springer nature jun 2018 (627 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The general scope of the book is the patentability and morality of human embryonic stem cell research in US, EU and China. The book observes fraudsters operate unsafe human embryonic stem cell therapies and officialdom turns a blind eye to the immoral human embryonic stem cell research in China. The book highlights that both patent control and federal funding control are inefficient and ineffective way to monitoring human embryonic stem cell research. The book finally proposed an approach for china to regulating human embryonic stem cell research-regulating research itself at the reconciled international regime.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - This book describes important recent developments in fiber optic sensor technology and examines established and emerging applications in a broad range of fields and markets, including power engineering, chemical engineering, bioengineering, biomedical engineering, and environmental monitoring. Particular attention is devoted to niche applications where fiber optic sensors are or soon will be able to compete with conventional approaches. Beyond novel methods for the sensing of traditional parameters such as strain, temperature, and pressure, a variety of new ideas and concepts are proposed and explored. The significance of the advent of extended infrared sensors is discussed, and individual chapters focus on sensing at THz frequencies and optical sensing based on photonic crystal structures. Another important topic is the resonances generated when using thin films in conjunction with optical fibers, and the enormous potential of sensors based on lossy mode resonances, surface plasmonresonances, and long-range surface exciton polaritons. Detailed attention is also paid to fiber Bragg grating sensors and multimode interference sensors.Each chapter is written by an acknowledged expert in the subject under discussion.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book explores various aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regimes with regard to plant-variety protection and farmers' rights; traditional knowledge; geographical indications, genetically modified crops; and access to genetic resources within the broad ambit of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the Convention of Biological Diversity and other treaties/protocols. Enumerating the governance provisions for India and some of its neighboring countries, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Thailand and Myanmar, the book synthesizes a policy agenda to drive sustainable development. Further, it assesses and interprets the status quo, and discusses key issues and implications. By comparing various governance frameworks in South Asian countries, it attempts to bridge policy issues concerning development, IPR and international studies. 180 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book presents the most important ideas behind Bayes' Rule in a form suitable for the general reader. It is written without formulae because they are not necessary; the ability to add and multiply is all that is needed. As well as showing in full the application of Bayes' Rule to some quantitatively simple, though not trivial, examples, the book also convincingly demonstrates that some familiarity with Bayes' Rule is helpful in thinking about how best to structure one's thinking. 232 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book critically examines the psychology of gambling in Hong Kong and Macao. Covering the history of gambling and its development in the two jurisdictions, it highlights the prevalence and status quo of problem gambling, the theoretical perspectives on the etiology of gambling disorder, and the treatment of problem gambling. The book also introduces a personality and pathways development model of Chinese problem gamblers and concludes with outlooks on the future of gambling in Hong Kong and Macao. 176 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This volume applies a systems science perspective to complex policy making dynamics, using the case of Indonesia to illustrate the concepts. Indonesia is an archipelago with a high heterogeneity. Her people consist of 1,340 tribes who are scattered over 17,508 islands. Every region has different natural strengths and conditions. In the national development process all regions depend on one another other while optimizing their own conditions. In addition to this diversity, Indonesia also employs a democratic system of government with high regional autonomy. A democratic government puts a high value on individual freedom, but on the other hand, conflicts of interest also occur frequently. High regional autonomy also often causes problems in coordination among agencies and regional governments. This uniqueness creates a kind of complexity that is rarely found in other countries.These daily complexities requires intensive interaction, negotiation processes, and coordination. Such necessities should be considered in public policy making and in managing the implementation of national development programs. In this context, common theories and best practices generated on the basis of more simplified assumptions often fail. Systems science offer a way of thinking that can take into account and potentially overcome these complexities. However, efforts to apply systems science massively and continuously in real policy making by involving many stakeholders are still rarely carried out. The first part of the book discusses the gap between the existing public policy-making approach and needs in the real world. After that, the characteristics of the appropriate policy-making process in a complex environment and how this process can be carried are described. In later sections, important systems science concepts that can be applied in managing these complexities are discussed. Finally, the efforts to apply these concepts in real cases in Indonesia are described. 