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Boosted by a huge potential market and government funding, China is fast developing compound manufacturing, especially for LED lighting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper introduces an Exchange section dedicated to the question of the new state capitalism. It is suggested that the new state capitalism, both as an ascendant concept and as marker of socioinstitutional facts on the ground, signals a significant geohistorical moment, perhaps not a new "era" as such, but a notable inflection point. This warrants critical attention, even if first-generation treatments of the phenomenon itself may have been somewhat wanting. Contributions follow from Ilias Alami, Jennifer Bair, Isabella Weber, Marion Werner, and Heather Whiteside, each of whom provide a critical take on (debates around) the new state capitalism from their own theoretical perspective and vantage point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The minimalist, atomistic classical liberal definition of markets is dominant in the global political economy literature, if often implicitly so. But major shifts are occurring in the 21st century, including China's rise, which highlight the deficiencies of this definition and challenge us to develop fresh tools to conceptualize global markets. There are three ways in which China's emergence challenges established market conceptualizations: the continued resilience of China's authoritarian state-led capitalist economic model, China's positioning around notions of power and fairness in the global economy, and China's mixed preferences regarding global markets. The study of China's rise, far from only impressing upon us how different China is, shines a light on dynamics that are prevalent everywhere, yet suffer from a lack of attention. This paper argues that the political economy literature is limiting the development of richer conceptualizations of the market because it operates within three conceptual 'straitjackets': the notion of the pure market as ideal- type, the state-market dichotomy and the notion of a sequential progression towards a market economy. The fact that markets are an underdefined concept deprives us of useful tools for elucidating important questions about markets in the global economy and limits our capacity to evaluate China's impact on global markets. Drawing from diverse literatures, from comparative politics, to classical political economy and economic sociology, this paper develops an institutionally grounded set of tools, including a list of characteristics and a typology, to define, evaluate and compare markets, and inspire others to contribute to the endeavour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper responds to the contributions to the review symposium on How China Escaped Shock Therapy. I discuss the strategy of economic system reform that started from the non-essential parts of the industrial system in order to eventually transform the commanding heights; the spatial dimension of reform in relation to "dual circulation" and the coastal development strategy; the nature and meaning of Chinese gradualism; and China's price stabilization strategies of the 1980s in relation to later inflationary challenges. Finally, I reflect on the symposium as a dialogue between economic geography and a history of ideas in action that I pursued in my book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose is the most abundant natural polymer on earth. As the market and the public demands more and more natural products, cellulose and its derivatives are becoming increasingly more attractive. The production of dissolving pulp, which is the main feedstock for cellulose-related products, has been growing over the past decade, while the technologies for manufacturing these pulps have also been advanced. In this literature review, the production and consumption of dissolving pulp are analyzed with a focus on the Chinese market. The manufacturing processes, including raw materials, pulping methods, pulp bleaching, and posttreatments are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the influence of Nontariff Measures (NTMs) on market expansion of exporters using the Chinese custom database during 2003–2011. Besides confirming the negative effect of prior export activity and positive effect of neighboring spillovers, this paper finds robust negative effects of NTMs on entry of new markets at the firm‐market level. The empirical results show that a trade deflection effect exists at the microscale and prefers the markets with lower degree of NTMs. Furthermore, exporters with fewer trade links or in processing trade seem lacking in ability to channel new markets under the pressure of NTMs in their existing markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines (1) whether auditor type affects initial public offering (IPO) pricing; (2) whether the effect of IPO pricing is different for clients with different ownership structures. We find that (1) firms being audited by Big 4 accounting firms receive IPO premium while others being audited by local accounting firms do not; (2) Big 4 auditors receive higher audit fees than China's Top 10 or small local auditors. This paper extends the prior research (e.g., Kumar, P and N Langberg (2009). Corporate fraud and investment distortions in efficient capital markets. The RAND Journal of Economics, 40, 144–172) that reduces agency conflicts between shareholders and manager (by means of better audit quality) and also reconciles corporate misreporting and investment distortions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Prior to the liberalisation of the clothing and textiles sector under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) fears had been expressed about the potential impact on developing country suppliers. This paper seeks to establish the actual impact of the liberalisation of the EU and US clothing markets. Design/methodology/approach - Comparison of trade figures pre and post liberalisation. Findings - The paper finds that, as forecast, significant changes occurred in sourcing patterns in the EU almost overnight. The big winners were India and China. Almost all other developing countries lost market share, although often not as much as had been feared. The impact of the liberalisation was mitigated somewhat by the new quantitative restrictions negotiated with China half way