Ying Song, Yi Zhang, Yafei Wang, Bowen Zhang and Jiafu Su
Taking 30 provincial samples from 2001 to 2017 in mainland China as the research objects, this paper aims to evaluate the impact and effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on…
Abstract
Purpose
Taking 30 provincial samples from 2001 to 2017 in mainland China as the research objects, this paper aims to evaluate the impact and effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the urban–rural income gap and reveals heterogeneity across regions.
Design/methodology/approach
Firstly, the Theil index is used to measure the income gap between 30 provinces in mainland China from 2001 to 2017, then the spatial econometric model is used to empirically test the impact of foreign direct investment on China’s urban–rural income gap and its heterogeneity across regions. Finally, a robustness test is performed.
Findings
The results show that there is a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between FDI and the urban–rural income gap in China. That is, FDI expands the urban–rural income gap in the short term and helps to converge it in the long term. In the eastern region, FDI has a convergence effect on the urban–rural income gap in the short term, which increases the long term. However, in the central and western regions, the relationship between FDI and urban–rural income gap has a weak inverted U shape.
Originality/value
By assessing the impact of FDI on the urban–rural income gap, this work provides decision-making support for China and other developing countries to improve investment policies and income distribution policies.
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Jieqiong Ma, Jie Yang and Ying Song
Political ties are critical for multinational enterprises’ (MNE) survival and success. However, the effect of political ties is not monotonic. The purpose of this paper is to look…
Abstract
Purpose
Political ties are critical for multinational enterprises’ (MNE) survival and success. However, the effect of political ties is not monotonic. The purpose of this paper is to look into the contingent effect of political ties on MNEs’ post-entry performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on survey data collected from 416 foreign subsidiaries operating in China, which was combined with several secondary data sources, this study examined the three-way interaction of political ties, entry mode and industry restriction.
Findings
The findings support the hypotheses that the impact of political ties on firm performance is contingent on firms’ ownership-based entry modes and industry restriction. In particular, the impact of political ties is stronger for joint ventures (JV) in less restricted industries and wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS) in more restricted industries.
Practical implications
Political ties have different effects on WOS and JV. While in general political ties have a stronger impact for JV than for WOS, their impacts on both parties vary on industry restriction. Managers should consider ownership structure as well as industry restriction when making non-market strategies and decisions.
Originality/value
By analyzing the impacts of intra-organizational and market environmental factors, this study provides a fine-grained view of foreign firms’ non-market strategy in China from a post-entry performance perspective.
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Ying Song, Wenyu Wu and Dario Miocevic
The literature shows that e-commerce adoption brings many benefits to farmers and agricultural businesses. However, the literature offers very limited guidance on the most…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature shows that e-commerce adoption brings many benefits to farmers and agricultural businesses. However, the literature offers very limited guidance on the most effective ways for them to utilize e-commerce platforms. In this study, we unfold how a farmer's choice between endogenous (their own) vs. exogenous (third-party) e-commerce platforms should be aligned with the external (support from agricultural cooperative) and internal (usage of quality labels) resources they can leverage and the performance goals they want to achieve (market expansion vs. price premium).
Design/methodology/approach
Our study draws on transaction cost economics (TCE) and resource-based theory (RBT) to test the conceptual model with data from a cross-sectional survey of 324 farmers from two provinces in PR China.
Findings
Our findings show that external and internal resources shed additional light on the effectiveness of endogenous vis-à-vis exogenous e-commerce platforms. For farmers who rely on exogenous e-commerce, support from an agricultural cooperative appears to be critical in increasing their market expansion. On the other hand, farmers seeking to earn a price premium should focus on developing their own e-commerce platforms, while at the same time emphasizing the quality labels of their agricultural products.
Practical implications
Farmers should pay close attention to the value-added benefits provisioned through farmers' cooperatives, as well as the benefits of acquiring quality labels for their agricultural products. However, the decision to utilize these resources should be aligned with the chosen e-commerce platform (endogenous vs. exogenous) as well as with the performance goal the farmer wants to achieve.
Originality/value
Our work goes beyond the traditional focus on transaction costs and efficiency of e-commerce channels and provides specific insights into when an endogenous or exogenous e-commerce model might provide benefits for farmers. On top of this, we argue and show that this decision should reside with the farmer's ability to leverage external and internal resources, envisioned through support from an agricultural cooperative and the quality labels of agricultural products.
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Song Ying, Daniele Leone, Antonella Francesca Cicchiello, Antonella Francesca Cicchiello and Amirreza Kazemikhasragh
The economic shock posed by the current COVID-19 outbreak brought out a worldwide public health emergency with a close relationship between the industrial marketing practices, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The economic shock posed by the current COVID-19 outbreak brought out a worldwide public health emergency with a close relationship between the industrial marketing practices, the health level of society and its economic development. The purpose of this study is to analyse the industrial dynamics in health care and their impact on economic growth and health status.
