Core Policy Research Articles

China’s Evolving Diaspora Engagement Policy: Transnational Linkages And Stakeholder Perceptions

China’s profound demographic and socioeconomic transitions over the last four decades have led to significant changes in its diaspora: increased numbers, different destinations, and diversified reasons for emigration. The national diaspora policy has undergone many shifts since China’s momentous economic reforms and opening to the world in 1978; but policy now converges on a multifaceted and intrinsically transnational system of engagement in the service of soft power. Studies have so far stressed domestic interests, drawing insights primarily from policy documents; but this article seeks to broaden the perspective, using a transnationally oriented framework to assist investigation of factors that range beyond the domestic. Using in-depth interviews with a variety of key informants and stakeholders, we systematically analyze features in four core policy dimensions that incorporate both international and domestic dynamics: diaspora institutions, dual citizenship, talent recruitment, and soft power. Finally, we explore implications for development (economic, sociocultural, educational) in both China and host countries. We draw the conclusion that China’s diaspora policy is shaped by a constellation of transnational factors—such as changing global and regional power structures, and competition in talent-recruiting and talent-retaining in the new technological era. China now deploys multi-scale linkages across several dimensions, expanding from economic to sociocultural and political spheres, to engage its diaspora effectively. Finally, these policy developments not only shape China’s internal development but also influence global sentiment, bringing new dynamics to bear global power relations.

Constitutionalism and the radical right: The case of the Spanish party Vox

Abstract Since 2018, the radical right party Vox has been part of the political landscape in Spain. This the article analyzes Vox’s electoral manifesto and some important speeches of the party’s leaders, in order to address three main topics. First, the article explains how key themes of liberal constitutionalism feature in the narrative of the party. Second, the article analyzes the extent to which Vox’s policy proposals can be described as illiberal. Third, the article doctrinally assesses to what extent such proposals are compatible with the Spanish Constitution. Contributing to the literature on radical right parties and illiberalism, this article describes the main traits of Vox’s current political approach to constitutionalism. It is argued that these traits can be summarized in three main features: partisan use of constitutional rhetoric, constitutional double standards combined with selective constitutionalism, and unconstitutionality of core policy proposals.

Towards Tobacco-Free Generation: implementation of preventive tobacco policies in the Nordic countries.

Europe's Beating Cancer Plan set a goal of creating a Tobacco-Free Generation in Europe by 2040. Prevention is important for achieving this goal. We compare the Nordic countries' preventive tobacco policies, discuss the possible determinants for similarities and differences in policy implementation, and provide strategies for strengthening tobacco prevention. We used the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to identify the key policies for this narrative review. We focused on Articles 6, 8, 9, 11, 13 and 16 of the WHO FCTC, and assessed the status of the required (core) and recommended (advanced) policies and their application to novel tobacco and nicotine products. Information on the implementation of strategies, acts and regulations were searched from global and national tobacco control databases, websites and scientific articles via PubMed and MEDLINE. The WHO FCTC and European regulations have ensured that the core policies are mostly in place, but also contributed to the shared deficiencies that are seen especially in the regulations on smokeless tobacco and novel products. Strong national tobacco control actors have facilitated countries to implement some advanced policies - even as the first countries in the world: point-of-sale display bans (Iceland), outdoor smoking bans (Sweden), flavour bans on electronic cigarettes (Finland), plain packaging (Norway), and plain packaging on electronic cigarettes (Denmark). Collaboration and participation in reinforcing the European regulations, resources for national networking between tobacco control actors, and national regulations to provide protection from the tobacco industry's interference are needed to strengthen comprehensive implementation of tobacco policies in the Nordic countries.