108 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This is the first book to deal with the innovative technologies in the field of textiles and clothing sustainability. It details a number of sustainable and innovative technologies and highlights their implications in the clothing sector. There are currently various measures to achieve sustainability in the textiles and the clothing industry, including innovations in the manufacturing stage, which is the crux of this book. 83 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book highlights the role that both infrastructure and governance play in the context of resilience and adaptation to climate variability and change. Eleven case studies analyze in-depth impacts of extreme events in projects, basins and regions in the Arid Americas (Unites States and Mexico), Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Nepal, Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey and South Africa. They discuss the importance of infrastructure (mainly reservoirs) in adaptation strategies, how planning and management aspects should improve in response to changing climatic, economic, social and environmental situations and what the management, institutional and financial challenges would be for their implementation. Governance aspects (policies, institutions and decision making) and technical and knowledge limitations are a substantial part of the analyses. The case studies argue that reservoirs are essential to build resilience contributing to adaptation to climate variability and change. However, that for them to be effective, they need to be planned and managed within a governance framework that considers long-term perspectives and multi-sector and multi-level actor needs and perspectives. 312 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book is a comparative study of the critical factors in berth productivity in Chinese and South Korean container terminals. It first defines the concept of berth productivity, and then establishes a regression model to evaluate the productivity factor. With the results obtained for the leading Asian container terminals it identifies the relationship between critical factors for berth productivity and their order of importance. The findings provide guidelines for terminal operators to improve berth productivity. 80 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book engages with the Chinese mediation of wars and conflicts in the global environment.Proposing a new cascading media and conflict model, it applies this to the studyof war correspondents from six levels: media-policy relations, journalistic objectivity, roleperceptions, news framing and peace/war journalism, news practices, and audience.Based on interviews with 23 Chinese journalists and case study analysis of the Libyan War,Syrian War, Afghanistan War and Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the book demonstrates thata new breed of Chinese war correspondents has emerged today. They undergo a complexand nuanced mediated communication process. Neither traditionally Chinese in theirapproach nor western in their perceptions, they are uniquely pragmatic in negotiating theirroles in a complex web of internal and external actors and factors. The core ideology seemsto be anti-West in defiance of the US hegemony and the bias of global media as well asneutral-Muslims.Exploring the role perceptions, values, norms and practices of contemporary Chinese warcorrespondents who go outside China to bring the 'distant culture' back home, this text is keyreading for scholars and students in international journalism, international communication,war and peace studies, international relations and Chinese studies. 220 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book provides readers a holistic and pragmatic approach towards supply management in China. It elaborates on how supply management should integrate the optimum level, and a combination of quality, cost and delivery. In addition to serving as a guide on how to address cultural barriers, apply supply tools and concepts, it also illustrates the best practices in supply management in China. It draws from a large number of best practices of companies from automotive to railway, to convince other functional departments and higher management that supply management plays the most fundamental role in any organization due to the high number of value adding activities which are coming from suppliers. These practices have been derived by a multi-methodical approach including interviews with supply management leaders from industry and experts in academia, making it as unique and a suitable a guide for practitioners and academics. 204 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book examines corporate entrepreneurship start-ups in the media industries and provides a timely solution to fill in the gap of academic as well as practical knowledge in this regard. It brings together new media venturing practices in the west and east and covers new media opportunities in various emerging forms, including gaming, Internet, mobile and webcasting business.The book presents case studies from major transnational media companies, highlights the industry specific characteristics of corporate entrepreneurship, and thus contributes to understanding the links between new business venturing and certain particular industries, so as to further explore the industry specific characteristics of entrepreneurship.This book also suggests a new approach to integrate economic and management theories for the study of media corporate entrepreneurship; while the two sets of theories are conflicting with each other, the book proposes a contingent model to reconcile different theories. This is an innovative approach and will be a valuable starting point to construct an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for new media business studies. 184 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The series is designed to bring together those mathematicians who are seriously interested in getting new challenging stimuli from economic theories with those economists who are seeking effective mathematical tools for their research. A lot of economic problems can be formulated as constrained optimizations and equilibration of their solutions. Various mathematical theories have been supplying economists with indispensable machineries for these problems arising in economic theory. Conversely, mathematicians have been stimulated by various mathematical difficulties raised by economic theories. 200 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book provides a critical, carefully researched, up-to-date summary of membranes for membrane bioreactors. It presents a comprehensive and self-contained outline of the fundamentals of membrane bioreactors, especially their relevance as an advanced water treatment technology. This outline helps to bring the technology to the readers' attention, and positions the critical topic of membrane fouling as one of the key impediments to its more widescale adoption. The target readership includes researchers and industrial practitioners with an interest in membrane bioreactors. 