Building on recent developments in optimal distinctiveness (OD) research, we identify two dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices – CSR scope conformity and CSR emphasis differentiation – and examine the antecedents of both. We theorize that private ownership and enhanced media coverage may increase scope conformity and emphasis differentiation, while such effects may be contingent on industrial context. In socially contested industries, the impact of private ownership on scope conformity will be mitigated, and the impact of media coverage on scope conformity will be amplified. Meanwhile, in highly competitive industries, the impact of private ownership and media coverage on emphasis differentiation will be mitigated. We test our predictions using a database of 942 Chinese publicly listed firms between 2008 and 2016. Our findings imply that the choice of optimal CSR strategy has to be made in accordance with the embedding context. The multidimensionality view of OD enables firms to better orchestrate firms’ strategic positioning along different dimensions of complex practices, which leads to better customization of societal expectations and the industrial competitive landscape.

The apple buprestid, Agrilus mali Matsumura, that was widespread in north-eastern China, was accidently introduced to the wild apple forest ecosystem in mountainous areas of Xinjiang, China. This invasive beetle feeds on domesticated apples and many species of Malus and presents a serious threat to ancestral apple germplasm sources and apple production worldwide. Estimating the potential area at risk of colonization by A. mali is crucial for instigating appropriate preventative management strategies, especially under global warming. We developed a CLIMEX model of A. mali to project this pest's potential distribution under current and future climatic scenarios in 2100 using CSIRO-Mk 3.0 GCM running the SRES A1B emissions scenario. Under current climate, A. mali could potentially invade neighbouring central Asia and eventually the mid-latitude temperate zone, and some subtropical areas and Pampas Steppe in the Southern Hemisphere. This potential distribution encompasses wild apples species, the ancestral germplasm for domesticated apples. With global warming, the potential distribution shifts to higher latitudes, with the potential range expanding slightly, though the overall suitability could decline in both hemispheres. In 2100, the length of the growing season of this pest in the mid-latitude temperature zone could increase by 1–2 weeks, with higher growth rates in most sites compared with current climate in mid-latitudes, at least in China. Our work highlights the need for strategies to prevent the spread of this pest, managing the threats to wild apples in Tian Shan Mountain forests in Central Asia, and commercial apple production globally. We discuss practical management tactics to reduce the spread of this pest and mitigate its impacts.

Diverse and abundant fossil taxa have been described in the lower Cambrian Shipai Formation in the Three Gorges area of Hubei Province, South China, but the taxonomy and diversity of the co-occurring brachiopod fauna are still far from clear. Here we describe the brachiopod fauna recovered from the Shipai Formation in the Three Gorges area of South China, including representatives of the subphylum Linguliformea: linguloids (Lingulellotreta ergalievi, Eoobolus malongensis, and Neobolidae gen. indet. sp. indet.), and an acrotretoid (Linnarssonia sapushanensis); and representatives from the subphylum Rhynchonelliformea: the calcareous-shelled Kutorginates (Kutorgina sinensis, Kutorgina sp., and Nisusia liantuoensis). This brachiopod assemblage and the first occurrence of Linnarssonia sapushanensis shell beds permit correlation of the Shipai Formation in the Three Gorges area of Hubei Province with the Stage 4 Wulongqing Formation in the Wuding area of eastern Yunnan. This correlation is further strengthened by the first appearance datum (FAD) of the rhynchonelliform brachiopod Nisusia in the upper silty mudstone of both the Shipai and Wulongqing formations. The new well-preserved material, derived from siliciclastic rocks, also gives critical new insights into the fine shell structure of L. sapushanensis. Microstructural studies on micromorphic acrotretoids (like Linnarssonia) have previously been restricted to fossils that were acid-etched from limestones. This is the first study to carry out detailed comparative ultrastructural studies on acrotretoid shells preserved in siliciclastic rocks. This work reveals a hollow tube and solid column microstructure in the acrotretoid shells from the Shipai Formation, which is likely to be equivalent of traditional column and central canal observed in shells dissolved from limestones.

Protein content (PC) and oil content (OC) are important breeding traits of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping for PC and OC is important for molecular breeding in soybean; however, the negative correlation between PC and OC influences the accuracy of QTL mapping. In the current study, a four-way recombinant inbred lines (FW-RILs) population comprising 160 lines derived from the cross (Kenfeng14 × Kenfeng15) × (Heinong48 × Kenfeng19) was planted in eight different environments and PC and OC measured. Conditional and unconditional QTL analyses were carried out by interval mapping (IM) and inclusive complete IM based on linkage maps of 275 simple sequences repeat markers in a FW-RILs population. This analysis revealed 59 unconditional QTLs and 52 conditional QTLs among the FW-RILs. An analysis of additive effects indicated that the effects of 13 protein QTLs were not related to OC, whereas OC affected the expression of 13 and eight QTLs either partially or completely, respectively. Eight QTLs affecting OC were not influenced by PC, whereas six and 26 QTLs were partially and fully affected by PC, respectively. Among the QTLs detected in the current study, two protein QTLs and five oil QTLs had not been previously reported. These findings will facilitate marker-assisted selection and molecular breeding of soybean.