Causal relationship between globalization, economic growth and CO2 emissions in Vietnam using Wavelet analysis

In connection with environmental degradation in Vietnam, known as an emerging economy, very limited studies have been implemented to demonstrate the environmental aspects of the country's core policies, as well as recent economic policies such as economic growth and globalization policies. Given this driving force, this paper uncovers a novel perspective on the causal associations between CO2 emissions, economic growth, and globalization in Vietnam using wavelet analysis. The empirical results provide evidence of the interconnections between the selected indicators through time and frequency. More accurately, the findings uncover that economic growth and globalization significantly increase carbon dioxide emissions in Vietnam in the medium and long run. These outcomes highlight the importance of policymakers properly coordinating policies to address Vietnam's severe environmental degradation. Furthermore, Vietnam should continue relevant policy reforms such as encouraging investment, allowing for effective governance and promoting human capital accumulation.

PLTS/DEMATEL-based key policy factor identification for marine fisheries management in China

China has a number of fisheries management policies aimed at curbing the decline of fisheries resources. Due to the management subject is relatively unitary, we speculate that policies are constantly influencing each other, which results in system fault. To investigate the structural correlation between policies, a hybrid method comprising the probabilistic linguistic term set (PLTS), the Dempster–Shafer evidence theory (DST), and the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) was proposed. First, the policy factors for China’s marine fisheries management are analyzed, and the PLTS is used to obtain the original data given by experts to describe the direct influence degree between each pair of policy factors. Then, all PLTSs are transferred to the basic probability assignment functions, and they are fused by Dempster’s rule to obtain the initial direct-relation (IDR) matrix. With the IDR matrix as inputs, the DEMATEL method was employed to identify the key policy factors. The results found that the prominence degrees of the two policies of output control were the highest, indicating that output control is the core policy type that can be critically linked to the effectiveness of policy system. Finally, the corresponding suggestions were put forward.

Stratification Economics: Core Constructs and Policy Implications

This article introduces the core constructs of stratification economics to provide a coherent explanation for the persistence of intergroup inequalities. Aligned with the critical race theory concept of “the property rights in Whiteness,” stratification economics explicitly incorporates the concepts of identity-group investment and group-based agency in the construction of identity-group hierarchies. We survey the intellectual lineage, foundations, tenets and theoretical underpinnings of stratification economics, and conclude with a treatise on inclusive economic rights as an appropriate policy frame to empower people and counteract structural inequalities generated from inter-group conflict and competition for preferred outcomes. (JEL D63, G51, I14, I24, J15, J31, Z13)

China–US Economic and Trade Relations: Trump and Beyond

In the final year of Trump’s tenure, China and the US put the trade war on hold by signing their phase-one economic and trade agreement, but the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to the China–US economic and trade relations. The US trade and economic policies toward China advocated by Trump had to be suspended due to his failure to win the re-election, demonstrating that his economic and trade strategy for China has ended in failure. However, the succeeding Biden administration has not totally abandoned the overall design of Trump’s economic and trade policies toward China, and has continued the core policies of imposing additional tariffs on China and maintaining the US economic competitive advantage. After the collision during the Trump administration, the China–US economic and trade relations still show the fundamental characteristics of complementarity and mutual benefit. Under the Biden administration, the renewal of the phase-one economic and trade agreement, the transformation of the economic alliance, the security of the supply chain, the coordination of global economic issues in the post-pandemic era, etc. will become the new focuses of China–US economic and trade relations.

How non-radical right parties strategically use nativist language: Evidence from an automated content analysis of Austrian, German, and Swiss election manifestos

Radical right parties and their nativist ideas have gained considerable momentum, compelling non-radical parties to “engage” with this nativist “Zeitgeist.” Yet, aside from general trends such as tougher stances on migration, we know little about the strategic choices of parties when balancing their commitment to core policy goals and the need to be “timely,” that is, to respond to changing environments. Theoretically, parties may either adapt their ideological “core” to signal commitment or merely attribute nativist ideas to secondary issue areas to signal general responsiveness. Drawing on Austrian, German, and Swiss manifestos for over two decades and establishing a novel dictionary to assess parties’ use of nativism, we find that while previous studies showing right-wing parties compete with RRPs using nativism in the same domains are correct, the strategic choices around this competition are more complex. How much commitment to nativist ideas parties show depends on whether radical right parties use the same domains to construct their nativist claims. For research on party competition, this means that more attention should be paid to how rather than if parties “engage” with their rivals.

