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Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2019, this paper uses a two-stage DEA model to measure regional innovation efficiency, then non-parametric test is used to examine the impact of innovation network structure and government R&D investment on regional innovation efficiency. The results show that, at the provincial level, innovation efficiency of regional R&D is not necessarily in direct proportion to the innovation efficiency in the commercialization stage. Commercialization efficiency is not necessarily high in provinces with high technical R&D efficiency. At the national level, the innovation efficiency gap between our country's R&D and commercialization stage is small, indicating that the development of the national innovation efficiency is more and more balanced. Innovation network structure can promote the R&D efficiency, but has no significant effect on the commercialization efficiency. Government R&D investment helps to improve the R&D efficiency, but it is not conducive to the improvement of commercialization efficiency. The interaction between innovation network structure and government R&D investment will have compound effects on regional innovation efficiency; the region with underdeveloped innovation network structure can increase the government R&D investment to make it have a higher level of R&D. This paper provides insights into how to improve innovation efficiency in different social networks and policy environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why would an emerging market economy without Western democratic institutions provide and promote social welfare to its citizens? This paper explores the driving forces behind the rapid yet unequal expansion of social welfare in China, a phenomenon notable since the late 1990s. Rather than adhering to the conventional state-centered approach that views welfare expansion as a strategy for one-party regimes to seek legitimacy, this study offers an alternate perspective that emphasizes the 'demand' side, particularly the role of business. Through a systematic analysis of all 336 Chinese municipalities from 2001 to 2012, the study demonstrates how big businesses act as 'vanguard,' pushing local governments to enhance social welfare provision. It suggests that big businesses, in the absence of institutionalized democratic institutions, serve as 'functional equivalents,' channeling societal demands to the government. This paper also finds that firms' influence on social policy in non-democracies is more capability based instead of institutional based; large domestic and multinational corporations are more capable in lobbying the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one on whether social work in China embodies Chinese characteristics and another on the impact of social workers' engagement in the empirical review of policies on the social and physical well-being of millions in China.

Relative poverty alleviation is explicitly consistent with common prosperity. Relative poverty alleviation, which is part of the modernization of national governance capacity, is both an objective requirement of effective poverty alleviation and an inevitable approach to the realization of common prosperity. The alleviation of relative poverty and the realization of common prosperity are intrinsically coupled because they feature overlapping time sequences, monistic values, superimposed fields, similar systems, and homogeneous elements. The relationship between the two is essentially symbiotic, coexistent, and synergistic. Consequently, how to effectively alleviate relative poverty and build a dynamic longterm mechanism for relative poverty alleviation will be one of the major challenges for China to tackle before it can make more obvious and substantial progress toward common prosperity for all by 2035. This paper proposes relevant countermeasures and suggestions, which mainly concern the building of a dynamic, multi-dimensional mechanism for relative poverty alleviation and a coordinated mode for the two missions. The aim is to achieve a balanced integration of the academic logic, social logic, and policy logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China implemented a universal two-child policy in 2016. But its earlier one-child policy resulted in a large population of one-child parents who face miserable later lives if their only-child passes away before them. China's Current social assistance to such Shidu families is not supportive enough and provides insufficient coverage. Using demographic methods, this paper estimates both the mortality of only-children and the population of Shidu parents over 49 years-old. Furthermore, it advocates for improvements to the standard of social assistance for Shidu families and measures the financial sustainability of that suggested standard. After analyzing Chinese national census data and China Fertility Status Survey data, we found that the risk of death for a rural only-child was higher than for an urban only-child in every age group. Following the concept of period parity progression, we estimated the scale of Shidu parents, which will gradually increase to a peak of 1.05 million in 2030. Considering present policies and the Shidu parents' unmet needs, we argue that China's central government should increase its economic support of such families, include those support policies in a comprehensive social security system, and offer more emotional care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, there are immense barriers to inclusive social citizenship because of the failure to overcome the institutional fragmentation of social security across the hukou division. The hukou system continues to be important in determining how social citizenship is granted in China; not only does it facilitate dual social citizenship, it imposes perceptions of deservingness that bolster these divisions. The aim of this paper is to build a social-citizenship-based framework, drawing upon the strengths of the capability approach, which is applicable to the complexity of the rural-urban divide in China. Referring to several data sources, the paper examines social citizenship as a subjective phenomenon. The paper highlights the social exclusion mechanisms embedded in the hukou system that might have an effect on social citizenship as a state of self-awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of research is the social rating system in China. The paper considers the experience of introducing the public policy tool «Social Rating» in China. The paper analyzes the norms for regulating the life of members of society in order to effectively use the funds allocated by the state to the sphere of the country’s social policy. The study used various research methods to understand the existing problems and identify areas of social policy risk management in the context of the implementation of social ratings in China. The study used a systematic approach to a comprehensive study of social ratings as an instrument of China’s state policy. The political science analysis made it possible to generalize and interpret the results of the introduction of the social rating. The state program is considered in the part devoted to the fight against fraud and financial fraud in business. The experience of the