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• Robot adoption led to a 10 % increase in productivity within China's manufacturing firms. • The impact was more pronounced in the first two years following adoption. • The impact was likely to be greater for small-size firms. • Multi-functional robots had more pronounced effects than single-functional ones. • Industry-city robot exposure had positive spillover effects on non-adopting firms. This study investigates the effect of industrial robots on firm productivity in China. Employing propensity score matching (PSM) and staggered difference-in-difference (SDID) estimations, we find a statistically significant and positive casual effect of robot adoption on firm productivity at the 1 % significance level, leading to an approximate 10 % increase in total factor productivity (TFP) among manufacturing firms in China. The effect was most pronounced in the first two years following adoption but lost statistical significance from the third year onward. Additionally, we find that robot exposure, measured by both adoption rate and adoption intensity, had positive and statistically significant spillover effects on large-scale non-adopting firms within the same industry and city, leading to significant improvements in their TFP. Furthermore, the effect of robot adoption on firm productivity varied by robot type, firm size, and industry. Multi-functional robots (MFRs) exhibited a more substantial effect compared to singlefunctional robots (SFRs). The automotive, plastic/chemical, and metal industries had great productivity gains compared to other industries. These results withstand various rigorous robustness checks, reaffirming the validity and consistency of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, academics and governments are increasingly concerned about the growing size of non-financial enterprises' ownership of financial products. Taking corporations listed in the Chinese stock market as the research sample, this study investigates the impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty on corporate financialization. We find that EPU will exacerbate corporate financialization, which is robust after conducting a series of estimation tests. Further investigation reveals that financing constraints may be the primary channel by which EPU motivates corporate booming financial product holdings. The exacerbation effects are particularly prominent in firms with small size, non-SOEs, weak corporate governance, and firms at a low growth stage. Overall, our results provide a novel explanation for the behaviour of corporate financialization in emerging capital markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds light on the effectiveness of a concrete target-based performance evaluation system (TPES) for localities in enhancing local environmental enforcement in China. We conduct a difference-in-differences (DID) specification and exploit unique firm-level data to investigate the effects of the TPES on SO2 emission reduction through the Two control Zones (TCZ) policy. The results suggest that the TPES significantly reduces SO2 emissions of firms located at the TCZ cities, both in extensive and intensive margins. We also find that the treatment effects vary largely across enterprise sizes, ownership types, and local economic development. Our findings further verify how the long-standing distortions in the decentralized implementation of nationwide environmental regulations in China are remedied with a proper performance evaluation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic disparity between southern and northern China has widened in the past decade. This article explores the roles of the north-south stretched backbone high-speed rails (HSRs) in the widened north-south economic gap in China. By constructing panel data of 283 cities between 2005 and 2016 and estimating the difference in GDP and per-capita GDP of northern and southern cities before and after the first north-south stretched HSR, we show that the north-south economic gap widened by about 8% as the opening of the Beijing-Shanghai HSR, the first north-south stretched HSR. Further channel analysis reveals that the north-south gaps in population, fixed asset investment, public expenditure, and the relative size of secondary industry to tertiary industry also widened. These results suggest that fast transportation improvement caused by long-distance backbone HSRs can contribute to accelerating the large-scale regional disparity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the literature advocates that the state plays a significant role in affecting firms' behaviour in emerging economies, whether state participation promotes or impedes firms' innovation decisions requires further scholarly attention. In this study, we develop a framework in which we examine how and under what conditions state participation affects firms' green innovation. Results from publicly listed firms in China show an inverted U‐shaped relationship between state participation and green innovation, so that state participation in the form of minority ownership is most effective for firms seeking to conduct green innovation. This curvilinear relationship is negatively moderated by firm age and firm size, such that the inverted U‐shape flattens when a firm is older and larger. The relationship is positively moderated by subnational institutional development such that the inverted U‐shape steepens when institutional development is higher. These findings provide useful implications for resource dependence theory in explaining whether state participation serves as a facilitator of or a burden on firms' green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study