Multi-Level Prioritization Analysis of Water Governance Components to Improve Agricultural Water-Saving Policy: A Case Study from Korea

The challenge of unstainable agricultural water usage in Korea has continued interminably despite persisting climate change impacts; thus, necessitating urgent actions to forestall future water crises. However, achieving this goal requires the involvement of stakeholders to develop an effective governance policy concerning water saving. This study investigates the components of water governance following existing water policy gaps. A multi-level Delphi-AHP technique was used to identify and prioritize the essential components of agricultural water governance that can specifically enhance water-saving policy in Korea. The analysis of twenty-nine formulated components (six main and twenty-three sub-components) based on the OECD water policy gaps was conducted. A Delphi-AHP technique with process evaluation of the agricultural water experts’ opinions under pairwise comparisons was used to arrive at the relative order of importance of the components. The order of main components based on the consolidated weight follows core actors (0.316), law, policies, and systems (0.069), budget support (0.135), information sharing and communication (0.099), mutual learning (0.142), and external experts (0.239), while village representatives (0.353), legislation (0.358), central government (0.311), policy committee (0.309), education course (0.374), and facilitator (0.402) were considered as priorities, respectively, for the sub-components of water governance. The findings indicate that strengthening the informal institution could address the water governance gaps in the agricultural sector to achieve water-saving policies. This study recommends a bottom-up approach to water governance that could promote the active participation of core actors such as farmers and villagers in the design of policy and management of agricultural water resources.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place Under China’s Anti-Sanction Law 2021: The Game- Theoretical Perspective

The Chinese Anti-Sanction Law (ASL 2021) has for the first time created a legal basis for sanctioning specific foreign entities for conduct inconsistent with China’s core interests and policies. Those involved in implementing foreign sanction measures can be put on an anti-sanctions list and may be denied entry into China or be expelled from the country. The escalated confrontations are part of a broader global trend of tightening export controls, sanctions and foreign investment controls on national security or public interest grounds. At the heart of the problem is the incongruity between the US and Chinese perspectives on distinct values such as human rights, national security and other public policies. The conflict of law arises inevitably as a multinational company (MNC) attempts to comply with both US law and ASL 2021. The law creates a legal conundrum for foreign MNCs, which are placed in a proverbial rock-and-hard-place situation. Using in-depth analyses of China’s evolving sanctions regime, it is essential to explore resolutions to mitigate the escalated tension and break the deadlock. It is therefore necessary for foreign entities to navigate a delicate balancing act between compliance with US laws and China’s requirements for continued transactions. Blocking Mechanism, Anti-Sanction Law, National Security, Entity List

Rethinking anti-money laundering supervision: The Single Supervisory Mechanism - a model for a European anti-money laundering supervisor?

Whereas the prudential supervision of credit and other financial institutions has been a core policy concern of the EU legislator in the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis, the supervision of private sector entities within the European Anti-Money Laundering framework has been subject to less attention. However, on 20 July 2021, the European Commission intervened and published legislative proposals for two regulations and one directive, meant to boost the European response to the phenomenon of Money Laundering. This contribution – after having pointed out the shortcomings of the current legislative framework – pursues a twofold objective: first, offering an in-depth analysis of whether the Single Supervisory Mechanism, set up within the banking union for the purposes of prudential supervision, might be a useful precedent of Europeanisation to build up upon in matters of Anti-Money Laundering supervision, and second, commenting the possible approaches to be taken when setting up an EU level Anti-Money Laundering supervisor. The systemic cross-border importance of AML – beyond the euro area – warrants the establishment of a new EU agency specialised on AML, invested with more supervisory powers than EBA, ESMA and EIOPA and taking over the direct supervision of high-risk obliged entities, while indirectly supervising the remaining entities. It is argued furthermore that such institutional reform should necessarily be accompanied by the establishment of a Single Rulebook, which enjoys direct applicability across the EU.

