Enterprises, Industry and Innovation in the People's Republic of China

This book analyses and critically evaluates the development  of two key components of China's economy: the network of productive enterprises, and the national innovation system, from the inception of market-oriented reforms to the present day. The approach is a partly novel one, albeit inspired to classical political economy, rooted in the structure and evolution of social relations of production and exchange and of the institutional setting in these two crucial domains. The main findings are twofold: First, the role of planning and public ownership, far from withering,  has being upheld and qualitatively enhanced, especially throughout the most recent  stages of industrial reforms. Second, enterprises are increasingly participating - along with universities and research centers - in a concerted and historically unparalleled effort to dramatically upgrade  China's capacity to engage in indigenous innovation. As a result, China's National Innovation System has been growing and strengthening at a pace much faster than that of the national economy as a whole. The book also presents a speculative and provisional perspective on the validity, and meaning, of the claim that the country's socioeconomic system is indeed a form of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It will be on interest to students and scholars researching China, politics, and development economics.

 

Alberto Gabriele has worked for over thirty years as a UN economist in New York, Geneva, and  in dozens of developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He has published several articles  in major scientific journals and collaborated on various edited books. His main research interests are international trade, industrial policies, income and wealth distribution, and the distinctive development trajectories of China, Vietnam, and Cuba.