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As the glittering skyline in Shanghai seemingly attests, China has
quickly transformed itself from a place of stark poverty into a
modern, urban, technologically savvy economic powerhouse. But as
Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell show in Invisible China, the truth
is much more complicated and might be a serious cause for concern.
China's growth has relied heavily on unskilled labor. Most of the
workers who have fueled the country's rise come from rural villages
and have never been to high school. While this national growth
strategy has been effective for three decades, the unskilled wage
rate is finally rising, inducing companies inside China to automate
at an unprecedented rate and triggering an exodus of companies
seeking cheaper labor in other countries. Ten years ago, almost
every product for sale in an American Walmart was made in China.
Today, that is no longer the case. With the changing demand for
labor, China seems to have no good back-up plan. For all of its
investment in physical infrastructure, for decades China failed to
invest enough in its people. Recent progress may come too late.
Drawing on extensive surveys on the ground in China, Rozelle and
Hell reveal that while China may be the second-largest economy in
the world, its labor force has one of the lowest levels of
education of any comparable country. Over half of China's
population-as well as a vast majority of its children-are from
rural areas. Their low levels of basic education may leave many
unable to find work in the formal workplace as China's economy
changes and manufacturing jobs move elsewhere. In Invisible China,
Rozelle and Hell speak not only to an urgent humanitarian concern
but also a potential economic crisis that could upend economies and
foreign relations around the globe. If too many are left
structurally unemployable, the implications both inside and outside
of China could be serious. Understanding the situation in China
today is essential if we are to avoid a potential crisis of
international proportions. This book is an urgent and timely call
to action that should be read by economists, policymakers, the
business community, and general readers alike.
As the glittering skyline in Shanghai seemingly attests, China has
quickly transformed itself from a place of stark poverty into a
modern, urban, technologically savvy economic powerhouse. But as
Scott Rozelle and Natalie Hell show in Invisible China, the truth
is much more complicated and might be a serious cause for concern.
China's growth has relied heavily on unskilled labor. Most of the
workers who have fueled the country's rise come from rural villages
and have never been to high school. While this national growth
strategy has been effective for three decades, the unskilled wage
rate is finally rising, inducing companies inside China to automate
at an unprecedented rate and triggering an exodus of companies
seeking cheaper labor in other countries. Ten years ago, almost
every product for sale in an American Walmart was made in China.
Today, that is no longer the case. With the changing demand for
labor, China seems to have no good back-up plan. For all of its
investment in physical infrastructure, for decades China failed to
invest enough in its people. Recent progress may come too late.
Drawing on extensive surveys on the ground in China, Rozelle and
Hell reveal that while China may be the second-largest economy in
the world, its labor force has one of the lowest levels of
education of any comparable country. Over half of China's
population--as well as a vast majority of its children--are from
rural areas. Their low levels of basic education may leave many
unable to find work in the formal workplace as China's economy
changes and manufacturing jobs move elsewhere. In Invisible China,
Rozelle and Hell speak not only to an urgent humanitarian concern
but also a potential economic crisis that could upend economies and
foreign relations around the globe. If too many are left
structurally unemployable, the implications both inside and outside
of China could be serious. Understanding the situation in China
today is essential if we are to avoid a potential crisis of
international proportions. This book is an urgent and timely call
to action that should be read by economists, policymakers, the
business community, and general readers alike.
Managing Water on China's Farms: Institutions, Policies and the
Transformation of Irrigation under Scarcity is a comprehensive and
current look at the water shortage problems in China. While China
has emerged as a major player in the world economy, water is the
most critical factor that limits the country's further growth.
China's growing water problems also have a large impact worldwide,
with public health as well as economic impacts. If China were to
rely heavily on food produced outside of China, the massive volume
of food imports would raise food prices internationally. This book
examines a series of water issues, beginning with a description of
the water shortage problems in China, particularly in the northern
part of the country. It then looks at the government and farmers'
responses and whether past policies have been effective in
resolving the water problems. Managing Water on China's Farms
documents the change of existing and new water management
institutional forms over time and across provinces throughout
northern China, and then assesses the impacts of these changes in
the rural sector. Finally, it examines potential solutions that the
research has uncovered, answering the question: Who can build the
bridge over China's troubled waters? Using analyses from
information collected firsthand in China's rural villages, the
series of surveys covers diverse geographic regions that are
representative of north China and includes perspectives from
multiple stakeholders such as village leaders, water managers, and
farmers. The policy-oriented research and rich analysis in this
book make it of interest to both policy makers and researchers with
a focus on China water problems. This book can also be used in a
Master or Ph.D. level resource economics course.
Roots of Competitiveness: China's Evolving Agriculture Interests
examines China's interests in global agriculture trade
liberalization. It begins with an overview of China's policy
behavior in recent WTO talks, and then goes back to describe the
reform foundations that got China to this point. This study seeks
to clarify for uncertain observers China's underlying interests on
the question of agriculture trade liberalization - whether to go
faster, slower, not at all beyond the status quo, or even
backwards. manifestly toward reform, structural adjustment and
economic rationalization. China is further along toward the end
point of that process than generally recognized, and shows a deep,
probably irreversible commitment to the process. China can point to
demonstrated successes in raising incomes, overall welfare and
productivity to justify (to itself) the pain of further adjustment,
and has the policy skills to manage (if not minimize) adjustment
costs.
The emergence of China as a global economic powerhouse, the
uncertain path of Russia towards a market economy, and the
integration of ten Central and Eastern European countries into the
European Union (EU) have occupied the minds and agendas of many
policy-makers, business leaders and scholars from around the world
at the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first
century. Twenty years ago these developments were unimaginable. The
impact of these changes is so vast that the importance of
understanding the forces that unleashed this process, how these
changes became possible, and what the lessons are for other
developing countries, cannot be overestimated. This book is the
first effort to analyze the economics and politics of agricultural
reforms by comparing the reform processes, their causes and their
effects across this vast region. The authors draw on a vast set of
studies and new data, which compare reforms and economic impacts in
more than 25 countries, to come up with a series of conclusions and
implications on the role of economic reforms in growth, and the
importance of initial conditions and political constraints in
explaining the choices that were made and their effects. The book
analyzes some of the most successful sets of agricultural policies
in history that have lifted people out of poverty, raising
productivity and incomes by staggering amounts. At the same time
the book explains the reasons behind dramatic failures in policy
processes and reforms that caused hunger, poverty and which had
devastating effects on economic growth and development for millions
of other people.
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