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Geographic Distance And State's Grip: Information Asymmetry, State Inattention, And Firm Implementation Of State Policy, Xiyi Yang, Heli Wang, Xiaoyu Zhou
Geographic Distance And State's Grip: Information Asymmetry, State Inattention, And Firm Implementation Of State Policy, Xiyi Yang, Heli Wang, Xiaoyu Zhou
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
In this study, we develop the argument that geographic distance between the state and local governments undermines the state's capacity to influence the implementation of state policies by local organizations. Drawing from information economics and the attention-based view, we propose that physical distance reduces the state's monitoring effectiveness through two interrelated mechanisms: information asymmetry and state leaders' inattention to distant issues. Using data of Chinese public firms' implementation of environmental activities between 2008 and 2016, we find that firms conduct fewer environmental activities required by the state when they are regulated by local governments that are more geographically distant to …
Quantifying Stranded Assets Of The Coal-Fired Power In China Under The Paris Agreement Target, Weirong Zhang, Yiou Zhou, Zhen Gong, Junjie Kang, Changhong Zhao, Zhixu Meng, Jian Zhang, Tao Zhang, Jiahai Yuan
Quantifying Stranded Assets Of The Coal-Fired Power In China Under The Paris Agreement Target, Weirong Zhang, Yiou Zhou, Zhen Gong, Junjie Kang, Changhong Zhao, Zhixu Meng, Jian Zhang, Tao Zhang, Jiahai Yuan
Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems
Coal-fired power plays a critical role in China's compliance with the Paris Agreement. This research quantifies China's stranded coal assets under different coal capacity expansion scenarios with an integrated approach and high-precision coal-fired power database. From a top-down perspective, firstly, the pathway of China's coal-fired power capacity consistent with the global 2 degrees C scenario is outlined and then those stranded coal-fired power plants are identified with a bottom-up perspective. Stranded value is estimated based upon a cash flow algorithm. Results show that if coal capacity stabilizes during 2020-2030, China will only incur a sizeable yet manageable stranded asset loss …
Managing The Phaseout Of Coal Power: A Comparison Of Power Decarbonization Pathways In Jilin Province, Weirong Zhang, Zhixu Meng, Jiongjun Yang, Yan Song, Yiou Zhou, Changhong Zhao, Jiahai Yuan
Managing The Phaseout Of Coal Power: A Comparison Of Power Decarbonization Pathways In Jilin Province, Weirong Zhang, Zhixu Meng, Jiongjun Yang, Yan Song, Yiou Zhou, Changhong Zhao, Jiahai Yuan
Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems
With the periodic goals of reaching carbon emission peak before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060 (“dual carbon” goals), China shows its unprecedented determination to coal power phaseout. This research takes Jilin Province to showcase possible pathways of coal power units’ phaseout on provincial level. We set up four different coal power phaseout scenarios, under which their transition cost and effectiveness would be calculated, respectively. In terms of natural resource endowment and electricity demand, Jilin Province would achieve a complete coal power phaseout by 2045 or even by 2040. However, after assessing the effectiveness of power transition under the …
Estimating Stranded Coal Assets In China's Power Sector, Weirong Zhang, Mengjia Ren, Junjie Kang, Yiou Zhou, Jiahai Yuan
Estimating Stranded Coal Assets In China's Power Sector, Weirong Zhang, Mengjia Ren, Junjie Kang, Yiou Zhou, Jiahai Yuan
Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems
China has suffered overcapacity in coal power since 2016. With growing electricity demand and an economic crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic, China faces a dilemma between easing restrictive policies for short-term growth in coal-fired power production and keeping restrictions in place for long-term sustainability. In this paper, we measure the risks faced by China's coal power units to become stranded in the next decade and estimate the associated economic costs for different shareholders. By implementing restrictive policies on coal power expansion, China can avoid 90% of stranded coal assets by 2025.
