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The number of international schools hit the 6,000-mark in 2012, and the 13,000-mark in 2022. In spite of continuous growth and diversity of provision, paradoxically some literature continues to paint a largely negative sociological imagination, associating the arena with micro-politics, high turnover, and increasing precarity. At the same time, the social reality of working in the arena remains under-reported and under-theorised. The largest number of international schools are now in China, where two-thirds are of the 'non-traditional' type. Our paper focuses on the experiences of two expatriate teachers in that relatively new field. In order to address the questions of 'how do teachers cope?', and 'what strategies do they adopt?', our paper delves into the under-reported social reality of 'cliques'. By adopting a 'positive sociology' lens of inquiry, we begin to address the role that cliques-formation might have in dealing with precarity and insecurity, especially that of 'friendship precarity' caused by constant transitions and short-term contracts. It can be seen that cliques offer a natural, quick, and practical solution to addressing precarity, helping over time to create resilience, and should not be viewed solely within a negative sociological imagination.

Based on an analysis of policy documents, questionnaires and interviews, the paper discusses the experiences of Chinese young academics on tenure-track contracts. Findings suggest that young academics perceive tenure as a managerial solution to governance reform. Meanwhile, a population-resource imbalance and the uncertainty in career progression interactively and collectively create an involuted culture where overwork is normalised for self-adaptation. While young academics are experiencing insecurity and anxiety, the study found that they adopt a wide range of strategies to actively adapt into the context. Drawing on the competitive nature, the tenure system is interpreted as both a managerial approach and a training mechanism. This competitiveness and its related precariousness seem to remain, however, uncharted in social perception. An analysis of these issues illuminates tensions and conflicts in the implementation of the tenure-track system in the Chinese context, which have important implications for future managerial policies and practices.

In May 2017, Denmark and China signed a film co-production agreement, marking Denmark as the first and only Nordic country to establish such a treaty with China. Taking two recent China-Denmark film co-productions as examples, Bille August's The Chinese Widow (2017) and Lin Jianjie's Brief History of a Family (2024), this paper investigates why China chose to sign a film agreement with Denmark and vice versa. It also examines the cultural and film policies that catalysed the emergence and development of this new co-production partnership. This paper aims to address two emergent trends in transnational screen studies: conceptual engagement with soft power and transnational talent development. It discusses how cinema serves as an instrument for states, institutions, and corporations to mediate diplomatic and political goals, generate soft power, and engage in nation branding. This paper argues that the transformation in geopolitical relationships between these two countries and their respective film and cultural policies over the past decade has led to this new collaborative partnership. Furthermore, it suggests that the latest European cultural policies supporting Sino-European co-production and transnational talent development have facilitated Sino-Danish film co-production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on China's political influence in international affairs, as mediated by Chinese economic integration with the BRI countries. We propose that the BRI plays a role in influencing partner countries to support China's presence in the international community, and the economic integration of the BRI positively mediates the willingness of partner countries to align with China in international affairs. This paper uses panel data from 147 BRI countries collected between 2009 and 2020, and the difference-in-differences method, to estimate the political influence of the BRI. The results suggest that the BRI motivates partner countries to support the growth of China's influence in international affairs. The results of the causal mechanism analysis indicate that a significant and positive association between the implementation of the BRI and China's influence is mediated by promoting Chinese contracts, trade overseas, and outward FDI. The examinations of heterogeneity demonstrate that BRI countries that are developing, non-landlocked, non-neighboring, having signed the memorandum of understanding or cooperation memorandum of understanding, or lacking a Chinese investment guide are more likely to support China's political presence. This paper concludes with insights into how China implements the BRI to enhance its political ascent in the global order by facilitating economic integration of the BRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: By reviewing the related literature on the Jiaoshi Pinren Zhi (JPZ) system, this paper seeks to indicate that the implementation of JPZ not only has led to domestic brain drain and the imbalance of teachers' qualities between different areas and schools, but also has violated children's equal rights to education guaranteed by the Constitution and educational laws in PR China. Design/methodology/approach: By analysing national policies and laws and some cases, the paper points out that the reforms on teachers' employment causes the imbalance of teachers' qualities between different areas and schools and it is against the principle of children's equal rights to education guaranteed by the Constitution and some educational laws in China. Findings: Since the late 1980s, many reform initiatives have been launched in the context of the transition from planned economy to market economy in China. Originality/value: The reforms on the teachers' employment system from "Tongyi Fenpei" (TF, a system of unified placement for all graduates) and the life-time employment system to JPZ (a free contract employment system) is one of the important reform initiatives. (Contains 1 table and 7 notes.)

