Overview

'This book offers an exciting indigenous perspective on Chinese governance model and Professor Hongjun Zhao is to be applauded for his invaluable contribution!' - Tony Fang, Stockholm University, Sweden 'This book traces the root of China's past failure as well as its success since 1978 to the inertia of its government governance, which was in turn shaped by its environment, geography and natural endowment. The book makes an important contribution to the Neo-institutional school by introducing geographical factors to explain the puzzling stability of the traditional Chinese government governance and the new challenges this type of governance is facing in an increasing globalizing world.' - Guanzhong James wen, Trinity College, US 'Professor Zhao's book offers us a unique and valuable perspective on China's present and future from a historical perspective. The book also makes use of a large amount of valuable quantitative statistics on various aspects of Chinese history.' - Debin Ma, London School of Economics, UK This book takes a long-term perspective to examine the evolution of Chinese governance and its lasting impact on Chinese economic development. Through its broad exploration of the style, strength, and effectiveness of Chinese governance through the years, it touches on a universal relationship between economic development and governance and institutions, translating the experiences of one of the world’s oldest civilizations into widespread, current economic relevance. Hongjun Zhao first examines the formation of Chinese style governance, the core contents of this governance, and its vitality compared with other governance patterns in Chinese history. He also discusses the effectiveness of this governance pattern in supporting the economic development before the Song dynasty, the failure of this governance during the past 3-5 centuries and the governmental role in pushing development since 1978. Finally, he makes a prediction of the direction of Chinese governance patterns in over the next 20-30 years. Scholars and researchers interested in China's long term economic development will appreciate this comprehensive examination of the subject, as will high level undergraduate and graduate students interested in keeping pace with China’s rapid development.

Full Product Details

Author:   Hongjun Zhao
Publisher:   Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
Imprint:   Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.684kg
ISBN:  

9781784715953

ISBN 10:   1784715956
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   28 September 2018
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Debate and Comment about the Needham Puzzle Over the Past Half-century 3. The Behavior of the Peasants and their Households: the Logical Starting Point for the Study of the Puzzle in Chinese Economic History 4. The Petty Peasant Economy and the Formation of Chinese-style Governmental Governance 5. The Dynamic Evolution of the Chinese Governance Pattern in Each Dynasty 6. Chinese Climatic and Environmental Changes after the Tenth Century and Their Impacts on the Chinese Governance Pattern 7. The Rise of Western Europe After the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and Its Challenges to the Chinese Governance Pattern 8. Empirical Evidence of the Chinese Governmental Governance and Long-term Economic Development 9. The Reform and Opening-Up: A Great Transformation of the Governance Pattern in Chinese History 10. Where does the Future Path of Chinese Governance Lie? Index

Reviews

`This book offers an exciting indigenous perspective on the Chinese governance model and Professor Hongjun Zhao is to be applauded for his invaluable contribution!' -- Tony Fang, Stockholm University, Sweden `Scholars have been mesmerized by the puzzle raised first by Joseph Needham of why after having advanced so far in the sophistication of its technology, the Chinese civilization failed to make a break-through in sciences, as the European civilization did on the eve of modern era. As China has reemerged from obscurity since 1978, and now is poised to become a global leading power again, interest in China's past failure and what will be its fate this time have been rekindled. Hongjun Zhao's book represents the most timely effort to offer a clue to this big question. The approach of the book is not only unique, but also fascinating. It traces the root of China's past failure as well as its success to the inertia of its government governance, which was in turn shaped by its environment, geography and natural endowment. I think the book makes an important contribution to the Neo-institutional school by introducing geographical factors to explain the puzzling stability of the traditional Chinese government governance and the new challenges this type of governance is facing in an increasingly globalizing world.' -- James Guanzhong Wen, Trinity College, US `Based on unique Chinese geographic topology, ecology, and natural endowment, this book builds a so-called Chinese equilibrium, which is a social and economic equilibrium that could provide a self-consistent explanation of the inertial governance institutions, social structure, the unique path of Chinese economic development since 221 BC, and the difficulty that Chinese Economy transited into the modern economy in recent centuries.' -- Weisen Li, Fudan University, China `In this ambitious book, Professor Zhao has laid out the most important paradigms on Chinese political economy in a long-term perspective. The book also makes use of a large amount of valuable quantitative statistics on various aspects of Chinese history. Professor Zhao's book offers us a unique and valuable perspective on China's present and future from a historical perspective.' -- Debin Ma, London School of Economics, UK

