Since 1993, China has been the second largest recipient of foreign direct investment in the world and is now considered to be the world's third biggest economy. The editors examine the key areas, all of which are linked, where China is grappling with institutional reforms as it opens up to the outside world.
Focuses on China's long-term pattern of growth and employment, demographic shifts, and rural-urban migration, its agricultural trade and local elections, China's banking sector reform and its fiscal sustainability, its environmental concerns, and much more.
In China’s Social Insurance in the Twentieth Century, Aiqun Hu develops a framework of “interactive diffusion of global models” in examining the history of China’s social insurance since the 1910s. The book covers both Nationalist- and Communist-controlled areas (1927-1949) and Taiwan (1949-present), surpassing the party divide. It argues that China’s progression in social insurance resulted from diffusion of two global models (German capitalist and Soviet socialist social insurance) until the early 1990s. Thereafter, China’s social insurance reforms were increasingly directed by the World Bank’s neoliberal models, which also influenced Taiwan’s pension reforms. During the entire process, however, global forces provided the basic intellectual framework, while national forces determined the timing and specifics of adopting the models.
China, the world's most populous nation, will enter a period of rapid aging very shortly that will redefine that country. Between 2010 and 2040, the portion of people 65 and older will rise from around 7% to between 25 and 30% of the population. As China ages, can it retain the youthful dynamism now driving it? China, the world's most populous nation, will enter a period of rapid aging very shortly that will redefine that country. Between 2010 and 2040, the number of people 65 and older will rise from around 7% to between 25 and 30% of the population. As China ages, can it retain the youthful dynamism now driving it? This book is an effort to try to capture the broad outlines of the significant economic, market, social, and demographic factors that will shape the future of China and the role that aging will play in the whole mix of influences. Aging in developed societies and economies has been widely studied. In such nations as Japan, Germany, Italy, and Spain, for example, we know that as populations age, their societies decline, leaving fewer younger workers to support the growing number of people who will become dependent on costly health care systems, or whose basic needs, such as food and shelter, will need to be subsidized. But less work has been done in assessing the potential impact of aging in developing countries, where the majority of people may be working poor, not middle class—as in the case of China. As China restructures its economy, the old benefits packages previously available to urban workers (and not rural workers) are being replaced by a patchwork of benefits across a wide range of enterprises.
This much-needed new textbook introduces readers to the development of China's welfare polices since its conception of an open-door policy in 1978. Setting out basic concepts and issues, including key terms and the process of policy making, it overcomes a major barrier to understanding Chinese social policy. The book explores in detail the five key policy areas of employment, social security, health, education and housing. Each is examined using a human well-being framework comprising both qualitative and quantitative data and eight dimensions: physical and psychological well-being, social integration, fulfilment of caring duties, human learning and development, self-determination, equal value and just polity. This enables the authors to provide not only factual information on policies but also an in-depth understanding of the impact of welfare changes on the quality of life of Chinese people over the past three decades. A major strength of the book lies in its use of primary Chinese language sources, including relevant White Papers, central and local government policy documents, academic research studies and newspapers for each policy area. There are very few books in English on social policy in China, and this book will be welcomed both by academics and students of China and East Asian studies and comparative social policy and by those who want to know more about China's social development.
The past decade has brought an increasing recognition to the importance of pension systems to the economic stability of nations and the security of their aging populations. This report attempts to explain current policy thinking and update the World Bank's perspective on pension reform. This book incorporates lessons learned from recent Bank experiences and research that have significantly increased knowledge and insight regarding how best to proceed in the future. The book has a comprehensive introduction and two main parts. Part I presents the conceptual underpinnings for the Bank's thinking on pension systems and reforms, including structure of Bank lending in this area. Part II highlights key design and implementation issues where it signals areas of confidence and areas for further research and experience, and includes a section on regional reform experiences, including Latin American and Europe and Central Asia.
Talk of a demographic time bomb is not new. The notion first entered public consciousness some time ago, but there is a lack of clarity about what such talk is really all about. Ageing populations are seen both as a threat and an opportunity. There is concern about discrimination against older workers, at the same time as there is concern about a shortage of labour. Migration of labour from places with young populations to places with ageing populations is sometimes seen in a positive light and sometimes quite differently. With chapters reflecting different perspectives from around the world, this book constitutes a major contribution to serious, informed debate on issues that all too often have been the subject of sensationalised media treatment. Professor Stella Vettori has assembled a collection of expert writers on the social, cultural, political and economic factors that have implications both for labour markets and the well being of older people both in developed and developing countries. As a result, anyone involved with workplace and employment policy and practice, and issues of diversity and discrimination, either at a corporate or societal level, will want to read this book. Policy implications are considered and possible solutions to seemingly intractable problems are offered in a remarkable book that embraces serious academic debate and a practical focus on real issues.
Presents papers on various movements that have emerged after the Asian financial crisis, which lead to Asia becoming the growth center of the world. Beginning with the analysis of the Asian crisis, this book then studies the impact of these events on the Hong Kong economy, the government's role in Indonesia and financial restructuring in Thailand.
This book lays bare the reality behind China's efforts at economic modernization by showing: (1) what is happening to the industrial forces that help shape the economy; (2) how economic agents have behaved; (3) what government intentions really are; and (4) how the transition from a centralized to a market-oriented economy has been filled with contradictions and difficult choices. The author examines issues such as China's WTO membership; the Three Gorges Project; the widening differences between the urban and rural areas; the government's efforts to protect its own interests and maintain stability; the impact of reform; and the situation facing state enterprises, the banking system, the agricultural sector, and the environment.