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This paper describes the current level of human capital in China and seeks to identify a number of education-related challenges that may slow down the nation's economy from transitioning to high-income status. Relying on recent census-based data from OECD for the rest of the world and using data from the 2015 Micro-Census for China, the authors show that the low levels of education of China's labour force is really a problem that has its roots in the past (in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s). In recent years (since 2000), China has been investing heavily in education as shown by the increasing the share of youth, including rural youth, attending high school. Despite this recent effort to raise the nation's human capital, the education system still faces several challenges in trying to provide high-quality education for all youth. First, the government must figure out a way to overcome the relatively low rates of participation in high school by rural students. Second, there is concern that many vocational schools, especially those in rural areas, cannot deliver quality education. Finally, the paper will show that many rural students may be unprepared due to poor early childhood development outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a Markov transfer matrix is used to characterize exogenous sudden shocks, and a closed economic DSGE model including a financial accelerator is constructed to simulate the impact of sudden shocks on China's macroeconomic performance. The study found that: (1) Sudden impacts reduce output, investment, consumption, capital, technology, and enterprise value, but improve labor, inflation, and risk premium, thus weakeningmacroeconomic risk resilience. (2) The impact of sudden shocks on macroeconomic variables, from large to small, is net worth, technical level, labor, inflation, investment, capital, output, and external premium. (3) It is appropriate for the government to adopt the principle of combining broad finance measures and tight currency controls in order to improve the risk resistance ability of macroeconomic operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpretations of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) mostly agree that it is a policy opening that offers some remedies for China's economic and security challenges, as well as reflects China's increasing regional and global ambitions. This paper argues that the multiple drivers characterizing the BRI result from the multiple identities of China as a developing country struggling with several sources of instability and macroeconomic problems and, simultaneously, a regional and an emerging power, and finally a major global power with significant economic capacity to shape the global economic order. The paper aims to substantiate the entanglement of the defensive and ambitious motivations behind the BRI by examining the background against which the Chinese Communist Party leadership has suggested it. In so doing, it draws on Chinese official policy documents and statistics, speeches from Chinese leaders and existing social-scientific research on the transformation of China's economic and political landscape in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impacts of educational factors on economic growth across 31 provinces during 1996 and 2010 in China. A spatial panel estimation model is applied to study the impacts of education on economic growth taking into account the spatial spillover effects in Feder model and the cumulative effect. The results reveal that (1) educational factors are significantly spatially autocorrelated. Educational factors have spatial spillover effects. Regional differences of education impacts still exist. (2) Average schooling year has a more positive effect on economic output than capital investment and labor force. Basic education might play a more important role in economic growth. (3) Education sector also benefits non-education sectors on economic growth if “spatial effects of economic shocks” are considered. Some policies that may enhance education development and their impacts on economic growth are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on the immediate economic and systemic reasons of steadily increasing local government indebtedness and investment overheating in China despite central efforts to contain them. These two phenomena emerged between 2008 and 2011 as a direct consequence of an external shock caused by the global crisis and the subsequent internal reaction in the form of intensified stimulating state intervention. New opportunities for resource distribution and investments through state intervention mobilized distribution priorities and politically rational economic behavior of actors, which are characteristic of party-state systems. Locations of mobilization were defined by the decentralized Chinese system specifics along the intertwined party-state structure. Systemic characteristics and the Chinese specifics together resulted in investment overheating on a national and local level, causing a steady growth of local indebtedness through large and state-owned enterprises and local governments. This process was further amplified by the characteristics of the transforming economy in China, as actors in the private sphere were mobilized by the increased input demands of those privileged by the systemic priorities of state intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse determinants of Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) into a number of African countries for the period 2003-2012. Design/methodology/approach – A series of panel data models are used to estimate the determinants of Chinese OFDI into eight African countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, Algeria, Egypt and the Sudan. Findings – Results highlighted that Chinese investment in African countries is driven by access to natural resources, and factors related to infrastructure quality and the regulatory environment enforced by host governments. