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This study aimed at investigating the influence of corporate governance on firm risk during the Chinese state enterprise reform. The purposes of this study are to examine the effects of board independence, state ownership and other governance variables on firm risk and to check the influence of controlling shareholder types on firm risk.

This study uses the dynamic and static panel model to estimate the effects of board independence, state ownership and other governance factors on return volatility. To examine the influence of controlling shareholder types on corporate risk-taking, this study further used the treatment effect model (or sample selection model) to analyze the effect of private, state-owned enterprise (SOE) entity, central government and local government controls on corporate risk-taking.

It was found that the enforcement of board independence significantly increases firm risk. The strategy of decentralizing state enterprises (from central government to local government) is a good way to achieve stable stock returns.

This study contributes to existing knowledge in several ways. First, it focused on independent directors rather than on the size of the corporate board. Second, it highlighted the impacts of state ownership and control on corporate risk. Instead of treating all types of state ownership as homogenous, SOEs are further classified into directly controlled and indirectly controlled, in line with prior studies.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the institutional structures and other predictors that determine bilateral trade between Africa and China from 1995 to 2017.

In line with the gravity model of trade, institutional, geographical and socio-economic determinants of China’s bilateral trade with 18 African oil/minerals exporting countries are examined by deploying Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood and dynamic bias-corrected least squares dummy variable econometric techniques.

The results indicate that China’s oil/minerals imports from Africa are higher than imports of manufacturing and agricultural goods, and institutional structures indicate that a weak politically stable region with less control of corruption has a discernible effect on trade.

Further insight can be gained if the type of manufactured goods being exported to China is examined; this is necessary given that China crowds out Africa’s manufactured goods. Therefore, this study recommends the need for Africa to continually strengthen its institutional structures to stimulate trade from other regions.

This study examines the quality of the institutional structures (political stability and corruption) in African oil/minerals exporting countries, considering that China has been alleged for capitalising on Africa’s weak institutional structures to trade with the resource-endowed region. For the first time, the UN COMTRADE HS product-country-partner-year trade data is used to examine on bilateral sector trade China–Africa links rather than proxies used in the studies of Biggeri and Sanfilippo (2009), De Grauwe et al. (2012) and Foad (2011) that did not capture the real trade value.

This paper aims to identify key theoretical cornerstones and research trends in the apparel industry. It also compares theoretical bases with those of the general research domain in technology adoption literature and, thus, provides future policy guidelines for practitioners and research gaps for further studies.

Documents were collected from the Web of Science (core collection) database using systematic methods. The bibliometric coupling and co-citation analyses were conducted using VOSviewer software to construct theoretical cornerstones and research trends in the apparel industry.

Literature in the apparel industry focuses mainly on the diffusion of innovation and the theory of reasoned action. Hence, the literature lacks investigations of technology–organization–environment and institutional theories for technology adoption in the apparel industry. This study also traces six clusters of prevalent research trends: radiofrequency identification, virtual-try on technology for e-commerce, computer-aided design, Industry 4.0 technologies, virtual-try on technology in design and information technology.

Little research is done on theoretical cornerstones on technology adoption in the apparel industry. This study looks into the theoretical bases for technology adoption, research trends in the apparel supply chain and calls for future research necessities.

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of automation on job displacement and reshoring in the apparel industry. It also compares with predictions on the same subject matter by the existing literature and, thus, provides future research agenda for further studies.

Primary data were collected through 27 semi-structured in-depth interviews. The grounded theory was used for thematic and network analyzes, which traced the drivers and barriers, as well as the impact of automation and reshoring.

Initially, automation decreases human interactions in any specific production section. However, it increases productivity, quality and cost advantages, which invoke growth and further employment in clothing firms. The employment of unskilled workers decreases in the long run when automation is well adopted in the system. Automation does not stimulate reshoring but may support relocation initiatives of production sites around the centers of global value chains (GVCs). This GVC-based relocation may create job displacement in apparel manufacturing nations in Asia while bringing employment opportunities to Sub-Saharan African countries, Europe and North America.

Little empirical research has been conducted on the impact of automation on the apparel industry. This study predicts that human interventions will dominate the sewing of fashionable and sophisticated apparel products while automation may replace many human workers for basic garment items in the foreseeable future.

This study examines the factors of sustainable technology adoption (STA) in the Bangladeshi’s apparel industry and its impact on the environmental performance and other firm performances. Mainly, this study adopts stakeholder theory and hypothesizes necessary conditions to examine different stakeholders’ roles to facilitate STA and ameliorate firm performances such as environmental, financial and competitive advantages.

It is an empirical study which collected 240 responses from Bangladeshi apparel firms. Garment factories were considered as the unit of analysis.

Customer pressure, top management, competition among firms and government support significantly and positively impact STA. Surprisingly, regulatory pressure has no significant impact on the Bangladeshi’s apparel industry, which contradicts most existing literature in the field. The findings show that sustainable technology brings increased simultaneously enhances environmental outcomes and enhances financial performances and competitive advantage.

This study fills up the voids that exist in the STA literature in the clothing industry in the clothing industry’s STA literature. Specifically, western buyers have more influence than regulatory pressure to adopt sustainable technology and sustainable manufacturing for the Bangladeshi garments industry. Moreover, it proposes that sustainable technology can enhance firms’ competitive advantage in selling their products in the West besides environmental-friendly apparel manufacturers.

