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1. Is Indonesia the Next China?

Author:
Wendy Dobson
Publication Date:
02-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
This paper reviews Indonesia’s economic prospects and what these imply for a closer relationship with Canada. By posing the question “Is Indonesia the next China?,” the author suggests that Indonesia has the considerable economic potential envisaged by foreign investors, but conveys uncertainty as to whether Southeast Asia’s most populous country can make the changes necessary to realize that potential. A review of the economic record and comparison of China’s and Indonesia’s economic structures, endowments and institutions show major differences between the two countries. The paper further questions what it will take to realize Indonesia’s potential, finding the answers to be: human capital development; increased participation in the region’s global value chains; meeting the growing middle-class demand for modern services; raising productivity in agriculture and fishing; and increasing use of the Internet. Failure to make these changes will increase the chances of Indonesia’s growth in per capita incomes slowing and falling into the middle-income trap. Canada’s role will be to monitor closely how Indonesia tackles its five priorities at the same time as it responds to the opportunities to exploit Indonesia’s abundant natural resources, urbanization and its expanding consumer demand for modern services and educational opportunities.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, Human Welfare, International Trade and Finance, Natural Resources, and Regulation
Political Geography:
China and Indonesia

2. Happiness and health in China: The paradox of progress

Author:
Carol Graham, Shaojie Zhou, and Junyi Zhang
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The past two decades in China brought unprecedented rates of economic growth, development, and poverty reduction. Indeed, much of the reduction in the world’s extreme poverty rates during that time can be explained by the millions of people in China who exited poverty. GDP per capita and household consumption increased fourfold between the years 1990 and 2005.1 China jumped 10 places forward on the Human Development Index from 2008 until 2013, moving up to 93 of 187 countries, and life expectancy climbed to 75.3 years, compared to 67 years in 1980.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
China

3. What Future for Human Rights?

Author:
James W. Nickel
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Like people born shortly after World War II, the international human rights movement recently had its sixty-fifth birthday. This could mean that retirement is at hand and that death will come in a few decades. After all, the formulations of human rights that activists, lawyers, and politicians use today mostly derive from the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the world in 1948 was very different from our world today: the cold war was about to break out, communism was a strong and optimistic political force in an expansionist phase, and Western Europe was still recovering from the war. The struggle against entrenched racism and sexism had only just begun, decolonization was in its early stages, and Asia was still poor (Japan was under military reconstruction, and Mao's heavy-handed revolution in China was still in the future). Labor unions were strong in the industrialized world, and the movement of women into work outside the home and farm was in its early stages. Farming was less technological and usually on a smaller scale, the environmental movement had not yet flowered, and human-caused climate change was present but unrecognized. Personal computers and social networking were decades away, and Earth's human population was well under three billion.
Topic:
Climate Change, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Law, International Political Economy, Sovereignty, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, China, Europe, Asia, and United Nations

4. Ethnic Policy in China: Is Reform Inevitable?

Author:
James Leibold
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Balancing ethnocultural diversity and dignity with national integration and interethnic cohesion has been a constant challenge for Chinese policymakers. With a sizeable ethnic minority population, China has long been engaged in this delicate balancing act. Despite episodic conflict, it could be argued that the Communist Party of China (CPC) has, especially since the 1976 death of Mao Zedong, done a relatively competent job of containing ethnic tensions.
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Governance
Political Geography:
China and Israel

5. Pharmaceutical Price Regulation: Macro-Level Evidence from China between 1997 and 2008

Author:
Qiong Zhang, Binzhen Wu, and Xue Qiao
Publication Date:
01-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
This paper uses macro-level data between 1997 and 2008 to evaluate the effects of China's pharmaceutical price regulations. We find that these regulations had short-run effects on medicine price indexes, reducing them by less than 0.5 percentage points. The effects could have been slightly reinforced when these regulations were imposed on more medicines. However, these regulations failed to reduce household health expenditures and the average profitability of the pharmaceutical industry, and firms on the break-even edge were worse off. Finally, although these regulations have no significant effects on the price of substitutes or complements for medicines, they increased expensive medicine imports.
Topic:
Economics, Health, Human Welfare, Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
China

6. Allocation of control rights and cooperation efficiency in public-private partnerships: Theory and evidence from the Chinese pharmaceutical industry