Design/methodology/approach
To empirically investigate the relationship between growth and health, the authors use a data set drawn from 29 selected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries over the period 2000 and 2019. Using panel regressions, the authors investigate the impact of the health-care industry measured in terms of health status, health expenditure, sales on pharmaceutical products, the number of persons working in health care and the coverage by private health insurances. Fixed effect and random effect regressions are used to estimate this model.
Findings
Overall, the results are suggestive of a nexus between the industrial marketing dynamics of health-care context and economic growth – both interacting and improving each other. As the quality of the health-care market enhances, the economy grows richer and the health status of the population improves considerably.
Practical implications
To support health-care markets in OECD countries, health policymakers need to formulate a long-term industrial health policy that addresses all the social and individual determinants of health.
Originality/value
To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to provide a better understanding of the relationship between health-care industrial dynamics and economic growth in OECD countries along different dimensions.
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Although an important facet of modernist architecture in which function plays a prominent role, building flexibility is not entirely a new concept. Its relevance transcends…
Abstract
Although an important facet of modernist architecture in which function plays a prominent role, building flexibility is not entirely a new concept. Its relevance transcends generations, allowing space and structure to evolve through time. This paper investigates the relationship among main building structures, infill elements, and space by studying examples in ancient Chinese architecture. It reveals the role of building owners, users, and craftsmen from a survey of historical documentation. In studying these examples, it is concluded that craftsmen in ancient China were involved not only during the construction phase but throughout the period of use as well. Thus, in select cases, the relationship between craftsmen and owners or users had been preserved for generations. Finally, this paper suggests potential strategies for the building industry and technology in the move towards sustainable development.
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Juan Albacete-Maza, Antonio Fernández-Cano and Zoraida Callejas
Covid-19 pandemic, war, climate emergency and other recent challenges are inflicting tremendous stress to youth. However, death and tragedy are nowadays considered taboo, as there…
Abstract
Purpose
Covid-19 pandemic, war, climate emergency and other recent challenges are inflicting tremendous stress to youth. However, death and tragedy are nowadays considered taboo, as there is generally no standardized nor naturalized discussion on the subject, especially with young people. The current multi-crisis scenario is intensifying the need to incorporate an education on tragedy and resilience in our learning systems. In this context, it is necessary to find suitable teaching resources for this educational challenge that are attractive, entertaining and suitable for children and youth. A resource that meets all these requirements are children’s folk songs (CFSs). Apart from the intrinsic educational potential of music, folk songs have a simplicity and musicality that make them an ideal teaching resource. Considering their oral historical transmission, their survival confirms the attraction that this type of composition causes on children. However, to consider CFSs as an adequate resource to carry out an education for death and tragedy, it is necessary to study whether they present a non-negligible proportion of tragic passages and with enough variety of themes. This paper aims to address the study of the presence of explicit tragic content in Spanish CFSs and thus could be considered a cultural resource with transformative educational potential to develop resilience capabilities on the face of tragedy.
Design/methodology/approach
An analysis of lyrics of 2,558 Spanish CFSs is presented, using a manual content analysis as well as a computerized content analysis with the aim of identifying the tragic component of these songs and, thereby, assessing their pedagogical potential as a transformative educational resource.
Findings
The results obtained show a considerable presence of death and tragedy (19.78%) and a variety of tragedy dimensions. CFSs have been transmitted orally not only as a ludic resource, but also to prepare children for life (and death). The results show the complementarity of both analyses to avoid subjectivity while considering the underlying meanings of the songs.
Originality/value
This task had previously not been approached in an automated manner in the literature, nor there had been a similar study with a sample of this magnitude. The outcomes obtained show the considerable presence of tragedy in Spanish CFSs and emphasize the interest of this currently undervalued didactic resource.
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Lu Xiao, Zhi-Ying Wu, Song-Ling Zhang, Zhen-Song Chen and Kannan Govindan
This paper aims to propose a two-period model in which an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) decides the remanufacturability level of products in product design and unit patent…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a two-period model in which an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) decides the remanufacturability level of products in product design and unit patent licensing fee at the first period, and a third-party remanufacturer (3PR) that has been licensed by the OEM enters the remanufacturing market to compete with the OEM at the second period.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyzes the OEM's optimal decisions of remanufacturability level in the product design and unit patent licensing fee at the first period, as well as the OEM's and the 3PR's optimal decisions of selling prices at the second period, under two scenarios that the remanufacturing is constrained or unconstrained by the collected quantity available at the end of the first period, by making use of game theory.
