Volume 97

This study assesses the limitations of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a major indicator of the development of socialist economies through a comparative analysis of China’s socialist market economy and Cuba’s planned economy. The analysis showcases that China’s mixed economic structure, which combines market mechanisms with state control, has achieved growth, but many public services and state assets are undervalued by traditional GDP measure. Similarly, Cuba’s state-dominated economy produces extraordinary social outcomes in education and healthcare, and GDP cannot fully measure its contributions to the social development which means that the non-economic benefits brought by such governmental investments were undervalued due to statistical difficulties created by current GDP metric. Both examples uncovered the internal bias of GDP against monetized transactions, which ignores socialist economies’ priorities. To reduce these gaps, the study recommends combining GDP with other multidimensional metrics, integrating social welfare indicators and collective asset valuations. This hybrid approach could better reflect the development goals of the socialist system, emphasizing collective welfare rather than market-centered growth.

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This research examines how protectionist trade measures affect China and Canada, as both nations primarily encounter such trade barriers from the United States. A protectionist approach includes government-implemented defensive policies that protect domestic industries against foreign market interference by means of taxes and financial assistance alongside restriction limits. This type of control provides temporary economic advantages. However, protectionist policies maintained over time produce economic inefficiencies, together with market volatility that leads nations to take countermeasures, thus reducing market efficiency. China reacted to US tariffs through increased self-reliance combined with its “Dual Circulation Strategy” and international cooperative agreements to decrease dependency on Western market. The Canadian economy encountered major economic problems due to US tariff retaliation, because it depends heavily on US markets; thus, it initiated immediate actions to diversify trade through various agreements. This research focuses on how trade strategies prove the differing effects of protectionist policies through a comparative analysis that supports multilateral economic stability between protectionist interests and international trade relations.

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This research examines legal deficiencies in China’s cross-border e-commerce consumer protection framework under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). It focuses on three core issues: fragmented jurisdiction in cross-border disputes, the lack of unified legal status and procedural standards for online dispute resolution (ODR), and vague legislative provisions on personal information protection, particularly regarding consent withdrawal mechanisms. Through textual analysis of Chinese laws and RCEP obligations, the study identifies critical inconsistencies between domestic legal norms and regional expectations. Targeted legal reforms are proposed, including the legalization and standardization of ODR procedures, clarifying informed consent rules for personal information protection, and legislative support for international cooperation among RCEP member states. The research also explores the potential role of smart contracts and blockchain in protecting consumer rights. These measures contribute to the construction of a harmonized legal environment for cross-border e-commerce consumer protection and support China’s alignment with RCEP’s digital trade framework.

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This study examines the structural and institutional drivers of social stratification and declining intergenerational mobility in the United States during the 21st century. By integrating quantitative data from longitudinal studies and qualitative insights from marginalized communities, the analysis identifies three key challenges: (1) technological disruption disproportionately displacing low-skilled workers, (2) systemic discrimination in education and labor markets, and (3) regressive tax policies exacerbating wealth concentration. These structural barriers collectively depress mobility rates by an estimated 40%, as quantified by this decomposition analysis. The research proposes a holistic policy framework combining progressive taxation, universal childcare projected to increase maternal employment by 13 percentage points, and anti-discrimination legislation to mitigate these issues. Comparative analysis with OECD nations, such as Denmark’s 11% intergenerational mobility rate versus the U.S.’s 5%, underscores the urgency of institutional reforms. The framework’s implementation could elevate U.S. mobility to Scandinavian levels within two generations. The findings highlight the necessity of addressing intersecting economic, racial, and gender inequalities to restore equitable mobility pathways.

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As the global economic landscape undergoes profound changes, the international trade system faces new challenges. By taking unilateral actions to weaken the WTO dispute settlement mechanism (DSM), the United States has effectively obstructed the enforcement of global trade rules, which has intensified trade friction and increased uncertainty in the international market. These developments not only threaten the multilateral trade system but also hinder the global economic recovery, underscoring the urgent need for WTO reform to enhance its fairness and effectiveness. The paper explores the role of the WTO in the global trading system and its limitations, particularly in the context of China-US trade friction. It specifically aims to examine the weaknesses of the WTO DSM, its potential directions for reform, and to propose a response strategy for China to advance the improvement of global trade rules. Through literature review and case study, combined with international law and global economic governance theories, the standpoints of various countries are compared and analyzed, and the feasible path of WTO reform is explored. The results show that the weakening of the WTO DSM has affected the global trade order, and its effectiveness can be enhanced through rule reshaping, multilateral cooperation and mechanism optimization.

