Creating an Institutional Environment for Protecting the Rights and Interests of China’s Dispatched Labor

Employment is fundamental in improving the livelihood of the people and social security is the source ofhuman happiness. This is how the international community protects and improves basic human rights. It is also the policy China has adopted to achieve sustainable economic and social development. Furthermore, it is clear evidence of China＇s respect and protection of human rights.

On Efficiency of the Compulsive Institution in the Environment Governance

Limited by the condition of information, technology and natural elements, the compulsive institutions in the environment governance can not form a “hard constraint” to the individuals. Because of the individual's speculative behaviors, the government's deviation from its environmental governance, and the non-cooperative game between individuals and the legal organization, the implementation of the compulsive institutions is not as good as being expected. Through analyzing the mechanism of the compulsive institutions, this paper puts forward some suggestions to enhance the efficiency of such institutions' implementation.

Resource and Environmental Issues in Transitional China:A Perspective from the Interaction Among Market,Government and Society

Along with the rapid growth of economy in the postreform period after 1979,China has faced severe problems of resource overusing and environmental degradation which would threaten the sustainable development of economy and society.This article explores an effective mechanism of managing resource and environment in China.It examines some major resource and environmental issues,and constructs a framework of institution innovation to cover three sectors(government,market and society) . In addition,the article analyzes their experience and evaluation in resource management and environmental conservation during the transitional period.We argue that the combination of market regulation,government intervention and public participation is an effective way of allocating resource and protecting environment. Some suggestions are put forward to balance the relationship between them,including coordinating role of government and market,building platform for market operation and creating an atmosphere of public participation.

Environmental Monitoring of Ambient Outdoor, Indoor Air Quality Pollutants, PM 10 and PM 2.5 Conducted to Evaluate Its Impact Analysis and Quantification in Industrial Area of Dammam, KSA

The core objective of this study is to conduct precise and real-time monitoring of the industrial area Dammam located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) which consists of a number of various chemicals, minerals and petrochemicals along with administrative blocks. The objective of this study is to monitor possible outdoor and indoor air pollutant in the industry working environment. This study shall help us to enable decision to be made on appropriate control measures as may be required to protect the health of employee and occupant who may be exposed to air contamination at workplace. Air pollution monitoring in ambient air environment finding shall be compared with national ambient air quality environmental standard while parameters monitoring in indoor air environment is compared with international standards such as occupational health and safety administration (OSHA), National institute for occupational safety and health (NIOSH) and Australian national health and medical research council (NHMRC). This environment review study for ensuring industry regulatory compliance for the facility and general authority of meteorology and environmental protection (GAMEP) previously known as presidency of meteorology environment (PME). This study shall be comprehensive in nature and cover two major types of monitoring and assessment such as ambient air quality monitoring and indoor air quality monitoring.

Construction of personalized knowledg environment for professional libraries:From the practice of Chinese National Agricultural Library

Purpose:Centralized on the construction of a personalized knowledge environment that can better meet the need of Chinese agricultural researchers,this paper presents the practice conducted by the National Agricultural Library(NAL)of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences(CAAS)in the digital research environment.Based on the analysis of information needs of Chinese agricultural researchers,CAAS constructed digital research environments for its researchers at different levels,by means of providing more professional knowledge services for targeted researcher users.Design/methodology/approach:On the basis of the construction of public service platform—National Agriculture Information System of the Library of CAAS(i.e.NAL),local resources were integrated with public open resources by using key technologies,such as Web 2.0,knowledge navigation,linked data and intelligent retrieval,to construct an institutional personalized digital repository for CAAS researchers.Findings:By using the construction tool CAASPKE,knowledge environment platforms have been constructed for 10 CAAS institutes,taking roughly 33%of CAAS institutes.In addition,16 discipline information environment platforms have been set up for CAAS research teams,and 5 professional digital libraries for provincial agricultural academies,which spread in Beijing,Shanxi,Sichuan,and the Xinjiang and Tibet Autonomous Regions.Research limitations:User’s local collections ought to be integrated with IR resources of the CAAS platform constantly.Due to the lack of overall knowledge resources,functions of the platform have not been fully explored,so the effect need be evaluated with the time being.Practical implications:The construction of research knowledge environment in CAAS has not only contributed to the development of its personalized knowledge service system,but also made the functions of libraries transformed into the information service system.In this case,CAAS libraries are now playing more and more important roles in the innovation process of Chinese agricultural researchers.Originality/value:The innovative practice is the first endeavor that ever implemented in the agricultural information service area across China’s mainland.The construction tool developed for the knowledge environment of personalization could customize resources flexibly according to the need of different CAAS users,and it can organize the knowledge resources of CAAS institutes effectively.

