Business Commons^™

Central Bank Bilateral Currency Swap And Trade Flows : An Implication For Renminbi Internationalisation, Abdullahi Ahmed Mohammed

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

The emerging economic prosperity of China and its increasing economic integration with the rest of the world as the second largest economy seems to give China an edge to amplify its global competitiveness. For example, the accession of China to World Trade Organization in the early 2001 has intensified its rapid GDP growth, growing trade and current account surpluses, financial inflows and growing stockpiles of reserves holdings. The global financial crisis of 2008 nearly put a halt to China’s export-led and current account surpluses trajectory, in 2007 China’s current account surplus fell from 10% of GDP to about 2% in …

Understanding Conflict Avoiding Behavior In China : The Role Of Goal Interdependence And Behavioral Intentions, Lin Wang

Theses & Dissertations

It is a commonly held belief that people from collectivistic, large power distance or high-context cultures, such as China, tend to be less confrontational, which could be counter-productive in organizations. Contrary to this traditional view, this study posits that conflict avoidance can be constructive depending on the specific actions protagonists take. It adopts Deutsch’s (1973) theory of cooperation and competition to understand conflict avoiding behavior between employees and their supervisors, indicating that people’s perceptions of goal interdependence significantly influence their behavioral intentions that in turn predict their overt actions to avoid conflict. Specifically, it proposes that goal interdependence greatly affects …

Ownership Structure, Board Characteristics, And Tax Aggressiveness, Ying Zhou

Theses & Dissertations

Tax aggressiveness, as commonly proxied by the effective tax rate (ETR), measures a firm’s effort spent on minimizing its tax payments. It is suggested that more tax aggressive firms have greater incentives to allocate resources to minimize taxes and thus have lower ETRs. Corporate governance has been continuously receiving attention in literature across different fields and can affect a firm’s tax strategy through its control mechanism. This thesis investigates how corporate governance influences a firm’s tax aggressiveness. The main hypothesis of this thesis is whether firms with good corporate governance will have less incentives and opportunities to manage tax aggressively. …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of The Probability Of Informed Trading (Pin) On Corporate Diversification Discount And Ceo Pay-Performance Sensitivity : Evidence From China, Man Jin

Theses & Dissertations

This thesis includes estimating the probability of informed trading, PIN, developed by Easley, Kiefer and O’Hara (1996, 1997a, 1997b), for a large sample of listed firms in China from 2002 to 2008, and I use PIN to explore two independent research questions in corporate finance.

First, the probability of informed trading is applied to explain the discount in value for firms with diversified business operations. Although aiming to increase firm value, the corporate diversification decision usually results in a firm value discount, for a variety of reasons, one of which is the transparency problem. My study directly tests the relation …

The Effect Of Word-Of-Mouth On The Purchase Of Genuine And Counterfelt Luxury Brands : The Roles Of Attitude Functions, Wei Wang

Theses & Dissertations

This research aims to investigate the effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) on the purchase of genuine and counterfeit luxury brands with a focus on the roles of attitude functions, product type, valence of WOM, and brand popularity. It consists of two experimental studies. Study 1 examines the effect of WOM on the purchase of luxury brands and attempts to investigate the mediating role of attitude functions in the relationship between WOM and purchase intentions for luxury brands, with regard to different product types and valence of WOM. Study 2 compares the effects of WOM communications with traditional advertising on the purchase …

Enhancing Green Tax Measures In Hong Kong : A Means Of Addressing The City's Environmental Problems, Yuzhu Lu

Theses & Dissertations

Nowadays, pressures on the environment are increasing around the world. In particular, Hong Kong, a compact city with a population of nearly seven million, one which has undergone remarkable economic growth over the past few decades, has developed severe environmental problems. It also has deficiencies in its taxation system: a small tax base, for example. In today’s world, “green” taxes have been accepted and applied by more and more countries, especially those in the OECD. However, Hong Kong still has not adequately used the tax tool as an integral part of the government’s anti-pollution strategy. Accordingly, the major objective of …

The Customer Is King : Mutual Fund Relationships And Analyst Recommendations, Ping Liu

