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.     

扩大农村消费的制度性障碍及对策研究

通过扩大内需拉动经济增长是我国宏观调控的重要手段和目标之一,然而农村消费市场却迟迟难以启动。目前,城乡二元的分配制度、社会保障制度、金融制度、就业制度和不健全的农村土地流转制度、农业保险制度,已成为制约农民消费需求扩大的主要原因。因此,应创新和完善相关制度,持续提高农民收入水平,不断增强农民消费能力,从根本上解决农民消费需求不足问题。     

Critical consumer issues in St. Lucia: an examination of consumer challenges and related learning among rural adults according to income levels

Consumer education is a relatively new and growing interest in St. Lucia. Neither the government nor the National Consumer Association has established a consumer education programme to address the growing consumer concerns in the country. The purpose of this study was to examine critical consumer issues, related learning challenges and strategies among rural adults in St. Lucia according to income levels. Rural adult consumers are most disadvantaged in terms of levels of education, income and access to resources, which may help to prevent and mediate consumer concerns. The specific research questions examined were: (1) What is the nature of problems experienced by rural St. Lucian adult consumers in the marketplace? (2) How do rural St. Lucian adult consumers solve the challenges they encounter in the marketplace? (3) What is it like for rural St. Lucian adult consumers as they go about trying to learn to solve the consumer issues they face? and (4) What do rural St. Lucian adult consumers perceive to be the requisites for effective decision making in the marketplace? Data were collected using a questionnaire comprising of 29 questions divided into four sections (problems, strategies, solving consumer problems and making effective decisions) and two biographical questions. A total of 500 rural adult consumers were surveyed verbally through door‐to‐door contact. The findings of this study revealed that middle‐income rural adult consumers experience more problems in the marketplace than those with each lower or higher level of income. Middle‐income rural adult St. Lucian consumers in particular seek more information and are comfortable with using more strategies than the lower‐ and higher‐income rural adult consumers. This research gives us a better understanding of the problems faced by rural adult consumers based on their income. Research results will be useful to the government of St. Lucia and the National Consumer Association when they decide to establish an adult consumer education programme for St. Lucia.     

Ghanaian exporters’ international experience and performance: the mediating role of export commitment

The existing literature provides mixed findings regarding the impact of international experience on export performance. One of the reasons for these mixed findings could be the intervening mechanisms that influence international experience – export performance relationships. We examine one factor, namely export commitment. Drawing from the resource-based view, we examine how the interaction between international experience and export commitment enhances export performance. Based on a sample of 116 Ghanaian exporting firms, the findings suggest that export commitment significantly mediates the association between international experience and export performance. We make two key contributions: first, we provide understanding of how international experience contributes to export performance – through enhancing export commitment. Second, we provide evidence from an under researched geographical context, namely Ghana. Thus, we extend the existing literature to sub-Saharan African countries.     

Marketspace and the Internationalisation Process of the Small Firm

This empirical study explores the potential impact of the marketspace—the virtual world of digitised information—on the process of internationalisation within small technology-based firms (STBFs). Research findings demonstrate several effects relating to the firm's increased use of the marketspace for international business activities. In relation to internal resource-related effects, increased marketspace use is associated with: a stronger internal resource-base for international operations; and higher levels of internal international business information. Moreover, in relation to external resource-related effects, increased marketspace use is associated with: an increase in the firm's international orientation; an increase in the range and diversity of international business contacts; and an increase in unsolicited orders from foreign markets. This study confirms that the entrepreneur's prior Internet experience is a critical factor influencing use of the marketspace to support the firm's international operations. Similarly, organisational use of the marketspace (influenced by the previous experience of the entrepreneur) impacts upon certain aspects of the firm's internationalisation behaviour. Despite the significance of these findings, the marketspace is neither a replacement for traditional marketplace-based activities, nor is it a panacea that ensures effective small firm internationalisation. Complementary exploitation of both the marketspace and the traditional marketplace is likely to provide the optimal internationalisation route for small firms.     

基于城乡双向流通视角的农村物流系统优化模式及对策

农村缺乏有效的流通体系,导致农民卖和买的物流成本偏高,提高农民生活水平的瓶颈正从生产领域转向流通领域。本文在分析农村物流城乡双向流通的意义基础上,结合目前我国农村物流的特征,创新性地把农产品的"进城"物流和农资的"下乡"的物流在网络的支持下有机整合,实现物流信息和流通渠道共享,从而有效的解决农村的生产与流通、生活与流通的矛盾。     

构建双向流通低成本的模式 促进社会主义新农村建设

深化农村流通体制改革,积极开拓农村市场,是当前社会主义新农村建设的关键所在,农村双向流通低成本的模式,其核心为将分工理论运用到农村流通中,加强流通业内专业化分工,梳理农村分散流通趋向大流通,在现有的“万村千乡”工程基础上,将农产品流通纳入流通已有流通主道,在流通渠道上实现环节共用,实现了“大生产、大流通、大市场”“三位一体”的低成本流通模式。     

