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Stewardship theory is an emergent approach for explaining leadership behavior, challenging the assumptions of agency theory and its dominance in corporate governance literature. This study revisits the agency and stewardship theories by seeking to answer whether chief executive officers (CEOs) in China are committed stewards or opportunistic agents.

Based on 5,165 observations of 1,036 listed companies in China over the period 2005–2010, the results suggest that the corporate governance mechanisms developed from the agency theory in the West are not necessarily applicable in the Chinese context.

This study supports the stewardship theory in its findings that empowering CEOs through the practice of CEO duality and longer CEO tenure have a positive effect on firm value in China. Additionally, the positive relationships between CEO duality, CEO tenure and firm value are strengthened by the number of executive directors on the board, and weakened by the number of independent directors on the board.

One size does not fit all. Leadership behaviors in China do not follow the agency assumptions inherent in Western practices, rather they favor the conditions of positive leadership expressed by the stewardship theory. Assuming that the motivations of managers in emerging markets such as China are similar to those in the West may lead to a poor fit between governance policies and the institutional context.

As one of the few studies to connect the theoretical debate between the agency and stewardship theories, this study presents new evidence to support the stewardship theory, thereby strengthening its theoretical importance and relevance in corporate governance literature.

Although China has claimed since 2005 that it will move towards a more market-oriented system of managing its foreign exchange, it has remained, in part, a managed economic system. This chapter examines the relative importance of fundamentalist, chartist and currency arrangements in determining the RMB exchange regime using both traditional linear and non-linear artificial intelligence models. We find that the emphasis on the US dollar as a reference currency has declined. Fundamentalist forces are becoming strong determinants of the currency exchange. The genetic programming approach is among the best performing in minimizing forecasting error.

While a large body of literature lays the blame of the 1997 Asian economic crisis on external factors, such as Japan's recession, speculative foreign investors, and non-stringent international bank credit, the body of literature examining the cultural factors is emerging. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the internal antecedents to the Asian crisis by focusing on region-specific cultural conditions leading to the crisis. Important cultural factors of collectivism, authoritarianism, and power-distance distance that led to precarious and risky financial practices are explored. This chapter proposes that investors and academics look beyond economic ‘hard’ data, and examine the values, traits, and customs of a society in order to evaluate the possibility of a financial collapse.

How do you sell a Norwegian invention, Cheese in a Tube, to a world used to cheese coming as a block or in slices? This is something Kavli has succeeded in doing despite established cultural norms for cheese and related food products. Adapting to new cultural environments requires a reexamination of the market mix and positioning of the product, especially when the product has a strong home country cultural specificity. More distant markets have different preferences and environments and may require some degree of adaptation of the firm's marketing mix. The capacity of the firm to adapt to these differences and to respond to this challenge can make the difference for the future survival and long-term success of the firm.