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Using national longitudinal survey data, this study examines the impact of international trade on income gaps between formal and heterogeneous informal workers in China. The results demonstrate that the positive effect of trade on income is larger for informal employees and smaller for self‐employed workers compared to formal employees. The decomposition results indicate that the disproportionate geographic distribution in tradable regions widens the income gaps between employment sectors, while the difference in international trade income premiums widens the income gap between formal and informal employees and narrows the income gap between formal employees and self‐employed workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can and does realism explain the linkage between China’s economic advancement and its ever-increasing hard power and global influence? Realists assert that a growth in a nation’s economy triggers an upsurge in its craving for military or security advancement and power. Since the commencement of China’s ‘opening policy,’ its economy has witnessed tremendous hikes, being ranked second to the US economy. A vital coincidence of this is the ever-increasing attempt to modernising its military and general security systems. Of major concern is China’s recently established foreign military base in Djibouti in the ‘Horn of Africa.’ Realists have suggested that in such a Hobbesian world, Beijing will employ its economic power to assert its security interests. Analysing this linkage through a realist perspective, using case studies and historical analogies, the article concludes that realism best provides reasons for the phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds light on the internal heterogeneity within the informal economy by examining the working conditions of migrant informal workers in China. It presents the first attempt to test the WIEGO model on the relationship between informality, income, poverty and gender. Based on 107,020 samples of informal workers from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), economic, social and occupational health components of working conditions of migrant informal workers in five employment-status tiers are analysed. The results show the significant heterogeneity within informal workers in terms of their income, working intensity, labour contracts, social security, union and community support. The relationships between the informal employment tiers and income, poverty and gender show a pattern that is not fully in line with the WIEGO model, suggesting the complexity and plurality of heterogeneities in informal employment. The paper concludes by calling for research on regional varieties of the heterogeneity in informal employment worldwide to better understand the unfolding of the inequality-informality nexus in specific contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It argues that EAEU members and China need each other to implement their two major initiatives. As a result of the conjunction of the EAEU and BRI, China and the EAEU states linked their transportation infrastructure, which provided them opportunities for modernization and growth. The EAEU member states established contacts with the second economy of the world at a multilateral level as well. The Agreement on Economic and Trade Cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and Its Member States, of the One Part, and the People's Republic of China, of the other Part , signed in 2018, which came into force in 2019, provided added impetus to strengthen economic relations and created a legal platform for the further harmonization of the BRI with the EAEU. This article also argues that the conjunction of the EAEU and BRI has a political meaning as well. It means that in post-Soviet Eurasia, Russia and China have chosen cooperation over competition, as they are the main initiators of these economic and political integration initiatives. It explains that it fully coincides with the national interests of other members of the EAEU, such as Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, as these states can cooperate with both Russia and China without choosing any side. This contribution concludes that cooperation between China and the EAEU in post-Soviet Eurasia improves security level and contributes to peaceful, cooperative development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to estimate sustainability elasticities to investigate how the sustainable development pillars in Iran should interact with those of the greatest economies in the west and east of the world, i.e., the US and China, respectively. For this estimation, this research uses SEY model including simultaneous equations system and Granger causality within 1972–2019 via two approaches of limited and full information. The results show high elasticities of sustainability among these countries, implying their considerable spillover effects and confirming the integrated sustainability perspective. In addition, the results show that the sustainability spillover effects of China are more massive than those the US on Iran sustainable development pillars. This result has two implications. The first one accepts the considerable flow of spillover effects between Iran and China. The second one shows that Iran has been unsuccessful in employing and activating the potential flows of sustainability spillover effects from the US as the greatest global economy. Therefore, policy-makers in Iran should consider a peaceful and collaborative relationship with the global community to improve and accelerate its sustainable development progress. Also, they should keep their relationship with China as the second biggest economy in the world while improving the relationship with the US to activate the potential spillover effects between the sustainability pillars of Iran and those of the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We establish a two-country DSGE model with a vertical production chain to study the inflation dynamics in China. By introducing multiple layers of price stickiness and shadow economy production to the vertical industrial chain, our model helps to explain dynamic characteristics of inflation. In our model, shocks can not only affect inflations by passing down the production chain through cost channels, but also in the reverse way due to the intermediate demand effect and the investment costs effects. After calibrating and estimating the parameters, the simulation results show that more than 90% of inflation fluctuations in