Corporate Governance Mechanisms： Evidence From Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises （SMEs）

This paper aims to investigate the extent to which Malaysian small- and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs） adopted corporate governance （CG） principles and their effects on firm performance. The principles examined included： establishing clear roles and responsibilities; strengthening composition; and reinforcing independence. The paper is based on a questionnaire survey study among 113 SMEs that consisted of 35% （39） of manufacturing and related services and 65% （74） from services including information and communication technology （ICT）, primary agriculture, construction, mining, and quarrying. The analysis of the data indicates that 32% of the respondents said that the primary reason why they have their own business is to have control over their own working life. This fmding appears to confirm the f＇mancing theory that SMEs owners have other goals than profitability. In addition, 30% of SMEs perceived that the most important role played by the board is risk management; hence, these boards have a greater control over financial risks that may lead to better financial performance. The analysis also shows that 81% of the respondents＇ board consisted of internal board members only. These enterprises need to see the important role of external board members as a source of advice providers and experts to them. For policies relating to clear roles and responsibilities of board, only 28% of the respondents established clear functions reserved for the board and those delegated to management; substantial respondents did not draw up policies relating to reinforce board independency （between 75% and 79%） and to strengthen board composition （46%）. Besides, 68% of the respondents have the position of chairman and CEO held by same individuals and 81% of the chairman is an executive member of the board. These findings suggest that SMEs cannot see the importance of strengthening board and having independent board members. Regression analysis also indicates that board independence has a significant and positive impact on firm performance. Hence, SMEs need to appreciate networking advantages, competency, and strategic knowledge that the right board can offer. The governmental ministries and agencies in Malaysia need to take active measures to encourage SMEs to strengthen their board governance, because SMEs are the important economic powers for stimulating national economic growth. This paper contributes to the empirical literatures on the adoption of CG principles and their effects on SMEs＇ firm performance in emerging markets.

农村多维相对贫困测度及治理研究

突发的疫情冲击使脱贫攻坚任务更加艰巨,抓住当前脱贫攻坚关键点和难点对实现脱贫攻坚目标意义重大。该研究利用A-F多维模型,基于脱贫机会和风险应对视角测度了新疆贫困地区脱贫机会和风险应对缺失的广度、深度、强度。结果表明:当前脱贫攻坚重点是在降低脱贫机会和风险应对缺失的广度上,而非农发展脱贫机会和外部风险冲击平滑2个维度是当前脱贫攻坚的难点维度,农业发展脱贫机会维度改善不容忽视。在此基础上,提出短期政策应优先考虑增加脱贫机会,消除绝对贫困;长期政策应聚焦风险防控能力提升,以风险防控能力提升稳定脱贫成效,改善相对贫困。

ssues of Human Beings Trafficking in Albania

The theme of trafficking of human beings treats one of the most severe and dangerous criminal phenomena of the organized crime in Albania. The objects of this paper are： human trafficking; ways of trafficking; risk of Albanian society; and investment of the criminal benefits deriving from trafficking in legal economic activities, it is of great importance for the treatment of proactive investigations to the trafficking of human beings. Another important aspect of the trafficking investigations is the investigation of criminal assets and the way how they are used in the economy of the country. In this paper, we stress that the investigation of criminal assets benefited by the crime of trafficking human beings as well as other wealth financed by these assets is important as the investigation of the criminal activity of trafficking itself. Also, we aim to evaluate the necessity of acting of all law enforcement agencies and other state institutions in order to be successful in the fight against the crime of trafficking of human beings. At the end of this paper, we do treat the necessity and the ways of collaboration of law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and structures of local government for rehabilitation of the victims of trafficking and their integration in the social life.

