China’s Importation of Institutions and Its Implications for Comparative Political Economy and Development Studies

• In Event: 286 - Section on Sociology of Development Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Paper Session: Table 02. Institutions

Abstract

This article argues that there has been a widespread assumption in the field of comparative political economy that the key institutions of a given well performing domestic political economy exhibit institutional complementarities. The article dubs this assumption the holistic view of comparative political economy. Within the holistic view, interaction with foreign institutions can only lead to two outcomes with foreign institutions either having little impact or a calamitous one. Arguing against the holistic view, the paper provides evidence of beneficial effects of importing foreign institutions to promote development in China. Importing institutions is the act of utilizing in one’s own domestic political economy the institutional effects of institutions located abroad. In China, the financial institutions of advanced capitalism have encouraged technological development. The importation of foreign institutions far from being disruptive has had an ameliorative effect on China’s economy.

Author

• Douglas Fuller, Zhejiang University