The enactment of the 2006 Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of the PRC marked a new stage in China’s bankruptcy regime by the inclusion of a new reorganization system. The first 5 years of the implementation of the law and further scholarly research, however, have exposed the problems that underlie it, especially those concerning the reorganization of listed companies. The pressing need to address these problems calls for a better understanding of the goals of reorganization. This is because it is by applying the criterion of what best serves the desired reorganization goals that distinguishes an optimal from a less-than-optimal reorganization law and sense from nonsense in its implementation. Thus far, however, no scholar has carried out systemic research of China’s reorganization goals. This thesis, set out in two parts, attempts to fill this gap in the literature for both the dynamics of reorganization legislation and the effectiveness of reorganization implementation in China. Employing the methods of theoretical analysis, economic analysis of law, case analysis and comparative study, the first part of this thesis argues that preserving going-concern surplus and fair distribution are the two fundamental goals of reorganization in China. Although protecting community interest is important, it should be considered only an incidental goal of reorganization. The second part of this thesis examines how the most important aspects of the current reorganization system under the EBL can be improved so as to better achieve the two fundamental goals in reality. As to the goal of preserving going-concern surplus, it discusses the early rescue, preservation and sale of the viable parts of the business in a distressed enterprise. As to the goal of fair distribution, it analyzes both the distributional boundaries and rules of reorganization, with a focus on the absolute priority rule. How to balance the values underlying the two fundamental goals of reorganization and the practical impediments to the implementation of the reorganization law are then discussed. Both a sound grasp of the reorganization goals under the EBL and a deep understanding of why and how specific reorganization mechanisms and provisions exist to serve these goals are needed. Only with such understanding, together with a grasp of the relationships between different fundamental goals and different mechanisms and provisions, can the efforts aiming to improve China’s reorganization system achieve the desired level of effectiveness as a whole. / published_or_final_version / Law / Master / Doctor of Legal Studies

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Whether organizational slack contributes to or hampers firm performance is a constant debate in research and practice. Despite of many empirical studies, the issue remains inconclusive. Nevertheless, previous studies have offered valuable insight that monotonically pursuing a one-sided argument to the issue will unlikely leave the predicament. Instead, a more specific analysis of particular types of slack and the institutional context will be more fruitful in advancing research in this subject. Notwithstanding this insight, however, the mainstream in slack literatures largely focused on financial slack. Attention given to human resources slack is sparse, in particular human resources slack in research & development (R&D HR slack). In addition, most empirical works have confined their inquiries around slack in developed countries and drawn on theoretical perspectives that pay little attention to the institutional context in which the decisions in resources selection and utilization are embedded. It is not clear whether their findings could be applied to emerging economies where R&D supportive institutions are generally underdeveloped. Drawing on resource-based view and institutional theory, this study examined the relationship between R&D HR slack and firm performance as well as the moderating role of foreign ownership. This study argued that foreign ownership could bring in new institutional elements and improve the performance of indigenous firms in the long established manufacturing industries in China. The results show that R&D HR slack is positively associated with firms' innovation performance and foreign ownership moderated this positive relationship. In addition, R&D HR slack is also positively associated with firms' stock market performance, and yet unlike innovation performance, this positive relationship is not moderated by foreign ownership. Finally, despite R&D HR slack is positively associated with firms' innovation performance as well as their stock market performance, it has no significant effect on their accounting performance. Based on these findings, this study proposed a new theoretical perspective borrowed from the symbiotic theory to describe the effect of foreign ownership on the relationship between R&D HR slack and firm performance for future studies.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-145).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-88). Also available in print.