ESG scores and target price accuracy: Evidence from sell-side recommendations in BRICS

ESG profiling of a firm reflects its exposure to various environmental, social, and governance factors, which influence the business dynamics and impact the valuation metrics. In this paper, we evaluate the relationship between ESG scores and the target price precision of sell-side analysts. We employ four different constructs of forecast accuracy on a comprehensive sample of firms with analyst coverage in the BRICS between 2011 and 2021. The results demonstrate that the ESG score positively impacts the target price accuracy, and firms with higher ESG scores have lower forecast errors. The findings remained robust even after segregating the sample based on buy, hold, and sell recommendations. Finally, we report that within ESG, environmental and governance factors largely explain the forecast accuracy while the social aspects were insignificant. The results also suggest that the precision of sell-side analysts is persistent across periods. These findings have important implications for investors.     

“一带一路”倡议下中国与西亚贸易潜力研究--基于引力模型的实证分析

西亚地处亚欧非交界地带,自古以来就是丝绸之路的重要组成部分,广泛开展与西亚各国的经贸关系对“一带一路”建设具有重要意义。本文以中国与西亚各国的进出口贸易数据为基础,利用扩展的贸易引力模型分析了中国与西亚各国的贸易潜力,测算了双边贸易效率。实证结果表明:双方人均GDP、西亚各国的人口规模和区域贸易协定可以显著促进双边贸易,双边距离和中国的人口规模会阻碍贸易发展。据此建议中国在与西亚贸易往来时,应注重优化贸易结构、加强区域合作、发展港口运输和基础设施建设以及防范贸易风险。     

Macroprudential policy and household wealth inequality: Evidence from China

The influence of LTV ceiling on household wealth inequality is not constant. This paper finds that when the return on housing investment is higher than the return on liquid assets, the LTV ceiling generally has a negative impact on household wealth inequality; otherwise, it is more likely to be positive. Increasing the LTV ceiling can significantly alleviate household wealth inequality in China. Housing price and the number of houses purchased are important channels, and the house purchase preference (savings rate and house purchase intention) plays a key role in regulating wealth distribution through the LTV ceiling.     

Green technological progress,agricultural modernization,and wage inequality: Lessons from China

Green technological progress (GTP) is crucial for environmental protection and economic growth in China. Over the past decades, China made huge GTP which exerts a far-reaching consequence on economic and social development. However, a paucity of research investigates the distributional effect of GTP. Meanwhile, we incorporate agricultural producer service sector into a three-sector general equilibrium model to reflect the modernization of small-scale agriculture. The agricultural producer service sector that acts as an intermediate sector can facilitate the utilization of intermediate inputs indirectly. To desalinate this process, a two-layer vertical production structure is established: parts of manufacturing goods are utilized by the service sector, outputs of which are intermediate inputs that could substitute labor in agriculture. Theoretical analysis shows that GTP increases both wage of skilled labor and unskilled labor. Nevertheless, GTP generates a greater impact on the wage of skilled labor than unskilled labor, leading to widening income disparity. Then, we examine the impact of GTP on wage inequality using a balanced panel data covering 30 provincial units in China during 2000–2019. In line with our theoretical conjecture, we find strong supportive evidences that GTP significantly widens the wage inequality.     

Managers as the bridge: How cultural friction influences the integration of cross-border mergers and acquisitions

Going beyond cultural distance, the present study adopts a more contextualized view of cultural friction to account for the “actual cultural contacts” in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs), and meanwhile builds a case-based measure of cultural friction to quantitatively capture the country- and deal-level cultural differences between the acquirer and the target in each CBMA. Differing from the existing research that takes the influence of cultural differences on CBMA performance for granted, we highlight the importance of managers from the acquiring firm by theorizing that cultural friction between the acquirer and the target can shape acquiring managers' choice of managerial practices to complete the managerial tasks during integration, leading to different performance. In particular, we postulate a curvilinear relationship between the cultural friction and CBMA performance. By incorporating regulatory focus theory into our analytical framework, we further hypothesize how this curve is shaped by managers’ regulatory focus, a key motivational trait at the firm management level. Using a sample of 304 completed CBMAs conducted by Chinese listed firms, our empirical results verify the U-shaped relationship between cultural friction and the CBMA integration performance, and suggest that this relationship is flattened by acquiring managers’ prevention focus.     