through the year, which resulted in a redistribution of market share to other developing countries. Comparisons with the USA indicate that trends are rather similar, although on that market more developing countries saw increases in their exports, partly cancelling out losses in the EU. Originality/value - This is believed to be the first attempt to assess the real world impact of the liberalisation of the clothing sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies Markov switching techniques to examine the different conditions of Chinese Stock Market from 1995 to 2004. Three contrasting regimes are identified: a bear market, a bull market and a speculative market. This paper also surveys the time period and probability of each regime. The timing of regime switching reflects the strong policy market feature of Chinese stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs a hybrid methodology that combines case study and econometric research to examine the impact of the Internet on domestic market integration. There is not much research on this issue in the literature. From the multi-case analysis, this paper firstly obtains two main indications which are clear yet contrary to each other about how the Internet influences the market integration process. To be specific, although the Internet has both the ability and the potential to promote market integration, it is not always effective and could even harm this process due to several constraints. Using a provincial-level panel dataset from 2007 to 2013 in China, this paper empirically investigates whether the Internet plays a positive role in the market integration process. Contradictory to common expectations, we do not find any empirical evidence that the Internet accelerates the integration of domestic markets. Thus, when compared with taking advantage of Internet tools, manmade obstacles to market integration that exist in current trading systems and business models deserve more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Area Development & Policy is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Functional differentiation between cities and the characteristics of their inter-urban networks in the emerging knowledge-intensive service economy have attracted extensive attention in urban studies. However, research on urban networks generated by advanced producer services (APS) activities has focused either on the structures of the networks in general or on the patterns created by various service sectors. In comparison, whether advanced services originating from different regions might generate different inter-city networks is less well studied. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative methods, this paper explores how APS firms with headquarters in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), in mainland China or overseas impact the internal urban system and the external relations of the PRD through their business networks. The findings indicate that while cities in the PRD are connected with each other and with other Chinese cities primarily through the business networks of local and national APS firms, the region’s linkages with overseas services centres are shaped predominantly by major international firms from the developed world. The variegated service geographies created by different types of APS firms within and outside China not only reflect the firms’ different development histories, client orientations in specific markets and home regions’ economic conditions, but they are also significantly shaped by China’s unique regulatory environment and complex state–market relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Area Development & Policy is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

North America's first oriented strand board (OSB) mill was built in the early 1980's. Twenty years later, the industry was thriving, with over 50 mills producing the product. China's first OSB mill was built in 1990, and 25 years later, there are a few mills with a total capacity less than two large North America mills, most operating below capacity and struggling to identify domestic markets for the growing production. This paper briefly looks at the histories of OSB industries in North America and China, presents the current situation of China's wood-based panels industry and its downstream industries, and identifies OSB opportunities and potential products in China. Opportunity for sheathing-grade OSB is very limited in the current Chinese market, whereas industrial opportunities for specialty OSB products to replace plywood have great potential. Those specialty products include materials for furniture, wood doors, wood flooring, container flooring, concrete form, etc. OSB producers must designate the right OSB products for the Chinese market and cost-effectively manufacture those differentiated products to meet specifications for various end-applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence on the effects of access to domestic and international markets on per capita consumption of households using data from rural China. The econometric analysis uses alternative identification schemes to address the potential endogeneity of access to markets. We use straight-line distances to coastline and navigable river, along with the topography of the intervening counties, as sources of exogeneous variations. We also use identification through heteroskedasticity, which does not rely on standard exclusion restrictions. The results from alternative identification schemes show that better access to both domestic and international markets has positive effects on per capita consumption, the domestic market effect is significantly larger in magnitude, and there is complementarity between the access to domestic and international markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the two-party static game between market supervisory organization and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform. Considering 4 game modes with both "strong supervision" and "weak supervision" of market supervisory organization and "compliance management" and "noncompliance management" of P2P lending platform, the paper establishes a static game model between P2P lending platform and market supervisory organization and solves the market equilibrium solutions. Based on income, cost, disguised cost, and fine of P2P lending platform and income, cost, and reward of market