Browsing by Subject "China"

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African Swine Fever-Vitamin Supply Chain Workshop Notes
(2019-04-26) Shurson, Gerald C; Urriola, Pedro E; van de Ligt, Jennifer LG; Sullivan, Polly L; Sundberg, Paul
An African swine fever-vitamin meal supply chain workshop involving key industry stakeholders was conducted on April 26, 2019 on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. Several vitamins are produced exclusively in China, while others are also primarily produced in China by a few manufacturers. Likewise, most vitamin manufacturers produce human and animal grade vitamins using the same quality assurance and controls that meet human grade standards. Most meeting participants consider the risk of ASF introduction from vitamins to be low but recognize that, if contaminated, vitamins can be a vehicle for virus introduction in the U.S. Several research and development priorities were identified including 1) develop a surrogate for ASF virus for monitoring processes that can inactivate the virus if it was present, 2) develop third party biosecurity modules and audits that can be implemented for feed ingredient manufacturers, 3) conduct a risk assessment of virus transmission throughout the vitamin supply chain, and 4) explore the use of blockchain technology for greater transparency and trust in the vitamin supply chain. Several education and communication priorities were also identified. A clear, transparent, and unified message is needed to educate the feed and pork industry to decrease confusion and suspicion of the perceived risks of virus transmission in the vitamin supply chain. Key components of this story include: 1) what is known about ASF virus characteristics, survival, and inactivation, 2) general description of raw materials, chemical and fermentation processes used to produce various vitamins, 3) current quality assurance programs, 4) packaging and transport, 5) potential for cross contamination from other porcine derived feed ingredients in multi-species feed mills, 6) approved sources vs. brokers and traders, and 7) holding times, origin of carriers, and premix manufacturing processes used before delivery to feed mills and commercial swine farms. Vitamin suppliers have industry wide standards for ingredient safety that minimize the opportunity for virus introduction. However, pork producers are responsible for knowing their suppliers and asking the right questions to screen potential suppliers that do not follow standards of safety. A comprehensive description of the entire vitamin supply chain is needed and a unified, accurate, and consistent message to the pork industry.
After work or study abroad: Chinese return migration and Kunming’s ‘Jia Xiang Bao’ - hometown babies.
(2012-01) Werner, Seth E.
The process of migration has long been framed as a unidirectional process comprised of arrival, settlement, citizenship and assimilation motivated by economic necessities. This dissertation moves beyond these limited views and utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to explore the process of return migration of Chinese nationals to Kunming, China. By utilizing in-depth interviews and observation to explore the motivations of a specific group of returnees to Kunming, a rapidly changing city in China's developing western region, this study has identified three insights that can contribute to a better understating of the return migration process. The first two key findings - jia xiang bao `hometown babies' and the desire to be a `big fish in a little sea' - can motivate future policy decisions that seek to attract returnees. The third, unexpected finding - xiao xiong xin or `little ambition' of younger generations - acknowledges the perceived heterogeneity among returnees. Further research and policy efforts that recognize heterogeneity by age group and other potentially important but, as yet unstudied factors will be able to develop a more nuanced understanding of the ever larger and inevitably more diverse returnee population.
Book Review: Country Driving: A Journey through China from Farm to Factory
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2010) King, David
Peter Hessler's book provides a valuable account of the central role played by the automobile in China’s ongoing urbanization.
`Bridging the gaps': a case study of faculty and student expectations, perceptions, challenges, and responses in the Chinese `Teach-Abroad' learning environment
(2013-07) Goode, Matthew Lawson
Thousands of U.S. faculty travel abroad each year to teach host–country students (George, 1995). This study explores the ‘teach–abroad classroom’, defined as “the teaching and learning processes and interactions between faculty and students” in this learning environment (George, 1987, 1995; Slethaug, 2007). Faculty and student expectations and perceptions of this learning environment are investigated, ‘gaps’ between the faculty and students are identified, and faculty and student responses to cultural differences are assessed. This qualitative study focuses on the case of the China Executive MBA (CHEMBA) Program, a joint offering of the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota in the United States and Lingnan (University) College, Sun Yat–sen University in Guangzhou, China. Individual interviews were conducted with Carlson School faculty who teach in the program and with students and graduates of the program. The researcher also formally observed CHEMBA class sessions. Utilizing intercultural competence theory (M. J. Bennett, 1986, 1993; Deardorff, 2008), this study reports findings related to faculty and learner expectations, perceptions, challenges, and responses in the teach–abroad learning environment. Three metaphors are used to represent the key gaps between faculty and students in regard to classroom discussion, the completion of readings for class, and language issues. Recommendations are offered for faculty, learners, and program administrators.