People’s Republic of China regarding the creation of «black lists» of organizations that violate contracts and do not pay taxes is studied. The point system «Social rating» depending on the region of the country is considered. The project of analysis of the socio-political behavior of individuals, companies and other organizations to determine their «social reputation», on the basis of which an encouraging or sanctions policy of regulation is carried out, has been studied. The demographic situation in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been studied. Scenarios of China’s demographic policy are considered. The current risks and problems of the social rating in China are also highlighted, the priority tasks of its reform are shown. adopted in 2021 at the legislative level of the PRC, the innovative program «Social Rating» to manage social risks, such as unemployment, population decline, low incomes, and which has become a tool for comprehensive control over people through the collection and processing of personal data. The introduction of a social rating program, with the help of which it is planned to build a fully regulated Chinese society, is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Our paper attempts to rationalize the classified reforming nature of China's state sectors, based on the criteria of factor endowment structure of SOE sectors adopted between 1980 and 2018. • We argue that ceteris paribus, the problem of low efficiency and rent-seeking commonly suffered by China's state-owned sector, has been cured by applying a reform strategy that undertakes property right reforms based on the factor endowment allocation of SOEs across different industries. • In terms of the theoretical contribution, we construct a Nash bargaining model between the principal (state officials) and the agent (SOE manager), and identify two ownership reform irrelevance points (ORIPs) in the model. • Our Nash bargaining model indicates the need for some SOEs to be undertaken by the 'mixed-ownership reform' whilst others should undergo 'full privatization reform'; both are judged by the distinct factor endowment allocation amongst different industries, which are in line with the stylized facts of China's state sector reforms over the past four decades. • In the final section, we discuss the possible policy implications of this paper with particular reference to our proposed Nash bargaining model. Based on the criteria of the factor endowment structure of state-owned enterprise (SOE) sectors in China between 1980 and 2018, this paper rationalizes the classified reforming of China's state sectors by constructing a Nash bargaining model to capture the dynamics of ownership restructuring, and the reduction process of policy burden on SOEs. We reveal that the interplay between policy burden bared by SOEs and the ownership restructuring process largely depends upon their factor intensities since the reform period in the 1980s. Our model identifies two Ownership Reform Irrelevance Points (ORIP), which serve as the benchmark for the dynamics of the ownership restructuring process of China's large SOEs, which saw them move from 'mixed-ownership' to 'privatization'. ORIPs demonstrate the need for a reduction in social policy burdens with regards to the state sector's comparative advantage of factor endowment structure through SOE ownership restructuring. This study theoretically analyzes existing literatures on the classified reforms of China's state sectors from 1978 to 2018. This study is the first to base such an analysis on the criteria of factor endowment structure focusing on the connection between the policy burdens bared by SOEs and their ownership restructuring process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess China’s urban social assistance policy, mainly by examining the findings of in-depth interviews with urban Dibao recipients in Chengdu about their experiences with social assistance, and by comparing what the social assistance offers with the urban poor households’ actual needs and vulnerabilities. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, the author interviewed 15 people from urban Dibao Households in Wuhou District and Qingyang District of Chengdu, China. The interviews were conducted from April to August in 2013, usually in their homes. The small sample naturally limits generalizations, however it can point to directions for future research. Findings – It is found out that urban Dibao which is the core of social assistance policy provides insufficient cash support and other special assistance programs are more of tokenistic which do not offer much help. Besides, due to lack of psychological aid, many recipients show negative and pessimistic attitudes toward life. Originality/value – Regarding the assessment of social assistance policy in China, the international literature has shown little interest. Several Chinese scholars have analyzed urban social assistance system, but they tend to examine or assess from the perspective of policy makers and focus on making policy suggestions. Thus, there is not much information about whether what the social assistance offers could meet the urban poor households’ actual needs and vulnerabilities. An interesting endeavor would be to explore and assess the urban social assistance policy from the perspective of the recipients, and this is exactly what this paper aims to do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the country with the largest population of older people, while still being a developing one, China is confronted with huge challenges in seeking an optimum response, which is high on the agenda of policy makers in Beijing. This paper makes the case for a radical new strategy on ageing which substitutes an ageing-oriented paradigm for the previous passive, instrumental and economistic ones. We first present an overview of the trend of Chinese population ageing, compared with already aged societies, followed by a summary of its impacts on the social welfare system associated with old age. Then we outline an alternative WHO influenced policy paradigm, active ageing, focusing on health, participation and security. In the light of this new approach, more active policies on ageing are called for, which are rooted in a comprehensive understanding of population trends, draw on international experience and conform to Chinese conditions and traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Razón Crítica is the property of La Fundacion Universidad de Bogota Jorge Tadeo Lozano 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.)

As in other industrial societies, family in Hong Kong has undergone rapid and drastic change since the 1970s. This paper uses the development of governmental family policy as a vehicle for examining the various topics and methods that have been of interest to family scholars in Hong Kong. Considerable attention is given to the suggestions of a White Paper (policy paper) published in March 1991 by the Hong Kong Government on the future development of social welfare. The paper also suggests objectives regarding family that may be used to guide further development of family policy in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Health Policy & Planning is the property of Oxford University Press / USA 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.)

