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China's Great Boom as a Historical Process

Author

Listed:
  • Brandt, Loren

    (University of Toronto)

  • Rawski, Thomas G.

    (University of Pittsburgh)

Abstract

Beginning in the late 1970s, China's economy delivered the largest growth spurt in recorded history. Striking discontinuity between recent outcomes and the economic experience of the prior 200 years invites portrayal of recent events as a "China miracle" that requires neither economic nor historical analysis. This overlooks deep institutional constraints arising from authoritarian rule and its supporting elite networks and fails to recognize the link between central government weakness and the origins of the recent boom. In both the pre-1949 treaty ports and in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, the retreat of central control enabled episodes of economic openness and dynamism built upon 'bottom up' initiative and decentralized innovation. Historic legacies that shape political structures and individual behavior will continue to influence China's economic trajectory.

Suggested Citation

  • Brandt, Loren & Rawski, Thomas G., 2020. "China's Great Boom as a Historical Process," IZA Discussion Papers 13940, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13940
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    Cited by:

    1. Jiwei Qian & Tuan‐Hwee Sng, 2021. "The state in Chinese economic history," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 359-395, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    governmental weakness; elite networks; authoritarian rule; growth constraints; economic boom; China; innovation; productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • N1 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations
    • N4 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • O5 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies
    • P3 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions

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