中欧班列的创新提升效应及区域异质性研究

中欧班列如同“跨境钢铁驼队”,复兴了丝绸之路沿线国家和地区的经贸往来,提高了中国的对外开放水平和创新水平,促进了新质生产力发展。本文采用2001~2020年全国279个城市的面板数据,借助中欧班列开通的准自然实验,基于多期双重差分等方法实证分析了中欧班列对区域创新的影响。研究表明:(1)中欧班列显著提升了班列开行城市的技术创新水平,包括工具变量回归、排除政策干扰在内的系列稳健性检验都支持前述结论,并通过了平行趋势检验和安慰剂检验;(2)中欧班列的创新效应具有区域异质性,良好的经济、产业、开放、人力等区域发展基础都有利于增强班列的创新促进效应,适宜的政府与市场关系、开放政策等体制环境也有助于更好释放班列的创新效应,但地方政府过度偏重数量型增长等经济目标导向也将制约班列对区域创新的促进作用。基于本文的研究结论,国家层面应进一步推动中欧班列发展,并引导不同区域结合自身“生产力-生产关系”特点,因地制宜促进班列创新提升效应更充分释放,为新质生产力发展赋能。

Family control,institutional environment and cash dividend policy:Evidence from China

Using a sample of 1486 Chinese A-share listed companies for the period 2004-2008,this study empirically tests the impact of family control,institutional environment and their interaction on the cash dividend policy of listed companies.Our results indicate that(1)family firms have a lower cash dividend payout ratio and propensity to pay dividends than non-family firms;(2) a favorable regional institutional environment has a significant positive impact on the cash dividend payout ratio and propensity to pay dividends of listed companies;and(3) the impact of the regional institutional environment on cash dividends is stronger in family firms than in non-family firms.Somewhat surprisingly,we find that controlling family shareholders in China may intensify Agency Problem Ⅰ(the owner-manager conflict) rather than Agency Problem Ⅱ(the controlling shareholder-minority shareholder conflict),and thus have a significant negative impact on cash dividend policy.In contrast,a favorable regional institutional environment plays a positive corporate governance role in mitigating Agency Problem 1 and encouraging family firms to pay cash dividends.

Corporate innovation and environmental investment:The moderating role of institutional environment

Corporate environmental investment helps improve corporate environmental performance,which,therefore,is an effective micro-level solution to mitigate environmental concerns generated by corporate excessive resource exploitation and energy use.Using Chinese listed firms within environment-related industries over the period 2011–2018 as the research setting,this study applies the panel data model to investigate the impact of corporate innovation on environmental investment,as well as the moderating effects of institutional factors.The results show that corporate innovation significantly improves firms'environmental investment with 1%Research&Development(R&D)investment ratio increase generating 2326 CNY(around 351 USD at 2018 exchange rate)increase in environmental investment;the moderating effect of environment policy is positive and significant while the moderating effect of internationalisation level is not significant,indicating that current environment policy implementation helps to strengthen the positive impact of corporate innovation on environmental investment while the role of internationalisation level in this nexus is not observed.From a micro-level perspective,the findings of this study shed light on mitigating environmental concerns through enhancing corporate innovation,and provide evidence that China's corporate internationalisation process awaits more regulatory controls.