examines the extent to which electricity shortage influences technical efficiency using data of 805 listed manufacturing companies in China from 2009 to 2020 collected from the CSMAR database. To achieve the objectives of this paper, first, a stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) is used to estimate the technical efficiency (TE) score of manufacturing companies. Subsequently, the TE score is used to evaluate the electricity shortage index and other factors that are postulated to affect enterprise productivity. Two estimation methods have been adopted including ordinary least squares (OLS), which is less robust to endogeneity and instrumental variable (IV) estimation, which turns out to be more robust to endogeneity in the data. The empirical results show that, under OLS estimation, electricity shortage has a significantly negative impact on the technical efficiency of the listed manufacturing companies. However, when IV regression is implemented to address endogeneity issues in the data, electricity shortages tend to have a significantly positive impact on the technical efficiency, underscoring the importance of capturing endogeneity in the data. Extending the baseline results, this study also finds that, while the size of an enterprise may have no bearing, state-owned companies are more likely to be negatively affected by electricity shortages compared to privately owned companies. These results have significant implications for industrial policy design in China in particular, and developing countries in general. Most importantly, the results of this study underscore the importance of policies and measures to promote a shift in the ownership structure towards the private sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from signaling theory in information economics, this study investigates the mechanism of the government research and development (R&D) subsidies grants by emphasizing the role of the top management team (TMT) characteristics in the context of China. Specifically, we argue that TMT characteristics can serve as valid signals by conveying legitimacy to reduce information asymmetry between firms and governments, which subsequently affect governments' decisions to grant R&D subsidies. We test the hypotheses using data from Chinese listed firms between 2008 and 2019. The findings indicate that age, tenure, diversity in functional backgrounds, or team size of enterprises' top managers are positively associated with the amount of government R&D subsidies granted. This positive effect is more pronounced in regions with a lower marketization level. This study contributes to the existing literature on R&D subsidies, and offers insights to both policymakers and firm managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazardous waste as a global issue closely links environmental pollution, public health, resource sustainability, and social governance. Its rapid increase and distinct drawbacks have threatened our eco-civilized planet. The Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework can demonstrate how cultural, political, and economic behavior varies in an anthropogenic system. In this review, we use this systematic framework to examine China's hazardous waste management venture and uncover the fundamental theory of man-land relationship. The key drivers (e.g., policy, technology, industry, and socioeconomic incentives) are equipped in a shareable manner, and these drivers can affect waste trends in each region depending on population size and industry level. However, pressure for the achievement of sustainable development goals is yielded by the drivers of industrialization and improper hazardous waste management. In China, the state of hazardous waste generation increased from 9.74 Mt (1Mt = 109kg) in 1998 to 75 Mt in 2018. During 2001-2017, the comprehensive utilization, disposal, and storage ranged from 5-20 Mt, 2-15 Mt, and 3-10 Mt, respectively. Human and environmental impacts can be seen through the changing state of waste generation and handling. As a response, China has led the world to hazardous waste management and recovery lineups through resource efficiency and recycling. Finally, we also try to draw a coherent roadmap for future direction and associated policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research examines the effects of firm ownership and size on innovation capability using data from the World Bank China Enterprise Survey (WBCES), which provides directly measurable innovation-related variables. Key consideration is given to the role and innovation capability of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) compared with domestic and foreign private enterprises in the Chinese economy. Design/methodology/approach: In its quest for technological self-reliance and a new developmental path, China is focusing on its enterprise innovation capability. Findings: The findings suggest that SOEs and domestic private enterprises are similar in terms of innovation participation but differ in terms of innovation diversification, which implies ownership-specific innovative advantages. In general, the authors find that SOEs are more innovative with respect to processes innovation but less so with respect to product, management and promotion innovations. Foreign-owned enterprises are superior in all types of innovation except product innovation. Research limitations/implications: The authors also find that size is an important determinant of innovation capability, with the effect varying depending on location and industry. Moreover, the joint effect of firm ownership and size on innovation declines with increasing size. These findings provide new insights into the evaluation of China's major