scholarly journals IN TERPRETING RESOURCING BOTTLENECKS OF POST‐WENC HUAN EARTHQUAKE RECONSTRUCTION IN CHINA

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 314-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Chang ◽  
Suzanne Wilkinson ◽  
Regan Potangaroa ◽  
Erica Seville
Keyword(s):  
Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Reconstruction Process ◽  
Transportation Capacity ◽  
Chinese Policy ◽  
Local Construction ◽  
Price Escalation ◽  
Earthquake Reconstruction

Post‐disaster reconstruction is likely to suffer resource shortages and supply disruptions. The devastating Wenchuan earthquake on 12 May 2008 in China served as a typical example. After the catastrophe, resource problems such as price escalation and market inflation posed a significant challenge to Chinese policy makers and reconstruction team. Based on field surveys, the study attempts to examine the Wenchuan earthquake reconstruction practice and identify the most vulnerable resources along with their resourcing impediments inherent in the reconstruction process. The research findings show that at the early stage of reconstruction, labour and materials such as brick, cement, steel and aggregate were the most needed yet vulnerable resources. Procurement of these resources was mainly hindered by (1) reconstruction schedule and speed, (2) the impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis, (3) inadequate local transportation capacity, (4) dysfunction of the construction market, and (5) insufficient engagement of local construction industry. While the interventions and measures Chinese government adopted after the earthquake seem to be able to deal with resourcing bottlenecks in a short time; different efforts to reduce the impacts of these five areas are needed with a view to expediting longer‐term disaster recovery and reconstruction. Santruka Atstatant po nelaimiu tiketina, kad truks ištekliu ir kartais nutruks tiekimas. 2008 m. gegužes 12 d. Kinija supurtes niokojantis Wenchuan žemes drebejimas – būdingas pavyzdys. Po katastrofos kilusi ištekliu problema, kaip antai pakilusios kainos ir padidejusi rinka, Kinijos politikams ir atstatymo komandai tapo rimtu iššūkiu. Remiantis praktiniais tyrimais, darbe meginama išnagrineti atstatymo veikla po Wenchuan žemes drebejimo ir nustatyti sunkiausiai gaunamus išteklius kartu su atstatymo procesui būdingomis kliūtimis ju gauti. Tyrimo išvados rodo, kad ankstyvajame atstatymo darbu etape labiausiai reikejo, bet daugiausiai trūko tokiu ištekliu, kaip darbo jega ir medžiagos: plytos, cementas, plienas ir užpildai. Šiu ištekliu isigyti labiausiai trukde (1) atstatymo darbu tvarkaraštis ir sparta, (2) 2008 metu pasaulines finansu krizes poveikis, (3) nepakankamas vietinio transporto našumas, (4) sutrikusi statybu rinka ir (5) nepakankamas vietines statybu pramones dalyvavimas. Nors po žemes drebejimo Kinijos valdžios pasirinktos priemones ir intervencijos būdai lyg ir leido trumpam pašalinti ištekliu trūkumus, šiu penkiu punktu poveikiui mažinti reikia ivairiu pastangu, kad spartus atsigavimas ir atstatymas po nelaimiu būtu ilgalaikis.

scholarly journals A longitudinal study on emotional distress among local government staff seven years after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunge Fan ◽  
Lili Guan ◽  
Hu Xiang ◽  
Xianmei Yang ◽  
Guoping Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
2008 Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
The 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
One Year ◽  
Self Reporting Questionnaire ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Background The current study examined the change in local government staff’s emotional distress over 7 years after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, and the influence of earthquake exposure and professional quality of life (ProQOL) on emotional distress. Methods This longitudinal study assessed 250 participants at 1 year after the earthquake; 162 (64.8%) were followed up at 7 years. Emotional distress was assessed with the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) at both time points. We assessed ProQOL, including compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress, and earthquake exposure at 1 year. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed to test longitudinal changes in emotional distress. Hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to examine the effect of earthquake exposure and ProQOL. Results The positive screening rate of emotional distress (SRQ ≥ 8) was 37.6 and 15.4% at one and 7 years, respectively. Emotional distress scores declined over time (p < 0.001). Earthquake exposure and ProQOL predicted one-year (ps < 0.05) but not seven-year emotional distress, whereas burnout predicted both one-year (p = 0.018) and seven-year (p = 0.047) emotional distress. Conclusions Although emotional distress can recover over time, it persists even 7 years later. Actions to reduce burnout during the early stage of post-disaster rescue have long-term benefits to staff’s psychological outcomes.

scholarly journals BANKING SYSTEMS IN ROMANIA AND ICELAND: TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS BUT SIMILAR DEVELOPMENT