Author:
Zhe Zhang, Ming Jia, and Difang Wan
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
This article uses incomplete contract theory to study the allocation of control rights in public-private partnerships (PPPs) between pharmaceutical enterprises and nonprofit organizations; it also investigates how this allocation influences cooperation efficiency. We first develop a mathematic model for the allocation of control rights and its influence on cooperation efficiency, and then derive some basic hypotheses from the model. The results of an empirical test show that the allocation of control rights influences how enterprises invest in PPPs. A proper allocation provides incentives for firms to make fewer self-interested and more public-interested investments. Such an allocation also improves the cooperation efficiency of PPPs.
Topic:
Demographics, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
China, Israel, and Asia

7. Repression and Punishment in North Korea: Survey Evidence of Prison Camp Experiences

Author:
Stephan Haggard
Publication Date:
10-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights Human Welfare (University of Denver)
Abstract:
The penal system has played a central role in the North Korean government's response to the country's profound economic and social changes. Two refugee surveys—one conducted in China, one in South Korea—document its changing role. The regime disproportionately targets politically suspect groups, particularly those involved in market-oriented economic activities. Levels of violence and deprivation do not appear to differ substantially between the infamous political prison camps, penitentiaries for felons, and labor camps used to incarcerate individuals for misdemeanors, including economic crimes. Substantial numbers of those incarcerated report experiencing deprivation with respect to food as well as public executions and other forms of violence. This repression appears to work; despite substantial cynicism about the North Korean system, refugees do not report signs of collective action aimed at confronting the regime.
Topic:
Corruption, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
China, South Korea, and North Korea

8. Incentives in China's Healthcare Delivery System

Author:
Karen Eggleston
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
The economic approach of comparative and historical institutional analysis (Aoki 2001, Greif 2006) has virtually never been used in theoretical studies of healthcare incentives. This paper seeks to help fill this gap by exploring the explanatory power of such an approach for understanding incentives in China's healthcare delivery system. It focuses on positive analysis of why China's health system incentives evolved the way they did. The first section analyzes the institution of physician dispensing (MDD) and reforms toward separation of prescribing from dispensing (SPD), in historical and comparative perspective. It shows, for example, how MDD was a self-reinforcing institution; the longer a society remains under MDD, the higher the associated costs of supplier-induced demand can be before implementing SPD becomes the efficient self-enforcing social institution. Rapid technological change and adoption of universal coverage are likely to trigger SPD reforms. The second section seeks to explain the pattern and impact of price regulation and hospital payment reforms in contemporary China, which also reflect the legacy of MDD.
Topic:
Government, Health, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
China, Israel, and Asia

9. Sexual Violence against Women and Children in China

Author:
Ko Ling Chan
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Sexual Violence Research Initiative
Abstract:
No society is free from rape, and China is no exception. This review documents current literature on gender based violence with a particular focus on sexual violence and assault in China, including Mainland China and Hong Kong. The prevalence of and risk factors for various types of sexual violence are reviewed. Women's responses to sexual violence and how cultural beliefs affect reporting and help-seeking behavior of sexual violence survivors are discussed. Existing intervention and prevention strategies are examined and recommendations on future research are made. The review was commissioned by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (www.svri.org).
Topic:
Gender Issues, Health, Human Rights, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
China and Israel

10. Mobilizing Talent for Global Development

Author:
Andrs Solimano
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The generation of new ideas and their application for productive uses is an important engine for growth and development. This is an area in which developing countries usually lag behind developed countries and is where development gaps are more evident. Behind the generation of ideas, innovations, and new technologies there is 'human talent': an inner capacity of individuals to develop ideas and objects, some of them with a high economic value. The 'human factor' is critical to the success or failure of many endeavours. Several countries, particularly China and India, followed by Russia, Poland, and some Latin American countries, are becoming an important source of talented people with PhDs and degrees in science, engineering, and other areas that can lead to change in the international patterns of comparative advantages and reduce development gaps. Part of the new talent formed in developing countries goes to live and work to developed countries, typically the USA, UK, and other OECD nations. At the same time multinational corporations are outsourcing several of their productive and service activities, including research and development, to developing countries (China and India are main destinations) to take advantage of the (less expensive) talent being developed there. Today, therefore, we see a double movement of talent and capital around the globe: on the one hand talent from developing countries is moving north seeking better opportunities where people are equipped with more capital, technologies, and effective organizations. On the hand capital from the north pursues talent in the south; a process largely led by multinational corporations.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Human Welfare, and Migration
Political Geography:
United States, China, United Kingdom, and India