Expanding to outward foreign direct investment or not? A multi-dimensional analysis of entry mode transformation of Chinese private exporting firms

This research examines the factors determining whether or not exporting firms expand to outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) as part of their internationalisation strategy, using a recent survey of Chinese private-owned enterprises. We carry out a multi-dimensional analysis to investigate the impact of firm productivity, internal resources and the external environment on OFDI decisions, including both the decision to undertake OFDI and the volume of OFDI flows. It is found that productivity, technology-based capability, export experience, industry entry barriers, subnational institutions and intermediary institutional support affect firms’ OFDI decisions. The findings have important policy and managerial implications

Normally Elliptic Singular Perturbations and Persistence of Homoclinic Orbits

We consider a dynamical system, possibly infinite dimensional or non-autonomous, with fast and slow time scales which is oscillatory with high frequencies in the fast directions. We first derive and justify the limit system of the slow variables. Assuming a steady state persists, we construct the stable, unstable, center-stable, center-unstable, and center manifolds of the steady state of a size of order O(1) and give their leading order approximations. Finally, using these tools, we study the persistence of homoclinic solutions in this type of normally elliptic singular perturbation problems

Analytical Study on the Effective Flange Width for T-shaped Shear Walls

This study was organized to derive simplified expressions to estimate the effective flange width for T-shaped shear walls at different loading stages. For that purpose, the variation in the effective flange width was explored by introducing dimensionless effective flange width coefficient. According to the principle of minimum potential energy, the theoretical expression of the effective flange width coefficient in the elastic stage was obtained. Furthermore, a parametric study considering the axial load ratio, height-width ratio of flange and width-thickness ratio of the flange, as well as the section aspect ratio was conducted to determine the effective flange width using verified nonlinear finite-element models. In light of the parametric analysis results, a formula model was proposed depending on the axial load ratio and height-width ratio of flange. Finally, the predictions of the proposed simplified formulas were verified with the theoretical solutions or finite element (FE) results, which indicated that the proposed formulas can accurately capture the effective flange width at the elastic, yield and limit state