Afghanistan: What Now?, Rory Stewart
Afghanistan: What Now?, Rory Stewart
Perspectives@SMU
The troop surge that cost US$2 trillion and thousands of lives has only made things worse, says former UK Secretary of State for International Development Rory Stewart
The United States And The "Chinese Problem" Of Southeast Asia, Wen-Qing Ngoei
The United States And The "Chinese Problem" Of Southeast Asia, Wen-Qing Ngoei
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This essay examines how US Cold War policy toward all of Southeast Asia arose from American suspicions that the region's Chinese diaspora would align itself with the Chinese communists against the west. In so doing, it explores how US distrust of the Chinese diaspora fell in step with a longer imperialist tradition practised not only by the European powers for centuries, but also the Japanese Empire during its brief ascendancy during World War Two. Additionally, the essay proposes that to move beyond the bilateral studies that dominate the histories of US-Southeast Asian relations to view the region as whole, it …
Government Management Capacities And The Containment Of Covid-19: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study Across Chinese Cities, Wenchao Li, Jing Li, Junjian Yi
Government Management Capacities And The Containment Of Covid-19: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study Across Chinese Cities, Wenchao Li, Jing Li, Junjian Yi
Research Collection School Of Economics
Objectives: Better understanding of the dynamics of the COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus disease) pandemic to curb its spread is now a global imperative. While travel restrictions and control measures have been shown to limit the spread of the disease, the effectiveness of the enforcement of those measures should depend on the strength of the government. Whether, and how, the government plays a role in fighting the disease, however, has not been investigated. Here, we show that government management capacities are critical to the containment of the disease. Setting: We conducted a statistical analysis based on cross-city comparisons within China. China …
For Ye Have The Poor Always With You: Exploring China's Latest War On Poverty, John A. Donaldson
For Ye Have The Poor Always With You: Exploring China's Latest War On Poverty, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
John Donaldson’s section discusses Xi Jinping’s ambitious pledge to end poverty in China by 2020, toward which the CCP has deployed a locally adaptable set of policies that have mobilized actors in the public and private sectors and tied officials’ performance to success in poverty reduction. The Party understands that poverty—a manifestation of a severe inability to provide a good life for the people—represents a concerning indictment of the regime’s legitimacy overall. This paper fills in an analytic gap among Western sources regarding these programs, which have to date seen well over fifty billion dollars of poverty alleviation funding disbursed …
Making Ethnic Tourism Good For The Poor, Jean Junying Lor, Shelly Kwa, John A. Donaldson
Making Ethnic Tourism Good For The Poor, Jean Junying Lor, Shelly Kwa, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
How can ethnic tourism alleviate rural poverty? Due to the difficulty of simultaneously expanding tourism while promoting pro-poor tourism, most villages traverse one of two developmental pathways: 1) ensuring an inclusive structure before expanding, or 2) expanding before building an inclusive structure. This study compares four comparable cases in Southwestern China to understand the politics behind the decision to choose different pathways, and the impact each pathways has on local residents. While the first pathway requires a careful balance to maintain a pro-poor structure as tourism volume expands, the second pathway presents apparently insurmountable barriers to poverty reduction due to …
China’S Belt And Road Initiative And Asean’S Maritime Cluster, Hans-Dieter Evers, Thomas Menkhoff
China’S Belt And Road Initiative And Asean’S Maritime Cluster, Hans-Dieter Evers, Thomas Menkhoff
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
This paper centres around China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and makes a case for further examining the possible effects of the complementary ‘Maritime Silk Road’ on Southeast Asia’s maritime clusters with reference to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Port development with “Chinese engagement” from Port Klang in Malaysia to Sri Lanka to Gwadar in Pakistan to some Gulf state ports to Piraeus in Greece provides a string of valuable pearls in the form of harbours from which adjoining areas can be serviced through feeder vessels or railway lines by Chinese government-linked companies. Whether China’s heavy investments in land and maritime …
