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How to leverage the advantages of state-owned capital to promote the high-quality development of private enterprises is a central issue of mixed-ownership reform. We empirically explore the effect of reverse mixed-ownership reform on the cost of equity financing for private enterprises and the underlying mechanism from two perspectives: equity structure and high-level governance using fixed-effect and IV regressions. We find that reverse mixed-ownership reform significantly reduces the cost of equity financing for private enterprises. The mediation effect tests suggest that the improvement of information disclosure quality and equity liquidity partially play intermediary roles in the relation between the reform and the equity financing cost. Heterogeneity tests suggest that cost of equity financing for private enterprises are significantly reduced for firms operating in highly competitive industry environment and firms located in regions with lower level of marketization. We contribute to the understanding of the economic consequences of reverse mixed-ownership reform and provide policy insights for further advancing the reform in private enterprises while effectively harnessing the advantages of state-owned capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant studies of environmental investment determinants have not distinguished between different types of political connections. This study tries to close this gap by employing an extensive dataset based on the four-yearly Chinese Private Enterprises Survey conducted between 2006 and 2012. The central question in this paper asks whether different political connections (ascribed vs. achieved) are fostering or hindering environmental protection expenditures in private enterprises. The results show that achieved political connections serve as binds of promoting firm environmental investment while ascribed political connections act as buffers, hampering firm environmental expenditures. The moderating roles of environmental regulation and innovation capability demonstrate heterogeneous effects: environmental regulation stringency strengthens the positive impact of achieved political connections only. In contrast, innovation capability enhances the negative impact of ascribed political connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new product development (NPD) process–performance link has been sufficiently studied in academic research. However, recent NPD process is significantly different from the conventional NPD specifically with the inclusion of sustainability considerations under circular economy (CE) context. In theory, NPD with CE considerations (CE-NPD), compared with the conventional NPD, is associated with higher costs and longer development times. This study empirically examines the effect of the CE-NPD process on both time-to-market (TTM) and profit performance in the context of Chinese private enterprises. In addition, the role of traditional Chinese philosophies of Confucianism and Taoism in influencing the CE-NPD process–performance link is also investigated. We find that Confucianism positively moderates the relationship between the CE-NPD process and TTM performance. However, it negatively moderates the CE-NPD-profit link. On the other hand, the moderating effect of Taoism is negative on both the CE-NPD-TTM and CE-NPD-profit links. An interesting finding of this study is that the coexistence of Confucian and Taoist values in NPD workers has the strongest positive impact on the relationship between the CE-NPD process and performance. Our study provides insights on the way in which companies should plan to apply Chinese philosophies during the CE-NPD process to maximise the benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main difference between China and other major economies is the presence of a large number of state-owned enterprises. Focusing on the Chinese context, we divide firms into state-owned and private enterprises, and households into working and capitalist class; thereafter, we simulate the effects of government investment expansion on income distribution under different financing instruments. We found that when financed by corporate income tax or value-added tax, government investment expansion makes the working class in both types of enterprises better off, but the capitalist class worse off; however, when financed by labour income tax, government investment expansion yields the opposite result. When the expansion is financed by government debt, the real wealth of the working class in state-owned enterprises and the capitalist class increases, but that of the working class in private enterprises decreases. The difference in income distribution outcomes between the working class and capitalist class is due to the differing composition of their wealth, and the difference in income distribution outcomes among working class is because the enterprises for which they work perform differently in undertaking government investment projects and obtaining loans from the financial market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines state-private firm coordination in China's corporate globalization with a focus on cross-border mergers and acquisitions in Southeast Asia. The profile of China's private firms in the country's overseas economic expansion has risen dramatically over the past few years, but the controversy continues as to what extent they coordinate their overseas activities with the state. This is because Chinese private firms, not unlike state-owned enterprises, have political economy reasons to subject their corporate decision-making to state preferences. Still, the outcomes of state-firm coordination in private sector internationalization vary. In some transactions, the state and private firms form a strong partnership through elaborate policies and financing; others see some alignment that is not decisive for transaction outcomes; and still others see minimal, almost rhetorical engagement. The varied outcomes can be explained by the combination of foreign direct investment (FDI) motives and the technology intensity of the target industry. We propose a framework drawn from the international business theory of FDI motives and the literature on China's techno-industrial policy to classify different types of state-private sector coordination. We survey recent developments in China's cross-border acquisitions in Southeast Asia and provide illustrative case studies to support our argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. The relationship between enterprise size and psychosocial working conditions has received little attention so far but some findings suggest that conditions are more favorable in small enterprises. This could have a positive impact on