This study investigates the determinants of Chinese outward direct investment (ODI) and the extent to which three special explanations (capital market imperfections, special ownership advantages and institutional factors) need to be nested within the general theory of the multinational firm. We test our hypotheses using official Chinese ODI data collected between 1984 and 2001. We find Chinese ODI to be associated with high levels of political risk in, and cultural proximity to, host countries throughout, and with host market size and geographic proximity (1984 to 1991) and host natural resources endowments (1992 to 2001). We find strong support for the argument that aspects of the special theory help to explain the behaviour of Chinese MNEs.

In this study, we use an evidence-based approach to examine the factors that determine the competitive advantage of dairy supply chains using evidence from the Chinese dairy industry. We focus on the quality assurance of dairy products, which is considered one of the fundamental influential factors. We investigate interrelationships among the identified determinants, which include dairy production behavior, dairy cow culture model, government regulations, corporate social responsibility, and quality assurance, and examine how these determinants influence the competitive advantage of dairy supply chains. We employ the structural equation modeling approach in which grouped observable variables that represent the identified determinants are extrapolated from primary data collected through a questionnaire survey. Our key findings show that by mediating the effects of dairy production behavior and the dairy cow culture model, government regulation and corporate social responsibility significantly affect the quality assurance of dairy products. In turn, dairy production behavior and the dairy cow culture model significantly affect the competitive advantage of the dairy supply chain via the fully mediated effects of the quality assurance of dairy products. Specifically, the dairy cow culture model helps ensure the safety and quality of milk supply, allowing core dairy firms to control product quality throughout the dairy supply chain. Our empirical study shows that the identified determinants interact to assure the quality of dairy products and enhance the competitive advantage of the dairy supply chain in China.

This study investigates the mechanism that motivates supply chain firms to reduce environmental externalities while balancing the economic feasibility of the supply chain system under environmentally constrained circumstances in a competitive market. Taking government policy incentives into account, a quantitative model of an integrated supply chain that incorporates sustainable constraints is formulated to optimize supply chain firms’ operational strategies of producing environmental friendly products (EFPs). This study contributes to the literature with a better understanding the interplay and interrelation of multiple sustainable constraints and their impact on supply chain firms’ collaborative decisions. Our findings suggest that the decisions of operating EFPs are subject to sustainable constraints and that the government policy incentives play a dominant role overseeing supply chain firms’ environmental behaviors toward sustainability

Effortful control refers to the propensity to regulate one's impulses and behaviors, to focus and shift attention easily, and to motivate the self toward a goal when there are competing desires. Although it seems likely that these capacities are relevant to successful functioning in the school context, there has been surprisingly little longitudinal research examining whether youth with poor effortful control are more likely to act out in the classroom, get suspended, and skip school. Conversely, there is even less research on whether youth who exhibit these school behavioral problems are more likely to decline over time in effortful control. We used multimethod data from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth ( = 674), assessed biennially from 5th to 11th grade, to examine the codevelopment of effortful control and school behavioral problems. Bivariate latent growth curve models revealed a negative association between the trajectories of effortful control and school behavioral problems, indicating that steeper in effortful control were related to steeper in school behavioral problems. Furthermore, this codevelopmental pattern was bidirectional; cross-lagged regression analyses showed that low effortful control was associated with relative increases in school behavioral problems, and school behavioral problems were associated with relative decreases in effortful control. Gender, nativity status, Mexican cultural values, and school-level antisocial behavior had concurrent associations with effortful control and school behavioral problems, but they did not moderate the codevelopmental pathways. We discuss the theoretical implications for personality development, as well as the practical implications for reducing school behavioral problems during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record

Academic achievement, including getting good grades and performing well on standardized achievement tests, is a critical issue for both child development and public policy. Students who do well in school have more educational and occupational opportunities, whereas academic failure is associated with mental health problems and increased risk for substance use (