Ownership structure and new product development in transnational corporations in China

This paper examines the relationship between the ownership structure and new product development (NPD) at the affiliates of transnational corporations in China. Seven research hypotheses are tested on a panel data set covering 10,000 manufacturing firms with foreign involvement for the period 1998-2001. The results from probit and tobit models show that contractual joint ventures, equity joint ventures and joint stock enterprises are better organizational forms than wholly owned enterprises for increasing both the probability and intensity of NPD. We also find that ventures with OECD participation are more likely to be involved in NPD than those with participation by “overseas” Chinese TNCs

Do local manufacturing firms benefit from transactional linkages with multinational enterprises in China?

This paper examines the linkage effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on firm-level productivity in Chinese manufacturing. It is found that FDI generates positive vertical linkage effects in Chinese manufacturing at both the national and regional levels, and limited positive horizontal spillovers at the regional level. While OECD firms gain from both vertical and (probably) horizontal linkages, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwanese firms benefit only from backward linkage effects. In the domestic sector, in which we are most interested, both state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-SOEs are hurt by competition from foreign firms in the same industries. While SOEs gain from vertical linkages with foreign firms, non-SOEs are unable to do so. The patterns of productivity spillovers from FDI in Chinese manufacturing seem to be determined by one key factor – the technological capabilities of the firms involved. Important data limitations and policy implications of this research are discussed

Local sourcing of multinational enterprises in China

Purpose – Local sourcing from indigenous firms by multinational enterprises (MNEs) is an important channel through which the former may benefit from the positive externalities generated by the latter. The purpose of this study is to analyze the extent and determinants of local sourcing of MNEs. Design/methodology/approach – Employing a survey dataset covering 493 multinational subsidiaries in China during 1999-2005, this paper applies the two-limit Tobit model. Findings – It is found that an MNE's local sourcing decision is influenced by its strategies, characteristics such as size and learning ability and country-of-origin. More specifically, export-orientation strategy, joint venture strategy and networking with local suppliers positively affect local sourcing. Small and autonomous subsidiaries tend to source more locally. Age has a non-linear effect. The importance of these determinants varies with regions. Research limitations/implications – Aiming at capacity building and competitiveness of indigenous firms, the Chinese government has initiated local content requirement. This study shows that such policy intervention could be counterproductive. The creation of a more competitive business environment by the government could promote more linkages. Originality/value – Given its critical role in economic development, local sourcing by MNEs has attracted much attention. Only limited research has been carried out on FDI linkage effects in China, and the location effect on FDI linkages has not been examined. This study aims to fill the gap by using Chinese survey data

Market Orientation, Embeddedness and the Autonomy and Performance of Multinational Subsidiaries in an Emerging Economy

This paper develops a conceptual framework for market orientation, embeddedness, autonomy and performance of multinational subsidiaries in an emerging economy. We argue that internal and external embeddedness has different performance implications for export- and local market-oriented multinational subsidiaries. Our results, based on a sample of 233 multinational subsidiaries from China, indicate that while external embeddedness has a positive impact on specialized resources of both types of subsidiary, such resources only positively affect the performance of local market-oriented subsidiaries. By contrast, internal embeddedness has a negative impact on specialized resources of both types of subsidiary. Managerial and policy implications are discussed

Does outward FDI generate higher productivity for emerging economy MNEs? – micro-level evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms

This paper investigates whether emerging economy multinational enterprises (EMEs) that undertake outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) become more productive, controlling for the self-selection into the global investment market. Particularly, we focus on the moderating effects of firm heterogeneity on the OFDI-productivity nexus. A theoretical framework incorporating the resource-based views and institutional theory is established and the propensity-score matching and difference-in-difference (DID) approaches are combined to test the framework, utilizing unique data on Chinese manufacturing firms over the sample period 2002–2008. We find that EMEs turn to be generally more productive after they conduct OFDI, but this productivity effect varies depending on the parent firm and investment strategy heterogeneity. Our results suggest that EMEs without state ownership but with stronger absorptive capability gain higher and more sustainable productivity effects and such gains are higher for EMEs investing in OECD than in non-OECD countries. Policy and managerial implications are discussed

Home-country institutions and corporate social responsibility of emerging economy multinational enterprises: the belt and road initiative as an example

This paper examines the impact of home country institutions on corporate social responsibility (CSR) of multinational enterprises from emerging markets (EM-MNEs). Taking the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as an example and using a sample with 2052 firm-year observations from China over the period 2008–2018, we find that the BRI exerts a positive and significant effect on overall CSR of Chinese MNEs involved in the BRI and the positive effect is stronger for Chinese state-owned MNEs. In addition, only two dimensions of CSR (Employee Relations and Products) are improved significantly under the pressure of BRI. Finally, we examine the interactive effect of home and host- country institutions on Chinese MNEs’ CSR and find the positive impact of the BRI on MNEs’ CSR performance is stronger in host countries with a higher level of CSR related institutional pressure. These results provide practical suggestions for the Chinese government and MNEs to further improve CSR under the BRI, and enrich our understanding of the interactive effect between home- and host-country institutions on enhancing Chinese MNEs’ reputation and promoting regional cooperation with countries along the BRI