Built environment correlates of walking for transportation: Differences between commuting and non-commuting trips
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Liu, Jixiang; Zhou, Jiangping; Xiao, Longzhu
As a sustainable mode of travel, walking for transportation has multiple environmental, social, and health-related benefits. In existing studies, however, such walking has rarely been differentiated between commuting and non-commuting trips. Using multilevel zero-inflated negative binomial regression and multilevel Tobit regression models, this study empirically examines the frequency and duration of commuting and non-commuting walking and their correlates in Xiamen, China. It finds that (1) non-commuting walking, on average, has a higher frequency and longer duration than commuting walking; (2) most socio-demographic variables are significant predictors, and age, occupation, and family size have opposite-direction effects on commuting and non-commuting walking; and (3) different sets of built environment variables are correlated with commuting and non-commuting walking, and the built environment collectively influences the latter more significantly than the former. The findings provide useful references for customized interventions concerning promoting commuting and non-commuting walking.
Can increasing faculty professionalism raise instructional quality at a Chinese University?
(2013-12) Lindgren, Jeffrey
The purpose of this study was to determine if increasing faculty professionalism is a viable strategy for raising the quality of instruction at a Chinese university. In this study, increasing faculty professionalism refers to increases in regards to six areas of faculty work: academic freedom, work balance, governance, reward systems, salary, and professional development. A mixed-methods approach was used in this study. 30 faculty and 15 administrators were interviewed using a standardized open-ended approach and 27 faculty and 21 administrators responded to a questionnaire with 26 Likert-type questions. Study findings suggest that faculty and administrators at Guangdong X University agree that instructional quality needs to be raised. In addition, the findings suggest that faculty and administrators at Guangdong X University agree that increasing faculty professionalism may be an effective way to raise the quality of instruction at this university. Also, the findings suggest that this agreement between faculty and administrators at Guangdong X University may indicate an open policy window (Kingdon, 2003) for advancing the strategy of increasing faculty professionalism as a way to raise instructional quality. Finally, policy alternatives are suggested in view of Kingdon's (2003) model.
Can We Resolve Tensions between the US and China?
(The Future Center in Dubai publishes Arab language commentary on many issues including security issues, 2019-04-27) Andregg, Michael M.
Can We Resolve Tensions between the US and China? Michael Andregg, University of St. Thomas, mmandregg@stthomas.edu The trade war between the US and China worries many people these days, not least the business community. Worst-case scenarios involve real war, because trade and conflict have been connected throughout human history. A Harvard professor recently wrote a book called “Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?” (2017). Allison’s research suggests a 75% probability for the harsh outcome. A thermonuclear war would set the world economy back by generations at least, and even a “small” military conflict in the South China Sea between a rising China and declining US could cost trillions, and disrupt supply chains all over the world. Economic damage could last decades, even if land armies never met. So peace between these behemoths is imperative for many reasons. Both prefer to behave as empires, however, so neighbors should stay cautious. Therefore, the short answer to whether the US and China can patch up their trade differences must be a “yes” even if the challenges are large, which they are. Current US President Trump enjoys trade wars, and is unrealistic about their consequences. China’s push for dominance in key technologies, like artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 5G cell systems, will not abate. Those trends frighten national security hawks, and businesses that do not want to be left behind like the buggy-whip makers a century ago. In the short term, the most likely place for conflict to turn into bombs and bullets on targets is the South China Sea. China resents the projection of American power into the Pacific, despite the historic fact that American naval power was essential to rescue China from dominance by Japan. Hence, China’s massive engineering project to raise tiny islands in the South China Sea, and turn several into military bases.