Over the past 40-plus years since its reform and opening up, China has made remarkable achievements in poverty reduction. It accomplished the task of eradicating absolute poverty at the end of 2020 as scheduled, which is of great significance to both China and the world. Using the China Household Income Project (CHIP) survey data from 2002 to 2018, this paper studies the characteristics of the rural poverty-stricken population and estimates the poverty reduction effect of China's social security which transfers income to the poor. We find that the transferred income targeting the poor population can effectively reduce rural poverty. In the post-2020 era, poverty reduction in China has shifted its focus from eliminating absolute poverty to alleviating relative poverty. Since the majority of the remaining relatively impoverished people in China lack the necessary ability to work, they can hardly throw off poverty through development-oriented poverty alleviation programmes. Therefore, it is necessary to shift the focus of poverty reduction in rural China from development-oriented policies to social security-based policies, which is essential to alleviate relative poverty in the new stage and prevent people from slipping back to poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies and analyses the formation and evolution of the urban spatial pattern of Harbin, a waterfront city in northern China. Considering the history and culture of this city, as well as the impetus of modern urbanization, and performing Pearson's correlation analysis it is concluded that the modelled social vulnerability score and the flood damage in certain periods are highly correlated. The results indicate, 1. that the change of spatial pattern and the social vulnerability to disasters are in a high coupling relationship, 2) that the social vulnerability is closely related to the terrain of the disaster source, and the urban civilians, handicraftsmen and businessmen in Daoli District and Daowai District of the first stage of terrain are the population with the highest social vulnerability, and 3) that there is no apparently time-varying change of socially vulnerable groups. This paper innovates to combine the research on the dynamic change of the urban spatial pattern and the research on social vulnerability, in order to supplement and perfect the assessment system for social vulnerability influencing factors, and to provide reference for the establishment of the social policy as relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Chinese government's focal point of reform has been the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) even since the beginning of the transition from a planned economy to a market economy in 1978. • So far the reform measures, including the profit-retention, the contract system and the corporatization, always worked at the pilot stages but failed when the measures were extended to all SOEs because those measures dealt with the apparent causes of SOEs' poor performance. • The problem of China's SOEs is deep rooted in its strategic policy burdens arising from the need to operate in comparative-advantage-defying capital industries and the social policy burdens due to the need to absorb redundant workers for social stability. • Due to the policy burdens, the state needs to provide subsidies and protections to the SOEs. The soft budget constraints arise because of the information asymmetry between the SOEs and the state about the true burdens. With the policy burdens, privatization of SOEs will worsen the soft budget constraints. • The paper recommends measures to eliminate SOEs' policy burdens, removing the cause of soft budget constraints and completing China's transition to a well-functioning market economy. Based on the perspective of new structural economics, this paper reviews each stage of China's state-owned enterprise reform, summarizes their main features, and argues that the root of state-owned enterprise's low efficiency and soft budget constraints is their strategic and social policy burdens. According to the state-owned enterprise's existing situation, the paper provides suggestions for deepening its reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International student education in China has been continuously changing in response to the rapid social transition since the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949. Adopting a historical perspective, this scholarly paper begins with an analysis of characteristics of international student education in China in terms of rationales, role of government, and international students. Several challenges are then identified and this paper concludes with observations on future trends of international student education development, with a special focus on the implications of “the Belt and Road”. This paper contributes to a better understanding of China’s role as an emerging host nation of international students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose As transition countries shift to a mixed welfare system, the accountability of non-government organizations (NGOs) becomes critical to quality services. Yet, poor financial and managerial practices of some NGOs in China have led to distrust from citizens. The purpose of this paper is to use a democratic accountability framework to examine citizen participation in NGOs as an approach to understand an angle of this distrust. Does the Chinese language academic literature about NGO accountability engage with concepts of participation in NGO governance, management and service use?Design/methodology/approach The method was content analysis of a search of words and concepts relating to NGOs, participation and accountability in the available Chinese language literature on NGO accountability through the newly developed search engine Wenjin Search of the National Library of China.Findings The analysis found that most Chinese literature only emphasizes problems of accountability, causes and regulatory solutions. When the literature includes participation, it refers to it as a platform for civil society, rather than a process of accountability within an NGO.Research limitations/implications Searching by keywords in one search engine may not be exhaustive. The results probably reflect most of the current research of Chinese scholars, considering the depth of the search engine.Practical implications Formal NGOs are relatively new in the Chinese political landscape; and government regulations are largely administrative and unenforced. At conceptual and political levels, the absence of discussion about other forms of accountability ignores questions about public dissatisfaction with NGO performance and the public’s willingness to contribute to NGO effectiveness, and civic engagement.Originality/value An implication is that until Chinese NGO research also incorporates democratic accountability concepts, it will continue to ignore the internal and external drivers from citizens for NGO change. Transition country NGOs that encourage participation have the potential to engender greater accountability in the organization, community and in state relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The ageing of rural Chinese populations is challenging health and social policy, driving growth in rural nursing homes. Living environment plays a role in enhancing elderly quality of life (QoL), however, the impact of the built environment and care services are under-studied. