Month: July 2024

Evolution of MNE strategies amid China’s changing institutions: a thematic review

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Abstract

As China’s economy rose to become the second largest in the world, its institutions did not converge with those of other advanced economies as predicted by many Western observers; instead, China developed a distinct form of state-led capitalism. As a result, how multinational enterprises (MNEs) engage with China’s changing institutional context needs to be revisited. To this end, we review 331 papers on MNE strategies and operations in China published in top international business and management journals between 2001 and 2022. We first introduce the path of institutional change and the opportunities and challenges it created for MNEs in China. We focus on six aspects of MNE strategies and operations: market entry, strategic alliances, innovation and knowledge sharing, global value chain strategies, guanxi and relationship management, and non-market strategies. Our analysis of China’s institutional trajectory and of MNE strategies and operations points to three persistent institutional mechanisms of concern for MNEs: challenges to organizational legitimacy, protection of property rights, and the enabling and directing aspect of institutions created by industrial policies. Insights from this analysis point to future research needs on institutional nonlinearities and discontinuities, linkages between inward and outward investments, and geopolitical influences on national institutions.

Extant and extinct bilby genomes combined with Indigenous knowledge improve conservation of a unique Australian marsupial

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Abstract

Ninu (greater bilby, Macrotis lagotis) are desert-dwelling, culturally and ecologically important marsupials. In collaboration with Indigenous rangers and conservation managers, we generated the Ninu chromosome-level genome assembly (3.66 Gbp) and genome sequences for the extinct Yallara (lesser bilby, Macrotis leucura). We developed and tested a scat single-nucleotide polymorphism panel to inform current and future conservation actions, undertake ecological assessments and improve our understanding of Ninu genetic diversity in managed and wild populations. We also assessed the beneficial impact of translocations in the metapopulation (N = 363 Ninu). Resequenced genomes (temperate Ninu, 6; semi-arid Ninu, 6; and Yallara, 4) revealed two major population crashes during global cooling events for both species and differences in Ninu genes involved in anatomical and metabolic pathways. Despite their 45-year captive history, Ninu have fewer long runs of homozygosity than other larger mammals, which may be attributable to their boom–bust life history. Here we investigated the unique Ninu biology using 12 tissue transcriptomes revealing expression of all 115 conserved eutherian chorioallantoic placentation genes in the uterus, an XY1Y2 sex chromosome system and olfactory receptor gene expansions. Together, we demonstrate the holistic value of genomics in improving key conservation actions, understanding unique biological traits and developing tools for Indigenous rangers to monitor remote wild populations.

What is Hate Speech? The Case for a Corpus Approach

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Abstract

Contemporary public discourse is saturated with speech that vilifies and incites hatred or violence against vulnerable groups. The term “hate speech” has emerged in legal circles and in ordinary language to refer to these communicative acts. But legal theorists and philosophers disagree over how to define this term. This paper makes the case for, and subsequently develops, the first corpus-based analysis of the ordinary meaning of “hate speech.” We begin by demonstrating that key interpretive and moral disputes surrounding hate speech laws—in particular, surrounding their compatibility with the rule of law, democracy, and free speech—depend crucially on the ordinary meaning of “hate speech.” Next, we argue, drawing on recent developments in legal philosophy, that corpus linguistics constitutes a distinctively promising tool for ascertaining the ordinary meaning of “hate speech.” Finally, we offer a proof of concept, by outlining, and analyzing the interpretive and moral implications of, the first such study.