Research of the Risk Factors of China’s Unsustainable Socioeconomic Development: Lessons for Other Nations

A win–win path for institutional change

“…Most approaches to institutional change fail or only partially succeed due to excessive reliance on the philosophy behind the approach rather than attempting to modify the philosophy to account for unique local conditions and due to a failure to consider how difficult it can be to transplant approaches between institutional contexts (Cao, 2012). China’s market reforms promoted rapid economic growth, but also led many government officials to abuse their powers, thereby increasing social inequality, creating environmental crises, risking political instability, increasing the crime and unemployment rates, causing more frequent commercial disputes and protest movements, deepening rural poverty, and spreading infectious diseases (Cao et al., 2014). To promote effective and equitable institutional change, it is necessary to limit the government’s ability to maximize its own benefits, or at least to encourage the government to ensure that others also benefit greatly from the new institution.…”

Why are Chinese ethics declining?

“…These inequalities are disrupting social stability. Cao et al (2014) found a strong and significant correlation between the number of criminal cases and the Gini coefficient (R 2 ¼ 0.917, p < 0.05), and between the number of criminal cases and the gap in net income between rural and urban residents (R 2 ¼ 0.756, p < 0.05). If the trend of ethical decline continues, it will exacerbate these problems and increasingly impede the healthy development of China's economy and society.…”

“…In addition, the rapid growth of personal automobile ownership has created another poorly regulated source of air pollution. As a result of these uncontrolled emissions, the air quality in major cities such as Beijing has deteriorated rapidly, creating smog that often reaches dangerous levels (Cao et al., 2014). In January 2013, almost 15% of China’s territory (1.43 × 10 6 km 2 ) suffered from serious air pollution.…”

“…Corruption is widening the gap between the rich and the poor, and particularly between urban and rural residents, leading to anger and an increasing risk of conflict (Cao et al., 2014). When individuals pursue their own interests at all costs, this non-ethical behavior can increase inequality.…”

How Political Turbulence Changes Disincentives of Environmental Protection: Evidence from the Crime Crackdown in Chongqing

“…Most governments in developing countries prioritize development (Desai 1998;Tong 2007). As China has experienced tremendous economic growth, it has seen accelerated degradation of nearly all facets of the environment, including the water, air, land, and food supply (Cai et al 2008;Wang et al 2010;Cao et al 2015;Wang and Xu 2014). One of the most serious environmental challenges is water pollution.…”