The recent interest in the development processes of BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) has been triggered by their high growth performance, but their political and social backgrounds are entirely different. This book traces the economic history of BRIC countries to understand their...

Fertility decline has fueled a sharp increase in the proportion of 'missing girls' in China, so an increasing share of males will fail to marry, and will face old age without the support normally provided by wives and children. This paper shows that historically, China has had nearly-universal...

China has a large deficit of females, and public policies have sought to reduce the son preference that is widely believed to cause this. Recently a study has suggested that up to 75 percent of this deficit is attributable to hepatitis B infection, indicating that immunization programs should...