160 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book analyzes hydrocarbon generation and accumulation within space-limited source rocks. The authors draw conclusions based on the principles of basin formation, hydrocarbon generation and accumulation, coupled with the practice of terrigenous basins in eastern China. Hydrocarbon generation and expulsion have been quantitatively assessed in space-limited source rock systems. This book explores new hydrocarbon generation and expulsion models to reflect real geological situations more accurately. The theory and practice proposed in this book challenge the traditional theory of kerogen thermal degradation and hydrocarbon generation. 204 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book is a study guide for Huawei (HCNA) certification. It has been written to help readers understand the principles of network technologies. It covers topics including network fundamentals, Ethernet, various protocols such as those used in routing, and Huawei's own VRP operating system-all essential aspects of HCNA certification. Presenting routing and switching basics in depth, it is a valuable resource for information and communications technology (ICT) practitioners, university students and network technology fans. 368 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book approaches the concept of geo-architecture from the perspective of functions of architectures by analyzing the cases of traditional Chinese houses and tombs as well as palaces and places of worship. Houses and tombs, the 'Yang' dwellings and 'Yin' dwellings of human beings in traditional Chinese interpretation, are the two types of architectures that reveal the wisdom with which different ethnic groups adapted to different geographic environments at different times throughout the long history. Palaces are connected with various religious architectures throughout the Chinese history. The connection between imperial power and religion, along with its geographic and cultural connotations, are implicated in the pattern and layout of religious and imperial architectures. This book is the second of a 4-volume book series. The series develops the innovative concept of 'geo-architecture' by exploring the myriad influences of natural, human and historical factors upon architecture. These influences are considered in three categories, namely, interaction between architecture and nature, interaction between architecture and its human users and change in architecture over time--each category serves as a lens. Augmenting these lenses is the Time-Person-Place concept applied different geographic. The analysis ultimately focuses on two aspects: geographic influence on architecture and architectural response to geography. The over 1000 pictures of case architectures enriches the study with stunning and unique visual angles.'This unprecedented work will be a unique and valuable contribution to the literature. Integrating as it does the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and geography, Wang Fang's voice is original, compelling, and will be much appreciated by English-speaking readers (and inside China, too, I can only imagine.)'Stephen M ErvinAssistant DeanGraduate School of Design, Harvard UniversityJuly 2nd, 2013'One reason for why there would be interest is because her research would fill some significant gaps in the literature.What is novel about Dr. Wang's series is that she further extends this intellectual project of looking at Chinese architecture through Chinese eyes, by taking it one provocative step further.'Annette M. KimAssociate ProfessorDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning, M.I.T.July 1st, 2013 284 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book presents recent science and engineering research in the field of conventional and renewable energy, energy efficiency and optimization, discussing problems such as availability, peak load and reliability of sustainable supply for power to consumers. Such research is imperative since efficient and environmentally friendly solutions are critical in modern electricity production and transmission. 93 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book is an outcome of the second national conference on Communication, Cloud and Big Data (CCB) held during November 10-11, 2016 at Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology. The nineteen chapters of the book are some of the accepted papers of CCB 2016. These chapters have undergone review process and then subsequent series of improvements. The book contains chapters on various aspects of communication, computation, cloud and big data. Routing in wireless sensor networks, modulation techniques, spectrum hole sensing in cognitive radio networks, antenna design, network security, Quality of Service issues in routing, medium access control protocol for Internet of Things, and TCP performance over different routing protocols used in mobile ad-hoc networks are some of the topics discussed in different chapters of this book which fall under the domain of communication.Moreover, there are chapters in this book discussing topics like applications of geographic information systems, use of radar for road safety, image segmentation and digital media processing, web content management system, human computer interaction, and natural language processing in the context of Bodo language. These chapters may fall under broader domain of computation. Issues like robot navigation exploring cloud technology, and application of big data analytics in higher education are also discussed in two different chapters. These chapters fall under the domains of cloud and big data, respectively. 188 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book focuses on exploring the use of software fault prediction in building reliable and robust software systems. It is divided into the following chapters: Chapter 1 presents an introduction to the study and also introduces basic concepts of software fault prediction. Chapter 2 explains the generalized architecture of the software fault prediction process and discusses its various components. In turn, Chapter 3 provides detailed information on types of fault prediction models and discusses the latest literature on each model. Chapter 4 describes the software fault datasets and diverse issues concerning fault datasets when building fault prediction models. Chapter 5 presents a study evaluating different techniques on the basis of their performance for software fault prediction. Chapter 6 presents another study evaluating techniques for predicting the number of faults in the software modules. In closing, Chapter 7 provides a summary of the topics discussed. The book will be of immense benefit to all readers who are interested in starting research in this area. In addition, it offers experienced researchers a valuable overview of the latest work in this area. 84 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This protocol book includes common and advanced research protocols for Yersinia pestis research and for its identification, genotyping and source-tracing. This book includes protocols for genomic and transcriptomic analysis, small RNA study, protein-protein interaction, gene deletion. It will be helpful for graduate students, clinicians, and researchers in infectious diseases, systems biology, and evolution and numerous other relevant fields. 