Informal Trade Along the China–north Korea Border

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12847752
AutoresJustin V Hastings (0000-0003-4947-1535, autor de correspondencia), Yaohui Wang (0000-0002-5998-2809)
Año2018
Volumen18
Número2
Páginas181-203
Fecha de publicación2018-05-02
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of East Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1598-2408 • E-ISSN: 2234-6643
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/jea.2018.4
OpenAlexW2801765967
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas41

Why do Chinese traders along the China–North Korea border turn to informal trade, and what does it provide for them? Using a unique set of interviews with Chinese formal and informal traders operating in North Korea, we argue that the strategies of informal trade are a calculated response to certain types of risk. In doing so, we introduce a typology of risks and the mechanisms by which informal trade allows traders to mitigate those risks. Because informal traders bypass trade regulations and border checkpoints, they are able to mitigate risk more cheaply than formal traders in some cases and can overcome barriers that can cause failure in formal trade. Informal traders can thus maintain trade in many circumstances, including across North Korean personnel instability and policy reversals, Chinese sanctions enforcement, and delays and smuggling crackdowns on both sides of the border

Business · China · Economics · Enforcement · Geography · Informal sector · International trade · Market economy · Political science · Sanctions · Typology · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Economic Sanctions and International Relations · Korean Peninsula Historical and Political Studies