IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v37y2009i4p753-762.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Law, Finance, and Economic Growth in China: An Introduction

Author

Listed:
  • Yao, Yang
  • Yueh, Linda

Abstract

Summary China has experienced remarkable economic growth for three decades despite having a weak legal system and under-developed financial markets thought to be crucial for economic development. An assessment of the relationship among the legal and financial systems and economic growth reveals a complex set of institutional factors that have underpinned China's marketization, and which is not premised on the establishment of a legal or financial system before development takes off. China's experience holds lessons for other developing countries struggling with imperfect legal systems and nascent financial markets, which are not uncommon features of economies at an early stage of development.

Suggested Citation

  • Yao, Yang & Yueh, Linda, 2009. "Law, Finance, and Economic Growth in China: An Introduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 753-762, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:4:p:753-762
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-750X(08)00333-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de la Grandville,Olivier, 2009. "Economic Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521725200, December.
    2. Simon Appleton & John Knight & Lina Song & Qingjie Xia, 2009. "The Economics of Communist Party Membership: The Curious Case of Rising Numbers and Wage Premium during China's Transition," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 256-275.
    3. de la Grandville,Olivier, 2009. "Economic Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521898010, December.
    4. Feng Lu, Susan & Yao, Yang, 2009. "The Effectiveness of Law, Financial Development, and Economic Growth in an Economy of Financial Repression: Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 763-777, April.
    5. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Morck, Randall & Xu, Lixin Colin & Yeung, Bernard, 2009. "Institutions and Foreign Direct Investment: China versus the Rest of the World," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 852-865, April.
    6. repec:cto:journl:v:21:y:2001:i:1:p:77-90 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Philippe Aghion, 2005. "Growth and Institutions," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 32(1), pages 3-18, March.
    8. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    9. Du, Julan & Xu, Chenggang, 2009. "Which Firms went Public in China? A Study of Financial Market Regulation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 812-824, April.
    10. Chan, Kalok & Wang, Junbo & Wei, K. C. John, 2004. "Underpricing and long-term performance of IPOs in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 409-430, June.
    11. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J, 1998. "What Makes an Entrepreneur?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 26-60, January.
    12. Katharina Pistor & Martin Raiser & Stanislaw Gelfer, 2000. "Law and Finance in Transition Economies," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 8(2), pages 325-368, July.
    13. Berkowitz, Daniel & Pistor, Katharina & Richard, Jean-Francois, 2003. "Economic development, legality, and the transplant effect," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 165-195, February.
    14. Lawrence J. Lau & Yingyi Qian & Gerard Roland, 2000. "Reform without Losers: An Interpretation of China's Dual-Track Approach to Transition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(1), pages 120-143, February.
    15. Tian, Lihui, 2011. "Regulatory underpricing: Determinants of Chinese extreme IPO returns," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 78-90, January.
    16. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    17. Koo, Anthony Y C, 1990. "The Contract Responsibility System: Transition from a Planned to a Market Economy," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(4), pages 797-820, July.
    18. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 653-675, December.
    19. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    20. Choe, Chongwoo & Yin, Xiangkang, 2000. "Contract management responsibility system and profit incentives in China's state-owned enterprises," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 98-112.
    21. Kevin M. Murphy & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1992. "The Transition to a Market Economy: Pitfalls of Partial Reform," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(3), pages 889-906.
    22. Zheng, Jinghai & Bigsten, Arne & Hu, Angang, 2009. "Can China's Growth be Sustained? A Productivity Perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 874-888, April.
    23. Girma, Sourafel & Gong, Yundan & Görg, Holger, 2009. "What Determines Innovation Activity in Chinese State-owned Enterprises? The Role of Foreign Direct Investment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 866-873, April.
    24. Tobin, Damian & Sun, Laixiang, 2009. "International Listing as a Means to Mobilize the Benefits of Financial Globalization: Micro-level Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 825-838, April.
    25. Scott Shane & Daniel Cable, 2002. "Network Ties, Reputation, and the Financing of New Ventures," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(3), pages 364-381, March.