Legal land transfer rights are the core of farmers' land property rights. This paper examines the urban‐rural income distribution effect of legal land transfer rights, revealing the reasons and mechanisms for legal land transfer rights to reduce the urban‐rural income disparity. Theoretical analysis shows that granting farmers legal land transfer rights and enhancing the protection of land transfer rights can help promote rural labor migration, thereby reducing the urban‐rural income disparity. This study uses panel data of prefecture‐level and above cities in China from 1999 to 2008 to examine the implementation of China's Rural Land Contracting Law in 2003 as a quasi‐natural experiment to construct a difference‐in‐differences (DID) model for the empirical test. The findings reveal that legal land transfer rights can effectively promote rural labor migration and reduce the urban‐rural income disparity due to labor migration. This paper's analysis provides a perspective for understanding the integrated development of urban and rural areas in developing countries. It indicates that guaranteeing farmers' land transfer rights is important for reducing urban‐rural income disparity, leading to urban‐rural integrated development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Entrepreneurs' attitudes toward risk is one of the most critical factors influencing business growth and economic development. Therefore, addressing the influencing factors and formation mechanisms of entrepreneurs' risk attitudes has become a crucial research endeavor. In this paper, we examine how contract performance rates affect entrepreneurs' risk attitudes through the mediating effect of subjective well-being as well as assess the moderating effect of the regional business environment on this relationship. Methods: The ordered probit regression technique was employed to analyze the data obtained from 3,660 sampled respondents from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey. All analysis was performed using Stata 15.0. Results: The empirical results show that contract performance rates have a substantial positive indirect effect on entrepreneurs' degree of risk aversion through improved subjective well-being. The regional business environment plays a negative regulatory role in the relationship between contract performance rates and entrepreneurs' risk aversion. Furthermore, urban-rural heterogeneity appears to consistently determine the extent of the influence of contract performance rates on entrepreneurs' risk attitudes. Conclusion: To reduce entrepreneurs' risk aversion and enhance social and economic activity, the government should improve regional business environments by taking specific measures. Our study contributes to the empirical understanding of entrepreneurs' investment decisions in the context of urban and rural environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Major projects are the important platform for enhancing a country's comprehensive national power and strengthening its capacity for independent innovation. Although major projects in China have made remarkable achievements, willingness to cooperate and innovate has not achieved the desired target. In this paper, the evolutionary game model of cooperative innovation behavior of general contractors and subcontractors is constructed by considering reputational factors. Through theoretical derivation, the influence of the distribution ratio of collaborative innovation benefit, spillover technology absorption capacity, and reputation discounting coefficient on innovation behavior is analyzed. Finally, MATLAB software is used to simulate the dynamic evolution process of strategy selection. The results show that (1) a reasonable benefit distribution coefficient can promote the evolution of innovation behavior in a positive direction; (2) both the reduction of innovation cost and the increase of spillover technology absorption capacity can make the innovation subject more inclined to choose the active collaborative innovation strategy; and (3) it is the higher-than-threshold reputation loss that can effectively inhibit the "free-rider" behavior. The research conclusions and managerial implications can provide reference for improving the willingness to cooperate in major projects' technology innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Engineering Management / Gongcheng Guanli Xuebao is the property of Journal of Engineering Management Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Land contracting is an important system in China. As we know, farmers and agricultural organizations acquire land management rights from collective economic organizations to carry out agricultural production. Over the past few decades, it has proved to make a huge contribution to food security and agricultural development in China. However, as land values increased, landowners, contractors, and operators were increasingly in competition over land interests and, as a result, the number of land contract disputes has rapidly increased. Land contract disputes are not only involved in social and economic issues but also related to government management and grassroots governance. Studying the temporal and spatial changes of disputes is the premise to deal with this subject. Based on the data of China Judgment Online from 2016 to 2021, this paper used descriptive statistical methods, spatial analysis tools, and Markov Chains to reveal the temporal evolution characteristics, spatial distribution trends, and grade transfer tendency of land contract disputes in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YEB). The results showed the following: (1) From 2016 to 2021, the number of land contract disputes in the YEB increased sharply and then decreased gradually; (2) In terms of spatial distribution, land contract disputes were significantly clustered, and the level of clustering has increased in volatility. Meanwhile, the agglomeration area has continuously transferred; (3) There existed the "club convergence effect" and "spatial spillover effect" in the process of dispute grade transfer, but the overall trend was to change for the better. This study attempted to comprehensively describe the changes in land contract disputes in the YEB, and the results would serve as a useful reference for relevant regions to explore the differentiated paths to deal with land contract disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of digital economy puts forward theoretical and practical requirements for the construction of legal model of big data transaction management (BDTM). The new problems of ambiguous data ownership, privacy