This dissertation comprises three essays on family behavior in contemporary China viewed from the life course perspective. Drawing from three main themes from the life course research paradigm, the first essay focuses on the relationship between individuals and changing environments, through an examination of the economic assimilation of mainland Chinese immigrants into the Hong Kong society. The second essay emphasizes how scheduling the timing of life events interacts with historical events in affecting individual life course behavior. Such analysis is illustrated through a thorough exploration of sex differences in birth intervals under the one child policy in China since 1979. Finally, the third essay addresses how linked lives affect social support by investigating the caus...[ Read more ]

This dissertation comprises three essays on family behavior in contemporary China viewed from the life course perspective. Drawing from three main themes from the life course research paradigm, the first essay focuses on the relationship between individuals and changing environments, through an examination of the economic assimilation of mainland Chinese immigrants into the Hong Kong society. The second essay emphasizes how scheduling the timing of life events interacts with historical events in affecting individual life course behavior. Such analysis is illustrated through a thorough exploration of sex differences in birth intervals under the one child policy in China since 1979. Finally, the third essay addresses how linked lives affect social support by investigating the causal relationship between the health conditions and living arrangements of the elderly. The common thread running through all of these studies is that individuals play active role in the interaction with social environments and to modify their behaviors in constructing their social world.