The Consumption Practices and Identity Formation of the Chinese Middle Class in the Media Era

During the past 40 years following the reform and opening-up policy of 1978,China’s social structure has seen great changes,which include the birth and rapid development of the Chinese middle class as a derivative and consequence of modernization.They are the main source of consumption in contemporary China and display unique characteristics in their consumption practices.Consumption is not only a daily practice,but also a means of demonstrating and forming identity.In this media era,media play an important role in people’s consumption practices and identity formation.In this study,semi-structured interviews were carried out with members of the Chinese middle class to study the relationship between consumption,identity,and media through their oral accounts.Moreover,problems,including the characteristics of middle-class consumption practices and how they use consumption to form identity,were analyzed.This study not only complements studies on the sociology of consumption of the Chinese middle class,but also is of great practical significance for deepening our understanding of the behavioral and ideological characteristics of the Chinese middle class.

Biden Administration’s Foreign Policy for the Middle Class

The Biden administration’s political platform,set during the 2020 US presidential campaign,called for"a foreign policy for the middle class"and this has subsequently been instituted as a policy commitment.The new administration’s economic and trade policy targets enhancing US competitiveness,setting rules for economic globalization and keeping good relations with democratic states.Security policy emphasizes diplomatic means over military practices.The foreign policy for the middle class aims to resolve differences in the Democratic Party between traditional Democrats and progressives.It is also crafted to solve domestic and international problems and burnish America’s international image,but it faces an uphill battle if it wishes to restructure foreign policy to serve the needs of the American middle class.

Consumption and Culture： Understanding the Shaping of the New Brazilian Middle Class

In a recent historical process of economic stabilization and of social policies focused on the disadvantaged, major changes in the composition of the Brazilian social pyramid are happening. Driven by the increase of employment and income, in conditions of low inflation and abundant credit, millions of Brazilians have increased in recent years their purchasing power and started to acquire their own home and car--gaudiest symbols of joining the middle class--as well as a wide range of consumer goods. It appears that this set of transformations profoundly altered the perceptions and strategies of social mobility. So this phenomenon is being called the shaping of the new Brazilian middle class. The fact is that there is a group growing, sustained mainly by a decrease in income inequality. In this study, we attempted to draw a clear overview and some disagreements about the emergence of a new Brazilian middle class. On the topic of the emergence of a new Brazilian middle class, one can say that it is not a completely true fact, and that there was actually an expansion of the income of families who still harbor extreme ties with the working classes and why not, popular classes. What to some scholars would be the emergence of a new working class, whose average income is approaching the middle income of what is considered as the lower middle class？

The Critical Significance of Middle Class America for a Collective U.S. Prosperity and Socioeconomic Sustainability

The shrinking size of middle class in the U.S. has motivated this research work. The focus of this research has been on sustainability of society through middle-class promoting public policy. We have estimated three various regression equations to test the significance of several socio-economic variables on what would define some desirable indices of healthier nations such as mean years of schooling, human development, and quality of life. Quality of life in certain countries such as Norway, Denmark, etc., is highlighted as best, compared to many other nations of the world. We have introduced a better measure of quality of life and estimated the empirical impacts of some explanatory variables, such as healthcare, property price to income ratio, and pollution on that index of life quality. An implication of this study for public policy would be revealed in clear needs for reducing pollution, more income creating innovative objectives, while healthcare accessibility and the corresponding costs to citizens must be brought down.

A Cross-Cultural Initiative： Engaging China＇s Middle Class

This study provides an evaluation of China＇s growing middle class, the new consumers for world economies and estimated to be 300-500 million people. By using internal analysis of market and nonmarket variables, we detail how the future growth rate of the middle class is dependent on three issues： domestic consumption trends of Generation Y in China, the valued opportunity of the science and technology industry, and the importance of maintaining a strong work force able to increase productivity. In particular, we discuss market demands from Generation Y, products best suited for Chinese consumers, and the effect social-economic inequalities in Western China will have on development measures of the middle class. Based on data collection, interviews, library research and econometric analyses, we show how these above issues will continue to influence consumer behavior, reform policies, and the growth of the middle class in China. It is important to note that economic growth and prosperity in China will only continue if the national government and private institutions, along with the international agendas of other countries, are in balance, and not excess, of the resources and capabilities available for desired growth levels.

Marketing Factors Affecting Middle Class Consumer’s Buying Decision in Housing Market in Nanning City

It is important to study the relationship between marketing factors and purchase decisions of middle-class consumers in Nanning housing market.This study will investigate the factors influencing people decision to purchase houses in Nanning City.The extrinsic housing attributes at this study consist of environmental attributes and location attributes.I have a limited understanding of the purchase behavior of Nanning home buyers in Nanning City.This study adopts the data collection methods of e-mail and field survey.Based on 509 questionnaires,the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics analysis and logistic regression.The results show that location attributes,such as school districts,positively influence housing purchase decisions in Nanning City.This study contributes to an improved understanding of home buyers’decision making in Nanning City.The beneficiaries of this study include home buyers and marketers and academic institutions.To better meet home buyers’needs and achieve a competitive advantage,marketers can use the research outcomes to focus more on those housing purchase factors that significantly influence house buyers’purchase decision making.

