Leveraging Liminality: The Border Town of Bao'an (Shenzhen) and the Origins of China's Reform and Opening

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Taomo Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Foreign Investment ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Socialist Economy ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Economic Statecraft ◽  
Border Trade ◽  
The Social ◽  
Border Town ◽  
The World

Located immediately north of Hong Kong, Shenzhen is China's most successful special economic zone (SEZ). Commonly known as the “social laboratory” of reform and opening, Shenzhen was the foremost frontier for the People's Republic of China's adoption of market principles and entrance into the world economy in the late 1970s. This article looks at prototypes of the SEZ in Bao'an County, the precursor to Shenzhen during the Mao era (1949–76). Between 1949 and 1978, Bao'an was a liminal space where state endeavors to establish a socialist economy were challenged by capitalist influences from the adjacent British Crown colony of Hong Kong. To create an enclave of exception to socialism, Communist cadres in Bao'an promoted individualized, duty-free cross-border trade and informal foreign investment schemes as early as 1961. Although beholden to the inward-looking planned economy and stymied by radical leftist campaigns, these local improvisations formed the foundation for the SEZ—the hallmark of Deng Xiaoping's economic statecraft.

scholarly journals The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on socio-economic and sustainability

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xueli Wei ◽  
Lijing Li ◽  
Fan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
World Economy ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
Sectional Analysis ◽  
The Impact

Pumping elephantThe COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the lives of people around the world in millions of ways . Due to this severe epidemic, all countries in the world have been affected by all aspects, mainly economic. It is widely discussed that the COVID-19 outbreak has affected the world economy. When considering this dimension, this study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world economy, socio-economics, and sustainability. In addition, the research focuses on multiple aspects of social well-being during the pandemic, such as employment, poverty, the status of women, food security, and global trade. To this end, the study used time series and cross-sectional analysis of the data. The second-hand data used in this study comes from the websites of major international organizations. From the analysis of secondary data, the conclusion of this article is that the impact of the pandemic is huge. The main finding of the thesis is that the social economy is affected by the pandemic, causing huge losses in terms of economic well-being and social capital.

Kindergarten children’s perceptions of the social unrest in Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
pp. 1476718X2110627
Author(s):  
Caroline Cohrssen ◽  
Nirmala Rao ◽  
Puja Kapai ◽  
Priya Goel La Londe
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Children's Drawings ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Children's Perceptions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Children’S Drawings ◽  
The World

Hong Kong experienced a period of significant social unrest, marked by protests, from June 2019 to February 2020. Media coverage was pervasive. In July 2020, children aged from 5 to 6 years attending kindergartens in areas both directly and less directly impacted by the protests were asked to draw and talk about what had taken place during the social unrest. Thematic analysis of children’s drawings demonstrates the extent of their awareness and understanding and suggests that children perceived both protestors and police as angry and demonstrating aggression. Many children were critical of police conduct and saw protestors as needing protection from the police. Children around the world have been exposed to protest movements in recent times. The implications for parents, teachers and schools are discussed.

scholarly journals FEATURES OF GLOBAL INVESTMENT POLICY: MODERN TRENDS AND PROSPECTS

2019 ◽  
pp. 142-148
Author(s):  
Larisa Germanovna Chuvakhina
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Foreign Investment ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
World Economy ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Investment Policy ◽  
Investment Promotion ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World

The article highlights the current problems of investments in the development of the world economy, when international investment needs are significantly high. The priority is given to the issues of investment resources for achieving the goals of sustainable development of the world economy. It has been stated that for creating the effective economic policy, the countries need to attract foreign investment. The current trends in the development of global market for foreign direct investment flows are examined. The flows of global foreign direct investment in 2017-2018 are analyzed. Special attention is given to the study of the US investment policy. The reduction in US investments into the Russian economy in terms of the sanctions policy against Russia is marked. The changes in the investment policy of the administration of D. Trump in terms of strengthening American protectionism are underlined. The issues of US-EU investment cooperation are considered. The role of the US Federal Reserve in regulating the activities of foreign companies in the US market is defined. The main decisions taken at the X World Investment Forum of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in October, 2018 are considered. The role of investment promotion agencies is defined as one of the tools to attract foreign investments into the country's economy. The decrease in the level of international investment and increased competition between countries for attracting foreign investment is stated. The study confirms that the investment attractiveness of the country, stability of the national financial system, and legal security of business play a decisive role in attracting foreign direct investment.

