Search

The evolution process of regional space between coastal and interior areas is a direct manifestation of the theory of regional economic development imbalance. Previous research has neglected the impacts of population, and economic factor flows on the balance of regional development between coastal and interior areas. By constructing global coastal-interior regional population-economic panel data and a threshold effect model, this study explored regional development imbalance on the largest scale between global coastal and interior areas. The results indicated that the global population is unevenly distributed across coastal and interior areas. Global coastal areas (accounting for 18.43% of the world's landmass) are occupied by ~52.8% of the global population; meanwhile, ~23% of the global population is concentrated in the 'near region' subtropical zone extending from 10° to 30° north and south in latitude. The economic pattern between global coastal and interior areas has become more balanced, and the per capita GDP gap between the two sub-regions has decreased from 2.08 times to 1.78 times during the study period (2000 to 2018). Nevertheless, the evolutionary process of population factors lags behind that of economic factors. Apart from Africa, the development gap of intercontinental coastal and interior areas has been converging to varying degrees. Adjusting regional per capita income levels and population-economic density can promote balanced development between coastal and interior areas both globally and across continents. These findings may contribute to the implementation of effective policies for spatial balance and sustainable development in coastal and interior areas across multiple spatial scales. This study extends the theoretical research on uneven regional growth and provides a foundation for further research to achieve the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used the global database of events, language, and tone of international public opinion big data to measure organizational stigmatization against China. It then used an econometric model to investigate the impact of organizational stigmatization on the operational risk and performance of overseas subsidiaries of Chinese multinational enterprises. The results show that: (1) organizational stigmatization increases overseas subsidiaries' operational risk and reduces their operational performance, which is more evident in overseas subsidiaries of state-owned enterprises; (2) the host country's political stability weakens the organizational stigmatization's positive impact on overseas subsidiaries' operational risk. The geographical distance between the home and host countries strengthens organizational stigmatization's positive impact on overseas subsidiaries' operational risk; (3) the host country's political stability and the geographical distance between the home and host countries have no moderating effect on organizational stigmatization and overseas subsidiaries' operational performance; and (4) organizational stigmatization by the host country reduces overseas subsidiaries' operational performance via the channel of operational risk. This study innovates the measurement method of organizational stigmatization and lays the foundation for investigating the microeconomic impact of organizational stigmatization from the perspective of overseas subsidiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic policy uncertainty (EPU) hinders global economic recovery and is an important cause of economic recession. Additionally, EPU also hinders the development of firms. In this context, using firms' markups as the breakthrough point, this study analyses how EPU and financial constraints affect firms' markups with the assistance of an econometric model and using an index of EPU and data from Chinese Annual Survey of Industrial Firms. The conclusions are as follows: (1) EPU has a significantly negative impact on firms' markups; (2) both the internal and external financial constraints have a significantly negative impact on firms' markups; (3) the interaction between EPU and internal and external financial constraints has a significantly negative impact on the firms' markups. This study also analyses the differences of firms' heterogeneity. This study is helpful for firms to fully understand the different impacts of internal and external shocks on firms' markups, and provide more targeted reference for policy-making departments, and thus improve the policies' effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]