leakage, chaotic digital transaction order, and low nationalization in the context of big data transactions have largely restricted the role of China's big data transaction market and related laws and regulations and are not conducive to promoting the scientific and standardized development of China's digital economy. In this paper, we firstly analyze the connotation, importance, and necessity of the construction of legal model of big data transaction in the era of digital economy from the basic connotation of legal model. Then, we analyze the need to adhere to the principles of systematization, security, and openness in the construction of legal model of big data transaction management and focus on four methods of contract law, market behavior, replication behavior, and dispute resolution in the construction of legal model of big data transaction management. Finally, we summarized the conclusions of this paper. The conclusions of this paper are important for promoting the transformation of digital resources into effective data elements and advancing the scientific and standardized development of China's digital economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have conducted extensive research regarding contractual governance in marketing channels. Operationalizing contractual governance intensity as contract specificity, researchers focused on the impact of contract specificity, while little effort has been paid to the impact of contract enforcement. As a distinct construct of contractual governance mechanism, contract enforcement largely determines the integrity of contracts and the effectiveness of their coordination effects. Dividing contractual governance into contract specificity and contract enforcement, this paper examines the direct and interactive effects of contract specificity and contract enforcement on channel opportunism and conflict. It tries to answer: (1) How do contract specificity and distributor contract enforcement affect supplier opportunism and channel conflict respectively? (2) What are the interactive effect of specificity and enforcement when they are considered simultaneously? The paper proposed a research model by taking contract specificity, distributor contract enforcement and their interaction as the antecedents, and supplier opportunism and channel conflict between distributor and supplier as the consequences. To test the model, with the help of a large domestic household appliance supplier in China, we collected data from the side of distributors, and analyzed the data from 607 valid responses with structural equation model (SEM). Both contract specificity and distributor contract enforcement would respectively inhibit supplier opportunism, and supplier opportunism in turn would be positively associated with channel conflict. On the other hand, distributor contract enforcement would increase, while contract specificity would have an insignificant impact on, channel conflict. In addition, interaction between distributor contract enforcement and contract specificity would reduce both supplier opportunism and channel conflict. This paper tries to make three contributions. First, it investigated the impact of contractual governance in marketing channels in more depth by dividing contractual governance into two dimensions, namely contractual specificity and contract enforcement, enriching the literature of contractual governance in marketing channels. Second, it empirically tested the impacts of contract enforcement on supplier opportunism and channel conflict between distributor and supplier, to which previous studies have paid little attention. Third, it for the first time considered the interactive effects of contract specificity and contract enforcement on channel opportunism and channel conflict. As a result, it provides a new line of explanation for previous inconsistencies in the effect of contract specificity on channel opportunism as well as channel enforcement on channel opportunism. Firms are encouraged to draft specific contracts with their channel partners despite the time and effort required by both parties based on the findings of this research and previous studies. However, contracts should be carefully enforced. According to the findings of this study, if imposed highly strict, contract enforcement may intensify channel conflict between partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metso Paper will supply a linerboard machine to Zhejiang JiAn Paper Packet Co Ltd in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Mural Internacional is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Article 18, paragraph 1, of Law of the People's Republic of China on Enterprise Bankruptcy gives the bankruptcy trustee the right to rescind the performance of executory contract. It also stipulates the time limit and legal effect, but it does not further set standards and restrict the rescission of specific contracts. The purpose of This Paper is to explore and establish norms for the exercise of bankruptcy trustee's rescission rights under different situations to meet the practical needs. Based on the research results of domestic and foreign scholars, this paper puts forward the standard of "Special Interest Protection for Specific Creditors" to balance the interest conflicts between individual creditors, debtors and other creditors. Finally, this paper argues that it is necessary to set certain standards and make appropriate restrictions on the exercise of the bankruptcy trustee's right to rescission the contract and improve the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how a labor cost shock affects firms' research and development (R&D) activity, focusing on the heterogeneous effect across firm size. Using the difference-in-differences approach, we investigate the R&D effect of Labor Contract Law (LCL) on firms in China. Empirical evidence reveals that, when considering the law binding issue, strict enforcement of the LCL has a negative treatment effect on treated firms' R&D expenditure, which was reduced by 3.03%–6.75% on average, but it did not affect their likelihood of engaging in R&D. Crucially, the LCL's R&D effect varies greatly by firm size. There is a positive treatment effect for large and medium-sized firms, whereas small treated firms reduce R&D in response to the labor cost shock. These heterogeneous effects apply to R&D propensity across firm size. The potential mechanisms for mitigating the LCL's cost impact are discussed. Robustness checks reaffirm the above findings. Plain English Summary: The purpose of this paper is to question that does a stringent labor regulation hamper or facilitate