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Race and class factors have been studied as underlying causes of segregation for many years. Individual choices on race and economic constraints of living in one area versus another play an important role in residential segregation. An attempt has not yet been made to simulate the interplay of neighbourhood racial and economic composition in forming segregation using empirical micro-level data. Using City of Buffalo data, this study explores how individuals' housing location choices with respect to racial composition and housing sale prices in their neighbourhoods can give rise to aggregate patterns of residential segregation and how segregation at one point in time was contributing to increased segregation at later stages. The results show that observed patterns of segregation in the city could plausibly arise from the interaction of racial and economic factors. This study also demonstrates the application of such models on exploring the possible effects of proposed integration efforts.

This discerning book examines China's newly developed soft-intervention policy towards North Korea, Myanmar and the two Sudans by examining China's diplomatic statements and behaviours. It also highlights the Chinese soft-intervention policy in economic manipulation and diplomatic persuasion in the recent generations of Chinese leadership under Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping. Providing a new perspective on the study of China through its discrepant foreign policies, Hak Yin Li delivers a comprehensive overview of the principles of Chinese foreign policy, critically examining the evolution of the Chinese non-intervention policy. Rich with empirical discussions on key cases, the book also includes interviews with Chinese scholars and provides a wide breadth of information from official sources such as China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This invigorating read will be an excellent resource for international relations scholars, policy analysts and researchers who are interested in the evolution of Chinese non-intervention policy, and China's emerging soft-interventions in North Korea, Myanmar and the two Sudans. Readers with an interest in Chinese foreign policy and China's normative role in shaping the world order will also find this an enlightening read.

The queer fandom of female Hong Kong pop singer Ho Denise Wan See (HOCC) from 2009 to mid-2011 is dealt with through the qualitative methodology of in-depth interviews and media ethnography. HOCC, an idiosyncratic cultural producer who dabbles in the politics of ambiguity, creates texts that invite queer interpretations from fans and from queer activists in Hong Kong. Via analyses informed by both queer studies and audience studies, the various creative practices of fans in reshaping their sexual identities via popular culture are explored. These practices are highly political and empowering to a queer audience. However, the intensive rewriting of meanings as queer symbolic creativity and tactics in cultural politics fail to transform into formal institutional politics and more confrontational queer activism. This is so for several reasons. Internally, the hierarchical structure of fan organization, fan proximity to the culture industry, and the top-down encouragement of social charity as the only channel of activism have all reduced the possibility of transforming fans' queer sensibilities into institutional queer politics. Furthermore, Hong Kong, under the influence of three major discourses that seek to discipline and regulate sexualities—traditional Chinese ethics, the British colonial legacy, and the postcolonial revival of rightist Christianity—has a long social history of heterosexist discrimination and a preference for normalizing when striving for queer citizenship. This empirical study examines relations between cultural specificity and fan agency in a non-Western context.

The queer fandom of female Hong Kong pop singer Ho Denise Wan See (HOCC) from 2009 to mid-2011 is dealt with through the qualitative methodology of in-depth interviews and media ethnography. HOCC, an idiosyncratic cultural producer who dabbles in the politics of ambiguity, creates texts that invite queer interpretations from fans and from queer activists in Hong Kong. Via analyses informed by both queer studies and audience studies, the various creative practices of fans in reshaping their sexual identities via popular culture are explored. These practices are highly political and empowering to a queer audience. However, the intensive rewriting of meanings as queer symbolic creativity and tactics in cultural politics fail to transform into formal institutional politics and more confrontational queer activism. This is so for several reasons. Internally, the hierarchical structure of fan organization, fan proximity to the culture industry, and the top-down encouragement of social charity as the only channel of activism have all reduced the possibility of transforming fans' queer sensibilities into institutional queer politics. Furthermore, Hong Kong, under the influence of three major discourses that seek to discipline and regulate sexualities—traditional Chinese ethics, the British colonial legacy, and the postcolonial revival of rightist Christianity—has a long social history of heterosexist discrimination and a preference for normalizing when striving for queer citizenship. This empirical study examines relations between cultural specificity and fan agency in a non-Western context.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are known for their huge investments in research and development activity. They are also known for superior patents, trade secrets, brand names, management techniques and marketing strategies. The provision of incentives (i.e., tax incentives and/or subsidies) and the adoption of FDI-stimulating policies stem from the expectations that FDI brings enormous benefits such as the transfer of new technology. Numerous empirical studies have demonstrated FDI has a positive impact on economic growth of the host countries. However, it should be noted that the distribution of FDI across countries is not uniform with some countries receive more FDI than the others. This observation raises the question of whether it is possible to identify a set of policies that might enhance the attractiveness of host countries as destinations for MNCs. In the investigation of factors that influence FDI flows, existing studies have mainly focussed on the traditional factors such as market size, trade openness, infrastructure and human capital. The role of other factors such as the quality of institution in the host country was largely ignored. Institution can be defined as the humanly devised constraints or rules of the game that structure political, economic, and social interaction. Institutions provide the incentive structure of an economy. Specifically, it affects security of property rights, prevalence of corruption, distorted or extractive policies, and thereby affects the incentive to invest in human and physical capital, and hence economic growth. The role of institutional quality in the development process has been extensively examined and economists have reached a consensus on the importance of good domestic institutions in explaining cross-country differences in both growth rates and income per capita. Following recent literature that emphasize on the importance of institution, this paper examines whether domestic institutional quality has any important role in attracting FDI. Instead of ...

This editorial introduces a themed section that focuses on the production of gender discourse and representations in the midst of tightening social and cultural control in China's entertainment industry and digital media landscape. In various ways, the two articles featured case studies that exemplify how the production of gender discourses and representations in this context emerges from the interplay of state control, the market, and the digital realm and unfolds against the rise of platform capitalism and techno-nationalism. Both articles center on the intricate and sometimes contradictory configurations of gender within China's state-market nexus.

Review of: Handbook on Gender in Asia, Shirlena Huang and Kanchana N. Ruwanpura (eds) (2020)
Cheltenham and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 456 pp.,
ISBN 978-1-78811-290-1, h/bk, £155
eISBN 978-1-78811-291-8, ebook, £48

Objective: This study aims to identify groups of the social and built environment factors that have been studied substantially along with factors that need further attention, to guide the research, designing, and planning of the social and built environment for reducing obesity prevalence. Data Source: A systematic search of literature was undertaken from PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Knowledge. Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: Keyword combination of "built environment," "social environment," and "obesity" were used to expand the search scope. Exclusion criteria included (1) any article with less than 50 citations from 2005 to 2010, and those with less than 25 citations from 2011 to 2015. In this way we included the most prominent peer-reviewed studies published in recent years while excluding less influential publications; (2) any article published in a language other than English; (3) literature review articles; (4) any article studying health outcomes not obesity related. We included research on eating behaviors since the studies contributed profoundly to food environment research. Data Synthesis: A meta-analysis of 153 empirical studies, selected from 2005 to 2015 based on a series of criteria, was conducted using factor analysis. The exploratory factor analysis was undertaken to group the prevalence and use of the social and built environment factors associated with obesity. Results: The findings suggested that the research community has gained a substantial understanding of the D variables of the built environment, including density, diversity, design, distance to transit, and destination access. Factors concerning different age groups, minority populations, groups with low socioeconomic status, food environment, and street-level urban design features have been less examined. Conclusions: The findings are important to guide future research directions, giving more attention to the factors in need of more in-depth research.