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[Objective] Considering the strategic guideline of “Ocean Power”, a scientific measurement of the operational efficiency of China’s sea-related listed companies and support for sea-related listed companies to be better and stronger are of great significance to consolidate the micro foundation of the development of the marine economy and promote the expansion of the space for the development of the blue economy. [Methods] This study used the explainable boosting machine (EBM) model based on Pearson correlation coefficient, combined with the three-hierarchy meta-frontier framework, to scientifically measure the operational efficiency of China’s sea-related listed companies during the period of 2014-2022, and further decomposed the inefficiency loss to explore its internal and external influencing factors. [Results] The study showed that: (1) Overall, the operational efficiency of Chinese sea-related listed companies was on an upward trend and showed obvious stage characteristics. (2) From the perspective of industry-ownership heterogeneity, the operational efficiency of emerging sea-related companies was leading in the early stages, but the operational efficiency of traditional sea-related companies showed a significant trend of subsequent growth; the operational efficiency of private sea-related companies was at the forefront, and basically formed a pattern of development in which private enterprises were leading and state-owned enterprises were following. (3) From the perspective of inefficiency decomposition, management inefficiency loss was the key reason affecting the improvement of operational efficiency of sea-related listed companies, followed by industrial heterogeneity efficiency loss and ownership heterogeneity efficiency loss. (4) Based on the analysis of influencing factors, the management inefficiency loss of sea-related listed companies was significantly negatively correlated with enterprise size and positively correlated with business solvency, while the level of regional economic development significantly and negatively affected their technical inefficiency loss. [Conclusion] During the 14th Five Year Plan period, we should further optimize the layout of the marine industry, improve the market-oriented development environment, and enhance the management level of the enterprises, to explore the effective path to promoting the operational efficiency of sea-related listed companies.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it provides an overview of the demand, capacity and challenges of teacher education in China. Second, it highlights the significant contributions of China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU) to teacher education in the last three decades. Finally, it discusses challenges and issues for e-learning as a new form of distance education for upgrading qualifications and promoting professional development of teachers and principals in remote, rural schools. Design/methodology/approach: As a case study, this paper analyses CCRTVU's infrastructure and operational structure, and its unique position to bridge teacher education institutions and integrate educational resources. Findings: When CCRTVU moves from TV broadcasting to e-learning, it offers new and innovative forms of professional development for millions of school teachers and principals, and accompanying new challenges. Originality/value: The paper suggests that rigorous research should be conducted to address what works and how to reach teachers and school principals in remote, rural areas. (Contains 2 figures.)

China's digital expansion in the Global South is a topic that has received limited research attention. Most existing research has focused on China's digital economy within the country or its impact on high-income countries in the Global North. However, China's growing digital presence in low- and middle-income countries in the Global South is having significant implications in various areas, including infrastructure, the economy, society, and politics. The limited research on this topic has often taken either a positive or negative perspective, either from China or the US. This special issue aims to provide a more diverse range of perspectives, with articles exploring China's digital activities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The articles cover topics such as Chinese platform firms' expansion in Belt and Road countries, Alibaba's approach in Mexico, the impact of Chinese tech giants in North Africa, and the export of surveillance technologies to Latin America. These articles challenge some preconceptions and highlight the importance of local context, politics, and history in understanding China's digital expansion in the Global South. The special issue also identifies research priorities for future studies in this area. [Extracted from the article]

In this article we analyze the case of TD-SCDMA system standardization in China. Specifically, we focus on the leading role that government-controlled enterprises (GCEs) played in the standardization, and how the Chinese government supported GCEs. The case study findings advance current knowledge on how governments support standardization efforts in a catching-up context. We found that, under strong government support and with GCEs’ leadership, a latecomer country such as China, with certain technological capabilities and in economic, social, and institutional contexts that favor indigenous innovation, can pursue path-breaking innovation with complex technological systems. Governments should engage in various tactics to support GCEs that lead the standardization process. Most importantly, governments should intervene in scoping decisions on technological systems and research and development forces in the standard development stage, and offer moral suasion in the standard diffusion stage. We provide practical implications for governments that support GCEs in technology catching-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the methods by which firms take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to achieve transformation. The research results advance current knowledge on the mechanism of ICT-facilitated firm transformation. Based on the literature, we propose a conceptual framework that describes firm transformation occurs at three interrelated layers: 1) operation mode/technological capability layer, 2) open innovation layer, and 3) actor network layer. It argues a firm can leverage ICTs to practice open innovation and accordingly form a supportive actor network, which will help the firm build its capability and upgrade the operation mode. We further use this framework to analyse cases of non-farm rural enterprises (REs) in a coastal region of China. The case study demonstrates that, on the condition that the government has ensured the availability of ICTs infrastructure, a latecomer firm from a disadvantaged context such as a RE in China can take advantage of ICTs to transform itself and advance in the industry value chain mainly with its own indigenous efforts. Researchers can use our proposed framework as an analytical tool in future research on ICTs in firm transformation. The framework offers reference for firms to design their strategies for leveraging ICTs to promote the transformation. • A framework of ICT-facilitated firm transformation is proposed and used to analyse cases of rural enterprises in China. • Operation