Voluntary CSR disclosure, institutional environment,and independent audit demand

Using a sample of A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges,this study examines the impact of voluntary corporate social responsibility(CSR)disclosure on independent audit demand in different institutional environments.The sample covers the 2008–2016 period and excludes firms that are required to disclose CSR information.The findings show that compared with companies that choose to not disclose such information,companies that voluntarily disclose CSR information prefer to employ‘‘small"accounting firms for auditing services,although the auditing fees are much higher.However,as the institutional environment improves,this preference is weakened.Further analyses show that this preference is stronger in enterprises where CSR disclosure is driven by strong political motivations and managerial self-interest motivations.Legitimate motivations and economic motivations do not significantly impact the preference for‘‘small"audit firms.Furthermore,this preference is more obvious in enterprises with poor operational performance and low information disclosure quality,and it increases as CSR disclosure level decreases.The study enriches our understanding of the economic consequences of voluntary CSR disclosure and the factors that influence independent audit demand.The results also have implications for the construction and regulation of China’s system for supervising CSR information disclosure in the transitional phase.

Institutional Environment, Blockholder Characteristics and Ownership Concentration in China

Using a sample of China’s A-share listed companies for the period 2001-2004,this paper investigates the influence of institutional environment variables,including the process of marketization,level of local government intervention,and local legal environment,on blockholder characteristics and ownership concentration,and the relation between the endogeneity of ownership structure and institutional environment.Our results indicate that the effects of these variables on ownership concentration are(1)positive for listed companies controlled by state asset management bureaus affiliated with local governments,(2)negative for listed companies controlled by state-owned enterprises affiliated with local governments and(3)unclear for listed private companies.These variables also positively affect the degree of privatization of listed companies in China.

Entrepreneurial activities and institutional environment in China

This article aims to examine the relationship between the quality of an institutional environment and the characteristics of entrepreneurial activities within the context of China.An event study was conducted to investigate the impacts of the announcement of the Forbes China Rich List on prices of the shares associated with entrepreneurs on the list.This article concludes that the quality of an institutional environment is greatly negatively related to unproductive entrepreneurial activities.

Tax Burden,Institutional Environment and Foreign Direct Investment Flow:From the Perspective of Asymmetric International Tax Competition

The global economic uncertainty is mounting.Governments need to respond with supporting measures for long-term external environment changes as they lower tax burden to attract working capital.Based on the asymmetric tax competition theory,this paper constructs a theoretical model of tax burden,institutional transaction costs and FDI flow.It is found that one country’s strength of institutional environment makes its equilibrium tax rate higher than that of another within certain limits of market size.Based on the data of 199 countries and regions from 2005 to 2018,this paper conducts an empirical analysis,proving that favorable institutional environment narrows the negative impact of tax burden on FDI fl ow.Moreover,it is showed that in small-market,low-income countries and regions,tax burden level has a larger negative impact on foreign direct investment(FDI)when institutional environment produces no positive impact;in large-market,high-income countries,the negative impact of tax burden is relatively weak but the institutional environment shows largely positive impact.This paper contributes some policy recommendations on how to make use of and improve institutional environment to meet challenges and impacts of the international economic climate.

Institutional environment and risk of a stock price crash:evidence from China

Stock price crashes damage China’s macro-financial stability,restrict economic growth,and can lead to huge losses in wealth for investors.Therefore,how to reduce the risk for stock price crashes is an important theoretical and practical issue.This paper mainly studies the effects of the institutional environment that creates risks for stock price crashes.Using China’s non-financial A-share listed companies from 1997 to 2012 as an example,this paper finds that the lower the level of government intervention is,the better the legal environment is,the faster the market process in business area is,then the lower the risks for stock price crashes will be.To solve the endogenous problem between the institutional environment and the risk of a stock price crash,this paper uses the number of seaports and whether the commercial ports or leased territories are opened after the first Opium War in Qing Dynasty as instrumental variables of the institutional environment.We find that the above conclusion is still valid with the method of 2SLS regression.Furthermore,this paper also finds that the government intervention index,the legal environment index,and the market index are negatively related to stock price synchronicity to a significant degree.These conclusions illustrate that the institutional environment is an important factor in the healthy and stable development of the capital market,which has important implications for policy markers or regulators to develop policies to promote the stable development of the stock market,to control market risk of listed companies,and to make investment decisions.

