Diversification In China Research Articles

HOW IMPORTANT IS MARKET-DISTRIBUTION TO CHINA’S EXPORTS OF LOW-CARBON GOODS?

The objective of this study is to gauge the potential and constraints of China’s low-carbon goods exports by first evaluating its exports performance, then finding the engines for exports growth, using the constant market share (CMS) analysis. The results of the empirical analysis covering the period 2006-2015 indicate that the market distribution effect is the main determinant for China’s low-carbon goods exports growth. While the diversification of China’s low-carbon commodity composition has the potential to increase China’s low-carbon export growth, its low-carbon goods exports appear to be not competitive against the exports from other competitor countries during the period of analysis.

Phylogeography of Bellamya (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Viviparidae) snails on different continents: contrasting patterns of diversification in China and East Africa

BackgroundSpecies diversity is determined by both local environmental conditions that control differentiation and extinction and the outcome of large-scale processes that affect migration. The latter primarily comprises climatic change and dynamic landscape alteration. In the past few million years, both Southeast Asia and Eastern Africa experienced drastic climatic and geological oscillations: in Southeast Asia, especially in China, the Tibetan Plateau significantly rose up, and the flow of the Yangtze River was reversed. In East Africa, lakes and rivers experienced frequent range expansions and regressions due to the African mega-droughts. To test how such climatic and geological histories of both regions relate to their respective regional species and genetic diversity, a large scale comparative phylogeographic study is essential. Bellamya, a species rich freshwater snail genus that is widely distributed across China and East Africa, represents a suitable model system to address this question. We sequenced mitochondrial and nuclear DNA for members of the genus from China and used published sequences from Africa and some other locations in Asia to investigate their phylogeny and distribution of genetic diversity.ResultsOur phylogenetic analysis revealed two monophyletic groups, one in China and one in East Africa. Within the Chinese group, Bellamya species show little genetic differentiation. In contrast, we observe fairly deep divergence among the East African lakes with almost every lake possessing its unique clade. Our results show that strong divergence does not necessarily depend on intrinsic characteristics of a species, but rather is related to the landscape dynamics of a region.ConclusionOur phylogenetic results suggest that the Bellamya in China and East Africa are independent phylogenetic clades with different evolutionary trajectories. The different climate and geological histories likely contributed to the diverging evolutionary patterns. Repeated range expansions and regressions of lakes likely contributed to the great divergence of Bellamya in East Africa, while reversal of the river courses and intermingling of different lineages had an opposite effect on Bellamya diversification in China.

Proximity Matters: Inter‐Regional Knowledge Spillovers and Regional Industrial Diversification in China

AbstractThe effects of knowledge spillovers from neighbouring regions on regional industrial diversification should not be overlooked. Here we are referring to not only intra‐industry knowledge spillovers from neighbouring regions, but also the spread of knowledge from related industries in neighbouring regions. This paper also develops an analytical framework that pays more attention to the role of institutional proximity between regions and how it is associated with geographical and cognitive proximity, and acknowledges that institutional proximity may generate asymmetric effects in the process of inter‐regional knowledge spillovers. Using the Chinese custom database during 2002–11, we confirm that knowledge spillovers from neighbouring regions play a key role in regional industrial diversification. More importantly, inter‐regional knowledge spillovers are likely to occur more efficiently if two regions have similar institutional contexts. It is also shown that institutional proximity could generate asymmetric effects in inter‐regional knowledge spillovers.

Retire in Peace: Officials’ Political Incentives and Corporate Diversification in China

We develop a theory of how state officials’ political incentives can affect corporate behavior. In the pursuit of multiple goals, such as social stability and economic development, the state designs criteria to evaluate its officials’ performance. Those officials may be motivated to prioritize different goals at different stages of their careers and to mobilize firms to help them achieve those goals. We test our theory in the context of Chinese publicly listed firms’ diversification between 2001 and 2011, when the state faced economic and social ramifications of bankrupt state-owned enterprises (SOEs) laying off large numbers of workers. Our results show that when large layoffs occurred, some firms diversified into industries unrelated to their core business by acquiring bankrupt SOEs and reemploying their workers. This was more likely to occur when the governor of the firm’s home province was closer to retirement, as social stability was more important than economic development for the retiring governor’s career objective. The effect of career stage was weaker for Communist Party leaders, who more consistently prioritized social stability, and when a provincial state experienced intense collective actions that made social stability a stronger immediate focus. The effect was strengthened for firms more vulnerable to officials’ influence, such as those with a strong socialist imprint and those dependent on government resources. Our study extends the Weberian state literature and the political economy research on incentives, and it offers a political explanation for corporate diversification in a major transitional economy.