supervisory organization, it discusses conditional strategies that P2P lending platform selects "compliance management" or "noncompliance management" and that market supervisory organization selects "strong supervision" or "weak supervision," respectively. Furthermore, the relevant influencing factors are analyzed which come from 18 P2P lending platforms in Guangdong Province of China, and the conclusions were in good agreement with the actual market. The research has scientific guiding significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether or not China can succeed at the forefront of international development in the coming decades will largely hinge on its ability to adapt to low-carbon economic development and its efforts to promote the Unified National Emission Trading System (UNETS). To understand the evolution of China's carbon market, this paper firstly divides the development of China's regional carbon markets into three phases: pilot construction (phase 1, before 31 May 2015), preparation for the UNETS (phase 2, 1 June 2015–19 December 2017), and formal construction of the UNETS (phase 3, 20 December 2017–present). Then this research reviews the trading performance and employs four robust variance ratio (VR) tests to capture structural changes and examine the efficiency of China's eight regional carbon markets in different periods. Results show that compared to phase 1, smaller price volatility, larger daily trading volume, and higher market liquidity are more frequent at the later stages of majority markets. Despite these improvements, results from the VR tests indicate that the statistic in majority of China's regional carbon markets is insignificant in any given period and, therefore, they are not weak-form efficient. The additional detrended cross-correlation analysis demonstrates that market liquidity affects market efficiency in the Hubei market only, which implies that Hubei, where the market liquidity reaches almost 100% in phase 3, is highly likely to be weak-form efficient shortly. Finally, several recommendations are provided to improve the efficiency and maturity of China's carbon markets, including strengthening legislation, improving the market design, and constructing information platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By directly checking the correlation between short-selling (margin-buying) activities, we find that short sellers and margin buyers are beneficial for market stabilization in China, and such effects do not attenuate during the crazy bull-market. Furthermore, by quantile regression analysis, we show that such stabilizing effects are more significant in higher quantiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the conceptual framework of implicit-explicit corporate social responsibility ("CSR"), this paper distinguishes governmental/regulatory force and market/societal force as the two main determinants of CSR and argues that governmental/regulatory force is the dominant driver for implicit mandatory CSR while market/societal force is the dominant driver for explicit voluntary CSR. By using China, the world's second largest economy, as an example, this paper examines how governmental/regulatory force shape a country's CSR system, as opposed to market/societal force. Moreover, due to the rise of corporations' explicit CSR activities and shrinking of implicit mandatory CSR rules in the West, this paper also endeavors to find out whether implicit practices of business responsibility in China will transform into explicit CSR activities. After looking into the tradition, current momentum, and the inadequacy of conventional business case reasoning in China, this paper concludes that despite the increasing role of market/societal force in advancing CSR, governmental/regulatory force remains the dominant driver for CSR development in China, which, in turn, implies more governmental intervention and regulations defining minimum standards of corporate behavior. This paper also discusses different functions that the Chinese government can potentially take in further shaping and promoting CSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inefficient use of scarce and fragmented land challenges the sustainability of agriculture. Land markets may improve land-use efficiency. In recent years, China has employed various instruments to promote land markets. This paper investigates whether land markets affect households' land-use efficiency, based on data from 1,202 farm households in Jiangsu Province. The measure of land-use efficiency was derived from a stochastic frontier production function, and a control function approach was employed to correct for selection bias. The results indicated that many households are using land inefficiently. While renting in land increases land-use efficiency, it is not affected by renting out land, implying that households are not giving up land for efficiency gains. We also provide suggestive evidence that the positive effect of renting in land results from abundant agricultural labour due to labour market failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses ARCH models to examine if there is a leverage effect and also to test if A- and B-share holdings have different risks in Chinese stock markets before and after B-share markets open to domestic investors in February 2001. The empirical results suggest that leverage effect was not present and shocks have symmetric impact on the volatility of Chinese B-share stock returns in both periods and A-share returns in Period I. Thus GARCH model would be a better model to fit the Chinese B-share stock returns than EGARCH or GJR-GARCH model. But EGARCH or GJR-GARCH model fits recent (Period II) A-share markets data better than GARCH model. Another finding of this paper is that holding A- or B-share bears different risk in returns in the two Chinese markets. Furthermore, news or shocks have a larger impact on volatility of B-share returns in Period I than in Period II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether the market-making system helps to improve the price discovery ability of New Third Board (NTB) market in China. We first estimate the time-varying coefficients error correction models, then apply common factor weight method to quantify the time-varying price discovery contributions, and finally explore the impacts of trading volume and volatility to price discovery contributions. Empirical