Political connections and privatization: Evidence from China

We examine how the political connections of acquirers influence the process and outcomes of privatization in China. We find that politically connected acquirers receive preferential treatment and acquire higher quality firms during full privatization, and document evidence of post-privatization tunneling from target firms to acquirers. We show that the excessive tunneling by politically connected acquirers is associated with lower performance after privatization. Overall, our results suggest that individuals are likely to abuse their political connections to exploit the opportunities arising from privatization. We recommend that policymakers constrain the influence of political connections in the privatization process.     

Love my selfie: selfies in managing impressions on social networks

This study aims to provide insights on personal branding and impression management practices in the context of selfie production and sharing on online social networking sites (oSNSs). The theoretical framework of the study was constructed according to Goffman’s ‘Dramaturgy Theory’ and Belk’s ‘Digital Extended Self’ theory. Four constructs; de-materialization of photography, co-construction of the self, sharing economy of digital media and online social networks, and distributed memory were included in the study. The results of the literature review were further explained according to the production and consumption of selfies. This study provides detailed information about how selfies can be used as a mediator for purposes of self-extension and personal branding. Even though selfies are seen as an everyday activity and a raw presentation of the subject, they also include extra contextual information about the subject. The results of the study exert that selfies shared online can be used as a tool for impression management in oSNSs.     

Employee Treatment and Bank Default Risk during the Credit Crisis

Journal of Financial Services Research - We examine whether banks’ interest in the well-being of their workforce, measured by an index of employee relations strengths, explains their default...     

Nowcasting GDP using machine-learning algorithms: A real-time assessment

Can machine-learning algorithms help central banks understand the current state of the economy? Our results say yes! We contribute to the emerging literature on forecasting macroeconomic variables using machine-learning algorithms by testing the nowcast performance of common algorithms in a full ‘real-time’ setting—that is, with real-time vintages of New Zealand GDP growth (our target variable) and real-time vintages of around 600 predictors. Our results show that machine-learning algorithms are able to significantly improve over a simple autoregressive benchmark and a dynamic factor model. We also show that machine-learning algorithms have the potential to add value to, and in one case improve on, the official forecasts of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.     

Controller changes and auditor changes

Using listed companies in China’s A-share market from 1997 to 2009, this paper investigates the relationship between controller changes (including changes in controlling shareholders, directors and CEOs) and auditor changes. The empirical evidence indicates that controller changes are positively related to auditor changes and that auditor changes are more likely if there are extensive controller changes. For companies in which both the controlling shareholder and the auditor change, if the successor controlling shareholder is controlled by an other-province government, the auditor is more likely to be replaced and the successor auditor is more likely to be a smaller auditor from the same province as the new controlling shareholder.     

迭代算法逼近严格伪压缩映象最小范数不动点与变分不等式解

在Hilbert空间中使用迭代格式xn＋1=（1-αn）（δTxn＋（1-δ）xn）,n≥0来研究严格伪压缩映象T的最小范数不动点问题,采用新方法证明当参数满足适当条件时,序列x{n}强收敛至严格伪压缩映象T的最小范数不动点,同时该不动点也是某变分不等式的解.其结果推广与改进了一些近代相关结果.     

国有企业相关国际规则的新发展及中国对策

随着近年来中国国有企业的国际竞争力快速增长,国际化水平显著提高,针对中国国有企业的国际争议也日益凸显。现行与国有企业相关的国际规则并未限制中国国有企业的国际化进程,但是也未能在制度上提供有力保障。而近年来发达国家所主导的国际规则谈判正在更加关注国有企业议题,并将对未来中国国有企业的国际化造成深远影响。中国应当加紧相关国际规则的研究,并积极寻求参与谈判的路径,既为中国国有企业国际化创造更为公平的制度环境,同时以此推动国有企业进一步的深化改革。     

农产品出口信贷及新框架协议下的影响与对策

W TO框架内,出口信贷、出口信贷担保及出口信用保险对国民经济与国际贸易,尤其是农产品国际贸易具有重要的意义和作用。2004年8月“多哈谈判”达成的框架协议也对此产生了深远影响。作为W TO新成员,我国对此领域的研究与实践还是空白,本文在回顾出口信贷、出口信贷担保与保险规则发展历程基础上,着力探讨W TO各主要成员国的立场与做法及面对新框架协议的应对措施。     

城市水资源可持续消费对策研究

中外实践已经证明,城市的兴衰与城市的水资源密切相关.目前,水资源的污染与短缺已成为制约我国城市经济可持续发展的重要因素,因此,研究我国城市水资源可持续消费问题已显得越来越重要.为此,本文从水需求管理、水供给管理和水资源管理体制改革等三个方面探讨了城市水资源可持续消费的问题.