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the built environment and care services on the QoL of elderly people within rural nursing homes in China.Design/methodology/approach A total of 242 residents of nursing home were surveyed, of which 76 percent were male and 24 percent were female. In total, 25.6 percent were aged between 60 and 69, 40.1 percent between 70 and 79, 31 percent between 80 and 89, and 3.3 percent were 90 or above. Quantitative data were analyzed through factor analysis, reliability test and multiple regression modeling.Findings The authors identified six built environment factors (room distance, space, barrier-free design, indoor environment, fire safety, and support facilities) and three services factors (i.e. daily care services, cleaning services, and healthcare services). QoL was measured over four dimensions: QoL, physical health, psychological health, and social relationships. Elderly QoL could be accurately predicted from room distance, space, barrier-free design, indoor environment, daily care services, and cleaning services.Practical implications Interventions in design of the built environment and the provision of care services are proposed, including dimensions of living space, heating, and provisions for qualified care providers.Originality/value This paper provides a clear picture about elderly special requirements on their built environment and healthcare services, helping architects, engineers and facilities managers understand elderly needs and improve built environment during design and operation stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between ethnic configuration and state social policy in a Chinese context. Why did the Chinese communist government have to implement a preferential policy towards ethnic minorities, and to what extent has this policy come to reshape peoples’ consciousness of their group membership? As well as analysing the reasons and intents of the Chinese Communist Party when dealing with the minority issue before and after it attained power, this paper argues that categorizing of the population served to establish the state apparatus. Why the project of ethnic identification was first initiated in Fujian (a province best known for its overwhelming Han culture) is also discussed. By unfolding the process of searching for ethnic representation in Fujian in the early 1950s, this paper further argues that the major concern of the party-state regarding ethnic minorities is to hold onto its power. Finally, this paper documents how government agents, when investigating ethnicity, interacted with the local population. The Fujian case implies as well as exemplifies how ethnicity can be invented, constructed or reconstructed as a particular representation in relation to state formation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the historical process of Hong Kong-China national unification through a crisis-transformation framework. This paper argues that the Chinese unification process between Hong Kong and mainland China is not a smooth process. Instead, it has gone through at least four crises during the 1980s and the 1990s. The institution framework for unification - the so-called 'One Country, Two Systems' policy - emerged out of the first crisis of negotiation in the early 1980s, and this policy has been hotly contested and transformed during the various crises over the past three decades. Previous studies on Hong Kong-China unification tends to focus solely on the political and legal aspects. However, this paper shows that unification needs to be symmetrical on all aspects (legal, political, economic and socio-cultural) in order to make it work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses whether China's response to the 2008–2009 financial crisis is a ‘defining moment’, whether it is leading to a departure of China's export-driven development model and whether the large stimulus package is strengthening its social policies and leading towards a more egalitarian structure. Two years after the crisis, it seems China has been very successful in managing the crisis, reaffirming political legitimacy, monitoring potential social unrest and introducing a wide range of promotive measures, even though this did not imply the sudden shift to promotion of household consumption some observers were arguing for. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to compare social policy on occupational rehabilitation services in two mega industrial cities in southern China: Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Comparative policy study was employed as the research and analytical method in this paper. Aim, finance, target, coverage, organization and administration, service delivery and provision of the occupational rehabilitation policy and its linkages with industrial injury compensation system and re-employment policy in the two cities were critically reviewed and compared. The results of the study reflect that the Guangzhou policy is more aggressive and more tailor-made to the specific needs of occupational rehabilitation compared to the Hong Kong policy, whereas occupational rehabilitation in Hong Kong has long been developed and knowledge and skills in the occupational rehabilitation service are more mature and fruitful. Based on the research findings, it is concluded that through experience sharing and exchange, there will be more mutual understanding regarding the system, practice, success, faults and limitations in the two cities, as well as awareness of alternative courses of action. These will help in the better development of occupational rehabilitation services with the aims to safeguard the rights and wellbeing of workers in both cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares energy consumption (electricity, gasoline, and gas) by rural migrant workers and urban residents with a hukou (a China-specific household registration system) and influential factors (including quality-of-life [QOL]-related factors, built environment, and individual and household attributes) in China. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Dalian (a coastal city) in 2014 and in Guiyang (an inland city) in 2015, respectively. A zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model was applied to understand whether and how much people consume a certain type of energy. The results showed that built environment explains 8.4–21.8% and 6.3–41.4% of the total variance in energy consumption by rural migrant workers and urban residents with a hukou. The corresponding variance related to QOL-related factors was 9.1–15.8% and 4.1–22.6%, respectively. The built environment was mostly associated with electricity consumed by urban residents with a hukou, while its influences on other types of energy consumption were moderate. Mixed effects of both built environment and QOL-related factors on reducing energy consumption were observed. Thus, it is context-sensitive whether and how much compact city development and social security policy affect residents' energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great deal of research has addressed the tension between economic globalization and local cultural identity, and the tension between convergence in global policy objectives and divergence in local practices, but research has not explored the impact of the complex interactions between these tensions on an individual university, especially in relation to university autonomy. This paper attempts to bridge this gap. Based on a case study of Tsinghua University in China, this paper explores the university's role in three interrelated processes: the incorporation of international experience into higher education, in order to respond to economic globalization; the reinforcement of political education, as a means of preserving the state-prescribed cultural identity; and the quest for autonomy, to facilitate the university's move towards world-class status. Tensions raised by the interaction of these processes will also be discussed. This paper concludes by applying the concept of ‘glocalization’—i.e., ‘thinking and acting both globally and locally’—as a means of understanding the complex interrelations of global, national, and local factors that inform the translation of global imperatives into local realities in the context of Tsinghua. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, increasing numbers of scholars have given attention to the mechanism connecting income inequality and happiness. This paper uses a multilevel model to verify the effect of income inequality at the city level on happiness and its moderating effect in China. It is found that income inequality is highly correlated to individual happiness. In the context of the transition China, people are inclined to report more happiness in places where income inequality is lower, after controlling for a number of demographic variables and economic factors. Moreover, this negative effect is relatively robust and significant, regardless of estimates with different covariates. It is worth noting that personal distributive justice beliefs play a momentous role in happiness. Specifically, as an effective social psychological mechanism, they can alleviate the negative effects of income inequality on happiness. A vital implication of the findings for social policy is that the model of economic development should be based on equity and justice and become a consistent source of happiness in this transitional period in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Global Financial Crisis has brought eminent, negative economic and social impacts on China since late 2008, including a considerable decline in GDP growth and a rapid rise in unemployment. Drawing on the published literature and official statistical data, this paper examines the social consequences of the Global Financial Crisis in China, explores various policy initiatives taken by the Chinese government and assesses the effectiveness of these policy initiatives. It argues that the Global Financial Crisis has led to high levels of enterprise bankruptcy and job losses in China. Rural migrant workers and new university graduates are the two social groups most adversely affected. The economic stimulus package and expanded social programmes tend to be short term and economic oriented. Whether the policy initiatives have been effective in mitigating the social impacts of this crisis and correcting the structural imbalance of China's economy is unclear. The paper concludes by suggesting that a new policy approach should be taken to timely and effectively address the negative social impacts of the Global Financial Crisis on China, in particular by providing a more inclusive and comprehensive social safety net, prioritizing employment generation, and addressing housing deficits. 2008年底的国际金融危机为中国带来显著和负面的经济和社会影响，包括大幅度下降的国内生产总值增长和失业率激增。借鉴已出版的文献和官方的统计数据，本文探讨国际金融危机对中国的社会影响，探索中国政府所采取的各项政策措施，并评估其成效。文章认为国际金融危机导致大量的中国企业破产和职位流失；当中，农民工和应届大学毕业生成为最受影响的两大社群。可是，刺激经济计划和推动的社会项目往往是短期和经济取向的，这些政策措施是否能缓解这场危机的社会影响和扭转中国经济的结构性失衡仍未可知。文章的结论提出应该通过一套新的政策方针，及时有效地应对国际金融危机对中国的负面社会影响，尤其是提供一个更具包容性和全面的社会安全网、优先创造职位、以及解决住房短缺的问题。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under authoritarian regimes, citizen-led NGOs such as environmental NGOs (ENGOs) often operate under close scrutiny of the government. While this presents a challenge to a single ENGO, we propose here - in line with existing research on network effects - that there are opportunities for multiple ENGOs to coordinate and thus work in ways that supersede government controls, affect public opinion, and contribute to policy revision and/or creation. In this paper, we specifically examine the possibility that the gamut of citizen-based ENGOs in China are coordinating. Based on network analysis of ENGOs web pages as well as interviews with more than a dozen ENGO leaders between 2014 and 2016, we find that ENGOs have few direct and public connections to each other, but social media sites and personal connections offline provide a crucial function in creating bridges. A closer examination of these bridges reveals, however, that they can be substantive to the environmental discussion or functional to the dissemination of web page information but typically not both. In short, ENGOs in China are not directly connected but rather are connected in a way that responds to the available social media and the government's censorship practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economics & Management / Ekonomia i Zarzadzanie is the property of Bialystok University of Technology (Politechnika Bialostocka) 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.)

This article discusses about problems of education policy in Hong Kong. In year 1991, the Education and Manpower Branch and the Education department jointly issued a document entitled "The School Management Initiative," which is a framework for future reforms in education. These reforms brought about confusion and a sense of unsettledness among school principals and teachers, as the intensification of surveillance over the education process led to increased dehumanization and alienation. One of the major problem with educational system of Hong Kong was medium of teaching. This problem still persist. Neglect of the reality in classrooms and the experience and views of practitioners, is unfortunately, also evident in the development of continuous teacher education which Ho Ming Ng discusses in his paper.