results show that both markets have time-varying characteristic in terms of the magnitudes and directions of the equilibrium price adjustment due to error correction term. The Shanghai Composite Index, SZSE Component Index, and SME Index are found to lead in price discovery, while NTB exhibits the leadership on the GEM Index. Volume and volatility have significant influence on the price discovery contribution. The NTB contribution is positively related to its own trading activity, negatively related to the trading activity of Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets, while negatively correlated with the volatility of both markets. In comparison, trading activity of SZSE Component Index and volatility of GEM Index have the greatest negative impacts on the contribution of NTB market. As an important part of China's multi-level capital market, the pricing mechanism of the NTB market needs further to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to assess the usefulness of conceptions of different modes of governance for understanding policy outcomes by studying the experience with hierarchical and non-hierarchical governance modes in the health care sector in China, India, and Thailand. The paper shows their experience with non-hierarchical modes to have been largely disappointing and that all three, but especially Thailand, are in the process of reverting to a more hierarchical mode of service delivery. The conclusion from this study is that non-hierarchical governance is not a substitute for or an improvement upon hierarchical governance in health care due to the many market and government failures that afflict the sector and affect the ability of different governance modes to function effectively. The hierarchical mode of government is also imperfect but less so than the alternatives in delivering health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on six months of fieldwork in Lào Cai City at the Vietnam-China border, this paper explores how the intersecting notions of fate, fortune and luck play out in the Vietnamese marketplace and intertwine with moral ideas expressed in economic choices and ethical conduct. Whereas small-scale traders agreed that one needs to work hard in order to prosper, the ways in which economic success is conceptually framed reveal that discipline, rational calculation and personal skills were often downplayed. Instead, a person's propensity for trade and the wealth generated by it were narratively constructed as part of a person's fate decreed by heaven. Moreover, a trader's success in business was referred to as lộc—a key concept in Vietnamese thought that relates to good luck, fortune, prosperity and divine benevolence. Together, rather than fostering a fatalistic attitude towards life, the notions of heaven/trời and fortune/lộc reinforce ideas of moral responsibility for the wellbeing of both present and future generations and thus, indirectly, for the welfare of society as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information on the beginning of credit finance on the China coast. The volume and area of the Chinese trade in private hands expanded as the English East India Company abandoned its Indian trade monopoly in 1813 and its China trade monopoly in 1834. The market for Chinese goods in the United States also developed, at first on the initiative of the American houses on the Atlantic seaboard and then with the connivance of English agency houses. Western finance on the Chinese Coast at the time was confined almost exclusively to the entrepreneurial context of trade, hence it was from the extension of trade that advances were made in methods of finance. The eastward expansion of the China trade to the Atlantic seaboard of the United States brought China traders into the financial orbit of Philadelphia (in the twenties) and New York. The crisis of 1812-1815 forced the China houses to experiment with private bills and, after the crisis, to develop their use. It also illustrated the main elements upon which the earlier China trade was based, and the weaknesses of large scale and expanding trade operations entirely based upon bullion movements.

There is a rapid transformation afoot in the rice value chain in Asia. The upstream is changing quickly-farmers are undertaking capital-led intensification and participating in burgeoning markets for land rental, fertilizer and pesticides, irrigation water, and seed, and shifting from subsistence to small commercialized farms; in some areas landholdings are concentrating. Midstream, in wholesale and milling, there is a quiet revolution underway, with thousands of entrepreneurs investing in equipment, increasing scale, diversifying into higher quality, and the segments are undergoing consolidation and vertical coordination and integration. Mills, especially in China, are packaging and branding, and building agent networks in wholesale markets, and large mills are building direct relationships with supermarkets. The downstream retail segment is undergoing a 'supermarket revolution,' again with the lead in change in China. In most cases the government is not playing a direct role in the market, but enabling this transformation through infrastructural investment. The transformation appears to be improving food security for cities by reducing margins, offering lower consumer rice prices, and increasing quality and diversity of rice. This paper discusses findings derived from unique stacked surveys of all value chain segments in seven zones, more and less developed, around Bangladesh, China, India, and Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the segmented structure of the Chinese stock market, which is a unique opportunity to investigate the possible sources of the long-range dependence phenomena in asset returns. Using the Hurst's exponent evaluated by the Local Whittle method as the measure of long-range dependence, evidence is found supporting that while type B shares present strong evidence of the long-range dependence phenomena, type A shares present only weak evidence of such dependence. This result suggests that liquidity and information transmission play a role in explaining results of market efficiency tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For stocks traded on the Hong Kong Exchange, the median of five prices taken over the last minute of trading is currently chosen as the closing price. We introduce a stochastic