296 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book analyzes the internal and external causes of acquired and familiar venous thrombosis and proposes the origins and onset of venous thrombus diseases and their triggering factors. It discusses venous and arterial thrombus in two parts, each starting from the genomics and the findings of immunocytological research conducted in a variety of clinical groups and on different experimental models and revealing the mechanisms behind the development of thrombotic diseases and the pathogenesis processes. Further, the book describes the clinical manifestation and the nature of the diseases. The book offers valuable insights important in the prevention and treatment of thrombotic disease. 64 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The Kam language of China possesses fifteen tones - more than any other language. Yet it has long been neglected as an area of research, especially from the perspective of discourse analysis. This study initiates the exploration of the interface between grammar and discourse by examining various aspects of Kam narrative discourse, and using a functional approach to reveal its structural properties. It also introduces the mechanism for phonological and syntactic variations, as well as classifier variants and sentence-final particles (SFPs) in discourse and word order variations. Finally, it discusses the influence of social setting on narrative structure and offers the most up-to-date ethnological and social information about the community. 324 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The book mainly investigates the challenges that confront France's unique dual system of higher education in facing internationalization and the recruitment of international students. This book focuses on the development of the institutional strategies in two groups of higher education institutions: University and Grande École in responding to the opportunities and stresses of both Europe's Bologna process and globalization.The research data presents in this book was collected from four local institutions, two Grandes Écoles and two universities, one of each focusing on the social sciences and the other on natural sciences and technology. Interviews with major stakeholders in the institutions, including personnel from international offices, faculty/researchers and international students were adopted as principal methods for data collection. The thematic organization of the findings in each chapter covers views from three levels of stakeholders' and interprets the results within theoretical frames, such as institutional theories, world-system theory, international academic relationship theory and branding theory.Readers will find this book both practical and innovative in four key ways. Firstly, in knowledge diffusion, revealing the mysterious veil of the unique French dual higher education system. Secondly, in new knowledge production, exploring a new subject of research and filling the blanks from previous studies of the two groups of institutions. Thirdly, in presenting new interesting sights into current reforms in Frances's higher education and how far principles of path dependency will ensure strong continuities with the past as against a tendency to homogenization in response to pressures from Europeanization and global ranking systems. Finally, in exploring the dimension of interculturality and the interplay between researcher's identity and research process. 284 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book investigates the changing opportunities in higher education for different social groups during China's transition from the socialist regime to a market economy. The first part of the book provides a historical and comparative analysis of the development of the idea of meritocracy, since its early origins in China, and in more recent western thought. The second part then explores higher education reforms in China, the part played by supposedly meritocratic forms of selection, and the implications of these for social mobility.Based on original empirical data, Ye Liu sheds light on the socio-economic, gender and geographical inequalities behind the meritocratic façade of the Gaokao ( ). Liu argues that the Chinese philosophical belief in education-based meritocracy had a modern makeover in the Gaokao, and that this ideology induces working-class and rural students to believe in upward social mobility through higher education. When the Gaokao broke the promise of status improvement for rural students, they turned to the Chinese Communist Party and sought political connections by actively applying for its membership. This book reveals a bleak picture of visible and invisible inequality in terms of access to and participation in higher education in contemporary China. Written in an accessible style, it offers a valuable resource for researchers and non-specialist readers alike. 240 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This bookargues that a general understanding of traditional Chinese philosophy can be achieved by a concise elaboration of its truth, goodness and beauty; that goodness and beauty in Chinese philosophy, combined with the integration of man and heaven, knowledge and practice, scenery and feeling, reflect a pursuit of an ideal goal in traditional Chinese philosophy characterized by the thought mode uniting man and nature.This book also discusses the anti-traditionalism of the May Fourth Movement, explaining that the true value of 'sagacity theory' in traditional Chinese philosophy, especially in Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties, lies in its insights into universal life.In addition, existing ideas, issues, terminologies, concepts, and logic of Chinese philosophical thought were actually shaped by Western philosophy. It is necessary to be alienated from traditional status for the creation of a viable 'Chinese philosophy.' 