Heterogeneous effect of ethnic networks on international trade of Thailand: The role of family ties and ethnic diversity

Ethnic networks have been found to have a pro-trade effect in previous research. However, the heterogeneous effect of different ethnicities is under-studied. Drawing on the literature on social structure, this paper attempts to untangle the heterogeneous effect of ethnic networks on international trade using trade data of Thailand. We found that ethnic networks have a positive impact overall on trade, confirming the results of previous studies. However, the magnitude of the positive effect varies across different ethnicities along two dimensions. First, the strength of family ties in the culture of origin accelerates the pro-trade effect of its ethnic networks, suggesting ethnicities with stronger family ties have a cultural preference for trading within their own ethnic community. In comparison, ethnic diversity weakens the positive effect of ethnic networks on trade, suggesting an informational value of diverse ethnic structure in promoting trade between different ethnicities. Our study contributes new evidence of the enduring influence of social and cultural attributes on economic activities

Vertical knowledge transfer from multinational enterprises (MNEs) to Chinese supplier firms: An explorative study

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Determinants of international students' academic performance: A comparison between Chinese and other international students

With the increasing number of international students travelling to well-developed countries for higher education, there has been a growing interest in exploring the factors that influence their academic performance during their overseas studies. This study aims to give an insight into international students' learning experience by investigating the differences between Chinese and non-Chinese cultural groups and leads to the identification of the key predictors of their academic achievement via multiple regression analysis. The results suggest that the perceived importance of learning success to family, English writing ability, and social communication with their compatriots are significant predictors for all international students. As the predominant group, Chinese students display some distinctive characteristics. A less active learning strategy is observed among Chinese students relative to others, but no evidence has found that this negatively affects their academic achievement. © 2010 Nuffic

External Finance and the Foreign Direct Investment Decision: Evidence from Privately-Owned-Enterprises in China

Access to external finance is found to be a statistically significant factor explaining the probability of privately owned enterprises (POEs) in China undertaking foreign direct investment (FDI). The significance of external finance is magnified in industries featuring a heavy dependence on external finance, high technology, low tangibility, and high inventory. The external finance and FDI linkage is weaker for POEs with group affiliation, but stronger for those with generous employment welfare practices