Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions by Chinese Firms: value creation or value destruction?

Mixed results from studies on Chinese cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&;As) have been a puzzle for both academia and business professionals over the years. Do these M&;As create value when Chinese firms acquire foreign target firms suffering heavy losses and even on the verge of bankruptcy? This article explores the wealth effect of M&;As conducted by Chinese firms as well as the relevant factors from the asset-seeking perspective. The authors use 180 M&;A cases conducted by listed firms in China between 2002 and 2012 as samples and examine their wealth effects in a method of event study. The results show that these M&;A activities have produced significant positive wealth effects during the event window of [–10, 10]. The authors then study the key factors affecting wealth effects. The findings reveal that an acquiring firm’s strength via research and development (R&;D) and M&;A experience generates significant positive impacts on the wealth effect. The findings also reveal that an innovation orientation and development stage of host countries helps create positive wealth effects; vertical M&;As are particularly favored by the market since they can gain easier access to R&;D, marketing channels or mineral resources.     

MARKET WATCH

Foreign brands dominate China’s milk powder market, dealing a heavy blow to domestic manufacturers. China boosts iron ore production, but the country still relies on imports. Chinese firms accelerate their pace of going global. The logistics industry bursts with vitality, but low profitability remains a problem. The accounting firm KMPG cautions about the waning competitive edge of China’s manufacturing industry. By HU YUE     

论我国特殊的普通合伙制律师事务所的现状与前景

特殊的普通合伙制无疑是近十年来我国立法在专业服务机构组织形式上的一大创举。特殊的普通合伙制律师事务所优势在于专业化、规模化、国际化。特殊的普通合伙制律师事务所小众化的主要原因是设立条件较高、关于法律责任承担存在错误认识等。解决之道是:建立"直索责任"规则;改良律师事务所年检制度;完善法规,政策支持。如此,特殊的普通合伙制中国律师事务所则必有光明的未来。     

Spillover Effects of FDI via Exports on Innovation Performance of China's High-Technology Industries

Since economic reforms began in 1979, China has sought to overcome the technology gap by absorbing foreign advanced technology through FDI. This paper investigates the impact of FDI via exports on the innovation performance of domestic firms in China's high-tech product industries for the period 1995–2006. By using the panel data analysis, we confirm the hypotheses that: (1) exports of domestic firms have positive spillover effects on innovation performance of local firms either through learning or through competition; (2) R&D activities of foreign-invested enterprises in the host country in an industry are positively associated with innovation performance of domestic firms in that industry; and (3) import of technology, which is important to the establishment of assimilative capability, has positive effects on domestic innovation performance. This provides evidence suggesting that China's domestic firms benefit from spillovers associated with FDI and from export activity of both domestic firms and foreign-invested enterprises.     

Can Trade Green China? Participation in the global economy and the environmental performance of Chinese firms

How does participation in the global economy influence the pollution management practices of firms in a developing country? Research on trade and the environment leads one to anticipate that integration into the international economy should enhance domestic firm environmental behavior. Integration facilitates access to cleaner technology, exposes domestic firms to global norms of corporate environmentalism, and compels developing country firms to meet trading partners' environmental standards or risk losing market access. This article tests these propositions by exploring the environmental compliance of internationally oriented firms in China—a country whose rapid economic expansion and increasingly prominent role as a foreign investor have considerable implications for protection of the global environment. It finds that there is only modest market-induced enhancement of environmental performance among Chinese companies. In terms of their compliance with environmental law, Chinese firms with connections to the global economy are either no better than domestically oriented companies or, in the case of firms that export heavily, are worse.     

Is There Hope for Firms Facing the Technology Gap? A case of China's mobile industry

We have examined the way in which local firms in China's handset industry, confronted with a technology gap, have achieved growth, using the concept of boundaries of the firm. Chinese local firms have lacked technology, and have therefore turned to outside firms for development, design, and manufacturing in some cases. On the other hand, they themselves have focused on sales and marketing, using their advantage of familiarity with the home market. Consequently, by establishing a growth condition in which their selection of boundaries counterbalances the technology gap, they have been able to expand their market shares in comparison with foreign firms.     

