Choice of FDI Entry Mode by Chinese MNCs: An Integrated Framework and Empirical Evidence

Based on an integrated theoretical framework of the determinants of foreign direct investment entry mode decisions, comprising the perspectives of strategic behavior, transaction costs, organizational capabilities, and institutional influence, we first conducted a pilot investigation of ten Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) with the aim of validating the framework. This was followed by a survey of 138 Chinese MNCs which examined the factors that affected those firms’ FDI entry mode choice between wholly owned subsidiary and joint venture. The results suggest that the FDI entry mode choices of Chinese MNCs do not differ from those of Western or developed country MNCs from either an institutional or transaction cost perspective. However, there are major differences between Chinese and Western MNCs from an organizational capability and a strategic behavior perspective. The implications of these findings are discussed, focusing on the decision-making process used by Chinese MNCs in their FDI entry mode choices

Redox flow desalination based on the temperature difference as a driving force

How to effectively reduce the consumption of electrical energy is a key topic in many studies of electrochemical desalination. In this work, we use the temperature difference to drive a continuous process of dialysis desalination. The system consists of a thermoelectric unit and a desalination unit connected in series. The thermoelectric unit includes a thermoelectric generator (TEG), a heater as heat source and an air-cooled heat sink to generate electricity and for the desalination unit. The desalination unit contains two platinum-coated hydrophobic carbon cloths as current collectors, a mixture of [Fe(CN)6]3-/4- as anolyte and catholyte, concentrated and diluted salt streams with two cationic and one anionic exchange membranes separated configuration (CEM|AEM|CEM). During the charging process driven by temperature difference, chloride and sodium ions in the diluted salt stream move to the concentrated salt stream and cathodic reservoir, respectively. The results show that the concentration of brine drops significantly from 5,000 ppm to 344.3 ppm as the current decreases to 0.06 mA from the initial 1.30 mA when the temperature difference is maintained at 65 K. Concurrently, the average salt removal rate is up to 8.8 μg cm-2 min-1 and average heat consumption is 284.3 MJ mole-1. Moreover, the influences from the temperature difference, salt feeds content and electrolyte concentration are also investigated in detail. This research has the potential application for the freshwater obtainment via the utilization of waste heat, and will be significant in places with the shortage of the electrical energy such as ships, islands and oceans with the temperature differences

Early Events Associated with Infection of Epstein-Barr Virus Infection of Primary B-Cells

Epstein Barr virus (EBV) is closely associated with the development of a vast number of human cancers. To develop a system for monitoring early cellular and viral events associated with EBV infection a self-recombining BAC containing 172-kb of the Epstein Barr virus genome BAC-EBV designated as MD1 BAC (Chen et al., 2005, J.Virology) was used to introduce an expression cassette of green fluorescent protein (GFP) by homologous recombination, and the resultant BAC clone, BAC-GFP-EBV was transfected into the HEK 293T epithelial cell line. The resulting recombinant GFP EBV was induced to produce progeny virus by chemical inducer from the stable HEK 293T BAC GFP EBV cell line and the virus was used to immortalize human primary B-cell as monitored by green fluorescence and outgrowth of the primary B cells. The infection, B-cell activation and cell proliferation due to GFP EBV was monitored by the expression of the B-cell surface antigens CD5, CD10, CD19, CD23, CD39, CD40 , CD44 and the intercellular proliferation marker Ki-67 using Flow cytometry. The results show a dramatic increase in Ki-67 which continues to increase by 6–7 days post-infection. Likewise, CD40 signals showed a gradual increase, whereas CD23 signals were increased by 6–12 hours, maximally by 3 days and then decreased. Monitoring the viral gene expression pattern showed an early burst of lytic gene expression. This up-regulation of lytic gene expression prior to latent genes during early infection strongly suggests that EBV infects primary B-cell with an initial burst of lytic gene expression and the resulting progeny virus is competent for infecting new primary B-cells. This process may be critical for establishment of latency prior to cellular transformation. The newly infected primary B-cells can be further analyzed for investigating B cell activation due to EBV infection

Do indigenous firms incur a liability of localness when operating in their home market? The case of China

Liability of foreignness has been one of the building blocks of theories of multinational enterprises. This paper looks at a parallel issue - the liability of localness that local firms may face as a result of foreign firms' presence in their country. The results show that local Chinese firms enjoy location-based advantages over their foreign counterparts and these, together with their firm-specific advantages, have significant positive effects on their performance. The superior firm-specific advantages of foreign firms appear to erase the magnitude of such effects and create a significant negative impact on local Chinese firms' performance, and this effect is heightened by foreign firms' multinationality advantages. The research suggests that local Chinese firms incur a liability of localness, and the extent of the negative impact of such liability on local firm performance is largely dependent on the relative strength of various advantages that the local and foreign firms possess. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.BusinessSSCI1ARTICLE4478-4894

The Entry-Mode Decision of Chinese Outward FDI: Firm Resources, Industry Conditions, and Institutional Forces

How do Chinese firms make their entry-mode decision for their outward investments? Based on the three theoretical perspectives that balance the "strategy tripod," our study conducted empirical tests using survey data collected from outward-investing Chinese firms. We found that the cost advantage of the investing firm and learning opportunities in the host industry have positive effects on the likelihood of a Chinese firm opting for wholly owned subsidiary against joint-venture entry mode, while the market attractiveness of the host industry, host-country restrictions, cultural barriers, and cognitive pressures have negative effects