The lame‐duck effect, driven by the reelection mechanism in democratic countries, has been widely examined, but few studies of non‐democracies in this area exist. Our paper argues that the age‐limit effect in China may result in a similar lame‐duck effect: an official facing binding age limits has fewer incentives to put effort into work, resulting in contractionary fiscal policies. Using data from 30 Chinese provinces from 1980 to 2006, the empirical analysis finds a provincial leader over official retirement age but still in office has an incentive to decrease tax revenue and expenditures. Specifically, a provincial leader prefers to decrease public spending on capital construction, public goods and agricultural subsidies. Also, a provincial leader's age is negatively correlated with the public spending in his or her jurisdiction. Our empirical results indicate that career concerns of politicians in China created by the age‐limit rules of the cadre management system may hinder local economic prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the puzzle of the politics of social policy formation by two post-communist authoritarian regimes in China and Russia. It argues that two interrelated dimensions—which we term the pillars of power and policy—shape social policymaking and change in authoritarian regimes and support authoritarian regime stability. The pillar of power involves autocrats' bargains with the public and elites, while the policy pillar includes bureaucratic and ideational processes. The latter are understood as the way policy actors perceive problems, choose solutions, and frame their policy choices. To demonstrate this empirically, the article analyzes and compares Chinese and Russian housing policies between 1990 and 2020. We find that despite bureaucratic competition within the policy pillar, neoliberal policy beliefs have guided policy while statist measures served to support—in China—and deepen—in Russia—the neoliberal approach focused on private homeownership. Yet, neoliberal measures have been channeled in ways that underpinned and adjusted the authoritarian regime bargains with different segments of the public and the elite within the pillar of power. Policy framing to match social cultural ideas was used in both countries to support public acceptance of the neoliberal measures while underlining the state's care for people's housing needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's social welfare reform since the mid-1980s has been characterized as incremental and fragmented in three dimensions-social insurance, privatization, and targeting. This paper attempts to explore the micro-foundation of China's urban social welfare reform by examining the diverse social welfare preferences and the cleavages among societal groups. It argues that the diversity of the societal groups' preferences for social welfare has given rise to two lines of cleavage in urban China with respect to social welfare-between state sector and non-state sector employees and between labor market insiders and outsiders. The Chinese authoritarian regime's political priority-economic growth with social stability-has induced the government to accommodate public social welfare preferences in social welfare policies. Therefore, the three dimensions of Chinese social welfare reform policies since the mid-1980s reflect and respond to the social cleavages derived from societal groups' different preferences for social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Frequently, the discourses on land management and social security policy are kept separate from each other. Access to vital land uses or tenure security, however, are not only relevant to land policy and urban planning but are also important elements of social security policy. Land use planners and policymakers have a huge impact on spaces of poverty and the well-being of the poor. How can we better understand the relationship between land policy and social security policy? In recent years, global discourses on sustainable development, the Millennium Development Goals or universal human rights increasingly have considered the relationship between land rights and poverty alleviation. The paper will discuss how China framed social security policy with respect to housing, tenure security, urban and rural ownership, improvement of slums, the land rights of women and access to common land. Does the country directly or indirectly link land security to social security policy? In conclusion, the paper will discuss how land security could be contained into the minimum social assistance policy and what the approaching path is in China. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that Hong Kong is now at the crossroads of its journey towards social policy development. While economic development still seems to be the unwavering objective of the Hong Kong government, the demand for democracy and social development can no longer be ignored because of a strong civil society fostered by economic success. The current state of affairs provides a window of opportunity for the Hong Kong government to strengthen its legitimacy through the development of social policy and to promote social harmony through inclusivity in social welfare. The findings from the present empirical survey conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies ( HKIAPS) in 2010 demonstrate that Hong Kong people identified social harmony as the main direction for social development, closely followed by economic development, and democracy and freedom. Respondents who chose social harmony as the main goal of social development were more likely to take a step back and find common ground when fighting for their own rights or the rights of society. This paper concludes that these findings reflect the crucial importance of taking social harmony into consideration in the social policy development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the family-friendly policies developed in Sweden, the UK and Singapore and discuss the implications on family-friendly policies in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on policy documents of the three countries, to examine the welfare model, the service provisions and the outcomes of the family-friendly policies. Findings – In the study, the paper finds that considerable differences exist among the three countries in their conception of the role and responsibility of government in the reconciliation of family and work conflict. Strategies ranging from a high degree of intervention to minimal intervention are closely related to the social welfare regime of a country. Learning from the international experiences, it is important to link work and family policies in developing family-friendly policy in Hong Kong because work and family are not two separate worlds. Originality/value – Numerous studies have documented the effectiveness and impact of family-friendly policies in their own countries, but little has been done to compare the international experiences. The analysis contributes to offer a clear direction of developing family-friendly policy in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how China has managed to embrace mass higher education in a short timeline, and examines how far this move has followed the existing or established patterns elsewhere through comparing its core aspects with those of four identifiable models of mass higher education: the American model, the Western European model, the Latin American model and the East Asian model. While acknowledging that the current structure of the Chinese higher education system appears to resemble the American in many ways, this paper concludes that it is fundamentally different from the American model, as well as from the Western European and the Latin American models. Largely mirroring the East Asian model, the Chinese approach features a strong sense of ‘state instrumentism’ and is also characterized by integral tensions among its various sectors, which could turn into either positive dynamics for vibrant growth or negative forces leading to serious social justice and equity issues. After enjoying an unprecedented expansion between 1999 and 2006, Chinese higher education has come to a historical juncture to reconsider its success in the light of more collaborative and normative ideologies, such as those grounded in social justice and human potential. