Unmaking China's Development
The Function and Credibility of Institutions

A ground-breaking new study of China's development paradox - predicated on informal and ambiguous institutions - through property and resources.

Peter Ho (Author)

9781107094109, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 October 2017

336 pages
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.2 cm, 0.59 kg

'This is an important book on many dimensions. Peter Ho draws on his extensive empirical research in China to construct a convincing and highly original theory challenging the basic neo-liberal assumption that clear, formal property rights are a necessary precondition for development. Ho points out that the fifth of the world's population living in China experienced the largest economic boom in history with murky and ambiguous ownership rules. He argues that persistence of institutions shows they perform useful functions and are credible. … Ho's conclusions call into question the many costly efforts by international organizations and national governments (including China) to clarify ownership rules. They demand a new, more culturally sensitive approach to harmonizing informal belief systems and ambiguous, but credible, property rights systems.' Richard LeGates, Summit Professor of Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai

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.

Subject Areas: Development economics & emerging economies [KCM], Politics & government [JP], Development studies [GTF]