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Understanding China'S Economic Performance

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  • Sachs, Jeffery
  • Woo, Wing

Abstract

Broadly speaking, two schools of thought have emerged to interpret China's rapid growth since 1978: the experimentalist school and the convergence school. The experimentalist school attributes China's successes to the evolutionary, experimental, and incremental nature of China's reforms. Specifically, the resulting non-capitalist institutions are claimed to be successful in (a) agriculture where land is not owned by the farmers; (b) township and village enterprises (TVEs) which are owned collectively by rural communities; and (c) state owned enterprises (SOEs) where increased competition and increased wage incentive, but not privatization, have been emphasized. The convergence school holds that China's successes are the consequences of its institutions being allowed to converge with those of non-socialist market economies, and that China's economic structure at the start of reforms is a major explanation for the rapid growth. China had a high population density heavily concentrated in low-wage agriculture, a condition that was favorable for labor-intensive export-led growth in other parts of East Asia. The convergence school also holds that China's gradualism results primarily from a lack of consensus over the proper course, with power still divided between market reformers and old-style socialists; and that the "innovative" non-capitalist institutions are responses to China's political circumstances and not to its economic circumstances. Perhaps the best test of the two approaches is whether China's policy choices are in fact leading to institutions harmonized with normal market economies or to more distinctive innovations. In this regard, the recent policy trend has been towards institutional harmonization rather than institutional innovation, suggesting that the government accepts that the ingredients for a dynamic market economy are already well-known.

Suggested Citation

  • Sachs, Jeffery & Woo, Wing, 1997. "Understanding China'S Economic Performance," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294390, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:hariid:294390
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.294390
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. William Hallagan & Zhang Jun, 2000. "Starting Positions, Reform Speed, and Economic Outcomes in Transitioning Economies," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 280, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    2. Massimo Caruso, 2002. "Procyclical Productivity and Output Growth in China: An Econometric Analysis," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 251-274, July.
    3. Lee Branstetter & Nicholas Lardy, 2006. "China's Embrace of Globalization," NBER Working Papers 12373, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya, 2008. "Do Choice & Speed Of Reforms Matter For Human Rights During Transition?," MPRA Paper 10141, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. de Melo, Martha & Denizer, Cevdet & Gelb, Alan & Tenev, Stoyan, 1997. "Circumstance and choice : the role of initial conditions and policies in transition economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1866, The World Bank.
    6. Patibandla, Murali, 2001. "Pattern of Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Economies: An Exploration," Working Papers 1-2001, Copenhagen Business School, Department of International Economics and Management.
    7. Koen Schoors & Konstantin Sonin, 2005. "Passive Creditors," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 57-86, March.
    8. Mario Biggeri, 2003. "Key Factors of Recent Chinese Provincial Economic Growth," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(2), pages 159-183.
    9. Dani Rodrik & Arvind Subramanian, 2005. "From "Hindu Growth" to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 52(2), pages 193-228, September.
    10. Bennett, John & David Dixon, Huw, 2001. "Monetary Policy and Credit in China: A Theoretical Analysis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 297-314, April.
    11. Sean M. Dougherty & Robert H. McGuckin, 2001. "The Effect of Ownership Structure and Jurisdictional Governance on Productivity in Chinese Enterprises," Economics Program Working Papers 02-01, The Conference Board, Economics Program, revised Jan 2002.
    12. Alyson Ma, 2006. "Export Spillovers to Chinese Firms: Evidence from Provincial Data," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(2), pages 127-149.
    13. Branstetter, Lee G. & Feenstra, Robert C., 2002. "Trade and foreign direct investment in China: a political economy approach," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 335-358, December.
    14. Sumon Bhaumik & Saul Estrin, 2003. "Why Transition Paths Differ: Russian and Chinese Enterprise Performance Compared," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 525, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    15. Bin, Sheng, 2000. "The Political Economy of Trade Policy in China," Working Papers 10/2000, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Management, Politics & Philosophy.
    16. Yingyi Qian & Gerard Roland & Chenggang Xu, 1999. "Coordinating Changes in M-form and U-form Organizations," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 284, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    17. Martine AUDIBERT & Yu CHEN & Jacky MATHONNAT, 1998. "Does external openness influence the infant mortality rates? An econometric investigation for the Chinese provinces," Working Papers 199831, CERDI.
    18. Wong Hock Tsen, 2006. "Granger causality tests among openness to international trade, human capital accumulation and economic growth in China: 1952-1999," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 285-302.
    19. Qiming Liu & Barry Reilly, 2004. "Income transfers of Chinese rural migrants: some empirical evidence from Jinan," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(12), pages 1295-1313.
    20. Sau Lino, 2009. "Gradualism and the Evolution of the Financial Structure in China," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 200903, University of Turin.
    21. Zheng, Jinghai & Hu, Angang, 2004. "An Empirical Analysis of Provincial Productivity in China (1979-2001)," Working Papers in Economics 127, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics, revised 22 Mar 2004.
    22. Sylvie DEMURGER, 1999. "Éléments de comptabilité de la croissance chinoise," Working Papers 199913, CERDI.

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