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This paper examines the path-creation mechanism of the coal-chemical industry and its relatedness to the old path of the coal mining industry in an old industrial region of China. It reveals that the rise of the new path benefits from the old path to a limited extent. The strong multi-scalar structured path dependence upon the coal industry fundamentally constrained local actors to mobilize resources from the old path for new industrial options. The findings show that on the basis of local (pre)existing fertilizer production assets, the new path was created by a combination of market-oriented state-owned enterprise ownership reforms, market induced trans-local entrepreneurship and local state-led developmental strategies. This form of path creation contributes to the extant literature, presenting a complex, multi-scalar, and multi-actor manner of industrial restructuring involving dynamic agencies that is not merely historically conditioned by place-specific assets and structures but also affected by the changing extra-regional political-institutional environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike economic capital, which is visible and easy to calculate, social capital is intangible and difficult to assess. Although both types of capital are crucial in determining social relations and social behaviour, little solid research has been done on the latter. This paper attempts to use the rags-to-riches story of Sir Robert Ho Tung, a first-generation Hong Kong Eurasian entrepreneur who commenced life without traditional social/cultural capital as the illegitimate son of a Chinese woman and a Dutchman, to illustrate the processes involved in cultivating and accumulating social capital. With special reference to economic development in early colonial Hong Kong and major social transformations in the Chinese mainland, this paper also demonstrates how a group of so-called social/racial 'half-caste bastards' (Eurasians) were able to form their own social networks of mutual help and protection. It also considers how they worked to consolidate, mobilise, aggrandise and transmit their social capital. In conclusion, it is argued that Eurasians in early twentieth-century Hong Kong constructed their personal networks like a web, with different interconnecting layers that functioned at different socio-economic-political levels to serve different purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Based on the 'structured content analysis' of the longitudinal data from a journal of Chinese real estate industry during last 11 years, this paper studies the nature of public issue life cycle and corresponding corporate political actions (CPAs) in a transitional economy. This paper finds out that in a transitional economy like China: (1) a new stage called 'policy trial' and double steps of policy introduction were found in the public issue life cycle; (2) the possible outcomes of Chinese public issues are partially consistent with Tombari's arguments; (3) the evolution of CPAs takes a more complex and different path compared with that in the West. In general, this paper provides an available research perspective (the public issue life cycle model) for firms to manage and monitor their external political environment by effectively developing CPAs in a transitional economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increase of cross-Strait economic activity, the interaction between Taiwanese business people and the Chinese government has gradually changed. As Taiwanese investment grew in volume, so did the number and frequency of contacts between the parties; a more institutionalised form regulating these contacts was established as a result. Nowadays Taiwanese businessmen have become an identifiable factor in Chinese governmental policy implementation; the process also has far-reaching implications. This paper argues that Taiwanese capital has become a Chinese governmental security asset and examines the importance of this factor when discussing conventional government/business interaction. This paper concludes that a superior national interest guides the warm welcome given by the Chinese government to Taiwanese businessmen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of economic reform and administrative restructuring in China, a number of powerful state-owned business groups ("national champions") have emerged within sectors of strategic importance. They are headed by a new corporate elite which enjoys unprecedentedly high levels of remuneration and managerial independence from government agencies and which derives legitimacy from symbolizing China's economic rise. However, through the nomenklatura system, the Party controls the appointment of the CEOs and presidents of the most important of these enterprises and manages a cadre transfer system which makes it possible to transfer/rotate business leaders to take up positions in state and Party agencies. In order to conceptualize the coexistence of the contradicting forces for further enterprise autonomy and continued central control that characterizes the evolving relationship between business groups and the Party-state, this paper proposes the notion of integrated fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today’s globalized political economy, diplomacy between nation-states (state–state diplomacy) now exists alongside state–firm diplomacy, the negotiations between multinational corporations (MNCs) and the countries in which they do business. While the state must be committed to the interests of its MNCs in the interest of domestic state–firm diplomacy (maintaining a supportive business environment), it still has recourse to address failures in corporate diplomacy and to maintain the appearance of dominance on the world stage. This paper examined these strategies through a critical analysis of prepared testimony at the February 2006 congressional hearing regarding the controversial actions of four U.S. IT MNCs (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Cisco) operating in China. I conclude that when the government is constrained from using its hard power on its MNCs, soft power becomes its most effective tool. Image, suggestion, and appearance—soft power—can be considered more important than legislation itself—hard power—and perhaps even the currency of current state–firm relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using survey data of enterprises and entrepreneurs from Liuzhou, Guangxi, China, the determinants of political participation of private enterprises are studied. We find (1) entrepreneurs who are older or from larger older enterprises have a higher probability of becoming members of the People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, while gender, education and household registration status do not significantly affect their political participation. (2) Entrepreneurs with membership in the Communist Party of China or other parties have a higher probability of entering politics. Compared with Communist Party members, those of other parties have a much higher probability of political participation. (3) Parental leadership identity increases entrepreneur probability of entering politics. Its effect is between that of Communist Party membership and other party membership. This paper provides evidence that Chinese entrepreneurs in private enterprises are translating their economic power, political identity, and household background into formal political power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, the economic system in China has evolved into one that combines fiscal decentralization with political centralization. Local officials are successfully motivated to foster economic growth. One of the motivation and control mechanisms established in China's political and bureaucratic hierarchy is an introduction of term limits and a rotation system for higher level government officials. Using a panel data covering detailed information for all the provincial governors between 1978 and 2004, this paper finds a positive impact of both term limits and rotation of governors across provinces on local economic growth. It also finds that term limits and economic growth exhibit a weakly inverted U relationship. Although the rotation of governors matters to local economic growth, regional variation is observed, and the positive impact of rotated governors on local growth turned out to be more obvious in the eastern provinces than in the other provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]