About the lecture

Economic growth and income level, in general, leads to changes in consumer’s consumption behaviour leading to a change in demand for goods and services. The past four decades has seen significant growth in China’s economy. The liberalisation policies that started in the late 1980s resulted in higher income and improvement in living standards. The per capita income in China has grown significantly since liberalisation. This resulted in changes in consumption patterns among households with higher disposable income. The demands on time and work life balance, and migration from rural to urban areas resulted in a change in the consumption basket. In addition to other goods, household food consumption patterns have undergone changes. With urbanisation and higher disposable income, demand for food-away-from-home increased especially in the post-reform period.

• Varghese Manaloor, University of Alberta
• Ruotong Zhang, Student, University of Alberta
• Youhan Lu, Summer Research Intern, University of Alberta

*Please note: Given that some of the research explored in this lecture is yet to be published, this is an in-person lecture only and will not be recorded or streamed online.

About the lecturer

Varghese Manaloor is the John P. Tandberg Chair in Economics at the Augustana Campus, University of Alberta. Professor Manaloor completed his PhD from the University of Saskatchewan. He is also a fellow of LEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development) International. In 2005, he completed a three-week summer certificate course on ‘Sustainable Environmental Management’, at the College of Natural Resources, Center for Sustainable Resource Development, University of California, Berkeley. He is an alumni of the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program (ELP), Berkley program.

Professor Manaloor’s research interests are in sustainable development issues (energy use and GHG emission in the agriculture sector, ecotourism), and food and nutrition policy. He has published in national and international journals and has presented several research papers at international conferences.

Professor Manaloor’s teaching interests are applied microeconomics. Professor Manaloor also teaches two experiential learning courses.

1. India Study Tour course, in which students learn, firsthand, the work of various development organisations and the challenges they face, and
2. China Tour: Experiencing Development and Change.