Table of Content

10 January 2022, Volume 8 Issue 1

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Higher education expansion and the changing college wage premium in Hong Kong, 1976–2016

Xiaogang Wu and Maocan Guo

2022, 8(1):  3-28.  doi:10.1177/2057150X211073453

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This article examines the trends and patterns of returns to college education in Hong Kong in the context of educational expansion. Using the data from nine waves of population censuses/by-censuses from 1976 to 2016, we employ age–period–cohort models to investigate the trends in college wage premium in Hong Kong. The descriptive statistics show that, for those aged 22–26, college wage premium declined over time. In addition, there are substantial variations in college wage premiums among different birth cohorts, which cannot be explained by age and period main effects. More specifically, college wage premiums declined almost monotonically for those born after 1950, and two younger birth cohorts (1975–1979 and 1980–1984) experienced cumulative disadvantage in terms of the college premium over the life course. We discuss social and political ramifications of these findings.

The dynamics of relative poverty in China in a comparative perspective

Tak Wing Chan

2022, 8(1):  29-51.  doi:10.1177/2057150X211068543

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I use household panel data to study the dynamics of relative poverty in China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Compared to the three Western countries, not only is relative poverty more common in China, it is also deeper and more severe. Transient poverty accounts for less than half of the total poverty in Germany or the US, but about two-thirds of that in China or the UK. Over three waves, 87% of Germans, 78% of Britons, 71% of Americans, but only 46% of Chinese were never poor. Using a multinomial logistic regression model, the determinants of poverty are found to be very similar across the four countries. But the variance explained by that model is much smaller for China than for the three Western countries. The findings of this paper also challenge some existing understanding of poverty dynamics in general.

Stereotype contents, emotions, and public attitudes: How do Chinese people stereotype nations and national groups?

Lemeng Liang, Yongai Jin, Jie Zhou and Yu Xie

2022, 8(1):  52-78.  doi:10.1177/2057150X211072961

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Previous studies have provided various explanations for people's attitudes toward foreign countries, but we still know very little about causal mechanisms of attitude formation. In this study, we propose that stereotypes play an important role in affecting individuals’ attitudes toward foreign countries. Drawing on survey data collected in 2019 and 2020 in China, we apply the stereotype content model to analyze Chinese people's attitudes toward five countries: the United States, Japan, India, Tanzania, and China itself. Our analyses show that: (a) Chinese respondents stereotype the five countries differently along two dimensions—warmth and competence—with the extremely high evaluations of China itself, indicating in-group favoritism; (b) warmth–competence combinations are closely linked with four emotions—admiration, envy, pity, and contempt—but are also affected by historical and cultural contexts; (c) stereotype contents can predict favorable attitudes toward foreign countries, with warmth stereotypes being more predictive than competence stereotypes; emotions can also predict favorability; and (d) stereotypes of countries are similar to stereotypes of persons from those countries, as is the case for emotions and attitudes.

The power of family: The impact of family culture on marriage stability in China

Li Hao

2022, 8(1):  79-103.  doi:10.1177/2057150X211067297

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Family culture is deeply rooted in the transformation and development of Chinese society and has a profound influence on individual behavior and family decision-making. This paper examines the impact of the family culture of China on marriage stability. By using data from the China Family Panel Studies, this paper shows that family culture is significantly positively associated with marriage stability. The estimation of the instrumental variable—the number of memorial archways (paifang) per 100,000 persons in each province—and a series of robustness checks all support the major results. It is also found that the positive impact of family culture on marriage stability is mainly seen for people with weaker perceived importance of family well-being, for those with lower levels of education, and for individuals living in a small family. Finally, the positive effect of family culture on marriage stability is primarily observed in older generations, specifically those born before 1969.

Pricing the bridewealth: On moral embedding in the mechanism of rural betrothal gifts negotiation—case analysis based on L County, Gansu Province

Sining Wang, Yujing Jia and Geng Tian

2022, 8(1):  104-128.  doi:10.1177/2057150X211070961

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Bridewealth is both a monetary as well as a cultural component of Chinese marriage. Existing research employs two major frames to examine this phenomenon: marriage market theory and gift flow theory. However, neither of them ably facilitates the study of bridewealth as a social process, namely, the negotiations that take place between senior family members representing the engaged parties to decide the appropriate monetary value of the bridewealth. This article focuses on how the negotiations are initiated and progress until both families settle on a “decent” bridewealth amount. The ultimate ethical code in relation to marriage-making lies not so much in the mutual understanding of the two families as in their strategies to follow the moral sanctions of the dahang while negotiating a price that deviates from it. The necessity of adhering to the dahang and the strategic efforts to morally legitimize a price that fluctuates from it are central to theorizing the normative embeddedness of bridewealth in the moral fabric of the community.

Non-governmental organization global, volunteerism local: An exploration of moral anthropology

Hongxin Fang

2022, 8(1):  129-162.  doi:10.1177/2057150X211072464

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This paper is an exploratory study of moral anthropology focused on the local practices of global non-governmental organizations. For more than 10 years, Ruili Women and Children Development Center (the Center) in the southwest border region of China has developed itself into a non-governmental organization that adopts transnational humanitarianism and fosters a spirit of grassroots volunteer dedication. In this paper, two anthropologists’ analytic framework of morality will be examined and my own views on morality/ethics will be discussed in three aspects: morality as norms, morality as doing good, and ethics as affect. The Center came into existence in response to the decline and uncertainty of local morality (morality as norms). Under such conditions, the Center allies itself with transnational humanitarianism to provide much-needed medical care for the sick in the region (morality as doing good). In the process, the Center, mainly consisting of female members, has created a “life-environment” that is in tune with global humanitarianism and an army of devoted volunteers, especially among local HIV-infected women, who have found “joie” in life itself (ethics as affect). This study hopes to broaden our theoretical and experiential understanding of non-governmental organizations, and of how to improve quality of life in times of social change.