Firm Size, Technical Efficiency and Productivity Growth in Chinese Industry

Since the mid-1990s, China’s state leadership has adopted a policy of nurturing the competitiveness of large state-owned industrial enterprises. The implications of this policy have been a matter of debate in the literature. This paper seeks to provide some useful input into the debate. With a view of investigating into the potential of long-term development of large enterprises, we estimate the “sequential production technology” in computing the Malmquist productivity index for various size-groups of enterprises in Chinese industry. Our findings indicate that large enterprises did register the fastest productivity growth and improvement in technical efficiency in the 1994-97 period. It thus appears that large-scale, mainly state-owned Chinese enterprises have exhibited the potential of making noticeable improvements and the relevant state policy does have its justification

Explaining the Financial Performance of China's Industrial Enterprises: Beyond the Competition-Ownership Controversy

Scholarly explanations of the worsening financial performance of Chinese industry over the reform era, particularly the loss-making phenomenon, have coalesced around two rival stories: the “inefficient institutions causing poor financial performance” story and the “increased competition inducing profitability decline” story. This article critically reviews the arguments and empirical substantiation of the two stories, and gives an alternative explanation that takes demand conditions and industrial configurations into the analysis. On this basis, it is argued that the worsening financial performance is a macro as well as micro problem that points to the fundamental contradictions in contemporary Chinese political economy. Some policy implications from this analysis are raised in the concluding section

PECCI Code (Python Estimation for Carbon Concentration and Isotopes) for Calculating the Concentration and Stable Carbon Isotopic Composition of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) in Precipitation for northwestern Arkansas

In karst settings, hydrograph separations using isotopic tracers are commonly and effectively used to quantify the proportions of rain rapidly delivered to springs along fractures and conduits during storm events. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is an effective, non‐conservative tracer for use in hydrograph separations of karst waters because of the ubiquitous nature of carbon in the sources of waters to caves and springs and unique concentrations and isotopic compositions of carbon inputs. DIC concentration and isotopic composition (δ¹³C‐DIC) in rain are typically calculated based on atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) using equilibrium carbonate reactions and stable carbon isotope fractionation values. As atmospheric CO₂ changes, traditional assumptions applied in attaining calculated values can result in error, and better estimates of rain DIC are needed. The concentration and isotopic composition of rain DIC in the karst of northwestern Arkansas was calculated using Python™ programming language based on local atmospheric CO₂ and rain pH data from 2011 to 2013. Python™ provides an open‐source code and rapid means to complete iterative calculations, and the PECCI code (Python™ Estimation for Carbon Concentration and Isotopes) can be used for rain DIC calculations in other areas. Measured northwestern Arkansas atmospheric CO₂ had a median concentration of 397.7 ± 4.3 ppm and increased slightly over three years and median δ¹³C‐CO₂ was ‐8.5 ±0.4 ‰. Rain samples exhibited a median pH of 5.6 ±0.4. Calculated rain DIC ranged from 0.17 to 0.34 mg/L and δ13C‐DIC ranged from ‐8.5‰ to ‐8.2‰ between 5 and 30 °C. At an average annual temperature of 14.6 °C, rain DIC was calculated to be 0.25 mg/L and δ¹³C‐DIC was ‐8.34 ‰. Although the variations in DIC are small, the concentration and isotopic composition of end‐member sources in hydrograph separations controls the final hydrologic budget calculations. The PECCI code can be modified to calculate rain DIC for otherstudy sites or time periods

Strain monitoring of tapestries: results of a three-year research project

The outcomes of an interdisciplinary research project between conservators and engineers investigating the strain experienced by different areas of a tapestry are described. Two techniques were used: full-field monitoring using digital image correlation (DIC) and point measurements using optical fibre sensors. Results showed that it is possible to quantify the global strain across a discrete area of a tapestry using DIC; optical fibre and other sensors were used to validate the DIC. Strain maps created by the DIC depict areas of high and low strain and can be overlaid on images of the tapestry, creating a useful visual tool for conservators, custodians and the general public. DIC identifies areas of high strain not obvious to the naked eye. The equipment can be used in situ in a historic house. In addition the work demonstrated the close relationship between relative humidity and strain