중국 기업의 다각화 효과 분석

중국 기업의 다각화 효과 분석

Continual Antigenic Diversification in China Leads to Global Antigenic Complexity of Avian Influenza H5N1 Viruses

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus poses a significant potential threat to human society due to its wide spread and rapid evolution. In this study, we present a comprehensive antigenic map for HPAI H5N1 viruses including 218 newly sequenced isolates from diverse regions of mainland China, by computationally separating almost all HPAI H5N1 viruses into 15 major antigenic clusters (ACs) based on their hemagglutinin sequences. Phylogenetic analysis showed that 12 of these 15 ACs originated in China in a divergent pattern. Further analysis of the dissemination of HPAI H5N1 virus in China identified that the virus’s geographic expansion was co-incident with a significant divergence in antigenicity. Moreover, this antigenic diversification leads to global antigenic complexity, as typified by the recent HPAI H5N1 spread, showing extensive co-circulation and local persistence. This analysis has highlighted the challenge in H5N1 prevention and control that requires different planning strategies even inside China.

The Tree of Life: China project

The Tree of Life: China project

Phylogeny and diversification of Chinese Araliaceae based on nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data

AbstractChinese Araliaceae consist of 20 genera and ca. 175 species. To assess the evolutionary relationships of Araliaceae and their biogeographic diversification in China, the phylogeny of Chinese Araliaceae was constructed by sampling 96 accessions representing 20 genera and 50 species of Chinese Araliaceae and 45 closely related taxa using sequences of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and six plastid regions (the ndhF gene, the trnL‐trnF region, the rps16 intron, the atpB‐rbcL intergenic spacer, the rpl16 intron, and the psbA‐trnH intergenic spacer). Phylogenetic analyses of the combined plastid and ITS data supported the results of the previously studies that the Chinese members of Araliaceae were scattered within the Asian Palmate group and the Aralia‐Panax group with Osmoxylon at the base of core Araliaceae. The generic status of Pentapanax and Tupidanthus is not supported. Our analysis clearly places them in Aralia and Asian Schefflera, respectively. In a broader phylogenetic framework of Araliaceae, based on the fossil‐calibrated Bayesian dating, Chinese Araliaceae was inferred to have originated in Asia and underwent a rapid radiation in its evolutionary history. Its diversification is hypothesized to have been driven largely by the orogenies in Asia during the Cenozoic. In China, the distribution pattern of the phylogenetic diversity of Araliaceae corresponds with its taxonomic diversity across the entire region.

Genetic and geographical structure of boreal plants in their southern range: phylogeography of Hippuris vulgaris in China.

BackgroundOur current understanding of the evolutionary history of boreal and arctic-alpine plants in their southern range in Asia remains relatively poor. Using three cpDNA non-coding regions and nine nuclear microsatellite (nSSR) loci, we examine the phylogeographic pattern in a broad geographic sampling of the boreal plant Hippuris vulgaris to infer its dispersal and diversification in China. In addition, the species distributions at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and at present were predicted using ecological niche modeling (ENM).ResultsThe cpDNA results revealed two distinct lineages, A and B. A is restricted to Northeast China; B is distributed in Northwest China, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and North and Northeast (NNE) China; and A and B diverged ca. 1.36 Ma. The nSSR data revealed two genetic clusters corresponding to the two cpDNA lineages and nonreciprocal hybridization with lineage A as the maternal lineage in Northeast China. Cluster B further divided into three subclusters: I, mainly in NNE China and the northeastern border of the QTP; II, in Northwest China and the QTP; and III, on the QTP. ENM predicted a marked range shift on the QTP at the LGM, retreating from the platform to the northeast and southeast edges.ConclusionsHippuris vulgaris probably diverged into lineages A and B in high latitudes and then immigrated into Northeast China and Northwest China, respectively. Lineage A persisted and diversified in Northeast China. Lineage B reached the QTP during the mid-Pleistocene, diversified in that region due to the influence of climatic oscillations, migrated into Northeast China and subsequently hybridized with lineage A. Our findings give empirical evidence that boreal plants display complex evolutionary history in their southern range in Asia and provide new insights into the evolution of boreal and arctic-alpine plants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0603-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