China can be attributed to domestic shocks, among which the domestic monetary shock and final sector technology shock are the most influencing factors in explaining China's inflation dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is a contribution to comparative capitalism studies. We begin with a critique of the 'Varieties of Capitalism' school, before presenting the 'variegated' alternative. We note difficulties of both schools in characterising statist challengers to the dominant market order. The rise of China has made this a pressing issue, one that raises questions: Is China capitalist, and since when? And how should one analyse the communist world, which has since the 1920s represented a substantial swathe of the global economy? We next present an account of capitalism that explains étatiste variants as the product of late development, and the 'communist' economies as a state-capitalist model geared to catch-up industrialisation. This obliges us to consider how to account for their differences. In the second half we take up this challenge, via comparative analysis of two state-capitalist economies: the GDR (representing the orthodox Soviet model) and Yugoslavia (a maverick, market-friendly variant). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing carbon emissions is critical to achieving a carbon‐neutral world according to the Glasgow Climate Pact, but production, and thus carbon emissions, must continue to meet the needs of the world's growing population. Minimizing carbon emissions per production, that is, increasing carbon efficiency is one way to support the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, studying the determinants of carbon efficiency for China, the largest global polluter, is important for zero carbon goals. To this end, this study examines the effects of the shadow economy, globalization, trade openness and urbanization on carbon efficiency using novel dynamic autoregressive‐distributed lag simulations for China during 1990–2018. The empirical results illustrate that (i) the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is not valid; (ii) Shadow economy, trade openness and urbanization reduce carbon efficiency and (iii) Globalization enhances carbon efficiency. Based on these results, it is suggested that the Chinese government should combat the shadow economy to increase carbon efficiency, regulate unplanned and polluting urbanization in a green manner, reduce carbon intensity in foreign trade, and benefit from environmental technologies provided by globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real economy has always been a crucial component of China's economic development, while fictitious economy has experienced rapid growth in past decades. As a result, the connection between the real and fictitious economy has become increasingly complex. This study utilized a hierarchical framework for classifying real economy and conducted a hidden causality test and EEMD method to explore a causal relationship between markets. Monthly data from July 2001 to September 2022 were analyzed using a TVP-SV-VAR model to investigate dynamic relationships among the manufacturing, construction, real estate, and financial industries as well as the mechanisms between the real and fictitious economies. The study outcomes demonstrated that the financial and real estate industries have only short-term positive effects on the manufacturing and construction industries, and in the later period of sample intervals, both industries had negative effects on the construction industry. The construction industry in the real economy has already shown a trend of moving "from Real to Virtual", while the core manufacturing industry in the real economy has not yet exhibited this trend. To prevent the spread of this trend in the real economy, it is necessary to guide the fictitious economy to serve the real economy by regulating its development appropriately. This study offers a novel perspective for examining the real economy and the fictitious economy in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses the comparative statistical analysis of the number of inbound international students, the costs and benefits of education, the immigration laws and enforcement processes, and the foreign policy objectives to explain the growing number of African students in China and its political implications. China's "Going Out" policy focused on economic growth with little regard for world affairs. By 2010, as it matured and became the world's second largest economy, China's focus shifted to expansion, securing new sources for raw materials and securing markets for its exports. Therefore, it started a new "offensive" in underdeveloped nations, particularly in Africa, by developing a stream of cooperation in all sectors including education whereas a substantial number of Africans seek higher education in China. In their response to China's strategy, the United States, and allies, who have been losing influence in Africa in the last decade (2010-2020), promised to increase their investments in all sectors including education on the continent. However, the data show China increasing the number of African students while these numbers are either flat or decreasing for the US and Allies. The lower costs of education to Africans in China, its benefits, and the immigration laws and processes in both China and the West make this a complex equation for the US and its allies and may lead to China increasing its net influence in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies found that tourism can mitigate the shadow economy, but its effectiveness in a specific country remains uncertain. To fill the research gap, this study investigates the relationship between tourism and the shadow economy in China based on province level data for 2000-2016. The results reveal that the shadow economy will be adversely affected by tourism. Moreover, regional heterogeneity analysis indicates that in central and western regions of China, tourism is more effective in suppressing shadow activities. The findings contribute to a policy reference for mitigating the shadow economy and regulating tourism development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Political Science Review is the property of Canadian Political Science Review 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: Siguiendo el marco de Dingeldey et al. (2021), pero con un enfoque cualitativo, se analiza la segmentación legal del trabajo en China, la India, Malasia y Viet Nam, prestando atención a los niveles de exclusión y a las jerarquías