Can the implementation of family doctor contracted service enable the elderly to utilize primary health care services more equally? empirical evidence from Shandong, China

BackgroundWhile the elderly are facing greater health risks, they also face more serious inequalities in utilization of medical services. The family doctor contracted service is the core policy of the Chinese government to cope with aging and to achieve the outcome that everyone has the right to primary health care. However, previous research has neither revealed the degree of inequality in the use of contracted services among the elderly in China, nor has it revealed what factors are related to the inequality in the use of services.ObjectiveAssess and decompose the inequality in the use of family doctors contracted services in the elderly population in China.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 1037 elderly people was conducted in Shandong Province, China. According to the first consultation rate of family doctors, the physical examination rate, the healthy lifestyle guidance rate and the chronic disease management rate, the situation of elderly people’s utilization of family doctor contracted service was investigated. The concentration index is used to measure the degree of inequality in the use of family doctors contracted services by the elderly. In order to test the contribution of different factors to the inequality of utilization of family doctors contracted services, the concentration index was also decomposed.ResultsThe first consultation rate of family doctors for the elderly in Shandong Province was 24.6%, the physical examination rate was 65.8%, the healthy lifestyle guidance rate was 13.7%, and the chronic disease management rate was 52.2%. The horizontal inequality index of the healthy lifestyle guidance rate and the chronic disease management rate were 0.451 and 0.573, respectively, indicating that there is an inequality of pro-wealth. The concentration index of physical examination rate and chronic disease management rate is negative (− 0.260, − 0.518), which means inequality to the poor. Education level is the most important factor affecting the unequal utilization of health services for the elderly, followed by income.ConclusionThe family doctor contracted service has had a positive impact on alleviating the health inequality in the utilization of basic medical and health services for the elderly. Although there is still inequality in terms of pro-wealth for the elderly, the utilization of family doctor contracted service has weakened the inequality of service utilization brought about by income. Enhancing the health literacy of the elderly, narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, bridging the gap between urban and rural areas, and building a harmonious family relationship can promote the realization of basic medical and health care services for every elderly.

Relational coupling of multiple streams: The case of COVID‐19 infections in German abattoirs

AbstractAfter a series of COVID‐19 outbreaks among employees in the German meat‐processing industry, the Work Safety Control Act protecting these workers made it on the government's agenda in July 2020. From a Multiple Streams perspective, local corona hotspots may be understood as policy windows for introducing respective measures. However, this alone is not sufficient to explain agenda setting. This study investigates the coupling of streams within policy windows. Introducing the notion of relational coupling to the MSF research agenda, discourse network analysis provides a new methodology to reveal entrepreneurial activities. Studying the German mass media discourse on the issue identifies two stages: (1) An initial problem brokerage without coupling of core policies, followed by (2) a coupling across all streams based on a focusing event. We argue that relational coupling allows for an enhanced understanding of agenda setting.

Community healthcare workers' experiences during and after COVID-19 lockdown: A qualitative study from Aotearoa NewZealand.

