Institutional Constraints to the Competitiveness of the South African Citrus Exports

This paper examined the dual institutional constraints arising from the market liberalisation of the South African citrus industry and the stringent food safety health and private standards associated with the globalisation of the agri-business industry. The aim of this paper was to explore the institutional challenges influencing the competitiveness of the South African citrus industry in the export markets. It also explored the implications of the institutional environment on market access. The logistic regression model was used to analyse the statistical data while simple ranking was used to indicate the new and emerging forces affecting the profitability of the industry in recent years. The results show that access to market information, economies of scale, compliance with strict food safety and quality standards, lack of proper infrastructure including transport and challenges of managing a business within the international business environment exerted significant effects on the competitiveness of the industry as well as the ability of domestic producers to enter the export markets. There is need for government intervention especially aligned to investing in infrastructure. Coupled with the support of private institutions, the government needs to support the exporters and producers in complying with private standards.

Dynamic Simulation Analysis of the Flexible Swap Device

With the development of space science and technology,the on-orbit servicing technologies of spacecraft get more and more attention.According to the design criterion of existing spacecraft in orbit module replacement technology,the flexible swap device is designed and the dynamics simulation of institutions by the automatic dynamic analysis of mechanical systems(ADAMS)simulation software is analyzed.Throughout the analysis process,this paper studies the effect of collision force of flexible mechanism and provides a basis for the optimization of flexible plug agencies.

Firm internationalization and cost of equity:Evidence from China

This paper examines the relationship between firm internationalization and cost of equity.We find that firms with a higher degree of international operations have a significantly lower cost of equity,which is more pronounced for firms in provinces with a weak institutional environment or firms experiencing intense domestic competition.Our results are robust after adopting a firm fixed effect model,propensity score matching,difference-in-difference regressions and alternative measurements of key variables.Further,international operations help firms to break through their institutional constraints in the domestic market,which reduces the cost of equity and improves resource allocation efficiency in the capital market.Our paper enriches the literature on firm internationalization and the cost of equity from the perspective of emerging markets.