de protección otorgada. El autor observa varios factores que diferencian a estos países de los del Norte y que determinan sus mercados de trabajo: el tamaño relativo de la población activa que opera fuera de la cobertura efectiva de la reglamentación laboral; la terminología jurídica, de difícil traducción a los idiomas occidentales; y la historia jurídica, especialmente en lo que respecta al desajuste entre los marcos jurídicos y el mercado laboral resultante del colonialismo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can people who work in the informal sector protect property rights and address uncertainties? Street vending forms an essential part of urban economies in developing countries like China, and most street vendors operate outside state regulation. They encounter market-based uncertainties and uncertainties caused by unpredictable enforcement. Empirical data collected in Guangzhou and Guilin suggests that street vendors form private governance organizations to solve resource limitations, allocate pitches and resist government interference. Street vendors who cannot rely on effective private governance organizations may purchase protection from a third party (e.g. agents of the state) to secure informal rights to a particular spot and avoid confiscation of their wares and equipment. This study contributes to existing literature on private governance and informality by empirically examining private governance institutions in an informal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the gradual expansion of China's political, economic, and military strength, the rapid rise of China has become a globally recognized fact. At present, although China's international image as the world's second largest economy, military power, and political power has been increasingly accepted by the global community, China's image construction, as an important part of national soft power, is still facing many problems. This chapter focuses on defining the basic concepts of international publicity, China's soft power, and China's image construction in the context of new media integration, analyzes the international development trend of international publicity and the important functions and limitations of foreign publicity in establishing China's image construction, and analyzes the ecological environment of media integration development. Considering that there are great unfairness in the environment and the conflict of communication values is not conducive to the establishment of China's urban image, the article focuses on how to use global publicity values to establish China's national image and puts forward corresponding countermeasures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a form of the informal economy, countries around the world have different policies towards street vendors. This paper constructs a law enforcement game model composed of the Chengguan, street vendors, and urban residents in China. Based on the evolutionary game theory, we achieved the evolutionary stable equilibrium points under complying with different constraint conditions by solving the replicator dynamic equations of parties in the dynamic system. Through the gradual stability analysis of the equilibrium point, the stable strategy of the evolutionary game can be calculated. It is found that the flexible law enforcement behavior of urban management departments plays an important leading role in urban street governance. Flexible law enforcement not only requires macro policy arrangements but also tests the executive wisdom of street bureaucrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a temporal perspective, this paper examines the scale, current development, business versatility, and overall work effects of regional the movement business work, taking into account the three-level proportions of the degree of the movement business in the context of the common Internet of Things. From a spatial standpoint, we recognize the adjacent city as the primary investigative unit, take on various markers, and lead an extensive assessment of the territorial improvement of the provincial travel industry work through even and vertical correlations. This paper utilizes numerous direct relapse examinations to set up the connection between the advancement level of the district of the travel industry economy and the impacting factors; arranged by size of impact, they are the travel industry asset gift, area traffic conditions, and monetary turn of events. Utilizing a blend of a solitary pointer and various markers, the area of the travel industry economy is assessed and dissected for contrasts in existence. We select the absolute travel industry income as a pointer and use strategies like reach. To assess the time difference of the movement of the business economy in each location, standard deviation, coefficient of assortment, and coefficient were used. To examine the data, we use the Granger causality test and several methodology components influencing the travel industry work nearby and the development mode. Through the foundation of a primary model of the travel industry work development element framework, causality test and different strategies are taken on to examine the provincial travel industry business affecting variables and development techniques, and the outcomes show that the local travel industry business development mode is a speculation driven the travel industry work development mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses legal archives from Liangshan 梁山 county, Shandong, to explore the ambiguous position of rural markets in China during the Great Leap Forward campaign (1958–1962). These testimonies, though sparse, show that negotiations at a local, indeed personal, level underpinned the symbiosis between the "second economy" of illicit trade and the party-state's putatively socialist political economy. Liangshan's gray market bridged the gap between the party-state's Sputnik promises and catastrophic realities, contributing twofold to the party-state's political survival. First, illicit commerce helped famine survivors, including local cadres, obtain desperately needed sustenance; these cadres' support of trading villagers despite top-down restrictions on such transactions likely helped them retain local moral authority after the Leap. Second, the intermittent formal prosecution of "profiteers" in the ritualized space of the county courtroom projected justice, stability, and coercive power, which also contributed to the party's continuing hold on authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The