Suchergebnisse

Exchange-rate policy has always been an interesting topic in international economics as it is an important instrument of macroeconomic policy. On July the 21st, 2005, the Chinese government announced changes in its exchange rate regime. So far, many discussions of the issues have provided short-term insights associated with Chinese exchange rate reforms. Far fewer studies have attempted to assess the long-term real implications of the new exchange rate system for China's domestic economic development. This dissertation attempts to fill this gap. This dissertation takes Japan as a historical precedent for China due to considerable parallels between the two cases of Japan and China. Two key research questions are to address what are the major impacts of RMB appreciating on China's economy and what kinds of lessons can be learned from Japan's case. In order to examine the two research questions, this dissertation involved itself in theoretical reviews, analysis and in the case study of Japan and purposed to use the historical precedent to shed the light on the effects of the exchange rate reform in China.

ObjectiveThis study examined the influences of intergenerational relations and marriage on the relationship between financial strain and attitude toward retirement among aging adults in Hong Kong.BackgroundFinancial strain is a source of worry among many older adults in Hong Kong. A considerable percentage of retirees and pre‐retirees have negative attitudes toward retirement.MethodRepresentative survey data were collected from 767 participants (335 men and 432 women) with 294 participants aged 50 to 64 years; 473, aged 65 years or older).ResultsFinancial strain was negatively associated with attitude toward retirement both directly and indirectly through intergenerational relationship quality. Cohort differences were identified as affectual closeness and intergenerational conflict (two subdomains of intergenerational relationship quality) partially mediated the relationship between financial strain and attitude toward retirement for the younger cohort aged 50 to 64 years, whereas for adults aged ≥65 years, only affectual closeness was a significant partial mediator. Marriage only acted as a moderator for the younger cohort.ConclusionThe mediating effect of intergenerational relationship quality and moderating effect of marriage were identified, as well as cohort differences.ImplicationsTailored programs and policies should be developed for different age groups to enhance intergenerational relations and retirement preparation.

The research is an examination of the question of whether China, with a substantial number of State-Owned Enterprise (SOEs) active in the market, can effectively maintain a level playing field through the existing competition law and policy framework and, if not, what strategies or policies it could adopt in order to address this problem.The Thesis takes the position that the current competition law and policy in China have limited effect in ensuring a level playing field between SOEs and non-SOEs. To be clear, the Thesis does not suggest that the existing Chinese competition law and competition policy completely fail to address competition concerns caused by Chinese SOEs; on the contrary, there are cases that suggest that SOEs, like all the other market players, are under the scrutiny of Chinese competition law (the Anti-Monopoly Law 'AML') and will continue to be so in the future. Chinese competition policy is developing into a more comprehensive policy and the newly established Fair Competition Review System (FCRS) potentially addresses one aspect of competitive neutrality concerns caused by SOEs, the regulatory advantages of SOEs. Collectively, the Thesis argues that the application of AML and the FCRS cannot address all aspects of competitive neutrality problems caused by SOEs, leaving the problem of lack of competitive neutrality between SOEs and non-SOEs unaddressed in the market of China. Given the current reform of SOEs has increased pressure on Chinese SOEs to be more competitive, this Thesis argues that it is a good time for China to reconsider how level the playing field is between SOEs and non-SOEs.To ensure competition between SOEs and non-SOEs is based on efficiency, rather than on who can benefit from government ownership and political connections, the Thesis proposed to reform the AML. It also provides policy recommendations for China to consider when introducing a competitive neutrality policy in its regime. These measures, if adopted, would provide stronger domestic competition and would help Chinese SOEs to be more competitive in the market.

AbstractThis article challenges the widespread view that existing WTO rules are insufficient for dealing with State capitalism in China, which has been further emboldened by the latest rounds of State-owned enterprise ('SOE') reforms. Through a careful review of WTO agreements and jurisprudence, it is argued that new rules are not necessarily needed because the unique challenges created by China's State capitalism can be appropriately addressed by the WTO's existing rules on subsidies coupled with the China-specific obligations. A more realistic approach would be to encourage China to undertake market-oriented reforms through WTO litigation based on existing rules rather than trying to negotiate new rules.

Xue Bai,1 Shuyan Yang,2 Martin Knapp3 1Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China; 2Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China; 3Personal Social Services Research Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK Abstract: Based on survey data collected from 151 community-dwelling solitary Chinese older adults in Hong Kong, the present study used path analysis to examine the mediating role of sense of loneliness in the relationship between different sources and directions of social support and life satisfaction. The results showed that sense of loneliness mediated the effects of support from families, friends, and support for others on life satisfaction. In addition, a formal source of social support was not associated with life satisfaction among solitary older adults, although those with a more secure financial status had greater overall life satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of enhancing awareness among social and health care service providers about the negative effects of insufficient social support on older adults' sense of loneliness and life satisfaction. Family and friendship networks should be expanded for solitary older adults. Keywords: life satisfaction, path analysis, solitary older adults, sense of loneliness, social support

A positive image of elderly people is found to be contributive to successful ageing. This paper reports a study that aims at revising and validating Image of Ageing Scale in a modern Chinese context and finding out how socio‐demographic factors have impacted the latter′s perception of the image of ageing. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the five‐factor model suggested from exploratory factor analysis which produced good psychometric properties. Based on the two‐cluster solution from the two‐step cluster analysis on the image of ageing, results of both the Chi‐square and the one‐way ANOVA tests confirmed that age, residence location, marital status, working status, living arrangement, neighborhood relationships, illness and daily activity were significant predictors of elders′ image of ageing. Logistic results further indicated that some predictors were not statistically significant in the multivariate analysis, whilst being urban, lonely, suffering from severe chronic illnesses, and showing little interests in daily activities, were identified as potent factors resulting in a negative image of ageing. Other than suggesting the Revised Chinese Version of the Image of Ageing Scale (IAS‐C) could be used in a Chinese society, our findings also led to a number of recommendations to promoting a positive image among the Chinese elderly.