This research analyses to what extent China is achieving decent work based on a case study of decent working time. The word ‘achieving’ underlines that China is still in the process of securing... Show moreThis research analyses to what extent China is achieving decent work based on a case study of decent working time. The word ‘achieving’ underlines that China is still in the process of securing this aim. This research builds on a mixed methodology of case study, historical analysis, content analysis, structured critical analysis, and comparative law. The findings show that the development goal of decent work has not been achieved in China, but there are some significant developments. Particularly, many labour standards with regard to workers’ health and safety have markedly been intensified and increased, as have the making and enforcement of Chinese labour laws, which both are signals that China has created an environment receptive to further reform and development on its path to achieving decent work. Show less
This thesis examines how innovation is practiced, imagined, mobilized, and reinterpreted by China’s local developers and its subjects. The Chinese innovation movement is not the same as the ... Show moreThis thesis examines how innovation is practiced, imagined, mobilized, and reinterpreted by China’s local developers and its subjects. The Chinese innovation movement is not the same as the “disruptive innovation” of recent years mainly driven by digital technology in the European and North American contexts. The state plays a very salient role in innovation, investing in the social and economic system to provide a constant demand for innovation to unleash the dynamism of development.The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the state’s role in socio-economic transformation and its governance model in innovation activities. This thesis discusses the state-market-society relationship not merely from an institutionalist perspective that focuses on the interplay between the state, the market, and society. I discovered that the state creates a range of government institutions to regulate and shape society. Further, in recent years the local state has been an important producer of the emergence of China’s new civil society that drives innovation and entrepreneurship as ways to enhance social mobility. Show less
Over the last decades, income inequality has increased globally. How do social policies affect this increasing trend? How do international trade and technological progress affect inequality? What... Show moreOver the last decades, income inequality has increased globally. How do social policies affect this increasing trend? How do international trade and technological progress affect inequality? What is the profile of income inequality in China? Based on quantitative analyses of determinants of income inequality, this study provides a number of new insights into these questions. Income inequality has increased in the last decades all over the world. Several factors seem to contribute to this trend. Very prominent amongst them is the rising primary income inequality. The dominant income inequality-reducing effect comes from the tax benefit system, which offsets two thirds of the total increase in inequality. Generally speaking, the transition of welfare states from a traditional to a social investment oriented system does not lead to lower income inequality or poverty. There is also no robust and significant relationship between international trade and technology changes on the one hand, and income inequality on the other. Determinants of inequality in China are different from those in developed countries. In contrast to the tax benefit system in rich countries, the fiscal system in China does not bring a lower level of income inequality. Another explanation is the household registration system. Show less