Hong Kong and Singapore in the World Economy

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Stephen W.K. Chiu ◽  
K. C. Ho ◽  
Tai-lok Lui
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
World Economy ◽  
The World

ANALYZING INFORMAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: A BIBLIOMETRIC SURVEY

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 1750022
Author(s):  
EUNICE MARIA M. N. DOS SANTOS ◽  
JOÃO J. FERREIRA
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Thomson Reuters ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Scientific Outputs ◽  
Quality Of Governance ◽  
Informal Entrepreneurship ◽  
Scopus Database

This study involves the analysis of the scientific outputs on informal entrepreneurship (IE hereafter) over the period from 1990 to 2016. We deploy a combination of bibliometric techniques such as citations, bibliographic coupling as well as approaching the social networks established. We sourced the contents thus analyzed from the online Thomson/Reuters-ISI database and the online Scopus database run by the Elsevier Publishing Company, which returned a total of 44 and 95 publications for analysis, respectively. From among the 139 articles analyzed, the journals Entrepreneurship and Regional Development and Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship stand out as the publishers of the largest number of articles. We encounter studies on IE in developing countries as a low-income activity that contributes to the economic development of the region. The motivations and the determinants of informality are common to the majority of the scientific outputs and effectively serving as the analytical basis either for arguing in favor of the formalization of the business. Another aspect present in the literature interrelates IE with the quality of governance and economic liberalization. This analysis facet ensures IE gains in scientific profile within the ongoing context of discussions over neoliberalism and its effects on the world economy.

On the ‘New’ Burma Road: From Mule Caravans to Motorcycle Bands

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Chin Chang
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Shadow Economy ◽  
Economic Rationality ◽  
State Control ◽  
Shadow Economies ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Border Trade ◽  
The World ◽  
Border Areas ◽  
Trading Mechanism

AbstractSince the opening of the Sino-Burmese border trade in 1988, the movement of goods and people from both sides has increased rapidly. In 2011, China became Burma's largest trading partner and over half the total volume of goods was accrued in cross-border trade via Yunnan. However, national figures on import-export volumes are derived solely from legal flows, while contraband is largely overlooked. To date, academic studies on contraband have remained insufficient, partly due to the difficulty accessing Burmese border areas, and partly due to the mere challenges in obtaining information about smuggling from those who engage in such activity. This paper, based on multiple fieldwork sites over several years, examines a particular contraband – the smuggling of Chinese motorcycles to Burma on the ‘new’ Burma Road. This shadow economy thrived between 2000 and 2014. While highlighting its economic rationality beyond state control, I attempt to make diachronic and synchronic comparisons by engaging with dialogues within the historical trading mechanism of the mule convoys in the region and also with theories of shadow economies generated from contemporary case studies in other parts of the world. I argue that the formation of this shadow economy is not haphazard but adheres to the ethos of the mule caravan trade, predicated on local knowledge and social networks.

scholarly journals Exploring the moral compass

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosina Márquez Reiter ◽  
Sara Orthaber
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
New Members ◽  
Social Responsibilities ◽  
Moral Indignation ◽  
Public Displays ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