policies. Originality/value: This research examines the effects of ownership and size on enterprise innovation capability, using the WBCES (2013) data, which include direct measurable innovation related variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HR strategic integration is a key factor reflecting the strategic use of human resources for competitive advantage. It has been argued that the changing business environmental factors such as industry conditions, institutional factors and organizational characteristics drive the emergence of HR strategic integration. However, empirical evidence about the environment factors and HR strategic integration relationship in China is inconsistent, which might be attributed to methodological and theoretical considerations. To address these issues, we draw on strategic tripod theory and employ a multi-source (combining HR managers' subjective evaluations and Statistical Yearbook objective data), time-lagged (across three years), and multi-level research design to examine the environmental factors and the HR–strategic integration relationship. We explore the main and interactive effects of three key environmental variables (industry dynamism, firm size, and firm ownership) on HR strategic integration. We find that three-way interactions of environmental variables are more effective in explaining the relationship between context and HR strategic integration than are two-way interactions and main effects. Our study contributes to the HRM and strategy management literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately measuring industrial total factor productivity (TFP) is considered vital to a country's economic system. However, in China, the measurement of industrial TFP has been difficult owing to a lack of firm-level data. This study is the first to measure TFP of Chinese industrial enterprises from 2007 to 2017 and makes a rich heterogeneity analysis based on the National Taxation Survey Database (NTSD). Results show that the weighted TFP rises from 3.65 in 2007 to 4.69 in 2017, with an average growth rate of 2.58%. There are obvious differences in industrial TFP among different enterprise sizes, industries, ownership types, export types, and regions, and the growth of TFP tends to have a converge trend. By assessing the 'Productivity Paradox' in China, we also find that Chinese exporting manufacturing enterprises are more productive than non-exporting ones. [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]

The existing research has not yet been conducted on the impact of the current political environment on the political sensitivity of private entrepreneurs during China's transition period. This study adopts the perspective of neo-institutional sociology for an analysis of the political sensitivity of current private entrepreneurs in China. The study found that, first, Chinese entrepreneurs are growing more politically sensitive. Second, the political sensitivity of Chinese entrepreneurs has shifted the leading role from the original external compulsory mechanism to the active imitation mechanism. Third, regardless of the size of the firm, private entrepreneurs generally believe that political and business relationships are very important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a hand-collected database, we evaluate 328 illegal insider trading cases in the Chinese financial market from 2007 to 2018. Insiders, on average, make less profits than a single buy-and-hold strategy in the same period. This low performance is exacerbated when target firms are state-owned and with high institutional ownership. A firm's size, 6-month past returns, debt ratio, and firm age have marginal impacts on the illegal returns. Two potential mechanisms derived from the US market are tested but they show divergent roles in our model setting. This study calls for alternative mechanisms in understanding market efficiency in emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of platform innovation on the efficiency of firms located in different clusters. The sample contains data for 1,257 firms from 2005 to 2015 in Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park, which is known as China's 'Silicon Valley'. Using the DEA model to gauge the efficiency of each firm over time, we found that firm size has a significantly negative correlation with knowledge production efficiency, a significantly positive correlation with its knowledge commercialisation efficiency, and an inverted-U shaped relationship with overall efficiency. We then explored the mediating effect of firm size on the relationship between the characteristics of clusters and firm efficiency, before concluding with both managerial and academic implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides new empirical evidence on the patterns of firm entry across sectors and space. Based on Pavitt's four manufacturing industry categories—supplier-dominated, scale-intensive, specialized suppliers, and knowledge-based—we use China's firm-level database, covering all manufacturing firms with sales above 5 million RMB from 1998 to 2008, to investigate the relation between spatial patterns of new entry firms and industrial structure change and firm heterogeneity. Based on our analysis, there are three key findings. First, industrial structure change plays an important role in influencing the sectoral pattern of new firm entry. Second, the transformation from a supplier-dominated industry to a scale-intensive industry from 1998 to 2008 in China has largely influenced spatial patterns of new entry firms (mainly spatial agglomeration and entry similarity between regions). Third, the heterogeneity of firms (mainly firm ownership, firm size, and technological