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines China's transformation from different perspectives, including economic, social and political, and discusses how these transformations are linked to the country's open-door policy. The paper argues that the most powerful driving force behind China's rapid transformation is its openness. At the domestic level, openness creates an institutional environment in which different existing factors reorganize themselves, thus providing new dynamics for change. At the international level, openness links China and the world together, and the interplay between China and the world produces an external dynamism for China's internal changes. Openness, however, has led to social injustice. Society often becomes the weakest link in the process of globalization and opening up; therefore, it must be defended by all means and in all major policy areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis presented here is based on the keynote speech discussing the most recent developments in rural policy on urban-rural integration in China delivered in Chinese by Professor Ye Xingqing at the Ninth European Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development in China (ECARDC9) held at the University of Leeds in the UK on 3-5 April 2009. Professor Ye's paper provides a comprehensive overview of the main initiatives, their rationale and their context, including some of the debates surrounding them. Professor Ye, who is an invited keynote speaker of ECARDC9 and the director-general of the Department for Rural Economy, Research Office of the State Council, People's Republic of China, has been personally involved in the process of formulating these policy initiatives. This translation of his paper seeks to convey properly the author's meanings and to strike a balance between documenting the official perspective and rationales, including the use of concepts, on the one hand and ease of comprehension on the other. The translator's notes are intended only for the clarification of, not commentary on, the content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2002, the Chinese leadership announced a turnaround in national welfare policy: Local insurance at county level, called the New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NRCMS), was to cover all counties by 2010. This paper addresses the main characteristics of NRCMS as an example of 'transformative state capacity' in decentralised policy fields and its feature 'responsiveness' as a market-based means of its introduction. Reviewing the modes of governance and comparing the introduction of local schemes based on two case studies of western China since 2006, this paper argues that the flexibility shown by local administrators in considering structural and procedural adjustments is the result not only of central directives but also of local initiatives. Forms of locally embedded responsiveness to the needs and perceptions of health care recipients are crucial in enhancing the accountability and responsiveness of local cadres. These new modes of 'responsiveness' or responsive regulation are important in understanding and conceptualising the transformative state capacity. Responsive settings using centrally defined local feedback loops are different from hierarchical control and the formal institutionalised representation of the interests of the local population, and are a rough but effective means of enhancing both flexibility and the efficiency of control and financing by the central state. These feedback loops, which are based on voluntary enrolment and on central state subsidies made dependent on contributions received from participants and local government, are complementary forms of governance at grassroots level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizenship and citizenship education change during periods of social transition, such as globalization. As globalists have argued, while globalization undermines the state, local institutions, values, cultures, and identities, it also facilitates liberal democracy and a common consumer culture. Citizenship education is urged to respond to globalization and its impact on both global and local communities. In reality, virtually no nation state adopts merely global citizenship; rather, they adopt frameworks of multileveled/multidimensional citizenship. With particular reference to citizenship education in the People's Republic of China (PRC), this paper challenges globalists' views for over‐exaggerating the domination of global forces over domestic ones. In particular, the paper examines the complicated struggles associated with the reconfiguration of the PRC's socialist citizenship and citizenship education that have occurred in response to social changes, including globalization. The paper explains the role of the PRC's state in such reconfiguration and offers a new framework that regards citizenship education as being based on different players' sociopolitical selections from a multileveled polity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has had a one-child family policy since 1979 and a National Family Planning Law since 2002. This paper presents analysis of comments from members of the general public and experts in China on the question of reproductive autonomy. The Chinese concept of ‘Yousheng’ (healthy birth) is more appropriate than eugenics as an expression of Chinese social policy and public attitudes. The widespread support for healthy birth has policy implications. None of the persons interviewed said that they had ever used ultrasound to choose the gender of their child nor had an abortion for the reason of a fetus's gender. Despite the bad impression of abortion from their experience, most would abort a fetus with a genetic disease. Respondents in rural areas were less likely to use prenatal care, pointing to more important social problems in reproduction in China. The impressions given from the survey stands in contrast to the implications of the majority of Western papers on the Chinese situation, and indicate that people are generally satisfied with the ethical balance towards the societal needs over individual autonomy, but they still have a sense of reproductive autonomy. There needs to be further study into these issues with larger surveys and interview studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the content and extent of the burden of caregiving for Chinese families in transition. It sets out to understand how Chinese families manage to balance family caregiving responsibilities with employment, the impact of the existing social institutions on family caregiving practices, and the risks that caregivers have to face. Data