Theses & Dissertations

I investigate whether the business relations between mutual funds and brokerage firms influence sell-side analyst coverage and recommendations. Using a comprehensive sample of analyst recommendations in China over the 2004-2008 period, I find that the likelihood of analyst coverage and analysts’ relative recommendations, benchmarked against consensus recommendations, are positively associated with the mutual fund business relationship. I measure the business relation by the weight of a stock in the mutual fund client’s portfolio and the commission revenue generated from the mutual fund clients. My results show that mutual funds take advantage of these optimistic recommendations by selling the stocks. I …

"Seeing Is Believing?" : A Persuasion Knowledge Model On Attitudinal Evaluations In Advertisements, Yan Wu

Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the effects of individuals' beliefs about persuasion tactics (i.e., persuasion knowledge) evoked in an advertisement on their attitudes toward the advertisement and the advertised brand. Drawing on persuasion knowledge theory, this thesis develops a conceptual model that argues how ad image incongruence, defined as an inappropriate match-up between model type (western versus local) and advertised product category (western product category versus local product category) featured in advertisements, leads to the use of persuasion knowledge, which in turn affects attitudinal evaluations. A series of experimental studies were conducted. The results suggest that individual’s use of persuasion knowledge mediates …

Anger-Expression Avoidance In Organizations In China : The Role Of Social Face, Xu Han

Theses & Dissertations

Chinese people have been theorized to be particularly sensitive to social face and avoid direct discussion in conflict to promote interpersonal harmony. This study uses the theory of social face to predict Chinese employees’ strategies to avoid expressing anger with their supervisors in the organizations. Inspired by previous research, this study proposes that anger-expression avoidance is a complex behavior with different motivations and actions, leading to diverse outcomes. It identifies four strategies for the employees to avoid expressing anger with their boss; they are named outflanking (turn to the third party to resolve the anger), withdrawal (staying cool, ignoring, giving …

Goal Interdependence And Leader-Member Relationship For Cross-Cultural Leadership In Foreign Ventures In China, Yi Feng, Nancy Chen

Theses & Dissertations

This study empirically examines the impact of goal interdependence and leader-member relationship on cross-cultural leadership in joint ventures in China. Its two research questions are how to facilitate leader-member relationships between foreign managers and Chinese employees in joint ventures in China, and how foreign managers and Chinese employees can develop cooperative goals in Chinese contexts.

Four hypotheses were generated. Hypothesis 1 examined the effects of leader-member relationship between foreign managers and Chinese employees on cross-cultural leadership. Hypothesis 2 studied the impacts of different goal interdependence on the leader-member relationship between foreign managers and Chinese employees. Hypothesis 3 and 4 investigated …

Spillover Effects Of Fdi On Innovation In China : An Analysis Of Provincial Data, Kui Yin Cheung, Ping Lin

CAPS Working Paper Series

We use the provincial data from 1995 to 2000 to test the impact of inward FDI on innovation activity in China. We found a positive effect of FDI on the number of patent applications filed by the domestic firms. This positive relationship persists when we divide the patents by types (invention, utility model and external design) and when we group the provinces into regions (the coastal, central, and the western regions). This positive spillover effect is much stronger for minor innovations such as external design and utility model, highlighting a "demonstration effect" of FDI. However, FDI into the coastal region …

Hong Kong Business Through Countertrade : Past, Present And Future, Henry C. Steele

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

The Hong Kong economy is dependent on external trade which is growing as governments have become more positive towards promoting unrestricted multilateral trade. It is paradoxical that barter and countertrade, forms of trade predating the use of money and trade finance continue to grow in importance. The paper examines the role of countertrade in Hong Kong's foreign trade, offering a contextual background to propose that countertrade has been an important element in the development of international trade and investment.

Available evidence is considered, the implications are discussed and a number of propositions made. There is a need for empirical research …

Private Businesses In China : Emerging Environment And Managerial Behavior, Kong Wing, Clement Chow, Chung Ming Lau, Hang Yue Ngo

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

This paper reviews the development and contribution of private businesses to the Chinese economy. The political and market environment are analyzed to picture the current position of private businesses in the national economy. Major characteristics of private businesses and their owners are presented through three survey results conducted in different periods. Managerial implications, in terms of macro environment, competition, resources, management structure and governance, and leadership and human resources are discussed.

