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Purpose: Taking advantage of the 2008 Sichuan Great Earthquake as a natural experiment, the purpose of this paper is to examine the motives and effects of corporate donations by focusing on how firm ownership identity as the first-order governance mechanism affects the motives and effects of disaster relief donations. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conduct regressions and market event studies, and use matching to address the confounding effects of differences in firm characteristics. Findings: The authors hypothesize that private firms that are better governed than state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are more likely to donate for value maximization. Consistent with this, the authors find that private firms are more likely to donate to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and donate more than SOEs. The effects of secondary governance variables in the donation determinant models (e.g. board independence and managerial ownership) are more consistent with the value maximization argument. While short-term market reaction to donation announcement is not significant for private firms, it is lower when SOEs make a large donation. Consistent with the hypothesis, the authors find that over the 24–36 months following the donation, private donors realize a higher abnormal stock return. Research limitations/implications: The study contributes to the debate over the merits/costs of corporate donations and helps better understand how SOEs and private firms (particularly family-owned firms) differ in their governance and financial decision-making. Practical implications: Both managers from private firms and SOEs can use the findings of this study to better guide their donation and other philanthropic decisions. Originality/value: This study is the first to examine both the motives and effects of corporate donations by both private and SOEs taking advantage of the 2008 Sichuan, thereby significantly extending prior related studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, energy conservation and environmental protection have become a significant challenge for China's sustainable development. To effectively promote energy saving, China has a policy of initiated increasing block pricing (IBP) for electricity nationwide since 2012. In this study, we investigate in-depth the effect of the IBP policy on the conservation of electricity based on a monthly panel dataset covering the Guangdong, Sichuan and Shanghai in China between 2011 and 2012. Using difference-in-differences models, we find the overall treatment effect of the IBP on electricity consumption and electricity charge to be negative and statistically significant, implying that the switch from uniform pricing to the IBP policy is playing a positive role in electricity conservation and cannot lead to welfare loss of residents. We also compare the treatment effects across different income groups and provinces. We find that for urban residents in Guangdong, the consumption threshold for the second block pricing is too high and below the basic needs. However, the second block pricing of the IBP in Sichuan and Shanghai is reasonable for urban residents. • The effects of IBP policy on households' electricity consumption and charge are explored at micro household level. • A comparative analysis is conducted by considering the heterogeneity of income and regions. • IBP policy plays a positive role in electricity conservation but will not lead to residential welfare loss. • There are significant differences in terms of treatment effects across different income groups and provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sindiplozoon coreius n. sp. is described from the gills of Coreius guichenoti in Sichuan province, China. There is a smooth tegument and a cup-like widened area in the posterior part of the worm body, which are particular features of the genus Sindiplozoon. There are no branched intestinal caeca before the widened area, but some branches reach the fourth clamp in the hind body; there was no cross striation on the anterior arch of the anterior clamp jaw and medial part of the posterior jaw, which are distinguished from the other species in Sindiplozoon. In addition, S. coreius n. sp. shared the highest ITS2 sequence identity (96.0%) with S. ctenopharyngodoni. The established phylogenetic tree showed that the two species of Sindiplozoon formed a sister group. The k2p genetic distance between the new species and other diplozoids was higher than 3.4%, which suggested interspecific differentiation. • A new species, Sindiplozoon coreius n. sp. was described in Coreius guichenoti. • Morphological characteristics were compared among seven species of Sindiplozoon. • ITS2 sequence of Sindiplozoon coreius n. sp. was provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]