control formulation to target such a median benchmark in an empirically justified model which takes the key microstructural features into account. We solve this problem by providing an explicit and efficient algorithm which even has applications beyond this paper as it can be used for the dynamic linear approximation of any square-integrable random variable. Implementing the algorithm on the stocks of the Hang Seng Index, we find an average improvement of around 6% in standard deviation of slippage compared to an average trader’s execution. We conclude by providing a novel decomposition of the trading risk into that which is intrinsic to the median benchmark and that due to execution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Asian Journal of Women's Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper reads Tash Aw's Shanghai-set Five Star Billionaire (2014) as a novel that provides an alternative theory of global finance than the standard model that takes Wall Street as its blueprint. Rather than the abstract techno-futurity typically associated with finance in Anglo-American literature, Aw's novel shows that contemporary finance in Shanghai is a form of capital created and experienced through nostalgia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After thirty plus years of reform and opening up its markets to the global economy, China has sustained a rapid economic growth for many years, which provides an opportunity for the development of various industrial and social dimensions. In this process, the growth of information systems development in Chinese enterprises seems showing special characteristics which are different from the classical model proposed by Nolan. This paper discusses the macroscopic growth process of information systems development in Chinese enterprises. Based on the classical study by Nolan, the historical data for information systems development in 294 Chinese enterprises was collected for the period of 1982 through 2009. Using the annual expenditures on information systems as an index, the analysis shows that the information systems growth process in Chinese enterprises can be represented by five stages. A detailed discussion of the characteristics of each stage is provided in this paper which illustrates a macroscopic growth process of information systems development in Chinese enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to assist US apparel firms to successfully market in China. It aims to accurately predict Chinese consumers' purchase intentions toward a US brand. For this purpose, it proposes a composite model incorporating two behavioral intention models, Lee's model and decomposed Ajzen's model, and empirically tests the composite model. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 747 consumer data were collected in three cities of China, Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, utilizing a series of mall intercept method at two levels of shopping malls in each city. Findings – Among the proposed direct paths to purchase intention (PI), attitude toward the US brand apparel was the most important in explaining contemporary Chinese consumers' purchase intentions, followed by external perceived behavioral control (PBC) and subjective norm (SN). Two Confucian values, face saving and group conformity, did not directly affect PI at all, and face saving only influenced PI indirectly through the increase of attitude toward US brand apparel. Among external PBC (one's controllability toward a purchase) and internal PBC (one's self-efficacy), only external PBC led to PI. Practical implications – By examining the two aspects of PBC, the study validated the importance of consumers' resource controllability (i.e. external PBC) in Chinese purchase behaviors in the midst of rapid socioeconomic changes. This approach advances previous studies that primarily viewed PBC as one dimension. Originality/value – The paper is one of earliest endeavors to consider the decomposed PBC in a composite model. Also, the paper provides early proof that external PBC is more important than internal PBC in purchase contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public space is an indispensable element of urban space and urban life. It enriches the spaces of the city and encourages the establishment of activities, and in turn flourishes the everyday lives of the residents. As a part of the urban landscape, public space contains centuries-old history in both the Western and Eastern world. Its definitions are also comparatively different. Including the Greek agora, Roman forum, medieval market places, pizzas, residential squares and American city parks, all these historic identities and physical places have become the foundation stone for the requirement of today's urban space qualities. Although public space is receiving increasing emphasis in urban landscapes, with today's over-development of modern cities, public space is constantly being swallowed up by business and political factors. At the same time, due to the different urban development structures, public space has its own natures and characteristics under Chinese culture. By reviewing several critical writings on public space, this paper examines the historic definitions of public space based on the timeline in various places. Then, taking Hong Kong (i.e. a modern city significantly affected by Chinese and Western cultures) as a case study, this paper attempts to analyse the changing natures and characteristics of public space in this modern city. It then further identifies some key concerns for policymakers and professional to plan, design and manage public space which can provide a high quality of life for city dwellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses China’s “natural” place in the world economy with a new set of trade integration indicators, which are used as a benchmark in order to examine whether China’s share in international trade is consistent with fundamentals such as economic size, location and other relevant factors. They constitute a better measure of trade integration that incorporates many more factors than traditional openness ratios. The model tracks international trade well and confirms that China is already well integrated in world markets, particularly with North America, several Latin American and East Asian emerging markets and most euro area countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]