    26. Shen, Yan & Shen, Minggao & Xu, Zhong & Bai, Ying, 2009. "Bank Size and Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Lending: Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 800-811, April.
    27. Su, Dongwei & Fleisher, Belton M., 1999. "An empirical investigation of underpricing in Chinese IPOs," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 173-202, May.
    28. Katharina Pistor, 2005. "Governing Stock Markets in Transition Economies: Lessons from China," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 7(1), pages 184-210.
    29. Borensztein, Eduardo & Ostry, Jonathan D, 1996. "Accounting for China's Growth Performance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 224-228, May.
    30. Evans, David S & Leighton, Linda S, 1989. "Some Empirical Aspects of Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 519-535, June.
    31. Wang, Yan & Yao, Yudong, 2003. "Sources of China's economic growth 1952-1999: incorporating human capital accumulation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 32-52.
    32. Alwyn Young, 2000. "The Razor's Edge: Distortions and Incremental Reform in the People's Republic of China," NBER Working Papers 7828, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Lin, Justin Yifu, 1992. "Rural Reforms and Agricultural Growth in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 34-51, March.
    34. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 2007. "China's (uneven) progress against poverty," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 1-42, January.
    35. Levine, Ross, 1998. "The Legal Environment, Banks, and Long-Run Economic Growth," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(3), pages 596-613, August.
    36. Chong-En Bai & David D. Li & Yingyi Qian & Yijiang Wang, 1999. "Anonymous Banking and Financial Repression: How Does China's Reform Limit Government Predation without Reducing Its Revenue?," Working Papers 99014, Stanford University, Department of Economics.
    37. Johansson, Anders C. & Ljungwall, Christer, 2009. "Spillover Effects Among the Greater China Stock Markets," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 839-851, April.
    38. Nicholas Stern, 2002. "A Strategy for Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15213.
    39. Chen, Zhiwu, 2003. "Capital markets and legal development: The China case," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 451-472.
    40. Qian, Yingyi & Xu, Chenggang, 1993. "The M-form hierarchy and China's economic reform," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(2-3), pages 541-548, April.
    41. Zhou, Wubiao, 2009. "Bank Financing in China's Private Sector: The Payoffs of Political Capital," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 787-799, April.
    42. Alwyn Young, 2000. "The Razor's Edge: Distortions and Incremental Reform in the People's Republic of China," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1091-1135.
    43. Albert G. Z. Hu & Gary H. Jefferson & Qian Jinchang, 2005. "R&D and Technology Transfer: Firm-Level Evidence from Chinese Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(4), pages 780-786, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mahmoud Arayssi & Ali Fakih, 2015. "Institutions and development in MENA region: evidence from the manufacturing sector," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(8), pages 717-732, August.
    2. Wilson, Ross, 2016. "Does Governance Cause Growth? Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 138-151.
    3. Didier, Tatiana & Schmukler, Sergio L., 2013. "The financing and growth of firms in China and India: Evidence from capital markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 111-137.
    4. Zhang, Xiang & Zhan, Feng & Liu, Bin, 2023. "Institutional development, political uncertainty, and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    5. Boya Wang, 2016. "Ownership, Institutions & Firm Value: Cross-Provincial Evidence from China," Working Papers wp484, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    6. Lu, Zhengfei & Zhu, Jigao & Zhang, Weining, 2012. "Bank discrimination, holding bank ownership, and economic consequences: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 341-354.
    7. Shen, Yu & Ren, Meixu & Zhao, Jingmei, 2023. "Bank competition and zombie company: Empirical evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 297-318.
    8. Thomas Barnebeck Andersen & Sam Jones & Finn Tarp, 2012. "The Finance–Growth Thesis: A Sceptical Assessment-super- †," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 21(suppl_1), pages -88, January.
    9. Ruize Cai & Kyung Hwan Yun & Minho Kim, 2022. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Value in China: The Moderating Role of Multinationality and Ownership Type," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    10. Mahmoud Arayssi & Ali Fakih, 2015. "Institutions and development in MENA region: evidence from the manufacturing sector," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 42(8), pages 717-732, August.
    11. Diby Francois Kassi & Yao Li & Zhankui Dong, 2023. "The mitigating effect of governance quality on the finance‐renewable energy‐growth nexus: Some international evidence," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 316-354, January.
    12. Li Huang & Qianwei Ying & Shanye Yang & Hazrat Hassan, 2019. "Trade Credit Financing and Sustainable Growth of Firms: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, February.