Children of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: Disrupted Education, Send-Down Experiences, and Subsequent Health
(2015-06) Fan, Wen
The relationships between early-life adversity, educational attainment, and subsequent health have been the focus of much sociological research. Questions remain, however, regarding whether and under what conditions one can recover from initial disadvantages, why education is persistently associated with health, and to what extent selection and turning points account for the long-arm of early-life adversities. This dissertation sheds light on these questions by examining children of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (CR), who came of age during the turbulent CR decade (1966-76), when colleges were closed, the state intervened to sever the intergenerational transmission of educational advantage, and approximately 17 million urban youth were sent to rural areas to do manual labor. First, I use the 2003 Chinese General Social Survey to show that members of the CR cohort compensate for their initial educational loss by returning to school at later ages at a rate much higher than adjacent cohorts. Parental education matters more for members of the CR cohort in facilitating school reentry, reflecting the early-life discrimination of high-status families during the Cultural Revolution. Next, using the Cultural Revolution as a natural experiment and the unique Chinese institutional arrangements as a single-party state society, I construct two tests to assess three theoretical perspectives dominant in the education-health literature: spurious correlation, human capital, and fundamental cause theory. Drawing on three cross-sectional data sets collected in 1994, 2002, and 2010, both tests provide strong support for fundamental cause theory, showing that access to resources is the key underlying the educational gradient in health, while suggesting the specific form could differ across societies. Lastly, based on life history data collected in 1994, I investigate midlife consequences of the rustication ("sent down"�) experience. Propensity score analysis indicate a selection process due to the shifting rustication policy, accounting for the poorer subsequent health of those who were sent to rural areas and stayed there for a long time from the trailing-edge CR cohort. Taken together, this dissertation highlights the roles of the state, institutional arrangements, and historical timing in the shaping of educational attainment, as well as the relationships between early-life adversity, education, and health.
China motorization trends: New directions for crowded cities
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2010) Ng, Wei-Shiuen; Schipper, Lee; Chen, Yang
This paper examines two major emerging constraints on transport in fast-growing Chinese urban cities: oil supply and urban infrastructure. The research considers automobile technology, alternative fuels, and mobility choices, as well as policy measures that could be adopted to reduce the use of oil for transport and greenhouse gas emissions. Three transport energy scenarios, “Road Ahead,” “Oil Saved,” and “Integrated Transport,” illustrate potential motorization trends given different policy, vehicle technology, alternative fuels, and driving-behavior assumptions. In the Integrated Transport scenario, where congestion and space constraints favor small and vehicles moving at slower speeds, gasoline and electric cars are the highest in use. Oil consumption in the Integrated Transport scenario is only 12 percent of its value in Road Ahead by 2020, while carbon emission is 79 percent lower. Policies such as vehicle technology and fuel requirements, while important, are not as crucial as integrated land use development, taxation of vehicle use, road pricing, and the prioritization of public and non-motorized transport that could trigger a world of fewer, smaller and more efficient cars. According to experiences around the world, fuel and carbon dioxide concerns alone are not strong enough to promote a change in the path of individual motorization.
China's Foreign Policy in Fragile states
(2017) Blomquist, Michael; Bradley, Collin; Welter, Madeline; Young, Allen
This report examines China’s foreign policy in fragile states. With its economic rise over the last three decades, China has come to play an increasingly prominent role on the world stage. Accounts of Chinese foreign policy often focus either on China’s relationship to other great powers or its expansion into a specific region, such as Africa or Latin America. Here we attempt to approach Chinese foreign policy from a different angle—namely, that of its policy in countries of heightened political instability. Does China have a specific policy for fragile states, as distinct from its various regional strategies? To begin to answer this question, we examine the cases of four fragile states in different parts of the world: Angola, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and Nepal. Our research draws on published economic data and recent scholarship on China’s political objectives. Our conclusion is that China goes to great lengths to foster stability, particularly in countries with strategic importance, even if it does not have a specific “fragile states” policy.
Community design/building in Japan & China: From Participatory Design to Co-design
(2024-05-13) Liu, Xiaotong
Community design is always a crucial component of architecture design. And a crucial factor that should be taken into account in the community design process is resident involvement. Today, "co-design" is growing in popularity. "Co-design" refers to the inclusion of locals in the designing and building process of the project. Architects should engage community members and get feedback from them continuously. In Japanese community residents are highly motivated to participate in the planning and construction process. The community's participation in design and construction has a lengthy development history, beginning with rehabilitation projects that happened as a result of the periodic earthquakes and tsunami (Jiang, 2023). This essay documents six Japanese community design cases, analyzing their histories, current status, benefits, and involved parties. A matrix examines the various participant kinds, behaviors, and levels of participation. Inferences are drawn about how to move the current participatory design process to the co-design stage, and with a Chinese case as an example, how to apply Japanese participatory design techniques to Chinese community design.