firms' R&D activity in China? Whether this R&D effect of labor regulation differs across large, medium, and small firms. We examine these questions by drawing on the discussions about labor regulation, firm size, and R&D in literature. Subsequently, the difference-in-differences approach is adopted to conduct empirical estimations, with a panel dataset drawn from Chinese Annual Survey of Industrial Firms. We find that strict enforcement of the Labor Contract Law executes a negative treatment effect on treated firms' R&D expenditure, but not for their likelihood of engaging in R&D. Crucially, this R&D effect is a positive for large and medium-sized enterprises, but negative for small firms. Thus, the principal implication of this study is that small firms are disadvantageous in innovation activity under labor cost shocks. Small firms should consider feasible strategies to promote productivity in response to changes in the external environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of global energy transformation and structural upgrading, the development of solar photovoltaic industry in various countries has been paid attention to, and solar photovoltaic products occupy an important position in the international trade of renewable energy. The signing of the RCEP agreement can create favorable external conditions for the trade and industrial cooperation of solar photovoltaic products, which has attracted global attention. Therefore, based on the background of RCEP, it is of practical significance to analyze the development and export competitiveness of solar energy products in the agreement countries. This paper uses TOPSIS to establish a comprehensive evaluation index system for the international competitiveness of solar photovoltaic products to study the international competitiveness of solar photovoltaic products in China, Japan, and Korea under the context of RCEP. The study shows that (1) China's international competitiveness in solar photovoltaic products is strong and continues to improve, while Japan is declining and Korea is growing slowly. (2) There are significant differences in the components that lead to international competitiveness among different countries. Based on the above findings, this paper proposes corresponding policy recommendations for the three countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper builds a novel panel data sourced from the Regional Trade Agreements Database and Database on International Trade in Services Statistics (ITSS) to explore the heterogeneous effects of service trade agreements on services trade. Then we employ a gravity model with the Poisson pseudo‐maximum likelihood (PPML) estimation and obtain the following findings: First, both general service trade agreements and deep service trade agreements promote services trade. Yet, deep trade agreements have a higher trade‐expansion effect (roughly 21.53%) on services trade compared to general ones (16.9%). Next, based on the content of trade‐related provisions, we find provisions of rights of non‐establishment and natural person movement largely increase the services trade, while review provisions do not have a significant impact on services trade. Surprisingly, provisions with MFN status even exhibit a negative relationship with services trade. Third, with whom you sign the agreements matters. Deep trade agreements exert a positive and significant impact on services trade between high‐income countries (NN), low‐income countries (SS) and high‐ to low‐income countries (NS), but are insignificant between low‐ to high‐income countries (SN). Four, emerging regions, including China, may benefit more from deep trade agreements. As indicated by propensity score matching, deep trade agreements reduce service trade costs and improve the business environment more effectively than GTAs. Our empirical results are robust after controlling for the endogeneity of DTAs and GTAs. Our findings provide direct evidence for the role of deep service trade agreements in fostering international economic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Engineering Management / Gongcheng Guanli Xuebao is the property of Journal of Engineering Management Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Article 471 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as "the Civil Code") stipulates that contracts may be formed not only through offer and acceptance but also through "other means." However, the Civil Code does not provide further clarification on what "other means" entail. This statutory provision represents a departure from the traditional theory of contract formation, which requires a "meeting of the minds." This study seeks to identify the jurisprudential basis of the Civil Code as a positive law and finds that the theory of de facto contracts, proposed by German scholar Günter Haupt in his lecture titled "On Factual Contractual Relationships" provides a theoretical foundation for the Civil Code's inclusion of alternative methods of contract conclusion. The theory of de facto contracts argues that for certain types of conduct, the formalities of offer and acceptance are not essential. Instead, contracts can be established through factual processes. This view introduces flexibility to the otherwise rigid doctrine of contractual freedom, allowing for more streamlined and logical judicial analysis. It also balances economic efficiency with principles of fairness and justice, serving the normative values underlying contract law. In this paper, the author proposes that the term "de facto contract" be precisely defined within the context of legislative and judicial practice. This article also recommends limiting the original concept described by Haupt to contracts formed based on legally prescribed factual processes or behaviors. Such contracts can be tentatively termed as "statutory de facto contracts," which could be examined as a distinct category of contracts in legal theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disputes are inevitable in construction. Tremendous losses caused by dispute are so amazing that professionals try to figure out how to manage it. It is a practical way to study the dispute problem from the perspective of governance theory. In this study, the paper intends to investigate the characteristics of contractual governance for disputes. Based on governance theory, the framework of contractual governance for dispute is constituted of governance structure (GS) and governance mechanism (GM). The flexibility of GS and GMs are all explored so as to better draft the contracts. By a multiple cases study, a new conceptual model instructing