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first papers to identify empirical determinants of Chinese OFDI in Africa and it contributes from two perspectives. Firstly, it identifies drivers behind Chinese OFDI, but also importantly from the African perspective helps understand the reasons that attract investment from one of the world’s largest investors into one of the world’s poorest regions, given the emphasis that is placed on foreign direct investment today as an instrument of growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This report examines the recent developments and trends relating to the Chinese government’s policy actions and the key issues that determine the choice of exchange rate regime in China. An up-to-date “stock-take” of the economic indicators is conducted to determine what is suitable for China in light of the rapidly evolving nature of the world economy and trading environment. This paper discusses the role of economic development, trade competitiveness, capital flow, foreign exchange reserve, and RMB internationalization in the determination of the RMB exchange rate regime.Design/methodology/approach This research uses an inductive approach to gain a fine-grained understanding of the complex, multifaceted aspects of China’s exchange rate policy. A combination of statistical analysis, including basic descriptive statistics, trend analysis, and a correlation study are used to explore the association between various indicators and their implications. The report also draws on analysis of a broad range of data sources and the work of numerous researchers and research institutions.Findings A more flexible exchange rate regime can play a complementary role towards rebalancing the Chinese economy by raising the buying capacity of families, rebalancing growth towards domestic consumption, and reducing reliance on export. China’s price elasticity of the demand for exports was relatively low that the appreciation of the Chinese currency has almost no influence on optimizing China’s trade balance. A more flexible two-way flow in RMB would be suitable under the current cash flow scenario in China. Reduced intervention will facilitate further adjustment in reserves. Lastly, in the early stage of RMB internationalization, flexibility in the exchange rate is one of the factors that influences its growth prospect as a reserve currency.Research limitations/implications The findings and conclusion are derived based on the latest empirical information, statistical evidence, and economic theory. This inquiry does not build on a theory, and aims to neither verify a theory, nor test hypotheses. Rather, it aims to demonstrate, assess, and explain significant roles that various economic factors play in shaping the future exchange rate regime of China.Originality/value This paper presents the rationale behind a more flexible two-way exchange rate, by assessing the latest empirical data and theoretical explanation that support such a move. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "China's Growth Slowdown and Prospects for Becoming a High-Income Developed Economy" by Ding Lu in the issue.

Purpose After over 30 years’ reform and opening-up, China as the second largest economy is now facing the most essential transformation of management philosophy and the biggest challenging issue of business sustainable development, with people’s increasing worry of the deterioration of environmental pollution, food security and human health. It can be said that what China needs urgently today is business ethical value and long-term sustainable development concept, rather than rapidly growing GDP. The purpose of this paper is to assess how the term “sustainable development” is constructed and valued in the sustainability reports or corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports of Chinese corporations, so as to interpret these Chinese firms’ conception of sustainable development in their real business practices.Design/methodology/approach A corpus of sustainability reports collected from 30 Chinese corporations totaling 247,311 tokens is first of all compiled to realize the objective of study. Then the authors use the AntConc, a corpus analysis toolkit, to generate word lists, key-word-in-context concordances and collocation lists, as well as calculating statistical significance measures for collocates, of which the mutual information (MI) score 3 is most relevant to the paper’s purposes. Based on the key-word-in-context concordance and collocation list, the authors can find what context “sustainable development” usually appears in sustainability reports, thus inferring Chinese corporations’ conception of sustainable development.Findings The result indicates that Chinese corporations use the rhetoric of weak sustainability, indicating that sustainable development is compatible with further economic growth, which means that Chinese corporations in current China, strongly promoting the concept of new normal economy, still put economic growth as a dominant goal, on which other dimensions of sustainability like environmental protection depend.Research limitations/implications The data gleaned in current corpus are limited to the sustainability reports in 2014 thus the study provides no hints as to diachronic trends. However, this study increases our understanding of how Chinese corporations attach value to sustainable development from the view of corpus analysis.Originality/value Different from traditional discourse analysis, which usually carries out qualitative analysis to analyze how a word or phrase is constructed in a small number of texts, the authors’ study innovatively introduces the method of corpus analysis to explore how Chinese corporations construct “sustainable development” in their sustainability reports. Thus, the number of texts analyzed is larger in the authors’ study and their findings are more representative and convincing. The authors create a more qualitative understanding of what the reports are actually saying on their reports and prove that corpus methods can bring new application to the discourse analysis of the biggest challenging issue of China’s future economic growth, suggesting a potential novel way to work out the meaning and implication of sustainable development in Chinese real business world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After nearly four decades of rapid growth, the China economy is faced with various challenges. The 2008 crisis would have served as the last straw as China experienced