The Changing Limits and the Limits of Change: the state,private firms,international industry and China in the evolution of Taiwan's electronics industry

This paper examines the changing role of the state and private enterprise in Taiwan's electronics industry as the industry responds to growth of intra-firm capabilities and the rise of China as a manufacturing base. The industry has a sharp dichotomous outcome between the technologically strong IC sector, which has been able to create interdependence with global lead firms, and the systems manufacturing firms, which find themselves trapped in a dependent position vis-à-vis the global lead firms. Due to different positions in global value chains, the IC industry firms have been better able to create advantages out of the opportunities of new firm capabilities and China than the systems firms even as the balance of policy has shifted somewhat away from the state and towards private enterprise.     

完善我国股票发行方式的基本思路

本文从分析中国股票市场发行方式的历史演变和存在弊端入手,探讨了中国股票发行方式模式选择的科学基础与客观制约因素。指出在中国加入WTO后,完善股票发行方式的终极目标是实现股市资源的市场化选择,而要实现这个终极目标必须经过阶段性目标的积累。因此,在这个过程中要兼顾“多重任务”的完成,从严格审核筹资项目;重新启用市值配售方式;逐步取消新股发行市盈率水平的人为限制;加强股市立法、执法、监管力度;拓展金融市场空间,降低系统风险等五个方面迅速而有效地推进我国股票发行制度的市场化进程。     

我国绿色证券投资基金绩效分析北大核心SSCI

当前,构建绿色金融体系已成为推动绿色经济快速发展、实现“碳达峰、碳中和”目标的重要途径。着眼绿色基金领域,通过分析基金重仓股明细,以及进行单因素评价模型的实证检验,探究我国绿色证券投资基金能否兼顾环境效益与经济效益的双重目标。结果显示,部分样本基金没能很好地执行投资策略,需调整资金配置,增加对绿色环保相关行业的投资;大部分样本基金在剔除掉风险因素的风险调整后收益的对比分析中,表现出了较强的获利能力,基金管理者市场调整和分散风险的能力较强。综合来看,我国绿色证券投资基金未能兼顾环境效益与经济效益的双重目标,环境效益有待进一步提高。为此,建议基金经理人对投资策略要充分予以执行,严格按照“绿色”标准选股投资;要进一步完善与绿色证券投资基金发展相关的配套机制和法律法规,丰富和完善绿色证券投资基金评价体系;提高投资者对绿色证券投资基金的认可度,建立多层次多元化投资主体结构。     

山东省上市公司募集资金使用效率分析

通过考察山东省上市公司募集资金的使用效率发现,山东上市公司募集资金整体状况较好,但在某些具体投资项目上的使用状况不理想;募集资金使用对于扩大公司的主营业务规模起了重要作用;募集资金后上市公司的盈利能力有所下降,这与某些募集资金投资项目的投资回收期较长有关,但也说明山东省上市公司募资使用效率有待于进一步提高。     

An Empirical Study of Chinese Large Shareholders’ Behavior under the Background of the Split Share Structure Reform

Using the data on related-party transactions between Chinese publicly listed firms and their controlling shareholders in 2005, this article empirically examines the characteristics of related-party transactions and their impact on the firms’ performance. The results show that the companies that completed related-party transactions with their large shareholders possess a higher concentration of ownership structure and lower P/E ratios, and their performance is significantly improved after these transactions. The current related-party transaction is also not used to achieve the necessary requirements for refinancing and the tunneling behavior of large shareholders follows a significant declining trend. Further regression analysis shows that the size of related-party transactions is positively correlated with the large shareholders’ equity ratio, and is negatively related to the P/E ratio and the performance of listed companies prior to the transactions. Finally, the research reveals that Chinese listed company performance has a significant positive correlation with the size of related-party transactions and the large shareholders’ equity ratio. Since China launched the split share structure reform (SSSR) in 2005, we have attributed all the above results to the change in the environment caused by the SSSR and concluded that large shareholders prop up a listed company through related-party transactions.     

The Development of Outward FDI Regulation and the Internationalization of Chinese Firms

The Investment Development Path (IDP) model has been widely accepted for illustrating the relationship between the inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) positions of a country and its economic status based on the data from developed economies. In recent years, however, outward FDI from developing economies has increased dramatically and it has been argued that institutions are ‘forefront’ factors in addition to the economic index. In this article, we use statistical data from China, which has gone through dramatic regulation reform and FDI development, to test the validity of the IDP model. We also trace the history of Chinese FDI regulation development to answer the following question: in what way are regulations important for FDI in different periods? We use Lenovo as a case study to show how a Chinese firm ‘avoids’ and ‘adapts to’ regulation changes. We find that the FDI development of China still follows the IDP model; however, the Chinese government has accelerated the whole process through active regulation reform. In a transition economy such as China, FDI co-evolves with the regulation, and the firms which can influence or foresee the policy changes can prosper considerably.     

