Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How Has Grandparenthood Changed In Rural China?, Merril D. Silverstein

Population Health Research Brief Series

China’s rapid modernization and development have led to changes across Chinese society, including within the family. China is experiencing declining birth rates, meaning that fewer older adults are becoming grandparents. At the same time, there has been growing demand for grandparents to serve as caregivers for their grandchildren. This data slice examines the changes in grandparenting in rural China and calls for policies that decrease caregiver burnout, stress, and associated poor health outcomes.

Neo Collectivism: Public Space Design For The Intergenerational Community, Shu Zhang

Architecture Senior Theses

Within our lifetime, we will see an increase in the aging of the population in China, and the social isolation of the elderly is occurring every day. Simultaneously, more and more young people migrate to large cities, while older family members stay in their home towns to ease the younger generation's burden. The once collectivist family culture has been destroyed, and the daily life of the elderly without their relatives has become monotonous and lonely. Moreover, with the advancement of technology, the younger generation is increasingly dependent on smartphones for social interaction and life, which increases the possibility of the …

The Strategic Balance Between The Public And Allies: A Theory Of Authoritarian Distribution In China, Dongshu Liu

Dissertations - ALL

This project explores how authoritarian regimes can meet the demands of both the ruling coalition and the public from a perspective of distributional politics. This challenge is particularly severe since authoritarian regimes face increasing pressure to expand public goods and welfare. This project proposes a theory of authoritarian distribution that addresses this challenge in the case of China. First, autocrats adopted a differentiated strategy of distribution. They allocate universalistic benefits that target the large group of people to the public while distributing the particularistic benefits, which is exclusively for a small and specific group of people, to the regime allies. …

The Power Of Protest Messages: An Information Model On Protest Participation In China}, Li Shao

Dissertations - ALL

This project explores how protest messages affect audiences' decision to join policy oriented protests in an authoritarian context. By proposing an information model, I argue that citizens' participation is affected by the behaviors of the government and the protesters included in the protest message. Such effects are moderated by (1) the partially free media environment that selectively displays certain behaviors and hides the others; and (2) individuals' personal attributes that influences their interpretation of the messages. I used a survey experiment and a comparative text analysis of social media posts and news articles to test the information model. I found …

The Us-Japan Alliance And China's Rise: Alliance Strategy And Reassurance, Deterrence, And Compellence, Erik David French

Dissertations - ALL

Do changes in US alliance strategy toward Japan affect the US’ ability to succeed in reassuring, deterring, and compelling a rising China? This study contends that when the US pursues a distancing strategy toward from Japan, Japan adopts hedging strategies that may undercut US reassurance, deterrence, and compelling China. When the US pursues increased coordination with Japan, however, Japan increases its support for US policy toward China. Stronger Japanese support for US policy, in turn, strengthens the US’ ability to reassure, deter, and compel China. In making this argument, this study speaks to ongoing policy debates over the US-Japan alliance …

Social Security Under Decentralized Authoritarianism: Politics Of The Public Pension Program In China, Jing Lin

Dissertations - ALL

Welfare provisions are commonly regarded as an intrinsic product of democracy. Why do authoritarian rulers provide welfare programs to the people? How do authoritarian rulers promote welfare development under decentralized authoritarianism? This dissertation investigates these theoretical puzzles through a detailed study of the urban pension program for enterprise employees in authoritarian China. The decentralized fiscal and administrative structure in China makes the operation of the pension program a particularly challenging one. What are the redistributive incentives of the Chinese rulers? How does the central government differ from local governments in their redistributive calculation? How do these two levels of governments …

The People's Republic Of China And The Global Class War, Collin L. Chambers

Theses - ALL

This thesis attempts to provide a more sufficient understanding of post-reform China’s position in global political economic space than the understandings and conceptions that currently exist in geography and the broader critical social sciences and humanities. This thesis argues that post-reform China is best understood through the global class war framework. The global class war does not conceive post-reform China as “imperialist,” “neoliberal,” or even “capitalist.” Instead the framework understands post-reform China as a social formation that is simply attempting to arise within a global political economic system that is dominated by the global imperialist class camp. Additionally, the global …

