Cultural transitions between China and Europe

In recent times, the decades-long trend towards globalization and free markets seems to be slowing down and reversing. Causes for this are anti-globalization movements fuelled by worries about labour markets (e.g., Brexit), the Corona crisis which demonstrated the vulnerability of global supply chains and has also led to a slow-down in international exchange – which could be convenient for politicians who want to reverse the trend towards free movement of goods, people and ideas – and finally the current war in Ukraine and the massive sanctions against Russia that it has caused. Finally, another big challenge is the strategic rivalry between the United States (U.S.) and China and its effects on the global economy. A division of the world along the lines of democracies versus autocratic states seems possible and many steps towards a disintegration of the world economy have already been taken – particularly in China and the U.S.

All of this is happening at a time where major technological innovations are creating economic chances and regulatory challenges, in particular with the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data becoming more and more important. Typical questions raised by these innovations involve the legal responsibility for accidents caused by the use of autonomous systems or the property rights of works produced by an AI. The differences in handling the regulatory and legal aspects of these new technologies between China, Europe and the U.S. may be political or cultural in origin. Besides these differences, however, there are also many parallels in the responses to these challenges.

In this project, we will use an interdisciplinary approach to study a number of research questions related to this broad topic. In particular, our research will include an economic policy perspective, a business perspective, and a legal perspective, as well as an integrated approach of empirical and qualitative research. We will focus mostly on the systematic comparison of Europe and China: Which factors influence the digital transition in two of the largest markets in the world? What are the reasons for differences in the development of legal and economic responses to the ongoing challenges? How do culturally rooted socialization systems and norms- and values-based belief systems affect the responses of individuals, companies and countries?

The projects thus contribute not only to the overall understanding of the effects of technological innovations and their handling in China and Europe, but can also help to improve the global competitiveness of Europe in these challenging times.

 

Subproject 1: Regulating Artificial Intelligence in China and Germany – A dialogue between law and economics (Leitung: Prof. Dr. Thomas Rüfner, Trier University; Prof. Dr. Laszlo Goerke, Trier University)

Subproject 2: Public perception of and attitudes towards Intellectual Property Rights and possible discrepancies with actual regulation – A cross-country interdisciplinary analysis (Leitung: Prof. Dr. Katrin Muehlfeld, Trier University; Prof. Dr. Benjamin Raue, Trier University)

Subproject 3: China Inc.: Succeeding at the crossroads of domestic industrial policy and the international trade order (Leitung: Prof. Dr. Xenia Matschke, Trier University)

Subproject 4: Strategic planning in a multi-level system: Comparing the Digitization Strategy of the EU and China (Leitung: Dr. Lea Shih, Trier University)

Subproject 5: Is there a “collectivist entrepreneurship”? Differences in social networks between Chinese and German SMEs (Leitung: Prof. Dr. Mei Wang, WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management; Prof. Dr. Marc Oliver Rieger, Trier University)

Publications

How do new immigration flows affect existing immigrants? Evidence from the refugee crisis in Germany”, SS Deole, Y Huang, In R. Sauer (Ed.), The Handbook of Global Migration. World Scientific, 2023.

The immigrant-native gap in risk and time preferences in Germany: levels, socio-economic determinants, and recent changes”, SS Deole, MO Rieger, Journal of Population Economics, 2022.

Home Sweet Home: Working from home and employee performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK”, SS Deole, M Deter, Y Huang, Labour economics, 2022.

"How does culture affect people’s stock market predictions? Evidence from Switzerland, Ukraine and China", MO Rieger, M Wang, T Phan, Y Gong, Global Finance Journal, 2022.

"COVID-19-related conspiracy beliefs among Chinese – empirical evidence", MO Rieger, ASIEN, 2022.       

"Uncritical patriotism and Belief into COVID-19 Conspiracies”, MO Rieger, Frontiers in Sociology-Migration and Society, 2022.

"Keep that mask on: will Germans become more like East Asians?", MO Rieger, X Matschke, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2022.

"Economic Individualism, Perceived Fairness and Policy Preference: A Cross-Cultural Comparison", MO Rieger, M Wang, Y He-Ulbricht, Review of Behavioral Economics, 2022.