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic reached Aotearoa New Zealand, stringent lockdown measures lasting 7weeks were introduced to manage community spread of the virus. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study examining how lockdown measures impacted upon the lives of nurses, midwives and personal care assistants caring for community-based patients during this time. The study involved nationwide surveys and in-depth interviews with 15 registered nurses employed in community settings, two community midwives and five personal care assistants. During the lockdown, nurses, midwives and personal care assistants working in the community showed considerable courage in answering their 'call to duty' by taking on heightened care responsibilities and going 'the extra mile' to help others. They faced significant risks to personal and professional relationships when they were required to take on additional and complex responsibilities for community-based patients. Despite the hypervigilant monitoring of their personal protective equipment (PPE), the need to safeguard family and community members generated considerable stress and anxiety. Many also faced personal isolation and loneliness as a result of lockdown restrictions. Moreover, the negative impacts of experiences during lockdown often continued to be felt once restrictions had been lifted, inflecting life during periods in which community transmission of COVID-19 was not occurring. This article makes five core service delivery and policy recommendations for supporting community-based nurses, midwives and personal care assistants in respiratory disease pandemics: acknowledging the crucial role played by community-based carers and the associated stress and anxiety they endured by championing respect and compassion; demystifying the 'heroism' or 'self-sacrifice' projected onto care workers; the timely provision of adequate protective equipment; improving remuneration, with adequate provision for time off; and regular counselling, peer support groups and education on work-life balance delivered by support workers in recognition of stressors arising from these complex and isolated working conditions.

Core policies disparity response to COVID-19 among BRICS countries

ObjectiveTo provide experience for formulating prevention and control policies, this study analyzed the effectiveness of the Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) prevention and control policies, and evaluated health equity and epidemic cooperation among BRICS countries.MethodsThis study summarized the pandemic prevention and control policies in BRICS countries and evaluated the effectiveness of those policies by extracting COVID-19 related data from official websites.ResultAs of May 4, 2021, responding to COVID-19. China adopted containment strategies. China’s total confirmed cases (102,560) were stable, without a second pandemic peak, and the total deaths per million (3.37) were much lower than others. India and South Africa who adopted intermediate strategies have similar pandemic curves, total confirmed cases in India (20,664,979) surpassed South Africa (1,586,148) as the highest in five countries, but total deaths per million (163.90) lower than South Africa (919.11). Brazil and Russia adopted mitigation strategies. Total confirmed cases in Brazil (14,856,888) and Russia (4,784,497) continued to increase, and Brazil’s total deaths per million (1,936.34) is higher than Russia (751.50) and other countries.ConclusionThis study shows BRICS countries implemented different epidemic interventions. Containment strategy is more effective than intermediate strategy and mitigation strategy in limiting the spread of COVID-19. Especially when a strict containment strategy is implemented in an early stage, but premature relaxation of restrictions may lead to rebounding. It is a good choice to combat COVID-19 by improving the inclusiveness of intervention policies, deepening BRICS epidemic cooperation, and increasing health equities.

Achieving Quality and Effectiveness in Dementia Using Crisis Teams (AQUEDUCT): a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a Resource Kit

BackgroundImproving care at home for people with dementia is a core policy goal in the dementia strategies of many European countries. A challenge to effective home support is the occurrence of crises in the care of people with dementia which arise from changes in their health and social circumstances. Improving the management of these crises may prevent hospital admissions and facilitate better and longer care at home. This trial is part of a National Institute for Health Research funded programme, AQUEDUCT, which aims to improve the quality and effectiveness of teams working to manage crises in dementia.Methods/designIt is a pragmatic randomised controlled trial of an online Resource Kit to enhance practice in teams managing crises in dementia care. Thirty teams managing mental health crises in dementia in community settings will be randomised between the Resource Kit intervention and treatment as usual. The primary outcome measure is psychiatric admissions to hospital for people with dementia in the teams’ catchment area recorded 6 months after randomisation. Other outcomes include quality of life measures for people with dementia and their carers, practitioner impact measures, acute hospital admissions and costs. To enhance understanding of the Resource Kit intervention, qualitative work will explore staff, patient and carers’ experience.DiscussionThe Resource Kit intervention reflects current policy to enable home-based care for people with dementia by addressing the management of crises which threaten the viability of care at home. It is based upon a model of best practice for managing crises in dementia designed to enhance the quality of care, developed in partnership with people with dementia, carers and practitioners. If the Resource Kit is shown to be clinically and cost-effective in this study, this will enhance the probability of its incorporation into mainstream practice.Trial registrationISRCTN 42855694; Registered on 04/03/2021; Protocol number: 127686/2020v9; Research Ethics Committee, 09/03/2021, Ref 21/WM/0004; IRAS ID: 289982

Embedding Risk-Based Anonymization into Data Access Control for Providing Individual-Level Health Data in a Secure Way.