Profitability, Ownership Structure And Technical Efficiency Of Enterprises In P.R. China : A Case Of Manufacturing Industries In Shanghai, Kong Wing, Clement Chow, Ka Yiu, Michael Fung, Kai Hong, Ken Wan

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

This paper studies the relationship between accounting profits and technical efficiency of manufacturing enterprises in Shanghai during the period of 1989-1992 and examines which factors affect the profitability of manufacturing enterprises. We first estimate the average technical efficiency of four major manufacturing industries in Shanghai. Then, we test for the presence of ownership effects of technical efficiency on profits of those enterprises in these four industries.

從公有到私有企業 : 中國勞資關係的轉型, Kwok Keung Chow

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

本文剖析國內官方勞動關係的傳統觀念，好像工人當家、罷工是極左思想等，如何在改革開放下出現本質的變化，相應地令勞動力市場也同時開放，亦令私有企業得以發展，也就令勞動關係出現轉型的現象，並進一步帶動了九十年代的《工會法》、《勞動法》等用作調整新勞動關係的法律相繼出台。為此，本文建議當局須從工會的運作和職能的重新確認上、勞動立法的擴展上、集體協約的建立上，以及勞動爭議的處理手法上等四方面來加以應付。

Eastern Traditional Business Values : Mercantile Patron Gods In Hong Kong = 東方傳統企業價值 : 香港的行業神崇拜, Kwok Keung Chow

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

During the past decade there has been an increasing recognition in business organizations of the importance of establishing their organizational culture in Hong Kong. Executives and managers want to know how to manage organizational culture for achieving excellence in performance but they always ignored some important functions played by the worship of mercantile patron gods. This paper represents the culminated review of a series of case studies based on many interviews with some traditional guilds, trades and organizations in Hong Kong on their worship practice of their mercantile patron gods from a variable perspective of organizational culture. It acknowledges that …

Tqm In The Construction Industry In Hong Kong : A Supply Chain Management Perspective, Shiu Ho, Alfred Wong

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

TQM is increasingly being adopted by construction companies as initiatives to solve quality problems in the construction industry and to meet the needs of the final customer. However, TQM should incorporate the integrated quality management activities of members in the supply chain. This supply chain context is especially salient in the qua1ity assurance of construction projects as a general contractor often out-sources most of the construction work to other members in the supply chain i.e. its suppliers and subcontractors. Therefore, this paper aims to delineate the supply chain management issues in total quality for construction projects. Through the use of …

Measuring The Technological Leadership Of International Joint Ventures In A Transforming Economy, Kong Wing, Clement Chow, Ka Yiu, Michael Fung

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

This paper introduces technical efficiency as an objective criterion for measuring the performance of international joint ventures in China. We compute the estimates of time-invariant and time-varying technical efficiency in four major manufacturing industries in Shanghai. We show that international joint ventures are in general more technically efficient than domestic firms in the industries of textile, machinery and equipment, and electronics and telecommunications equipment are widening in our sample period although the industrial reforms and active technology policies have improved the productivity of domestic firms. However, in the clothing industry, the technical efficiency of domestic firms, especially state-owned firms, is …

Profitability And Technical Efficiency : A Performance Evaluation Of International Joint Ventures In Shanghai's Manufacturing Industries, Kong Wing, Clement Chow, Ka Yiu, Michael Fung

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

This paper studies the relationship between accounting profits and efficiency of manufacturing enterprises in Shanghai during the period of 1989-1992 and examines which factors affect the profitability of manufacturing enterprises. In 1990, the industrial reform was sped up, a Chow test is used to test for the presence of any structural break and our empirical test confirms its presence. In addition, this paper also tests for the presence of ownership effects on profits. Our results indicate that the profits of international joint ventures are more persistent than the rest of ownership types and industries.