China's Administrative Hierarchy: The Balance Of Power And Winners And Losers Within China's Levels Of Government, John A. Donaldson
China's Administrative Hierarchy: The Balance Of Power And Winners And Losers Within China's Levels Of Government, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The China that Chairman Mao Zedong ruled was primarily agrarian. Mao’s party, consistent with the ideas of Lenin on which it was partially based, pursued planned industrialization by promoting state-owned manufacturing. This endeavor involved all sectors of society in the push to catch up with the West – even to the point of imploring rural residents to smelt steel in backyard furnaces. These efforts showed some success – by 1978 manufacturing’s share of GDP had risen from the 28 percent it held in 1949. Yet even after three decades, manufacturing still represented less than half of GDP, while the country’s …
Introduction: Understanding Central-Local Relations In China, John A. Donaldson
Introduction: Understanding Central-Local Relations In China, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
How do we understand the evolution of central-local relations in China during the reform period? This book addresses this question by focusing on eight separate issues in which the central-local relationship has been especially salient – government finance, investment control, regional development, administrative zoning, implementation, culture, social welfare and international relations. Each chapter introduces a sector and the way the center and various local governments have shared or divided power over the different periods of China’s reform era. The balance of power is gauged dynamically over time to measure the extent to which one level of government dominates, influences or …
Interpreting China’S New Urban Spaces: State, Market, And Society In Action, Shenjing He, Lily Kong, George C. S. Lin
Interpreting China’S New Urban Spaces: State, Market, And Society In Action, Shenjing He, Lily Kong, George C. S. Lin
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Chinese urbanism has long historical roots and has profoundly influenced world civilizations. Yet, the Chinese city has not, until very recently, attracted sustained or intense global attention. In the post-reform era, especially after 1992, the scale and speed of China’s urbanization, and the intricacy of its dynamics and socio-spatial consequences have dwarfed those of other countries in the world. The latest reform era of urban China is characterized by a renewed and thriving urbanism, which manifests itself in the sheer scale of new urban space (re)production and the intricate interrelationships among the state, market, and society. The proliferation of new …
Public Vs. Private Schooling As A Route To Universal Basic Education: A Comparison Of China And India, William C. Smith, Devin K. Joshi
Public Vs. Private Schooling As A Route To Universal Basic Education: A Comparison Of China And India, William C. Smith, Devin K. Joshi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This article examines whether focusing primarily on public schooling can lead to more rapid achievement of universal basic education (UBE) than relying on a mixture of public and private schooling. Through a structured, focused comparison, we find China's greater emphasis on public schooling has contributed to higher enrollment, attendance, graduation rates, gender parity, and proportion of students entering higher education than India, the country with the world's largest private sector in primary and secondary education. This comparison suggests that greater emphasis on public schooling in developing countries may lead to more rapid UBE attainment than encouraging privatization.
Public Vs. Private Schooling As A Route To Universal Basic Education: A Comparison Of China And India, William C. Smith, Devin K. Joshi
Public Vs. Private Schooling As A Route To Universal Basic Education: A Comparison Of China And India, William C. Smith, Devin K. Joshi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This article examines whether focusing primarily on public schooling can lead to more rapid achievement of universal basic education (UBE) than relying on a mixture of public and private schooling. Through a structured, focused comparison, we find China's greater emphasis on public schooling has contributed to higher enrollment, attendance, graduation rates, gender parity, and proportion of students entering higher education than India, the country with the world's largest private sector in primary and secondary education. This comparison suggests that greater emphasis on public schooling in developing countries may lead to more rapid UBE attainment than encouraging privatization.