Cost of an urban rail ride: A nation-level analysis of ridership, capital costs and cost-effectiveness performance of urban rail transit projects in China
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2018) Zhao, Jinbao; Li, Chaosu; Zhang, Ruhua; Palmer, Mathew
Although urban rail transit (URT) is an attractive alternative mode of daily travel, barriers exist in URT development across the world, in particular, the high cost of construction and operation and relative low rates of URT ridership. Despite these barriers, URT has gained considerable popularity worldwide in recent years; much of this trend is driven by projects in China. Despite this public support and implementation of URT projects, the ridership, capital costs and cost-effectiveness of URT projects remain largely unstudied. This paper addresses this planning and policy issue by examining line-level ridership and investment data for 97 heavy rail transit (HRT) lines and 12 light rail transit (LRT) lines in 28 Chinese cities. Comparative analysis is conducted so as to evaluate the performance and cost-effectiveness of HRT and LRT. Multiple linear regression analysis is used to explain the variability of URT cost-effectiveness and how it varies depending on land use density, project design, system service, and multimodal transit integration. Findings indicate that land-use density, line length, number of transfer stations, operation time, and bus ridership significantly contribute to higher levels of URT ridership, while URT ridership decreases significantly with train headway and the station’s distance from the city center. It is cost-effective to develop URT in high-density cities in spite of high costs, and some, if not all, LRT lines are more cost-effective than HRT lines. As of this analysis, the overdevelopment of HRT in China has failed to plan for multimodal transport integration and operational optimization. However, these shortcomings are also opportunities for Chinese transportation and land-use planners to develop more cost-effective URT projects that also improve the level of service available to the public.
Country of Origin Labeling Revisited: Processed Chicken from China and the USDA Processed Foods Exception
(Minnesota Journal of Law, Science and Technology, 2014-05) Schueppert, Daniel
In late August 2013, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) made it possible for the United States to export chicken to China for processing. Under these present regulations, chicken originating from U.S. farms can be slaughtered in the United States, shipped to China for processing, and then shipped back to the United States for sale. This chicken need not include Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) to indicate that it has been processed in China. This practice was technically authorized several years ago, but was specifically denied funding by affirmative use of a three-year congressional ban by means of congressional appropriations bills. Since China’s original application for approval, a total of ten years has passed in the course of lengthy inspections, the congressional ban, and yet more inspections. Time was also required to write and issue official reports. In 2013, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), an arm of the USDA, completed remedial audits of China’s poultry processing system. The FSIS again certified the administrative side of the Chinese poultry processing system in addition to issuing permits to four select processing plants, thereby deeming them equivalent to U.S. standards. Perhaps inevitably, this was not a popular change. Some American politicians and consumer groups have retained reservations about the safety of chicken processed in China due to a variety of newer and older reasons relating back to the congressional ban. As it stands, opponents point to perceived food-safety concerns and consumer-information issues based on the fact that consumers will not know in which country their chicken products have been processed. This Note introduces the relevant background information and the history of Chinese processed poultry standards, the concept of equivalence, and a brief history of U.S. assessment of Chinese poultry processing, concluding with a description of the health safety scares in China in the context of this issue. This Note then analyzes these trends and argues for the adoption of modified COOL standards for some processed foods in light of strategic uses of COOL.
Divergent Narratives on Chinese Internet Censorship: Western-centric versus Local Perspectives
(2021-05) Deutmeyer, Dana
Chinese Internet censorship refers to the Chinese government’s policies that attempt to control the circulation of online information. Internet censorship as a focus of study produces multiple, incongruent perspectives, especially among Western academics and authors. This thesis discusses “black-and-white” and “shades-of-grey” perspectives of Chinese Internet censorship. “Black and white” perspectives present Internet censorship as necessarily being oppressive, and are informed by Western-centric biases rooted in an ideologized, essentialized view of democratic principles and Orientalism. “Shades of grey” perspectives emphasize understanding censorship from a local perspective, including how it prompts the development of certain online behaviors. Under the umbrella of Chinese censorship lies various aspects, including the goal of the government to prevent collective action, as well as the underlying motivation of producing a shared understanding of reality. It also includes how netizens experience Internet censorship, how they react to it, and the influences it has on online culture. Importantly, this discussion of Chinese Internet censorship also considers how the West interprets it, which is usually in a very critical manner, as censorship is viewed as antithetical to Western-centric essentialized values of democracy and freedom.
East Asian Studies Department at the University of Minnesota in the 1980s
(2011-03-01) Marshal, Byron K.
