In this study, we focus on the temporal behaviors – speed and rhythm – of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs) and examine the effect of such behaviors on innovation performance. Using a learning perspective, we argue that OFDI speed has an inverted U-shaped effect on EMNEs’ innovation performance, whereas the relationship between the uneven rhythm of OFDI and innovation performance is negative. The results, based on OFDI panel data of 1,092 Chinese firms, support our predictions that a moderate OFDI speed and a more regular pattern of OFDI expansion provide sources of competitiveness and contribute to firms’ innovation performance.

Using one-minute cadence vector magnetograms of BBSO, we analyze the temporal behavior of the derived vertical electric currents associated with two solar flares on July 26, 2002. One is an M1.0 flare occurred in AR10044, while the other is an M8.7 flare in the adjacent AR 10039. We find that the temporal behaviors of electric currents are very different. For the M1.0 flare, the current density drops rapidly near the flaring neutral line; while for the M8.7 flare, the current density rapidly increases.