Final Report Summary - EUMECH (Europe meets China – a broader picture of contemporary China)
The project aims to break with the narrow and stereotyped European view of China by analysing a unique dataset on contemporary China. The project is coordinated by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), in Bonn, a renowned institution producing world-class research in labour economics.
The participants are the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Univerzita Karlova V Praze (henceforth CERGE), in Prague, whose focus is on economic research on transitional economies, and the Renmin University of China (RUC) in Beijing – a leading Chinese research university.
The project’s objective is in line with the targets of the SSH Call SSH Call 2010.4.1-3 “Understanding urbanisation trends and processes in Contemporary China” in the framework of FP7, in which the European research community is encouraged to develop proposals in order to modernise the European perspective on China. The outcome of research aims to add value to the European community by providing a renewed image of China. In particular, the project makes a valuable contribution to the scientific research community, general public and other stakeholders by shedding light on themes such as entrepreneurship, impact of reforms, social networks and subjective well-being.
The exchange scheme consisted of secondments between IZA and RUC staff and between CERGE and RUC staff for the period 01/01/2012 to 31/12/2013. During this period, a total of 14 exchanges took place:
Year 1 (01/01/2012 to 31/12/2012):
Martin Guzi ESR (IZA to RUC)
Costanza Biavaschi ESR (IZA to RUC)
Zhong Zhao ESR (RUC to IZA)
Yuhao Ge ESR (RUC to IZA)
Hao Zhang ESR (RUC to IZA)
Vilem Semerak ESR (CERGE to RUC)
Year 2 (01/01/2013 to 31/12/2013):
Mehtap Akgüc ESR (IZA to RUC)
Jing Lin ESR (IZA to RUC)
Corrado Giulietti ESR (IZA to RUC)
Costanza Biavaschi ESR (IZA to RUC)
Hartmut Lehmann ESR (IZA to RUC)
Klaus F. Zimmermann ESR (IZA to RUC)
Vilem Semerak ESR (CERGE to RUC)
Vahan Sargsyan ESR (CERGE to RUC)
The main scientific outcomes of the joint research work appear in 7 IZA Discussion Papers (the largest worldwide open access discussion papers outlet in labour economics) developed during the duration of the project and through published articles appearing in leading international peer reviewed journals.
Additional outcomes consisted of dissemination activities. As part of the exchange, scholars gave seminars at the host institutions. Furthermore, the annual IZA/CIER workshop was held once in Bonn (2012) and once in Beijing (2013). (See websites http://www.iza.org/conference_files/CIER2012/viewProgram?conf_id=2222 and http://www.iza.org/conference_files/CIER2013/viewProgram?conf_id=2443 respectively) Two exchanged staff gave lectures to young scholars at the Renmin University of China.
Impact and targeted groups
Involved researchers:
The research contributed to enhance the involved researchers' understanding of China and its rapid, unprecedented socio-economic transformations. Chinese researchers benefitted by learning from European peers and exchanging methodology, approaches and broad knowledge about labour market analysis
All researchers involved have benefitted from the secondments, as these were occasions for exchanging ideas, working with peers with complementary skills, analysing unique data and interact with a large scientific community. IZA and CERGE researchers benefitted from directly learning about Chinese issues; furthermore IZA and CERGE benefitted by a strategic extension of their research portfolio and network activity with China. RUC scholars have benefitted from interactions with European peers and collaborations in discussion papers and data use. RUC benefitted by strengthening its perspective to European research.
The outcomes of the project will be a stepping-stone for future research beyond the project’s lifetime. The IZA management staff visited Beijing towards the end of the project so that the results could be used as advertising tool to fortify existing networks and to explore avenues of future collaboration with new partners. IZA management initiated and strengthened ties with additional partner institutions (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences - CASS, Beijing Normal University - BNU, Peking University, Tsinghua University). In particular, visits at CASS and Beijing Normal University lead to a 2013 ANR/ESRC/DFG project proposal between IZA,CASS, BNU and three other European institutions (GATE Lyon, University of Southampton, University of Nottingham).
Additional stakeholders
Besides involved researchers, the research stemming from the project will potentially benefit additional stakeholders such as:
a) Policy makers and planners locally and nationally within China, since our research contains evidence-based policy suggestions aiming at increasing well-being and health outcomes, boosting entrepreneurship and better understanding the mechanisms behind urbanization. These stakeholders include the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Housing and Rural-Urban Development and the National Development and Reforms Commission. The research findings can also be of benefit to local governments dealing with rural affairs;
b) Third sector institutions, including charity and voluntary organisations, since our research sheds light on the role of migration in affecting altruistic behaviour;
c) International organisations, since our research provide relevant insights into policy makers and planners concerned with migration and development policies, such as the Asian Development Bank, the International Labour Organisation, the World Bank and the European Commission.
The research is also expected to benefit the following stakeholders in the medium and long term:
d) Migrants and non-migrants in China, since our findings can have policy implications, ultimately contributing to improving migrants’ quality of life, health and well-being;
g) The general public, since our research can help to tackle the narrow and stereotyped European view of China, as well as providing a more informed picture of Europe, its values and culture to the Chinese public.
h) The scientific community, especially social scientists. The project generated research instruments which have been made publicly available and are thought to generate high quality future research on China and thus generate impact beyond the participant institutions. The research activity hinged around the Rural-to-Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) dataset. This is a dataset to analyse Chinese labour markets and migration and that IZA makes publicly available together with scientific use files. The first and second waves of the dataset were made publicly available during the first and second year of the exchange, respectively (project website http://idsc.iza.org/?page=27&id=58) Furthermore, one of the seven discussion papers is devoted to describe the data.