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Claudia Gabriela Baicu ◽  
Mar Wolfgang Mixa
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Banking Systems ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Bank Privatization ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Second World ◽  
Similar Development

The novelty of this paper is the comparative analysis of the Romanian and Icelandic banking systems. The study results reveal that despite the fact that Romania and Iceland are two different worlds, there are several similarities between the banking systems of these countries. They include a late development of banking systems, foreigners contributing a great deal to the development of the banking systems in the early stage of evolution. After the Second World War until the 1990s specialized banks operated in both countries. The banking systems of both countries prior to the 1990s were dominated by politics. Liberalization of banking and capital occurred both in Romania and Iceland after 1990; the bank privatization process took place during a similar period (1999-2006, Romania; 1998-2002, Iceland). Before privatization, banks in both countries lacked experience in a new banking “arena”. The global financial crisis greatly affected the two banking systems. Despite similarities, the evolution of the two banking systems was also marked by differences, notably the ownership origin of banks after privatization (foreign dominance in Romania; domestic owners in Iceland) and different business models developed by banks in the pre-crisis period.      

Research on China Cross-border E-commerce Development Strategy under the Background of Trade Facilitation

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-49
Author(s):  
Xiang LIU ◽  
Shu LU
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Market Demand ◽  
Growth Trend ◽  
Trade Facilitation ◽  
Environmental Support ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis

The main purpose of trade facilitation is to simplify trade processes, reduce trade costs, and improve policy transparency. Affected by the global financial crisis, global market demand is insufficient, and China's foreign trade growth is weak, while cross-border e-commerce is thriving, showing a gratifying growth trend. The qualitative and quantitative leap of cross-border e-commerce is inseparable from the macro-environmental support and influence of my country's social development. Chinese government departments should actively participate in relevant meetings and project negotiations of international organizations, establish friendly exchanges and cooperative relations with other countries, and achieve tax incentives and credit Negotiation and coordination mechanisms for system construction cooperation, data security, cybercrime, etc., to seek more convenient and efficient border management

China's ivory bans: enhancing soft power through wildlife conservation

2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 1389-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Gamso
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
Major Market ◽  
Chinese Policy ◽  
Authoritarian Government ◽  
Ivory Trade

Abstract China has been a major market for elephant ivory for centuries. However, the Chinese government recently enacted bans on imports and exports of ivory (2015) and on the domestic ivory trade (2017). These bans appear to have come in response to intensive influence campaigns and public shaming from domestic and foreign activists, who cited declining elephant populations and highlighted China's role. However, this shaming-narrative is at odds with conventional wisdom regarding Chinese policy-making: China typically resists international pressures and its authoritarian government is thought to be largely insulated from domestic efforts by civil society groups. This article reconciles Beijing's ivory policy with these conventional beliefs about policy-making in China. I argue that the Chinese government saw unique benefits to banning the ivory trade, under growing international scrutiny, as doing so enhanced Chinese soft power while having very little impact on its sovereignty or development. Non-government organizations (NGOs) operating both inside and outside of China played a role as well: NGOs in China helped to shift Chinese public opinion towards favouring the bans, while those operating abroad led public relations efforts to publicize Chinese demand for ivory to foreign audiences. Efforts by the latter group of NGOs intensified pressure on the Chinese government to rein in the ivory market, while increasing the soft power benefits that banning ivory would bring to Beijing.

scholarly journals Policies to Improve the Mental Health of People Influenced by COVID-19 in China: A Scoping Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Qiu ◽  
Yilu Li ◽  
Ling Li ◽  
Jun He ◽  
Feiyun Ouyang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
National Level ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Mental Health Policies

Background: In response to the potentially concurrent mental health crisis due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there have been ongoing mental health policies put in place in China. This review aims to systematically synthesize the implemented national-level mental health policies released by the Chinese government during the COVID-19 outbreak, and summarize the implementation of those mental health policies.Methods: Six databases and two websites were systematically searched, including published studies and gray literature published between December 1, 2019 and October 29, 2020.Results: A total of 40 studies were included. Among them, 19 were national-level policies on mental health released by the Chinese government, and 21 studies reported data on the implementation of those mental health policies. Mental health policies were issued for COVID-19 patients, suspected cases, medical staff, the general population, patients with mental illness, and mental institutions. In the early stage of the COVID-19 epidemic, attention was paid to psychological crisis intervention. In the later stage of the epidemic, the government focused mainly on psychological rehabilitation. During the COVID-19 outbreak, more than 500 psychiatrists from all over China were sent to Wuhan, about 625 hotlines were notified in 31 provinces, several online psychological consultation platforms were established, social software such as TikTok, Weibo, and WeChat were used for psychological education, and many books on mental health were published. Responding quickly, maximizing the use of resources, and emphasizing the importance of policy evaluation and implementation quality were characteristics of the mental health policies developed during the COVID-19 outbreak. Challenges facing China include a low rate of mental health service utilization, a lack of evaluation data on policy effects, and no existing national-level emergency response system and designated workforce to provide psychological crisis interventions during a national emergency or disaster.Conclusions: This review suggests that China has responded quickly and comprehensively to a possible mental health crisis during the COVID-19 outbreak, appropriate mental health policies were released for different members of the population. As the epidemic situation continues to change, the focus of mental health policies has been adjusted accordingly. However, we should note that there has been a lack of separate policies for specific mental health issues during the COVID-19 outbreak.

