1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910824850003321

Autore

Gallagher Kelly Sims

Titolo

China shifts gears : automakers, oil, pollution, and development / / Kelly Sims Gallagher

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, Mass., : MIT Press, c2006

ISBN

0-262-30966-1

0-262-27338-1

1-282-09768-7

9786612097683

1-4237-8719-6

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

x, 219 p. : ill

Collana

Urban and industrial environments

Disciplina

338.4/76292220951

Soggetti

Automobile industry and trade - China

Automobile industry and trade - Environmental aspects - China

Automobile industry and trade - Energy consumption - China

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [189]-201) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Intro -- Acknowledgments -- 1 - Introduction -- 2 - The Energy and Environmental Dimensionsof Cars in China -- 3 - Zoom, Zoom, Zoom: The Auto Industryand Economic Development -- 4 - Foreign Technology in the Development ofChina's Automotive Sector -- 5 - Beijing Jeep -- 6 - Shanghai GM -- 7 - Chang'An Ford -- 8 - Technology Transfer, Energy, and theEnvironment -- 9 - Technology Transfer, Innovation, andEconomic Development -- 10 - Limits to Leapfrogging and How toOvercome Them: Implications for Policy,Theory, and Future Research -- Appendix A: Acronyms -- Appendix B: Chronology of Events -- Appendix C: Major Sino-Foreign JointVentures in the Chinese AutomobileIndustry, 1984-2005 -- Notes -- References -- Index -- Urban and Industrial Environments.

Sommario/riassunto

Chinese production of automobiles rose from 42,000 cars per year in 1990 to 2.3 million in 2004; the number of passenger vehicles on the road doubled every two and a half years through the 1990s and continues to grow. In China Shifts Gears, Kelly Sims Gallagher identifies an unprecedented opportunity for China to "shift gears" and avoid the



usual problems associated with the automobile industry -- including urban air pollution caused by tailpipe emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, and high dependence on oil imports -- while spurring economic development. This transformation will only take place if the Chinese government plays a leadership role in building domestic technological capacity and pushing foreign automakers to transfer cleaner and more energy-efficient technologies to China. If every new car sold in China had the cleanest and most energy-efficient of the automotive technologies already available, urban air pollution could be minimized, emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases would be lower than projected, and the Chinese auto industry would continue to flourish and contribute to China's steady economic development. But so far, Gallagher finds, the opportunity to shift gears has been missed. Gallagher looks in detail at three U.S.-Chinese joint ventures: Beijing Jeep, Shanghai GM, and Chang'An Ford. These case studies are based on original research, including interviews with 90 government officials, industry representatives, and experts in both countries. Drawing from the case studies, Gallagher explores the larger issues of the environmental and economic effects of technology transfer in the automobile industry and the policy implications of "leapfrogging" to more advanced technology.