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Entrepreneurial activity has been documented as an important mechanism to achieve poverty alleviation. In line with this, providing access to entrepreneurial finance for disadvantaged groups has been a prominent policy tool. The advent of digital finance may prove a game changer in that it could substantially lower the threshold to access entrepreneurial finance, particularly for disadvantaged entrepreneur who have a hard time accessing formal sources of finance. This study explores whether the availability of digital finance indeed increases the propensity and the quality of entrepreneurship among Chinese migrants. The paper applies data of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2018 and the China's digital financial inclusion index. The results show that local digital financial development is indeed positively associated with entrepreneurial probability and quality. Moreover, the three sub-dimensions of digital finance (e.g., breadth of coverage, depth of use and level of digitization) also increase the likelihood of migrants' entrepreneurship. From the perspective of entrepreneurial motivation, digital finance has a significant positive impact on not only the migrants' choice of necessity-based entrepreneurship, but also on the selection of opportunity-based entrepreneurship. In addition, this paper finds that the facilitating role of digital finance on entrepreneurship is more prominent for migrants who lived in rural regions, with lower educational levels, experienced cross-provincial mobility, not belonging to a member of party organization and whose parents do not have good education background and local hukou, which reflects the inclusiveness of digital finance in reversing the financing disadvantage of vulnerable groups. Though this study is set in the context of China, the principle that access to digital finance increases the propensity of entrepreneurship as well as its quality likely translates to other contexts in the developing world. • The rise of digital finance has provided more diversified financing sources for the entrepreneurship of disadvantaged groups. • We explore the role of digital finance development on the entrepreneurial behavior of Chinese migrants from multiple levels. • Digital finance is conducive to enhancing the entrepreneurial probability and quality of migrants in less developed areas. • The sub-dimensions of breadth of coverage, depth of use and level of digitization can promote the migrants' entrepreneurship. • Digital finance development promotes both migrants' necessity-based entrepreneurship and opportunity-based entrepreneurship. • It is more prominent for migrants in rural regions, with lower educational levels or experienced cross-provincial mobility. • It is more significant for migrants who are not party members or parents without good education background and local hukou. • The inclusiveness of digital finance in stimulating entrepreneurship can inspire common prosperity for developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research on overwork has predominantly been conducted in developed countries. This study examines the role of affordable housing in Chinese cities and provides evidence from a developing country. Using data from China's National Health and Family Planning Commission's "China Migrants' Dynamic Survey," this study explores the relationship between affordable housing and overwork among migrant workers in Chinese cities, as well as the mechanism underlying this association. The results imply that migrant workers in China can work fewer hours if they reside in affordable housing. The impact of affordable housing on the overwork of migrant workers is partially mediated by their housing cost burden and their sense of local self-identity. Women, the younger generation, and later-arriving migrant workers are more negatively affected than men, the older generation, and earlier-arriving migrants. This study gives insight into the evaluation of the efficiency of affordable housing in China and evidence for future research on the issue of overwork in developing nations. • This study evaluates the effect of affordable housing on migrant workers' overwork in China. • The impact of affordable housing reduces migrant workers' overwork occurs partly through their housing cost burden and self-identity. • CMP, PSM and IV are applied to control endogeneity problems and perform robustness checks. • Conventional labor economic theory and identity economic theory are introduced to this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global discourse of ambiguous property rights, the prevailing argument is that ambiguous property rights are blamed for myriad land-related problems in the Global South. In the absence of secure land property rights, China provides new insights into this prevailing argument; however, whether China's ambiguous land property rights have led to land-related problems is still under heated debate. Through an empirical investigation of the Shanghai No.10 Iron and Steel Works redevelopment, this paper explains the ambiguity of property rights over state-owned industrial land in relation to the ambiguous property rights approach and evaluates its impacts on industrial land redevelopment. The case study analyzes the major stakeholders and their de jure rights and de facto rights, reveals the land rents redistribution, and examines how ambiguous property rights fundamentally impacted the spatial outcomes of the No.10 Steelworks site. With the evidence of the two-sided impacts caused by ambiguous property rights in China, this paper criticizes the monolithic understanding of ambiguous property rights in the global discourse and argues that the introduction of ambiguous property rights has been a double-edged sword for land redevelopment in non-Western countries. New thinking concerning alternatives to land institutions is finally discussed within and beyond China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a large body of literature has dealt with the process of globalization and the formation of global cities, recent scholarly efforts have begun to examine global city regions, emerging global cities, and globalizing cities. In this paper, through a case study of Tianjin, a traditional industrial city near Beijing, we will unfold the process of reforms and globalization in Chinese cities, the efforts of governments in liberalization and globalization, and the challenges facing globalizing cities in China. We attempt to contribute to the understanding of the process and mechanisms of globalizing cities in developing countries, and thereby add an important dimension to the global city canon. We will show in this paper that despite liberalization and globalization, the Chinese local state is still taking an active role in initiating policies to accelerate urban growth and globalization, and remains an important agent of urban and regional change. Moreover, Tianjin’s globalization efforts face numerous constraints. While acknowledging the role of the state, we argue that local governments do not act in a vacuum, but have to rely on forces operating at global, national, and local scales. In other words, there are strong geographical foundations for the formation and successful implementation of local development initiatives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the globalization era, shrinking cities have emerged as a widespread phenomenon and become a new buzzword in regional and urban research discourse. The Pearl River Delta (PRD), one of the most representative areas of rapid urbanization in China, is characterized by export-oriented economy and " exo -urbanization." Induced by the financial crisis of 2008, new spatial symptoms related to urban shrinkage, such as factory collapses, job losses, and vacant dwellings, were observed in this area. To investigate spatial-temporal characteristics of the crisis-induced shrinkage in the PRD, this paper proposes a theoretical approach to interpret urban growth and shrinkage in combination with economic, population, and land dimensions. Moreover, through an analysis of statistical data and in-depth interviews in the case of Dongguan, three primary influences (i.e., global financial crisis, demographic dividend diminishment, and change in institutional arrangement) on urban shrinkage in town-level cities are evaluated. This study not only contributes to the literature by analyzing the short-term urban shrinkage influenced by sudden economic shock in globalization but also demonstrates the complexity and multiplicity of urban shrinkage that emerged in the rapidly urbanizing area of the Global South. • Shrinking cities in the exo-urbanization area represents a typical short-term pattern in the era of globalization. • Urban shrinkage tends to be more diverse and complex in the rapidly urbanizing area of the Global South. • Five typologies are classified in relation to both population and economic dimensions that intersect with the trajectories. • Growth and shrinkage is a nonlinear and non-homogeneous phenomenon closely related to multi-scale influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]