Foreign direct investment from China to developed economies: do extant conceptual and policy frameworks explain the cross-border investment behaviour of Chinese MNEs?

The growth of Chinese MNEs has stimulated great interest in their outward foreign direct investment (FDI) strategies. This thesis attempts to contribute to the theoretical debate as to the usefulness of extant MNE conceptual and theoretical models. Theoretical frameworks are tested through the analysis of Chinese MNE FDI to developed economies, which are rich in strategic assets. The thesis is broken down into five main chapters. Chapter one examines the literature on Chinese MNEs and the conceptual frameworks used to understand their international investment behaviour in developed economies. Chapter two contributes to the rapidly growing theoretical literature set on Chinese MNEs which argues they use aggressive acquisitions, often to psychically distant, developed host countries, to obtain the strategic assets that they themselves lack. My results are broadly supportive of the growing theoretical literature on Chinese MNEs, arguing acquisitions are the primary mode of strategic asset seeking in developed markets. Chapter three evaluates the outcomes of strategic asset acquisitions. This chapter focuses specifically on the extent to which Chinese MNEs are able to absorb and productively harness the intangible strategic assets of their developed market acquisitions. In this chapter, I find no significant results for target country patent generation. Domestic (Chinese market) patents, however, rise significantly in the wake of acquiring an innovative firm from Japan, the US or Europe. Chapter four analyses the efficacy of developed market policies in generating FDI from China. I find that the presence of investment promotion agencies significantly increases the propensity for a Chinese firm to locate in a given location. Chapter five provides the conclusion for this thesis

Emerging Infectious Disease leads to Rapid Population Decline of Common British Birds

Emerging infectious diseases are increasingly cited as threats to wildlife, livestock and humans alike. They can threaten geographically isolated or critically endangered wildlife populations; however, relatively few studies have clearly demonstrated the extent to which emerging diseases can impact populations of common wildlife species. Here, we report the impact of an emerging protozoal disease on British populations of greenfinch Carduelis chloris and chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, two of the most common birds in Britain. Morphological and molecular analyses showed this to be due to Trichomonas gallinae. Trichomonosis emerged as a novel fatal disease of finches in Britain in 2005 and rapidly became epidemic within greenfinch, and to a lesser extent chaffinch, populations in 2006. By 2007, breeding populations of greenfinches and chaffinches in the geographic region of highest disease incidence had decreased by 35% and 21% respectively, representing mortality in excess of half a million birds. In contrast, declines were less pronounced or absent in these species in regions where the disease was found in intermediate or low incidence. Also, populations of dunnock Prunella modularis, which similarly feeds in gardens, but in which T. gallinae was rarely recorded, did not decline. This is the first trichomonosis epidemic reported in the scientific literature to negatively impact populations of free-ranging non-columbiform species, and such levels of mortality and decline due to an emerging infectious disease are unprecedented in British wild bird populations. This disease emergence event demonstrates the potential for a protozoan parasite to jump avian host taxonomic groups with dramatic effect over a short time period

Surface processes recorded by rocks and soils on Meridiani Planum, Mars: Microscopic Imager observations during Opportunity's first three extended missions

The Microscopic Imager (MI) on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has returned images of Mars with higher resolution than any previous camera system, allowing detailed petrographic and sedimentological studies of the rocks and soils at the Meridiani Planum landing site. Designed to simulate a geologist's hand lens, the MI is mounted on Opportunity's instrument arm and can resolve objects 0.1 mm across or larger. This paper provides an overview of MI operations, data calibration, and analysis of MI data returned during the first 900 sols (Mars days) of the Opportunity landed mission. Analyses of Opportunity MI data have helped to resolve major questions about the origin of observed textures and features. These studies support eolian sediment transport, rather than impact surge processes, as the dominant depositional mechanism for Burns formation strata. MI stereo observations of a rock outcrop near the rim of Erebus Crater support the previous interpretation of similar sedimentary structures in Eagle Crater as being formed by surficial flow of liquid water. Well-sorted spherules dominate ripple surfaces on the Meridiani plains, and the size of spherules between ripples decreases by about 1 mm from north to south along Opportunity's traverse between Endurance and Erebus craters