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The paper aims to examine the consumption behavior of Chinese residents during economic transition. It explores whether Western theories of consumption are applicable to the Chinese situation, and then tests the hypothesis based on Chinese traditional culture and dynamic nature of system change.

The paper opted for an empirical‐based approach. A regression model was used to analyze annual consumption data from 1986 to 2008 in China.

The paper provides empirical insights and suggests that under the influence of Chinese traditional culture and dynamic change of the Chinese economic system, Chinese urban residents exhibit a special consumption pattern of an intermittent and cyclical nature.

The paper concludes that in order to make the consumption stimulation policy in China more effective, it is necessary to establish a series of measures such as establishing a sound social welfare system as well as narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, which will substantially increase the buying power of the less‐privileged groups and thus will increase the overall spending in the society. Although the econometric model used in this paper is adequate, a different approach like time series econometrics may give us additional insights. Researchers are encouraged to test the hypothesis further by employing other methodologies. Second, due to the lack of its own theories in the emerging market, this study remains exploratory.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study the special consumption behavior of Chinese urban residents during the economic transition.

Thailand has served as a major outbound tourist destination for Chinese tourists for decades. Behaviours demonstrated by Chinese tourists in Thailand are believed to have created an image of Chinese outbound tourists among the residents and have impacted on the sustainability of Thai tourism. This study aims to contribute a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the image of Chinese outbound tourists from the perspective of Thai residents’.

In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 Thai residents who have frequent contact with Chinese tourists.

The results reveal that Thai residents’ perceptions of Chinese tourists include both positive and negative images. Positive images consist of being filial and friendly (e.g. taking good care of the elderly and having close emotional ties within their touring group) and being wealthy and auspicious (e.g. having a lot of money to spend and tipping generously). Negative images include moral norms (e.g. making loud noises and jumping into a queue), hygiene habits (e.g. littering and spitting) and religious culture (e.g. touching and climbing Buddha statues).

This qualitative research promotes the study of destination residents’ perceptions of tourists’ in the context of outbound tourism and enriches the application of social representation theory from the perspective of residents in the field of tourism marketing. It generates a more nuanced comprehension of Thai residents’ perceptions of Chinese tourists, contributes to the government’s formulation of guidelines for civilised tourism and has benefits to the sustainable development of tourism destinations.

泰国居民对中国游客的形象感知

摘要

几十年来, 泰国一直是中国游客的主要出境旅游目的地。中国游客在泰国表现出的行为在居民中创造了中国出境游客的形象, 并影响了泰国旅游业的可持续性。这项研究旨在从泰国居民的感知出发, 对中国出境游客的形象进行更全面、细致的了解。

对15位经常与中国游客接触的泰国居民进行了深入访谈。

结果表明, 泰国居民对中国游客形象的感知既包括正面形象也包括负面形象。正面的形象包括孝顺和友善（例如, 照顾老人, 并在其旅行团中保持紧密的情感联系）, 富有和吉祥（例如, 有很多钱可花, 并慷慨地付小费）, 而负面的形象则包括道德规范（例如, 大声喧哗, 并插队）, 卫生习惯（例如, 乱扔垃圾和随地吐痰）以及宗教文化（例如, 触摸和爬到佛像上）。

这项定性研究弥补了出境旅游背景下目的地居民对游客形象的感知的差距, 并且从居民的角度出发丰富了社会表象理论在旅游营销领域的应用。它使泰国居民对中国游客的认识更加细致, 有助于政府制定有针对性的文明旅游指导方针, 有利于旅游目的地未来的可持续发展。

Percepción de los residents tailandeses sobre el comportamiento de los turistas chinos

Por décadas, Tailandia ha sido un principal destino tulístico de turismo emisor para los turistas chinos.El comportamiento de los turistas chinos en Tailandia ha impresionado las imagenes de los turistas chinos emisores a los habitantes, y ha afectado la sostenibilidad de la industria turística de Tailandia. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo comenzar con la percepción de los habitantes tailandeses para conocer una comprensión más completa y detallada de las imagenes de los turistas chinos emisores.

