In modeling the impact of sovereign credit rating (CR) on financial markets, a considerable amount of the literature to date has been devoted to examining the short-term impact of CR on financial markets via an event-study methodology. The argument has been established that financial markets are sensitive to CR announcements, and market reactions to such announcements (both upgrading and degrading) are not the same. Using the framework of an autoregressive distributed lag setting, the present study attempted to empirically test the linear and non-linear impacts of CR on financial market development (FMD) in the European region. Nonlinear specification is capable to capture asymmetries (upgrades and downgrades) in the estimation process, which have not been considered to date in financial market literature. Overall findings identified long-term asymmetries, while there was little evidence supporting the existence of short-term asymmetries. Thus, the present study has extended the financial market literature on the subject of the asymmetrical impact of a sovereign CR on European FMD and provides useful input for policy formation taking into account these nonlinearities. Policies solely based upon linear models may be misleading and detrimental.

In recent years, the innovation of state-owned listed enterprises has gained substantial momentum in academic research due to their vital role in sustainable economic development. This article examines and evaluates the influence of mixed-ownership reform on the innovation strategy of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) from the two dimensions of ownership structure adjustment and control right allocation. We extend extant research in that: The diversity of mixed shareholders, the depth of mixed equity, and the control of mixed equity can significantly promote the exploratory innovation investment of SOEs. Our study investigates the impact of the shareholding ratio of foreign investors, natural persons, and institutional investors. The empirical results found a significant positive correlation between the increase of the shareholding ratio of institutional investors and the exploratory and exploitative innovation investment. On the other hand, private shareholders’ shareholding ratio has no impact on the innovation strategy choices of SOEs. Specifically, the results proved that the promotion of exploratory innovation investment by mixed-ownership reform is more significant in SOEs controlled by the central government or in competitive industries. To a large extent, this promotion is achieved by improving the proportion of executives with a professional R&D background in SOEs.

One of the goals of developing a transport corridor is to promote socio-economic development by improving connectivity and sustainable transport operations, which largely depends on the operational strategy. Trade-off policies can be important tools for gaining the competitive advantage of road transport corridors, and thus, help facilitate sustainable growth and welfare. This article uses a case-based approach to observe the trade-offs in the first phase of transport infrastructure development, and then, in the second stage, further explores the trade-off variables in the transport operations strategy under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The results from the three cases of the parallel route system of the CPEC indicate that trade-off is an easily understandable and applicable method, which can foresee the operational gains or compromises for significant welfare of the regions. The implications of the trade-off are two fold, first is the “importance” of the trade-off, which is related to its impact on operational competitiveness. The other is the “sensitivity” of the trade-off, in terms of the change that will be caused to one variable when changing the other. The trade-off concept can be used for several landlocked transport corridors to achieve a competitive edge in transit trade.