¿Afecta la estructura de propiedad a la política de crédito comercial de empresas pequeñas y medianas? : evidencia de China

Este artículo analiza cómo afecta la estructura de propiedad las políticas de crédito comercial en las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYME) por medio de una muestra que se ha obtenido de una encuesta a empresas chinas. Específicamente se examina cómo la concentración de la propiedad afecta al uso del crédito comercial de las PYME al influir en la disponibilidad del crédito bancario. Asimismo, se estudia si la propiedad del controlador último influye en el efecto de la estructura de la propiedad en el crédito comercial. Los resultados revelan que existe una relación negativa significativa entre el crédito bancario y el crédito comercial cuando la mayoría de las acciones de la empresa son controladas por un accionista mayoritario, lo que indica que la propiedad concentrada podría reducir la capacidad de las empresas para acceder a créditos bancarios, y que las PYME utilizan el crédito comercial como sustituto del crédito bancario no disponible. Asimismo, se observa que el efecto de la concentración de la propiedad en esta relación es relevante en las PYME privadas y estatales, pero no en las PYME de control externo. En conjunto, los resultados sugieren que la estructura de propiedad desempeña un papel importante para determinar las políticas de crédito comercial de las PYME.This paper examines whether and how ownership structure affects the trade credit policies in small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs) using a sample obtained from a survey of Chinese enterprises. Specifically, we examine how ownership concentration affects SMEs’ use of trade credit through influencing the availability of bank credit. We also examine whether the ownership of the ultimate controller influences the effect of ownership structure on trade credit. The results show that there is a significant negative relation between bank credit and trade credit when most of the firms’ shares are controlled by a dominant shareholder, indicating that concentrated ownership may lower firms’ ability to access bank credit, and SMEs use trade credit as a substitute for unavailable bank credit. The results also show that the effect of ownership concentration on the aforementioned relation is significant in private and state-controlled SMEs but not in foreign-controlled SMEs. Overall, our results suggest that ownership structure plays an important role in determining SMEs’ trade credit policies

How does a good environment affect firms’ productivity? evidence from urban public green spaces in China

The environment is one of the most fundamental factors that affects human economic activities. This article investigates whether good environment affects firms’ productivity. Using the urban public green spaces as the proxy of good environment, we find that firms located in cities with more public green spaces have relatively higher productivity, and the result remains robustness after considering the endogeneity problem. We also find that the productivity of those firms with more high-skilled employees are more likely to be affected by urban public green spaces, and they also have more innovation output which is believed as one of the important factors that affect firms’ productivity

Identification and Functional Characterization of Squamosa Promoter Binding Protein-Like Gene TaSPL16 in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important crops in the world. Squamosa promoter binding protein-like (SPL) proteins are plant-specific transcript factors and play critical roles in plant growth and development. The functions of many SPL gene family members were well characterized in Arabidopsis and rice, in contrast, research on wheat SPL genes is lagging behind. In this study, we cloned and characterized TaSPL16, an orthologous gene of rice OsSPL16, in wheat. Three TaSPL16 homoeologs are located on the short arms of chromosome 7A, 7B, and 7D, and share more than 96% sequence identity with each other. All the TaSPL16 homoeologs have three exons and two introns, with a miR156 binding site in their last exons. They encode putative proteins of 407, 409, and 414 amino acid residues, respectively. Subcellular localization showed TaSPL16 distribution in the cell nucleus, and transcription activity of TaSPL16 was validated in yeast. Analysis of the spatiotemporal expression profile showed that TaSPL16 is highly expressed in young developing panicles, lowly expressed in developing seeds and almost undetectable in vegetative tissues. Ectopic expression of TaSPL16 in Arabidopsis causes a delay in the emergence of vegetative leaves (3–4 days late), promotes early flowering (5–7 days early), increases organ size, and affects yield-related traits. These results demonstrated the regulatory roles of TaSPL16 in plant growth and development as well as seed yield. Our findings enrich the existing knowledge on SPL genes in wheat and provide valuable information for further investigating the effects of TaSPL16 on plant architecture and yield-related traits of wheat

Robot wrists and related linkages: Kinematic analysis and synthesis.

Robot wrists and related linkages: Kinematic analysis and synthesis

Secondary Innovation: The Experience of Chinese Enterprises in Learning, Innovation and Capability Building

Presented at the GLOBELICS 2006 conference in India during 4-7 October 2006.Session III.5 BRICS and Potential for South-South CooperationNowadays enterprises have played an important role in China’s economic development and increasingly become the main force of China’s growing research and innovation activities. Different from some related work on developing countries’ innovation policy and strategy, the evolutionary model of secondary innovation, based on Chinese enterprises’ innovation practice, highlights the significant role of enterprises in systems of capability building and innovation, and opens the black box to uncover the dynamic process of enterprises’ organizational learning, knowledge accumulation and capability building. Moreover, since enterprises are considered as open systems and one important job of organizational learning is to address rapidly changing environments, interactions between systems of innovation inside and outside the enterprises are also highlighted in the model. In a word, the secondary innovation model provides a useful analytical framework for better understanding the micro-level systems of learning, innovation and capability building in developing countries

Accelerating Secondary Innovation through Organizational Learning: A Case Study and Theoretical Analysis

On the basis of nearly 20 years of in-depth longitudinal case study on HY, a leading air separation plant manufacturer in China, this paper attempts to test the preliminary conceptual model of secondary innovation and to explore new thoughts and implications for further development of the existing model. How did HY accelerate its secondary innovation through successful organizational learning during the past decades? According to the detailed conceptual model of secondary innovation stages and organizational learning modes, this case study elaborates HY's recent integrative learning process of the secondary innovation cycle of 1996–2005 within the new context of intensified international competition in a fast-growing developing country market with large domestic demand and large FDIs. Different from the traditional technological learning model, the secondary innovation model emphasizes the important interrelations and interactions combining the acquired technologies with existing technology systems and further with local user requirements, which can be named “structural understanding” and “functional understanding”.Secondary innovation, organizational learning, structural understanding, functional understanding,

Polyphasic Characterization of Yeasts and Lactic Acid Bacteria Metabolic Contribution in Semi-Solid Fermentation of Chinese Baijiu (Traditional Fermented Alcoholic Drink): Towards the Design of a Tailored Starter Culture

Chinese Baijiu is principally produced through a spontaneous fermentation process, which involves complex microorganism communities. Among them, yeasts and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are important communities. The study examined the isolated strains from fermented grains of Baijiu regarding their activity of α-amylase and glucoamylase, ethanol tolerance, glucose utilization, as well as metabolite production in the process of laboratory-scale sorghum-based fermentation. Selected strains (Saccharomycopsis fibuligera 12, Saccharomyces cerevisiae 3, and Pediococcus acidilactici 4) were blended in different combinations. The influence of selected strains on the metabolic variation in different semi-solid fermentations was investigated by gas chromatography−mass spectrometry (GC−MS) accompanied by multivariate statistical analysis. According to the principal component analysis (PCA), the metabolites produced varied in different mixtures of pure cultures. S. fibuligera produced various enzymes, particularly α-amylase and glucoamylase, and exhibited a better performance compared with other species regarding the ability to convert starch to soluble sugars and positively affect the production process of volatile compounds. S. cerevisiae had a high fermentation capacity, thereby contributing to substrates utilization. Lactic acid bacteria had a good ability to produce lactic acid. This study attaches importance to the special functions of S. fibuligera, S. cerevisiae, and P. acidilactici in Chinese Baijiu making, and investigates their metabolic characteristics in the process of lab-scale semi-solid fermentation