Three Empirical Essays On Energy And Labor Economics, Melissa Chirk-May Chow

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation analyzes the differences between private and non-private firms in two contexts. Chapters 1 and 2 examine the electricity industry in the United States and the motivation behind electric utilities' usage of demand side management programs. The first chapter focuses on load management programs, which decrease electricity demand during the peak hours of the day. It looks into the impact of a plausibly exogenous decrease in natural gas prices on the utilization and capacity of these programs. The second chapter analyzes the relationship between electricity market deregulation and electric utilities' energy efficiency activity. The third chapter investigates the impact …

Web Communications On Corporate Social Responsibility Of Chinese And United States Fortune 500 Companies, Yijing Liu

Dissertations - ALL

This paper uses content analysis to compare corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication strategies on the websites of Fortune 500 companies both in China and the United States. This study aims to determine how CSR communication strategies differ between China and the United States by comparing the purpose, main stakeholders, types of CSR programs, compliance with the International CSR standards, and the existence of CSR annual reports. This study is based on recent discussion and theory-building efforts in public relations literature regarding evolving CSR practices. The overarching theoretical framework will be the so-called stakeholder theory and CSR communication strategy. The results …

The Production Of Heritage Tourism In China: A Case Study Of Three Adjacent Villages, Yi Yu

Theses - ALL

With the massive infusion of external (foreign) capital into the Chinese economy since the 1980s, some historical villages in Huangshan city have been largely transformed for heritage tourism. Preservation restrictions on altering structures are in place to keep intact the architectural and morphological integrity of the sites. Questions arise on the roles played by various governments and private sector enterprises, and their influence on local residents

In the summer of 2013, I conducted field work including interviews, participatory observation and archival research on three adjacent villages in Huangshan city: Hongcun, Chengkan, and Xucun. They were at three different tourism development …

An Examination Of The First- And Second-Level Of Agenda Building With The Image Of China's President Xi Jinping In Xinhua And Four U.S. News Outlets, Zhuqing Cheng

Theses - ALL

Sources provide information subsidies to journalists at a low cost with the intention of passing on their agendas by providing the information subsidies to the media. This process is called agenda building, serving as the theoretical framework guiding this study.

Many studies have examined agenda building in political campaigns, while others have looked at it in a business context. This study tries to further test agenda building by investigating in the context of mediated public diplomacy to see how foreign leaders use the news to build images in another country. Such image building efforts have the potential to influence the …

Misconceptions In Comparative Study Of Public Diplomacy: A U.S.-China Case Study, Liang Pan

Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy

The study of public diplomacy often proceeds with an empirical approach, focusing on crafting policy instruments and measuring policy efficiency. But this approach tends to render descriptive and quantitative results. This paper contextualizes public diplomacy in theoretical terms, institutional structure, and policy priority, and points out three common misconceptions in comparison of U.S.-China public diplomacy. It means to draw attention to normative and qualitative approaches that should be applied to the fledging interdisciplinary study of public diplomacy.

Social Media And Public Diplomacy: Foreign To China's Environmental Movements, Licheng Zhu

Exchange: The Journal of Public Diplomacy

The looming environmental crisis in China not only brings obstacles and pain to society, but also creates a great opportunity for international cooperation. This paper critically assesses the pitfalls of China’s current environmental protection regime and the difficulties that Chinese environmental NGOs are facing. It argues that social media web sites and international environmental NGOs are able to help Chinese environmental NGOs confront their problems through tactics such as public diplomacy.

Essays On Foreign Direct Investment, Agglomeration And Productivity, Fariha Kamal

Economics - Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the role of foreign direct investment and agglomeration economies in the process of industrial development, with a focus on the productivity of manufacturing firms. The first chapter analyzes the importance of the source of foreign direct investment on the performance of domestic Chinese firms. The second chapter studies the interaction between foreign and domestic manufacturing firms operating in the same industry and located within the same Chinese city. The third chapter examines the response of multinational companies to changes in domestic institutions. My findings highlight the importance of the source of foreign direct investment, proximity to economic …