An early warning system to identify house price bubbles

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-310
Author(s):  
Daniel Hagemann ◽  
Monika Wohlmann
Keyword(s):  
Early Warning ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
House Price ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Ordered Logit ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Price Bubbles

Purpose The global financial and economic crisis resulting from the US housing crisis has shown that house prices can have far-reaching consequences for the real economy. For macroprudential supervision, it is, therefore, necessary to identify house price bubbles at an early stage to counteract speculative price developments and to ensure financial market stability. This paper aims to develop an early warning system to signal speculative price bubbles. Design/methodology/approach The results of explosivity tests are used to identify periods of excessive price increases in 18 industrialized countries. The early warning system is then based on a logit and an ordered logit regression, in which monetary, macroeconomic, regulatory, demographic and private factors are used as explanatory variables. Findings The empirical results show that monetary developments have the highest explanatory power for the existence of house price bubbles. Further, the study reveals currently emerging house price bubbles in Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Practical implications The results implicate a new global housing boom, particularly in those countries that did not experience a major price correction during the global financial crisis. Originality/value The ordered logit model is an advanced approach that offers the advantage of being able to differentiate between different phases of a house price bubble, thereby allowing a multi-level assessment of the risk of speculative excesses in the housing market.

scholarly journals Creating a Sustainable Policy Framework for Cross-Border E-Commerce in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weihua Su ◽  
Yuying Wang ◽  
Lan Qian ◽  
Shouzhen Zeng ◽  
Tomas Baležentis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
System Construction ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Risk Monitoring ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
The Government

This paper aims to adapt the social network analysis method to explore the characteristics of 59 cross-border e-commerce policies promulgated by the Chinese government from January 2013 to July 2018. On this basis, the paper quantitatively analyzes the internal structure and dynamic layout characteristics of sustainable cross-border e-commerce policy documents focusing on three dimensions: policy service contents, policy regulatory targets, and policy measures. The results suggest that policies involving service contents lack long-term strategic planning, especially those related to taxation and warehousing. In addition, policies regarding service system construction and demonstration construction follow an upward trend, whereas policies related to international cooperation and risk monitoring are less prevalent. Finally, it is suggested that the government pays attention to the supervision of payments, transactions, and goods in the early stage of development, but began conducting comprehensive supervision over all aspects of the cross-border e-commerce supply chain in 2015. Thus, there has been a relatively mature regulatory system established in China with particular attention to the aspects of quality and safety.

scholarly journals Monitoring of the reconstruction process in a high mountainous area affected by a major earthquake and subsequent hazards

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1163-1186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenxiao Tang ◽  
Xinlei Liu ◽  
Yinghua Cai ◽  
Cees Van Westen ◽  
Yu Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Image Interpretation ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Mountainous Area ◽  
Reconstruction Process ◽  
2008 Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Recovery Planning

Abstract. Recovering from major earthquakes is a challenge, especially in mountainous environments where postearthquake hazards may cause substantial impacts for prolonged periods of time. Although such impacts were reported in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, careless reconstruction in hazard-prone areas and consequently huge losses were witnessed following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in the Sichuan province of China, as several reconstructed settlements were severely damaged by mass movements and floods. In order to summarize experiences and identify problems in the reconstruction planning, a monitoring of one of the settlements, the town of Longchi, was carried out by image interpretation and field investigation. Seven inventories containing buildings, farmlands, roads and mitigation measures were made to study the dynamics of elements at risk and exposure over a period of 11 years. It was found that the total economic value of the newly reconstructed buildings was several times more than in the preearthquake situation in 2007, because of enormous governmental investment. Postseismic hazards were not sufficiently taken into consideration in the recovery planning before the catastrophic debris flow disaster in 2010. As a result, the direct economic loss from postseismic disasters was slightly more than the loss caused by the Wenchuan earthquake itself. The society showed an impact-adapt pattern, experiencing losses from disasters and then gaining resistance by abandoning buildings in hazard-prone areas and installing mitigation measures. The locations potentially exposed to postearthquake hazards were summarized, and a possible timetable for reconstruction was proposed. Problems might be encountered in hazard assessment, and possible solutions were discussed.

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