mode/technological capability, open innovation, and actor-network co-evolve • ICT-facilitated open innovation supports technological capability building and OEM-ODM-OBM transformation. • ICT-facilitated actor-network supports open innovation practices. • Theoretical reflections and practical implications on ICTs in firm transformation are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years China not only caught up with countries leading the field of wireless mobile technologies but has kept a pace following years of innovation, as mobile technologies like TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE in China have been recognized as international standards by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Through case studies of the technological innovation systems (TISs) of 3G (TD-SCDMA), 4G (TD-LTE) and 5G in China, this work advances our understanding of the relationship between technology innovation and TISs, as well as that between the TIS and industry sustainability in the IT field. An innovation system function-based framework is applied to structure the data collection and analyse the results. Extensive documentary research and semi-structured interviews are conducted in this study. The key point of the reasoned argument of our conclusion is that a well-functioned TIS not only facilitates technology development and diffusion, but also promotes the sustainability of the IT industry by pushing forward socio-technical transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances existing theoretical understanding of the factors impacting upon organisational responses to regulative pressures in the process of information security management (ISM). Drawing on institutional theory, we conduct a case study of ISM in a Chinese hospital. A theoretical framework is presented, which proposes that organisational response strategies devised in response to regulative pressures are determined jointly by internal organisational incentives and external government supervision and enforcement. Practical implications for policymakers to promote organisational ISM are given and suggestions for future research based on the theoretical findings of the case study are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overweight and obesity in adult populations is considered to be a growing epidemic worldwide, and appears to be rapidly increasing in China. From 1992 to 2002, the incidence of overweight in adults increased by 39.0%, while that of obesity doubled. To identify the determinants of adult overweight and obesity in China, micro-level data from a questionnaire survey entitled the ‘Preference Parameters Study,’ which was conducted by the Global Centers of Excellence programme at Osaka University, were analysed. In addition to the entire sample, data from urban and rural subsamples were also analysed in order to investigate whether the determinants of overweight and obesity differed. The results suggested that body mass index (BMI) is correlated with subjective well-being, gender, age, labour intensity and drinking and eating habits among urban respondents, and with age, monthly income, number of siblings and eating habits among rural respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates the evolution of China's technology standardization policy system in the period from 1978 to 2021. The standardization policy system comprising the supply, demand, and environment policy tool types has evolved during standardization development process, which includes three sequential stages: 1) the following-up stage, 2) the catch-up stage, and 3) the upgrading stage. In responding to changes in institutional, economic and technological contexts, the policy orientation has transformed from supporting the government-controlled adoption and standardization of foreign technologies in the following-up stage of standardization development process to developing indigenous standards owning independent intellectual property rights (IPRs) through the government-led standardization system in the catch-up stage, and to international standardization adopting both government-led and market mechanisms in the upgrading stage. In this process, the Chinese Government continued to offer policy support to but tended to relax its control over standardization. Of the three policy tool types, the supply type have remained the dominant ones; the weight of the environment-type of tools tended to decrease, and that of the demand-type of tools tended to increase. Further, the government rationalized the mix of each type of policy tools as the standardization contexts changed. From the Chinese experience, theoretical prescriptions for how standardization policy systems evolve in latecomers are developed. Practical implications for latecomer countries to transform standardization policy system and design their standardization policies are discussed. • China's standardization policy system has evolved by three stages. • Institutional, economic and technological contexts confine policy system. • Policy orientation changes towards market mechanism and government guidance. • Mix of policy tools is rationalized as the standardization contexts changed. • Supply-type tools have been the dominant ones during standardization development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Sustainable success of group-buying web sites implies that consumers not only accept them initially but also use them continuously. Most group-buying web sites, however, are unable to achieve such sustainable success. Drawing on expectation-confirmation model (ECM), the purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that influence group-buying web sites continuance. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 605 valid responses were collected via a survey of a leading group-buying web site in China. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research model. This study also compared the three competing models of continued use behavior, namely, ECM, the research model and the integrated model. Findings – The results show that perceived web site quality, perceived price advantage and confirmation are important determinants of consumer satisfaction, while perceived web site quality, perceived reputation, satisfaction and perceived critical mass significantly influence consumers’ continuance intention. The research model accounts for more variance in satisfaction and continuance intention than ECM and is the best-fitting model among the competing models. Originality/value – Drawing on ECM, this research proposes a model by incorporating three online group-buying characteristics (perceived price advantage, perceived reputation and perceived web site quality) and two social influence factors (subjective norm and perceived critical mass). Specially, this study uses these three online group-buying characteristics to represent perceived usefulness in ECM. These constructs are found to influence consumer satisfaction and continuance intention. This study extends ECM and provides a better explanation of consumers’ post-purchase behavior in the online group-buying context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances the extant knowledge of the mechanism of government intervention in technology innovation, especially that in the catching-up context. It forms a three-layer theoretical framework and further uses it to analyze a case of the standardization of TD-SCDMA, a third generation (3G) of