Weiyu Du, Di Fang, Yang Ye and Sainan Qiu
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of disorderly environment on consumers’ preferences for boundaries and the mediating effect of personal control in this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of disorderly environment on consumers’ preferences for boundaries and the mediating effect of personal control in this process.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examined hypotheses in two studies. In Study 1, the authors measured environmental orderliness, preference for boundaries and other control variables like positive and negative emotions. In Study 2, the authors primed participants’ concept of environmental orderliness and measured personal control as well as the same variables in Study 1.
Findings
Consumers in disorderly environments prefer bounded logos more compared to those in orderly environments. Personal control mediates the effect of chaotic physical environment on the preference for boundaries. Compared with the counterparts in the orderly environment, consumers in the disorderly environment have a lack of personal control, thus giving the preference to logos with boundaries.
Research limitations/implications
This paper discusses the mechanism of the process that the disorderly environment triggers the individual’s preference for bounded design, which enriches the research related to physical environment in the field of consumer behavior. However, it fails to examine the influence of disorderly environment on the preference for real bounded products and did not discuss the invisible boundary.
Originality/value
The impact of the disorderly environment on consumers’ boundary preferences, which the research focuses on, has further deepened the understanding of the boundaries, and to some extent, the authors filled the research gap in this field.
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Jin‐hui Luo, Di‐fang Wan, Yang Yang and Guang Yang
The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the role of differentiated margin system in leading investors' investing behavior and then optimize investor structure in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the role of differentiated margin system in leading investors' investing behavior and then optimize investor structure in futures markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Using economic experimental research method, this paper designs and conducts a futures market experiment according to experimental research's basic norms, thus acquiring needed and credible empirical data.
Findings
By analyzing the experimental data, it is found that compared with situations in futures markets that implement uniform margin system, investors' (especially speculators') futures open position and the ratio of their open position and futures turnover are both significantly higher, in futures markets that implement differentiated margin system. On the other hand, differentiated margin system has no effects on hedgers' futures turnover, but significantly reduces speculators' futures turnover.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that compared with uniform margin system, differentiated margin system is beneficial to effectively restrict both speculators' and hedgers' speculating behavior and lead hedgers' market participation.
Practical implications
In order to resolve the problem of unreasonable investor structure in China's futures market, i.e. lack of hedgers and over‐speculating, China's futures market's regulators should reform the margin system and adopt differentiated margin system to lead investors' rational behavior and optimize investor structure.
Originality/value
This paper empirically analyzes and verifies, for the first time, the roles of differentiated margin system in affecting investors' investing behavior. The futures market experiment designed and used in this study is a pioneering and exploratory experiment.
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Lei Xu, Ron P. McIver, Yuan George Shan and Xiaochen Wang
The purpose of this paper is to link literature on China’s real estate sector and the impact of governance, ownership and political connectedness on firm financial performance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to link literature on China’s real estate sector and the impact of governance, ownership and political connectedness on firm financial performance. Whether these factors impact listed real estate firms differently to firms in other industry sectors is identified.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses pooled 2008-2013 data on A-share firms. Tobin’s Q captures firm financial performance. Explanatory variables include corporate governance, ownership, local government political connectedness, accounting data and ultimate control. Two-way interactions are estimated between real estate and ownership, governance, political connectedness and other variables. Three-way interactions are estimated between real estate, ownership, control and political connectedness. Year and industry fixed effects are absorbed.
Findings
Industry concentration and proportion of state ownership appear to positively impact performance. Firm size, gearing and greater foreign ownership appear to negatively impact performance. However, differences are identified for real estate firms, in which state control and gearing positively impact performance. Greater state and foreign ownership as well as supervisory board size negatively impact performance. Finally, state control in the presence of local government connections negatively impacts performance, while greater state ownership in the presence of local government connections positively impacts performance.
Originality/value
A lack of empirical evidence on the impact of corporate governance, ownership structures and political connectedness on firm performance in China’s real estate sector is addressed. Importantly, relationships among these factors and the financial performance of China’s listed real estate firms differ to those of firms in other industries.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of large shareholdings from the agency problem perspective of overinvestment, and re‐test the role of board independence in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of large shareholdings from the agency problem perspective of overinvestment, and re‐test the role of board independence in the context of concentrated ownership.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a five‐year panel data of Chinese non‐financial listed companies between 2001 and 2005, the paper estimates both a fixed‐effects model and a random‐effects model.