falls and volatilities in industrial output, export and foreign direct investment. The new policy focuses on expansion of domestic consumption and rebalancing. Given the unreliability of Chinese products, there is a need to rebuild product acceptability and market confidence. The structure of industrial enterprises, especially the small- and medium-sized enterprises, will play a crucial role in the next phase of development in the China economy. This paper uses the data on Chinese industrial enterprises to estimate the productivity performance of enterprises across regions and industries. The discussion is placed on the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on the China economy and industries enterprises. By using a simple methodology and OLS regression analysis on the estimation of total factor productivity, the empirical results show that SMEs and non-SMEs do perform differently in different industries and across regions, but SMEs suffered more than non-SMEs since the 2008 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have shown that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) raise firms' productivity. Few researches investigate whether exporters can enhance export performance after M&A through higher levels of efficiency. Based on detailed information on M&A activities of Chinese firms, China's customs trade data and National Bureau of Statistics surveys, we investigate the causal effect of M&A on trade performance. In particular, the value and the volume of firm exports, product quality, product scope and the number of export destinations have been examined. We find positive and significant effects of M&A on all the examined indicators of export performance. These findings are generally robust to a variety of robustness checks. We further observe that state-owned firms are the least likely to benefit from M&A. We also obtain evidence that firms benefit more from M&A deals if they are targets or merge with foreign firms. Overall, this paper is to our knowledge the first study that uses micro-level data in multiple industries to examine the relationship between M&A and exports of heterogeneous firms. Our results deepen our understanding of the consequences of M&A by suggesting another potential benefit, and hence provide policy implications for merger regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to explore achievements and issues in the implementation of China ' s 12th Five-Year Plan to provide input for the preparation of the coming 13th Five-Year Plan, and also to provide some messages for the understanding of the Party ' s documents of suggestions for the preparation of China ' s 13th Five-Year Plan. Design/methodology/approach – Eight essential aspects related to economy, society and ecological environment of the implementation of the 12th Five-Year Plan are analyzed both for the achievements and issues. Comparative analyses are done through historical data and international comparison. Findings – It is hoped that the achievements found in the implementation of the 12th Five-Year Plan will consolidate the confidence for establishing an all-round well-off society of China by the year 2020 and issues discovered will be overcome through appropriate measures. Originality/value – This paper will contribute to the understanding of “Suggestions for the preparation of National Economic and Social Development 13th Five-Year Plan” by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on 29 October 2015, and also the coming 13th Five-Year Plan, which will be announced in March 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An enduring paradox of China's remarkable economic growth is the lack of a well-established legal system. By drawing on the credibility thesis, this paper proposes that legal and economic reforms give rise to, and reinforce, the other and the market is underpinned by evolving institutions that are shaped by the expectations of the actors in the economy. It is thus not the form of institutions but their function that is more important in assessing institutional performance. A comparative examination of the USA at a similar stage of legal-institutional development to China provides support for an evolutionary, endogenous process. This institutional analysis will focus on key issues of economic legislation, such as corporate law, patent law and securities. Analyzing the relationship as complementary processes can help explain the paradox of strong economic growth within an under-developed system of law with potential, critical implications for institutional development in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As in other parts of the world, private tutoring has expanded significantly in Mainland China during the past decade. This has been driven by factors including dramatic economic growth, high-stakes examinations, and the traditions of a Confucian culture at the macro-level, and school leadership and family incomes, at the micro-level. This paper examines the demand for private supplementary tutoring in Chongqing, China. It is based on a mixed-methods study of tutoring received by Grade 9 students. Based on an overview of the demand for shadow education by the sampled students and the driving factors at multiple levels, this paper investigates the role of teachers' power in shaping the demand. It draws on the data obtained from interviews and case studies, applying the theory of power bases to map the power relations among various stakeholders in both mainstream and shadow education systems. The study reveals that nearly half of Grade 9 students receive private tutoring, with mainstream teachers as the most popular category of tutors. While some dimensions of this extra work for teachers may be laudable, other aspects could be described as forms of corruption. This highlights the need to examine the power of teachers. The paper contributes to research in a wider context by refining understanding of the nature of shadow education from a Chinese perspective. It addresses the gap in empirical research on Chinese teachers' involvement in shadow education through the lens of power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Resumen A partir de datos de encuestas de hogares, los autores observan que las primas por calificación aumentaron en toda China entre 1995 y 2002, pero solo en las provincias costeras entre 2002 y 2007, año en que estas también registraron mayor desigualdad salarial y contribuyeron más a la desigualdad salarial urbana total. Según un modelo de efectos fijos estimado, la privatización explica la evolución del primer periodo, y la integración de China en la economía mundial, la del segundo. Reducir la desigualdad exige, según los autores, la reforma del Registro de Población Hukou, que obstaculiza la movilidad de los trabajadores calificados y posiblemente también el crecimiento. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the middle income trap (MIT) concept from the perspective of productivity growth. Through the examination of cross-country historical statistics as well as China's regional data, it sheds light on the debate about whether the Chinese economy can avoid the middle income trap. It should be one of the first papers proposing an analytical framework to address this controversial issue. The findings should have important implications for economic policies guiding China's development in the coming decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty has remained one of the prominent challenges of humanity. Different solutions have been suggested to curb poverty. Economic growth and financial development are two such crucial tools for overcoming poverty, as frequently pointed out by economists. These tools work through the so-called trickle-down hypothesis, which contends that a well-functioning financial system would enhance poverty reduction by promoting economic growth. One country that appears to have manifested this hypothesis is China. However, the empirical test of the trickle-down hypothesis for China is scant. In addition, most of the existing studies have failed to account for regime-shift in parameters or structural breaks. This paper attempts to fill this void by testing the trickle-down hypothesis for China during the period 1985-2014. We utilized two standard proxies for financial development, namely: the domestic credit to private sector by banks as percentage of GDP, and money and quasi money as percentage of GDP; annual percentage change in real GDP per capita to proxy economic growth; and a standard proxy for poverty reduction namely: the household final consumption expenditure per capita growth. By accounting for structural breaks in our empirical specifications, we found overwhelming support for the trickle-down hypothesis at the national level. That is, we found financial development to cause economic growth, which in turn causes poverty reduction in China at the national level. This has important policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a bootstrap Granger full-sample causality test and a sub-sample rolling window estimation, this paper examines the causal link between inflation and inflation uncertainty in China. The results show that high inflation leads to high inflation uncertainty, supporting Friedman-Ball's hypothesis (1992) and Holland's theory (J Money Credit Bank 27:827-837, 1995). Furthermore, significant feedback exists from inflation uncertainty to inflation in some periods, supporting Holland's theory (J Money Credit Bank 27:827-837, 1995) that inflation uncertainty has a negative effect on inflation. We find that the relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty varies across time. The Chinese monetary authority needs to ensure a quick and effective policy response to inflation development because doing so will help reduce inflation, eliminate many of the costs associated with high inflation and therefore minimize the marginal effect of inflation on inflation uncertainty. However, quantitative tools for China's monetary policy are also warranted. In the long term, the importance of keeping inflation low, stable, and predictable cannot be overemphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After decades of hyper growth, China's economy has slowed significantly in recent years, causing widespread anxiety both within and outside the country. Although economists have not reached a consensus about China's growth potential, it is undeniable that the country has switched gears toward a "new normal" of moderate growth amidst ongoing structural change. To assess China's growth performance and prospects, this study modifies Masahiko Aoki's analytical framework of a unified growth theory into a multi-sector model and applies it to identify the sources of China's per capita income growth in recent decades. The analysis confirms Aoki's early observation that China entered the socalled "Kuznets phase" of development in the 1980s, which then became overlapped by the H-phase, in which human capital-based growth is characterized by high labor productivity growth. This study provides evidence that China's labor productivity growth has been predominantly driven by fixed capital formation. It also reveals that the Kuznets effect (with its labor reallocation effect) has now passed its peak and is fading away. The most alarming finding is that net total factor productivity (TFP) growth in the latest period has slowed to a near halt. This trend is particularly worrisome given that China has exhausted its past demographic dividend and its industrial structure has evolved to the end of industrialization stage. Meanwhile, demographic projections clearly indicate that China has entered what Aoki defined as the development phase of "post demographic transition."Whether China can reverse the downward trend of TFP growth will determine how soon it can achieve the goal of becoming a high-income developed economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of the health and economic impacts of PM2.5pollution is of great importance for urban air pollution prevention and control. In this study, we evaluate the damage of PM2.5pollution using Beijing as an example. First, we use exposure–response functions to estimate the adverse health effects due to PM2.5pollution. Then, the corresponding labour loss and excess medical expenditure are computed as two conducting variables. Finally, different from the conventional valuation methods, this paper introduces the two conducting variables into the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to assess the impacts on sectors and the whole economic system caused by PM2.5pollution. The results show that, substantial health effects of the residents in Beijing from PM2.5pollution occurred in 2013, including 20,043 premature deaths and about one million other related medical cases. Correspondingly, using the 2010 social accounting data, Beijing gross domestic product loss due to the health impact of PM2.5pollution is estimated as 1286.97 (95% CI: 488.58–1936.33) million RMB. This demonstrates that PM2.5pollution not only has adverse health effects, but also brings huge economic loss. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper reviews the World Trade Organization's analysis of developments in China's trade policy during 2012-14. The review overlaps with the continuing Great Recession and with China's determination to foster a sustainable rate of economic growth. Developments in the country's trade policy include the launching of the Shanghai pilot free trade zone. China faces a series of trade policy-related challenges including the complex process necessary to internationalise the renminbi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper estimated the balance of emissions embodied in bilateral trade and the pollution terms of trade between China and six major world economies, including USA, Japan, and others, from 1995 to 2009, and then discussed the factors affecting them using the Structural Decomposition Analysis method. We find that, with the exception of Taiwan, the balances of the haze pollutants emissions embodied in bilateral trades were negative between China and the each of the rest five, and this was mainly resulted from the China export scale effect and intermediate input structural effects. We also find that China has become the “Pollution Refuge” for the economies like USA and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet finance has experienced rapid growth in recent years in China, and it is expected to play an increasingly important role in the economy. This paper is one of the first attempts to examine the current state of development of Internet finance in China. The paper first introduces the methodology of the Peking University Internet Finance Index, which provides a monthly evaluation and analysis of the general trends and patterns of the Chinese Internet finance industry. The findings show that although the growth of the industry as a whole has been robust, the levels of development and rates of growth exhibit substantial variation across business categories. The paper then investigates the underlying determinants of the regional disparity in the development of Internet finance. The preliminary results suggest that the traditional financial sector, infrastructure, and local economic development are important for Internet finance development. The study suggests that the growth of Internet finance fundamentally relies on the development of the real economy and is associated with that of the traditional financial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Building upon recent research into the underestimation of China’s official final consumption expenditure, this paper investigates the quality of China’s investment data. We strictly follow the official method to estimate the annual gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) expenditure from 2004 to 2012, and the resulting figures are significantly different from the official statistics. This implies that the ‘total investment in fixed assets’ data, which are the primary source for the estimation of GFCF, grossly exaggerate actual investments, and that the official GFCF figures are not, strictly speaking, independently estimated, as they are purported to be. We deduce that the official gross capital formation figure is more or less a residual item obtained by subtracting final consumption and net exports from the official GDP figure that is calculated based on the production-cum-income approach. As a result, the underestimation of China’s consumption expenditure automatically translates into overestimation of investment expenditure. We conclude that China’s official consumption and investment statistics cannot be trusted as the basis for policy discussions and academic research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author comments on the article "Toward State Capitalism in China?," published within the issue. Topics discussed include the investigation into favoritism toward state-owned firms in China to understand the effect of political forces on the economic market, China's economic transition and development, and the failure of the study to explore the actual linkages and cooperation between state and private sectors.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain a better understanding of the presence of Chinese manufacturing entrepreneurship in industrial districts compared to other Italian local economies. Statistical data are used to uncover where Chinese manufacturing entrepreneurs localize their businesses and to what extent this localization is an innovation within the geographical pattern of industrial districts. Data on Chinese manufacturing micro-enterprises (i.e. with less than 10 persons employed) started up in years 2005-2007 and 2008-2010 are cross-tabulated by industrial districts and other local economies to investigate their change over time. The empirical findings show a dominance of industrial districts: those located in Tuscany are on top and Prato district ranks first. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rapid economic growth has resulted in serious environmental issues especially on the urban air pollution, which has caused serious harm to the health of residents and large economic losses. It is widely accepted that the road transport sector is one of the major emitters in China. However, it remains unclear who is more responsible for severe air pollution between the freight and passenger transport subsectors, especially in urban areas of China. In this paper, we divided the road transport sector into the freight and passenger subsectors and investigated the following important issues: (a) Are there any causal relationships between air pollution and the foresaid subsectors? (b) How do we identify the impacts of the changes in the two subsectors on the air pollution in urban China areas? (c) What are the contributions of the two subsectors to the air pollution in urban areas of China? Alternatively, who is to blame more for the current situation, freight or passenger subsectors? Our empirical findings could help the policy makers and researchers had better understand the status of air pollution in China by distinguishing the different proportions of the emissions from the subsectors. Therefore, some pertinent policies could be implemented to mitigate the emissions from China's road transport sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most impressive changes in the global economy in the past half-century has been China's high and sustained growth and its integration into the global economy. This phenomenal change not only brings huge benefits to the Chinese people, but also exerts a tremendous influence on the rest of the world. How large is China's influence on the global economy? How are various countries/regions affected differently? How are various industries in a country affected differently? Answering these questions is not simple. In this paper, we review the recent literature that attempts to answer these questions. The findings of the survey conducted in this study aim to provide a complete picture of China's global influence and to identify issues that require further analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how globalisation has affected inflation in China. We estimated standard Phillips curve inflation equations and examined whether globalisation has affected the structure of inflation dynamics as captured by the Phillips curve. Empirical results suggest that the globalisation of the Chinese economy has changed the behaviour of inflation dynamics. In particular, the impact of domestic and global output gaps on domestic inflation in China has changed significantly since 1994. Before 1994, the domestic output gap was a major factor in driving domestic inflation. After 1994, however, the global output gap plays a significant and more important role in affecting domestic inflation. The finding implies that Chinese monetary authorities should specifically take into account the developments in global output in their monetary policymaking process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review of services sector development in China. It is found that China’s services have recently emerged as the dominant contributor to economic growth and job creation. Trade in services has also increased dramatically, although China maintains a huge deficit. In comparison with economies at a similar stage of development, however, China’s services sector is lagging behind. Both GDP and employment shares of the services sector are relatively small. Services trade also accounts for a relatively small share of China’s total trade. In particular, China’s new services are underdeveloped. As per capita income rises and resultant urbanization accelerates, the country’s services sector is expected to expand further and hence play a key role in rebalancing China’s economy away from its over-reliance on manufacturing and exporting. To reach this goal, further reforms and prudent government policies are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There are still many uncertainties regarding the possible influences of global climate change in the mid-latitude regions, owing to rather limited research and lack of empirical evidence. This paper systematically evaluates the economic impact of climate variation by constructing a 27-year panel dataset of 274 prefecture cities and 816 weather stations in China. Our results document some significant climate–economic relationships, with the increase of 1 °C-temperature, 100 mm-rainfall, and 1%-humidity associated with a 0.78% decrease, 0.86% increase and 1.34% decrease in output, respectively. Higher temperature damages are reflected in less-developed regions, while the positive impact of rainfall mainly appear in more-developed regions. Using integrated assessment models, we project that the model-average climate damage of China may account for up to 4.23 percent of GDP by 2100, based on a nonlinear historical climate–economic interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that whilst the relationship between US consumerism and China's low-wage production has underpinned China's economic growth in recent years, policy-makers are increasingly cognisant of heightened internal and external vulnerabilities, namely increased domestic social unrest and downturns in US demand. Despite calls for increased domestic consumption, opinion remains divided as to the extent to which policy-makers will make a genuine departure with China's export-orientation. This paper argues, however, that the direction of the Chinese political economy will depend much on the transformative role of workers’ struggles. Placed in a broader north-east Asian comparative perspective, we argue that China appears to be on the verge of a transition towards a limited labour supply, as evidenced in increasing labour shortages, rising wages costs and new forms of labour unrest. An in-depth case study of the strike at Nanhai Honda in 2010 suggests that China's migrant workers are beginning to develop a class consciousness and move from reactive to proactive demands. Furthermore, the response of the Chinese state and employers has shifted from one of outright repression to one of accommodation. These trends are likely to be highly significant in terms of China's uneven integration into the global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