relatedness) affected the location choice of new entry firms. Based on our findings, we conclude that the importance of industrial structure change and the heterogeneity of firms in revealing the spatial pattern of new entry firms should receive more attention. Key Words: China, firm entry, firm heterogeneity, industrial structure change, sectoral and spatial pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Drawing on the resource-based view and resource complementarity theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate two research questions: To what extent are logistics information system (IS) resources associated with improved operational performance? And to what extent are these relationships contingent on organizational factors? Design/methodology/approach: A conceptual model with a nested structure is presented to link logistics IS resources and organizational factors with operational performance. The findings are validated using a cross-sectional sample of secondary data from domestic logistics firms in China. Findings: This paper extends existing operational-level measures for logistics IS resources into a three-tier tactical-level typology: inside-out resources (operation-focused IS, decision-focused IS and IS development capability); outside-in resources (relation-focused IS and market-focused IS); and spanning resources (IS integration capability and IS management capability). Though logistics IS resources, in general, are positively related to operational performance, inside-out IS resources have the most significant impact. Organizational factors, such as firm size, firm age and firm ownership, may enhance or suppress the effects of logistics IS resources on performance. Practical implications: The findings are valuable to both logistics firms and buyer firms in an emerging market, as logistics IS resources may affect costs and quality of logistics service. The tactical-level typology allows logistics firms to better plan for and manage emerging IS resources in a competitive environment. Originality/value: This paper extends prior work regarding the complementary effects of logistics IS resources and organizational factors on operational performance. Logistics firms should carefully manage the three types of tactical-level IS resources according to their organizational environment to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study explores asymmetric effects of monetary policy on firm scale at different firm size levels. We find that Chinese firms respond to raising benchmark lending interest rates and deposit reserve requirements by decreasing their scales. Our quantile regression results also indicate that larger firms respond more strongly to both policy instruments by adjusting their scales to a greater degree than smaller firms. Moreover, SOEs react less strongly to policy changes than non-SOEs at all firm size distribution. The impact of monetary policy on firm scale is also stronger after commercial banks having greater leeway in setting interest rates. Highlights • Explore asymmetric effects of monetary policy on firm scale at different firm size levels. • Chinese firms respond to raising benchmark interest rates and deposit reserve ratios by decreasing their scales. • Larger firms respond more strongly to both policy instruments by adjusting their scales to a greater degree. • SOEs react less strongly to monetary policy changes than privately controlled listed firms at all firm size distribution. • The impact of monetary policy on firm scale is stronger when banks having greater leeway in setting interest rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction industries have significant impacts on the economy, society and environment. To transform construction industry towards sustainability, construction enterprises' perceptions and performance on sustainability needs to be understood and evaluated, which has not be fully explored by existing studies. This paper holistically examines the Chinese construction enterprises’ attitude towards and performance on various aspects of sustainability (e.g. the economic, social and environmental aspects) in order to identify those aspects the firms perceive to be the most and least important and those aspects the firms perform best and worst on. The associations among the sustainability attitude, sustainability performance, and firm size are also explored. The findings show that quality management and customer service are perceived as the most important as well as the best-performed aspects by the firms while supporting community development is the least important and worst-performed aspect. Sustainability attitude is positively correlated with performance, and larger firms tend to have better sustainability performance than that of small ones. However, larger construction firms do not necessarily perceive sustainability more important. This study provides a useful reference for policy makers and researchers to understand how sustainability is perceived and implemented by the Chinese construction firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income inequality in China has been much documented and debated. However, one important aspect of income inequality - social insurance inequality - has been largely understudied. We use a large national panel of firm data to examine the possible influence of various firm characteristics on the inequalities in social insurance participation and generosity in the period 2004-07. Our findings reveal substantial ownership sector and regional gaps in social insurance provision by firms, with the private domestic sector and those in the central region lagging behind. Unionized firms, larger firms, and firms with greater market shares