Of Minds, Morals, And Methods: Combining Moral Meteorology And Disaster Relief In Historiography Of China’S Disaster Management, Wee Kiat Lim
CMP Research
In this working paper, I argue that disaster management in high Qing period can be better understood by simultaneously considering the historiographies of how governing elites understood disasters at the metaphysical level and the administration of disaster relief. During High Qing late imperial China, the regime encountered rapid changes in population, economy, and environment. Following how environmental historian Mark Elvin describes the prevalent ideology that guided Chinese governing elites on implicating human conduct with the manifestation of disasters as “moral meteorology”, I link it to the granary system so as to underscore how these two related but separate streams of …
An Asian Perspective On Policy Instruments: Policy Styles, Governance Modes And Critical Capacity Challenges, Ishani Mukherjee, Michael Howlett
An Asian Perspective On Policy Instruments: Policy Styles, Governance Modes And Critical Capacity Challenges, Ishani Mukherjee, Michael Howlett
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Does Asia have a distinct policy style? If so, what does it look like, and why does it take the shape it does? This article argues that in the newly reinvigorated emphasis of policy studies on policy instruments and their design lies the basis of an analysis of a dominant policy style in the Asian region, with significant implications for understanding the roles played by specific kinds of policy capacities. There is a distinctly Asian policy style based on a specific pattern of policy capacities and governance modes. In this style, a failure to garner initial policy legitimacy in the …
An Asian Perspective On Policy Instruments: Policy Styles, Governance Modes And Critical Capacity Challenges, Ishani Mukherjee, Michael Howlett
An Asian Perspective On Policy Instruments: Policy Styles, Governance Modes And Critical Capacity Challenges, Ishani Mukherjee, Michael Howlett
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Does Asia have a distinct policy style? If so, what does it look like, and why does it take the shape it does? This article argues that in the newly reinvigorated emphasis of policy studies on policy instruments and their design lies the basis of an analysis of a dominant policy style in the Asian region, with significant implications for understanding the roles played by specific kinds of policy capacities. There is a distinctly Asian policy style based on a specific pattern of policy capacities and governance modes. In this style, a failure to garner initial policy legitimacy in the …
Contrasting Perspectives On China's Rare Earths Policies: Reframing The Debate Through A Stakeholder Lens, Leslie Hayes-Labruto, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Mark Workman, Nilay Shah
Contrasting Perspectives On China's Rare Earths Policies: Reframing The Debate Through A Stakeholder Lens, Leslie Hayes-Labruto, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Mark Workman, Nilay Shah
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
This article critically compares China's rare earth policy with perspectives upheld in the rest of the world (ROW). We introduce rare earth elements and their importance for energy and present how China and the ROW are framing the policy debate. We find strongly dissonant views with regards to motives for foreign direct investment, China's two-tiered pricing structure and its questionable innovation potential. Using the metaphor of "China Inc.", we compare the Chinese government to a socially responsible corporation that aims to balance the needs of its internal stakeholders with the demands from a resource-dependent world. We find that China's internal …
Asean: Integration, Internal Dynamics And External Relations, Clara Portela
Asean: Integration, Internal Dynamics And External Relations, Clara Portela
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Throughout its evolution, ASEAN has consistently maintained its attachment to the full respect of national sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, which translates into consensual decision-making, political rather than legally-binding agreements and the lack of sanctions for non-compliance. A major breakthrough in terms of institutionalisation came about with the signing of the ASEAN Charter of 2007, which has enhanced ASEAN’s standing as a rule-based organisation and approximated it somewhat to structures typical of the EU. Unfortunately, the persistence of consensual decision-making and non-confrontational habits has slowed down some of ASEAN’s integration projects and hindered the development of …
Global Health Governance: Analyzing China, India, And Japan As Global Health Aid Donors, Ann Florini, Karthik Nachiappan, Tikki Pang, Christine Pilcavage
Global Health Governance: Analyzing China, India, And Japan As Global Health Aid Donors, Ann Florini, Karthik Nachiappan, Tikki Pang, Christine Pilcavage