    13. Zhang, Jianhong & van Gorp, Désirée & Ebbers, Haico & Zhou, Chaohong & Kievit, Henk, 2022. "Organizational legitimacy of emerging multinational enterprises: An individual perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6).
    14. Kusnadi, Yuanto & Yang, Zhifeng & Zhou, Yuxiao, 2015. "Institutional development, state ownership, and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 351-359.
    15. Linda Yueh, 2010. "The Economy of China," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3705.
    16. Wilson, Ross, 2015. "Does Governance Cause Growth? Evidence from China," Working Papers 2015:14, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    17. Gennady Bilych, 2013. "Democratic Changes and Economic Growth," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 3(1), pages 461-486, June.
    18. Abdelkarim Yahyaoui & Majid Ibrahim Al Saggaf, 2019. "Effects of Financial Development and Institutional Quality on the Economic Growth in The Arabian Gulf states: A Panel Cointegration Analysis," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 9(1), pages 203-211.
    19. Yan Li & Md. Main Uddin & Ye An, 2020. "Has financial development benefited the performance of publicly traded cultural and creative firms? Evidence from China," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 44(3), pages 351-395, September.
    20. Jin Guo, 2015. "Causal relationship between stock returns and real economic growth in the pre- and post-crisis period: evidence from China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 12-31, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Linda Yueh, 2010. "The Economy of China," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3705.
    2. Du, Julan & Xu, Chenggang, 2009. "Which Firms went Public in China? A Study of Financial Market Regulation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 812-824, April.
    3. Feng Lu, Susan & Yao, Yang, 2009. "The Effectiveness of Law, Financial Development, and Economic Growth in an Economy of Financial Repression: Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 763-777, April.
    4. Chenggang Xu, 2011. "The Fundamental Institutions of China's Reforms and Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1076-1151, December.
    5. Lu Ming & Zhao Chen & Yongqin Wang & Yan Zhang & Yuan Zhang & Changyuan Luo, 2013. "China’s Economic Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14502.
    6. Djankov, Simeon & Glaeser, Edward & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2003. "The new comparative economics," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 595-619, December.
    7. Gur Aminadav & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Corporate Control around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1191-1246, June.
    8. Tang, Rongsheng & Tang, Yang, 2022. "Market formation in China from 1978," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    9. Loren Brandt & Debin Ma & Thomas G. Rawski, 2014. "From Divergence to Convergence: Reevaluating the History behind China's Economic Boom," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(1), pages 45-123, March.
    10. Lu, Yi & Png, Ivan P.L. & Tao, Zhigang, 2013. "Do institutions not matter in China? Evidence from manufacturing enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 74-90.
    11. Xu, Cheng-Gang, 2010. "The Institutional Foundations of China?s Reforms and Development," CEPR Discussion Papers 7654, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Su, Chen & Brookfield, David, 2013. "An evaluation of the impact of stock market reforms on IPO under-pricing in China: The certification role of underwriters," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 20-33.
    13. Lin, Chen & Lin, Ping & Song, Frank, 2010. "Property rights protection and corporate R&D: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 49-62, September.
    14. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/8221 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Abdoul’ Mijiyawa, 2013. "Determinants of property rights institutions: survey of literature and new evidence," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 127-183, May.
    16. Simplice A. Asongu, 2016. "Law and Investment in Africa," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 8(2), pages 95-124, April.
    17. Hayo, Bernd & Voigt, Stefan, 2007. "Explaining de facto judicial independence," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 269-290, September.
    18. Hoque, Hafiz & Mu, Shaolong, 2021. "Does a reduction of state control affect IPO underpricing? Evidence from the Chinese A-share market," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    19. Lars Helge Haß & Sofia Johan & Maximilian André Müller, 2016. "The Effectiveness of Public Enforcement: Evidence from the Resolution of Tunneling in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 649-668, April.
    20. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13599 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Fogel, Kathy & Morck, Randall & Yeung, Bernard, 2008. "Big business stability and economic growth: Is what's good for General Motors good for America?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 83-108, July.
    22. Xunan Feng & Anders C. Johansson, 2018. "Underpaid and Corrupt Executives in China’s State Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1199-1212, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:4:p:753-762. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.