The Geographical Rotation of Local Officials and Enterprise Cross-city Mergers and Acquisitions in China

The economic impact of the geographical rotation of local officials is important in China's official management system.This study used a zero-inflated Poisson regression model and found that the geographical rotation of local officials significantly increased cross-city mergers and acquisitions(M&As)of enterprises.The impact of local officials'geographical rotation on M&As was more pronounced under certain conditions.These conditions included:(i)when officials were transferred from cities with a higher development level to cities with a lower development level;(ii)when the outflow cities were municipalities directly governed by the central government,provincial capitals,or separately listed cities;(iii)when the transfers of officials occurred within the same province;(iv)when the transfers took place before 2012;and(v)when the transfers happened in the years following significant central government conferences,which provided strong political incentives for M&As.

Impact of Crisis Communication Strategies on People's Attitudes toward Behavioral Guidelines Regarding COVID-19 and on Their Trust in Local Officials

Situational Crisis Communication Theory(SCCT)guides responses of corporations in crises.We tested how COVID-19 related crisis communication strategies affect trust in mayors and the acceptance of behavioral measures.A total of 561 participants(53%female)with a mean age of 50 years took part in an online experiment in which we systematically manipulated the mayor's crisis communication strategy(deny crisis,diminish role in crisis,rebuild relationship after taking responsibility,bolster reputation,no response)and pre-crisis reputation(good past crisis management,bad past crisis management).Age,gender,and education served as covariates.We also tested the predictive power of personal concern regarding the COVID-19 pandemic,as well as internal and external control convictions.In our preregistered analysis,we found that crisis communication strategies had no significant effect on participants'ratings of behavioral measures,but they affected participants'trust in the mayor.The deny crisis strategy resulted in the most unfavorable ratings,while the effects of the other strategies were moderated by the mayor's precrisis reputation.Additional exploratory analyses showed that individual concern and trust were important predictors for the acceptance of behavioral measures.Even though we did not find any effects of communication strategies on behavioral measures,our results support SCCT's utility in guiding communication strategy during a pandemic.

Officials'Foreign Experience and Firms'Exports:Evidence from China

This study examines how the foreign experience of local oficials affects firms'exports in China.Using a matched sample from 2000 to 2012,we found that the foreign experience of municipal Party secretaries had a significant impact on the promotion of firms'exports,especially for private firms.This positive impact was more pronounced when officials went abroad at a younger age,stayed abroad for a longer period,returned to China for a longer time,and had greater promotion incentives.We found that officials'foreign experience helped to mitigate the negative impact of institutional distance and provided firms with better access to export subsidies,both of which could promote exporting.There was also a complementary effect when officials and executives both had foreign experience.Overall,our study provides some insights into the economic outcomes of officials'foreign experience and sheds light on the export performance of Chinese firms.