Emotional Labor in China: Relationships with Burnout, Job Satisfaction, and Perceived Group Membership as Predictors
(2013) Zhang, Yuyan; Luong, Alexandra
With the prevalence of service jobs, researchers have begun to pay attention to emotional labor in the workplace. Emotional labor refers to spontaneous manipulation of one’s feelings or/and expressions, in order to induce expected reaction of others (e.g. customers) or meet the organizational norms (Hochschild, 1983). Employees in service jobs commonly use emotional labor through two different strategies: surface acting and deep acting. Surface acting means the manipulation of the appeared expression; in contrast, deep acting refers to the adjustment of the internal feeling. In current study, we investigated the relationship between different acting strategies and burnout as well as job satisfaction. We also examined whether employees’ perceptions of customers’ social economic status and in-out group membership would affect their use of emotional labor strategies. Participants were employees from a jewelry store in China who completed surveys and interviews. Results showed that surface acting was positively correlated with emotional exhaustion, while deep acting was positively correlated with personal accomplishment. Employees used more deep acting if they perceived their customers as in-group members, indicating group membership as a predictor of deep acting. No correlation was found between acting strategies and depersonalization, job satisfaction, or perceived social economic status of customers. Several themes emerged from the interview responses. First, employees reported using emotional labor commonly at work and took it as a duty or a shaped habit. Second, whether employees were successful at selling influenced their emotions toward customers. Third, despite that some employees stated emotions should be left at home or with more intimate relationships, faking or hiding their emotions at work tended to put them in a worse mood and more stressed. Different ways of emotion management were mentioned, including diverting attention, self-persuasion, etc.
Emotional Labor in China: Relationships with Burnout, Job Satisfaction, and Perceived Group Membership as Predictors
(2014) Zhang, Yuyan; Luong, Alexandra
Essays in macroeconomic labor markets.
(2012-08) Michaud, Amanda Marie
In this thesis I study labor market dynamics in a macroeconomic context. The first chapter infers a theory of employment using the differences in wage and employment outcomes of job changers. This theory is used to understand differences in levels of unemployment and predict the effect of policy prohibiting employment discrimination against the unemployed. The second chapter examines the evolution of employment volatility relative to output in the US over the past half century. I find the increase is driven by certain demographic subgroups that can be thought of as highly skilled. I use this variation to see if a theory of increased skill transferability can account for the overall macro increase in relative employment volatility. The final chapter, joint with Jacek Rothert, proposes a link between government housing policy and savings in China. We construct a model of learning by doing in exports and find that optimal government policy restricting residential construction raises employment and output in the tradeable sector. This produces both a current account surplus and can be rationalized as benevolent because of the growth externality in learning by doing.
Essays in Macroeconomics
(2020-07) Gu, Shijun
This dissertation consists of three chapters. In the first, I perform an empirical analysis of China’s college expansion policy. First, I estimate the impact of a substantial increase in the college-educated labor supply on the college wage premium. I find that the return to college education is stable within a decade after college expansion. Second, I investigate how college expansion has affected pre-college education expenditure on children and their educational outcomes. The main finding is that the magnitude of the effect depends crucially on parents' socioeconomic backgrounds. In the second chapter, I quantitatively evaluate how China’s public college expansion program impacts human capital investment in children and inequality in the long run. To this end, I introduce a heterogeneous-agent overlapping-generations model in which altruistic parents invest in their children’s pre-college education, which can raise their children’s future working efficiency and their chance of passing the College Entrance Examination. I find that the increases in college attainment, human capital, and ex ante welfare are substantial but unevenly distributed, with disadvantaged children benefiting the least from the existing policy. The simulation also reveals that the reason for the unequal outcomes is that college expansion primarily incentivizes wealthy parents to spend more on their children’s education, which is consistent with the empirical evidence. Finally, the third chapter (joint with Lichen Zhang) studies the driving forces behind the decline in the formation of new businesses in the U.S. since the 1980s and investigates their macroeconomic implications. We devote our attention to two forces: changes in entry costs and the persistence of shocks to productivity. We develop a quantitative general equilibrium model of entrepreneurship to identify and quantify their relative importance in explaining the observed declines in new business creation. We find that the relative contribution of higher entry cost is 1.5 to 2 times larger than that of the higher persistence of shocks. Moreover, the increases in entry cost have compelled entrepreneurs to pay 15% more in terms of their first year's profit to start a business.
Estimating the economic benefits of high-speed rail in China: A new perspective from the connectivity improvement
(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2019) Chong, Zhaohui; Qin, Chenglin; Chen, Zhenhua
This paper evaluates the economic benefits of high-speed rail (HSR) in China, with a focus on the connectivity change resulting from HSR development. The effect of HSR, measured in degree centrality, is assessed using a spatial econometric modeling technique based on a panel dataset that covers 268 Chinese cities from 2008-2015. To provide a robust assessment, statistical issues including heterogeneous effects, endogeneity, and spatial dependence are addressed simultaneously in the spatial panel modeling process. Our empirical results confirm that connectivity improvement brought by HSR plays a vital role in facilitating economic growth. Specifically, the contribution of HSR to urban economic growth is found to be 0.11, most of which comes from a local effect rather than a spillover effect. Overall, the research findings suggest that urban economic growth can benefit from the development of HSR.

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