Psychic distance in exporter–importer relationships: A grounded theory approach

Psychic distance is one of the most widely used, researched, and contentious constructs in the fields of international business and marketing. It has been applied to a variety of issues, often leading to inconsistent and conflicting results. In response to this problem, this study critically focuses on the construct of perceptual psychic distance and identifies the weaknesses and inconsistencies across major existing empirical studies regarding the conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement of psychic distance. We employ a grounded theory-based qualitative empirical study with export managers in French manufacturing companies to fill in the gaps identified in this evaluation, leading to a revised definition of psychic distance in the context of exporting. We discuss the major results and the limitations of the study, propose avenues for further research, and outline managerial implications for managing psychic distance in the internationalization strategy.     

What can be learned from China’s success?

Since 1978, China has experienced the most rapid economic growth of any country in world history, and the most rapid growth in living standards of any major economy. Following the latest international financial crisis, China outperformed any other major economy – from the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2014, China’s economy grew by 78% and the USA by 8%. In a single generation, China has gone from a ‘low income economy’ to the verge of achieving ‘high income’ status by World Bank criteria. Achieving this would double the population living in ‘high income’ economies globally. This extremely rapid development is sometimes explained in terms of unique ‘Chinese characteristics’, but research over the last 30 years suggests it is rooted in universal economic processes. While the combination of global forces producing economic growth is unique in China and produces unique ‘Chinese characteristics’, they can operate throughout the world economy. If other developing economies could achieve the scale of China’s economic success, global problems of poverty and its consequences would be solved. China’s policy response to the international financial crisis was far more effective than that of other major economies. This paper examines the chief strategic lessons to be drawn from China’s success.     

祝福旅游时代

《旅游时代》是我每月必读的一本杂志,我很高兴在斯里兰卡使馆每月都可以看到这本杂志。我们会认真阅读每一期,从中得到感兴趣的信息并获益。     

Book review

Aliber, Robert Z., The Multinational Paradigm, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1993, 282 pages.

Jerome, Robert W. (Ed.), World Trade at the Crossroads, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1992, 290 pages.

Walters, Robert S. (Ed.), Talking Trade: U.S. Policy in International Perspective, Boulder: Westview Press, 1993, 159 pages.

Murray, Geoffrey, Doing Business in China, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994, 350 pages.

Schutte, Hellmut (Ed.), The Global Competitiveness of the Asian Firm, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994, 379 pages.     

What is World Prosperity?

The Prime Minister of Norway addresses the question "What is world prosperity?" in comprehensive terms. Prosperity is more than the absence of poverty, pressing though that is. It means addressing sustainable development and careful husbandry of the world's resources, while recognising the rights of developing countries to break out from poverty. It means addressing population growth which leads to famine, destabilisation and war. It means quality of life achieved through education, employment, social justice and social security. Above all, Mrs Brundtland argues that there must be equity on a global basis between developed and developing countries, and that true world prosperity will remain a distant goal unless we pursue policies based on the concept of global solidarity     

Market reforms and consumption puzzles in China

China exhibits above average savings and below average consumption as shares of total economic activity when compared with other countries. At the same time, to create more balanced growth at home and rebalance key bilateral trade and capital flow relationships, China's leadership is trying to increase domestic demand. To complement studies that investigate the high rate of savings in China, this study focuses on the variation in consumption as a share of GDP across provinces between 1979 and 2004. Drawing on well-established consumption theories and work done on savings behavior in China, this paper develops an empirical investigation of the variables hypothesized to influence the pattern of consumption across regions.We find that the normal, economic variables have a small explanatory power if significant at all, while the key variables influencing the macro consumption share are structural, and mostly related to government behavior. For example, local government expenditure on health and education is significant and has a relatively large effect on consumption. Consistent with this we also find a positive relationship between consumption shares and the size of the state sector and the share of tax revenue in GDP. We also find some evidence that financial development has a positive effect on consumption shares. Our results suggest that in order for domestic consumption to be increased in the future, new public and private options to replace the declining security and responsibility of the prior state-dominated system will be needed.     

新春贺辞

欣闻《走向世界·品味济南》自2010年进行大的改版并更名为《走向世界·天下泉城》，内容和版式都将焕然一新，在此我代表市委、市政府表示热烈祝贺!同时，值此新春佳节即将到来之际，向，辛勤工作在外宣战线的同志们表示亲切慰问!