governance picture for construction disputes was proposed which was mainly inspired from literature. The cases study shows that the GS determination is rigidly drafted and executed while the mostly GMs are flexibly designed. The rigid GS has an advantage to a stable foundation and the flexible GMs are apt to coordinate the disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of plot size on the components of farmland rental contracts choice and evaluate the effects of its heterogeneities on different plot characteristics in the context of China. Based on the data from a nationally representative sample of 1215 plots among 5 provinces in rural China, this paper yields robust results using regional fixed effect method and SUR model. The results show that plot size significantly affects farmland rental contract choice. The probability of renting from non-relatives, signing a written contract, and renting with a fixed term increases by 0.5%, 0.9%, and 0.6% with 1 mu increase of plot size, respectively, and the annual rent rises by RMB 3.514 per mu. The effects of plot size on contract form, contract rent, and contract term were much larger for adjacent plots, especially for the flat and eastern plots. The findings imply that the government should encourage the innovation of managing or using plots that are of small size or non-adjacent to promote the integration of farmland resources for the formalization of farmland rental contracts, especially for mountain and western areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conjuntura Austral is the property of Conjuntura Austral and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Contracts that expire in January, May, and September attract the most trading activity for corn futures in China. Contracts that mature in other months are thinly traded, even when they are the closest to maturity. In this paper, we examine and compare the behavior and determinants of the bid–ask spreads (BASs) of active and inactive contracts using the best bid offer data set. We show that both the magnitude and volatility of BAS for inactive contracts exhibit U‐shaped patterns, whereas active contracts' BAS increase only near their expiration. Inactive contracts are also of low liquidity risk after introducing market makers. On the basis of the simultaneous equation model, we find that BAS responds negatively to volume and positively to volatility and order imbalance. The impacts are larger in inactive contracts. Moreover, introducing market makers to inactive contracts is conducive to attracting trading and lowering trading costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The telecommunication agreement reached by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1997 will accelerate the global trend toward increased market access, competition, and deregulation. Examines opportunities for marketing and operations, dispute resolution and enforcement, profitability, and the exclusion of Russia and China. Includes the WTO conference paper and a table of the 16 largest telecom service markets. (PEN)

Live streaming selling is setting off new waves worldwide, especially in China. Considering the effects of number of viewers and average reference price, this paper investigates the optimal decisions of platform's recommending effort and streamer's selling effort by differential game theory. We find that if the platform sets a higher revenue‐sharing rate, its effort to recommend streamer will decrease, which could reduce the platform's and streamer's revenues. Thus, we propose a subsidy mechanism that incentivizes the streamer to increase investments in platform's recommendations, while enabling the platform and the streamer to achieve a win–win situation by setting reasonable revenue‐sharing rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under a difference‐in‐difference model, this paper takes China's signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016 as a quasi‐natural experimental event to identify the impact of carbon emission risks on a firm's employment creation and its mechanism. The results show that after this event, the employment creation level of high carbon emission risk firms has significantly increased by about 2.19% compared with that of low carbon emission firms. Moreover, increasing green technology innovation and attracting analysts' attention are two underlying channels. Furthermore, the carbon emission risk significantly improves firms' performance through the employment creation channel and makes the managers more optimistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of European Integration History is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The coordination of policy measures and objectives can boost the effects of policy implementation. This paper collects the policies of general project contracts released in China from 2010 to 2021, quantifying the policies from dimensions of policy strength, measures, and objectives. It analyzes the coordination evolution of policy objectives and policy measures by a coordination measurement model. The results show that coordinating various policy objectives and measures shows an increasing trend. However, there is still an imbalance in policy usage. The results suggest emphasizing the support of fiscal and financial policy measures, strengthening the promotion of the construction industry's modernization, accelerating international integration, and combining other policy measures and policy objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine an important yet underexplored research question in the literature: What determines the length of contract governing buyer–supplier relationships during market transitions? The length of contract is a solid indicator of the comprehensiveness of a contract. By integrating transaction costs economics, the embeddedness perspective and the institution-based view, the paper develops a model that incorporates specific investments and perceived opportunism, strategies to select suppliers and buyer firms' confidence in the institutional environment. It further posits how buyer firms' dependence on suppliers moderates these relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected nationwide via face-to-face interviews with 328 executives in 164 Chinese firms who shared information pertaining to 774 buyer–supplier contracts. A fine-grained mixed-empirical method was designed to test the proposed hypotheses, to confirm the reliability and to generalize the research findings. Findings: All the proposed factors significantly influence the length of the contract. Results obtained through a moderated mediating