also tend to provide better social insurance to their employees. While being an exporting firm is linked with greater social insurance participation and generosity, being a purely exporting firm, however, is associated with reduced social insurance generosity. Lastly, highly educated workers receive substantially better social insurance coverage than their less educated peers. These social insurance inequalities are highly relevant as China pushes forward with establishing a unified social insurance system across urban-rural boundaries, ownership sectors and industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the drivers of declining energy intensity is necessary in order to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy in China. To date, studies have typically adopted case analysis to link enterprise features and energy-saving performance. The impact of internal industrial configuration in terms of size and ownership structure on aggregate energy intensity remains to be examined. To fill this research gap, this paper tests the impact of the internal structure of industries on city-level energy intensity, by employing a unique panel dataset of 283 cities for the period 2005 to 2010. The Driscoll-Kraay method and instrumental variable are used to treat residual cross-sectional dependence and endogeneity, respectively. Results suggest that small-scale enterprises exerts a negative effect on energy intensity. A 1% increase in the output-value proportion of small-sized firms will lead to a decrease in total energy intensity of 0.067%. In contrast, the same change by medium enterprises will raise energy intensity by 0.031%. A negative and/or non-significant coefficient suggests that for most energy-intensive large and state-owned enterprises, China's 2006 top-down energy-saving regulation has been quite effective in targeting key energy-intensive enterprises in China. The findings reveal that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) can act as promoters of, rather than barriers to, low-carbon policy implementation in China. Given that the effectiveness of energy-saving regulation will be undermined as a result of diluted regulatory strength in each enterprise, market-oriented energy price reform is proposed as a fundamental driver for guaranteeing a continual decline in energy intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the phenomena in economics that are not yet well-understood is the fat-tailed (power-law) distribution of firm sizes in the world's economies. In the present paper we discuss different mechanisms suggested in the literature to explain this distribution of firm sizes. The paper uses the China Industrial Enterprises Database to study the distribution (firm size in terms of the number of employees, capital, and gross profit) for the provinces of China for the years 1998–2008. We estimate the power-law distribution and confirm its plausibility using the KS test and the log-likelihood ratio vs. lognormal and exponential distributions. The analysis on regional levels allows an assessment of regional effects on differences in the distribution; we discuss possible explanations for the observed patterns in the light of the recent regional economic development and the economic reforms in the PRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the size distribution of exporting and non-exporting firms in a panel of Chinese provinces. The power law exponents of exporting firms are significantly less than those of non-exporting firms. The average power law exponents fell from 0.74 in 1998 to 0.64 in 2007 for exporting firms, and from 1.03 in 1998 to 0.83 in 2007 for non-exporting firms. Further analysis showed that credit constraints have a significant negative effect on the exponents of the size distribution of exporting firms, suggesting that smaller firms are more credit-constrained than larger firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper confirms the positive relationship between national technological size and technological diversification for China over three periods: from its premarket status 1986–1990, through its rapid marketization of 1991–2000, to its globalization phase from 2001 to 2011. The Chinese technological trajectory differs from the earlier developed world model significantly in tending to greater technological specialization from the outset of technological growth in the 1990s. We analyze a dataset of 3.7 million Chinese patents from the Chinese patent office. Using shift-share analysis, we decompose changes in the relationship between technological size and diversification into those attributable to the increase in size (number of patents, population, GDP) and those attributable to the structural shift towards diversification or specialization between technological fields. We find that although the positive relation between size and diversification holds over all three periods, there is a structural shift between each period towards greater technological specialization. We argue that this mirrors the ‘globalizing’ FDI-driven shift that occurred in the US and other developed countries towards technological specialization between 1965 and 1990. In China this represents a shift away from traditional fields such as consumer goods and equipment or transportation towards the electronics and computing fields. We place these long-run trends for China into the context of innovation policy and MNE behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government has heavily invested in materials and human resources to transition towards e-government. However, extant studies show that an overwhelming majority of China's e-government initiatives suffered from low public participation. There are