informal sector can play a role in sustainable development. • Competition from the informal sector can significantly improve the energy efficiency of formal firms, and this result is robust. • Instrumental variable and property score matching method are used to address possible endogeneity issues. • Innovation has a significant mediating effect. Based on micro-evidence, this paper investigates the role of the informal sector in sustainable development. In particular, this paper examines the impact of competition from the informal sector on the energy intensity of firms based on Chinese manufacturing enterprise data. The results indicate that firms reduce their energy intensity in the face of fiercer competition from the informal sector. Competition from the informal sector has a more obvious effect on reducing energy intensity especially for firms with higher energy intensity. The subsample regression results imply prominent regional and enterprise ownership heterogeneity. The mechanism test indicates that competition from the informal sector reduces firm energy intensity by promoting the product innovation, production cost innovation, R&D (Research and Development) activities of formal firms. However, there is no evidence of a crowding-out effect, that is, competition from the informal sector has not been found to squeeze out firms' output and reduce energy intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, Chinese rural migrants have been understood as engaging in dagong 打工 (working for a boss), or the selling of their waged labor, conditioned by the global production chain, dormitory regimes, and exploitive labor relations within and beyond factories. Meanwhile, chuangdang 闯荡 (venturing) as a life project that either opposes or extends dagong has been neglected in scholarly studies. Venturing refers to a spatiotemporal condition defined by the uniqueness of urban villages where rural migrants participate in the informal economy on the urban fringes and attach themselves to entrepreneurship and mobility. It is also a multifaceted presentism produced out of the following spatiotemporal conditions: (1) the sense of urgency to get ahead in spatial temporality; (2) an optimistic relationship with unpredictability; and (3) the technologies of mobility in the name of freedom. By highlighting the dilemmas that propel and hinder rural migrants, this article argues that the cultural politics of venturing are a condition that renders rural migrants economically aggressive, yet politically passive. Thereby, it not only prolongs rural migrants' mobile lives on the urban fringes, but also dampens political actions that claim space through resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous development of today's society, digital image processing technology has been applied in more and more fields, among which authentication in digital image processing technology has become a hot field. In the process of identity verification, the face is used as the basis of feature recognition because the method of using the face as a feature basis is more easily accepted by the public and the operation is simple and the feasibility is stronger. In the online education model, observing and comparing students' facial emotions through the platform and analyzing students' learning goals, learning effects, learning emotions, and contradictions and conflicts arising in the process of cooperation have become an effective teaching evaluation system. Up to now, China has developed into the second largest economy in the world. The global "Chinese fever" has brought China's culture into a new stage of development. Countries in the world learn Chinese culture by developing Chinese language courses. By building a Chinese learning intelligent system with a B/S structure, this system can effectively evaluate the teaching process. It can be seen from the test results that the platform meets the basic requirements of functional design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been 20 years since the concept of "BRICS" was first proposed in 2001, which can be treated as Group 5 (G5) from the South. As being the world's second largest economy and largest developing country, China's leading role in the BRICS has been widely recognized for its strategy adjustment from the international community. It is also of great importance to study the change of China's status among BRICS countries and to analyze the development reasons from a macro and longitudinal perspective of Chinese way policy. Basically, this article analyzes the formation and function of BRICS' institution as well as China's role in BRICS from the perspective of political economy. As China increases political and economic strength, the influence of China's role serves as an engine for BRICS development, from participant to practitioner and to leader. Meanwhile, as the important role of BRICS countries in the world has increased, then it will lead to a new international situation of a rise in the East (from the South) and the decline in the West (from the North). Under all these political and economic changes, it gives China an opportunity to enhance South-South cooperation as well as South-North economic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vigorous growth of the Chinese economy together with its increasingly successful role in international trade may have profoundly impacted developing countries. This study examines the large increase in the international trade exposure of the Brazilian economy during 2000–2012 to assess the impacts of import competition on its manufacturing formal and informal labor markets. In this period, import penetration grew by more than 20 percent in Brazil, and the share of the import penetration originating in China increased from 3 to 20 percent. At the same time, the share of informal workers in manufacturing declined from 27 to approximately 15 percent. Employing a switching regression model and Brazilian household survey data, this study finds that a greater industry-level Chinese and 'rest of the world' import penetration increases the likelihood of jobs becoming informal at different intensities, and these effects are smaller in unskilled-labor intensive industries and manufacturing states. Additionally, both types of import penetration positively impact the average informal wage. In contrast, the estimates suggest that a larger Chinese import penetration reduces average formal wages, while imports from elsewhere have the opposite effect. The results also indicate that the magnitude of the effects on wages are moderated