Sara Hsu

Employment impacts of a ‘green’ energy transition in China

Before the US financial crisis that began in 2008, China was the ‘factory’ of the world, utilizing energy intensively for such processes as steelmaking, papermaking and concrete production. As such, energy emissions in China increased dramatically until 2007, with much of the energy being provided by the labor-intensive coal industry. Under the 11th five-year plan, China resolved to increase its energy efficiency, setting out to reduce energy consumption while continuing to increase economic growth, and to increase the usage of ‘green’ technologies to 15% of all energy used by 2020. The Renewable Energy Law of 2007 set a guideline for Chinas energy reduction goals, to quadruple the national GDP while only doubling the countrys electricity usage by the year 2020. Currently, there are virtually no studies on the employment effects of a ‘green’ transition to explore what impact the current energy goals, or potentially ‘greener’ energy goals, would have on Chinas labor force. This paper seeks to analyze the effects on employment of a ‘green’ transition.

Military Expenditures and Profit Rates: Evidence from OECD Countries

This article provides evidence of the effect of military expenditures on the rate of profits for 24 OECD countries for the period of 1963–2008 by employing a panel autoregressive distributed lag model within a Marxist framework for the first time. Findings show that while for the whole period there is positive linkage between military expenditures and profit rates, in the post‐1980 era the impact of military expenditures is negative. Findings suggest weak evidence that there is positive linkage between military expenditures and profit rates for arms‐exporting countries and negative linkage for non‐arms‐exporting countries.

Systemic Risk in the Chinese Shadow Banking System: A Sector-Level Perspective

Abstract We propose to measure the systemic risk in the shadow banking sector. Instead of testing how many institutions will fail due to the initial breakdown of one institution as extant network models do, we associate the systemic risk of one shadow banking sector with the total amount of unexpected losses it might generate both directly and indirectly. Our model focuses on balance sheet contagion and applies a loop algorithm to risk transfer. The result shows that trust companies were the main culprit of financial instability and commercial banks assumed the main risks over 2007–12 in the Chinese shadow banking system.

Role of Informal Finance in China's Continuing Economic Development

Informal finance is a very pro-growth institution in China and will continue to be an integral part of the economy in both the short and long run. Two paths that Chinas economy may take are examined, producing for domestic consumption and producing for international consumption. Analysis of the possible growth of different industries based on types of ownership and potential changes in consumption patterns finds that the path most conducive to increasing the number of informal financial transactions is one in which production is attuned mainly to domestic consumption.

Risks of P2P Lending Platforms in China: Modeling Failure Using a Cox Hazard Model

P2P lending platforms in China have risen since 2006 but have already experienced problems with fraud and liquidity. In this article, we describe the P2P lending platforms and their associated risks, and discuss and analyze a dataset on failed and nonfailed P2P companies. We find that an increase in the registered capital results in a decrease in the hazard ratio, while an increase in the interest rate results in an increase in the hazard ratio. We discuss policy implications for the P2P lending sector, which can help to reduce risk in the sector while allowing innovation to arise.

Sustainable Development in Malaysia and Indonesia

In this chapter, we discuss sustainable development in Malaysia and Indonesia in terms of geography, well-being, economic structure, and environmental sustainability.

Sustainable Development in Japan and South Korea

In this chapter, we discuss sustainable development in Japan and South Korea in terms of geography, well-being, economic structure, and environmental sustainability.

Lessons in Sustainable Development from Japan and South Korea

Hsu, Sara; Naoi, Michio; Zhang, Wenjie.2014.Lessons in sustainable development from Japan and South Korea,Book,[New York, U.S.]Palgrave Macmillan US,Comparative studies of sustainable development in Asia,125

Sustainable Development Programs and Experiments

Both Taiwan and China have recognized the need to improve sustainable development, and have increased the number of sustainable development programs and experiments that they are involved with. Although a comprehensive list is not provided, in this chapter, we list and discuss some of these.

Development and legitimacy of Chinese informal finance

Abstract As in many other developing countries, Chinese businesses and individuals frequently fund transactions using informal, unmonitored financial methods. The impact of this phenomenon is both positive and negative: positive when funds are used for legitimate purposes, such as providing much needed working capital for businesses, and negative when funds are used for illegitimate and/or illegal purposes, such as to finance criminal activity or launder proceeds of crime. There is a dearth of literature and research on this topic. Further study is necessary to understand the precise political, economic and social reasons for this diversity of non-bank financing and its legal and economic implications. This paper aims to pave the ground for such research and analytical work by reviewing the existing literature, placing it into context and raising the main questions that must be answered in future work.