The Economic Performance of China's State-owned Industrial Enterprises

The much-publicized declining financial performance of China's state-owned enterprises (SOIEs) is generally assumed to be evidence of their worsening economic efficiency. However in this paper we show that during 1980-1996, total factor productivity actually increased at an average annual rate of 1.90% and was responsible for 41% of the rise in SOIE output. The decline in financial performance can be attributed to their terms of trade deteriorating at an average annual rate of 3.19% due to increased competition and price reform. Numerous other factors, apart from economic efficiency, can further explain why the level of SOIE profitability has lagged behind non-state-owned industrial enterprises. While these conclusions do not imply that SOIEs have become efficient by international standards, they do suggest that their economic performance was significantly better than is generally claimed. They also confirm the need to evaluate economic performance directly, using criteria appropriate to the Chinese context.     

MARKET WATCH

<正>Dividend Regulation The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), on November 9 issued a circular, requiring listed companies to distribute more cash dividends to shareholders in an effort to protect investors’ interests.     

The Impact of Competition and Labor Remuneration on Profitability in China's Industrial State-owned Enterprises

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.     

我国经济增长效率的空间特征分析:2000-2010

本文从空间分布规律视角分析我国经济增长的效率结构。对我国内地31个省份2000-2010年经济增长的效率进行Malmquisit指数分解,结果表明我国经济存在效率对增长贡献份额低、技术利用效率几乎无改善、技术进步主宰效率变化的总体特征。同时,各区域之间经济效率差距巨大,东部、东北地区优于中、西部地区,而西部又好于中部地区。依据Moran-I指数分析发现,各省份之间的技术进步和整体经济效率呈现出集聚状态,而技术利用效率未表现出空间相关性。空间分析结果意味着要获得持续稳定均衡增长,必需加快市场制度建设,改变当前依赖行政推进的区域经济发展模式。     

闽川两地警察职业倦怠的比较与干预研究

采用问卷调查与座谈会访谈相结合的方式,对福建省和四川省两地警察的研究,结果显示:两省公安民警的职业倦怠水平总体较高,其中警察的情绪耗竭现象最为突出,其次是人格解体,而在缺乏成就感上的倦怠水平相对较低;四川省警察无论是在总倦怠水平上还是在情绪耗竭、人格解体、缺乏成就感三维度上,均显著高于福建省警察;派出所的民警以及乡镇基层民警的职业倦怠水平最高;民警职场晋升通道的顺畅有利于降低其职业倦怠水平。结构方程模型分析表明,组织、个人人格特质以及情绪调节是影响警察职业倦怠的重要因素,宜从这三个层面应用积极心理学的相关理论构建公安民警的职业倦怠干预机制。     

起诉阶段技术性证据审查的原则和要求

在审查起诉阶段对用以定罪的主要证据是技术性证据的审查,如何审查、在审查中遵循什么原则就是我们急需解决的问题。本文从审查原则和审查要求出发,分析了审查中既要重视实质性内容的审查,又要重视程序性审查,二者缺一不可,同时还要遵循审查的合法性、科学性,以使两者达到合理平衡。     

关于生物资源开发与可持续发展的博弈分析

通过对生物资源开发与可持续发展所涉及的核心利益相关者（环保部门和农户或企业）的动态博弈分析,得到均衡解,并对均衡解围绕其经济利益展开,进一步分析得到众多结论：农民（企业）在收益下降时会加大对生物资源的不可持续开发;政府、公众和舆论媒体要加大对环保部门的监督;环保部门在存在寻租的情况下,偏向降低处罚力度,让农户过度开发,从中得到贿赂;要确保生物资源合理利用而不被毁灭性的开发,政府部门除了监管要到位,还要对为保护生物资源而承受的贫困给予补偿等。     

区分撬压痕迹与打击痕迹之方法

撬压痕迹与打击痕迹的作用力形式不同，分别是杠杆作用和碰撞作用。撬压痕迹的特点是一次动作形成两处痕迹，打击痕迹的特点是一次动作形成一处痕迹。拆离撬压和扩缝撬压形成的凹陷状痕迹与打击痕迹有相似之处，撬压痕迹与打击痕迹可以从痕迹的形态、数量、深度及位置等四个方面加以区别。