Entrevisitar en profundidad a 15 habitantes tailandeses que a menudo contactan con los turistas chinos.

Los resultados muestran, las percepciones de los habitantes tailandeses de las imagenes de los turistas chinos contienen las imagenes positivas y negativas. Los imágenes positivas incluyen fiedad filial y amabilidad (por ejemplo, cuida a los ancianos y mantiene una estrecha conexión emocional con su grupo de viaje), riqueza y buena suerte (Por ejemplo, tiene mucho dinero para gastar y propina generosa.) pero las imagenes negativas incluyen las normas étias (por ejemplo, hace ruido fuerte y corta en línea.) los hábitos de higienes (por ejemplo, tira basura al azar y escupiendo por todas partes.) y cultura religiosa (por ejemplo, toca y trepa los estatuas de Buda.)

Esta investigación cualitativa cierra la brecha en los percepciones de los habitantes de desino de las imagenes de turistas en el contexto del turisimo emisor y comenza con los aspectos de los habitantes enriquece la aplicación de la teoría de la representación social en el campo de marketing turístico. Deja los habitantes tailanteses conocer a los turistas chinos más detallada y ayuda al gobierno a desarrollar pautas específicas de turismo civilizado y es benificioso para el futuro desarrollo sostenible de los destinos turísticos.

This study explores the applicability of Anderson's (1999) code of the street framework to an Asian context by examining the relationship between residents' perceptions of police ineffectiveness, nationality, and street codes in foreigner-concentrated areas in South Korea.

The authors used survey data from 1,865 residents of diverse nationalities living in 20 foreigner-concentrated areas in South Korea. Mixed-effects ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and moderation analysis were used to examine (1) the association between residents' perceptions of police ineffectiveness and their street codes and (2) how this association varies across nationality groups.

The study findings overall indicated that higher resident perceptions of police as ineffective tended to correspond with greater levels of street codes. However, the interaction analysis results found that this relationship was conditioned by nationality. Specifically, perceptions of police ineffectiveness were associated with greater levels of street codes among foreign residents, particularly Korean-Chinese residents, whereas this was not the case among Korean residents.

The relationship between perceptions of the police and street codes described by Anderson (1999) has primarily been examined in the context of the U.S. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to explore the link between residents' perceptions of the police and street codes by different nationality groups within an Asian setting.

Mainland Chinese students are the largest group of international students globally. The role of international students in destination marketing can be seen as “Word-of-Mouth Champions”. This study attempts to examine the effect of place attachment and affinity for Mainland Chinese students on generating word-of-mouth intention towards their place of study.

Six well-trained research assistants collected paper-based questionnaires in six institutions in Macao. They chose every tenth student who passed by to fill in the questionnaire at six locations in each institution. This study employed partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to estimate the strength of causal relationship among place identity, place dependence, affinity and intention to word-of-mouth.

The results of the survey from 327 students in Macao indicate that place dependence, place identity and affinity drive Mainland Chinese students to provide word-of-mouth regarding Macao. Place dependence has a positive influence on place identity, and place identity has a positive influence on affinity with residents. However, place dependence has no significant direct effect on affinity.

Evidence from this study indicates the importance of students' word-of-mouth as they as sojourners, in particular, the students' place attachment and affinity for residents is critical to positive their Word-of-mouth on destinations. This research offers insights about the potential group which need require attention.

This study fills a research gap by exploring the relationship between place attachment and social distance in influencing Mainland Chinese students' behaviour, a relationship that has rarely been investigated in tourism research. Practical recommendations are provided to the governments, universities and education enterprises according to the results of the study. From both theoretical and practical perspectives, the findings from this study suggest promoting international students to turn into real “Word-of-Mouth Champions”.

In the past 20 years, Macao has experienced phenomenal economic growth driven by the liberalization of its casino sector. This growth has been enabled by massive influxes of foreign capital and migrant labor that have dramatically altered the city’s ethnic landscape. In this paper, the author examines the demographic changes Macao has experienced as a result of the casino boom, and situates the city’s current economic growth and ethnic diversification within its long history as a multi-ethnic city.

