Blockholder Exit Threats in the Presence of Private Benefits of Control: A Quasi-Experiment from China's Split-Share Structure Reform

Exit theory predicts a governance role of outside blockholders’ exit threats; but this role could be ineffective if managers’ potential private benefits exceed their loss in stock-price declines caused by outside blockholders’ exit. We test this prediction using the Split-Share Structure Reform (SSSR) in China, which provided a large, exogenous, and permanent shock to the cost for outside blockholders to exit. Using a difference-in-differences design combined with propensity-score matching, we find that firms whose outside blockholders experience an increase in exit threats have a greater improvement in performance than those whose outside blockholders experience no increase. Moreover, the governance effect of exit threats is ineffective in the group of firms with the highest concern for private benefits of control. Finally, a battery of theory-motivated tests show that the documented effects are unlikely explained by outside blockholder intervention or some well-known intended effects of SSSR

Ethnocentrism, Trust, and the Willingness to Pay of Chinese Consumers for Organic Labels from Different Countries and Certifiers

Although numerous studies have examined consumer preference for organic foods, few have focused on consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for organic labels from dissimilar countries or certifiers. We conducted a choice experiment to examine how Chinese consumer ethnocentrism and trust on organic labels and certifiers may affect their WTP for organic labels from different countries as well as for different certifiers. Chinese consumers did not show a high level of ethnocentrism, and this may lead to inconsistencies in their WTP for organic labels. Significantly, consumer preferences for certifiers did not change remarkably with the increase in consumer ethnocentrism. Chinese consumers generally preferred organic labels from developed countries (or US-invested organic certifiers). With increases in the trust in labels, consumer WTP for each type of organic label increased in general, but the difference between WTPs for organic labels from different countries decreased. Similar results were observed in consumer WTP for certifiers. Determining distinct preferences for organic labels from various sources and countries can be a valuable reference for manufacturers or international certification service providers to choose target markets and for governments to establish their certification systems

Comparison on chemical compositions and antioxidant capacities of the green, oolong, and red tea from blueberry leaves

Blueberry leaves, by-products of the blueberry industry, could be explored as source of functional foods, such as teas. Three different types of tea, including nonfermented green tea, semifermented oolong tea, and fully fermented red tea from blueberry leaves, were investigated on their chemical compositions and antioxidant capacities here. The contents of individual amino acids in three types varied, while the total amounts retained constant. A total of 167 volatiles were detected with alcohols, alkenes, and aldehydes as the dominant. More volatiles produced in the fermented teas. The total phenolic/flavonoid contents were highest in the green tea and decreased significantly in the oolong and red teas, correlating inversely with the fermentation degree. The highest levels of representative phenolics, that is, phenolic acids and flavonol glycosides, contributed to the strongest antioxidant capacity in the green tea. These indicated that blueberry leaves provided promising and prospective potential to develop new teas beneficial for health