Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-54txb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-07T22:40:13.070Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is It Capitalism?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Marshall W. Meyer
Marshall W. Meyer*
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania, USA
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

I introduce the three articles in the MOR Editor's Forum on Chinese Capitalism. I then ask whether China's recent economic growth has been driven by a vibrant capitalism or instead has become an end in itself, supported by government policies promoting high rates of fixed asset investment. There are two key observations. First, gross domestic product (GDP), measured and reported at four levels of government, has much greater salience than corporate profits, often undisclosed. Second, fixed asset investment accounted for more than 60 percent of China's 2009 GDP and nearly two-thirds of 2008-2009 GDP growth, levels unprecedented for a major economy. Rather than capitalism, I argue that institutionalized GDP growth today accounts for China's rapid economic development.

Keywords

capitalismChinaeconomic growthgross domestic product (GDP)资本主义中国经济增长国内生产总值
Type
Editorial
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 5 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © International Association for Chinese Management Research 2011

References

Amsden, A. 1991. Diffusion of development: The late-industrializing model and greater East Asia. American Economic Review, 81(2): 282–286.Google Scholar
Bloomberg. 2010. China banks' yuan positions rise most in 30 months. [Cited 30 November 2010.] Available from URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-l 1-27/china-october-forex-reserves-rose-most-in-30-months-update1-.htmlGoogle Scholar
Caijing. 2008. China's execs sweating over stock options. [Cited 28 December 2010.] Available from URL: http://english.caijing.com.cn/2008_06_27/100071919.htmlGoogle Scholar
CEIC. 1990-2009. China premium database. [Cited 30 November 2010.] Available from: University of Pennsylvania libraries.Google Scholar
China Statistical Yearbook. 2009. Beijing: China National Bureau of Statistics.Google Scholar
China.org.cn. 2010. Regional GDP growth rate outpaces nation's economy. [Cited 30 November 2010.] Available from URL: http://v\4vw.china.org.cn/business/2010-08/02/content_20620613.htmGoogle Scholar
Chinadaily.com. 2010a. Banks come close to reaching annual lending quotas. [Cited 30 November 2010.] Available from URL: http://www.china.org.cn/business/2010_08_02/content_20620613.htmGoogle Scholar
Chinadaily.com. 2010b. Rising labor shortage hits key regions. [Cited 30 November 2010.] Available from URL: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-l l/29/content_l1622392.htm Inflation has also sharply curtailed the supply of migratory workers, whose wages barely cover food costs in Shanghai and Guangdong.Google Scholar
DSG Asia. 2005. Chinese fixed investment in an historical context. [Cited 24 December 2010.] Available from URL: http://www.dsgasia.com/vip/Writings/Rap060605.pdfGoogle Scholar
Fligstein, N., & Zhang, J. 2011. A new agenda for research on the trajectory of Chinese capitalism. Management and Organization Review, 7(1): 39–62.Google Scholar
Hall, P., & Gingerich, D. 2009. Varieties of capitalism and institutional complementarities in the political economy: An empirical analysis. British Journal of Political Science, 39(3): 449–482.Google Scholar
Hall, P., & Soskice, D. (Eds.). 2001. Varieties of capitalism: The institutionalfoundations of comparative advantage. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Li, H., & Zhou, L. 2005. Political turnover and economic performance: The incentive role of personnel control in China. Journal of Public Economics, 89(9-10): 1743–1762.Google Scholar
Lin, N. 2011. Capitalism in China: A centrally managed capitalism (CMC) and its future. Management and Organization Review, 7(1): 63–96.Google Scholar
Marx, K., & Engels, F. 1948. Manifesto of the Communist Party, Moore, S. (Tr.). New York: International Publishers.Google Scholar
People's Daily Online. 2010. Capital formation contributes 92 percent of China's GDP growth in 2009. [Cited 30 November 2010.] Available from URL: http://english.peopledaily. com.cn/90001/90778/90862/6885729.htmlGoogle Scholar
Walder, A. G. 2011. From control to ownership: China's managerial revolution. Management and Organization Review, 7(1): 19–38.Google Scholar
Wall Street Journal. 2010. China seeks higher payout from state firms. [Cited 30 December 2010.] Available from URL: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487 04543004576051581004988362.html?mod=WSJASIA_hps_LEFTTopWhatNewsGoogle Scholar
Weber, M. 1958. The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, Parsons, T. (Tr.). New York: Scribner.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2010. Quarterly update. [Cited 30 November 2010.] Available from URL: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/CHINAEXTN/Resources/318949-1268688634523/Quarterly_June_2010.pdfGoogle Scholar