mobile system, in China. The findings validate the argument that in technology development and technology diffusion stages, there are different innovation task foci and different challenges, which require the government taking a mix of regulative, financial and administrative instruments to intervene. The government needs to draw upon the institutional environment, R&D and industrialization capability and the technology characteristics of the innovation in identifying the innovation tasks and challenges, and determining the intervention strategy. In the catching-up context, when pursuing the indigenous innovation in complex technology, "hard" government intervention is necessary. Especially the government should take advantage of its control of national economy and the industry to explore the potential of intervention using diverse administrative instruments, for example the leading role of state organizations in innovation should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instant messaging (IM) is a popular internet application. In China, there are more than ten IM products competing with each other. Of them, Tencent's QQ owned and managed by a young Chinese entrepreneur is in a dominant position taking about 90% of the market share. This paper identifies the factors that determine the wide adoption of QQ by students and staffs in a Chinese university, which are social influence, enjoyment and communications effectiveness associated with this IM. Practical implications for young entrepreneurs as the main forces of IM business are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper categorizes the multiple-faced roles of the government in technology standardization in the catching-up contexts. It presents a case that China has developed a third generation (3G) of mobile system, TD-SCDMA, and deployed it in the Chinese market. The authors attribute the success of this national standardization initiative to that the government is able to balance the interests of different stakeholders of mobile technology and market, and enroll them into the process of TD-SCDMA development and industrialization. The TD-SCDMA case demonstrates that the government in the standardization process can act as a project founder, risk undertaker, interest moderator, collaboration facilitator, and process monitor. Practical implications for developing countries in pursuing their indigenous innovation strategy are given. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Standards are ubiquitous, affecting the lives and business of citizens, companies and governments in a multitude of ways. As governments around the world realised the economic consequences stemming from standardisation, newcomers to the international standardisation arena have found themselves at a disadvantage owing to a lack of expertise and skills to contribute to the process, and the ‘barring’ strategies practiced by the keepers of the system in part as a result of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) royalties they collect from globally imposed standards. In this paper, we use the case of China's Audio Video Coding Standard (AVS) to examine government positions and possible strategies for standard market competition in the presence of a dominant international standard. In our analysis, we adopt a system perspective on the Chinese government's market intervention policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing upon human capital theory and the co-production view of business support processes, this paper investigates the moderating effects of network involvement on entrepreneurship-specific human capital (ESHC) that determines the tenants' survival in an incubator. Longitudinal data between 2006 and 2009 of 71 ventures located in an incubator in China have been collected and analyzed. The research confirms that network involvement strengthens the influence of entrepreneurial experience on tenants' successful graduation, but does not impact the relationship between entrepreneurial family background and tenants' graduation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand why MNCs choose different embedding strategies in standardization based innovation, and how MNCs׳ competitive landscapes evolve alongside the transition of indigenous innovation in China. Using the multiple case study approach based on the interviews and archival data about China׳s mobile standards, we find that MNCs may choose to proactively or reactively embed in China׳s business and institutional systems by aligning their interests with the standard-based indigenous innovation strategy. Although there are high risks in China׳s standardization, MNCs cannot ignore the huge benefits of China׳s mobile market, and may join in this standardization process when they are ensured the government support would sustain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to identify key policy paradigms and strategic dynamics driving wireless broadband infrastructure (WBI) development in China. It is argued that large emerging countries like China can design their own policy agenda to deal with the diverse interests of different political institutions and business companies under the globalization. It has been found that, facing high uncertainties in future technology trajectories, these countries may follow both mission-orientation and diffusion-orientation paradigms in technology development. Such a policy mechanism can help the government efficiently foster technology leadership and build up service capabilities of domestic industries for future WBI. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Winter wheat is one of China's most important staple food crops, and its growth and productivity are influenced by climate. Given its importance, we investigated the influence of excess precipitation under recent climate change on winter wheat in east-central China during 1961–2017. Although annual precipitation in the studied region decreased slightly, it increased during the winter wheat flowering and maturity period (May to June). Concurrently, the number of late growing season sunshine hours decreased. Our results showed that about 44% of the years with excess precipitation and less than normal radiation (16 years) were associated with decreasing winter wheat yields. Furthermore, during most years, precipitation of 50% above normal resulted in large decreases in winter wheat production in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, some of the wetter parts of the studied region. These results indicated that the grain yield variability of winter wheat was mainly influenced by excess precipitation in May, where precipitation could explain 70%–78% of yield variability in the wet parts. Moreover, excess precipitation can induce Fusarium head blight as well as wheat sprouting of pre-harvest, both affecting the grain quality of winter wheat. Projected increases in precipitation throughout the 21st century in the studied region, warrants further studies of how to maintain the winter wheat production in a changing climate. Unlabelled Image • In wetter regions of China, wheat yield could be induced to decrease when precipitation of May was more 50% than normal. • Excess rain can induce Fusarium head blight as well as wheat sprouting of pre-harvest, both affecting the grain quality. • The contribution rate of precipitation on yield variability was 70%-78% in wet region of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]