Building on Nancy Foner’s notion of “contexts of settlement,” the study draws on census materials, policy statements, newspaper articles and ethnographic materials to examine how changing ideologies of globalization help shape the categories through which ethnic diversity itself is conceptualized.

The paper has three main findings. First, despite the Macao government’s multicultural rhetoric, its labor and residency policies that prevent migrant workers from settling in Macao may paradoxically serve to maintain the ethnic status quo ante. Second, the new contexts of settlement engendered by Macao’s casino globalization may be amplifying fissures within the ethnic category “Chinese.” And third, discourses of globalization, regulations on immigration, and classificatory systems governing ethnic diversity that were instituted under Portuguese rule have both helped shape these new contexts and been reworked in the process.

As the processes of urbanization, economic integration and transnational migration continue to accelerate throughout East Asia, the goal of creating inclusive, equitable multi-ethnic urban societies will require closer examination of the relationship between particular modes and ideologies of “global” engagement, patterns of and policies toward migration and the concepts and categories through which diversity is measured. This approach to understanding multi-ethnic Macao may serve as an example.

In an urbanising world, neighbouring is perceived to be steadily losing significance and a remnant of the past. The same belief can also be found in China where rapid urbanisation has had a tremendous impact on the social networks and neighbourhood life of urban residents. This chapter challenges the common perception of neighbouring in demise and argues that neighbouring remains an important form of social relationship, even if the meanings and role of neighbouring have changed. This chapter first charts the changing role of neighbouring from the socialist era to post-reform China. It then provides an account of four common types of neighbourhoods in Chinese cities – work-unit estates, traditional courtyards, commodity housing estates and urban villages – and considers how and why neighbouring in different ways still matters to them. In pre-reform socialist China, neighbourhood life and neighbouring comprised much of the daily social life of residents. Since the reform era, with the proliferation of private commodity housing estates, middle-class residents prioritise comfort, security and privacy, such that neighbouring levels have subsided. Nevertheless, in other neighbourhood types, such as work-unit housing estates, traditional courtyards and urban villages, neighbours still rely upon one another for various reasons.

This study estimates the income elasticities of calorie, macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein and fat) and key micronutrients including cholesterol, vitamin A, vitamin C, sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc and insoluble fiber separately for urban and rural adults aged 18–60, using China Health and Nutrition Survey data set from 2004 to 2011.

A semiparametric model, a two-way fixed-effects model and a quantile regression approach are employed to estimate nutrient–income elasticities.

The income elasticities of calorie, protein, fat, cholesterol and calcium are in the range of 0.059–0.076, 0.059–0.076, 0.090–0.112, 0.134–0.230, 0.183–0.344 and 0.058–0.105, respectively. The income elasticity of each of the other nutrients is less than 0.1. The income elasticities of calorie and the majority of nutrients included are larger for rural residents than for urban residents and for low-income groups than for medium- and high-income groups. Overall, in spite of having a relatively small impact, income growth is shown to still have an impact on improving the nutritional status of Chinese adults.

This study estimates nutrient–income elasticities separately for urban and rural adults, expanding the scope of the study regarding the impact of income on the nutritional status in China. Moreover, this study uses a pooled sample generated from the personal food consumption records covering foods consumed at home and away from home during 2004–2011, which is thus likely to more comprehensively reveal the causal relationship between income growth and changes in the nutritional status in China.

Few of the spaces of Milan are so strongly loaded with cultural and political baggage as “Chinatown” – the ethnic neighborhood on Paolo Sarpi Street – where a handful of roads, the global flow of Chinese goods, and the daily routines of elderly people and families are merged. The complexity of the “Sarpi Question” is precisely determined by the discussion of social dimensions, space and ethnoracial, economic and political, all at once.