Abundant platform-bearing gondolellid conodonts, including Scythogondolella mosheri (Kozur and Mostler), Sc. phryna Orchard and Zonneveld, and Sc. cf. milleri (Müller), have been discovered from the Yiwagou Section of Tewo, together with Novispathodus waageni waageni (Sweet) and Nv. w. eowaageni Zhao and Orchard. This is the first report of Smithian platform-bearing gondolellids from the Paleo-Tethys region. In addition, Eurygnathodus costatus Staesche, E. hamadai (Koike), Parafurnishius xuanhanensis Yang et al., and the genera Pachycladina Staesche, Parachirognathus Clark, and Hadrodontina Staesche have also been recovered from Dienerian to Smithian strata at Yiwagou Section. Three conodont zones are established, in ascending order: Eurygnathodus costatus-E. hamadai Assemblage Zone, Novispathodus waageni-Scythogondolella mosheri Assemblage Zone, and the Pachycladina-Parachirognathus Assemblage Zone.

The platform-bearing gondolellids were globally distributed just after the end-Permian mass extinction, but the formerly abundant Clarkina Kozur disappeared in the late Griesbachian. Platform-bearing gondolellids dramatically decreased to a minimum of diversity and extent in the Dienerian before recovering in the Smithian. Scythogondolella Kozur, probably a thermophilic and eurythermic genus, lived in all latitudes at this time whereas other genera did not cope with Smithian high temperatures and so became restricted to the high-latitude regions. However, the maximum temperature in the late Smithian likely caused the extinction of almost all platform-bearing gondolellids. Finally, the group returned to equatorial regions and achieved global distribution again in the cooler conditions of the late Spathian. We conclude that temperature (and to a lesser extent oxygen levels) exerted a strong control on the geographical distribution and evolution of platform-bearing gondolellids in the Early Triassic.

Family business owners and researchers tend to overwhelmingly focus on the top-level structure of firms but ignore the middle-level practice – involving family members in the middle-management team. Compared to top managers at the strategic apex, middle-level managers are mainly responsible for internal operations and control, and the composition of the middle-management team has an immediate and direct impact on the overall workforce efficiency of family firms. Integrating agency theory and organizational justice perspective, we proposed that family involvement in middle management would have a negative impact on the labor productivity of family firms. We further corroborated this effect by identifying three boundary conditions at the individual (i.e., familial CEO), organizational (i.e., firm size), and regional (i.e., labor mobility) levels. Using a sample of 1,284 privately owned family firms in China, we found that family involvement in middle management, measured as the percentage of familial middle-level managers, was negatively associated with labor productivity. Furthermore, this negative relationship existed only when the CEO is a family member rather than a professional manager, when the size of the firm is large rather than small, or when the firm is located in regions with low rather than high labor mobility. These findings contribute to family business literature and provide practical implications for human resource management in family firms.

We explain archaeological evidence of Sogdian merchants in central Asia in early medieval, remote long-distance trade on the emerging Silk Road. In fact, it began as barter, but was based on the social organization that Sogdians developed in their communities when migrating east. Their particular way of generating trust and institutionalized cooperation was by social leverage, involving third parties as contract witnesses and/or guarantors. These usually had own commercial relations with the contractors, facilitating crediting and exchange – and credible threat to defectors. While Greif (1989) had been criticized for overlooking courts in the Maghribi case, we discuss a differentiated (latent) role for courts. We also discuss property rights versus possession, transactions costs and price implications. We analyze the mechanism in historical cases and game-theoretical reconstructions, and explain trade flourishing under strong uncertainty.

Drawing insights from the institutional embeddedness perspective, this article explores the changing patterns and significance of two types of strategic networking along with the institutional transformation in China. Using two-wave survey data on Chinese private firms, we find that after the state relaxed its control of resources the importance of networking with the state tends to decline, while ties with market actors become increasingly important. Determinants of network investment have shifted from managers’ perceived importance of different types of network ties to a firm's immediate institutional environment. Finally, the impact of networking on firm growth has also altered over time. These findings advance our understanding of the crucial role of the institutional environment in shaping firms’ networking strategies and have important theoretical and practical implications.

