This chapter justifies the book’s moral foundation, rooted in sentientism. Sentience, understood as the ability to feel, is interpreted as the capacity for welfare. The chapter also identifies the species possessing this ability and, therefore, belonging to the moral community.

This chapter presents the social welfare function approach. It discusses how to directly incorporate animal welfare into the social objective. It explores the distinction between utility potentials, introduced earlier, and moral weights, introduced in this chapter, while also introducing the challenges of population ethics.

This chapter introduces a novel measure of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China using an equity network perspective. Leveraging a comprehensive firm registration dataset from SAIC, the authors construct dynamic ownership trees that trace direct and indirect government control from central, provincial, and city levels. By setting various ownership thresholds (100 percent, 50 percent, 30 percent, 10 percent, and >0 percent), the new measure reveals a substantially larger pool of SOEs than traditional self-reported indicators from the Annual Industrial Survey. The analysis uncovers systematic misreporting issues in existing definitions and demonstrates trends in state ownership, including a shift toward decentralization and increased indirect control over time. The findings offer fresh insights into the structure of China’s state capitalism and the evolving role of government in the economy, laying a robust foundation for future research on the economic impact of state ownership in China.

This chapter begins by exploring the motivations behind pet ownership, then introduces a simple economic model in which a pet owner decides on medical expenditures and pet insurance. It concludes with a broader discussion on the economics of pets.

This chapter examines the evolution of China’s innovation system over the past thirty-five years, detailing how government policies, R&D investment, and strategic international engagement have spurred a remarkable surge in patent activity and technological advancement. It outlines the transition from a weak, planned economy to one where domestic enterprises dominate innovation, emphasizing the shift from quantity-focused utility model patents to an increasing quality of invention patents. The analysis highlights the role of FDI and regional dynamics in boosting local innovation while comparing domestic and foreign patenting trends. Key external challenges are discussed, including the impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Sino-US trade war and technology decoupling, and the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking forward, the chapter proposes future directions in sectors such as electric vehicle batteries, semiconductors, and digital startups, stressing that achieving sustained independent innovation will require enhanced basic research, collaborative international efforts, and a move beyond reliance on government policy alone.

This chapter presents an economic model of the meat paradox, where consumers experience both pleasure from eating meat and disutility from harming animals. It incorporates a cognitive dissonance framework to examine how individuals manage this psychological conflict. The chapter explores the effects of meat taxation within this model and concludes with a broader discussion on its key assumptions and implications.

This chapter explores the interplay between China’s economic transformation and its shifting demographic landscape over the first two decades of the twenty-first century. It examines how an initially favorable age structure and abundant labor drove a period of material abundance and rapid growth, yielding a significant lifecycle surplus. Using a lifecycle approach with National Transfer Accounts, the authors analyze changes in labor income and consumption profiles, revealing that while early decades witnessed rising surplus driven by robust income growth and low dependency, the 2010s saw consumption outpacing income amid accelerating population aging. This resulted in a sharp contraction of the aggregate lifecycle surplus and a declining effective support ratio. The analysis further decomposes the impacts of changes in per capita income–consumption patterns versus demographic shifts, projecting that continuing aging will likely exhaust the surplus in the coming decades, posing critical challenges for China’s future economic and social policies.

This chapter explores studies in psychology and related disciplines on human–animal relationships. It examines anthropomorphism, the tendency to attribute human-like traits to animals, and its opposite, anthropodenial – the refusal to acknowledge similarities between humans and animals. It also discusses the meat paradox: the psychological conflict between valuing animal welfare and consuming meat.

This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of China’s economic transformation over the past four decades. It traces the dramatic growth in China’s GDP – from a modest base in 1990 to a global powerhouse in 2023 – and examines the contributions of capital, labor, and productivity. The chapter juxtaposes optimistic and cautious expert forecasts, highlighting challenges such as a structural slowdown, decelerating productivity, and the risks of excessive investment in real estate. It also explores the evolving dynamics of state control, the impact of global trade shifts, and the role of innovation and industrial policy in shaping future growth. Additionally, the analysis delves into demographic trends, particularly the implications of the “demographic dividend” turning into a deficit and the complexities of forecasting in a rapidly changing economic environment. Overall, the chapter sets the stage for a broader discussion on the policy reforms and strategic shifts necessary for sustaining China’s long-term economic progress.

This chapter examines Xi Jinping’s common prosperity program from a political economy perspective. Rather than primarily addressing income inequality among households, the program targets an imbalance between private capital and state power. The author argues that common prosperity is used as a tool to curtail excessive private sector influence and reassert the state’s control in the economy. Despite official statistics showing improvements in income distribution and labor share, the program pursues radical regulatory crackdowns on key private industries such as education, gaming, and tech. These measures, while intended to redistribute power and ensure political stability, risk undermining entrepreneurial incentives and aggravating long-term economic slowdown. By rebalancing the roles of the state, capital, and households, the program represents a significant departure from previous market-oriented reforms. Its political implications, including coerced corporate donations and adjustments in tax policies, illustrate a broader strategy to recalibrate the distribution of economic power in China.

This chapter extends the canonical model by studying decisions about both the quantity and quality of animal lives. The quality dimension reflects animal welfare standards. The paper analyzes how increasing antispeciesism – i.e., assigning a higher moral weight to animals in the social welfare function – affects both of these choices.

This chapter explores various approaches to welfare in economics and animal sciences, along with the concept of a “life worth living,” which is central to this book. It also discusses the complex issue of wild animal welfare.