by the unskilled labor intensity of the industry and whether the worker is located in a manufacturing state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2007 to 2017, this paper examines the impact of Confucianism on earnings management. We find that Confucianism is significantly negatively associated with earnings management. Further analyses suggest that the inhibitory effect of Confucianism on earnings management is more pronounced when firms have weak monitoring mechanisms such as poorer corporate governance, lower institutional ownership, and less analyst coverage. Moreover, only Confucianism has a significant restraining effect on earnings management after controlling for both Confucianism and religion. Overall, our study not only contributes to the literature on earnings management from the perspective of informal systems but also deepens our understanding of the economic consequences of Confucianism at the firm-level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of shadow economy and environmental policy stringency on energy consumption and economic growth in the case of China for the period 1993 to 2019. Asymmetric ARDL empirical findings show that positive shocks in shadow economy and environmental policy stringency have a significant and positive impact on energy consumption and economic growth in the long run. However, the negative shocks in shadow economy exert positive and significant impacts on energy consumption and economic growth in the long run, but magnitudes are small compared to positive shocks. The long-run findings report no significant effect of negative shock in environmental policy stringency on energy consumption and economic growth. China should use environmental policy stringency as economic tools to maintain green economic growth and clean energy demand for sustained economic expansion. Policymakers should focus on the inclusion of environmental policy stringency in any future environment strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism Tribune / Lvyou Xuekan is the property of Tourism Institute of Beijing Union University 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.)

[Display omitted] • An effective waste recovery scheme of bottom-up 'formalised' informal collectors. • Findings are based on 21 single-day field observations and over 470 interviews. • Recovery capacity: 438.4 kg/hour per station, 2,325.3 metric tons/day overall. • Actual household waste generation is calculated for comparative analysis. • Waste recovery is less dependant on financial incentives, rather on daily routines. In light of China's rising environmental governance focus on household waste recycling, this article analyses a novel recyclable waste recovery scheme, Ant Recovery, in Changchun, Jilin Province. In contrast to other recyclable waste collection systems, Ant Recovery emerged as a bottom-up venture established by members of the informal recycling sector in cooperation with the local recycling association. To assess the scheme's performance, the analysis uses field research data obtained over 21 days of observatory and questionnaire surveys at one of Ant Recovery's mobile collection points. Based on data from 1,501 documented recyclable waste transactions, the analysis indicates a median recovery rate of 438.4 kg/hour at the surveyed recovery station. Extended to the entire scheme's network in Changchun, the figure extrapolates to 2,034.6 metric tons/day, which approximates to roughly 94% of waste recyclables generated by the city's households. These achievements essentially result from two factors: (1) A beneficial policy environment established by central and local regulations and (2) AR's operational compatibility with daily routines and profit orientation of waste recyclable delivering stakeholders. In comparison to many other recycling systems in China, the alternative model in Changchun appears to be indigenous with little requirement for novel organisational structures or high capital/ overhead costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current humanity is experiencing extraordinary levels of material and ideal connectivity. Change being constant and stability exceptional and provisional; one has to expect a significant acceleration of change in the next hundred years. The core question is therefore: What kind of future is being shaped for the next generations, our grandchildren and greatgrand children? Without going too far back in time, it is fair to say that the current world was shaped by two different, successive and antinomic global processes: imperial expansion, colonization and domination on the one hand, and resistance, struggle for liberation, and the search for a more equitable world order on the other hand. Against all the odds, European imperialism, civil war, wars of aggression, and Western ostracism, China was an influential actor in the struggle for liberation of Africa from colonialism, got its rightful place in the international world order and is now the second economy of the planet. Globalization resulted in the emergence of a de facto multipolar world, with different models of societies and organizational cultures. These are dialectic processes constantly in operation, but there is however a third crucial area of interest, generally taken granted, that of people and culture. Peaceful relations and sustainable economic development backed by greater cultural and demographic connectivity are better options for the construction of a novel future for humanity. Universities and higher education institutions can play an important role in spearheading and implementing these new orientations for the construction of a future peaceful and sustainable human world in which war will be outlawed. This paper outlines what academics can do to promote such a vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The basic facts of China's economic development have called into question Western transition economic theory, most famously presented in the works of János Kornai. On the other hand, the three most representative approaches to explaining China's development experience have variously emphasized the resource endowment structure, or the property rights system, or the incentive mechanism behind the behavior of local governments, as the key to China's economic development. Although they focus on different dimensions of China's economic practices, they ultimately converge on the logic of marketism as the explanation. The "social science of practice" approach proposed by Philip Huang is distinguished from these orthodox theories in that, first, it attends to the rise of the huge informal economy in China and reveals the historical roots of contemporary social inequality. This approach has three closely related characteristics: theoretical formulations based on analyses of paradoxical phenomena, a broad historical perspective on current problems, and the idea of substantive justice. The main significance of this approach lies not only in its insightful and practice-focused understanding of the key realities that have been ignored by mainstream theories, but, more importantly, in its multiple inspirations for constructing a social science theory that incorporates Chinese subjectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Investigación Económica is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Facultad de Economia 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.)