Factors Affecting the Adoption of E-Learning Systems in Public Higher Learning Institutions in Tanzania: A Case of Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA)

In most developing countries, governments attempt to enforce the movement from analogue to digital for all their sectors, from public to private. These technological advancements have been noted to bring necessary and unavoidable changes to businesses and learning environments. Higher learning institutions have adopted various e-learning systems to support learning, research, and publication activities to stay competitive in global academic systems. However, most public higher learning institutions in Tanzania lag behind in the adoption of these systems. Thus, research shows a failure of these institutions in utilising the full benefit that today’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can offer in learning environments. Thus, this study examines factors affecting the adoption of such a system in developing countries like Tanzania, taking the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA) as a case study. The study used a mixed methodology where thematic and descriptive analysis was used to analyse both qualitative and quantitative research data. The study population was 187 teaching staff, a sample size of 126 was obtained, and 157 study participants were involved in the study. The study found that factors affecting the adoption of e-learning systems in public higher learning institutions in Tanzania include lack of ICT infrastructure, lack of technical and managerial support and lack of computers and e-learning knowledge among facilitators. Thus, the study recommended investments in adequate and reliable ICT facilities, high intermate speed and bandwidth, and policies that support e-learning and training programs about e-learning knowledge and use. Also, this study recommends the use of the Multi-Factors Adoption Model (MFAM11) for the successful adoption of an e-learning system in public higher learning institutions in Tanzania.

我国24家检验检测机构洁净环境照度检测能力验证

目的评价我国检验检测机构对洁净环境照度的检测能力。方法回顾性分析中国食品药品检定研究院于2022年在全国范围内首次设计并组织实施的洁净环境照度能力验证项目。基于洁净环境检测的行业特点,该项目分为笔试和实际操作(简称实操)两部分。笔试部分,共3题(限时40 min完成),考察参加测试(简称参测)实验室对检测标准正确理解和掌握的程度,根据专家商议确定的评分标准评分(满分50分)。实操部分,以该院药用辅料和包装材料检定所的2台洁净工作台为现场考核样品,以参测实验室的现场测试结果考察参测实验室的仪器操作和实验水平(限时5 min完成),以Z值进行评价(︱Z︱≤2,>2~<3,≥3分别为满意、有问题、不满意)并打分(满分50分)。以笔试和实操评分之和评价参测实验室的检测能力(≥60分为合格)。结果共24家实验室参加了能力验证并按要求提交了结果报告。笔试,评分为45~50分,满分21家(87.50%)。实操,样品A,满意21家(87.50%),有问题3家(12.50%);样品B,满意23家(95.83%),有问题1家(4.17%),2个样品均无不满意的实验室。24家实验室总评分均合格。结论该次能力验证结果显示,各实验室的检测能力维持良好,但部分实验室存在对标准的理解和掌握仍有欠缺或未按校准周期对照度计进行计量等问题,建议检测人员加深对洁净环境检测标准的理解,相应机构重视仪器的校准,持续提高检测能力。

重构数实融合的制度环境:逻辑与路径

随着新一轮科技革命和产业变革加速演进,传统的经济活动和产业体系发生深刻变革,实体经济的内涵不断丰富,范围不断扩大,与数字经济呈现强劲的融合发展态势,数实融合实践不断深化。数实融合一定程度上改变了实体企业经营运作的内在逻辑、生产范式、活动空间和外部环境。从重构逻辑来看,企业活动空间向线上转移,制度环境构建也应转向在线空间。由于市场特征、运行机制和竞争格局发生深刻改变,制度环境的竞争治理效能有待提升,尤其是数实融合推动新模式新业态持续涌现,现有制度环境的兼容性不足。不同于传统制度环境的构建和变革逻辑,数实融合对制度环境提出了新的要求和标准,形成于工业经济时代的制度体系越发难以适应当前经济社会的发展需求,数实融合的制度环境需要根据其具体特性和发展需求进行适应性重构。然而,当前存在与新质生产力相适应的生产关系和产权制度尚未形成、互联网平台监管体系不完善、新型数字营商环境建设有待加强等制度缺项。为匹配数字经济的发展规律和数实融合的发展需求,亟须构建与数实融合相适应的生产关系与产权制度,构建更好发挥数据要素作用的数据基础制度,优化平台经济监管制度体系,营造适应数实融合的一流营商环境,从而持续释放和激发实体经济的发展活力。