Trend following or reversal: Does culture affect predictions and trading behavior?”, MO Rieger, M Wang, TC Phan, Y Gong, Global Finance Journal, 2022.

Culture and Institutions: Long-lasting effects of communism on risk and time preferences of individuals in Europe”, J Schaewitz, M Wang, MO Rieger, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2022.

Survey evidence on core factors of behavioral biases”, MO Rieger, M Wang, PK Huang, YL Hsu, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 2022.

Cheating, Trust and Social Norms: Data from Germany, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, and Japan”, TLD Huynh, MO Rieger, M Wang, D Berens, DL Bui, HL Chen, ..., Data, 2022.

Cross-country comparison in dishonest behaviour: Germany and East Asian countries”, TLD Huynh, MO Rieger, M Wang, Economics Letters, 2022.

Trust and the stock market reaction to lockdown and reopening announcements: A cross-country evidence”, L Xie, M Wang, TLD Huynh, Finance Research Letters, 2022.

COVID-19 and the Wuhan Diary–how does the overseas Chinese community react to group criticism?”, M Wang, MO Rieger, Journal of Chinese Political Science, 2022.

Intellectual Property Rights in China—A Literature Review on the Public's Perspective”, K Muehlfeld, M Wang, Frontiers in Sociology, 2022.

China and the world–Cultural differences, transmissions and transitions”, MO Rieger, M Wang, Y Zhang, Frontiers in Sociology, 2022.

Die Zähmung der Uploadfilter – Konsequenzen aus dem EuGH-Urteil Polen/Parlament und Rat zu Art“, B Raue, 17 DSM-RL, ZUM 2022, 624-634, 2022.

Ansprüche des Patentinhabers nach Ablauf des Patentschutzes“, B Raue, GRUR 2022, 603-609, 2022.

Das (Sach-)Eigentum als Teil der Informationsrechtsordnung – Zugangsrechte, sachbezogene Datenerhebungen und Fotografien“, B Raue, in: Hofmann/Raue/Zech, Eigentum in der digitalen Gesellschaft, 109-133, 2022.

The Multi-Layered Information in a Digital Image”, B Raue, in: Dreier/Andina, Digital Ethics: The issue of images, 229-237, 2022.

Prävention durch Kompensation: Immaterialgüterrechtlicher Schadensersatz im Licht des Unionsrechts“, B Raue, FS Thomas Dreier, 281-296, 2022.

Der schleichende Tod des Bearbeitungsrechts – Vervielfältigung, Bearbeitung, Pastiche und freie Benutzung im neuen Urheberrecht“, B Raue, AfP 2022, 1-10, 2022.

Der Pestfloh-Professor. Zur Ginsengwurzel-Entscheidung des Bundesgerichtshofs“, T Rüfner, in: Stephan Meder (Hg.), Geschichte und Zukunft des Urheberrechts III, 81-99, 2022.

Juristische Herausforderungen der Künstlichen Intelligenz aus der Perspektive des Privatrechts“, T Rüfner, in: Hans-Georg Dederer, Yu-Cheol Shin (Hg.), Künstliche Intelligenz und juristische Herausforderungen, 15-42, 2021.

Institutional and cultural determinants of speed of government responses during COVID-19 pandemic”, D Chen, D Peng, MO Rieger, M Wang, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2021.

Effects of playing Go for education and psychological treatment”, MO Rieger, M Wang, Journal of Educational Sciences & Psychology, 2021.

Cognitive Reflection and Theory of Mind of Go Players”, MO Rieger, M Wang, Advances in Cognitive Psychology, 2021.

Opinions on Technology: A Cultural Divide between East Asia and Germany?”, MO Rieger, M Wang, M Massloch, D Reinhardt, Review of Behavioral Economics, 2021.

Economic policy uncertainty and the Bitcoin market: An investigation in the COVID-19 pandemic with transfer entropy”, TLD Huynh, M Wang, VX Vo, The Singapore Economic Review, 2021.

Universal time preference”, MO Rieger, M Wang, T Hens, Plos one, 2021.

