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The Disinterested Government: An Interpretation of China's Economic Success in the Reform Era

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  • Yang Yao

Abstract

In the last 30 years, China has achieved high economic growth and successfully transformed its economy from a planned economy to a market-based system. The country, to a large extent, has attained success through the recommendations proposed by standard economic theory. However, the role of political economy has been omitted from the literature: how did China adopt the right economic policies and the appropriate road to reform? This paper attempts to answer this question.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang Yao, 2009. "The Disinterested Government: An Interpretation of China's Economic Success in the Reform Era," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-33, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2009-33
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/RP2009-33.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Osama J. A. R. Abu Shair, 1997. "The Role of the State in Development," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Privatization and Development, chapter 2, pages 13-34, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Greif,Avner, 2006. "Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521671347, September.
    8. Lingwen Huang & Yang Yao, 2010. "Impacts of privatization on employment: evidence from China," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 133-156.
    9. 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.
    10. Wang, Shuna & Yao, Yang, 2007. "Grassroots Democracy and Local Governance: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1635-1649, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mourao, Paulo Reis, 2018. "What is China seeking from Africa? An analysis of the economic and political determinants of Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment based on Stochastic Frontier Models," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 258-268.

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    Keywords

    Economic development; Institutional economics;

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