were collected from a sample of 214 workers from 14 manufacturing companies in an industrialized city in central China in 2013. Analysis revealed that common types of eldercare were assisting with activities of daily living and medical related care; middle aged employed respondents were most likely to be the caregivers to older family members; financial and time demands of care were challenging for caregivers, but women with more education and a secure job responded to the pressure of care giving better than those with less education and insecure jobs. An absence of workplace policies to support family caregivers was reported to create insecure employment conditions among middle aged workers. The findings imply an urgent need for legislative action and workplace policy that support family caregiving in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the roles that political leaders have played in the formulation and implementation of government initiatives to tackle poverty and inequality in Brazil, China, India and South Africa since about 2002. While research on social policy and welfare expansion in the industrialised world has largely ignored leaders, we stress the importance of politics and political agency, since political leaders often exercised decisive influence even if their decisions to prioritise certain issues and to adopt certain strategies depend on the convergence of other factors. We examine their management of tensions and opposition within their governments and their political systems – as well as what we can discern of their motivations and political calculations. We consider the impact on government initiatives both of their adroit machinations and, at times, of their ineptitude. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we document basic facts regarding public debates about controversial political issues on Chinese social media. Our documentation is based on a dataset of 13.2 billion blog posts published on Sina Weibo-the most prominent Chinese microblogging platform-during the 2009-2013 period. Our primary finding is that a shockingly large number of posts on highly sensitive topics were published and circulated on social media. For instance, we find millions of posts discussing protests, and these posts are informative in predicting the occurrence of specific events. We find an even larger number of posts with explicit corruption allegations, and that these posts predict future corruption charges of specific individuals. Our findings challenge a popular view that an authoritarian regime would relentlessly censor or even ban social media. Instead, the interaction of an authoritarian government with social media seems more complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family reunification is always an integral part of a permanency plan and is a preferable outcome for children in care. However, reunification is not straightforward, involving many subsequent negotiations between parents, children, and social workers, sparking various emotions and struggles among the involved parties. Current research on parental experiences of family reunification is predominantly of a cross-sectional nature, and rarely reflects the parents' experience throughout the process. This paper reports the results of a qualitative panel study aimed at exploring the experiences Chinese parents have during the process of children returning home from care. Seven parents were recruited. Data was collected at three time points and informants narrated their experiences from both a retrospective and prospective perspective. The findings showed that all parents struggled to become competent caregivers. Three salient themes were identified: inferiority, adjustment, and challenge. The parents' experiences revealed the prevalence of stigmatization among social work professions toward parents. This study recommends re-focusing the policy direction and intervention strategies of out-of-home care from family coercion to family support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the potential causal relationship(s) between China’s urbanization and income inequality since the start of the economic reform. Based on the economic theory of urbanization and income distribution, we analyze the annual time series of China’s urbanization rate and Gini index from 1978 to 2014. The results show that urbanization has an immediate alleviating effect on income inequality, as indicated by the negative relationship between the two time series at the same year (lag = 0). However, urbanization also seems to have a lagged aggravating effect on income inequality, as indicated by positive relationship between urbanization and the Gini index series at lag 1. Although the link between urbanization and income inequality is not surprising, the lagged aggravating effect of urbanization on the Gini index challenges the popular belief that urbanization in post-reform China generally helps reduce income inequality. At deeper levels, our results suggest an urgent need to focus on the social dimension of urbanization as China transitions to the next stage of modernization. Comprehensive social reforms must be prioritized to avoid a long-term economic dichotomy and permanent social segregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has modernised rapidly in recent decades with rising economic growth, which we might assume would lead to a high level of life satisfaction. However, rapid modernisation also has implications for people's norms and values, which can change-or fail to change-in line with these developments, with implications for life satisfaction. This paper looks at factors that affected life satisfaction in 2012-2013 using the most recent round of the World Values Survey. It uses a holistic framework for analysis derived from the social quality model by focusing upon socio-economic security, social cohesion, social inclusion and social empowerment. Using this societal approach, we found that 33 % of the variance in subjective well-being in China can be explained. Three of the four fields of social quality were important, but feelings of social empowerment make the largest contribution. We conclude that the economic changes that have taken place in China might have helped to move social norms in the direction of individualisation and a sense of personal agency, which raises life satisfaction for those that have made this adjustment. It also implies that the more gradualist transition policies introduced by China (in contrast to some former Soviet countries) allow people to cope better with social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welfare state is often perceived as a response to help people coping with shocks caused by economic down turn. However, as argued by Hamnett, welfare state can directly assist economic restructuring. Thus, social policies can be responses to unsatisfied social needs or be proactive measures to push for economic changes. Macau is in a somewhat special position in that policy-makers are aware that the economy has been excessively dependent on the gaming industry. The government prevent it from being hit by recess through economic restructuring. In this paper, we examine the current social spending pattern and the nature of the social security system in Macau and establish that social policy in Macau is largely reactive. To achieve economic restructuring, there needs to be more proactive measures to facilitate human development and more stress on social investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]