Does Chinese aid to African countries trigger Chinese foreign direct investment? Bridging the literature on the impact of foreign aid on foreign direct investment (FDI) and that on state ownership, we consider FDI by China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) compared with that of its privately owned enterprises (POEs) and find FDI by the former is more likely to follow Chinese governmental aid to Africa. Borrowing from institutional theory, we posit that FDI by SOEs follows political imperatives while FDI by POEs pursues market motives. Using data from multiple sources on 3,760 Chinese FDI projects in Africa between 2001 and 2015, we find a correlation between SOE FDI and government aid than that of POEs; that aid has a greater impact on the probability of FDI when the policies of the host country and those of China are in sync, especially in the case of SOEs; and that in low-investment-risk countries the link between aid and investment is weakened, especially in the case of POEs. The results are robust and consistent across different measures and analyses. We contribute to the literature on the relationship between aid and FDI, as well as to that on varieties of capitalism.

This study examines the determinants of the timing of Taiwanese firms' entry into China. Our empirical findings suggest that this strategic decision is influenced by both economic and institutional concerns. In particular, we found that Taiwanese firms that expected greater benefits from early entry tended to be early entrants in China, while those that were more sensitive to uncertainty chose to defer their entry. We also found a curvilinear relationship between firm size and timing of entry into China. Our findings further indicate that the negative relationship between investment irreversibility and early entry is weaker in the presence of substantial perceived first mover advantages.

Partnerships are increasingly important to firm product innovation. They also increasingly involve parties that are attached to different institutional logics. We examine the effect of firm and partner attachments to the same and different institutional logics. Findings suggest that when partners are attached to the same institutional logic, new product development performance is positively influenced. However, when partners are attached to different institutional logics, new product development is negatively influenced. When controlling for attachment to different institutional logics, partnerships with private companies are more beneficial than partnerships with government research institutions.