This study offers a sociopolitical perspective on the worldwide diffusion of liberalisation reforms in infrastructure industries. It unpacks the heterogeneity in the extent to which the private sector is allowed to participate in these industries through an analysis of the formation of public-private partnerships in Chinese cities. This study considers the effects of horizontal and vertical diffusion mechanisms on the adoption of different types of public-private partnerships in different infrastructure sectors. An analysis of projects with private participation in 333 Chinese cities between 1992 and 2008 reveals that the spatial effects appear to be significantly modulated when the influence from structurally equivalent peer cities are considered; moreover, the effects of the vertical diffusion mechanisms are moderated by the liberalisation index of the contract forms, and the horizontal diffusion mechanisms are moderated by the marketability of the infrastructure segments.

An important change in China's urban land management system is the diffusion of land banking systems – official agencies that govern local land conversions, preparation, and transactions. In this article, I draw on neoinstitutional theory in organizational studies to explore the forces that promote this transformation. I propose-besides rational calculations and indigenous impetus for reform, institutional forces that play a crucial role in accelerating the diffusion process. Event history analysis shows that, over time, local economic characteristics have a declining effect on the adoption of land banking systems and gradually yield to pressure from peer cities, provincial governments, policy professionals, and policy-making communities. Moreover, intergovemmental fiscal arrangements and political status moderate the effect of provincial pressure.

We developed and tested a model of employee creativity based on achievement goal theory and role identity theory. Examining the relationship between the three dimensions of goal orientation and employee creativity, we explored the mediating effect of creative role identity. Data were collected from 197 employees and their supervisors from several industries in China. The results indicated that employee learning orientation was positively related to employee creativity, but that no such positive relationship existed between approach performance orientation and employee creativity. Interestingly, we found that avoidance performance orientation was positively related to employee creativity. Learning orientation, approach performance orientation and avoidance performance orientation were all found to have significant effects on creative role identity. In turn, creative role identity fully mediated the relationship between learning orientation and employee creativity, and the relationship between avoidance performance orientation and employee creativity. These findings contribute to the advancement of role identity theory, and their theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The Mingshui–Jilasitai–Suolun area, located in the central part of the Great Xing’an Range, is characterized by large volumes of alkali feldspar granites. However, the formation time and tectonic setting of these rocks remains controversial owing to a lack of precise geochronological and detailed geochemical data. In this paper, we report new SIMS U–Pb zircon ages and mineralogical, petrographical and geochemical data for Lower Cretaceous alkali feldspar granites from the Mingshui–Jilasitai–Suolun area. The SIMS zircon dating results indicate that these granites formed at 133.6–135.9 Ma. The mineralogical, petrographical and geochemical data show that these granitic rocks belong to highly fractionated I-type granites. Combined with the regional geology data, we propose that the formation of the Lower Cretaceous alkali feldspar granitic rocks was related to an extension induced by delamination of the lithosphere that arose from subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific plate.

A section of the highway through the Gunes valley can be seriously interrupted by avalanching; in 1966-67 traffic was interrupted for four months. About 86 places are threatened by avalanches, most of which are channelled avalanches that do not reach the highway every year.

A comprehensive programme to study the avalanches was begun in 1967 on the basis of which avalanche protective works were undertaken in 1974-75 and their effectiveness analysed in 1976-77. Most of these depend on local material; the main rock deposits available are andesite, which has good permeability and is very suitable for earthworks.

The most common type of defence used is the building of mounds, 4-6 m high, 10-12 m wide, and 20-30 m long with a ditch dug in front. Such mounds have the effect of braking the avalanche flow and also of capturing snow on the uphill side. A second system is the terracing of slopes; beginning from the avalanche fracture line, earth is dug parallel to the contours. In two places dykes have been built to guide the snow, and in a few places avalanche sheds have been constructed, though because of expense these have been kept to a minimum. As the soil and climatic conditions are very suitable, tree planting around structures is a successful way of increasing avalanche protection.

During the analysis of effectiveness snow-fall as recorded was heavy, but the defences were effective and avalanches did not seriously interrupt the highway.

The mountains of western and central T’ien-shan have extensive snow cover and consequent avalanches, however conditions in this area of central Asia are different from those in many other regions with avalanches. Snow cover is not very thick but it experiences very large temperature gradients which dominate its metamorphism, thus depth hoar forms extensively and becomes the principal snow type, so the density therefore remains low as does mechanical hardness. Avalanching activity and total volume vary enormously from year to year; 1968-69, with 211 avalanches of 147 000 m3, accounts for 53% of the avalanches and 75% of the volume of all the avalanches in the seven years 1967-74 in the area of the Gunes avalanche station. Although they can occur from November to April, the main months are January and March with a minimum in February. A snow depth of 50-60 cm is needed for avalanching. Below —10°C dry-snow avalanches occur, while above about —5°C wet-snow avalanches happen. These are often caused by melt water penetrating rapidly through the extensive depth hoar and initiating full-depth avalanches.