China has consolidated its position in the world as the second largest economy. Four decades ago, China was one of the poorest economies prior to economic reforms. Yet, China's reforms are unique as they were implemented gradually and experimental in nature, which contrasted the reforms in other transitioning economies. Understanding these directions can provide a deeper understanding for the future of China's growth. This paper provides a critical review of the reforms, highlighting the importance of the agricultural and non-state sector during initial reforms. Furthermore, the review discusses the substandard performance of the state sector despite various reforms, prior to the implementation of widespread reforms to open its economy. Finally, China's sources of economic growth are discussed, and future policy implications are offered to direct China into an economically sustainable growth path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to the debate on the nexus between informal economies and the environment by investigating the long-term dynamic impacts of China's informal economies on pollution and considering regional differences in informal economies' pollution. This paper uses the Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model to estimate the size of informal economies and employs econometric models to examine their relationships to pollution based on provincial-level panel data from 2000 to 2017. The results indicate that informal economies' effects on environmental pollution are not purely positive or negative. Rather, our model indicates that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between informal economies and pollution in the long run in China; this means that the level of environmental pollution increases at first and then decreases with the growth of informal economies. Further analysis shows that while this inverted, U-shaped relationship is significant in different regions of China, it is affected by different environmental impact factors. The paper concludes by discussing the policy implications for environmental protection and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article centres on institutions, that is, systems of rules that guide behaviour and interaction of socio-economic actors, and their role in advancing China's circular economy (CE), particularly in waste management (WM). Since the early 2000s, state and non-state actors in China have begun to explore CE ideas in WM resulting in a multitude of related patterns and schemes. In regard to why such systems exhibit different degrees of effectiveness, it appears that much is determined by the institutional arrangements within. Based on several years of field research in China, the article identifies and analyses key institutional ingredients for effective outcomes. Methodologically, these components are identified via an analytical model incorporating WM performance indicators and a framework for assessing interest inclusiveness. Empirically, the analysis is applied to case study findings on the informal and semi-formalised recycling sector in Beijing and Changchun. The resulting findings are synthesised into an evaluation matrix: it indicates which effective informal institutional elements in waste collection and pre-processing allow for a translation into formal systems. The so-demonstrated convertibility indicates a substantial potential for the innovation of current formal WM systems in urban China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economy faces a loss of production capacity among the most severe in at least the past half-century as a result of the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It will take several years of persistent investment efforts to restore the pre-pandemic level of capacity and put global output back to potential. By using a production function based on the incremental capital-output ratio, we estimate the loss of production capacity for the global economy and for the two main world locomotives, the U.S. and China. To do this, we estimate the production capacity implied in our current recession baseline and the capacity that would have existed in the absence of the pandemic (precrisis scenario). The difference between the two estimates is defined as the loss of capacity generated by the pandemic. The results also allow us to extract some policy implications in terms of mitigation measures and investment requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we assessed size of the shadow economy for 198 prefecture-level cities in China from the years 2000 to 2018 using a method called MIMIC, which stands for multiple indicators and multiple causes. The goal of the paper is to investigate temporal-spatial characteristics of evolution in the shadow economy. The results manifest that percentage of the total commerce that is hidden from view all over China first increases and then decreases over time, with an average of 17.08 %. The increase in taxation will likely trigger a massive expansion in the business conducted in the shadows, while the increase in government regulation and self-employment rates all have produced negative effects on it. The locations that have a significant amount of unreported economic activity are basically centralized in southeast coastal area, southwest area, northeast of China, and three provinces of central China. Moreover, the difference in shadow economy between resource-based and non-resource-based cities tends to widen gradually after 2013. Cities being too large or too small may face a high proportion of shadow economy. • We measure the size of shadow economy for 198 prefecture-level cities in China. • A high proportion of shadow economy exist in the southwest, northeast, southeast