Unmaking China's Development: The Function and Credibility of Institutions
Cambridge University Press, 10/26/2017
EAN 9781107094109, ISBN10: 1107094100
Hardcover, 336 pages, 23.5 x 15.6 x 2.2 cm
Language: English
Why would the removal of authoritarian institutions in some developing countries lead to sustained socio-economic crisis, while others experience explosive growth despite 'persisting' informal, insecure and rent-seeking institutional arrangements? A key to solving this enigma lies in understanding China, a country where the paradoxes of development are highly visible. Peter Ho argues that understanding China's economy necessitates an analytical refocusing from Form to Function, detached from normative assumptions about institutional appearance and developing instead a 'Credibility Thesis'. In this reading, once institutions endogenously emerge and persist through actors' conflicting interactions, they are credible. Ho develops this idea theoretically, methodologically, and empirically by examining institutions around the sector that propelled, yet, simultaneously destabilizes development: real estate - land, housing and natural resources. Ho shows how this sector can further both our understanding of institutions and issues of capital, labor, infrastructure and technology.
Introduction
an archaeology of institutions
1. Institutional change in China's development
myths of tenure security and titling
2. In defense of endogenous development
urban and rural land markets
3. The 'Credibility Thesis' and its application to property rights
4. A theorem on dynamic disequilibrium
debunking path dependence and equilibrium
5. Understanding informality and insecurity
empiricism as basis for institutionalism
6. Making and unmaking the property bubble
boom, bust and unintended welfare?
7. Empty institutions, non-credibility and power
the grazing ban and mining
Conclusion
theoretical implications for capital, labor and beyond.