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Calls for research in trade, industry, economics, management, and decision sciences to be presented at the Global Economic Transformation After the Asian Economic Crisis conference to be held in Hong Kong, China from May 26 to 28, 2000.

Starting from the contradiction between China's sustained growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) net inflow and deterioration of the terms of trade, this paper analyzes the characteristics of FDI sectoral structure since the 1990. Moreover, considering the international market competitive environment, this paper gives a concrete analysis of the influence mechanism and concludes that the flowing of FDI into labor-intensive export sectors caused the deterioration of China's terms of trade. To improve its terms of trade, China needs to direct FDI inflow into capital- and technology-intensive sectors and service sectors. (Edited by Xiaoming Feng) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid economic ascent of China and the increasing integration of the world economy in the past two decades have made metropolises in China such as Shanghai and Beijing emerging global cities. Foreign investment is a central force underlying the emergence and transformation of the Chinese metropolises into global cities. This is especially true in Shanghai, which has experienced massive infusion of foreign investment. Varied forms of foreign investment or development zones have been created to promote foreign investment inflows, yet remain under-studied. This paper analyzes structure, performance, and underlying factors of development zones in Shanghai, and discusses the implications for global city-formation; it unfolds the variations among development zones, and illustrates the significant role of the state and local conditions. As the literature on global cities dwells primarily on the experiences of advanced economies, this paper further contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics of emerging global cities in the developing world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two strands of approaches gauging bilateral trade barriers: the gravity models and the trade intensity index. This paper integrates these two approaches by developing a new trade intensity index. This so called 'gravity model adjusted trade intensity' ( GMATI) index can reflect the short run trade barriers while controlling for the long run ones under global trade context. Based on 182 countries' export data during 1988-2005, we first estimate the expected bilateral trade level using a gravity model with comparative advantage effects. Then we apply the GMATI index for China. While the conventional trade intensity index shows that China trades less than its expected level, our GMATI index nevertheless suggests the opposite in most cases. It indicates that after considering the effect of country characteristics such as distance, economic size and comparative advantage, China's world trade face less trade barriers than the world average level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of trade liberalisation on firm productivity by using both Chinese manufacturing firm-level data and highly disaggregated Chinese import data from 1998 to 2002. We construct a measure of firms' total factor productivity by adopting an augmented Olley-Pakes semi-parametric methodology to correct the simultaneity bias from reverse causality and selection bias from firms' exits. Even when controlling for the endogeneity, trade liberalisation increases productivity for firms that produce complex goods (highly differentiated products). In contrast, we found that trade liberalisation has an opposite effect on the productivity of the producers of simple goods. Moreover, the effect of trade liberalisation on exporting firms is found to be smaller than that on non-exporting firms. Our main results are robust to the use of different econometric methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has experienced rising wage inequality due to rising relative demand for skilled labour. In this paper, we use a sample of 1,500 firms to investigate the impact of trade and technology on China's rising skill demand. We find that export expansion had a negative direct effect (Heckscher–Ohlin type) and a positive indirect effect (export-induced skill-biased technical change) on skill demand; the net effect was found positive and accounted for 5 percent of rising skill demand of the sample firms. We find that technical change in Chinese firms was on average skill-neutral, but majority foreign-owned firms experienced skill-biased technical progress that accounted for 22 percent of the rising skill demand of the sample firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within a framework of ecological modernization theory this paper focuses on the process of environmental reform in Hong Kong. It argues that there is significant inertia within the environmental policy process in Hong Kong, but that with leadership from the business sector there exists the potential for positive change. We identify ways to further drive the process of environmental reform through an emphasis on the role of the business sector and technological innovation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically investigates the effects of foreign acquisitions on several performance measures of Chinese target firms. Using a self-constructed database that includes information on foreign acquisitions in China and the accounting information of Chinese manufacturing firms