Especially in biomedical research, individual-level data must be protected due to the sensitivity of the data that is associated with patients. The broad goal of scientific data re-use is to allow many researchers to derive new hypotheses and insights from the data while preserving privacy. Data usage control (DUC) as an attribute-based access mechanism promises to overcome the limitations of traditional access control models achieving that goal. Park and Sandhu provided the usage control (UCON) model as an instance of DUC, which defines policies that evaluate certain attributes. Here, we present an UCON-based architecture, which is augmented with risk-based anonymization as provided by the R package sdcMicro and an extensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) environment with a core policy decision point as implemented by authzforce.

East Asia at the Crossroads of Cooperation and Rivalry at the Regional and International Levels: Editorial Introduction

The rise of new powers throughout the 2000s and the 2010s augurs the end of the unipolar system that has persisted since the end of the Cold War. In no region is this transition more compelling than in East Asia. Economic revitalization of this region and a steady redistribution of power related to it is a dynamic process characterized by intense changes in foreign policy strategies, practices, and orientations of China, Korea, and Japan. The proposed special issue seeks to critically assess the emerging developments of Chinas, Japans, and Koreas core international perceptions and policies. More specifically, the special issue addresses two complex and interrelated questions. Firstly, how do China, Korea, and Japan adapt to the changing international landscape? Secondly, how do China, Korea, and Japan respond to the challenges inherent to the pursuit of the enhanced international status? The contributions to this special issue aim at scrutinizing Chinas cybersovereignty and industrial policy; exploring the strengths and limitations of Koreas public diplomacy; and examining Japans contributions to regionalism. The special issue also discusses Russias relations with East Asia and its role in regional politics.

Oil prices, manufacturing goods, and nontradeable services

This paper studies the ability of manufacturing-specific shocks to explain oil prices. In an estimated three-region model (US, OPEC, rest of world) incorporating two sectors (manufacturing and services) in the oil-importing economies and featuring cross-border supply chains, such shocks rationalize the observed pattern of a positive comovement between oil prices and the global cyclical gap between manufacturing output and services provision. In the event of manufacturing technology shocks, oil demand, intermediate manufactured goods demand, and global trade move in tandem. Similarly important are shocks to final manufactured goods demand that are amplified by input-output linkages and trade. In the US, foreign shocks that cause higher oil prices – including oil supply disruptions – lead to rising manufacturing relative to services, and higher core inflation and policy rates. This rationalizes, to a large extent, the pattern during major oil price hikes, and, with opposite signs, during important low oil price episodes.

Strategia cyfryzacji gospodarki i społeczeństwa Federacji Rosyjskiej – kierunki, perspektywy i wyzwania

The aim of the article is to analyze the Russian authorities’ approach to the development of the digital economy and the digital society based on accepted digitization strategy, identification of the core policy directions and the conditions for their implementation, together with an initial assessment. The following research hypothesis has been adopted: Regardless of the concepts, program and strategy of the digitalisation of the economy adopted, the Russian authorities have been unable to generate effective mechanisms for their implementation and the deterioration of the economic situation slows down the process. The development of the digital economy and the digital society is a part of a centralized government’s policy and the main beneficiaries of the process are the largest state-owned enterprises linked to elites. The most important barriers to the digitization of the economy and society result from the systemic problems of the Russian Federation and the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. There are no prerequisites that would permit the assumption that, that the strategy and its program for the development of the digital economy in Russia that the strategies will be implemented in accordance with accepted assumptions and time frames.