Findings
The study finds that the OEM will choose high remanufacturability in product design only when the unit cost saving of remanufacturing or unit production cost of new products exceed certain thresholds.
Originality/value
The study is the first attempt to simultaneously integrate product design and patent licensing in remanufacturing. It provides useful insights for OEM managers who face competition from 3PRs and may use their product design strategies to deter 3PRs and may protect patent of products by levying patent licensing fees from 3PRs.
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Haowei Zhang, Lili Sun, Chengli Song, Ying Liu, Xueting Xuan, Fei Wang, Jing Zhong and Li Sun
Design, fabricate and evaluate all-solid-state wearable sensor systems that can monitor ion concentrations in human sweat to provide real time health analysis and disease…
Abstract
Purpose
Design, fabricate and evaluate all-solid-state wearable sensor systems that can monitor ion concentrations in human sweat to provide real time health analysis and disease diagnosis capabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
A human health monitoring system includes disposable customized flexible electrode array and a compact signal transmission-processing electronic unit.
Findings
Patterned rGO (reduced-graphene oxide) layers can replace traditional metal electrodes for the fabrication of free-standing all solid film sensors to provide improved flexibility, sensitivity, selectivity, and stability in ion concentration monitoring. Electrochemical measurements show the open circuit potential of current selective electrodes exhibit near Nernst responses versus Na+ and K+ ion concentration in sweat. These signals show great stability during a typical measurement period of 3 weeks. Sensor performances evaluated through real time measurements on human subjects show strong correlations between subject activity and sweating levels, confirming high degree of robustness, sensitivity, reliability and practicality of current sensor systems.
Originality/value
In improving flexibility, stability and interfacial coherency of chemical sensor arrays, rGO films have been the developed as a high-performance alternative to conventional electrode with significant cost and processing complexity reduction. rGO supported solid state electrode arrays have been found to have linear potential response versus ion concentration, suitable for electrochemical sensing applications. Current sweat sensor system has a high degree of integration, including electrode arrays, signal processing circuits, and data visualization interfaces.
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Jian Zhang, Ying Zhang, Yahui Song and Zhenxing Gong
Following self-determination theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of four motivational profiles (external, introjected, identified regulation, and…
Abstract
Purpose
Following self-determination theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of four motivational profiles (external, introjected, identified regulation, and intrinsic motivation) on work performance (interpersonal, adaptive, task, and dedicative performance). The authors also examined the proposed relations with longitudinal data.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants in Studies 1 and 2 were from several companies in China. Employees completed the questionnaires to measure their work motivation, and managers completed the questionnaires to assess the subordinates’ work performance.
Findings
In Study 1, the authors found that identified regulation significantly predicted interpersonal performance and adaptive performance. External regulation, introjected regulation, and intrinsic motivation had no significant impacts on interpersonal, adaptive, task, or dedicative performance. In Study 2, the results revealed that identified regulation significantly predicted dedicative and interpersonal performance, but external regulation, introjected regulation, and intrinsic motivation had no significant impacts on the four types of performance. These two studies concluded that only identified regulation strongly predicts work performance.
Originality/value
The study has contributed to the body of knowledge by clarifying that identified regulation is an important type of motivation in the workplace. Managers might therefore focus on supporting employees for identifying with the organizational goals in order to promote better performance.
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Keywords
Hao Ying, Lujie Chen and Xiande Zhao
This study aims to clarify the risk management practices of banks as supply chain finance (SCF) service providers.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to clarify the risk management practices of banks as supply chain finance (SCF) service providers.
Design/methodology/approach
Using 4,014 evaluation and approval reports, this study constructed five risk management factors and examined their functions with secondary data. Two text-mining techniques (i.e. word sense induction, TF–IDF) were used to equip the classic routine of dictionary-based content analysis.
Findings
This research successfully identified four important risk management factors: relationship-based assessment, asset monitoring, cash flow monitoring and supply chain collaboration. The default-preventing effect of these factors are different and contingent on the type of financing contexts (i.e. preshipment, postshipment).
Practical implications
The empirical evidences provide practical implications for SCF service providers to manage risk. SCF service providers are suggested to pay more attention to cash flow monitoring when providing postshipment financing services and shift the focus to relationship building and supply chain collaboration when providing preshipment financing services.
Originality/value
The study shows that a large volume of textual materials can provide adequate clues for researches as long as they are mined with suitable analytic techniques and approaches. Based on the results, SCF service providers can identify problems of their operations and directions for improvement. In addition, the risk management vocabulary from the E&A reports can be utilized by SCF service providers to digitize their loan approving process and, further, to facilitate the decision-makings.