How Do Thinking Style and Motivation Influence Household Sector Innovation? Evidence from a Cross-Country Survey”, G Tian, M Wang, MO Rieger, J Block, International Review of Entrepreneurship, 2021.

How Gender Effects Differ Between Countries”, T Hens, MO Rieger, M Wang, Cultural Finance: A World Map of Risk, Time and Money, 2021.

Introduction—Experiences from a Global Survey”, T Hens, MO Rieger, M Wang, Cultural Finance: A World Map of Risk, Time and Money, 2021.

Time Preferences and Migration”, T Hens, MO Rieger, M Wang, Cultural Finance: A World Map of Risk, Time and Money, 2021.

How Politics Affects Time Preferences: The Case of Eastern Europe”, T Hens, MO Rieger, M Wang, Cultural Finance: A World Map of Risk, Time and Money, 2021.

What Do We Measure When We Measure Time Discounting? The Impact of Wealth, Growth Rate and Financial Market Accessibility”, T Hens, MO Rieger, M Wang, Cultural Finance: A World Map of Risk, Time and Money, 2021.

Trust in Government Actions during the COVID-19 Crisis”, MO Rieger, M Wang, Social Indicators Research, 2021.

Kisses, Handshakes, Covid-19 - Will the Pandemic Change Us Forever?”, X Matschke, MO Rieger, Review of Behavioral Economics, 2021.

Policy and Politics: Trade adjustment assistance in the crossfire”, X Matschke, C Laincz, Y Yotov, Canadian Journal of Economics, 2021.

"East Asia’s success against COVID-19 - acclaimed or ignored?", MO Rieger, Economic Bulletin, 2021.

"Willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 might be systematically underestimated", MO Rieger, Asian Journal of Social Health and Behavior, 2021.

"Stock market reactions to COVID-19 lockdown: A global analysis”, MO Rieger, X Matschke, M Scherf, Finance Research Letter, 2021.

Refining the salience hypothesis: does the response to immigration differ across countries?”, LS Davis, SS Deole, International Migration, 2021.

Determinants of Role-Incongruent Knowledge Transfer Behavior of Apprentices and Trainers in the Context of the German Apprenticeship System”, K Muehlfeld, X Schmidt, A Peter, German Journal of Human Resource Management, 2021.

Strategic Decision-Making in a Global Context: The Comprehension Effect of Foreign Language Use on Cooperation”, D Urbig, K Muehlfeld, V Procher, A van Witteloostuijn, Management International Review, 2020.

"Grüne Seidenstraße in Europa: Begegnung zwischen Green Deal und chinesischer grüner Finanzierung", L Shih, in: Michael Vassiliadis und Kajsa Borgnäs (Hrsg.): Nachhaltige Industriepolitik: Strategien für Deutschland und Europa, 2020.

Urheberrecht und Zugang in einer digitalen Welt – Urheberrechtliche Fragestellungen des Zugangs für Gedächtnisinstitutionen und die Digital Humanities“, B Raue, K de la Durantaye, RuZ 2020, 83-107, 2020.

Rechtliche Herausforderungen Künstlicher Intelligenz“, B Raue, A von Ungern-Sternberg, in: Jahrbuch Bitburger Gespräche 2020, 1-5, 2020.

Die Verfassung der Freiheit - Der Beitrag des Privatrechts zur Entwicklung der demokratischen Ordnung“, T Rüfner, in: Thomas Raab, Antje von Ungern-Sternberg (Hg.), Akademische Festveranstaltung "Demokratie Hoch Drei", Rechtspolitisches Forum Nr. 81, 49-79, 2020.

"Suffering and prejudice: Do negative emotions predict immigration concerns?", SS Deole, Y Huang, GLO Discussion Paper, 2020.

Was der Westen entlang Chinas neuer Seidenstraße investiert. Ein Vergleich westlicher und chinesischer Finanzströme/ What the West Is Investing along China’s New Silk Road. A comparison of Western and Chinese financial flows”, M Taube, A Hmaidi, Report prepared on behalf of Bertelsmann Foundation, 2020.