Abstract With the advent of the internet and social media, car and vanpooling have become easily available alternatives to public transport in many parts of the world. This paper draws on publicly available data from a Facebook car and vanpooling group used by Slovenian cross-border commuters to make their journeys to and from Austria more economically sustainable. It examines public displays of moral indignation following allegations of malpractice by relatively new members whose whole purpose in joining the group was to earn a living from driving vans across borders. Vanpool users collaboratively denounce van service providers for transgressing some of the social responsibilities that ought to bind members of the group together and for their lack of accountability. The accusations which entail exaggerations, complaints, insults and threats, among other hostile verbal attacks, convey moral indignation and are similarly resisted and challenged by the drivers. They offer a window into conflicting behavioural expectations at a time of socioeconomic change and transition. The alleged lack of van providers’ accountability which, in turn, informs the van users’ displays of moral indignation is indicative of the moral relativism that emerges as a result of the relocalisation and, the nature of a contemporary global practice at a time when changes in social life are underway. The primacy of the economic return that car and vanpooling offers service providers and cross-commuters with is oriented to by the former as outstripping the social responsibilities typically related to the provision of the regulated services, and by the latter, as morally unjustifiable despite acknowledging its economic value.

scholarly journals Cross-Border Labor Organizing in the Garment and Automobile Industries: The Phillips Van-Heusen and Ford Cuautitlan Cases

1998 ◽  
pp. 20-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Armbruster
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Automobile Industry ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Guatemala City ◽  
Labor Organizing ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
The World ◽  
Corporatist State

The globalization of the world economy has created new opportunities for cross-border labor organizing. In this paper I examine two case studies of cross -border labor organizing. One case involves Phillips Van-Hernen (PVH) workers in Guatemala City, and the other Ford automobile workers in Cuautitlan, Mexico. The PVH case illustrates the potential for cross-border labor organizing in the highly mobile garment industry. The PVH workers' union and their cross-border allies adopted a "strategic cross-border organizing model" that included consumer and trade pressure, an active international trade secretariat, and several other strategies, to achieve an amazing victory. However, the Ford Cuautitlan case demonstrates that corporatist state-labor relations and internal union conflicts have limited cross-border organizing in the automobile industry. These two case studies and their different outcomes have many important lessons for academics and activists interested in cross-border labor organizing.

scholarly journals Problems of economic globalization of China as a factor of cultural security

2018 ◽  
Vol 212 ◽  
pp. 08026
Author(s):  
Olga Borisenko ◽  
Dmitry Sukharev ◽  
Marina Fomina ◽  
Nataly Kondakova
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Regional Development ◽  
Economic System ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Economic Globalization ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

The article is devoted to the analysis of the problems of economic globalization in China and as a factor of cultural security. A philosophical analysis of the social aspect of China’s regional development. J. Sigurdson, like many researchers, analyzes economic, political factors, technological innovations, regional development programs of China. Our attention was drawn to the fact that he is one of the few Western researchers who analyze social problems. J. Sigurdson gives an analysis of Chinese society in the context of the development of technological systems. He notes that the creation of clusters, the use of new technologies contribute to the development of the social infrastructure of modern Chinese society. It is worth noting that his analysis is based on the historical information approach. In this case, we are not interested in ascertaining the facts presented by him, but in describing the role of innovation systems in the development of the social sphere of Chinese society. Thus, the relevance of this article is due to the need to analyze Western research on the social factor of regional changes in China. The entry into globalization processes and the perception of the economic opportunities of the modern world in China is refracted through traditional culture and allows not only to preserve its own values, but also to successfully adapt them to the realities of the present day on one hand and spread it outside on the other. China plays an important role in the modern economic development of the world. The main task of the Chinese strategy for the development of clusters was to ensure that the results met not only the economic development of the country, but also the rise of the social, cultural component. The Chinese government is aware of the depth of existing problems in society, and how we see new promising plans for the development of China’s economic system. In the artical, we allows us to view modern China not only as a simple element of the world economic system, but rather as one of the leading subjects of economic globalization, actively participating in the world economy and making a significant contribution to the development of the modern world. In our view, it is the integrity of the domestic political and foreign policy course of the country’s development that allowed the Chinese economy and culture to become a visible and important element of the world economy.

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