China's Changing Export Structure: A Factor Based Analysis

While China’s stellar export performance is a well-established fact, the issue of diversification of China’s exports continues to be debated. There are differing opinions on the factor proportions in its exports. Some argue that exports continue to be labour-intensive while others have found a reallocation in favour of more skill-based and sophisticated exports. This paper is an attempt to address the ongoing debate. The analysis is based on the SITC export classification criterion that adopts the structure of the HS, so that the smallest modules of the SITC are defined by the HS subheadings. The study finds that post 2001 China’s exports have diversified. The major finding of the study indicates that, based on the competitiveness analysis, the share of high-tech manufactures has increased while the share of unskilled labour-intensive products has gone down during 2001-2006. Post 2001 high tech products command a share of 32 percent in China’s total exports and 43 percent in China’s total imports. This is indicative of the fact that imports of high-tech parts and components are assembled in China to be exported as finished high-tech goods. The study also finds that Imports of high-tech products are sourced mainly from NIES-4, Japan and ASEAN-4 and exported mainly to NIES-4, EU-25 and the United States, i.e. to the developed world. Therefore, one can conclude that China exports technology intensive products on the strength of relatively large share of their imports.

Risk Assessment and Analysis of Diversification of China\'s Round Wood Import

Risk Assessment and Analysis of Diversification of China\'s Round Wood Import

Technological diversification in China from 1986 to 2011: Evidence from patent data

This paper confirms the positive relationship between national technological size and technological diversification for China over three periods: from its premarket status 1986–1990, through its rapid marketization of 1991–2000, to its globalization phase from 2001 to 2011. The Chinese technological trajectory differs from the earlier developed world model significantly in tending to greater technological specialization from the outset of technological growth in the 1990s. We analyze a dataset of 3.7million Chinese patents from the Chinese patent office. Using shift-share analysis, we decompose changes in the relationship between technological size and diversification into those attributable to the increase in size (number of patents, population, GDP) and those attributable to the structural shift towards diversification or specialization between technological fields. We find that although the positive relation between size and diversification holds over all three periods, there is a structural shift between each period towards greater technological specialization. We argue that this mirrors the ‘globalizing’ FDI-driven shift that occurred in the US and other developed countries towards technological specialization between 1965 and 1990. In China this represents a shift away from traditional fields such as consumer goods and equipment or transportation towards the electronics and computing fields. We place these long-run trends for China into the context of innovation policy and MNE behavior.

Political Connections and Corporate Diversification: An Exploration of Chinese Firms

ABSTRACTIn this study, we explore the relationship between political connections and corporate diversification in China. We find that the diversification level of politically connected firms is significantly higher than that of non-politically connected firms. We further find that the relationship is stronger in non-state-owned enterprises and in areas in which government intervention is greater. This study enriches the corporate diversification literature by highlighting political connections as an important driver of corporate diversification in emerging markets. It also furthers our understanding of the institutional environment as a moderator of the relationship between political connections and firm diversification.

How past market movements affect correlation and volatility

The influence of past stock price movements on correlations and volatilities is essential for understanding diversification and contagion in financial markets. We develop a model that makes the influence of past returns, aggregated into driving factors for correlations and volatilities, explicit. Employing information about recent market movements leads to a more realistic model for the behavior of stock returns in a downturn than conventional models. Our approach offers a fresh perspective on the behavior of stock markets, and provides an alternative to the concept of exceedance correlation. For a US investor we find that international diversification in China or the UK remains beneficial in a crisis.

From Centralization to Selective Diversification: A Historical Analysis of Media Structure and Agency in China, 1949–2013

This article examines the dynamics of media centralization and diversification of media in China from 1949 to 2013. Drawing on Bourdieu’s field theory, we conceptualize media structure as the structure of the media field, which encompasses 1) the field boundaries and 2) the internal differentiation of the field. Within the historically changing fields, we also explore 3) the operation of media organizations by using agency theory. We conclude that recent media diversification in China is manifested in the controlled, selective and limited widening of field boundaries; the internal diversification of media structure; and the bifurcation of the contract governing the principal-agent relationship between the party-state and media organizations.

