Towards an Alternative Perspective on Systemic Transformation

Abstract

This chapter explores a number of theoretical issues that have arisen from the literature on the transformation of the Soviet-type economic system. All too often, in doing empirical research and especially in making policy prescriptions, most of the relevant writings tend to hold some specific views on the nature of, and the institutional prerequisites for, economic development — views which are rarely made explicit but are in fact not at all non-debatable. This is tantamount to ignoring the rich contribution of the development literature, and the lessons from the actual experiences of development altogether. In what follows, I attempt to integrate the exposition on systemic transformation with a synthesis of recent theories of late industrialization, in the belief that this will generate important insights on the former topic as well as for understanding China’s economic reform and development.