Abstract: There has been a clear distinction between macro and micro domains in management research for a long time.This artificial division promotes academic specialization and communication among peers.However,the real firm gathers the influence of both macro and micro aspects.Both aspects are different and interrelated,constitute the complex real world,and have an interactive or collaborative influence in the historical process and frontier development.Therefore,it is difficult to understand the mechanism from a single perspective accurately (Zhang and Zhang,2014a,2014b),and more and more important problems need to be analyzed and solved by comprehensively utilizing the advantages of both macro and micro perspectives (Huselid and Becker,2011).Therefore,connecting the macro and micro fields will help open up new research methods and theoretical innovation paths and bridge the gap between science and practice (Aguinis et al.,2011).

In order to guide the academic community to carry out the exploration combining macro and micro fields,Coleman (1990) constructed a closed-loop model containing four lines,namely,the macro-micro “situation mechanism”,the micro-level “behavior formation mechanism”,the micro-level “transformation mechanism”,and the macro-level interaction.In March 2011,the Journal of Management published a special issue on “Connecting Macro and Micro Fields”,summarizing the challenges of integrating macro and micro research methods and theories (Aguinis et al.,2011).The special issue provides detailed guidance for research on Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management (Huselid and Becker,2011; Joshi et al.,2011),Strategy and Policy Analysis (Priem et al.,2011),Organizational Theory (Rousseau,2011; Salvato and Rerup,2011),Corporate Governance (Priem et al.,2011),Entrepreneurial Management (Shepherd,2011),and even management research methods (Mathieu and Chen,2011).

Almost simultaneously,a group of insightful scholars in China have organized an academic seminar on “Macroeconomic Policies and Micro-Enterprise Behaviors” every year since 2012 (Rao et al.,2013),which has led great progress in domestic empirical research on the combination of macro and micro.Over the past decade,the research field of macro and micro integration in the context of China has demonstrated strong vitality due to its important academic value and policy significance,and a considerable amount of high-quality empirical literature has been accumulated.

However,the existing research in China and abroad still has much room for improvement.For example,there is too much emphasis on the impact of macroeconomic policies and not enough on the potential impact of important macro factors such as culture and technology.Moreover,as Cowen et al.(2022) pointed out,there are three common theoretical challenges in existing macro and micro studies:misuse of micro theory in exploring macro phenomena; lack of more detailed consideration of macro background in the cross-level research that focuses on micro phenomena; and less attention is paid to the polymerization process that connects the two levels.

To advance the relevant exploration,we have systematically reviewed empirical studies published in three Chinese economics and management journals since 2012,namely Journal of Management World,Economic Research Journal,and Social Sciences in China,which examine both macro environment and micro enterprise behavior.In this paper,we seek to answer two questions:①In the context of China,what are the macro factors that have an impact on micro factors in existing studies that combine macro and micro perspectives? ②Based on these findings,which directions are worth exploring in the future?

Drawing on the PESTEL analysis model (Doyle,2016),this paper summarizes the macro-environment that affects the behavior of enterprises into six elements:Political,Economic,Social,Technological,Environmental and Legal.Furthermore,through investigating the interactions of macro and micro under three different circumstances:macro environment as independent variable,moderating variable (top-down,“trickle-down effect”),and dependent variable (bottom-up,“pop-up effect”),we clarify specific macro and micro factors.

Based on the above analysis of existing research deficiencies,this paper proposes future research directions in four major areas.Firstly,researchers should expand data sources from archival data to survey data and update measurement indicators of the institutional environment.For example,researchers can use business environment indexes including formal and informal indicators developed by Zhang and Zhang (2023) at the province level,and Zhang et al.(2023) at the city level in Chinese mainland.Furthermore,researchers should improve analysis methods,such as selecting a variety of analysis methods to verify each other,paying attention to robustness tests,and further tracking and using breakpoint regression or case study analysis methods to ensure the reliability of research results.Secondly,researchers should investigate the configuration effect to identify what macro-environmental factors are more important and how they depend on each other to influence micro-corporate behavior.Moreover,researchers should promote the integration of theories,such as institutional theory and upper echelons theory,and explore the micro influence on the macro.Thirdly,researchers should pay attention to mediating effects,emphasize moderating effects,and explore mixed effects.Finally,researchers should conduct Sino-foreign dialogue based on China's practice and consider the international environment.