IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jpolec/v105y1997i5p1080-1106.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Economic Reform on the Performance of Chinese State Enterprises, 1980-1989

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Wei

Abstract

The effectiveness of China's incremental industrial reform between 1980 and 1989 is investigated using a panel data set of 272 state enterprises. This paper applies a method that measures marginal products of factors and changes in total factor productivity (TFP) by comparing actual changes in output to actual changes in inputs and in the institutional environment. This paper finds that there were marked improvements in the marginal productivity of factors and in TFP between 1980 and 1989. More important, the evidence shows that over 87 percent of the TFP growth was attributable to improved incentives, intensified product market competition, and improved factor allocation. Copyright 1997 by the University of Chicago.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Wei, 1997. "The Impact of Economic Reform on the Performance of Chinese State Enterprises, 1980-1989," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 1080-1106, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:105:y:1997:i:5:p:1080-1106
    DOI: 10.1086/262106
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/262106
    File Function: full text
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/262106?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Woo Wing Thye & Hai Wen & Jin Yibiao & Fan Gang, 1994. "How Successful Has Chinese Enterprise Reform Been? Pitfalls in Opposite Biases and Focus," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 410-437, June.
    2. McMillan, John & Whalley, John & Zhu, Lijing, 1989. "The Impact of China's Economic Reforms on Agricultural Productivity Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 781-807, August.
    3. Douglas W. Caves & Laurits R. Christensen & Joseph A. Swanson, 1980. "Productivity in U.S. Railroads, 1951-1974," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 11(1), pages 166-181, Spring.
    4. Diewart, W Erwin & Morrison, Catherine J, 1986. "Adjusting Output and Productivity Indexes for Changes in the Terms of Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 96(383), pages 659-679, September.
    5. Byrd, William A., 1989. "Plan and market in the Chinese economy: A simple general equilibrium model," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 177-204, June.
    6. Gallant, A. Ronald & Jorgenson, Dale W., 1979. "Statistical inference for a system of simultaneous, non-linear, implicit equations in the context of instrumental variable estimation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2-3), pages 275-302.
    7. Forsund, Finn R. & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1980. "A survey of frontier production functions and of their relationship to efficiency measurement," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 5-25, May.
    8. Theodore Groves & Yongmiao Hong & John McMillan & Barry Naughton, 1994. "Autonomy and Incentives in Chinese State Enterprises," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(1), pages 183-209.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Xu, Cheng-Gang, 2010. "The Institutional Foundations of China?s Reforms and Development," CEPR Discussion Papers 7654, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Torsten Heinrich & Jangho Yang & Shuanping Dai, 2020. "Growth, development, and structural change at the firm-level: The example of the PR China," Papers 2012.14503, arXiv.org.
    3. 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.
    4. Y. Wu, 1997. "Productivity & Efficiency: Evidence from the Chinese regional economies," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 97-18, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    5. Wu, Yanrui, 2000. "Is China's economic growth sustainable? A productivity analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 278-296.
    6. Lu Ming & Zhao Chen & Yongqin Wang & Yan Zhang & Yuan Zhang & Changyuan Luo, 2013. "China’s Economic Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14502.
    7. Yingyi Qian, 1999. "The Institutional Foundations of China's Market Transition," Working Papers 99011, Stanford University, Department of Economics.
    8. Simon Alder & Lin Shao & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2012. "The Effect of Economic Reform and Industrial Policy in a Panel of Chinese Cities," DEGIT Conference Papers c017_061, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    9. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2000. "Bureaucrats, State Banks, and the Efficiency of Credit Allocation: The Experience of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-31, March.
    10. Bibhas Saha, 2006. "Labour Institutions in China and India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 1(2), pages 179-205, October.
    11. Wing Thye Woo, 2001. "Recent Claims of China's Economic Exceptionalism: Reflections Inspired by WTO Accession," CID Working Papers 70A, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    12. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Wing Thye Woo, "undated". "Understanding China'S Economic Performance," Department of Economics 97-04, California Davis - Department of Economics.
    13. Wing Thye Woo, 2003. "Recent Claims of China's Economic Exceptionalism: Reflections Inspired by WTO Accession," Working Papers 13, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    14. Huang C. & Wu Y. & Mohnen P. & Zhao Y., 2013. "Government support, innovation and productivity in the Haidian (Beijing) District," MERIT Working Papers 2013-058, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    15. ., 2013. "The Needham Puzzle, the Weber Question and China's Miracle: Long Term Performance since the Sung Dynasty," Chapters, in: D. S.P. Rao & Bart van Ark (ed.), World Economic Performance, chapter 3, pages 42-87, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Raiser, Martin, 1997. "How are China's state-owned enterprises doing in the 1990s? Evidence from three interior provinces," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 191-216.
    17. Lixin Colin Xu & Tian Zhu & Yi‐min Lin, 2005. "Politician control, agency problems and ownership reform," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 13(1), pages 1-24, January.
    18. Li, Hongbin & Rozelle, Scott, 2001. "Insider Privatization With A Tail: The Buyout Price And Performance Of Privatized Firms In Rural China," Working Papers 11968, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    19. H. Ahammad, 1998. "The Economics of the WA Minerals Sector : An overview of ERC research," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 98-18, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    20. Xiaolan Fu, 2005. "Exports, technical progress and productivity growth in a transition economy: a non-parametric approach for China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(7), pages 725-739.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth
    • P - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ucp:jpolec:v:105:y:1997:i:5:p:1080-1106. 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: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JPE .

    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.