few studies focusing on factors that affect public participation, particularly business users, in e-government and most of them lack a strong theoretical foundation. This study seeks to better understand the factors influencing adoption intention of e-tax filing, an important component of e-government, by business users in China. On the basis of the technology-organisation-environment (TOE) framework, a research model, including nine factors in technological, organisational and environmental categories, was developed. The results show that four of the nine factors, as well as the ownership of a business and business size, significantly influence their e-tax filing adoption intentions. The study concludes by making recommendations for promoting and increasing adoption intention of e-tax filing by business users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the roles and significance of firms of various sizes in economic growth in China. This paper finds that the small firms have been the engine of growth in China, as increasing their share has been positively associated with economic growth. In contrast, we find that increasing the share as well as the number of big businesses have a significant and negative effect on economic growth, and that increasing the share of the medium-sized firms have negative or insignificant effect on economic growth in China. Most interestingly we find that the positive contribution of small firms and their increasing shares are largely owing to the expansion of the average size of them, rather than the increase in their absolute numbers of which the impact on growth is insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The audit report lag, defined as the period between a company's fiscal year-end and the audit report date, has been considered to be one of the few externally observable audit output variables allowing outsiders to evaluate audit efficiency. Prior research on the determinants of the audit report lag has investigated a common set of firm characteristics, including firm size, fiscal year-end, loss occurrence, presence of extraordinary items, client complexity, and audit opinion. However, there is scant research on the effect of changes in reporting regulations on the audit report lag. This paper examines empirically the effect on the audit report lag of a new set of Chinese accounting standards introduced in 2007 that were based on the fair value accounting system. We document empirical evidence of a significant increase in the audit report lag in China after the adoption of these new accounting standards. This increase, however, is more pronounced for clients audited by small audit firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a comprehensive firm-level data set from China spanning the period 1998–2005, this study investigates the relationship between firm size, financing sources, and total factor productivity growth. Controlling for the endogeneity of financing sources, we find that firm size plays an important role in the way financial structure affects the growth process. Domestic bank loans are more effective for bigger firms, while self-raised finance is more beneficial to smaller firms’ growth. We also uncover evidence that ownership mediates the relationship between firm size, finance, and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on risk mitigation theory, this article examines whether the improvement of firms' social performance reduces debt financing costs (CDFs) in China, the world's largest emerging market. Employing both the ordinary least square (OLS) and the two-stage instrumental variable regression methods, we find that improved corporate social responsibility (CSR) reduces the CDF when firms' CSR investment is lower than an optimal level; however, this relationship is reversed after the CSR investment exceeds the optimal level. Firms with extremely low or extremely high CSR are subject to a higher CDF. The results also suggest that the optimal CSR level for small firms is higher than that for large firms. This study is the first to document a U-shaped relationship between CSR and CDF and also the first to investigate this relationship within an emerging market context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting the formalization of human resource management (HRM) practices in family firms. Our study of 205 family firms in the People's Republic of China suggests that firm size shows a significant, positive relationship to HRM formality, while firm location shows no effect. With resource advantages, large firms are able to adopt more formal and sophisticated HRM practices that enable them to gain legitimacy and social acceptance as well as coordinate and control their expanding workforce and complexity effectively. In contrast, informal HRM of small firms not only enables them to manage their resource constraints but allows much needed flexibility to respond to the country's ever-changing business environment. The lack of location effect, however, appears to demonstrate that the adoption and diffusion of formal HRM practices will likely take some time to manifest even in the more industrialized regions of the country, given the unique historical and cultural heritage deeply embedded in the minds of the Chinese and Chinese firms. The findings of this study clearly demonstrate the mixed influences on HRM of traditional Confucian values and the market ethic underpinning the constantly changing social and economic milieux of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• While research on international joint ventures (IJVs) has intensified over the last few decades, numerous reviewers have criticized the field for lack of accumulation. We use meta-analytic