Political Economy of Reform in China

This book contains four research papers that clarify the issues behind China's rapid economic growth, using empirical studies. The book makes two distinctive points. First, it elucidates the unique economic development of China from a different perspective than the "state capitalism" theory, based on empirical research on the Chinese economy and politics with the cooperation of leading scholars. Second, the book paints a total picture of China through an interdisciplinary analysis of economics, politics, and history.

Each chapter focuses on the political–economic context of China's rapid economic growth on the following basis.  First, the authors analyze whether there is a clear difference in the labor distribution rate between state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises, using data from industrial enterprises. Second, they focus on Shenzhen as an innovation hub and examine sustainable innovation and its institutional context in China. Third, there is empirical clarification of questions by matching the databases of industrial enterprises and information on elected representatives of the Local People's Congress of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Finally, the authors focus on the competition by local governments to attract companies by auctioning land usage rights.

Chapter. 1 Ownership Structures and Disparities in the Labor Share of Chinese Industrial Enterprises.- Chapter 2: Evaluating the sustainability of Innovation in China from the Perspective of Institutional Economics.- Chap.3:  Political Capital and Enterprise Performance in China: Empirical Analysis Using Data from the People’s Congress of Yangzhou City and Industrial Enterprise.- Chapter 4. Land market competition among local governments: A spatial analysis of Zhejiang province.

Kai Kajitani is a professor at the Graduate School of Economics at Kobe University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Kobe University in 2001 and specializes in modern Chinese economics. His research interests also include development economics and comparative economics. He was a visiting scholar at the Center for Chinese Studies, University of California, Berkeley, from September 2005 to June 2006. He is the author of Lectures on Chinese Economy, Chuou Koron Shinsha, 2018 (in Japanese); Chinese-Style Capitalism Evolving Beyond a Dual Trap: Empirical Studies on Ambiguous Institutions (ed. with Hiroyuki Kato), Minerva Shobo, 2016 (in Japanese); The Fiscal and Financial System in Modern China: The Economics of Globalization and Central–Local Relations, Nagoya Daigaku Shuppankai, 2011 (in Japanese); and other works.

Tomoki Kamo is a professor at the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, where he received his Ph.D. in media and governance in2004. His research interests include Chinese politics and comparative politics. He was appointed as a consul in the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong from October 2016 to October 2018.  He was a visiting scholar at the Graduate Institute of Political Science, National Taiwan Normal University (Taiwan) from September 2010 to October 2010 and the Center of Chinese Studies, University of California, Berkeley, from March 2011 to March 2012, as well as a visiting associate professor at the College of International Affairs, National Chengchi University (Taiwan) from February 2013 to September 2013. He is the author of  Political Institutions in Contemporary Chinese Politics: The Politics of Temporality and the Rule of the Chinese Communist Party (ed. with Jaehwan Lim), Tokyo: Keio University Press, 2018, (in Japanese); The Sources of China’s Foreign Policy, Tokyo: Keio University Press, 2016, (in Japanese); The Rise of China as a Major Power, Tokyo: Ichigeisya Press, 2016, (in Japanese); Contemporary Chinese Politics and People’s Congresses: Reforms of People’s Congresses and Changes in the “Guiding-Guided” Relationship, Tokyo: Keio University Press, 2006 (in Japanese); and other works.