中国绿色信贷发展状况、基本特征与政策建议

绿色信贷市场是中国绿色金融体系中发展最早、规模最大的市场,在支持绿色领域融资、推动“双碳”目标实现的过程中将发挥举足轻重的作用。目前全球尚无绿色信贷的统一标准,国内外标准各有侧重。近年来中国的绿色信贷市场快速发展,其规模、增速及占总贷款的比重均持续攀升。从结构特征看,其资金主要投向绿色交通运输和清洁能源领域,参与机构从大型银行拓展到中小银行。从变化趋势看,其政策目标从号召引导过渡到制度规范,政策重点措施从限制性转变为鼓励性,产品类别从单一化发展到多样化,绿色信贷市场逐渐走向规范和完善。但是,当前中国绿色信贷市场在制度环境、激励约束、信息披露监管等方面仍存在一些缺陷。基于上述分析,提出促进中国绿色信贷市场发展的四点建议:促进绿色信贷制度的完善,加大政策激励与支持的力度,加快数据与信息披露体系建设,加强全流程的跟踪监管。

我国职业教育产教融合政策变迁历程与动力机制——间断-均衡理论视角

产教融合是职业教育实现高质量发展的关键。以间断-均衡理论为基础,借助政策范式理论,本研究构建职业教育产教融合政策变迁分析框架,运用内容分析法对新中国成立以来职业教育产教融合政策变迁逻辑进行客观梳理与系统剖析。研究验证并拓展了间断-均衡理论的适用性,发现职业教育产教融合政策呈现渐进性均衡和突发性间断相结合的变迁样态,具有非线性发展特征。制度环境和价值理念是推动政策变迁的主要动力,焦点事件通过影响决策者注意力为政策变迁开启“机会之窗”。强化顶层设计与政策供给、建立开放包容的政策场域、完善政策试点与保障机制是推动我国职业教育产教融合高质量发展的应然路径。

营商环境治理效能提升的制度优势支撑:一个基于政策过程理论的框架建构

提升营商环境治理效能是营造市场化、法治化和国际化一流营商环境的必然要求,也是实现中国式现代化的关键抓手。从营商环境治理效能提升的结果出发,以政策过程理论为工具,追溯制度优势经由优化营商环境政策定位、政策制定与调整、政策执行和政策扩展到营商环境治理效能提升的过程性路径框架:在政策定位中,社会主义制度属性要求优化营商环境政策议程建立和坚持以人民为中心的政策理念;在政策制定与调整中,以实事求是的决策思想、民主集中的决策原则和不断创新的决策驱动力构成的决策模式保证优化营商环境的科学精准施策;在政策执行中,中国共产党集中统一的领导制度与中国特色科层组织体系嵌合形成的统筹协同的党政治理结构保障了优化营商环境政策的有效执行;在政策扩展中,集中力量办大事所蕴含的部署统筹性、全民动员力和资源集成性,推动优化营商环境政策不断纵深发展。

制度型开放、营商环境改善与新质生产力发展——基于中国自由贸易试验区设立的准自然实验

自由贸易试验区作为新时期我国推进制度型开放的“试验田”,能否为新质生产力的培育提供助力并发挥先导示范作用,是当前政策层与学术界普遍关注的焦点议题。基于自贸区设立这一准自然实验,构建交错型倍差法模型实证检验制度型开放对新质生产力的影响效应和作用机制,结果发现制度型开放能显著促进新质生产力发展,自贸区的设立使所在地区新质生产力的发展水平平均提升了约7.490%。机制分析表明,制度型开放加快了市场制度的变革进程,改善了营商环境,从而有利于促进新质生产力的发展;异质性分析表明,制度型开放对新质生产力的促进效应存在差异,在自贸区设立时间较早和非正式制度较弱的地区更为明显。进一步分析表明,制度型开放具有显著的空间外溢效应,对毗邻省份新质生产力的发展具有辐射带动作用;自贸区制度创新水平越高、法律授权支持力度越大、产业集聚效应和吸引高端要素流动的效应越强,对新质生产力的促进效应越明显。研究结论对于进一步优化和完善自贸区建设、释放制度型开放红利、助推我国生产力能级跃迁具有重要启示意义。