preliminary assessment of the SPFTZ's initial impacts, especially of its impact on China's capital account opening and financial liberalisation. It is possible that the successful practice of the SPFTZ and more pilot policies replicated in China will give rise to a more balanced Chinese economy in the following decade.     

“十三五”期间我国组织或共同发起的国际大科学计划和大科学工程发展状况与对策

国际大科学计划/工程兼具科学属性与工程属性。组织实施该类计划或工程是一个国家的科技实力与国际竞争力的重要体现。我国曾大量参与国际大科学计划和大科学工程，不过发挥牵头和主导作用的却寥寥无几。国务院印发的《“十三五”国家科技创新规划》对组织实施国际大科学计划和大科学工程作出战略部署。本文在对“十三五”时期我国牵头组织国际大科学计划、大科学工程的成效与影响进行总体评估的基础上，分析实施过程中存在的问题与挑战，并对我国“十四五”时期如何加强国际大科学计划和工程提出政策建议，以期为提高我国的科技创新能力提供启示。     

国际碳贸易价格波动对可再生能源投资的影响机制——基于实物期权理论的分析

有效利用可再生能源是促进节能减排实现绿色循环经济的重要手段。目前,可再生能源技术成本仍高于传统能源技术,因而需要获得额外的经济激励以增加其投资。《京都议定书》所建立的国际碳贸易体系是支持发展中国家实现碳减排的重要机制,但该贸易体系发展前景不明确,这将深刻影响我国可再生能源投资。本文分析和揭示了国际碳贸易体系的不确定性对可再生能源投资决策的影响,在此基础上提出了分别存在于可再生能源项目前期规划阶段和项目建设阶段的增长期权和延迟期权;通过构建两阶段期权模型研究国际碳价格波动下企业延迟投资的灵活性,并量化确定可再生能源项目投资期权价值,采用Monte-Carlo仿真分析法进一步验证模型,推导得出国际碳价格波动对可再生能源项目投资的作用机制。     

Transformation of China's sovereign wealth fund since the 2008‐2009 global crisis

China Investment Corporation (CIC) transformed its initial investment strategy of focusing mainly on the US financial sector during 2007‐2008 into a new strategy of diversified investments across geography and sectors since 2009. Massive financial losses and domestic political backlash during the global financial crisis of 2008 gave impetus to CIC's rethinking of strategy. In the midst of the crisis, CIC engineered a capacity‐building and reorganization exercise to reposition itself for a new strategy that has since allowed for more diversification of investments. A more receptive global investment climate for sovereign wealth funds has also aided CIC's efforts to present itself as a responsible global investor and facilitated its investments. Postcrisis, CIC's new strategy of diversification is characterized by continued investments in the financial sector, but with new investments increasingly directed to real sectors of energy, natural resources, and real estate in both developed and emerging economies. Notwithstanding a global recovery that is fraught with uncertainties, CIC's judicious timing in making diversified investments, and its attention to reducing risks and enhancing returns, have been rewarded by an impressive turnaround in performance since 2009. Going forward, the success and sustainability of the new strategy will be contingent on how well CIC can navigate domestic bureaucratic rivalry and the shifting climate of the international investment environment in the medium to long term. Ultimately, CIC's shareholder, the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), holds the key to its future direction and goals. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

商业银行偿付能力风险、流动性风险与银行体系风险

宏观审慎监管需要微观基础.研究商业银行偿付能力风险与流动性风险和银行体系风险的关系,有助于监管当局制定合适的监管工具,有效管理银行业的系统性风险.中国未曾爆发过真正意义的银行业危机,因而研究影响银行业系统性风险的因素成为难题.在借鉴风险二维定义属性基础上,本文对商业银行偿付能力风险和流动性风险如何影响银行业稳定进行了实证分析.分析结果表明,当商业银行偿付能力上升时,银行风险承担会上升,进而增加银行倒闭的预期损失;商业银行流动性风险的上升也会增加银行倒闭的预期损失;商业银行偿付能力提高时,流动性风险会降低;商业银行流动性风险上升时,偿付能力风险也上升.     

EDITORIAL

ABSTRACT

The presence of Chinese companies in international markets has increased, and one of their main challenges is to overcome the negative image that Chinese products have in many countries. This study aims to shed light on how sociopsychological determinants affect the perceived attractiveness of Chinese products in Germany, using a sociopsychological approach based on social identity theory and social learning theory. The results indicate that the individual's age, level of education, occupational status, and international experience have significant effects on the perceived attractiveness of Chinese products, whereas the individual's international experience in China does not show such effects. Significant differences between different product categories are revealed.     

Business ethics in China and Iceland—Contrasts and convergence

It is generally accepted that cultural differences affect individuals' approaches to ethics, but how are the effects of culture manifested in perceptions of ethics? Further, how are cultural differences displayed in such ethics-related actions as recommendations for business ethics education? Managers' responses from two starkly different cultures, China and Iceland, reveal, somewhat surprisingly, that one group's top business ethics concerns and business ethics education recommendations are at the bottom of the other group's rankings, and vice-versa, yet each appears reasonable given the cultural background. This shows how nuanced the expression of cultural differences in the realm of ethics can be and how potential practical steps may rely on perceived “top” ethical issues. Together, these findings imply that there is more to explore about the role of culture on ethical reasoning and behavior than researchers have examined to date. We provide suggestions for further research and practical applications.