This Open Access book offers a new perspective for understanding rural transformation by moving beyond traditional income-based measures of development. It demonstrates that improvements in income alone do not necessarily lead to better lives in rural Asia and that subjective well-being—reflected in people’s happiness, life satisfaction, and mental health—provides a richer lens for evaluating development outcomes. Drawing on empirical studies across Asian economies, the book examines how e...

Developing Advanced Proficiency in Chinese through Debate provides lesson plans for holding high-level debates in the classroom.The lesson plans in this textbook were created based on the standards of the Oral Proficiency Interview held by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. These lesson plans train students in advanced language tasks such as giving thorough descriptions and narrations, comparing abstract concepts, and establishing hypotheses. The le...

"Five-Year Plans" have been a cornerstone of Chinese social and economic development initiatives since 1953. During the thirteenth of these periods between 2016 and 2020, the global economy has experienced instability after the financial crisis, as well as political and economic reconfiguration. Drawing on modern economic theory, this book comprehensively discusses China's economic development in this crucial phase.The book analyzes the international economic environment, and asks ...

The book addresses and documents farmers' risks in developing and emerging economies. It draws lessons from experimental economics on measuring risk preferences, attitudes, gender differences in managing risks, and risk management strategies in countries across Africa and Asia. It argues policy makers, especially in emerging economies, need a better understanding of farmers' attitudes toward risk and choices of risk management strategies when designing policies to support production agricu...