techniques to quantitatively synthesize and evaluate agency theory and the behavioral perspective in their ability to explain IJV performance variance. Overall, we find support for these theories but moderator analyses unveil important effects of artifactual variables, and point to a unique character of IJVs in China. • Based on meta-analyses of 165 effect sizes from 61 independent samples and a total of 26,927 IJVs, the results offer overall support for a hypothesized path model grounded in agency theory and the behavioral perspective. However, only 19 percent of the variance in IJV performance is accounted for, indicating a need to explore other underexplored variables. We do not find evidence that hierarchical control is associated with partner conflict. Closer examination shows that for IJVs in China such control lowers partner conflict, while for IJVs in other countries it amplifies partner conflict. The effects of partner conflict on IJV performance are less harmful for Chinese joint ventures than for joint ventures in other countries. Furthermore, while objective measures of cultural distance show a weak positive effect on IJV performance, subjective measures show a negative effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China could be a challenging destination for Western business expatriates. However, their extent of adjustment to life and work could be contingent on the size of the location of their assignment. Maybe Westerners adjust more easily to large cities with their more Western-style way of life and consumption patterns than to less Westernized small towns and villages. To examine this proposition, a mail survey was directed at Western business expatriates assigned to locations of varying size in China. As expected, results showed that the size of the location was positively associated with adjustment to the general non-work environment as well as with work adjustment. Surprisingly, there was no relationship between the size of the location and adjustment to interacting with host nationals, presumably due to language problems. The distinct implications of these findings are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Characterization of hazardous chemical accidents during hot season in China. • High temperature is one of the main causes of hazardous chemical accidents. • Combustibles and explosives caused most of the accidents during hot season. • Most of hazardous chemical accidents were caused by human errors during hot season. • Provision of useful information for improving chemical safety during hot season. Because high temperature is one of the main causes of hazardous chemical accidents, these accidents frequently occur in China during hot season (from June to September). Understanding the historical accidents is important for accident prevention and risk mitigation. However, presently, no statistical analysis on the characteristics of China's hazardous chemical accidents that occurred during hot season is available. Thus, by utilising data from official sources, a statistical investigation on 76 serious hazardous chemical accidents that occurred during hot season in China (1989–2019) was performed in terms of seven aspects: region where the accident occurred, type of accident, types of hazardous chemicals, links of occurrence, size of enterprises, direct cause, and period when the accident occurred. Moreover, according to the statistical results, this paper proposes some potential countermeasures and suggestions to prevent hazardous chemical accidents during hot season in China. This study can provide useful information for preventing hazardous chemical accidents and strengthening preventive measures in chemical plants during hot season in China and in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of population, investment, urbanization, industrial structure, policy instrument, and enterprise size on energy intensity in Guangdong, China. A dynamic optimal theoretical framework is utilized and empirical results are reported using panel data from 2006 to 2015. The fixed effects models and spatial fixed effects models both show that population, investment, urbanization, and enterprise size decrease energy intensity, but industrial structure and policy instrument drive it up; population, investment, urbanization, and enterprise size increase the energy consumption and economic output, but industrial structure and policy instrument decrease them, China; the energy intensity has significant spatial spillover effect that should be considered in Guangdong, China. Recommendations for Resource Managers•Population, investment, urbanization, and enterprise size decrease energy intensity, but industrial structure and policy instrument drive it up.•Population, investment, urbanization, and enterprise size increase the energy consumption and economic output, but industrial structure and policy instrument decrease them, China.•The energy intensity has significant spatial spillover effect that should be considered in Guangdong, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the strategy tripod perspective, this study intends to examine the independent and joint effects of state ownership and firm size on Chinese firms' choices between greenfield and acquisition, and between full and partial ownership. Using secondary data of a sample of 150 firms with 473 entries, we find that state ownership and firm size independently and jointly have impacts on entry mode choices. Our findings provide some support to the strategy tripod perspective, which treats institutions as independent variables and considers strategic choices as the outcome of the interactions between institutions and organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]