model suggest that buyers with supplier-specific investments and that choose market-based selection relative to a relationship-based tend to perceive more opportunism in buyer–supplier relationships, which will lead to shortening the length of the contract. However, the buyer's perception of opportunism will decrease when buyers perceive higher levels of confidence in their legal institutions. Practical implications: The study discusses several practical implications for B2B managers who typically involve in interfirm exchanges as well as for emerging economies' institutions. Originality/value: Leveraging theoretical insights from transaction cost economics, the institution-based view and buyer–supplier relationships literature, this empirical study adds unique contributions to B2B research in general and emerging economies' institutional literature in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the post-enactment status of China's Labour Contract Law and Labour Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Law, focusing on the dramatic rise in remuneration litigation amidst much criticism of weak or ineffective implementation of these laws. Design/methodology/approach: This paper deploys both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods to investigate the features of remuneration litigation. Remuneration judgments by Beijing People's Courts from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2017 provide the primary empirical data. The intrinsic features of remuneration disputes are investigated to delineate subcategories of claims. Several judges were also interviewed to further explore the nature of remuneration disputes. Findings: Four types of remuneration claims were identified: regular wage, minimum wage, overtime and others (including subsidies and welfare). Examination of these four types, especially how they are processed until concluded by court adjudication, provides a fuller picture of the post-enactment status of these laws and yields objective and rational findings. To explain the continuing steady rise in the volume of remuneration claims, as more workers have knowledge of their rights and access to the courts, this study identifies an increase in the number of factually complicated cases (e.g. overtime claims) and abmiguity in the relevant law, leaving some remuneration disputes difficult, if not impossible, to adjudicate. Conversely, the study also finds significant positive trends following these laws' enactment, particularly a reduction in straightforward cases, such as disputes concerning non-payment of wages/minimum wages, on which the law is clear. It is evidently imperative to improve the clarity of the current laws through further legislation, as the most appropriate next step in China's juridification process of developing its own rule of Labour Law. Research limitations/implications: This study is purposely limited to examining remuneration litigation in Beijing's courts from 2014 to 2017, which is representative of the national trend of dramatically rising remuneration disputes, and thus provides valuable insights. Future studies should cover a wider geographic territory and other categories of labour disputes to provide an even more comprehensive picture of the challenges and potential solutions. Practical implications: By understanding the driving factors of rising labour remuneration disputes, the legislature, workers and employers can act accordingly to curb labour conflicts. The growing complexity and technicality of remuneration litigation indicates that the pressing need of labour juridification is to deploy a subtle, comprehensive method to improve legal clarity and judicial professionalism. Originality/value: This study uniquely divides the types of remuneration litigation in Beijing, adopting methods and yielding findings absent from the prior literature. Both the progress and challenges in China's rule of Labour Law process are reflected in this work, together with public policy and theoretical implications for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how formal contracts affect alliance innovation performance. To understand the mechanism underlying the impact, this study tests whether relationship learning mediates the impact of formal contracts on alliance innovation performance and how guanxi moderates the mediating effect. Design/methodology/approach: This study is conducted with a sample of 225 manufacturers in China. This paper used hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypotheses and used the PROCESS method to test the mediating effect of relationship learning. Findings: Formal contracts positively affect relationship learning, which facilitates alliance innovation performance. Guanxi positively moderates the effect of formal contracts on alliance innovation performance. Relationship learning mediates the relationship between formal contracts and alliance innovation performance. Moreover, guanxi positively moderates the mediating effect. Research limitations/implications: Future research could investigate factors moderating the effect of guanxi on alliance innovation performance and moderating the effect of relationship learning on alliance innovation performance. Future research can also use secondary data to measure alliance innovation performance. Future researchers can examine how guanxi as a relational mechanism governance affects relationship learning. Practical implications: Managers should conduct relationship learning in the process of alliance innovation and realize that reducing opportunism does not mean improving innovation performance. Moreover, managers should know that guanxi could contribute to alliance innovation performance with the help of formal contracts. Originality/value: Prior studies have mainly focused on the fundamental requirement of governing knowledge exchange in alliances. Little is known about the mediating effect of relationship learning on the relationship between formal contracts and outcomes of innovation alliances. This study contributes to the literature by filling the gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the recent Covid-19 pandemic, many governments have taken an entrenched position to lock down their cities to prevent its spread. There has been a lot of effect on contract performance. Are parties who enter into such contract liable when they fail to perform their contractual obligations or are merely associated with Covid-19 as a force majeure? This paper compares contract performance in China and Ghana in the wake of Covid-19. The study finds that force majeure clauses in China are coded in Article 117 of the