'Modern Chinese philosophy' in the 1930s and 1940s was comprised of scholarly work that characteristically continued rather than followed the traditional discourse of Chinese philosophy. That is to say, in the process of studying and adapting Western philosophy, Chinese philosophers transformed Chinese philosophy from traditional to modern.In the end of the book, the author puts forward the idea of a 'New Axial Age.' He emphasizes that the rejuvenation of Chinese culture we endeavor to pursue has to be deeply rooted in our mainstream culture with universal values incorporating cultures of other nations, especially the cultural essence of the West. 252 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book offers essential insights into Chinese Korean minority youth citizenship identity development during their high school and university education period out of their political socialization experience. It investigates how they develop their citizenship identity with the state through bilingual education and media exposure, as an outcome of the entangled relationship between state power and economic globalization.The book demonstrates to readers how to apply the abstract conceptual framework of identity politics and ideology construction, nurtured by both civil culture and political evolvement, to a specific case with operationalized measurement extracted from political socialization concepts so as to understand and rationalize identity development. This approach offers both an in-depth way to penetrate further in the discourse construction that shapes identity politics and an innovative means of measuring and explaining relevant relationships. 188 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book examines and theorizes the dynamics and complexities of leadership in citizenship education in junior secondary schools in Shanghai, China. Specifically, it examines from a macro- and micro-political theoretical perspective the interactions between principals and school party secretaries (SPSs), and how they respond to the demands of macro- and micro-political actors. This qualitative empirical research found four major school leadership/citizenship education scenarios in which principals and SPSs addressed the interests of different macro- and micro-political actors. Moreover, principals and SPSs enjoyed a complicated working relationship at the micro-political (school) level in which they collaborated to fulfill their responsibilities and respond to school macro- and micro-political actors, while competing for power over leadership in citizenship education. Principals' and SPSs' leadership in citizenship education was shaped by inter-related factors, including diverse influences in a multi-leveled world, the integration of politics and education, the demands of macro- and micro-political actors, and personal factors. To interpret these findings, this study proposes a theoretical framework for understanding leadership in citizenship education in China as a political exercise. This theoretical framework is useful for understanding the complexity of school and citizenship education leadership, the micro-political relationship between Chinese principals and SPSs, and their dynamic and complex interactions with macro- and micro-political actors. 216 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The subject of this book is young children's emotional-social learning and development within early childhood care and education settings in Aotearoa-New Zealand. The focus on emotional complexity fills a gap in early childhood care and education research where young children are frequently framed narrowly as 'learners,' ignoring the importance of emotional functioning and the feelings with which children make sense of themselves and the world. This book draws on original data in the form of narrative-like framed events to creatively illustrate the complexities in children's diverse ways of feeling, thinking, playing, being, and becoming. Events illuminate the feelings and meanings of observed experiences in holistic and contextualised gestalts. Awareness of unconscious processes, the feeling of feelings, and cultural dimensions of development and meaning-making are addressed. The book emphasises the emergent and psychodynamic nature of children's development and learning with strong links to the role of play and playfulness in the events, drawing on two ethnographically inspired research projects that present theory, experience and practice in real-life events. 208 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This study examines and explains the relationship between social health insurance (SHI) participation and out-of-pocket expenditures (OOP) as well as the mediating role the institutional arrangement of SHI plays in this relationship in China. Embracing a new institutionalist approach, it develops two analytical perspectives: determination, which identifies the mechanisms of social health insurance, and strategic interaction, which explores the interaction among social health insurance agencies, healthcare providers, patients, and institutions. It reveals the poor performance of social health insurance in decreasing out-of-pocket health expenditures caused by a trade-off between the reimbursement, behavior management, and purchasing mechanisms of social health insurance programs. Further, it finds that the inequitable allocation of healthcare resources and patients' concerns regarding the benefits offset the strategies used by social health insurance agencies to manage care-seeking behavior. It also discovers that the complex interactions between insurance agencies, doctors, patients and a larger disenabling institutional surrounding restricts the purchasing efficiency of social health insurance. This book is characterized by its unique synthesis of the role of the institutional arrangement of social health insurance in China, the interaction between the stakeholders in health sectors, and of the relationship between healthcare institutions, actors, and policy outcomes. Providing a comprehensive overview, it enables scholars and graduate students to understand the ongoing process of social health insurance reform as well as the dynamics of health cost inflation in China. It also benefits policymakers by recommending a single-payer model based on an evidence-based investigation. 208 pp. Englisch.