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The fourth article “How Entrepreneurial Marketing Facilitates Direct Sellers’
Entrepreneurial Process: A Dynamic Adjustment Perspective” also in the field of
marketing by Chou, Huang, and Chiang intends to explore the dynamic nature of the
entrepreneurial process of individual direct sellers in an Eastern culture context by
using entrepreneurial marketing (EM) as a theoretical lens and adopting a qualitative
process method where events happened in Taiwan are analyzed chronologically. They
collect data from researchers’ field notes, focus group interviews, one-on-one interviews,
archival documents, official websites of the two targeting direct selling companies—one
is domestic, the other is foreign—etc. Based on their findings, they develop a dynamic
model of EM and two relational management mechanisms. The results not only fill the
academic gap in individual-level direct-selling strategy, but also shed light on EM theory
by providing insights regarding how resources and initiatives are modified, which also
deepens the understanding of its dynamicity. Furthermore, this research also responds to
the calls of further examining how “quanxi” (relationship) develops in the direct selling
market in Non-Western cultures.
The last article “The Relationship Between Corporate Political Donations and
Government-Controlled Banks’ Loan Rates: Evidence from Presidential Elections of
Taiwan” in the field of accounting by Chung and Zeng investigates the effect of firms’
presidential campaign donations on government-controlled bank loan rates in Taiwan.
They focus on 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections and analyze listed firms’ loan
contracts in post-presidential election periods using Heckman (1979)’s two-stage model.
Their results reveal that firms making political donations did benefit from banks offering
lower loan interest rates. Furthermore, firms that donate to the presidential election winner
obtain preferential treatment with lower loan rates. These findings show that firms’ ability
to establish political connections through campaign donations helps shape an advantage
contract for government-controlled bank loans.

Hsiou-Wei Lin
San-Lin Chung
Chih-Ping Wei