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Development assistance is a significant mechanism by which major countries exercise influence in the global health arena. Of the major Asian powers, Japan has long provided significant funding, while China and India have primarily been recipients but are beginning to increase their funding roles. This article examines the amounts, channels, modes, disease allocations and the geographic focuses of their foreign health aid, and delineates the institutional structures that govern the formulation and implementation of foreign health aid policy in each of these countries, to explore what influence China, India, and Japan have and may develop in the global health arena. …
The Politics Of Human Development In India And China: It Pays To Invest In Women And Children, Devin K. Joshi
The Politics Of Human Development In India And China: It Pays To Invest In Women And Children, Devin K. Joshi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This article explores the attainments of China and India on measures of basic human development as ingredients of a long-term economic development strategy. It proposes that major differences in ideology and state capacity explain in part why India has fallen behind China. The analysis suggests that these relatively hidden political factors play an important role in transforming and advancing human development not only within India and China but also in other developing and emerging economies. The findings also support the notion that public investments in the capabilities of women and children have significant social and economic payoffs in both the …
Do We Have A Winner? What The China-India Paradox May Reveal About Regime Type And Human Security, Devin K. Joshi
Do We Have A Winner? What The China-India Paradox May Reveal About Regime Type And Human Security, Devin K. Joshi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
As the concept of human security spreads in the pose-Cold War period it is often presumed chat non-democracies have worse human security than democracies. But the national human security (NHS) siruation in weak or failed democracies can be even worse than in some non-democracies. So how exactly do the NHS records of stares with different regime types like non-democratic China and democratic India compare? To address this question the paper assesses and compares NH S in terms of "freedom from want" (anti-poverty security) and "freedom from fear" (anti-violence securiry). Ir develops a theory of how different regime types might impact …
Making Sustainable Creative/Cultural Space In Shanghai And Singapore, Lily Kong
Making Sustainable Creative/Cultural Space In Shanghai And Singapore, Lily Kong
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Shanghai and Singapore are two economically vibrant Asian cities that have recently adopted creative/cultural economy strategies. In this article I examine new spatial expressions of cultural and economic interests in the two cities: state-vaunted cultural edifices and organically evolved cultural spaces. I discuss the simultaneous precariousness and sustainability of these spaces, focusing on Shanghai's Grand Theatre and Moganshan Lu and on Singapore's Esplanade-Theatres by the Bay and Wessex Estate. Their cultural sustainability is understood as their ability to support the development of indigenous content and local idioms in artistic work. Their social sustainability is examined in terms of the social …
Forecasting The Car Penetration Rate (Cpr) In China: A Nonparametric Approach, Sainan Jin, Liangjun Su
Forecasting The Car Penetration Rate (Cpr) In China: A Nonparametric Approach, Sainan Jin, Liangjun Su
Research Collection School Of Economics
With strong economic growth, the auto industry has made great breakthroughs in recent years and has become a backbone industry in China, while cars play an increasingly important role, and are now the principal part of the auto industry. Both China's government and academic circles take strong interest in the prediction of CPR (i.e. car penetration rate or cars per thousand people), which will be the main guidance for the future industry policy. We summarize the existing problems in recent research and propose to use nonparametric methods to estimate the CPR and its elasticity with respect to GDP per capita …
Tourism, Development And Poverty Reduction In Guizhou And Yunnan, John A. Donaldson
Tourism, Development And Poverty Reduction In Guizhou And Yunnan, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
How did the differing strategies adopted to develop tourism in Guizhou and Yunnan affect patterns of economic development and poverty reduction? The answer is paradoxical. Both provincial governments incorporated tourism as part of their overall development strategies, but their tourism sites were distributed and structured strikingly differently. In Yunnan, although tourism contributed to rapid economic growth, it did not reduce rural poverty as much as might be expected from a large rural-based industry. By contrast, Guizhou's relatively small-scale tourism industry, although not contributing significantly to growth, was distributed largely in poor areas and was structured to allow poor people to …