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Discusses the regulation of capital markets in the anti-globalization era in China. Economic reform; Competitiveness; Securities law approach.

This article investigates whether Singapore can maintain its competitive advantage in manufacturing from a labour productivity perspective vis-àvis China and Malaysia, which are generally viewed as Singapore's competitors in manufacturing. We also investigate the extent to which China is closing the labour productivity gap with Singapore and Malaysia in technology-intensive segments of manufacturing. Our analysis reveals that China has the potential to develop a high labour-productivity and low-wage manufacturing sector. In terms of manufacturing labour productivity, China is moving towards convergence with Malaysia. Compared with Singapore, China's manufacturing labour productivity is still far behind, especially in key technology-intensive industries like electronics and chemicals, such that it is unlikely for China to catch up with Singapore within a decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authors of this article looks for both continuity and change in human resource management (HRM) practices since the time the contribution on the People's Republic of China was written and whether relative convergence been taken one - or more steps - further. The main theoretical proposition we will explore below is the relationship between greater marketization and the pragmatic, step-wise adoption of HRM norms and practices, arguing that the faster the former proceeds, the more widespread the diffusion of the latter. The authors of this article have reviewed the pragmatic, step-wise path to HRM in China. As the non-state owned sectors expand and the state-owned enterprises shrink correspondingly, the impact of World Trade Organization entry is predicted to lead to more competition and greater marketization.

The authors propose an exploratory framework to study competition policy development in general and apply it in the context of Hong Kong. Competition policy (in the U.S., commonly referred to as antitrust policy) is defined here as concerned with the public policy prohibiting anticompetitive behavior and the abuse of dominant market power on the part of businesses. The framework identifies four core variables that are important in influencing the development and implementation of a competition policy. These variables are the consumer protection agenda, external pressure, the political landscape, and the size of the economy. It is proposed that the way government responded to these forces has been instrumental in shaping how and why the competition policy debate in Hong Kong evolved the way it did. It also underscores the importance of recognizing the indigenous nature in the development of competition policy in any economy. Future research directions to generalize the framework are also suggested. These include further development and expansion of the core variables, contextualization of the framework for cross-national comparisons, and undertaking longitudinal studies to examine the sensitivities of the competition policy to changes in the core forces over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study used longitudinal data to test the applicability of a western theory to a socialist market economy. Traditional theories assert that on entering a foreign market, firms must possess some ownership-specific advantages (e.g. access to sources of finance and advanced technology) in order to compete with indigenous firms (Hymer, 1976; Dunning, 1985; Buckley and Casson, 1991). The theories were subjected to debate when applied to the entry of the AES Corporation (AES), a United States power generation firm, into the People's Republic of China where socialist economic system is in practice. The case method was used to collect information rich qualitative data so as to analyse the firm behaviour of AES in China when the firm was exposed to the context of different fundamental values and institutional orders. Secondary data was collected from archives. In-depth interviews were conducted to gather data for later analysis. The study concluded that access to finance was the major ownership advantage constituting the successful entry of AES into China. This advantage complemented the deficiencies of its Chinese partners. Yet, the complementary relationship may not extend to some quasi state-owned firms which are nurtured under the Chinese government policies to become the "National champion teams". With the emergence of the "National champion teams", AES would have to apply a new set of strategies to meet the challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collectivistic and individualistic values are theorized to have far reaching effects on teamwork and organizations. This study proposes that cooperative and competitive goal interdependence mediates the relationship between these values and group interaction and outcomes. Working in State Owned Enterprises in three regions of China, 689 employees in 194 teams indicated their group's values, goal interdependence, constructive controversy, and productivity. Their managers also reported on the extent these teams were productive. Structural equation analysis suggested that collectivistic values may reinforce cooperative goals and an open-minded discussion of views which in turn results in strong relationships and team productivity, as experienced from both the team's and manager's perspectives. Individualistic values, especially the horizontal version, can have contrasting effects through fostering competitive goals and closed-minded discussion. These results, coupled with previous research, suggest that collectivist values, cooperative goals, and constructive controversy provide an important foundation for productive teamwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the competition between India and China in the software development industry. Factors that influence the industry; Overview of the information technology sector in both countries; Similarities and differences between the software industry in both countries.

Examines the factors influencing the success of firms competing in business-to-business markets in China. Level of market orientation; Outward-oriented organizational culture and climate; Innovativeness of business enterprises.

International indices of competitiveness have seen Hong Kong downgraded from its former position as possibly the world's most competitive business environment. Such indices have cited government actions as a prime cause of Hong Kong's competitiveness decline. Hong Kong's government, however, has dismissed such a conclusion as subjective and incorrect, thereby raising fears that it may not fully understand the nature of the problem and will therefore be unlikely to seek to effect any solution. Using quantitative data from 130 foreign and local firms operating in the city and from 98 LEGCO members and senior Hong Kong government officials, this research objectively examines the extent to which firms and government officials respectively (i) consider that Hong Kong's international competitiveness has diminished, and (ii) ascribe any such decline to government or other factors. Results show that firms do indeed consider Hong Kong's international competitiveness to have declined, whereas government officials do not. Moreover, government officials are found to consider that if there is any decline it can significantly be ascribed to cost and regional competition factors, whereas firms significantly ascribe competitiveness decline exclusively to government rather than to cost or competition factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's industrial state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have seen a secular decline in profitability throughout the reform period. Barry Naughton argues that this decline was in large part due to a decline in monopoly rents as competition with enterprises in other ownership forms increased. Fan Gang and Woo Wing-Thye, on the other hand, contend that profitability declined across all sectors independent of the degree of competition, and that excessive labor remuneration accounts for the broad decline in SOE profitability. Testing the two hypotheses with aggregate sectoral and provincial data from the mid-1980s to the late-1990s, neither appears convincing. Yet at closer inspection these are not competing hypotheses. The two causes affect overall profitability through different channels. Competition and labor remuneration have a highly significant impact on intermediate profitability measures that take the two channels into account separately. Together they explain most of the variation in overall profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the international trade competitiveness of China between 1995 and 1999. Liberation of the economy; Ability to attract foreign investment; Influence to the economic growth of the country.