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The relationship between medical expenditure and economic development is crucial, which not only affects people’s health and quality of life, but also the national economic growth. This article aims to deeply explore the connection, challenges and corresponding policy goals between medical expenditure and economic development in different types of countries. After analyzing the economic growth data of various countries in 2023 and the corresponding proportion of medical expenditure, it is found that the high medical expenditure of developed countries is beneficial to the development of the medical industry and the improvement of the health status of the workforce, but they are facing the pressure of medical insurance brought about by medical cost control and population aging. There are problems such as uneven allocation of resources and insufficient security in developing countries’ medical systems. In addition, the medical system of underdeveloped countries is extremely weak, which seriously restricts economic development. The policies that can be implemented are as follows. Developing countries should strengthen the construction of the medical system and learn from the medical insurance model of developed countries, and less developed countries need the support of the international community and formulate health policies suitable for themselves.

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Against the backdrop of accelerated global climate governance and the deepening of the "dual carbon" goals, the carbon emissions trading system (ETS) has become a core policy tool for coordinating the contradiction between economic growth and carbon emission reduction. However, there is no systematic consensus on the driving path of ETS on corporate green innovation and its heterogeneous impact. Especially under the dual challenges of the institutional environment of emerging economies and the reconstruction of the global value chain, theoretical deepening and policy innovation are urgently needed. This paper uses a mixed research method to systematically explore the mechanism and boundary conditions of ETS on corporate green innovation, covering the development process of carbon emissions trading policies and the trend of corporate green technology innovation. It deeply analyzes the impact, mechanism, and heterogeneous impact of carbon emissions trading on corporate green innovation, aiming to optimize the operating mechanism of the carbon emissions trading market, thereby promoting the green transformation and sustainable development of enterprises, and providing a policy framework that is both efficient and fair for the construction of carbon markets in emerging economies. At the same time, it fills the gap in the existing literature on the dynamic interaction mechanism of "institution-market-enterprise".

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This article comprehensively reviews the impact of regional economic integration on trade creation and trade transfer, with a particular focus on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the subsequent USMCA. By extensively synthesizing various existing literature materials, this study explores in depth the impact of regional economic integration on the economic development of member and non member countries. The article reveals in detail the specific manifestations of trade creation and trade transfer in agriculture and automobile manufacturing, two key industries, during different time periods. The research results indicate that NAFTA and USMCA have effectively promoted trade between these two industries within the region, but have also to some extent triggered trade diversion among non member countries. Although regional economic integration has improved the overall economic welfare level of member countries, it also faces many challenges such as decreased public support and limited policy implementation space. In the future, regional economic integration urgently needs to explore a balance between deepening internal cooperation and effectively addressing the challenges of globalization.

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Cross-border data transfers have sparked legal disputes and regulatory difficulties while simultaneously advancing the expansion of the digital economy. This article explores the legal conflicts and law enforcement cooperation dilemmas in cross-border data flows from the perspective of the offense of violating the privacy of citizens in China's Criminal Law. This article uses theoretical analysis and comparative analysis to analyze data sovereignty theory, international flow of production factors theory, privacy rights theory and global governance theory, compares the regulatory rules of the United States, the European Union, Russia and China, and reveals the difficulties China faces in cross-border data flow law enforcement cooperation. This article proposes that China should improve its domestic legal system, add extraterritorial effect clauses, strengthen the research and development of data security technologies, and actively take part in the creation of global regulations to meet the challenges of cross-border data flows. Building an effective regulatory framework and balancing the free flow of data and the protection of personal information is of great significance to achieving sustainable development of the global economy and digital economy.

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Against the backdrop of accelerated global climate governance and the deepening of the "dual carbon" goals, the carbon emissions trading system (ETS) has become a core policy tool for coordinating the contradiction between economic growth and carbon emission reduction. However, there is no systematic consensus on the driving path of ETS on corporate green innovation and its heterogeneous impact. Especially under the dual challenges of the institutional environment of emerging economies and the reconstruction of the global value chain, theoretical deepening and policy innovation are urgently needed. This paper uses a mixed research method to systematically explore the mechanism and boundary conditions of ETS on corporate green innovation, covering the development process of carbon emissions trading policies and the trend of corporate green technology innovation. It deeply analyzes the impact, mechanism, and heterogeneous impact of carbon emissions trading on corporate green innovation, aiming to optimize the operating mechanism of the carbon emissions trading market, thereby promoting the green transformation and sustainable development of enterprises, and providing a policy framework that is both efficient and fair for the construction of carbon markets in emerging economies. At the same time, it fills the gap in the existing literature on the dynamic interaction mechanism of "institution-market-enterprise".

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