Book Review: Dying for an iPhone: Apple, Foxconn, and the Lives of China's Workers by Jenny Chan, Mark Selden, and Pun Ngai

Abstract

world. In general, the book serves as an elaborate descriptive guide to the latest advances of the fintech industry in China by reviewing up-to-date literature on the subject and providing evidence from relevant secondary sources. The authors’ expertise in the field also allows for pertinent analyses of the main trends including the disruptive power of fintech on traditional financial systems and the ensuing changes occurring within the industry. Nonetheless, the fintech industry is still in its infancy and is changing at an everfaster pace. Therefore, the book would have benefited from a more analytical approach on specific issues, for instance, a richer historical and theoretical overview that identifies institutional trends and events (i.e. global financialization) that have led to certain disproportionate developments in the industry’s technologies. Furthermore, it would have been valuable to include a more elaborate comparative approach to Western developments in the fintech industry and recognize how global competition has influenced the development path of fintech in China and vice versa. The book is recommended for scholars who are interested in China’s fintech industry and modern banking sector, the Chinese economy, Chinese technological innovations, and the rise of global financial technology, especially those whose access to relevant information is limited to non-Chinese sources.