Exploring the ‘middle ground’ between state and market: the example of China

Studies of housing systems lying in the ‘middle ground’ between state and market are subject to three important shortcomings. First, the widely used Esping-Andersen (EA) approach assesses only a subset of the key housing outcomes and may be less helpful for describing changes in housing policy regimes. Second, there is too much emphasis on tenure transitions, and an assumed close correspondence between tenure labels and effective system functioning may not be valid. Third, due attention has not been given to the spatial dimensions in which housing systems operate, in particular when housing policies have a significant devolved or localised emphasis. Updating EA’s framework, we suggest a preliminary list of housing system indicators in order to capture the nature of the housing systems being developed and devolved. We verified the applicability of this indicator system with the case of China. This illustrates clearly the need for a more nuanced and systematic basis for categorising differences and changes in welfare and housing policies

London’s rise as an offshore RMB financial centre: state-finance relations and selective institutional adaptation

China’s currency, the Renminbi (RMB), is increasingly important in global financial markets, facilitated by the global expansion of offshore RMB centres. This paper examines London’s development as the first Western offshore RMB centre established in 2013, drawing on original research conducted between 2013 and 2015 in London and China. The longitudinal analysis reveals that the development of RMB finance in London is characterised by selective adaptation in which state-private bargaining dynamics have shifted from strategic alignment to a bifurcation of interests. Understanding these state-finance relations has important implications for research and policymaking concerned with (offshore) financial centres and RMB internationalisation

China's entry to the WTO: managerial implications for foreign banks

This paper shows that particular attributes of foreign banks, viz. size of assets, number of branches, and links to the Asian network, have significant impacts on their decision to engage in business transactions in China's domestic currency, Renminbi. Access to these markets will expand upon China's entry to the WTO and these attributes will also help the foreign bank to manage liquidity and credit risks more effectively when dealing with their Chinese customers. Other foreign banks without these attributes will have to adopt aggressive employment policies or restrict themselves to providing services to joint ventures in China. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.