The effects of board structure on corporate performance: Evidence from East African frontier markets

The effectiveness of the well-known corporate governance practices may not be universal due to fundamental differences in the environments under which firms operate. By using hand-collected data from all the non-financial firms listed on the unexplored East African frontier markets (i.e., Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), we examine the effect of board characteristics on the performance of firms. Our results show that board size has a negative and significant effect on firm performance. The presences of foreigners and civil servants on the board play positive roles on financial performance, where the agency and resource dependence theories apply. Further, we find that board members with higher education also contribute to firm performance. These findings still hold when we consider the 2008–2009 financial crisis period. Overall, we show that in a business climate where ownership is largely dominated by few shareholders, the conventional governance mechanisms do not work effectively.     

The value of ongoing venture capital investment to newly listed firms

We examine whether the market values continuing venture capital (VC) investor involvement in firms post-IPO. Compared to the US, Australian VC investors exit their investments post-IPO by on-market sales rather than distribution of holdings to their investors. Lockup periods tend to be longer and ownership thresholds for reporting trades lower. We find that the market responds positively to buy transactions, negatively to sell transactions of VC investors and negatively to the resignation of VC directors. These results are consistent with VC investors in the firm having a positive influence and creating value from which the VCs and other shareholders benefit.     

Institutional quality and corporate financing decisions around the world

We investigate the influence of the recent comprehensive institutional quality dimensions of Karolyi (2015), such as market capacity, operational efficiency, foreign accessibility, corporate transparency, legal protection, and political stability, on financing decisions of firms across 56 countries between 2000 and 2015. We find that stronger institutional quality or lower fundamental risks in a country ease firms' access to long-term debt, and equity financing. We attribute our results to institutional environments influencing financing decisions by shaping the severity of market frictions, such as agency conflicts and information asymmetry, and transaction costs. As a result, we conclude that any improvement in a country's institutional environment will boost firms' access to long-term financing, and thus longer-term investments that promote countries' economic growth will be more feasible. Our findings are robust to potential endogeneity issues.     

Information on sellers and buyers characteristics: added value to explain price formation at primary fish markets in managed French scallop fisheries

The aim of this article is to explore, through a hedonic approach, the factors that might explain the price variability for the French-managed fishery of scallop at primary fish markets. In addition to factors classically identified in the current literature like intrinsic product characteristics or markets situation, the characteristics of operators are tested. The relationships of loyalty between sellers and buyers, and market assiduity are notably considered.     

论双电源切换装置的特点

双电源切换装置是一级负荷和其他重要负荷等用电设备中经常使用的关键设备。随着科技发展，双电源切换装置已有多种产品和型式供用户选择。本文重点对“Y”型和“H”型双电源切换装置的原理、发展过程、特点等进行论述，为电气设计、采购、及维护人员提供技术参考。     

吉林省金融业推动高技术产业发展研究——基于产业关联的分析

本文利用吉林省2007年投入产出流量表，选取5个高技术产业部门，运用产业关联的角度对金融业与高技术产业进行关联分析，研究吉林省金融业与高技术产业之间的依存关系，探讨吉林省金融业对高技术产业发展的作用，从而为今后金融业有效地促进我省高技术产业的发展提供理论依据。     

Politically connected directors and firm value: Evidence from forced resignations in China

The Central Committee of the Communist Party in China issued the No. 18 Document on Oct 30, 2013 to ban government officials from taking any positions in Chinese firms. Using this decision as a unique natural experiment, we examine the causal relation between political connections and firm valuation. We find that the value of firms with politically connected directors drops significantly upon the announcements of the new rule and the resulting director resignations. Furthermore, the decline in valuation is more pronounced when a firm is in a regulated industry, and when a departing director is of vital importance for building and maintaining political connections. Moreover, non-state-owned enterprises suffer more loss of value than their state-owned peers following the resignations of politically-connected directors. Finally, firms exhibit insignificant value loss when their departing directors are of less political importance in allocating resources. These results suggest that hiring politically connected directors has a positive effect on firm valuation in China.     

强化质量意识 需从细节做起——从表面形貌特征评定参数的拓展谈起

工件的某些表面形貌特征会对产品的性能和质量产生重大的影响,因此,拓展表面形貌特征的评定参数,以提升产品的质量监控水平已成为必需。文章以工件的回转密封面为例,就螺线纹理这一表面微观结构的形貌特征及其可能引起的产品质量隐患做了详细的说明,并介绍了如何利用精密仪器实施相关的测量。文中透过对这一往往被业内忽略的细节的监控思路,阐明了在企业内,强化质量意识必须从重视每个细节做起的观点。     

The influence of entrepreneur’s personal characteristics on MSEs growth through innovation

Research in the separate areas of innovation and growth has considerably intensified in recent years. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to the entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics that might explain the growth of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) through innovation. This study examines the key entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics affecting micro and small enterprises (MSEs) upgrading, defined here as substantial growth through innovation. Six major determining types of entrepreneurs’ characteristics were identified from the innovation and the growth literature: education, work experience, gender, motivations, nationality and age. The empirical results which are based on t-tests of the differences between upgraders and non-upgraders, the linear probability model and the logit model, all suggest that work experience and motivations are cornerstones in the likelihood that an MSE will upgrade. The policy implications of this study on promoting MSEs upgrading are also discussed.     

关注“90后”大学生思想特点创新高校思想政治教育方法

＂90后＂是当前大学生的主体,因成长环境的不同造成了其身上具有不同于70、80年代大学生的特性,这给高校思想政治教育带来了现实的挑战。思想政治教育者应根据＂90后＂的思想特点,创新思想政治教育方法,增强思想政治教育的针对性和实效性。