Suchergebnisse

Since the 1970s development studies have conveyed an impression of Taiwanese firms as being active small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) with flexibility to successfully survive in a competitive global market. On the contrary, we use the unbalanced panel data of 2,969 top manufacturers during 2002–2015 to explore why and how Taiwanese firms expanded their scale and scope of operations in the new century. Our findings indicate that Taiwanese subcontractors are caught in a dilemma between the expansion of operational scale in China and industrial upgrading in Taiwan. Scale expansion can exploit the large cheap labour pool in China with minimal effort for most smes but significantly reduces the firms' profit rates. Industrial upgrading is capital-intensive and profitable for a few Taiwanese firms but challenging for most smes to attract long-term investment in research and development. The 'subcontractors' dilemma' explains Taiwanese firms' struggles for survive in the US–China trade conflicts.

The household registration (hukou) system has been widely recognized as a key contributory factor to social inequality and tensions in China yet it remains intact despite a series of institutional reforms. What explains the resilience of the system? In this study, we address this puzzle by drawing on policy documents, statistical data and interviews. We argue that the hukou system remains because it is used to protect the beneficiaries of welfare provision and to ensure pivotal groups continue to offer political support. We find that owing to the reforms, a formidable barrier has been erected between the guarded cities and other regions to protect healthcare and education resources from inbound migrant workers. Consequently, the institutional reforms of the hukou system serve as a political contrivance for the survival of the Chinese party-state regime. The findings contribute to emerging literature on China's political control by elaborating political elites' subtle tactics through various institutions at central and local levels. We expect the new "Great Wall" established under Xi's administration to be an even stronger barrier than before for migrants during the current pandemic and in the future. (China Q/GIGA)

Nous décrivons dans cet article les caractéristiques spécifiques de la plus grande usine mondialisée – en termes de nombre d'employés – appartenant au groupe taiwanais Foxconn à Shenzen en Chine. Nous montrons que le fonctionnement de l'usine s'est articulé autour de trois éléments clés : (1) la globalisation interne ; (2) la fragmentation organisationnelle, le fractionnement vertical des business groups ( bg ) et la segmentation horizontale des employés appartenant à différentes nationalités ; (3) le despotisme sur le lieu de travail. Ces trois éléments nous conduisent à qualifier le fonctionnement de l'usine de « despotisme fragmenté mondialisé ». La structure organisationnelle de l'usine mondialisée est particulièrement utile pour expliquer les terribles conditions de travail en vigueur chez Foxconn et les suicides de travailleurs qui ont eu lieu en 2010.

""Adopts an evolutionary framework to examine how the Chinese state relates with non-state actors across several fields of governance: community, environment, public health, economics, labor, society, and religion; identifies areas where state-society interactions have shifted over time, ranging from constructive engagement to protracted conflict, thereby providing nuanced insight into the circumstances wherein the party-state exerts its coercive power versus engaging in more flexible responses"--Provided by publisher"--