from 1998 to 2007, we find that foreign acquisitions significantly improve the productivity, sales and fixed asset investment of the target firms. We address the potential endogeneity issue in the OLS estimation using the difference-in-differences technique, with two control groups, namely the would-be targets and the propensity-score-matched targets. We also find that the performance-enhancing effect of foreign acquisitions becomes stronger when larger technology gaps are observed between the acquirers and the targets. An inverted-U relationship is observed between the post-acquisition performance of the target firms and the target firm equity that is held by the foreign acquirers. The performance effects are qualitatively different among vertical, horizontal and conglomerate acquisitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border relocation of the production lines of Hong Kong companies to the Pearl River Delta Region (PRDR) of China relocates the pollution source geographically. In contextualizing corporate social responsibility (CSR), more and better collaborations on environmental management between Hong-Kong-based companies and their supply chains within Hong Kong and the PRDR are needed. Using a qualitative approach, this research identifies and examines nine concerned business supply chain partnership cases. Stakeholders perceived that partnership is a good tool for improving corporate environmental management. However, although it has become more active since 2002, partnership is not yet popular. More time and support are needed to develop it. Businesses should take further steps to benefit themselves and the environment. Based on the first-hand experiences and opinions of interviewees, this paper analyzes and presents recent partnership activities; their drivers and barriers; factors in their successes; and the possible roles of government and business associations in fostering partnership development. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs what we call a quality-differentiation model of Chinese trade. This model captures some salient features of Chinese trade and allows us to analyze the impact of trade liberalization on wage inequality. At present, Chinese trade displays the following features: high-quality cars are imported and low-quality cars are produced and consumed domestically, for which some parts are imported. These features lead us to consider trade liberalization as two types of tariff reduction: namely, a tariff reduction on final quality-differentiated goods and a tariff reduction on intermediate goods. This study shows that the two types of tariff reduction have completely different effects on wage inequality. Moreover, the results show that welfare inequality and wage inequality change in opposite directions when the tariff on final quality-differentiated goods is reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's market potential is unparalleled, although many foreign business practitioners have commented that operating profitably in China is difficult, and more complex and time consuming than should be necessary. Given these facts, a lot of research on doing business in China gives recognition to the concept of Guanxi, a social and business relationship network, as the key to conducting successful business. By analyzing current research and collecting primary data from both the Chinese Mainland and Taiwan Province, this study aims to clarify the importance of Guanxi, and to study the future trend of Guanxi. By doing so, this paper intends to help business practitioners in China, especially those from the Western countries, to gain a deeper and more practical insight into the Chinese social network, and to help them make effective cross-cultural adaptation and business decisions in the unfamiliar cultural environment of China. (Edited by Xiaoming Feng) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things, are becoming increasingly mature. They have become the driving force behind a new wave of innovation and entrepreneurship activities worldwide. AI is the core of the contemporary digital technology industry. New high technologies bring greater opportunities for entrepreneurs to carry out entrepreneurial activities and bring unprecedented challenges to traditional entrepreneurial activities and theories. The existing literature on the impact of AI on entrepreneurial activities is still in the exploration stage. Based on this, this study aims to explore the entrepreneurial process of AI start‐ups, combining with existing literature, select AI unicorn start‐ups ByteDance for a case study, and apply the grounded theory method to analyse and summarise the entrepreneurial process of Internet start‐ups with AI. Thus, it can provide insights for many AI start‐ups and contribute to the existing entrepreneurial research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economic crisis in 2007 forced China to move from export-led growth to promoting domestic demand. The move is significant, but the success of this new growth strategy depends critically on the level of domestic market integrations. In this paper, we use the methodology proposed by Anderson and Wincoop to examine China's domestic market integrations. We find evidence of border effects at both national and regional levels with significant regional differences, but they are smaller than some earlier studies suggest. Income growth, lower transportation costs, and higher intra-industry trade all have positive effects on China's regional trade. Among the factors affecting regional trade, a