Comments on the ability of Chinese corporations to compete on a global scale. Entry of China in the World Trade Organization; Views of China's ambitions; Opinion on the success of the industrial policies on large companies.

A method for analysing the competitiveness of a consultant's two-envelope fee tendering history is proposed and illustrated in an application to one of Hong Kong's larger quantity surveying practices. Separate measures for determining consultants' fee, quality score and overall competitiveness are considered to accommodate the special nature of the Hong Kong system, which makes cross-auction comparisons impossible. Maximum fee competitiveness is assumed to be the lowest submitted tender fee, while maximum quality score competitiveness is taken to be the highest quality score attained by a competing consultant. Fees and quality score are then expressed as separate competitiveness ratios relative to these maximums and aggregated for determining overall competitiveness. In analysing bidding performance it was found that this consultant's fee, quality score and overall competitiveness are all above the competitor average. These competitiveness measures reveal large differences in variability between quality score and fees, with quality score variability being considerably lower. Such a large imbalance in competitiveness variability effectively discounts quality and promotes the influence of the fee, since competitiveness ratio differences between fees are much larger than the competitiveness ratio differences between quality scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines how the Americans and the British helped the Chinese develop military aviation in south China between 1926 and 1936. Nature and consequences of Anglo-American competition; Airplanes and the China arms embargo in 1926-1929; Problems of aircraft sales to south China.

This study investigates whether the enterprise reforms were helpful for the technical efficiency of China's state-owned enterprises. A stochastic varying coefficients frontier approach is applied on enterprise survey data in 1992. The results suggest that exposure to market competition (or less state intervention) is positively correlated with firms' level of technical efficiency. There is no evidence, however, of positive contribution by adoption of the new enterprise institutions to technical efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study assessing the configuration between strategic orientation and industrial environment for Chinese township and village enterprises (TVE). Role of TVEs in Chinese economic development and reform; Examination of factors influencing TVE managers' perception of competitive pressure; Effect of environmental hostility on Chinese TVEs.

The theory of contestable markets has made notable inroads into the traditional way of looking at markets with only a few producers; but its relationship to the theory of monopolistic competition in general, and the quality of goods in particular, has not been explored in depth. In reading about the fortunes of the English cloth industry, one is struck by the continued repetition of complaints about quality. This widespread belief led to the passage of many laws whose intent was to secure the uniformly good quality of woolen cloth, the primary English export of the three centuries prior to the Industrial Revolution. Cloth production appears to be peculiarly prone to such problems for we find the uneven quality of raw silk to be an issue in nineteenth century China. In order to separate out the effects of consumer tastes and knowledge from those of industrial structure, it is necessary to find a commodity whose quality is readily ascertainable by consumers and where some "objective" determination of the most desirable quality can be arrived at.

An important regional issue emanating from recent economic developments in the Pacific Rim area concerns direct rivalry among ASEAN, China, and the East Asian NICs in the import markets of developed third countries. For example, as latecomers to industrialization, China and ASEAN tend to specialize in the same labour-intensive export products, such as textiles and electrical goods. This article analyses recent trade data for the third-country market of Japan to assess the extent of Asian (China, the NICs, and ASEAN) competition. Shift-share analysis is used to measure the magnitude of Asian economic rivalry. The results of the shift-share analysis suggest that ASEAN exports have suffered the most from the recent entrance of China into the Japanese market. The NICs, however, on balance performed very well in their exports to Japan, particularly with respect to manufactured products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dryland montane forests conserve water for people living in the fluvial plains. The fate of these forests under climate warming is strongly affected by local environmental factors. The question remains of how internal factors contribute to climate change impacts on forest growth in these regions. Here, we investigated tree ring records for similar-aged stand-grown trees and their neighboring open-grown trees at elevation in a dryland montane forest (Picea crassifolia Kom.) in northwestern China. The growth rate of open-grown trees is much higher than their neighboring stand-grown trees across the entire elevation gradient, and the lower the altitude, the greater the difference. Open-grown trees at different elevations showed similar growth patterns, as tree growth at all sites was accelerated over time. In contrast, growth patterns of stand-grown trees were divergent at different altitudes, as growth at high elevations (3100–3300 m a.s.l.) was accelerated, whereas growth at low elevations (2700–2900 m a.s.l.) became stable after the year 1990. Analysis of growth–climate relationships indicated that warming promoted open-grown tree growth across the entire altitude gradient, and also stand-grown tree growth at high elevations, but negatively affected the growth of stand-grown trees at low elevations. Water scarcity can be exacerbated by competition within forests, inhibiting the warming-induced benefits on tree growth. Moving window correlation analysis suggested the negative effect of warming on tree growth at low elevations was diminished after the late 1990s, as the drought stress was alleviated. Our research shows the divergent growth responses to warming of stand-grown and open-grown trees along elevation. It reveals effects of internal factors in determining tree growth response to warming and holds the potential to aid forest management and ecosystem models in responding to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]