China has experienced an unprecedented level of farmland conversion for urban development despite the fact that farmland remains a highly scarce and valuable resource in this densely populated country. The causes of this presumably unreasonable phenomenon are examined from the perspective of competing claims for farmland conversion in Shanghai. The reasons behind such excessive farmland conversion for urban development in transitional China are generalized as follows: (1) the present urban-rural dualistic structure influences farmers to pursue economic rather than agricultural claims, (2) local governments with economic claims exercise strong incentives and power in converting farmland for urban purposes, (3) local governments largely undermine the enforcement of the central government's policies (which upholds agricultural claims), (4) other groups with noneconomic claims are excluded from the farmland conversion process, and (5) the village cadres and role model campaigns effectively reduce the conflict between farmers and local governments regarding the amount of compensation. Based on these findings, policy suggestions for farmland preservation are presented at the end of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is the "non-existence" of the Phillips curve in China a truth or just an illusion due to the deficiency of data? Should policy analysis follow the light of New-Keynesian or New-classical economics? These questions require empirical work on the Phillips curve, which has long been limited in China due to an inaccurate unemployment rate and unreliable estimated output gap. Instead of the insignificant or self-contradicting results in previous work, this paper puts forward a significant estimation, creatively using the vacancy-jobseeker ratio instead of the unemployment rate. It is suggested that a robust Phillips curve cannot be ignored and New-Keynesian economics should be employed in policy analysis in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we examine the link between regional financial development and foreign direct investment using a large micro-level dataset of Chinese manufacturing enterprises. We first investigate the effect of regional financial development on foreign direct investment location choices, and find such development to significantly promote foreign direct investment. We then show that regional financial development also plays an important role in foreign direct investment productivity spillovers. Domestic firms located in financially developed regions gain positive knowledge spillovers from foreign direct investment, but the competitive pressure from multinationals exerts a negative influence on the productivity of domestic firms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the psychological responses to lay-off in contemporary China during its economic reform period. The paper adopts both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. A total of 287 laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises were surveyed and 26 of them were interviewed in China. The survey data were analysed using statistical methods to detect relationships between variables, and the interview data were processed by means of constructing categories of description and illustrated through the voices of the laid-off workers. This research overturns the conventional wisdom of the three-stage theory, ‘shock, distress and fatalism’, developed by Western scholars. It demonstrates that the psychological responses of the laid-off workers are highly variable, and culturally and institutionally specific. The implications are both profound and able to underpin a far more constructive and fruitful programme for retraining unemployed workers in China and other developing countries and integrating them into the workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper studies the interlinks between innovation inputs and outputs and between innovation outputs and economic development. Using a panel data-set from 31 regions of China, we show that the difference in regional innovation output can be significantly explained by R&D manpower and expenditure, highly educated students, and public education spending, while GDP is linked to patent, high-tech export share, and new product sales. Our findings provide support for the use of government R&D subsidies and education rebate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Relying on quarterly data since 1998 we estimate, for China and the U.S., small scale econometric models that economize on the number of variables employed and yet are rich enough to provide useful insights about spillover effects between the two countries under different maintained assumptions about the exogeneity of the macroeconomic relationship between them. We conclude that inflation in China responds to credit shocks. Indeed, the monetary transmission mechanism in China resembles that of the US even if the channels through which monetary policy affects their respective economies differ. We also find that the monetary policy stance of the PBOC was helpful in mitigating the impact of the global financial crisis of 2008-9. Finally, spillovers from the US to China are significant and originate from both through the real and financial sectors of the US economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The situation in Southeast Asia brings attention not only to the regional countries, but also to the great powers. The growing People's Republic of China's economy and military especially causes concern regarding the stability of the whole Southeast Asia region. Smaller Southeast Asian countries may be overwhelmed by China. Amongst these countries is Malaysia, which tries to secure its national interest in the region, especially in the South China Sea. Malaysia faces some maritime security threats caused by its stakes in the Spratly Islands dispute. The article attempts to elucidate the contemporary condition of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), especially in the field of warships. Moreover, the study tries to answer the question of why the RMN is an important branch of the Malaysian Armed Forces and plays a vital role in securing Malaysian safety. The article is divided into two parts. The first describes the problems which Malaysia faces in the field of maritime security. The second elaborates the assets of the RMN, mostly in major combatant ships. This paper concludes with a summary of the RMN's major vessels that have been and will be developed from 1990 to 2025. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on some important facts about government debt in China. Topics discussed include growth in borrowing of domestic public and government debt by Chinese government, financial globalization and increasing inequality blamed for the rise of government debt and an upward trend of observed for ratio of LGD to gross regional product (debt-GRP ratio). It also presents a graph showing government debt ratios from 1995-2012.

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