In order to come to a deeper understanding of the economic mechanism of development of a city, this chapter begins by examining the causes that led to the break of an apparent balance in the practices of local cohabitation of the Chinese District in Milan. This chapter will also examine the relationship of power and conflict between the local government and the social groups, from the point of view of an urban change process. This framework deals with reclaiming urban space and the requalification processes aimed at improving the physical context of the Sarpi area, and especially at starting up processes of financial revitalization.

“No buses, no taxis, no cars and no trading. Why don't you just build a wall around us?” reads a banner displayed by traders on Sarpi Street in the 2008 Christmas season, the first month of controlled traffic flow. Ethnographic research attempts to explain how this result was reached.

The voice of Italian residents is only one of those emerging from the results of this research, along with those of business owners, city users, and local politicians. It is an interplay between antagonism and juxtaposition in which I have tried to highlight the existing conflict with the aim of understanding and explaining the tension in this urban space. Most importantly, this case demonstrates that the problem of cohabitation in a socially mixed neighborhood is a problem of representation and perception, which is essentially political.

The opening conclusions deal with the paradox of the urban safety policies promoted by the Milan local government as a place of decompression in the face of strong social pressure on immigration, precariousness, and insecurity. Strategies aimed at places to act on people.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the importance of group position and consciousness in predicting people’s perceptions of police fairness in China.

This study used survey data collected from 1,095 respondents in Shanghai. Multivariate regression was used to analyze the effects of group positions and group consciousness variables on perceived police fairness, controlling for personal, experiential and neighborhood factors.

Regardless of their own hukou status, individuals who live in high migrant areas expressed less favorable attitudes toward police fairness. Meanwhile, people who displayed greater degrees of sensitivity to bias in law rated police fairness less favorably, whereas people who expressed higher levels of moral alignment with the law and belief in no choice but to obey the police rated police fairness more favorably. Lower levels of neighborhood disorder and higher degrees of cohesion were also associated with more positive evaluations of police fairness.

The authors’ measure of migrant concentration was constructed based on respondents’ own assessments of this neighborhood feature. Future studies should consider using objective measures to supplement the construction of migrant concentration variables. The authors’ group consciousness variables are limited as they are general, non-residential status specific and only capture part of the traditionally conceptualized variable of group consciousness. Future study should employ better-worded items that can tap precisely into people’s various dimensions of social consciousness based on their group status.

Training officers has to give a high priority to the principles of both procedural and distributive justice, and implement performance and evaluation policies that support fair and responsive police behavior, particularly during situations where citizens report crime to and seek help from the police.

Despite their high relevance, variables reflecting group position have received marginal attention in previous research on public evaluations of the police in China. This study represents a first attempt to examine how the interactions between residence status and the level of neighborhood migrant concentration influence Chinese attitudes toward police fairness.

The Chinese society has embraced rapid social reforms since the late twentieth century, including educational and healthcare systems. The Chinese Central Government launched an ambitious health reform program in 2009 to improve service quality and provide affordable health services, regardless of individual socio-economic status. Currently, the Chinese social health insurance includes Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance, Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance, and New Cooperative Medical Insurance for rural residents. The purpose of this paper is to measure the association between individual education level and China’s social health insurance scheme following the reform.

Using the latest (2011) China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data and multivariable logistic regression models with cross-sectional design (n=11,960), the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) are reported.

The authors found that education is associated with all social health insurance schemes in China after the reform (p<0.001). Residents with higher educational attainments, such as technical school (OR: 6.64, 95% CI: 5.44–8.13) or university and above (OR: 9.86, 95% CI: 8.14–11.96), are associated with UEBMI, compared with lower-educated individuals.

The Chinese Central Government announced a plan to combine all social health insurance schemes by 2020, except UEBMI, a plan with the most comprehensive financial package. Further research is needed to investigate potential disparities after unification. Policy makers should continue to evaluate China’s universal health coverage and social disparity.

This study is the first to investigate the association between residents’ educational attainment and three social health insurance schemes following the 2009 health reform. The authors suggest that educational attainment is still associated with each social health insurance coverage after the ambitious health reform.