How gradualist are Chinese reforms? Evidence from rural income determinants

Gradualist reform (GR) is a strategy that implements partial and incremental reforms at the beginning but gradually deepens the reforms over time. Using income determinants in rural China as the measure of the GR hypothesis, this paper provides a direct test of the widely accepted claim that China has followed a GR strategy. In the sense that reform deepens, production factors should become more important income determinants over time. Our difference-in-difference analysis, based on a large panel dataset from fixed-site rural surveys conducted between 1986 and 2002, shows that the efficiency of return to production factors deteriorated over time instead. Households that had more production resources, such as land and labor, or that devoted more labor and time to entrepreneurial activities experienced better income growth in the 1980s, but households with better political status did so in the 1990s. Further difference-in-difference analyses show that these income patterns are related to an inefficient credit allocation due to government interference in the 1990s compared to market mechanisms in the 1980s. Overall, the empirical evidence on the income determinants and on rural finance does not support the GR hypothesis on China's reform path. Keywords: Chinese reform; rural finance; income growth; gradualism; reversa

Financing firms in India

The authors examine the legal and business environments, financing channels, and governance mechanisms of various types of firms in India and compare them to those from other countries. Despite its English commonlaw origin, strong legal protection provided by the law, and a democratic government, corruption within India's legal system and government significantly weakens investor protection in practice. External financing of firms has been dominated by nonmarket sources of financing, while the characteristics of listed firms are similar to those from countries with weak investor protection. The evidence, including results based on a survey of small and medium-scale private firms, shows that alternative financing channels provide the most important source of funds. The authors also find that informal governance mechanisms, such as those based on reputation, trust, and relationships are more important than formal mechanisms (such as courts) in resolving disputes, overcoming corruption, and supporting growth.Banks&Banking Reform,Corporate Law,Financial Intermediation,Governance Indicators,Small Scale Enterprise

Cross-border LBOs

We examine cross-border private equity (PE) sponsored leveraged buyout (LBO) transactions in 43 countries in relation to creditor rights and other legal and institutional variables. Cross-border LBO investment is more common from strong creditor rights countries to weak creditor rights countries. Club deals are less common in countries with stronger creditor rights, and less common in cross-border LBOs. Premiums are lower in countries with stronger creditor rights, and among cross-border deals

Comparative expression profiles of carboxylesterase orthologous CXE14 in two closely related tea geometrid species, Ectropis obliqua Prout and Ectropis grisescens Warren

Insect carboxylesterases (CXEs) can be expressed in multiple tissues and play crucial roles in detoxifying xenobiotic insecticides and degrading olfactory cues. Therefore, they have been considered as an important target for development of eco-friendly insect pest management strategies. Despite extensive investigation in most insect species, limited information on CXEs in sibling moth species is currently available. The Ectropis obliqua Prout and Ectropis grisescens Warren are two closely related tea geometrid species, which share the same host of tea plant but differ in geographical distribution, sex pheromone composition, and symbiotic bacteria abundance, providing an excellent mode species for studies of functional diversity of orthologous CXEs. In this study, we focused on EoblCXE14 due to its previously reported non-chemosensory organs-biased expression. First, the EoblCXE14 orthologous gene EgriCXE14 was cloned and sequence characteristics analysis showed that they share a conserved motif and phylogenetic relationship. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was then used to compare the expression profiles between two Ectropis spp. The results showed that EoblCXE14 was predominately expressed in E. obliqua larvae, whereas EgriCXE14 was abundant in E. grisescens at multiple developmental stages. Interestingly, both orthologous CXEs were highly expressed in larval midgut, but the expression level of EoblCXE14 in E. obliqua midgut was significantly higher than that of EgriCXE14 in E. grisescens midgut. In addition, the potential effect of symbiotic bacteria Wolbachia on the CXE14 was examined. This study is the first to provide comparative expression profiles of orthologous CXE genes in two sibling geometrid moth species and the results will help further elucidate CXEs functions and identify a potential target for tea geometrid pest control

Whom can you trust? : a study of mutual fund governance

Research Paper Series (National University of Singapore. Faculty of Business Administration); 2006-0091-6

[Book Review] Paper Tigers, Hidden Dragons: Firms and the Political Economy of China's Technological Development

An abstract is not applicable to this. It is a book review published by the Journal of Asian Studies