This paper identifies the motivations for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) when they undertake greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) into an emerging market. It elucidates the factors that influence SMEs to choose a fully equity-based investment despite the significant risks and commitments involved with greenfield FDI.

This exploratory study uses case study research based on interviews conducted with managers and founders of 16 German SMEs that have established greenfield operations in Malaysia.

Building upon the transaction cost theory, five major motivations are identified that drive greenfield choice among the SMEs. The results imply that SME motivation for greenfield is derived from a combination of strategic asset-seeking determinants and culturally driven reactions to external and behavioral uncertainty. The results also ascertain that these motivations have less to do with the size and revenue of the firm, but hinge on the SMEs’ inner antecedents such as asset specificity, international experience, proprietary knowledge and ownership mode.

The findings clarify the literature on equity-based entry mode for SMEs in emerging economies, enabling a closer understanding of the organizational and dynamic experiences and an overview of the auxiliary competencies these companies have to compete in the global market. The conceptual insights and empirical evidence derived from this study contribute to the intellectual discourse and managerial implications in the field of internationalization strategies of SMEs, particularly from developed countries into emerging markets via greenfield FDI.

Structural economists have been amongst the foremost proponents of a pro‐active industrial policy as the mechanism for promoting rapid economic growth (Lewis, 1956; Myrdal, 1957; Kaldor, 1967; Thirlwall, 1989). This is substantiated by the argument that manufacturing being characterised by increasingly specialised inter‐related activities, radiates tremendous impulses both intra and inter sectorally (Young, 1928: 527–42). Using a sample of 12 developed countries, Kaldor (1967:3–23; 1975:891–6; 1979; 1989:282–310) attempted an empirical study to support this relationship. A positive correlation between manufacturing growth and that of the economy has been defended on the grounds that manufacturing growth increases static (relate to size and scale of production units and are characteristic largely of manufacturing where in the process of doubling the linear dimensions of equipment, the surface increases by the square and the volume by the cube), as well as dynamic (relate to increasing returns brought about by ‘induced’ technical progress, learning by doing, external economies in production, etc.) returns (Thirlwall, 1989: 60). Since manufacturing also produces capital goods that are used in different industrial branches and other sectors, it is seen as a powerful mechanism for transmitting technical change (Weiss, 1988). It is for these reasons, structuralists generally prescribe government policies that favour manufacturing expansion. Malaysia is a good example of a natural resource rich country that has made manufacturing its main plank of economic growth especially since the launching of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1971 (see Malaysia, 1976). However, as industrial policy in each socio‐political space offers state‐specific characteristics, we will analyse industrialisation within Malaysia's setting.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the drivers of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from the emerging economies and if there exists a positive role for home governments to coordinate them. The backdrop is the recent increases in OFDI from emerging economies and the emergence of several emerging economy firms, which have caught up to become global leaders in several industries. The paper focuses particularly on experiences from Asian economies.

The paper applies a multi method approach and relies on literature studies, investment statistics, government reports, press reports, company reports, and interviews with public officials.

Extending the motive‐based business theory, the paper first establishes the pronouncement of a third wave of OFDI from the mid‐1990s. Whereas the typical motives have remained important, the technology‐seeking motive has become significantly more important during the third wave. Typical policy prescriptions to liberalize government regulations have been called into question. Many home emerging country governments have acted to coordinate their activities by regulating proactively investment outflows. The evidence also shows that the successful investment outflows have benefited significantly from home governments addressing the characteristics and motives of target industries and locations abroad.

The analysis shows that contrary to mainstream prescriptions many home governments have successfully regulated strongly OFDI from the emerging economies. However, it is important for home governments to consider the broader interest of promoting capital flows to ensure the long‐term development of economies rather than narrow national interests. Home and host governments should seek to establish common and specific collaboration platforms to raise information flows and coordinate better the negotiations and execution of investment projects.

The paper provides a more thorough analysis of the implications for home country policies of the increasing outward investment flows from emerging economies and the increasing competitiveness and capabilities of their transnational firms. It proposes augmentations to prior frameworks of drivers and motives of OFDI and pushes deeper the home policy implications of increasing outward investment flows.

The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for analyzing home and host country determinants and outcomes of emerging multinationals (EMNCs).

The paper applies a conceptual approach combined with analyses of statistics and secondary material.

The paper identifies changing trends and features of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from emerging economies and identifies in particular differences between outflows from Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC).

The paper puts forward a framework for analyzing determinants and outcomes of structures and strategies of multinational companies from emerging economies and surveys contemporary trends and features of outward FDI from these economies.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the reputational risk, which is elusive and difficult to measure due to the lack of its conclusive definition. Literature supports the notion that financial risks may translate into reputational risks that pose threat to bank performance. However, empirical investigations in this context are still at their nascent stage.

This study has used a panel dataset for the sample of 24 conventional and Islamic banks regarding the period 2007–2017 by using a structural equation model.

The results of this study show that reputational risk partially mediates the relationship between financial risks and the performance of conventional banks. However, for Islamic banks, the reputational risk remains insignificant as a mediator. This study provides significant implications to risk managers in banks, regulators and academics to understand the role of reputational risk linked to financial risks for the improvement of bank performance.

This study aims to add to the literature by measuring reputational risk through the shareholders reputational score index, which is used as a mediator to determine whether financial risks of banks affect the performance of conventional and Islamic banks in Pakistan.