Does justice affect brand advocacy? Online brand advocacy behaviors as a response to hotel customers’ justice perceptions

This study focuses on customers' information-sharing behavior in the context of online brand advocacy behavior regarding hotel brands. We aim to explain hotel customers' online brand advocacy behavior through three-sided justice evaluations (i.e., justice for employees, justice for the self, and global belief in a just world), and their hotel satisfaction. Hypotheses are tested by using survey data acquired from 688 individuals on Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that customers' perceptions of justice for the self positively affect their hotel satisfaction, perceptions of justice for employees and the global belief in a just world positively affect online brand advocacy behavior, and hotel satisfaction also positively affects online brand advocacy behavior. We expand current research efforts on online brand advocacy research and provide theoretical and managerial implications for the development of marketing and management research and practice.     

Personalized managerial response and negative inconsistent review helpfulness: The mediating effect of perceived response helpfulness

Understanding the effect of managerial response on online review management has attracted the attention of scholars in recent years. However, the effect of personalized managerial response on the negative inconsistent review is a lack of evidence. This study investigates how personalized managerial responses influence negative review helpfulness according to the various levels of review inconsistency and the underlying mechanism behind the effect. We adopted a secondary data analysis based on the TripAdvisor dataset and used an online experiment study to investigate the impact mechanism. Findings reveal that the personalized managerial response positively influences review helpfulness, review inconsistency (negative rating with positive textual sentiment) moderates the effect of personalized managerial response on review helpfulness, and perceived response helpfulness mediates the above relationships. More specifically, personalized managerial response to negative inconsistent reviews has a pronounced effect on consumers’ perception of response helpfulness and their evaluation of review helpfulness. This study improves the current understanding of managerial responses, and provides practical guidance for hoteliers, consumers, and travel websites.     

An emerging market multinational Company's internationalization: From original equipment manufacturer to global brand leader

We examine an emerging market multinational company's (EMNC's) transformation from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to an original brand manufacturer (OBM) and global leader. Our longitudinal study of Hisense—China's largest TV company (and the world's third largest) spans three decades and involves detailed interviews with over 50 executives. We study how the company's global value chain network evolved, how it reconfigured its organization, upgraded its capabilities, and enhanced its brand reputation. We develop propositions that may contribute to improved explanations for an EMNC's internationalization sequence, development of competitive advantages, overseas management practices, and brand building.     

山西省农业生态经济系统协调发展及障碍因子分析

目的 以山西省为例,探究其农业生态经济系统协调发展水平、演变规律以及限制因素,对加快山西省农业全要素融合、促进农业高质量可持续发展具有重要意义。方法 文章综合运用熵值法、耦合协调发展模型和限制因子识别模型,从山西省市两级分别分析2010—2020年农业资源利用—生态环境—经济发展系统（REE系统）耦合协调度和障碍因子,探究其发展水平、演变规律以及限制因素。结果 （1）研究期间全省层面农业REE系统处于较低至中等水平,变化趋势是先降低后增加。其中农业经济发展有所提升,生态环境得到一定改善,但资源利用水平呈现下降趋势。耦合协调等级：2010—2012年轻度失调,2013—2016年进入濒临失调阶段,2017—2020年提升为勉强协调。（2）区域层面,以太原市发展水平最高,并向轻度协调发展过渡;阳泉市和运城市表现为最低水平;其他地区为较低水平。变化趋势以太原市、大同市增速稳定,忻州市、临汾市和吕梁市3市发展波动性较大。耦合协调等级：太原市、大同市、长治市3市为勉强协调型;晋城市、晋中市2市为濒临失调型;其他6市均为轻度失调型。（3）障碍因子识别包含13个主要指标。结论 山西省农业REE系统整体水平为较低到中等,耦合度高,耦合协调度相对低,协调等级逐年优化,表现为有序发展趋势。近年来山西省农业资源型经济转型取得一定进展,但资源对经济发展的支撑作用正在减弱,约束作用开始突显,尤其表现在产业结构、水资源、耕地资源、环境污染和治理等方面,区域尤以晋西南地区的吕梁市、临汾市和运城市为重,产业结构优化和资源环境改善等发展模式有待加强。     

中国金融发展的空间非均衡与极化研究

以中国31个省份1978-2008年数据为样本,以金融相关比率为指标,对中国金融发展的空间非均衡特征与极化进行实证研究后发现:地理信息系统(GIS)的可视化方法,直观地表明了中国金融发展具有显著的空间非均衡特征;基尼系数测度及其分解表明,在样本考察期内,中国金融发展空间分布的总体差距呈现扩大趋势,其中地区间差距是中国金融发展地区差距的主要来源;金融发展极化程度测度结果表明,在样本考察期内,中国金融发展的空间极化程度呈现明显的递增趋势,组内聚合程度和组间对抗强度的不断上升成为金融发展极化程度上升的主要来源。