With limited resources and attention, managers have sought ways to categorize and prioritize stakeholders. The underlying assumption is that some stakeholders matter more than others. However, in the information age, stakeholders are increasingly interconnected, where a firm’s actions toward one stakeholder are visible to others and can affect members of the stakeholder ecosystem. Actions by a firm toward any of its stakeholders can signal its trustworthiness and determine to what degree other stakeholders will assume vulnerability and engage in future exchange relationships. In this conceptual article, I present a model of stakeholder connectedness and describe the conditions in which a firm’s actions toward one stakeholder can build or erode trust across stakeholders. This work contributes to current tensions in stakeholder theory by elucidating how the treatment of a single stakeholder, or a narrow group of stakeholders, can have cascading effects on a broader group of stakeholders.

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Regional disparities have existed throughout China's history (Kanbur & Zhang, 2005). Chinese regions consist of geographically proximate provinces with similar economic, topographical and cultural characteristics (Figure 1). The gap between Chinese regions has translated into a substantial divide in income and, to some extent, the standard of living between primarily agricultural areas compared with urban areas (Qian & Smyth, 2008). These urban areas almost exclusively exist in the nation's coastal regions, while the agricultural areas have dominated China's central and western regions (Zhang & Fan, 2004). The disparity that exists between the central and coastal regions can serve as a destabilizing force in the Chinese economy if the gap between these regions becomes too great (Zhao & Tong, 2000). ABSTRACT there is no doubt that major regional disparities exist within china. the gap between its eastern coastal regions compared with the central and western regions has only grown wider over time. china's special economic zones (SeZs) are defined as small geographical areas that allow the integration of free-market principles to attract additional foreign investment. However, the creation and success of SeZs has led to prosperity in the coastal regions of china, creating additional economic disparity between regions. this paper posits that one solution to reduce regional disparities is to extend the influence of the SeZs, or even set up new ones in different areas of the country, to spur investment and close the economic gaps.