Regional Differences and Variability on Enterprise Management Performance: A case in China

This paper measures variation in the economic performance of firms using the entropy weight method and cluster analysis. Regional differences and changes in the trend of listed companies' management performance are analyzed in China's four economic regions and 31 provinces from 2006 to 2010, the Eleventh Five Year period. We show that the listed companies' management performance in four economic regions presents a ladder type distribution with large swings and different trends over time. Moreover, there is a large difference in listed companies' management performance across provinces and some provinces have abnormal fluctuations. It is indicated that differences in industrial structures across regions are the main factor determining regional differences in economic development and the variability of enterprise management performance. So from the perspective of policy and institution, some suggestions are advanced to promote integrated development of all regions. In addition, the research results can provide governments at all levels with systematic reference information to formulate a coordinated, sustainable development policy for different regional economies.