Identification of the Functions and Prognostic Values of RNA Binding Proteins in Bladder Cancer

Post-transcriptional regulation plays a leading role in gene regulation and RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are the most important posttranscriptional regulatory protein. RBPs had been found to be abnormally expressed in a variety of tumors and is closely related to its occurrence and progression. However, the exact mechanism of RBPs in bladder cancer (BC) is unknown. We downloaded transcriptomic data of BC from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and used bioinformatics techniques for subsequent analysis. A total of 116 differentially expressed RBPs were selected, among which 61 were up-regulated and 55 were down-regulated. We then identified 12 prognostic RBPs including CTIF, CTU1, DARS2, ENOX1, IGF2BP2, LIN28A, MTG1, NOVA1, PPARGC1B, RBMS3, TDRD1, and ZNF106, and constructed a prognostic risk score model. Based on this model we found that patients in the high-risk group had poorer overall survival (P < 0.001), and the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve for this model was 0.677 for 1 year, 0.697 for 3 years, and 0.709 for 5 years. Next, we drew a nomogram based on the risk score and other clinical variables, which showed better predictive performance. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis, progression and metastasis of BC. The model of these 12 genes has good predictive value and may have good prospects for improving clinical treatment regimens and patient prognosis

Development of an Individualized Ubiquitin Prognostic Signature for Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a common tumor type in genitourinary system and has a poor prognosis. Ubiquitin dependent modification systems have been reported in a variety of malignancies and have influenced tumor genesis and progression. However, the molecular characteristics and prognostic value of ubiquitin in ccRCC have not been systematically reported. In our study, 204 differentially expressed ubiquitin related genes (URGs) were identified from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort, including 141 up-regulated and 63 down-regulated URGs. A total of seven prognostic related URGs (CDCA3, CHFR, CORO6, RNF175, TRIM72, VAV3, and WDR72) were identified by Cox regression analysis of differential URGs and used to construct a prognostic signature. Kaplan-Meier analysis confirmed that high-risk patients had a worse prognosis (P = 1.11e-16), and the predicted area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were 0.735 at 1 year, 0.702 at 3 years, and 0.744 at 5 years, showing good prediction accuracy. Stratified analysis showed that the URGs-based prognostic signature could be used to evaluate tumor progression in ccRCC. Further analysis confirmed that the signature is an independent prognostic factor related to the prognosis of ccRCC patients, which may help to reveal the molecular mechanism of ccRCC and provide potential diagnostic and prognostic markers for ccRCC

CAMK2N1 inhibits prostate cancer progression through androgen receptor-dependent signaling.

Castration resistance is a major obstacle to hormonal therapy for prostate cancer patients. Although androgen independence of prostate cancer growth is a known contributing factor to endocrine resistance, the mechanism of androgen receptor deregulation in endocrine resistance is still poorly understood. Herein, the CAMK2N1 was shown to contribute to the human prostate cancer cell growth and survival through AR-dependent signaling. Reduced expression of CAMK2N1 was correlated to recurrence-free survival of prostate cancer patients with high levels of AR expression in their tumor. CAMK2N1 and AR signaling form an auto-regulatory negative feedback loop: CAMK2N1 expression was down-regulated by AR activation; while CAMK2N1 inhibited AR expression and transactivation through CAMKII and AKT pathways. Knockdown of CAMK2N1 in prostate cancer cells alleviated Casodex inhibition of cell growth, while re-expression of CAMK2N1 in castration-resistant cells sensitized the cells to Casodex treatment. Taken together, our findings suggest that CAMK2N1 plays a tumor suppressive role and serves as a crucial determinant of the resistance of prostate cancer to endocrine therapies

A dual-role typology of multinational subsidiaries

This paper argues that, since a subsidiary is embedded in a dual context of both the MNE and the host environment, its strategic role should be assessed by its relative positions and contributions both within the knowledge networks of the MNE and the host country. Based on this, we develop a dual-role typology. The 369 multinational subsidiaries in our sample from China can be classified into as many as 12 out of the 16 conceptual groups of the typology. Our results indicate that dual activists (active both internally and externally) account for only 12% of the total sampled multinational subsidiaries while dual loners (inactive both internally and externally) reach 20%. The results from a larger sample by adding 113 minority foreign share firms show that external knowledge links are positively associated with local Chinese ownership. The central message from this paper is that a large proportion of foreign-invested firms in China are inactive in knowledge exchange either internally or externally or both. Managerial and policy implications are discussed