Business Strategy and Poverty Alleviation

Currently, entrepreneurs and corporations overwhelmingly do not view the alleviation of global poverty as a strategic priority. Yet business activity can have a negative as well as a positive effect on each distinctive form of poverty. In order to reduce poverty, entrepreneurs have to find ways of limiting the negative aspects. This might be achieved by deliberately augmenting strategies so that they can achieve a synthesis, in partnership with governments and NGO’s. Alan E. Singer is a reader in strategy at the university of Canterbury. He was the 2004/5 Aram chair of Business Ethics at Gonzaga. He is author of Strategy as Rationality (Avebury), Co editor (with Pat Werhane) of Business Ethics in Theory and Practice (Kluwer) and editor of Business Ethics and Strategy (Ashgate, forthcoming). He has written journal articles on many aspects of strategy and decision making and has served on the editorial boards of Journal of Business Ethics (to 2003), Human Systems Management, Journal of International Entrepreneurship, African Journal of Business Ethics and the Journal of Economic Development and Business Policy.     

Time and Internationalisation Theoretical Challenges Set by Rapid Internationalisation

The internationalisation process of firms has accelerated during the last few decades. Firms start their export operations earlier than before, and they reach a higher level of internationalisation more quickly than ever. All this constitutes a challenge to the theoretical basis that underlies studies of the internationalisation process.The time concept has a crucial role in today's appraisal of internationalisation research. The overall developments in internationalisation, the critiques and various time theories are moving research into the process away from the western idea of time (linear time in a positive direction) towards a more primitive notion (cyclical time with no fixed direction). This also challenges the applicability of traditional stages models. This paper focuses on export-adoption models.     

社会主义新农村建设中优化农村公共物品供给的意义及对策

农村公共物品供给问题长期以来一直倍受人们关注。虽然目前我国农村公共物品供给不足状况得以缓和,但是在许多方面仍然存在不足。农村公共物品供给优化问题对于新农村建设有着重大意义,有利于生产发展、农民增收,有利于改善村貌、促进农村精神文明建设。因此,优化农村公共物品供给对于实现社会主义新农村建设的宏伟目标起着巨大的推动作用。     

The Impact of Psychic Distance on the Internationalisation of the Australian Firm

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between management characteristics and psychic distance, psychic distance and internationalisation and management characteristics and internationalisation. It is argued that internationalisation takes different forms and that psychic distance will impact differently on each form whether it is outward, inward or linked. It is shown that whereas some management characteristics impact on internationalisation directly, others have impact through psychic distance acting as an intervening variable. The management implications for the above are discussed, as is its effect on planning future international activities.     

浅析信息不对称对农村市场的影响

传统的新古典经济学是以对称信息假设勾前提的。但在现实的市场中,信息不对称现象随处可见,并 带来了许多新的经济问题。在农村经济中,因为信息不对称也给农村消费市场和农产品市场带来了影响,所 以必须采取相应的政策措施来解决这一问题。     

Buying behaviour of rural and urban consumers in India: the impact of packaging

This study aims to establish whether the residential background of consumers has a varying influence on their buying decisions. A survey of 1090 urban and rural respondents was carried out of which 523 were rural and 567 were urban. The gathered data were analysed by applying counts, percentages, means, and analysis of variance. Rural residents found that packaging is more helpful in buying, that better packaging contains a better product and that they are more influenced by the ease of storing a package than their urban counterparts. Ease of carriage, package weight, simplicity, transparency and similarity of packaging have comparatively less impact on purchase decisions of rural consumers than urban ones. However, rural consumers are more critical about packaging as they strongly consider that it contributes to misleading buyers and is also an environmental hazard.     

The International Entrepreneurial Decision of UK SMEs to Discontinue Overseas Activities: A Research Note Reporting Practices Within the Clothing Industry Eighteen Months on

Findings from a follow-up study to an investigation concerning reasons why a sample of firms discontinued export activities and perceptions towards assistance that may motivate them to recommence overseas activities in the future are discussed in this article. A longitudinal, qualitative perspective is provided that contributes to knowledge at the international marketing/entrepreneurship interface by reporting on their business activities 18 months after the initial study was undertaken. Analysis establishes that differences exist between two groups of firms that had indicated in the original study that their discontinuation of exporting was a short-term measure compared with those that viewed the decision as longer term. Recommendations for policy makers in the provision of trade assistance programmes are offered as a result of the study.     

Barriers to Internationalisation: A Study of Entrepreneurial New Ventures in New Zealand

This paper presents the findings of a study of the perceptions of the barriers to internationalisation by 561 New Zealand Entrepreneurial New Ventures (ENVs). Significant differences in the perception of the barriers are identified according to the level of international activity of New Zealand ENVs. Exporters and likely exporters consider the main barriers to internationalisation to be finance and cost-related factors. A lack of New Zealand government incentives are also seen to be major barriers for these two groups with likely exporters also perceiving their lack of international experience to be a hindrance. By comparison non-exporters perceive firm size to be the biggest barrier to internationalisation followed by a lack of market knowledge and experience. Industry was found to have no influence on the perception of barriers to internationalisation, however, firm size does have an impact.