Abstract:
This dissertation provides a public choice view of modern China’s political economy.
It explores the evolution of China towards an authoritarian market economy. In
particular, the research focuses on the evolutionary path of institutional changes
underlying the so-called China’s market miracle. The analysis begins with a
fundamental assumption of public choice – “methodological individualism”, but it
also links public choice to various fields. This dissertation finds that it is a rational
choice of the self-interested authoritarian rulers to launch a growth-oriented
incremental reform that is primarily driven by the private sector. Furthermore, the
pro-competition policy reform steps have been the major institutional contributors to
China’s market miracle, whereas the growing interest group activities within the
private sector may hinder the legal reform and thus jeopardize the advancement of
modern China’s market economy.