workers' mental health. The objective of this study was to test the mediating effect of perceived working conditions in the relationship between enterprise size and anxious or depressive episodes. Methods. Data from the 2010 SUMER – Surveillance Médicale des Expositions aux Risques professionnels (French periodical cross-sectional survey) were analyzed; N = 31,420 for the present study. Anxious or depressive episodes were measured with the hospital anxiety and depression scale and the perceived working conditions were psychological demand, decision latitude and social support as assessed with Karasek's job content questionnaire. The indirect effect was tested according to the method proposed by Preacher and Hayes. Results. In a multivariate logistic regression, the risk of anxious or depressive episodes was found to be lower in micro enterprises (2–9 employees). Formal tests pointed to a significant indirect effect of enterprise size on mental health through perceived working conditions, with a larger effect for psychological demand. Conclusion. This study highlights perceived working conditions as an explanation of the effects of enterprise size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we examine the institutions of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) and its political role from a historical perspective. By studying the ACFIC's leadership, governing structure, and the activities of its affiliated business chambers and members, we argue that the ACFIC has evolved beyond its original mechanism as a component of the united front work and played an increasingly important role in the Party-state's economic governance. Consequent to this development, nowadays the ACFIC has become a formal channel for private enterprises to articulate their collective interests and influence the national policy-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private enterprises may encounter high industrial barriers in China because of government administrative restrictions. We analyse the effect of partial state ownership on a privately controlled company's participation in industries with state-imposed barriers. The results indicate that state ownership in privately controlled enterprises has a significantly positive effect on participation in high barrier industries. After controlling for partial state ownership, we find that personal political identity of entrepreneurs, a previously investigated dimension of political connections, becomes less important in explaining private enterprises' participation in barrier industries. We also find the effect of state ownership on access to barrier industries will become weaker when local economy is more developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in China's economy has typically been focused on its phenomenal growth. However, more recently there has been growing interest in emerging constraints on and vulnerabilities regarding that growth. A key focus has been concern with issues of shadow banking. This article discusses one aspect of China's finance system, which has some crossover with shadow banking: informal lending to private enterprises (PE). This lending is characteristically unstable and exhibits a number of features that constrain private enterprises. Intrinsic to those constraints are issues of usury, bribery and rent-seeking (as an expression of power), all of which bear on the institutional context of ethics. This article discusses the case of Wenzhou, the most prominent city for private enterprises in China. The Wenzhou case is explored using a narrative form drawing on multiple sources including academic papers, regulation, newspapers, and social media. This is an increasingly recognized approach within mixed methods research and this article supplies important qualitative insight into the how and why questions regarding the Wenzhou case. The Wenzhou case is typical in terms of the coexistence and interaction of formal and informal lending in China. Finally, we highlight the limits of the recent reform process and current approach to resolving the problem of financing for PEs in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production figures in 2008 showed that new private seed enterprises in Afghanistan produced and sold about 12,000 tons of certified wheat seed, which accounted for 95% of the total certified seed produced in the country. At a retail price of about US$1,200 per ton, the enterprises earned an average margin of 20%. When interviewed, the farmers ranked high yield as by far the most important characteristic they sought in improved varieties. Besides yield, the next important attributes were earliness, disease resistance, grain color, and bread making quality. Estimates of on-farm productivity showed that use of improved wheat varieties alone could contribute up to 33% incremental yield under irrigated conditions, whereas the use of quality seed could enhance yield further by 28%. These estimates were obtained under recommended fertilizer rates, in the absence of which yield levels would have declined substantially. Apart from wheat, other major crops the farmers grew varied by regions but in broad terms included rice, vegetables, maize, potato, cotton, barley, watermelon, and alfalfa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been the subject of growing debate across an increasingly wide range of disciplines in social sciences and business and management studies. China has been facing mounting pressure to take CSR issues seriously especially vis a vis environmental issues and labour standards. However, issues related to CSR and human resource management (HRM) in China remain under-explored. This study investigates how managers of textile and apparel firms perceive CSR issues, what actions they are taking and what implications these may have for institutional bodies that seek to promote CSR in the country. The study concludes that firms tend to adopt a business case approach to CSR, focusing on the market rather than their employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's entrepreneurship in the Greek countryside has been expressed in two forms of agro-tourism business: private and cooperative. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences between these two forms with regard to the characteristics of the businesses and women entrepreneurs alike. The research was based on personal interviews with 199 women and the results of the survey confirm the existence of significant differences between the two forms of enterprises. The woman who selects the cooperatives is not very young, has relatively little education, is uncertain and hesitant, while the woman who chooses the private form of enterprise is younger, better educated and has greater self-confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]