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Scholars debate whether states or markets drive economic policy in the context of internationalization. Unpacking the market-state dichotomy, liberal pluralists and institutionalists alike conduct sectoral analysis to examine economic policies and outcomes. They debate the relative importance of sectors versus factors and the impact of sectoral coalitions, structural characteristics, and institutional trajectories. Building on previous scholarship, this article argues that state imperatives, such as national security and technological advancement, are an important guide to understanding dominant patterns of economic policy, defined as state goals, government-business relations, and state methods. Beyond that, the organization of institutions and structural sectoral attributes influence the ways in which actual policy outcomes vary across sectors and time. Case studies of the liberalization and subsequent reregulation of foreign direct investment across subsectors of telecommunications in China substantiate this argument. Evidence from other industries further validates this explanatory model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case study is presented on the alleged transformation of consumerism in China through examining its cities from the late 1990s through 2010, including the role that Chinese consumerism plays in China's classification as a Third World country. An overview of Chinese consumers, including regional variations in their style and consumptive behaviors, is provided.

The article discusses the future of the Washington Consensus, a U.S.-led model of classical liberal economics that focuses on free trade as a means of alleviating poverty in the developing world. Topics include the notion of a poverty trap, the concept of industrial policy (IP) as a protectionist approach to economic development, and the idea of a Beijing Consensus that draws upon economic growth in China. The nature of Chinese town and village enterprises (TVEs) is noted, along with the mixture between private and state enterprise in China.

An interview with Justin Yifu Lin, chief economist of the World Bank, is presented, focusing on global economic recovery and the role of the World Bank in developing nations. Topics include the applicability of Chinese economic models to other parts of the world, the role of central government in economic development, and gaps between the rich and the poor in China and elsewhere.

The world's economic system is in transition as governments try to manage the tensions generated by the financial crisis that began in September 2008. While the crisis has had financial, economic and political consequences, a further set of effects could be termed geopolitical and geo-economic: broadly, the impact on the way that countries relate to each other politically and economically. It had been clear well before the crisis that emerging economies, and particularly China, were playing a more important role in world affairs. However, the crisis accelerated that process and helped create a more fluid situation in international affairs, in which the instincts of governments are more towards national responses, and established global institutions and regional organisations are no longer seen as the automatic port in a storm, or as the only route to international solutions. Two years after the 2008 crisis, the state of apparent flux in international economic relations could be but an interlude before harsher realities once again force further international coordination and create pressures for a new global compact to be forged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The codes of conduct of Western brand-name corporations normally require supplier factories in the Global South to comply with the local country's minimum legal wage; the codes also often stipulate a maximum sixty-hour work week. But the problems of illegally low wages and overtime violations in supplier factories remain unresolved. This article uses survey data collected in a city in South China on workers' wages and work hours to show how legal minimum wage rates, which normally are expressed in developing countries as a monthly wage, obfuscate the level of wages paid to workers. This will be demonstrated by comparing two different payment systems: time rates (which predominate in the toy industry) and piece rates (which predominate in garment manufacturing). The differences in the compensation rates and work hours resulting from the two systems lead the authors to contend that countries in the Global South and the implementers of corporate codes should calculate minimum wages in terms of hourly earnings in order to make wage payments more transparent and help reduce exploitative practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is to analyze the impact of Chinese enterprises on the local employment practices in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Based on surveys of over 100 Chinese and local companies and extensive interviews with managers and policy-makers in both countries made from July to December 2007,the study aims not only to depict the current employment practices of Chinese companies in Africa, but also to analyze the factors which affect the localization of employment. Two major patterns, bulldozer-type and locomotive-type, are identified and their implications for the local communities are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the intellectual and political challenges when dealing with the notion of continental drift as it relates to economic development and knowledge production in developing countries. The situation in Asia, Africa, and Latin America is examined in terms of global injustice, developing economies, and globalization. The article also discusses the crisis surrounding global food prices, including food riots and food security amongst the urban poor. New dietary patterns amongst the middle-class in the expanding economies of India and China and biofuel feedstock are viewed as primary causes of the crisis.

This article discusses the relationship between capitalist and socialist approaches to the globalization and emerging markets. The socialist approach, which is related to Chinese foreign economic relations, is contrasted with capitalism, which is represented by the U.S. and neoliberal institutions such as the International Monetary Fund. Neoliberal institutions are presented as an institutional cover for the exploitation of developing countries. This approach is contrasted with the Chinese economic relationship with developing countries in Africa. The distinction between the behavior of the Chinese and the U.S. government in their relations with international organizations such as the World Trade Organization and the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference is also noted.

The article discusses the position of China and other developing countries in the global economy. The author explores the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of the world trading system and the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement that offers special protection for developing countries in global trade. He looks into the issues surrounding the admission of China to the WTO, particularly on potential inequalities.