Opportunities and Risks of Natural Gas Investment in China under the Circumstance of Low Oil Prices

After more than 30 years of rapid growth, the Chinese economy has entered the "new normal" of moderately high growth. Due to the effects of multiple factors, the international oil price has remained consistently low. The low oil price has exerted critical effects on international natural gas investment. At the same time, the market-oriented price mechanism of natural gas in China is gradually taking shape; the concept of low carbon development is widely advocated; and the use of natural gas gains popularity in the city. Such factors provide great opportunities for investment in the natural gas market of China, including boiler coal-to-gas transformation, natural gas distributed energy and natural gas vehicles. However, risks also exist, such as the lower competitiveness of natural gas, its excess production capacity and dwindling consumption in some gas consumption industries, an insufficient driving force for facilitating the coal-to-gas transformation of industrial fuel users, reverse substitution of "coal in place of gas" in some enterprises, nontransparent costs of the downstream link of the natural gas price chain, and mismatches and nonsynchronous adjustments in natural gas prices and electricity prices.

The Role of the National Significant Seismic Monitoring and Protection Regions Institution:From the Perspective of the RiskSociety Theory

Earthquake disaster risk,as a typical social disaster risk,is one of the most important risks in modern Chinese society.This study gives definitions of the institution,describes the formation history,the connotations and development and analyzes its role in the control of major social risks caused by earthquakes.Finally,the paper presents recommendations for continuous improvement of this institution under the guidance of risk society theory,and for its application to the government reform and social governance.

Structural Reform Holds the Key to Reducing Social Financing Cost

In the last couple of years, social financing costs have shot up in China despite an overall capital abundance and increasing market-based capital allocation. This paper has investigated overall financial cost and capital cost ratio as two measurements of financing cost, compared financing costs of different channels, examined the relationship of risk premium, financial repression, interest rate liberalization, and resource occupation versus financing cost, and addressed the problem of high non-manufacturing cost. On such a basis, specific countermeasures have been proposed. The main conclusion of this paper is： The current high social financing costs primarily result from economic structural imbalance. The fundamental solution lies in continuing structural reform and credibility system development to eliminate barriers in the transmission of capital circulation policies such as expanding equity financing, relaxing market access formalities for small and micro financial institutions, and improving the bankruptcy system to give full play to the ＂survival of the fittest＂ mechanism of the market.

From Top-Down to “Community-Centric” Approaches to Early Warning Systems: Exploring Pathways to Improve Disaster Risk Reduction Through Community Participation

Natural hazards and their related impacts can have powerful implications for humanity, particularly communities with deep reliance on natural resources. The development of effective early warning systems(EWS) can contribute to reducing natural hazard impacts on communities by improving risk reduction strategies and activities.However, current shortcomings in the conception and applications of EWS undermine risk reduction at the grassroots level. This article explores various pathways to involve local communities in EWS from top-down to more participatory approaches. Based on a literature review and three case studies that outline various levels of participation in EWS in Kenya, Hawai'i, and Sri Lanka, the article suggests a need to review the way EWS are designed and applied, promoting a shift from the traditional expert-driven approach to one that is embedded at the grassroots level and driven by the vulnerable communities. Such a community-centric approach also raises multiple challenges linked to a necessary shift of conception of EWS and highlights the need for more research on pathways for sustainable community engagement.

Structural Change in China's Emergency Management: Theoretical Generalizations

From the perspective of systems thinking, China＇s emergency management structure can be analyzed in terms of five dimensions： social change, governance transformation, government framework, policy system and operational mechanisms. On the basis of comparative analysis, we discuss structural change across these dimensions by targeting our research on major disasters in the decade from SARS in 2003 to the Lushan earthquake in 2013. Overall, consolidation and evolution coexist in China＇s emergency management structure. At present, structural consolidation has the upper hand, but there are also forces driving structural evolution. Using inductive logic and the comparative method, we arrive at a theoretical generalization about the structural consolidation of China＇s emergency management, demonstrating its ＂comet-shaped＂ structure and ＂comet-tair＇ effect. On this basis, we put forward our theoretical propositions. We believe that the underlying reason for the developmental predicament facing emergency management in China today is that it goes ahead on its own, divorced from structure. Its further development must go back to structure and change with the times, with a view to promoting the structural evolution of China＇s emergency management.