Chinese Contract Law; however, in Ghana, it is generally scattered but mainly found in the Contract Law Act, 1960 of Ghana. The Contract Law Act, 1960 does not capture the force majeure clause. However, force majeure clauses are agreed upon by the contractual parties in consultation with force majeure clauses from common laws. Also, force majeure is not implied in contract performance; hence, the list of events constituting force majeure should be agreed upon by the contractual parties and captured in the contract. Therefore, Article 117 of the Chinese Contract Law expounds that a party who was unable to perform a contract due to force majeure is exempted from liability in part or whole in the light of the impact of the event of force majeure except otherwise provided by law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workers' isolation may occur in gig employment in the sharing economy, which generates a weak perception of the organization and unpredictable work performance. Drawing on social exchange theory, this paper proposes a framework to explore the effect of psychological contract fulfillment on gig workers' task performance from the perspective of the mediation of organizational identification and the moderation of the length of service. A total of 223 samples were recruited from Didi (a ride-hailing company in China) drivers. The results show that both transactional and relational psychological contract fulfillment can directly affect gig workers' task performance and also indirectly affect it via organizational identification. When the length of service for the current company is taken into consideration, transactional contract fulfillment, as the representation of a company's recognition of gig workers' effort, has a stronger effect on the organizational identification of gig workers who have been working for the company for less than a year compared with those who have been working for a longer period. The results show no difference in the relationship between relational psychological contract and organizational identification between the two groups. Transactional psychological contract fulfillment exhibits the same significant effect on gig workers' task performance in both groups. By contrast, relational psychological contract fulfillment has a stronger effect on long-serving Didi drivers than on those who joined the company within the year. These findings generate certain theoretical and practical implications for gig employment management in the sharing economy., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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The China-Africa partnership in infrastructure development has taken a transformational shift from a national orientation to a regional and continental approach. Traditionally, China had been engaging in bilateral agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with African countries in their individual capacities and construct cross-sectoral infrastructure projects at national level mostly through its state-owned enterprises (SOEs) within the construction sector and financial services sector. The African Union (AU)-China MoU to cooperate on major infrastructure networks and industrialization process in Africa signed on the 27th of January 2015 signals a serious commitment to close the continent's infrastructure deficiency gap and facilitate African regional infrastructure renaissance. This is aligned to AU's Agenda 2063 which affirms Africa's aspiration to have a "world class, integrative infrastructure that crisscrosses the continent" by the year 2063. The China-Africa partnership is poised to catalyze the physical integration of Africa through the joint development of trans-boundary infrastructure projects. This partnership is traceable back to the construction of the landmark Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) Project, also referred to as the "Uhuru Railway", constructed between 1968-1976 to link the Zambian town of Kapiri-Mposhi and Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam. This paper assesses completed and on-going major regional or trans-boundary infrastructure projects that have been developed through the China-Africa partnership across the continent in the 21st century since the landmark TAZARA project. It analyzes the possible impacts of the projects on the integration of African countries. The paper critically reflects on how the China-Africa partnership can be strategically strengthened for the realization of Agenda 2063 strategic goals, priorities and aspirations. It finally recommends strategies that can be adopted to strengthen the China-Africa partnership, and maximize the delivery of transnational/transboundary infrastructure on the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using inter-provincial panel data from 1998 to 2012, and taking the implementation of China's new "Labor Contract Law" in 2008 as a quasi-natural experiment, this study uses the differences-in-differences empirical method to quantitatively analyze the impact of changes in labor protection intensity on local economic growth. The empirical results show that the enhancement of labor protection intensity can effectively promote economic growth in regions with higher levels of human capital, especially the eastern developed regions in China. Further research shows that this promotion effect is more obvious for the growth of the tertiary industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle of relativity of creditor's right has a deep-rooted impact in the field of credit law. Proposing the system of the third party infringement upon creditor's right poses great challenge for the traditional theory of civil law, which has aroused an intense debate among theoretical circle and judicial practitioners. With the development of modern tourism industry, the disputes over travel contracts caused by the third party infringement have become focus of concern, which urgently requires us to establish laws to regulate it. The paper, from the perspective of travel contracts, begins with the legislation defining the connotation and extension of travel contracts both at home and abroad and analyzes the rationality, feasibility, theoretical foundation and legislative bases of the third party infringement upon creditor's right. Based on this, some breaking cases caused by the third party infringement upon creditor's right is analyzed and judged. Subjectivity, subject elements, objectivity and cause and effect are the four approaches employed to discuss the major components of the third party infringement upon creditor's right. The paper also argues that the creditor's