Findings
The paper finds evidence of a significant non‐monotonic relationship between large shareholdings and firm level overinvestment. It also finds that state‐owned firms and firms with more independent directors experience lower level of overinvestment. However, firms with more frequent meetings experience a higher level of overinvestment.
Research limitations/implications
The paper's findings indicate that concentrated ownership is not always a bad thing. The crux of the matter is how to induce large shareholders' incentive to monitor managers' opportunistic behaviors and restrict their motivation to expropriate minority shareholders.
Practical implications
In the context of concentrated ownership, the key to improve corporate governance is to strengthen board independence.
Originality/value
The paper provides useful information on non‐monotonic governance effects of large shareholdings in Chinese listed companies and overinvestment.
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Xi Zhong, Liuyang Ren and Ge Ren
The phenomenon of defamilization of family firms is gradually increasing for the growth of family firms, that is, nonfamily executives are increasingly present in the executive…
Abstract
Purpose
The phenomenon of defamilization of family firms is gradually increasing for the growth of family firms, that is, nonfamily executives are increasingly present in the executive teams of family firms. Although previous scholars have identified various determinants of family firms' defamilization, whether and when innovation underperformance affects the decision to defamilize family firms has not been explore. This study aims to fill the aforementioned research gaps.
Design/methodology/approach
This study empirically tests the theoretical view based on the data of Chinese A-share family listed companies from 2009 to 2017.
Findings
The authors found that innovation underperformance drives family companies to increase the percentage of nonfamily executives in their executive teams. Further, the authors found that family firms are less willing to hire nonfamily executives with an increase in socioemotional wealth, particularly when founders of such businesses serve as directors or are major shareholders, even when they are not directors.
Originality/value
This study shows that innovation underperformance and socioemotional wealth are important predictors of family firms’ defamilization decisions.
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New (post‐1949) Chinese local gazetteers are one of the major primary resources for contemporary China Studies in the field of history, social sciences, humanities and sciences…
Abstract
Purpose
New (post‐1949) Chinese local gazetteers are one of the major primary resources for contemporary China Studies in the field of history, social sciences, humanities and sciences. Major research libraries in North America have collected them; however, the research value of this series of publications has not yet fully explored. This paper aims at examining how new local gazetteers have been compiled, the scope of their content and research value, and how scholars have used them.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores the scope and importance of the new Chinese local gazetteers collection through reviewing relevant regulations, policies and guidelines regarding compilation of the new local gazetteers, and randomly examining over 30 provincial, city and county gazetteers.
Findings
The paper provides a detailed account of publishing history of this collection; rich and unique research information available; and approaches to collection development, including utilizing digitized gazetteers by Chinese governments.
Originality/value
The paper explores the development of new Chinese local gazetteers in a more systematic way and adds to the current literature on the unique research value this collection has to offer.
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Ling Hin Li and Chen Wang
This paper aims at examining the emergence of the current structure of the real estate agency businesses in Beijing in the age of information technology.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims at examining the emergence of the current structure of the real estate agency businesses in Beijing in the age of information technology.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilises the analytical framework developed under the Grounded Theory model by coding the interview results with six major real estate agencies in Beijing.
Findings
The model explains the metamorphosis development of a new sector of service agents in the society which itself is undergoing colossal changes in the socio‐economic system. The analysis shows that the impact of information technology does not pose a threat to these agents in Beijing in various circles, but works to increase the competitive advantages inducing more collaboration and market innovations.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to the city of Beijing only and generalisation of the conclusion from the analysis needs to be qualified carefully for other cities in China, or even other countries.
Originality/value
The advent of information technology, especially in the last decade has set the momentum for changes in various sectors of our society. However, the impact is not felt evenly on each of these sectors in the society. The service industry is a typical example where a wide spectrum of sub‐sectors exists, ranging from close personal services such as hairdressing to information selling. The degree of impact from the new era of information revolution varies with the nature of each sub‐sector.
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Anna Stark, Kim‐Shyan Fam, David S. Waller and Zhilong Tian
Negotiation is crucial to business alliances, but this process can become more complicated if there are language barriers and differences in cultural values, customs, and…
Abstract
Negotiation is crucial to business alliances, but this process can become more complicated if there are language barriers and differences in cultural values, customs, and lifestyles, such as Western businesses negotiating in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Previous studies have presented models of the Chinese negotiating process but these are primarily from the US. This study examines the negotiating experiences of selected New Zealand investors who have had experiences negotiating either Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) or short‐term sales agreements in the PRC to create two conceptual models. The results provide some interesting insights for doing business in China.