coastal and central area of China. • The difference in shadow economy between resource-based and non-resource-based cities tends to widen gradually. • Cities being too large or too small may face a high proportion of shadow economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second largest economy in the world and one of the five existing experiences of Real Socialism, China surprises for its capacity for growth, innovation and development. Although it is defined as a unitary state, many of its practices are decentralized. In this way, this work brings a survey of the tax system that has existed since 1994 in China, the Tax-Share System, detailing its taxes, budget expenditures, and the regional issue. In addition, it also focuses on the division of these variables between the levels of central and local government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the intricate relation between corruption and income inequality in China based on provincial panel data of 1996–2014. Our analysis shows that lower corruption is associated with higher income inequality. This seemingly counter-intuitive result, however, is consistent with findings from countries with a large informal sector, particularly those in Latin America. Institutional reform reduces corruption but also imposes additional costs on the participants in the informal sector. The latter effect, at least initially, exacerbates inequality, giving rise to the negative correlation. After the informal sector in China is considered, that negative relation vanishes. Moreover, when reform is accompanied by measures protecting the poor (such as those taken in the agricultural reform occurring in early 2000s), its perverse impact on inequality is significantly reduced. Lastly, public investment is positively associated with income inequality as the former, generally financed by taxation, may transfer income from the taxpayers to the business elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, China has become the world’s second largest economy behind only the United States of America. Until 1994, China used the fixed exchange rate and dual pricing system. A sharp fall in global oil prices aggravates the global downturn. Our key data were gotten from Macrotrends expertise in economic development and exchange rates. GDP Growth rate was more fluctuating pattern (variance 0.014, standard deviation 0.122) than exchange rate (Variance 0.004, standard deviation 0.07). From 1990-2019 both variables were analyzed. That means these do not vary systematically over time. In other words, they are time invariant. Regressing two series that are non-stationary likewise, yields a spurious (or nonsense) regression. So, to check it lets check the rule of thumb. We found a Durbin Watson Statistic of 0.612 and R square of 0.117. If we look the calculated t statistic with critical values at 5% significance level only Domestic Demand shows a significant relationship (4.00 >2.756) with GDP of China. A variety of analytical studies suggest that Competitive Exchange Rate strategies are suitable for economic development. We also argued that, considering some constraints on usable policy alternatives, there are theoretical origins in a policy approach such as an ideal strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan and China has long history of deep rooted and time-tested friendship. The changes of power in both states do not affect their relations. Since the beginning of CPEC which is a mega project of China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) strategy and is a great step in cementing Pak-China nexus, is also seen and surmised by the world powers as a paradigm shift in the power politics that might lead towards new polarizations. World powers are showing varied attitudes towards CPEC and are keenly observing new developments. Chinese influence has accelerated in the neighboring countries because it at present is the second largest economy in the world. Pakistan is the only neighbor of China with which it enjoys friendly relations. China's strong political, social, economic, cultural and defense relations with Pakistan paves the way for strengthening its economy by getting access to the Middle Eastern, African and Central Asian markets through Gwadar Port. The project is seen as a stepping stone for the promotion of peace and stability in Asia which may open more avenues to bring the world together by solving regional issues. Besides, the resistance of world powers for undermining the growing and cementing China-Pakistan relation through CPEC is also disclosed by focusing the major question that how CPEC is strengthening the relations between China and Pakistan and what paradigm shift will take place in the power politics of the region and of the world?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying the multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) approach, the present paper measured the size of the shadow economies in China's provinces over 1995–2016. The results show that the average size of the shadow economy in 30 provinces of China increased from 13.55% in 1995 to 14.39% in 2009, and then decreased to 12.30% in 2016. There are obvious variations in the size of the shadow economies in different districts of China. The average size of the shadow economy is lowest in provinces in the eastern district and highest in the western district. In addition, the causes and consequences of the shadow economies in China's provinces have also been analysed using the MIMIC approach, and the results show that tax burden, complexity of the tax system, intensity of regulation, unemployment, employment in the agricultural sector and economic openness have significant positive effects on China's shadow economy, while the ratio of direct taxes to indirect taxes, fiscal autonomy and income levels have significant negative effects on China's shadow economy. Using the growth rate of energy consumption as the benchmark indicator, the MIMIC analysis shows that the shadow economy has significant positive effects on the development of the official economy and income inequality while having a significant negative effect on the labour participation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, thirty-five years after this author first wrote about involution, and at a time when that term and concept have come to be commonly used by many people, this article revisits that term to explain more clearly and succinctly its meaning and also to add to it contributions made by other scholars as well as by this author's own further research, including