Globalization and affordability of microfinance

We study how globalization can differentially affect financial inclusion through the lens of microfinance. Based on an institutional logics perspective, we argue that MFIs embody both social logic and market logic with regard to provision of affordable microfinance loans. Speicially, social logic is amplified by greater social globalization and the stronger presence of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in the microfinance industry. In contrast, economic globalization catalyzes MFIs' market logic, leading to weaker or greater affordability of microfinance, depending on the relative strength of the profit-maximizing motive and real competition. We test these predictions by focusing on MFI interest-rate setting and using longitudinal data from 2030 MFI observations across 50 countries from 2002 to 2012. We find that country-level social globalization measure is negatively associated with the average MFI loan interest rates and that country-level economic globalization measure has an inverse U-shaped relationship with the average MFI loan interest rates. These results support our hypotheses and suggest a more nuanced view on how globalization affects affordability of microfinance.     

Revisiting the risk-return relation in the Chinese stock market: Decomposition of risk premium and volatility feedback effect

The empirical results of the risk-return relationship are mixed for both mature and merging markets. In this paper, we develop a new volatility model to revisit the risk-return relation of the aggregate stock market index by extending the Realized GARCH model of Hansen et al. (2012) with the Wang and Yang (2013) framework, in which the overall risk-return relation is decomposed into a risk premium and a volatility feedback effect. An empirical analysis of three major Chinese stock indices reveals positive risk premium and negative volatility feedback effect, and those findings are stable across different markets and sub-samples. However, their relative magnitudes differ between markets and varies through time.     

粮食中镉含量测定方法初探:以石墨炉原子吸收分光光度计法为例

笔者长期从事粮食中镉污染检验工作,大量实践经验表明,虽然原子吸收仪的品牌、型号各不相同,但应用原理、结构大致相同。本文以石墨炉原子吸收分光光度计法对粮食中镉的含量的检测为例进行说明,发现试样前处理、试剂空白、使用试剂、回收实验及在操作过程中的对仪器的处理等对检测结果均会产生直接影响。为确保检测结果准确性,本文对检测过程中影响检测结果的各注意事项进行了分析总结,希望能对从事镉污染检测工作的人员提供理论指导和借鉴。     

Does IFRS Adoption Increase the Accuracy of Chinese Analysts’ Forecasts?

This article investigates the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on the accuracy of Chinese analysts’ earnings forecasts. We find that after IFRS adoption, the accuracy of Chinese analysts’ forecasts decreases rather than increasing as they do in developed countries documented by the extant literature. Further investigation finds that this decrease is associated with a fair value measurement of financial assets held for trading. Our finding provides empirical evidence supporting the argument that the effectiveness of IFRS adoption could be negative in a developing country depending on its setting and fair value measurement brought about by IFRS could contribute to the negative effect in this setting.     

Shanxi Merchants’ Multilevel Financial System in Ming and Qing Dynasties,China

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368–1911), China saw rapid development in industrial and commercial sectors. Over this period, a group of merchants originating from the inland province of Shanxi gradually built a multilevel financial system and became leaders in China’s banking sector. The system of financial institutions they established (pawnshops, seal shops, money shops, loan banks, and draft banks) each had a unique business model, with specific target client group and carefully designed risk management. They were also interconnected to allow for flexible capital flows, contributing to the fast economic growth in this period. Nevertheless, the traditional system also had limitations, leading to its replacement by modern banks eventually.     

试析德沃金对司法能动主义的批判——宪法解释视角

德沃金的法律解释学说是本世纪重要的法律学说,其宪法的道德解释是不同于司法能动主义支持者解释路径,通过对原意主义批判和宪法道德解释证成两个方面对司法能动主义进行批判。     

价值共创行为分析框架构建 ——基于赋能理论视角

通过文献调查并结合案例的描述性分析,提出数字技术时代价值网络中不同行为主体之间的赋能内涵、关键维度以及基于赋能跨层次效应的价值共创行为分析框架。将"赋能氛围""主体赋能"分别作为价值网络中赋能的宏观维度和微观维度进行概念化。界定了两个维度的关键组成要素,分别包括信息共享、开放性结构、协同规则以及主体关系、资源整合和影响。构建了赋能的跨层次效应模型,分析了赋能的宏观-微观跨层次效应及其对价值网络生态和主体价值创造的影响。     

城乡居民长期照护服务质量评价研究

满足失能老年人多元照护服务需求、提升照护服务质量是当前亟待解决的问题.通过对顾客感知服务质量模型修订,构建了城乡居民长期照护服务质量评价指标体系.采取多阶段分层整群抽样与简单随机抽样相结合的方法在上海市、青岛市、长春市和南通市四个试点城市获取301份失能老年人数据,利用模糊综合评价法对城乡居民长期照护服务质量进行评价.研究发现,城乡居民长期照护服务质量总体上得到了一定程度的认可,但还有较大提升空间,尤其在有形性和有效性维度.城市地区城乡居民长期照护服务质量明显高于乡镇地区.基于研究结果,提出了关注老年人精神世界、专业定制个性化服务方案、推广智能化长期照护服务设施、完善长期照护服务监督机制和大力推进城乡长期照护服务均等化等对策建议.     

Opening the Black Box of Upper Echelons in China: TMT Attributes and Strategic Flexibility

Many scholars have suggested that strategic flexibility is a critical firm capability to survive in today's competitive arena. The decision to take strategic actions to make the firm more strategically flexible typically originates in the top management team (TMT). As the principal decision‐making unit of the firm, TMT members' information acquisition and processing capabilities and subsequent interpretation of environmental changes critically influence the decision to make the firm more strategically flexible to achieve a better fit with its market environment. Therefore, in order to understand how firms can adapt to environmental changes, scholars must study the sociopsychological processes of interaction among members of the TMT. This study examines the relationships between TMT's sociopsychological attributes (shared vision, social integration, and political ties) and strategic flexibility, which is decomposed into organizational flexibility and technological flexibility. The study further investigates how the level of competitive intensity can moderate the relationships. All the hypotheses are tested using structural equation models based on the survey data from 227 firms in China. The results show that organizational flexibility mediates the impact of TMT's social integration and political ties on technological flexibility. Surprisingly, a TMT's shared vision for the firm neither impedes nor facilitates the firm's effort in attaining the desired degree of organizational flexibility. However, TMT's shared vision does have a positive and direct impact on technological flexibility. Moreover, intense competition amplifies the positive impact of TMT social integration on the degree of organizational flexibility, but there is no significant moderating effect of competitive intensity on the relationship between a TMT's political ties and organizational flexibility. The results extend previous research by highlighting the importance of TMTs' sociopsychological attributes in driving technological flexibility, through the mediating impact of organizational flexibility.