Publications

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2023
Working Paper

The Politics of Philanthropy in China

By: Geoffrey Jones and Yuhai Wu

This working paper looks historically at business philanthropy in China. In the West, the literature has distinguished between entrepreneurial and customary philanthropy, while the phenomenon of spiritual philanthropy has been identified in many emerging markets. This... View Details

Keywords: China; Philanthropy; Ethics; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Moral Sensibility; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Economic Systems; Economic Sectors; China

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April 2022
Article

Going Out or Opting Out? Capital, Political Vulnerability, and the State in China's Outward Investment

By: Meg Rithmire

How do state-business relations interact with outward investment in authoritarian regimes? This paper examines this question in the context of China’s rapid transformation into a major capital exporter. While most political economy scholarship focuses on firms’... View Details

Keywords: Outward Investment; Capital Controls; Corruption; Foreign Direct Investment; Political Economy; State-owned Enterprises; Investment; Global Range; Capital; Globalization; Policy; Government and Politics; China

September 2016 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Zhang Xin and the Emergence of Chinese Philanthropy

By: Geoffrey Jones and Amanda Yang

This case examines the recent emergence of Chinese business philanthropy through the case of the SOHO China Foundation established by the wife and husband real estate moguls Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi. It begins by describing the early careers of Zhang and Pan, and how... View Details

Keywords: China; Philanthropy Funding; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Personal Development and Career; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Higher Education; Real Estate Industry; China

16 Aug 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The International Politics of IFRS Harmonization

Keywords: by Karthik Ramanna; Accounting

February 2018 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Nancy Hua Dai

CEO Zhang Ruimin must plan how to accelerate the growth of self-managed microenterprises. Platforms were Haier’s business platforms operating in five major sectors: white goods transformation, investment and incubation, financial holdings, real estate, and cultural... View Details

Keywords: China; Microenterprise; Appliances; Platform; Change; Innovation; Opportunities; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; China

February 2008 (Revised July 2008)
Case

Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy

By: Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Keith Chi-ho Wong and Tracy Manty

With an almost forty-year history as a business in China, the Wanxiang Group has navigated through the significantly different political and economic changes in China to succeed as a global leader in the auto parts industry and to develop into a broad business... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Global Strategy; Business History; Growth and Development Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Hangzhou; United States

2009
Chapter

Chinese Railroads, Local Society, and Foreign Presence: The Tianjin-Pukou Line in pre-1949 Shandong

By: Elisabeth Koll

This chapter explores issues of how Chinese railroads improved social mobility and standards of living along major trunk lines, and how foreign investment shaped the integration of the Chinese railroad network from the early 1900s to 1949. As this case study of the... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Business History; Industry Growth; Welfare or Wellbeing; Rail Transportation; Rail Industry; China

January 2022 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Chinese Restriction, Violence, and Exclusion in the United States

By: Tom Nicholas, Boyang Han and Tomas Rosales

Many early Chinese immigrants to the United States during the 1850s worked as traditional gold miners, but as gold mining declined in significance, an increasing number were employed as laborers for large scale construction projects such as railroads, roadways, and in... View Details

Keywords: Immigration Acts; Immigration; Labor; Jobs and Positions; Race; Social Issues; Laws and Statutes

26 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Behind India’s Economic and Political Woes

has real microeconomic consequences causing consternation for companies, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. Q:Do you think the Indian political climate has contributed to the current economic situation? A: Absolutely. India has, sadly,... View Details

Keywords: by Zeenat Potia

01 Sep 2022
What Do You Think?

Is It Time to Consider Lifting Tariffs on Chinese Imports?

tariffs on Chinese imports? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below. References: Henry Kissinger, Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy (Penguin Press, 2022) Courtney McBride,... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

2001
Chapter

Images and Realities of Chinese Fascism

By: William C. Kirby

Keywords: History; Government and Politics; China

March 2020 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Political Legitimacy and Global Capital Markets: Malaysia's 1MDB (A)

By: Meg Rithmire and Courtney Han

In May 2018, Malaysia’s 14th General Election saw a change of power that many thought they would never witness in their lifetimes. The political party that had ruled Malaysia for 60 year was kicked out of office by a 92 year-old challenger, Mahathir Mohamed, who had... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Crime and Corruption; Financial Markets; Malaysia

Fall 2022
Article

China's Political Economy and International Backlash: From Interdependence to Security Dilemma Dynamics

By: Margaret Pearson, Meg Rithmire and Kellee Tsai

Contrary to expectations that economic interdependence might lessen security conflict between China and the U.S. and its allies, much of the contestation between China and several OECD countries has focused on firms and economic links. This paper explains the... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Government and Politics; Information Technology; China

January 2019 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Chinese Infrastructure Investments in Sri Lanka: A Pearl or a Teardrop on the Belt and Road?

By: Meg Rithmire and Yihao Li

In 2015, a surprise presidential election result seemed to imperil Chinese investments in Sri Lanka, which were associated with China’s Belt and Road Initiative to build global infrastructure. In the previous decade, China had undertaken two major projects in the... View Details

Keywords: Belt And Road Initiative; Investment; Infrastructure; China; Sri Lanka

January 2013
Supplement

Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (B)

By: William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai and Erica M. Zendell

Supplements the A Case 308-058. With an almost forty-year history as a business in China, the Wanxiang Group has navigated through the significantly different political and economic changes in China to succeed as a global leader in the auto parts industry, and to... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Global Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Vertical Integration; Goals and Objectives; Mergers and Acquisitions; Auto Industry; China; United States

2011
Article

Group Size and Incentives to Contribute: A Natural Experiment at Chinese Wikipedia

By: Michael Zhang and Feng Zhu

In this paper, we examine the causal relationship between group size and incentives to contribute in the setting of Chinese Wikipedia, the Chinese language version of an online encyclopedia that relies entirely on voluntary contributions. The group at Chinese Wikipedia... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Groups and Teams; Knowledge Sharing; Behavior; Satisfaction; Size; Government and Politics; Economics; Information Technology Industry; Hong Kong; Taiwan; Singapore

2024
Working Paper

The Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act on the Economic Development of the Western U.S.

By: Joe Long, Carlo Medici, Nancy Qian and Marco Tabellini

This paper investigates the economic consequences of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned immigration from China. The Act reduced the number of Chinese workers of all skill levels living in the United States. It also reduced the labor supply and the quality of... View Details

Keywords: Growth; Productivity; Economic Development; Business History; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Business and Government Relations; Prejudice and Bias; Government Legislation; Immigration; United States

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January 2025 (Revised March 2025)
Case

DJI- Striving for Innovation Amid Contestation

By: William C. Kirby and Daniel Fu

DJI was founded in a college dorm room in Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong. By 2020, DJI, a company manufacturing drones, occupied a 77% share of consumer drone sales in the United States with a wide array of clients including law enforcement and government agencies. Its... View Details

Keywords: Drones; Hong Kong; China; Chinese Manufacturing; Chinese Dream; China's Political Economy

2011
Book

Translating Empire: Emulation and the Origins of Political Economy

By: Sophus A. Reinert

Historians have traditionally used the discourses of free trade and laissez-faire to explain the development of political economy during the Enlightenment. But from Sophus Reinert's perspective, eighteenth-century political economy can be understood only in the context... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Government and Politics