The participants are the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Univerzita Karlova V Praze (henceforth CERGE), in Prague, whose focus is on economic research on transitional economies, and the Renmin University of China (RUC) in Beijing – a leading Chinese research university.
The project’s objective is in line with the targets of the SSH Call SSH Call 2010.4.1-3 “Understanding urbanisation trends and processes in Contemporary China” in the framework of FP7, in which the European research community is encouraged to develop proposals in order to modernise the European perspective on China. The outcome of research aims to add value to the European community by providing a renewed image of China. In particular, the project makes a valuable contribution to the scientific research community, general public and other stakeholders by shedding light on themes such as entrepreneurship, impact of reforms, social networks and subjective well-being.
The exchange scheme consisted of secondments between IZA and RUC staff and between CERGE and RUC staff for the period 01/01/2012 to 31/12/2013. During this period, a total of 14 exchanges took place:
Year 1 (01/01/2012 to 31/12/2012):
Martin Guzi ESR (IZA to RUC)
Costanza Biavaschi ESR (IZA to RUC)
Zhong Zhao ESR (RUC to IZA)
Yuhao Ge ESR (RUC to IZA)
Hao Zhang ESR (RUC to IZA)
Vilem Semerak ESR (CERGE to RUC)
Year 2 (01/01/2013 to 31/12/2013):
Mehtap Akgüc ESR (IZA to RUC)
Jing Lin ESR (IZA to RUC)
Corrado Giulietti ESR (IZA to RUC)
Costanza Biavaschi ESR (IZA to RUC)
Hartmut Lehmann ESR (IZA to RUC)
Klaus F. Zimmermann ESR (IZA to RUC)
Vilem Semerak ESR (CERGE to RUC)
Vahan Sargsyan ESR (CERGE to RUC)
The main scientific outcomes of the joint research work appear in 7 IZA Discussion Papers (the largest worldwide open access discussion papers outlet in labour economics) developed during the duration of the project and through published articles appearing in leading international peer reviewed journals.
Additional outcomes consisted of dissemination activities. As part of the exchange, scholars gave seminars at the host institutions. Furthermore, the annual IZA/CIER workshop was held once in Bonn (2012) and once in Beijing (2013). (See websites http://www.iza.org/conference_files/CIER2012/viewProgram?conf_id=2222 and http://www.iza.org/conference_files/CIER2013/viewProgram?conf_id=2443 respectively) Two exchanged staff gave lectures to young scholars at the Renmin University of China.
Impact and targeted groups
Involved researchers:
The research contributed to enhance the involved researchers' understanding of China and its rapid, unprecedented socio-economic transformations. Chinese researchers benefitted by learning from European peers and exchanging methodology, approaches and broad knowledge about labour market analysis
All researchers involved have benefitted from the secondments, as these were occasions for exchanging ideas, working with peers with complementary skills, analysing unique data and interact with a large scientific community. IZA and CERGE researchers benefitted from directly learning about Chinese issues; furthermore IZA and CERGE benefitted by a strategic extension of their research portfolio and network activity with China. RUC scholars have benefitted from interactions with European peers and collaborations in discussion papers and data use. RUC benefitted by strengthening its perspective to European research.
The outcomes of the project will be a stepping-stone for future research beyond the project’s lifetime. The IZA management staff visited Beijing towards the end of the project so that the results could be used as advertising tool to fortify existing networks and to explore avenues of future collaboration with new partners. IZA management initiated and strengthened ties with additional partner institutions (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences - CASS, Beijing Normal University - BNU, Peking University, Tsinghua University). In particular, visits at CASS and Beijing Normal University lead to a 2013 ANR/ESRC/DFG project proposal between IZA,CASS, BNU and three other European institutions (GATE Lyon, University of Southampton, University of Nottingham).
Additional stakeholders
Besides involved researchers, the research stemming from the project will potentially benefit additional stakeholders such as:
a) Policy makers and planners locally and nationally within China, since our research contains evidence-based policy suggestions aiming at increasing well-being and health outcomes, boosting entrepreneurship and better understanding the mechanisms behind urbanization. These stakeholders include the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Housing and Rural-Urban Development and the National Development and Reforms Commission. The research findings can also be of benefit to local governments dealing with rural affairs;
b) Third sector institutions, including charity and voluntary organisations, since our research sheds light on the role of migration in affecting altruistic behaviour;
c) International organisations, since our research provide relevant insights into policy makers and planners concerned with migration and development policies, such as the Asian Development Bank, the International Labour Organisation, the World Bank and the European Commission.
The research is also expected to benefit the following stakeholders in the medium and long term:
d) Migrants and non-migrants in China, since our findings can have policy implications, ultimately contributing to improving migrants’ quality of life, health and well-being;
g) The general public, since our research can help to tackle the narrow and stereotyped European view of China, as well as providing a more informed picture of Europe, its values and culture to the Chinese public.
h) The scientific community, especially social scientists. The project generated research instruments which have been made publicly available and are thought to generate high quality future research on China and thus generate impact beyond the participant institutions. The research activity hinged around the Rural-to-Urban Migration in China (RUMiC) dataset. This is a dataset to analyse Chinese labour markets and migration and that IZA makes publicly available together with scientific use files. The first and second waves of the dataset were made publicly available during the first and second year of the exchange, respectively (project website http://idsc.iza.org/?page=27&id=58) Furthermore, one of the seven discussion papers is devoted to describe the data.