The Effect of Board Characteristics on a Firm＇s Strategic Change

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between the characteristics of the board of directors and strategic change of a firm in the Chinese context. In this study, strategic change is defined as strategic deviation relative to industry norms and strategic variation relative to historical experiences. The size, independence and leadership structure of the board of directors are defined as the board characteristics. We then propose hypotheses on the effects of board characteristics on a firm＇s strategic change. This study takes strategic resource allocation profile as measure to calculate strategic deviation and strategic variation, and then empirically tests and verifies the hypotheses using data from Chinese publicly listed companies in the information technology industry from the year 2006 to 2010. We find that the size, independence and leadership structure of the board of directors significantly affect both strategic deviation and strategic variation. Therefore, we conclude that board characteristic affects a firm＇s strategic change. The conclusion of the study indicates that moderate reductions in the size of the board, increasing the proportion of independent directors and separating the roles of chairman and chief executive officer can facilitate promoting the process of strategic change for a firm in a dynamic environment. Through this study we re-examine the role and significance of the board of directors in strategic decision-making for a firm, and provide useful suggestions on how to form a board that can meet the needs for strategic change for a firm in a dynamic business environment.     

A hybrid information approach to predict corporate credit risk

This study proposes a hybrid information approach to predict corporate credit risk. In contrast to the previous literature that debates which credit risk model is the best, we pool information from a diverse set of structural and reduced‐form models to produce a model combination based on credit risk prediction. Compared with each single model, the pooled strategies yield consistently lower average risk prediction errors over time. We also find that while the reduced‐form models contribute more in the pooled strategies for speculative‐grade names and longer maturities, the structural models have higher weights for shorter maturities and investment grade names.     

农户生态耕种行为及其影响因素研究*——以江西省为例

[目的]为清晰识别影响农户生态耕种行为的主要因素,以期为加强耕地生态保护、保障农作物质量安全、提升农户耕种收益、实现农业现代化目标提供参考。[方法]基于江西省11市47县(区)1488份农户微观调查数据,在分析农户生态耕种特征基础上,运用二元Logistic和Probit模型对农户生态耕种行为影响因素开展实证研究。[结果]农户生态耕种10种具体行为的采纳情况差异明显,其中施用有机肥采纳程度最高,生态农业模式采纳程度最低。农户采纳生态耕种整体水平不高,但仍具备进一步推广的潜力。家庭劳动力比重、生态耕种成本认知、新型农业经营主体、法律法规认知、生态耕种收益认知、生计分化和生态环境认知等解释变量是影响农户生态耕种行为的主要内部因素,政府补贴、农田基础设施、生产交流程度、耕地质量变化和生态耕种信息获取难度等则是主要的外部影响因素。[结论]政府及基层管理部门应在推动农户非农就业生计、大力培育新型农业经营主体、加强生态耕种宣传与推广、完善政策扶持与管控机制等方面制定针对性的政策措施。     

国有产权、公司特征与困境公司绩效

尽管众多研究表明国有产权在公司正常经营期间会降低绩效,但一旦陷入财务困境,源于国有产权的预算软约束却可以降低财务困境成本,从而有利于国有公司。本文以1999—2005年期间发生财务困境的上市公司为研究对象,发现在财务困境期间国有产权对公司绩效具有积极影响,并且当公司规模较小或者财务杠杆较高时,这种积极作用更为明显。     

美国货币政策转向及其背后的逻辑

2007年爆发的金融危机对美国金融系统与实体经济造成了严重冲击.为摆脱危机及刺激增长与就业,美国货币政策发生了五大转向:一是货币政策工具由“常规”转向“非常规”;二是货币政策内容由“有限”转向“无限”;三是货币政策职能由“支持经济”转向“服务财政”;四是货币政策操作领域由“金融市场”转向“实体经济”;五是货币政策效果由“降低风险”转向“放大风险”.美国货币政策发生转向有其背后的深层逻辑,即:美元霸权体系的存在-美国政府积累巨大债务-美联储对传统规则的突破-通过实施量化宽松将债务货币化.     

农村支付服务环境调查及建议——以钦州市为例

在当前新农村建设的大背景下,如何优化农村支付服务环境,改善支付服务质量值得关注.本文试从钦州市农村实际出发,对支付服务环境存在的"三少二多"现象进行分析,在此基础上提出完善农村支付服务环境建设的相关建议.     

广东县域经济发展的约束与突破

广东县域经济总体上相对滞后于浙江、江苏和山东,滞后的重要原因在于县域经济的集聚效应大于扩散效应,外源式经济模式发展到一定阶段后其示范效应小于挤出效应,县域经济内源式发展模式要受到外源式模式的冲击。发展广东县域经济,要突破资金动员瓶颈和产业结构调整乏力的制肘,制度创新是首要选择。     

中国上市公司股权分置改革中的利益分配研究

本文通过模型推导和实证分析探讨非流通股东和流通股东在股权分置改革中的利益分配状况,结果发现,在完成股改的公司中,大部分样本公司的两类股东在股改中获得增量收益、实现“双赢”;在流通股东和非流通股东均获得增量收益的公司中,股改的增量收益未能在两类股东间均分;非流通股比重、公司业绩、公司成长性、非流通股转成流通股份额是影响上市公司股改实际对价水平的重要因素,而流通性溢价、流通股东认可程度和非流通股转成流通股期限等因素未能在实际对价水平的确定上起到关键性作用。     

Tourist experience of nature in contemporary China: a cultural divergence approach

The study of Chinese nature tourism is a relatively independent research realm which adopts a cultural perspective to study the tourist experience. Chinese tourists are regarded as being accustomed to experiencing nature through associating it with high culture such as landscape poetry and paintings, calligraphy, and so on, and the impacts of traditional popular culture are seldom addressed. Yet, for the majority of Chinese, popular culture has significant influences on their behavior. From a cultural divergence approach, this paper chooses Huangshan Mountain as a case to investigate the way common Chinese people experience nature, and it is found that cultural impacts are differentiated, since neither cultures nor tourist groups are homogeneous. Specifically, tourists can be classified into classicists and folklorists according to whether they have professional knowledge about the traditional arts. As the majority of Chinese are folklorists and are largely neglected in the research, they are the main interest of this study. High culture has a weak impact on folklorists because they lack professional knowledge to associate with nature through high culture. It is popular culture that strongly influences folklorists’ behaviors in their drawing farfetched analogies to nature and praying to nature.