Experience, environment, and subsidiary performance in high-tech MNEs

This study investigates an inverted U-shaped relationship between host country experience and subsidiary performance, and further explores the contingent relationship of host country experience and subsidiary performance under industrial and environmental contexts. In examining a sample of the 1596 Taiwan's electronics MNEs, this study finds that host country experience shows an inverted U-shaped effect on subsidiary profitability. When considering the industry similarity, this result demonstrates that the host country experience has stronger diminishing marginal returns on a focal subsidiary profitability in similar industries at high levels of experience. This study further examines the interaction effect of environmental contexts and host country experience on subsidiary profitability in similar industries, the results shows that the interaction effect of environmental difficulties and host country experience positively impacts subsidiary profitability, while the interaction effect of cultural distance and host country experience insignificantly affects on subsidiary profitability.     

跨文化导向的服务接触研究

文章首先论述了服务营销中的一个重要概念——服务接触的含义和研究的重要性,然后运用霍夫施泰德的文化维度理论重点分析了不同文化背景下服务接触的差异,最后简要阐述了对服务企业国际化的管理启示。     

A cross cultural study of the learning style of accounting students

This paper examines how individualism-collectivism, the core dimension of cultural variability, is reflected in the learning styles of accounting students in Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Australia represents the Western individualistic culture, and Hong Kong and Taiwan represent the Chinese collectivistic culture. Using Kolb's model this study shows that the learning styles of accounting students from Hong Kong and Taiwan are more abstract and reflective, as well as less concrete and active. Their Australian counterparts are more concrete and active, as well as less abstract and reflective. While the former exhibit the assimilation style, the latter represent the accommodation style.     

什么是第三产业?

什么是第三产业？第三产业是根据社会生产活动历史发展的顺序对产业结构的划分。产品直接取自自然界的部门称为第一产业；对初级产品进行再加工的部门为第二产业；为生产和消费提供各种服务的部门为第三产业，它是世界上通用的产业结构分类。其具体划分方法是：第一产业：...     

从跨文化交际的角度看深圳的国际旅游软环境

在国际旅游中,游客不仅从一国到了另一国,更从他/她所熟悉的语言文化环境到了另一陌生的语言文化环境中,游客会有生理和心理等多方面的不适应,即“文化休克”。一个城市较好的旅游软环境对于减轻游客的“文化休克”,使游客能顺利愉快地旅游有着不可忽视的作用。本文从跨文化交际的角度分析了深圳的国际旅游软环境及其问题,提出了一些建设性的对策,对打造深圳国际化旅游城市的形象有着积极的意义。     

“Take it or leave it?”: Evidence on cultural differences affecting return behaviour for Gen Z

Both culture and age have a direct impact on consumers' shopping behaviour. Similarly, this paper explores consumers’ return behaviour in two different cultural contexts, China and Italy, characterized by low/high individualism vs. high/low collectivism. To this end, the research employs a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews collected in May and June 2020 for a sample of Generation Z consumers in China and Italy. Results show differences and similarities affecting consumers' willingness to return in the different stages of effective purchase behaviour. For instance, in the pre-purchase stage, Chinese consumers often show a limited interest in return policies since they usually prefer not to return and repurchase otherwhere the product to maximize their cost-benefit trade-off. In contrast, when retailers adopt return policies, Italian consumers are more interested in feeling protected against the risk of wrong purchases. Instead, both samples are very attentive in return and refund efficiency in the post-purchase stage, which are perceived as two discriminating factors in terms of repurchase from the same retailers.This study offers theoretical and managerial insights towards consumers' return behaviour, offering new directions for future studies.     

Ancestry and international trade

This paper examines whether the relatedness of populations across the world shapes international trade flows. Using data on common ancestry for 172 countries covering more than 99% of global trade, we document that country pairs with weaker ancestral relationships are less likely to trade with each other (extensive margin) and, if they do trade, they exchange fewer goods and smaller volumes (intensive margin). The effect of ancestry is robust to a vast array of micro-geographic control variables and mitigated, yet still sizable and significant, when controlling for other measures of cultural distance as well as for current migrant stocks.     

Θ The cultural transmission of trust norms: Evidence from a lab in the field on a natural experiment

We conduct trust games in three villages in a northeastern Romanian commune. From 1775–1919, these villages were arbitrarily assigned to opposite sides of the Austrian and Ottoman/Russian border despite being located seven kilometers apart. This plausibly exogenous border assignment affected local institutions and late-18th century migration in a manner that likely also affected trust. Conditional on trust norms being affected by these centuries-old historical circumstances, our experimental design tests the degree to which such norms are transmitted intergenerationally. Consistent with theoretical predictions, we find that participants on the Austrian side that also have family roots in the village are indeed more likely to trust outsiders.     

Performance of cultural heritage institutions: A regional perspective

Most studies on performance evaluation in the cultural sector are based on the efficiency assessment of a network of institutions. Nevertheless, very few works take territorial divisions as the case study. Under this approach, we design a spatial production function which merges several cultural resources in order to optimize the impact of a regional system of cultural institutions in terms of cultural production and use of services provided. The aim of this paper is therefore to evaluate the efficiency of cultural heritage institutions in Spain from a regional perspective. We take regional networks of museums and libraries as emblematic case studies over a long period, from 2002 to 2020. We first apply a dynamic-network DEA model to measure efficiency, which allows the production function to be divided into stages and time intervals, considering inter-reliant inputs between production phases and time lapses. We also apply truncated regression models to study the effect of external variables on regional cultural efficiency, especially those related to socioeconomic conditions in regions, the scope of the cultural and tourist sector, and institutional indicators. Results show that regional cultural efficiency depends on the level of training and on the demographic structure rather than on economic wealth. Differences are also found between the goals of cultural production and cultural consumption (visitor impact). These findings might prove useful for policy implications regarding resource allocation vis-à-vis defining and accomplishing cultural purposes at a regional scale, and also for revealing causes of inefficiency with a view to improving quality in institutions –which ultimately drives economic development.     

Income inequality and educational expenditures on children: Evidence from the China Family Panel Studies

Using the data from the China Family Panel Studies from 2010 to 2018, we find that rising income inequality causes parents to spend more on children’s education, both in school and out of school. The impact of income inequality on out-of-school expenditures is significant at intensive and extensive margins, especially for study-related tutoring participation. Furthermore, we find some empirical evidence suggesting that in response to rising inequality, mothers spend more time on children’s education and there exists a substitution effect between time and money. Further analysis suggests two potential reasons for the rising education spending: (1) a higher income inequality resulting from rising skill premium strengthens parents’ long-lasting cultural attitude towards education to higher levels, inducing them to spend more on educational investment, and (2) a higher income inequality increases the value of higher education, leading to a stronger demand for better educational opportunities, and then, more intense education competition, forcing parents to invest more in education.