Title: Institutional constraints on China's transition to sustainability

 

Author: Yang Chen, Cleber Dutra, Richard Sanders

 

Address: Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TN, UK. ' School of Applied Sciences, University of Northampton, Northampton, NN2 7AL, UK. ' The China and Transitional Economies Research Centre, University of Northampton, Northampton, NN2 7AL, UK

 

Journal: Int. J. of Green Economics, 2008 Vol.2, No.2, pp.135 - 152

 

Abstract: This paper analyses the institutional constraints on China's transition to sustainability. Through the investigation of the ecological dimension of the sustainability in China, we argue that there is a vacuum of social consensus and public understanding resulting from unbridled meritocracy and that this forms the key barrier to China's transition to sustainability. In our conclusion, we strongly propose a public debate in the form of dialogue among different classes and interest groups in Chinese society to contemplate a substantial paradigm shift from the transition to sustainable development to the transition to sustainability.

 

Keywords: China; sustainability; institutional constraints; sustainable development; ecology; green economics.

 

DOI: 10.1504/IJGE.2008.019996

10.1504/08.19996

 

 

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