In this paper, we argue that national culture is important in interpreting the differences of entrepreneurial activities between countries. Furthermore, national wealth plays a moderating role between national culture and entrepreneurial activities. Datasets from the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) project and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) study were analyzed. We find that there are interaction effects between GDP, a proxy for national wealth, and several cultural dimensions on entrepreneurial activities. More traditional cultural variables (in-group collectivism, humane orientation, and power distance) enhance early-stage and established entrepreneurship in low- and medium-GDP countries, but hinder early-stage and established entrepreneurship in high-GDP countries. More modernistic cultural variables (performance orientation, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance) promote high-growth and high-innovation entrepreneurship in some situations, especially in high-GDP countries. Implications and limitations are discussed.

This study examines the causes of intra- and inter-cultural organizational conflicts among Chinese and American managers in the mainland of China. We investigated conflict between members of the same culture (intra-cultural conflict) and conflict between members of different cultures (inter-cultural conflict). Intra-culturally, both American and Chinese noted self-interest as an important dimension of the cause of conflict. Inter-culturally, both American and Chinese noted cultural differences as an important dimension of the cause of conflict. The similarities between the American and Chinese dimensions were more striking than the differences. The intra-cultural findings reinforce the validity of early Western conflict theories?focusing on self-interest vs. other interest. The inter-cultural findings are partially consistent with intergroup theory and introduce new elements to conflict theory.

This paper presents a theoretical framework to examine if entrepreneurs think and behave differently at various phases of a venture, namely opportunity exploration and exploitation stages. It is also proposed that there is a difference between entrepreneurs in China and in the U.S. due to institutional voids. Furthermore, we argue that the difference increases across the two stages of the entrepreneurial process. Specifically, at the exploration stage, entrepreneurs in China and the U.S. behave similarly when ethics is concerned. However, entrepreneurial unethical behaviors seem to be more rampant at the exploitation stage in China compared with that in the U.S. Lastly, we provide future research directions to build a stream of research.

This paper examines the information content of implied volatility in the Chinese covered warrant market and finds that the implied volatility is consistently higher than the realized volatility for all warrants and across all maturities. The implied volatility has very little information content for future volatility in the Chinese warrant market which is dominated by retail investors. Possible explanations for the results are regulatory issues such as restrictions on the short-selling of warrants, differential trading rules for stocks and warrants, high leverage and low trading costs and a market dominated by retail investors.

We examine the dynamic adjustment of cash holdings of publicly traded Chinese firms during 1998–2006. The empirical evidence is supportive of the dynamic trade-off theory of cash holdings. In particular, there is strong evidence of asymmetric adjustments, i.e., adjustments from above the target are significantly faster than those from below. Moreover, the speeds of adjustment (SOA) are heterogeneous for firms facing differential adjustment costs. More specifically, the adjustment speed is higher in firms with bank lines of credit, positively related to the deviation from the target, but it is negatively related to firm size. Furthermore, in terms of adjustment method, firms make adjustments to their targets primarily through debt and equity financing when they are in cash shortage, On the other hand, the dividend payments play a minimal role in it. Lastly, in terms of motives for adjustment, we find that the precautionary motive arising from financial constraints well explains the cash holdings adjustment behaviors of Chinese listed firms.

Female directors have become common in private companies. Using data from private listed companies in China’s A-share stock market from 2000 to 2009, this paper analyzes whether the existence of female directors can enhance firm value. Results show that female directors have a significantly positive impact on firm value. Moreover, female directors promote enterprise value less significantly in regions with better institutional environment, which implies that there is a substitution relationship between female directors and institutional environment. Furthermore, we use 2SLS (two-stage least squares) and LEVOP (lag the explanatory variables one period) to control endogeneity, and the research conclusion remains robust. Our study provides additional empirical evidence for economic consequence of female directors, and expands research on the relationship between board structure and firm value.

This case describes the top management team’s transfer of power and change in the Wuhan Company of Zhong Yin Real Estate Group (ZY-REG). The company experienced acquisition of Haitian and ZY-REG, introduction of the Wanke management team, the general manager’s loss of control over the company, aggravating conflicts among executives, and abuse of power by a clique of managers. The new general manager Yang Ling took actions to reform and transferred power and responsibilities of each executive in the management team, withdrew power from his opponents, and standardized the decision-making process. The management team’s rebuilding was finally completed in June 2008, and the Wuhan Company was then back on track soon after.