This chapter introduces a method for empirically valuing animal welfare. The method involves calibrating key parameters discussed earlier, namely, the animal welfare score, utility potentials, and a monetization parameter. Three applications are presented: one examining the animal welfare levy applied to meat prices in France, another analyzing the global trend in animal welfare, and a third focused on a biodiversity management project.

This introductory chapter outlines the motivation behind the book, critically discusses anthropocentrism in economics, and introduces the distinction between the direct and indirect approaches. It also puts the book into perspective, highlighting its overall contribution.

This chapter explores research on proanimal concerns, including survey studies and WTP studies. It examines the vote-buy gap (i.e., the discrepancy between citizens’ attitudes when voting versus when shopping) and explores the origins of proanimal concerns.

Many decisions involving animals, such as meat consumption or biodiversity protection, influence the size of animal populations. This chapter explores key concepts in population ethics as they relate to animals, including the repugnant conclusion, the replaceability argument, and the procreation asymmetry principle.

This chapter adapts the canonical model introduced earlier to examine a case where animal welfare is a public good. It also explores a variant in which animal welfare is treated as a merit good. The chapter provides a theoretical discussion on different forms of altruism, the vote-buy gap, and the role of taxation in restoring market efficiency.

This chapter provides an overview of the status of animals in the world. It begins by estimating the number of animals, then examines their importance for the economy. It also explores the state of animal welfare and offers a brief overview of the philosophical and legal perspectives on the subject.

This chapter examines the challenge of interspecies welfare comparisons and introduces a key concept: utility potentials. This concept seeks to quantify species’ capacity to experience welfare and can be estimated using survey studies, neuron counts, or the welfare range approach.

This chapter examines China’s prolonged growth slowdown by analyzing the critical role of productivity improvement, particularly total factor productivity (TFP), in driving economic growth. It highlights that between 1978 and 2007, rapid TFP growth – averaging over 4 percent annually – underpinned China’s impressive GDP expansion, largely due to effective bottom-up institutional changes, agricultural productivity gains, labor reallocation, and domestic trade liberalization. In contrast, since 2007, TFP growth has decelerated to about 1 percent per year, as government policies have shifted toward top-down industrial directives and centralized resource mobilization, resulting in misallocation of capital and reduced market-driven reforms. The chapter uses growth model simulations to demonstrate that even with increased investment rates, the decline in TFP remains the primary constraint on GDP growth. Looking ahead, it projects that sustaining or improving future GDP growth hinges on enhancing TFP through decentralization, renewed market-based reforms, and greater engagement with international technology diffusion.

This chapter examines how the events of summer 2021 marked a decisive turning point in China’s economic system. Barry Naughton argues that, while the reform-era system emphasized decentralized decision-making and robust growth incentives, a series of abrupt regulatory actions in 2021 abruptly constrained the private sector and redefined policy objectives. The crackdown – targeting major private enterprises, real estate, and tech giants – catalyzed a shift toward a system where economic decisions are heavily politicized, with competing objectives that dilute growth incentives. This new framework, which prioritizes political and social goals such as common prosperity over pure market efficiency, is expected to reduce productivity and weaken policy credibility. The chapter concludes that the summer of 2021 represents a point of no return, signaling a qualitatively different economic regime that may have lasting negative implications for China’s dynamism and long-term growth.

This chapter examines China’s transformation from economic isolation to deep global integration. The authors identify three distinct phases in China’s trade openness: a corrective phase (1980–1992) that raised openness from below-norm levels; an expansion phase (1992–2006) where trade openness and a growing trade surplus exceeded international norms; and a normalization phase (2006–2021) with a gradual reduction toward a typical openness level. The analysis extends beyond traditional measures by evaluating export sophistication – revealing a significant post-2006 surge in the technological complexity of China’s export bundle – and by proposing a broader openness index that integrates FDI-related value-added activities. The chapter also discusses structural factors behind persistent trade imbalances, including financial system imperfections and competitive savings motives, and contextualizes these trends within the framework of China’s “dual circulation” strategy. Overall, the study provides insights into the evolving quality and quantity of China’s economic openness and its implications for future global integration amid rising geopolitical tensions and domestic policy shifts.