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The object of this study is to explore the effect of cultural distance on both the long run and short run performance of cross border mergers and acquisitions undertaken by Indian acquiring firms. We utilize buy and hold returns (BHAR), cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) and cross-sectional regression analysis in our study. Adopting the traditional Hofstede measure of cultural distance and other pertinent variables, commonly used to measure cultural differences, we document a negative and statistically significant influence of cultural distance on Indian cross-border M&As and corroborate some of other findings reported in prior research. Also, we find that the BHAR is nevertheless higher when the acquisitions are friendly, paid for 100% cash, and the acquiring firm is large, older and belongs to a business group. The inclusion of the variable ‘business group’ along with industry relatedness and acquirer size provides valuable insights into the Indian cross border acquisition landscape, wherein business groups dominate to a great extent.

There have been significant changes in the GATT / WTO system, one of them is its expansion in membership. The regime has up grown from its original 22 founding members to over 140 at the turn of the 20th century. The enlargement has led to the fundamental change in the character of the regime. In the early years the GATT / WTO was perceived of by China as a “Rich Nations’ Club” or “the Club of the Rich,” in which wealthy countries imposed rules on poor and weak developing countries. By the year 2000, the WTO included a majority of developing countries, many of which are among the poorest countries of the world. Furthermore, with the inclusion of China and Russia, the WTO community included all the major nations of the world, even those that were previously uninterested in open trade and thus stayed outside the trade regime. The paper in the above context begins with a brief history of China’s accession to the WTO, including a review of China’s objectives and motivations in joining. It reviews how its entry has supported its substantial growth and further integration into the global economy in terms of trade patterns and other economic indicators such as FDI along with regulations governing IPRs in tune with the WTO obligations. A brief portrait of comparison of Chinese economy with Indian economy is also laid down because both are leading emerging market developing economies — one is the Dragon and the other the Elephant.
  

The introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1991 by the Government of India (GoI) made it very clear that the viability of commercial banks is conditioned on their ability to make profits. In a globalized world, the whims and fancies of business cycles govern the fate of banks and a recessionary phase hampers the bank’s ability to pile on the profits thereby increasing their stock of non-performing assets. India, recently, is placed in a very bizarre situation, — some of the renowned banks are reporting huge losses but there is a very limited impact on stock markets. Strategically, the government, however, has taken corrective measures to arrest the growth of non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks. This paper builds upon a time series model capturing the position of NPAs of banks in India (excluding foreign banks operating in India). Empirically, there is a uni-directional causal relationship running from NPAs of banks to growth. Theoretically, what we can conclude is that imposing strict lending norms on banks actually manifests itself into a deeper recession, lowers growth and in turn aggravates the NPA problem further.

The paper assesses the relationship between leader behaviours and subordinates’ work performance in the context of tax administration. Data were collected in Malawi using two validated questionnaires administered online for subordinates and team leaders at a field office of a tax administration. Frequency distributions were used to identify dominant primary leader behaviours and the Spearman’s rank-order correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between leader behaviours and subordinates’ work performance. Participative path-goal leadership behaviour is the most common primary leadership behaviour that team leaders in tax administration employ. Secondly, supportive and achievement oriented leader behaviours have a significant relationship with subordinates’ work performance in tax administration. The study concluded that achievement oriented path-goal leadership behaviour could be effective for public organisations involved in law enforcement. It is recommended that leaders should conduct a self-assessment of their leadership; adopt the relations-oriented leadership behaviours and incorporate coaching during performance evaluation exercise; and that organisations should equip leaders with leadership and management skills through training.The study is limited by the small sample-size, therefore, future studies could repeat the assessment with a larger sample and determine the mathematical equations for predicting the effect of each leadership behaviour on subordinates’ work performance.