Looks at celebrities who have made news during 1998, including John F. Kennedy Jr., Regis Philbin, Susan Lucci, and Jennifer Lopez.

The Internet in China examines the cultural and political ramifications of the Internet for Chinese society. The rapid growth of the Internet has been enthusiastically embraced by the Chinese government, but the government has also rushed to seize control of the virtual environment. Individuals have responded with impassioned campaigns against official control of information. The emergence of a civil society via cyberspace has had profound effects upon China--for example, in 2003, based on an Internet campaign, the Chinese Supreme People's Court overturned the ruling of a local court for the first time since the Communist Party came to power in 1949. The important question this book asks is not whether the Internet will democratize China, but rather in what ways the Internet is democratizing communication in China. How is the Internet empowering individuals by fostering new types of social spaces and redefining existing social relations?

State-controlled listed companies have always dominated Chinese stock markets. As a result of the rampant scandals related to them, there have been voluminous academic efforts to explore their corporate governance, underpinned by agency costs. However, these studies have yet to examine the phenomenon from the perspective of venture capital and adaptive efficiency. During the last ten years, despite China’s remarkable progress in the development of its venture capital market, its domestic venture capital has been marginalized by American competitors. Given the different performance between them, the author contends that the corporate governance system of Chinese state-controlled listed companies has hampered the performance of the institutional factors which are responsible for the prosperity of American venture capital in Chinese venture capital markets. With the practice of American venture capital as the mirror, he empirically demonstrates that Chinese domestic venture capital lacks the four factors related to the success of their American counterparts: large and independent funding, application of incentive mechanisms, efficient exit channels, and a high risk tolerance level. More importantly, these defects as a whole are closely linked to the corporate governance of state-controlled listed companies. Considering the potential negative consequences on economic and social development, the author identifies policy reforms underway to harmonize agency costs and adaptive efficiency.

China is indisputably one of the most dynamic economic regions in the world; however the character, nature and extent of its market economy status remains in question. This book provides an empirical analysis of many aspects of the developing market economy including: government reform; the marketization of enterprises; land transactions; capital transactions and finance; the market determination of wage rates; the development of intermediary organizations; and the improvement in the economy's legal framework. China's economic growth has also brought conflict with both the EU and the US. This book examines the contentious debates such as: the extent of renminbi convertibility; the independence of the financial sector; the freedom of labour in wage-rate bargaining; the extent of foreign investment; the extent of government ownership of enterprises; the protection of property rights; and the development of company law and of corporate governance.

The undertaking of R&D in China by foreign organisations is explained through an analysis of the patterns of foreign investment in R&D and the motivations and challenges for undertaking R&D in China. The book provides a detailed reference source which outlines the general environment of R&D in China through governmental policies, Chinese domestic science and technology systems and contemporary developments of intellectual property protection. The practical implications for companies intending to set up R&D in China are also discussed. - Contemporary environmental circumstances of undertaking R&D in China (policies, systems etc.) - Insights from the perspective of R&D managers in China (best practices, lessons learned and case studies) - Important implications for R&D activities in China

A textbook for enhancing academic reading skills among students of English.

The Communication Yearbook annuals originally published between 1977 and 2009 publish diverse, state-of-the-discipline literature reviews that advance knowledge and understanding of communication systems, processes, and impacts across the discipline. Topics dealt with include Communication as Process, Research Methodology in Communication, Communication Effects, Taxonomy of Communication and European Communication Theory, Information Systems Division, Mass Communication Research, Mapping the Domain of Intercultural Communication, Public Relations, Feminist Scholarship, Communication Law and Policy, Visual Communication, Communication and Cross-Sex Friendships Across the Life Cycle, Television Programming and Sex Stereotyping, InterCultural Communication Training, Leadership and Relationships, Media Performance Assessment, Cognitive Approaches to Communication.