Economics and Finance

This book explores the political economy of China-Pakistan economic corridor, a major pilot project for China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiatives. Pakistan will provide China with not only a pathway access to the Indian Ocean, Middle East and Africa, but also vital connections to the Trans-Asia railway network that links Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia. This book analyzes how domestic factors in Pakistan will affect China’s $46 billion investments. It will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and journalists.

This book identifies and systematically confirms the various factors that allow dangerous nuclear power projects to proceed without adequate risk assessment, even as society recognizes the magnitude of risks associated with nuclear power generation. For the first time, it employs a communication game model to explore each factor individually.

The novel feature of the book lies in its theoretical analysis of institutional factors, such as the possibility of regulatory capture by electric power companies, the likelihood of these companies concealing early warning signs, the societal demand for excessive safety leading to intolerance of even minor incidents, and the ambiguity of liability. These issues have been pointed out and discussed by many commentators, including the media, but they have never been rigorously verified through economic model analysis. Furthermore, the book discusses why trial and error, a common approach in technological development, is particularly challenging for nuclear power.

This book offers a deparochial account of global justice and addresses disenchantment stemming from its West-centricity and provincial theoretical formulations. As the recurring global poverty debate restricts the duties of alleviating poverty and inequality to the developed world, this book attempts to broaden the spectrum of duties to the superrich of the developing world. Drawing from the case study of India’s superrich as an exemplar of the potent agency of rising powers, the book examines the structural relationship between unbridled affluence and the (un)realisation of the human rights of the poor. It contends that India’s superrich, like their counterparts in other powerful developing countries, both contribute as well as benefit from the highly decentralised global economic order that (re)produces affluence of the few and deprivation of the many within these countries. In doing so, this book argues that the superrich have a positive duty to alleviate poverty and reduce inequality beyond their free-standing moral responsibility for philanthropy.

This book theoretically summarizes China’s exploration in integrating domestic ecological civilization construction with fulfilling international obligations to address climate change, demonstrating its responsibility and wisdom in advancing sustainable development and building a community with a shared future for mankind.
 
The coming 20 years will be a crucial period for China to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, accelerate socialist modernization, and realize the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. Chinese cities will simultaneously face challenges of economic development, environmental pollution, and global warming. Whether these three major challenges can be effectively addressed will determine whether China can forge a new type of urbanization with Chinese characteristics and whether its urban ecological environment can achieve sustainable development—a critical issue requiring in-depth study in the context of ecological civilization. This book systematically investigates climate change, urban ecological and environmental governance, target models for sustainable urban development, and pathways for reform.