International expansion and firm performance in emerging market: evidence from China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between international expansion and firm performance in an emerging market.Design/methodology/approachThe paper firstly explores the relationship between internationalization and firm performance, then investigates the roles of diversification, and examines how diversification moderates the relationship between internationalization and firm performance. For this purpose, panel data on 318 Chinese listed manufacturing firms during the period 1999‐2008 were utilized. Three groups of samples of high, medium and low levels of diversified manufacturing firms were obtained. Statistical techniques of fixed‐effects panel data model yielded an interesting pattern of findings. On the basis of these results, the paper then discusses the implications for the international expansion of Chinese firms.FindingsAt high and low levels of internationalization, internationalization is negatively associated with firm performance, but at medium levels of internationalization, greater internationalization is accompanied by higher performance. Product diversification negatively moderates the relationship between internationalization and performance. As product diversification increases, the relationship between internationalization and performance changes from a horizontal S‐curve in firms with low levels of diversification to a U‐curve in moderately diversified firms and eventually to an equilibrium level in highly diversified firms. The initial stage of the horizontal S‐curve of internationalization and performance declines markedly in Chinese manufacturing firms as a whole, therefore it is by no means easy for Chinese firms to undertake internationalization.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings do suggest that managers need to take a long‐term view of internationalization and make a commitment to internationalization.Originality/valueThis is the first paper of its kind to empirically validate the relationship between internationalization, firm performance and diversification in China. It is intended to make a contribution to theoretical research on international business in an emerging market.

New gomphaeschnids and progobiaeshnids from the Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province (China) illustrate the tremendous Upper Mesozoic diversity of the aeshnopteran dragonflies

One new genus and five new species of dragonflies (Odonata) are described and figured from the Yixian Formation of northeastern China, viz. two gomphaeschnids Sinojoria magna nov. sp. and S. cancellosa nov. sp., plus three progobiaeshnids Mongoliaeshna hadrens nov. sp., M. exiguusens nov. sp., and Decoraeshna preciosus nov. gen., nov. sp. These new discoveries confirm the apparently sudden great diversification in China of the clade Aeshnoptera during the Middle-Upper Jurassic, together with the Upper Mesozoic to modern lineages of dragonflies. At the same time, some ‘ancient’ groups of Odonata became extinct.

Diversification and firm performance in China

This study focuses on the performance implication of diversification in China. It finds that product diversification has an inverse U-shaped relationship with firm performance, while geographic diversification has a U-shaped one. In addition, the interaction between product diversification and geographic diversification has a negative impact on firm performance. The findings not only enrich our knowledge of the value of diversification in China’s transition economy, but also guide Chinese firms on how to use diversification strategy to compete in the market and enhance their performance. Key words: Diversification, performance, China.

Institutional Environment and Strategic Analysis of Corporate Diversification in China

Abstract In the transition economies of emerging markets in China, the external institutional environment greatly influences the business of company besides the strategies, governance and other factors. In this study, the effects of external governance mechanisms of different ethnic groups on the performance and diversification of groups were investigated from the viewpoints of governmental intervention and regulation of the industry. The study provides an important guideline for the supervision departments of government and state-owned enterprises about participating and managing their strategic decision-making effectively, which has important implications for the development and adjustment of future government policies.

Diversification of Chinese companies: an international comparison

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic comparison of the level of business diversification in China and eight other large economies for the 2001‐2005 period. The reasons why publicly listed Chinese firms are more diversified than companies elsewhere are investigated.Design/methodology/approachData were collected on the number of business segments in which publicly traded companies operate from the Thomson One Banker database and analyzed using non‐parametric tests and regression analysis.FindingsThe mean number of business segments per firm varies significantly by country. Notably, there is no evidence in the authors' sample that emerging‐market companies are systematically more diversified than their developed‐market counterparts. In most countries, firms have become less diversified over time. However, there is no such trend in China. The level of diversification of Chinese enterprises does not vary over the authors' study period (2001‐2005), making Chinese firms the most diversified in the sample by 2005. China's growth rate does not seem to explain the higher level of firm diversification. However, the authors find that Chinese state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) diversify their operations more aggressively than other Chinese firms.Research limitations/implicationsOwnership data and business group affiliations were not available for all firms in the sample, making it difficult to control for these effects across economies. The study's findings are limited to publicly traded firms.Practical implicationsGovernment involvement in SOEs may be contributing to a divergence in the pattern of business diversification between China and other economies.Originality/valueThis paper quantifies anecdotal evidence that Chinese firms are more diversified than similar firms in other countries.