How Reform Worked In China: The Transition From Plan To Market (mit Press)
by Yingyi Qian /
2017 / English / PDF, EPUB
6.6 MB Download
A noted Chinese economist examines the mechanisms behind
China's economic reforms, arguing that universal principles and
specific implementations are equally important.
A noted Chinese economist examines the mechanisms behind
China's economic reforms, arguing that universal principles and
specific implementations are equally important.
As China has transformed itself from a centrally planned economy
to a market economy, economists have tried to understand and
interpret the success of Chinese reform. As the Chinese economist
Yingyi Qian explains, there are two schools of thought on Chinese
reform: the "School of Universal Principles," which ascribes
China's successful reform to the workings of the free market, and
the "School of Chinese Characteristics," which holds that China's
reform is successful precisely because it did not follow the
economics of the market but instead relied on the government. In
this book, Qian offers a third perspective, taking certain
elements from each school of thought but emphasizing not
As China has transformed itself from a centrally planned economy
to a market economy, economists have tried to understand and
interpret the success of Chinese reform. As the Chinese economist
Yingyi Qian explains, there are two schools of thought on Chinese
reform: the "School of Universal Principles," which ascribes
China's successful reform to the workings of the free market, and
the "School of Chinese Characteristics," which holds that China's
reform is successful precisely because it did not follow the
economics of the market but instead relied on the government. In
this book, Qian offers a third perspective, taking certain
elements from each school of thought but emphasizing notwhy
why reform worked but
reform worked buthow
how it did. Economics is a
science, but economic reform is applied science and engineering.
To a practitioner, it is more useful to find a feasible reform
path than the theoretically best way.
it did. Economics is a
science, but economic reform is applied science and engineering.
To a practitioner, it is more useful to find a feasible reform
path than the theoretically best way.
The key to understanding how reform has worked in China, Qian
argues, is to consider the way reform designs respond to initial
historical conditions and contemporary constraints. Qian examines
the role of "transitional institutions" -- not "best practice
institutions" but "incentive-compatible institutions" -- in
Chinese reform; the dual-track approach to market liberalization;
the ownership of firms, viewed both theoretically and
empirically; government decentralization, offering and testing
hypotheses about its link to local economic development; and the
specific historical conditions of China's regional-based central
planning.
The key to understanding how reform has worked in China, Qian
argues, is to consider the way reform designs respond to initial
historical conditions and contemporary constraints. Qian examines
the role of "transitional institutions" -- not "best practice
institutions" but "incentive-compatible institutions" -- in
Chinese reform; the dual-track approach to market liberalization;
the ownership of firms, viewed both theoretically and
empirically; government decentralization, offering and testing
hypotheses about its link to local economic development; and the
specific historical conditions of China's regional-based central
planning.