new research on the de-involution of the past few decades in China, and analyses of the mechanisms and theoretical logics contained therein. Because China's peasant economy has been the longest-lasting and largest in the world, perhaps also the most highly involuted, and its recent changes, including de-involution, make up the most dramatic example of the modernization of a peasant economy, it serves to explain most clearly the principles and mechanisms of change, and shows just how different those are from the Western historical experience of transition from feudalism to capitalism. Furthermore, peasant economy, not just in China but also in many other developing countries, has been the source most recently of the rise globally of an enormous informal economy—of labor that has little or no legal protection or benefits, according to the definition of the International Labor Organization—now reaching one-half to three-quarters of all urban employment in many developing countries, and more in China than anywhere else. That too is directly connected to the peasant economy and its background of involution and de-involution. At the moment, China's future direction on this matter is at once full of uncertainties and of exciting promises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Side issues of economy development break out in China during recent decades, like environmental pollution or the widely ignored one, shadow economy. Using annual data for the three provinces at northeast China over the period 2000 to 2016, this paper examines the size of the shadow economy by MIMIC model first and then adopts the dynamic panel analysis to study the direct relationship between the shadow economy and pollution level. The major innovation point of this paper is the pioneering study of the impact from the pollution level on the size of shadow economy. We also employ various pollution descriptions from terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric ecosystems as the robustness check to make our following conclusions more comprehensive and credible: (1) shadow economy is a direct quality factor to the increase of the pollution level. (2) A positive effect from pollution to shadow economy also exists: the higher the pollution level is, the larger the size of shadow economy will be. In the end, this paper proposes several valuable information and suggestions to the government in economy development and pollution abatement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China, known as the largest carbon emitter and the second largest economy worldwide, has continued to put effort into the understandings of the main drivers of carbon emission and their decoupling statuses from its economic growth. Considering the significant differences of natural and social environments in different regions of China, this paper presents a regional-scale decomposition of energy-related carbon emission and its decoupling from economic growth by using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) and the Tapio decoupling method. The decoupling results indicate that carbon emissions in all regions show a stable decoupling trend from their economic development, which means that China is now on the right road for achieving a low-carbon economy. However, the decoupling status by the end of 2016 also indicates that most of the regions are still in the states of expansive coupling or weak decoupling, especially in Northwest (NW), which implies that the speed of decarbonization process is still not high enough. The decomposition results show that in all regions except NW, GDP per capita is the most influential factor leading to increasing carbon emissions, while energy intensity is the largest factor in reducing carbon emissions. In NW, both GDP per capita and energy intensity drive the increase in carbon emissions. The results in this paper could benefit China's regional policy-making and national strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied how environmental regulation affects the ecological environment from the perspective of an underground economy. The theoretical model shows that environmental regulation exerts both direct and indirect effects — via the underground economy — on environmental pollution, and that the underground economy is unfavorable for the environment. Empirical results show that all the effects (direct, indirect, and total) of environmental regulation are insignificant, and the enforcement of environmental regulation may increase smog emissions with the expansion of the underground economy; smog pollution will increase with the strengthening of environmental regulation. Moreover, the underground economy shows a remarkable spatial effect when using spatial distance or spatial economics weights matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rapid urbanization has led to rising construction and demolition waste (C&DW) amid a quoted recycling rate of only about 10%. Previous studies on C&DW recycling in China have focused on lack of awareness, weak regulation, limited markets for recycled products, and immature recycling technology. This paper investigates the recycling rate of demolition waste (DW) through a case study of the demolition process in a highway project in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, and data collected through analyses of past documents, field observations, and interviews with key stakeholders to provide contrary evidence that the recycling rate is much higher than reported. The reason for the discrepancy is that the reported recycling rate did not include the efforts of a myriad of relocated residents, small construction businesses, informal recycling establishments, developers, and road construction contractors. Proper estimation of the DW recycling rate in China should consider these efforts, especially from the informal sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how corporate insolvencies in China, the second largest economy, are handled under the current legislation, the China Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of 2006. Relying on the fresh empirical data arising from the first ten years on the use of China's three insolvency procedures, reorganization, composition and liquidation, this article reveals the huge gap between the law in the books and the law in action, arguing that the implementation of this law in China perhaps has not achieved the legislative objectives. The constitutional and institutional weaknesses affecting the application of this law are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]