This dissertation comprises three essays on the transmission of values in contemporary China, investigating the determinants of beliefs in meritocracy, public trust in government, and attitudes toward China’s development, respectively. In the first chapter, the effects of educational attainment on people’s meritocratic beliefs are examined. Analysis of data drawn from the 2010 China Family Panel Study reveals that people with more years of schooling are more likely to believe that qualifications achieved play a more important role than ascribed characteristics in determining socioeconomic success. The second chapter investigates the influence of the nationwide implementation of a social policy, the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS), on rural residents’ trust in the government at...[ Read more ]

This dissertation comprises three essays on the transmission of values in contemporary China, investigating the determinants of beliefs in meritocracy, public trust in government, and attitudes toward China’s development, respectively. In the first chapter, the effects of educational attainment on people’s meritocratic beliefs are examined. Analysis of data drawn from the 2010 China Family Panel Study reveals that people with more years of schooling are more likely to believe that qualifications achieved play a more important role than ascribed characteristics in determining socioeconomic success. The second chapter investigates the influence of the nationwide implementation of a social policy, the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS), on rural residents’ trust in the government at different levels. The findings of the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey indicate that the NRPS has enhanced public trust in both central and local governments; in particular, NRPS beneficiaries express greater political trust than those not benefiting from the scheme. The last chapter investigates the question of whether studying abroad changes students’ subjective evaluation of China’s development. Analysis of unique panel data from the 2009-2013 Beijing College Student Panel Survey reveals that the influence of overseas study follows a U-shaped curve: although students tend to evaluate China’s development negatively when they first enter foreign universities, their opinions rebound over time. In sum, the dissertation extends our knowledge of the effects of social positions, public policies, and exposure to foreign societies on the formation and transmission of beliefs and attitudes in China.