Comment on Biden’s 100-Day New Deal

The 100-day administration is an important node by which to measure the ruling effect of the new American president and can be used to examine the implementation degree of his campaign platform,the promotion of major legislation,and important notions concerning internal affairs and diplomacy.President Biden has been in office for over 100 days.As a president amid a deep crisis,his priority is to contain the pandemic,heal the country,and restore the economy,while also focusing on the long-term improvement of American national power to compete with China.Driven by competition with China and by the principle of“serving the interests of the American people,”the Biden administration has focused domestically and externally,aiming to heal the wounds,restore democracy,and maintain America’s global leadership.Although the administration has made some achievements in dealing with the pandemic and alleviating economic and social concerns,it still faces many difficulties in its governance prospects due to domestic political,economic,and social structural problems.

Growth and Inequality in Indonesia： Does Kuznets Curve Hold？

Sustainable economic growth has put Indonesia as a middle-income country （MIC） and currently, the level of per capita income has already exceeded US$3,000. The increase in income per capita is followed by the increasing number of middle-class population and the reduction in poverty. However, it has not been accompanied by declining inequality that reflects the quality of economic growth. According to Kuznets theory, an increase in inequality is a common problem in the process of economic growth. Inequality will further decline after the country has reached a certain threshold level of income. This study aims to analyze the trend and nature of income inequality in Indonesia and to test whether the Kuznets Curve holds. This paper used dynamic panel method with 26 provincial panel data from 2000 to 2011. The empirical result proves the existence of inverted U-shaped Kuznets Curve in Indonesia and it may have the turning points when the real GDP per capita in each province reached Rp. 179.41 million/year or around US$17.000. For the determinant of inequality in Indonesia, this study found that the percentage of urban population, inflation, and share of agricultural sector contributed to the increase of inequality, while high-level education and share of industrial sector are associated with the lower level of inequality.

The Chinese Automobile Market and the Strategies of European, American, Japanese, Korean and Chinese Auto Makers

This paper compares and analyzes the changes in the Chinese automobile market in recent years as well as the competition strategy of top makers of European, American, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese automobiles. In particular, analysis is carried out on the cause of the rapid growth of European, American, and Korean makers in the passenger vehicle market and the slow growth of Japanese makers, especially, Toyota, Honda, and Chinese makers. In order to adapt to the environmental change in the Chinese automobile market, European and American makers like Volkwagen （VW） and General Motors （GM） have developed full model line-up strategies focusing on compact cars while utilizing the advantages of the annual production of their full model line-up and giving priority to local part procurement. What＇s more, Korea＇s Hyundai has converted its car model strategy from mid-sized cars into compact cars in accordance with the changes in the Chinese market. Through successful product development adjusting to local needs, Hyundai has firmly entrenched its brand name. For Honda and Toyota, the slow conversion from mid-sized cars to compact cars and the inability to decrease costs due to the slow development of local part procurement are the causes of their delayed development in the Chinese market.

The Rise of China's Global Middle Class in an International Context

We estimate the size of the global middle class in China and 33 other countries and analyze China’s expanding middle class in an international context.The“ghbal middle class”is defined in terms of being neither poor nor rich in the developed world.China’s global middle class has grown rapidly and has been catching up with the middle class in developed countries.By 2018 China’s global middle class constituted 25 percent of China s population;in absolute size it was nearly double the size of the global middle class in the US and was similar in size to that of Europe.Cross-country analysis of the relationship between the middle-class share of the total population and GDP per capita reveals an inverted-U pattern.China is not an outlier from the cross-country pattern but the speed with which its middle-class has expanded is unusual.The only other countries with similarly large,rapid expansions of the middle class are transition economies.

DEFINING THE MIDDLE CLASS

Classifying the middle class remains controversial despite its alleged growth China’s cities housed more than 230 million middle-class residents in 2009 or 37 percent of the urban population,according to the 2011 Blue Book of Cities in China released on August 3.

Bolstering the U.S.Middle Class

Making every attempt to boost the sluggish U.S.economy, U.S.President Barack Obama has pledged incentive programs including tax cuts for the middle class that have "for generations,made our economy the envy of the world." But the program may not be a panacea as income inequality in the United States becomes entrenched.Zhang Monan,a researcher with the State Information Center,discussed this issue in an article recently published in the China Securities Journal.Edited excerpts follow.

Political Changes and the Middle Class in Egypt

This paper analyzes the structure of Egyptian society in different periods,and explains the reasons of the social changes experienced in 2011.It is believed that the Sadat-Mubarak administrations’political and economic policies have led to distortions in the Egyptian social structure,and caused a‘fall’of the middle classes,that has destabilized Egyptian society.This paper will briefly consider the basic trajectory of the changes seen in Egypt and why the middle classes ultimately submitted to the Mubarak regime.This paper not only looks at the internal factors,but the external ones too-i.e.the difficult historical pretext and the huge international pressure on Arab countries like Egypt.

Fostering a Middle Class

Though there is no official definition of "middle class" in China, the tag has become one few Chinese people believe they deserve anyway.In early August, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released a report on China’s urban development,

China’s transitioning class identity

China’s rapid economic transformation is similar in some ways to those that have occurred in other East Asian nations.But the changing structure of perceived class identity that occurs in many rapidly growing economies is found to be absent in China,and in fact as China has continued to grow such change as has occurred is found to be downward,despite the immense material improvement there.Objective data on income distribution in China do not explain this phenomenon,but anomalies in China’s urban real-estate market might.