right, as a basic civil right, is inviolable and should be protected by law. In the end, the paper forecasts the tourism legislative prospects to establish the system of the third party infringement upon creditor's right in China. It is suggested that both "the relativity of creditor's right" and "the inviolability of creditor's right" in the coordination theory could be employed to work together to help establish the system to achieve harmony between the two factors. It should be clarified that the responsibility of the third party infringement also applies to the principle of liability for doing wrongs. Inversion of evidence quoting should be adopted in investigating the responsibility of the third party infringement upon creditor's right. The system of the third party infringement upon creditor's right in tourism contracts should be incorporated into the law of torts so as to become a major component of tort law and enjoy a relative independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike the corporate funds in the US, mutual funds in many countries such as China and Germany operate under a different governance arrangement and are thus called 'contractual funds.' The governance structure of contractual funds allows shareholders of fund management companies, rather than the fund investors, to be responsible for asset management decisions. Therefore, a fund's governance attributes may be especially important in driving its performance. Using a comprehensive governance data covering Chinese mutual funds, this paper finds that the governance and organizational structures of Chinese fund management companies significantly influence the performance of their affiliated funds. In particular, while a larger stake from the top1 shareholder significantly improves the performance of affiliated funds, the presence of multiple largest shareholders reduces their performance. Moreover, fund management companies that offer fewer fund products and charge higher management fees tend to perform better. Finally, more institutional holding in a fund appears to function as an external supervisory surrogate for internal board governance to help improve fund performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do network connections between government officials and administrative units facilitate efficient land use contracting across jurisdictions? This article leverages data from a groundbreaking policy in China where a strict quota-bound land use policy was replaced with an alternative, allowing between-county trade in land conversion quotas. We unpack the determinants of the boundary between trading and autarkic jurisdictions and unveil leader-related drivers of transaction costs between jurisdictions in a gravity-style estimation. We catalogue personal and career histories of county-level leaders and present evidence that leader networks derived from employment history are robustly trade-facilitating but nonworkplace links are not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of this study is driven by the increasing dynamics of contracts concluded between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the People's Republic of China, as well as the lack of research on the comparison of contractual legal structures between the two countries and their criminological implications. The purpose of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the contract legislation of China and Kazakhstan, identify common and distinctive features, and explore the criminological impacts of these differences. The study reveals that the contract law of China and Kazakhstan share some similarities, such as the concept of a contract and the basic principles of contractual relations. The differences between the two countries' contract law and enforcement approaches highlight the importance of the legal environment in shaping the behaviour, risk assessment, and decision-making processes of parties involved in contractual relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land reallocations have been severely restricted in rural China since 1998. Nevertheless, land continues to be reallocated in some regions. Little is known about the forces behind the persistence of land reallocations. In this paper we argue that village self-governance rules affect the implementation of national laws and regulations, and that the election of village leaders and villagers' knowledge of relevant policies are major forces in the use of village self-governance rules for land reallocations. Estimation results based on primary data collected from 124 villages in four provinces in 2015 and 2016 provide evidence that both village democracy and households' knowledge of the Rural Land Contract Law (RLCL) positively affect the incidence of land reallocations. • We assess the impacts of village democracy and households' knowledge of relevant policies on land reallocations. • Democratic election of village leaders encourages land reallocations. • Households' knowledge of the Rural Land Contract Law (RLCL) positively affects the incidence of land reallocations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whatman Plc and Hangzhou Xinhua Paper Industry Co Ltd have signed a contract to establish a cooperative joint-venture limited liability company in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To overcome the high cost, high risk and poor efficiency of traditional centralized electric energy trading method, this paper proposes an efficient trading mechanism for energy power supply and demand network (EPSDN) based on blockchain smart contract, considering the opening of the sales side market in China. Specifically, the encourage-real-quotation (ERQ) rule was adopted to determine the clearing queue and price, thus smoothing the supply and demand interaction between the EPSDN node. Meanwhile, the blockchain smart contract was introduced into the transaction to form a sealed quotation function, which eliminates the centralization and high cost and solves the poor transparency and trust in traditional transaction. In addition, the transaction efficiency was improved through the construction of an efficient power trading system and a secure trading environment. A case study is given in the end of the paper. Case study shows that the blockchain-based smart contract trading system for the EPSDN can achieve desirable security and effectiveness, and effectively solve the problems of the traditional centralized trading method. The research findings lay solid theoretical and decision-making bases for small-scale transactions in the electric energy market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]