better business environment has the largest positive impact on lifting China's domestic trade between regions, especially in intermediate goods, suggesting that improving business environment should be the priority of government at all levels in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, when we apply the technique to the bilateral trade balance between the USA and Hong Kong, we find neither short-run nor long-run effects. Suspecting that this could be due to aggregation, we disaggregate the trade data between the two countries by commodity and apply the same method. While we find short-run negative effects in the majority of industries, positive long-run effects are observed in 58 of 108 industries, supporting the J-Curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study performed a comparative analysis of changes in the operating status of initial surviving disaster‐stricken businesses and non‐disaster‐stricken businesses in Lushan County, China, after a devastating earthquake on 20 April 2013. It used a logistic regression model to explore the key factors associated with 'post‐disaster continued business operation' in the long term. Field data were collected from 1,078 businesses and questionnaire data from 263 small businesses between 2013 and 2017. The results indicate that a higher proportion of initial surviving disaster‐stricken businesses than non‐disaster‐stricken businesses managed to remain operational in each observation period. The continued operation of disaster‐stricken businesses after the earthquake was positively associated with the owner's age, previous disaster experience, pre‐disaster financial conditions, closure duration, and borrowing money from family or friends. A negative association was found with the size of the business. The findings serve as a vital reference for strategies to promote post‐disaster continued business operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Live chat, which is embedded in some shopping websites, allows a retailer to communicate with its shoppers directly and respond to their inquiries promptly. We extended the Speech Act Theory (SAT) to this context by developing the Dialog Conversion Model (DCM) that elucidates the characteristics of online dialog between shoppers and retailers. We validated the DCM using quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative analyses of 1,185 communication sessions and related purchase records reflect that shoppers' cognitive, rather than affective, expressions tend to indicate their purchase intentions, and retailers should emphasize cognitive expressions to the extent possible while being strategic in their choice of expressions. Furthermore, the affective expressions (in positive and negative forms) articulated by retailers have a considerable influence on purchase conversion. However, the same is not true for shoppers. Post‐hoc interviews were conducted with shoppers to gain additional insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have shown that privatisation has the potential to apply the forces of competition and high-powered incentives to reduce costs and innovate. However, few studies investigate whether privatisation can enhance export performance through higher levels of efficiency. Using China's National Bureau of Statistics surveys and customs trade data, we explore the causal effect of privatisation on trade. The wave of 2002 Chinese state-owned enterprise reforms provided a natural experiment that enables us to use the difference-in-differences approach to examine this question. Consistent with the theoretical predications, the empirical results show positive and significant effects of privatisation on all the examined indicators of export performance, including total export value, the intensive margin, and the extensive margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earlier studies found that web hyperlink data contain various types of information, ranging from academic to political, that can be used to analyze a variety of social phenomena. Specifically, the numbers of inlinks to academic websites are associated with academic performance, while the counts of inlinks to company websites correlate with business variables. However, the scarcity of sources from which to collect inlink data in recent years has required us to seek new data sources. The recent demise of the inlink search function of Yahoo! made this need more pressing. Different alternative variables or data sources have been proposed. This study compared three types of web data to determine which are better as academic and business quality estimates, and what are the relationships among the three data sources. The study found that Alexa inlink and Google URL citation data can replace Yahoo! inlink data and that the former is better than the latter. Alexa is even better than Yahoo!, which has been the main data source in recent years. The unique nature of Alexa data could explain its relative advantages over other data sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many scholars believe with the United States' increasing debt, the global position of the dollar is weakening. As the dollar declines, China, now the largest holder of U.S. dollars in the world, is understandably concerned. China's controversial peg to the U.S. dollar, combined with its $2.4 trillion in foreign reserves and trade imbalances, is debated daily by politicians and economists. This article presents arguments for and against the current China monetary policy in economic and political contexts. Statements from China's leaders, other global leaders, and economists are reviewed. Economic and political obstacles and incentives in the context of their influence on the China government are considered. Finally, milestones for business leaders to look for are suggested to help determine China's possible path to a fully convertible yuan. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines social technology transfer by taking into account the role of cultural context – the interplay between geography, maritime trade, role of the state and foreign intercourse. The southern port city of Canton, China is the focus, and provides a case study to examine why Western merchants and missionaries came to this particular location to transfer various social technologies, i.e. hospitals, insane asylums, schools, colleges and homes for the blind. The relevance of these institutions to the development of China's social welfare is considered in terms of Canton's shifting welfare mix. Implications of this case study are considered relevant to critical understanding of international social welfare from an East–West perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written about how e-business can serve as a strong homogenizing influence and essentially make the world into one market. Yet, little research has empirically investigated this question. This study seeks to describe e-business activity in China, Sweden, and Russia to identify similarities and differences in the portfolios of e-business applications in these countries. Our results indicate that different e-business applications are emerging as more prevalent in different countries. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the partial privatization of 53 Chinese stale-owned enterprises (by their listings on the Hong Kong Exchange over the period July 1993 to December 2002. We find that listing has led to a median increase of 70% in real net profits, 80% in real sales, 50% in capital spending, and a mild but nonsignificant improvement in coverage ratios, but no improvement in return on sales and a significant underperformance of returns against several market index benchmarks. Further investigation shows that firm performance is negatively related to state ownership, but positively related to legal-personal ownership and foreign ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Shanghai strives to build itself into an international center of finance, trade, and commerce, a new retail economy has evolved accordingly. In the past two decades, its retail sector has been transformed from a simple and inefficient distribution system to a much more complex and highly competitive market-oriented economy. The new retail economy in many ways resembles the contemporary capitalist retail economy in the Western cities, but it also exhibits significant differences with Chinese characteristics. While the affluent consumer market is the necessary condition for sustained retail growth, it is the retail deregulation that has been the fundamental driving force for the structural changes in Shanghai's retail sector. Its liberal policies attracted major international retailers to either choose Shanghai as the gateway city to enter the China market, or locate their China headquarters offices in Shanghai to command their operations throughout the country. Indeed, the retail transformation in post-reform Shanghai is a clear testimony of the Economic Transition Model. The main data sources for this empirical study are the 1999 Census of Commercial Activity in Shanghai and the Shanghai Statistical Yearbook. They are supplemented by data collected from reputable Web sites and through field work in Shanghai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the trade reform, household effects and poverty in China. Nature of the economic activities of the poor and their vulnerability to changes in prices; Types of farmers that will benefit most from the country's accession to World Trade Organization.

Deals with the complementary economic and political interests of China and post-Soviet republics of Central Asia in increasing trade and investments. Economic benefits of trade potential; Barriers to trade; Prospects for increased Chinese trade with Central Asia.

Shows that particular attributes of foreign banks have significant impact on the decision to engage in business transactions in China's domestic currency. Distribution of bank branches by region of origin in 1991 and 1999; Growth of foreign banks and China's trade; Managerial implications of China's entry into the World Trade Organization.

The article focuses on the internationalization of ethnic Chinese business firms form Southeast Asia. In recent decades, Chinese business in Southeast-Asia has undergone significant transformations. From petty traders and emigrant workers in the early half of the twentieth century, the overseas Chinese and their business firms have emerged as one of the most important economic forces in many Southeast Asian countries. Today, the overseas Chinese control some 80% of corporate assets and 160 of the 200 largest enterprises in Indonesia, 40-50% of corporate assets in Malaysia, 90% of manufacturing and 50% of services in Thailand. With these strong footholds in local industries and capital markets, many Chinese business groups from Southeast Asia are increasingly establishing operations outside their home countries. As such, these Chinese business firms have entered a new era of their corporate development - internationalization to establish and consolidate the worldwide web of Chinese business.