`This book offers an exciting indigenous perspective on Chinese governance model and Professor Hongjun Zhao is to be applauded for his invaluable contribution!' -- Tony Fang, Stockholm University, Sweden `This book traces the root of China's past failure as well as its success since 1978 to the inertia of its government governance, which was in turn shaped by its environment, geography and natural endowment. The book makes an important contribution to the Neo-institutional school by introducing geographical factors to explain the puzzling stability of the traditional Chinese government governance and the new challenges this type of governance is facing in an increasing globalizing world.' -- Guanzhong James wen, Trinity College, US `Professor Zhao's book offers us a unique and valuable perspective on China's present and future from a historical perspective. The book also makes use of a large amount of valuable quantitative statistics on various aspects of Chinese history.' -- Debin Ma, London School of Economics, UK `In this book, Professor Zhao provides us the China equilibrium model, a model of Chinese governance and institutional change in the long run. This model was unique compared to western one and useful for scholars and readers to understand the long run evolution of Chinese economy and governance.' -- Weisen Li, Fudan University, China `Cultural norms are usually endogenous responses to survival challenges faced by a society, so some of these norms come and go while other norms stay and accumulate to cause long-lasting impact on later institutions and governance structures. Professor Zhao's work is a good exercise showing us that one cannot fully understand what is happening in China today without going back to the old roots. His contributions to the literature are impressive and invaluable.' -- Zhiwu Chen, University of Hong Kong `China's long history offers an incredible possibility of studying how institutions and governance evolve over time. Zhao's book is amazing in the sense it places China's recent economic development in the context of institutional equilibrium.' -- Jun Zhang, Fudan University, China

'This book offers an exciting indigenous perspective on the Chinese governance model and Professor Hongjun Zhao is to be applauded for his invaluable contribution!' -- Tony Fang, Stockholm University, Sweden 'This book traces the root of China's past failure as well as its success since 1978 to the inertia of its government governance, which was in turn shaped by its environment, geography and natural endowment. The book makes an important contribution to the Neo-institutional school by introducing geographical factors to explain the puzzling stability of the traditional Chinese government governance and the new challenges this type of governance is facing in an increasing globalizing world.' -- Guanzhong James Wen, Trinity College, US 'Professor Zhao's book offers us a unique and valuable perspective on China's present and future from a historical perspective. The book also makes use of a large amount of valuable quantitative statistics on various aspects of Chinese history.' -- Debin Ma, London School of Economics, UK 'In this book, Professor Zhao provides us with the China equilibrium model, a model of Chinese governance and institutional change in the long run. This model was unique compared to the western one and useful for scholars and readers to understand the long run evolution of Chinese economy and governance.' -- Weisen Li, Fudan University, China 'Cultural norms are usually endogenous responses to survival challenges faced by a society, so some of these norms come and go while other norms stay and accumulate to cause long-lasting impact on later institutions and governance structures. Professor Zhao's work is a good exercise showing us that one cannot fully understand what is happening in China today without going back to the old roots. His contributions to the literature are impressive and invaluable.' -- Zhiwu Chen, University of Hong Kong 'China's long history offers an incredible possibility of studying how institutions and governance evolve over time. Zhao's book is amazing in the sense it places China's recent economic development in the context of institutional equilibrium.' -- Jun Zhang, Fudan University, China

`This book offers an exciting indigenous perspective on the Chinese governance model and Professor Hongjun Zhao is to be applauded for his invaluable contribution!' -- Tony Fang, Stockholm University, Sweden `This book traces the root of China's past failure as well as its success since 1978 to the inertia of its government governance, which was in turn shaped by its environment, geography and natural endowment. The book makes an important contribution to the Neo-institutional school by introducing geographical factors to explain the puzzling stability of the traditional Chinese government governance and the new challenges this type of governance is facing in an increasing globalizing world.' -- Guanzhong James Wen, Trinity College, US `Professor Zhao's book offers us a unique and valuable perspective on China's present and future from a historical perspective. The book also makes use of a large amount of valuable quantitative statistics on various aspects of Chinese history.' -- Debin Ma, London School of Economics, UK `In this book, Professor Zhao provides us with the China equilibrium model, a model of Chinese governance and institutional change in the long run. This model was unique compared to the western one and useful for scholars and readers to understand the long run evolution of Chinese economy and governance.' -- Weisen Li, Fudan University, China `Cultural norms are usually endogenous responses to survival challenges faced by a society, so some of these norms come and go while other norms stay and accumulate to cause long-lasting impact on later institutions and governance structures. Professor Zhao's work is a good exercise showing us that one cannot fully understand what is happening in China today without going back to the old roots. His contributions to the literature are impressive and invaluable.' -- Zhiwu Chen, University of Hong Kong `China's long history offers an incredible possibility of studying how institutions and governance evolve over time. Zhao's book is amazing in the sense it places China's recent economic development in the context of institutional equilibrium.' -- Jun Zhang, Fudan University, China

Author Information

Hongjun Zhao, Professor of Economics and Business, Shanghai Normal University, China

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