IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/soudev/v1y2006i1p1-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay

Author

Listed:
  • Pranab Bardhan

    (Department of Economics, University of California at Berkeley)

Abstract

Both China and India have made remarkable economic progress in the last quarter century—China more than India—but both have severe structural and institutional problems that will hobble them for many years to come. In this article, after a comparative study of the two economies in terms of broad development indicators, we explore some deeper social and historical issues that underlie their differential ability to resolve collective action problems in long-term investment and to manage political conflicts, which go beyond the usual simple aggregative comparisons of an authoritarian and a democratic political regime.

Suggested Citation

  • Pranab Bardhan, 2006. "Awakening Giants, Feet of Clay," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 1(1), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:soudev:v:1:y:2006:i:1:p:1-17
    DOI: 10.1177/097317410500100101
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/097317410500100101
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/097317410500100101?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Qian, Yingyi & Roland, Gerard, 1998. "Federalism and the Soft Budget Constraint," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1143-1162, December.
    2. Yanrui Wu, 2003. "Has Productivity Contributed to China's Growth?," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 15-30, January.
    3. Jin, Hehui & Qian, Yingyi & Weingast, Barry R., 2005. "Regional decentralization and fiscal incentives: Federalism, Chinese style," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1719-1742, September.
    4. Baland, Jean-Marie & Platteau, Jean-Philippe, 2003. "Economics of common property management regimes," Handbook of Environmental Economics, in: K. G. Mäler & J. R. Vincent (ed.), Handbook of Environmental Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 127-190, Elsevier.
    5. Jenkins,Rob, 2000. "Democratic Politics and Economic Reform in India," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521659871.
    6. Dutta Roy, Sudipta, 2004. "Employment dynamics in Indian industry: adjustment lags and the impact of job security regulations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 233-256, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peter E. Robertson, 2012. "Deciphering the Hindu growth epic," Indian Growth and Development Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(1), pages 51-69, April.
    2. Angus Maddison, 2008. "The West and the Rest in the World Economy: 1000–2030," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 9(4), pages 75-100, October.
    3. Grabowski, Richard, 2009. "An alternative Indian model?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 50-61, January.
    4. Wei Li & Taye Mengistae & Lixin Colin Xu, 2011. "Diagnosing Development Bottlenecks: China and India," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 73, pages 722-752, December.
    5. Felipe, Jesus & Kumar, Utsav & Abdon, Arnelyn, 2013. "Exports, capabilities, and industrial policy in India," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 939-956.
    6. Yaobo Shi & Chun-Ping Chang & Chyi-Lu Jang & Yu Hao, 2018. "Does economic performance affect officials’ turnover? Evidence from municipal government leaders in China," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1873-1891, July.
    7. Angus Maddison, 2009. "L?Occidente e il Resto del Mondo nell?economia mondiale: un?interpretazione Maddisoniana e Malthusiana dal 1000 al 2030," ARGOMENTI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2009(27), pages 7-30.
    8. Srikanta Chatterjee & Allan Rae & Ranjan Ray, 2011. "Globalisation, India’s Evolving Food Economy and Trade Prospects for Australia and New Zealand," Chapters, in: Matthew Tonts & M. A.B. Siddique (ed.), Globalisation, Agriculture and Development, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Angus MADDISON, 2008. "Shares of the Rich and the Rest in the World Economy: Income Divergence Between Nations, 1820–2030," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 3(1), pages 67-82, June.
    10. Chen, Xiude & Qin, Quande & Wei, Y.-M., 2016. "Energy productivity and Chinese local officials’ promotions: Evidence from provincial governors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 103-112.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nirvikar Singh, 2007. "The dynamics of reform of India’s federal system," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 8(01), pages 22-31, April.
    2. Yu, Jihai & Zhou, Li-An & Zhu, Guozhong, 2016. "Strategic interaction in political competition: Evidence from spatial effects across Chinese cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 23-37.
    3. Yongze Yu & Zhe Wang & Dayong Liu & Liping Fu, 2021. "Changes in officials, total factor productivity fluctuation and government transformation: Evidence from Chinese prefecture cities," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 283-299, May.
    4. Lu Ming & Zhao Chen & Yongqin Wang & Yan Zhang & Yuan Zhang & Changyuan Luo, 2013. "China’s Economic Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14502.
    5. Mototsugu Fukushige & Yingxin Shi, 2017. "Intergovernmental fiscal relationship in China: a simple model based on the nonsymmetric Nash solution," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 495-509, October.
    6. Yingyi Qian, 1999. "The Institutional Foundations of China's Market Transition," Working Papers 99011, Stanford University, Department of Economics.
    7. Youlang Zhang & Hongshan Yang, 2023. "Bureaucratic politics, innovation compatibility, and the dynamic diffusion of subnational decentralization reforms in China," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(4), pages 553-572, July.
    8. Jin, Gang & Shen, Kunrong & Li, Jian, 2020. "Interjurisdiction political competition and green total factor productivity in China: An inverted-U relationship," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    9. Zhang, Xiaobo, 2006. "Fiscal decentralization and political centralization in China: Implications for growth and inequality," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 713-726, December.
    10. Jia, Junxue & Guo, Qingwang & Zhang, Jing, 2014. "Fiscal decentralization and local expenditure policy in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 107-122.
    11. János Kornai, 2014. "The soft budget constraint," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 64(supplemen), pages 25-79, November.
    12. Qiang Liu & Ying Hao & Yong Du & Yuning Xing, 2020. "GDP competition and corporate investment: Evidence from China," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 402-426, August.
    13. Tianchu Feng & Meijuan Liu & Chaozhu Li, 2022. "How Does Vertical Fiscal Imbalance Affect CO 2 Emissions? The Role of Capital Mismatch," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-15, August.
    14. Enikolopov, Ruben & Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina, 2007. "Decentralization and political institutions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(11-12), pages 2261-2290, December.
    15. Alexeev, Michael (Алексеев, Майкл) & Mamedov, Arseny (Мамедов, Арсений) & Fomina, Evgenia (Фомина, Евгения) & Deryugin, Alexander (Дерюгин, Александр), 2017. "Influence of the Main Characteristics of Interbudgetary Relations on the Indicators of Economic Development of the Subjects of the Russian Federation [Влияние Основных Характеристик Межбюджетных От," Working Papers 031717, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    16. Markus Eberhardt & Zheng Wang & Zhihong Yu, 2013. "Intra-National Protectionism in China: Evidence from the Public Disclosure of ‘Illegal’ Drug Advertising," Discussion Papers 2013-04, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    17. Yi Long & Chris Nyland & Russell Smyth, 2016. "Fiscal Decentralisation, the Knowledge Economy and School Teachers’ Wages in Urban China," Monash Economics Working Papers 13-16, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    18. Tang, Pengcheng & Yang, Shuwang & Fu, Shuke, 2018. "Do political incentive affects China's land transfer in energy-intensive industries?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 550-559.
    19. Pranab Bardhan & Dilip Mookherjee, 2005. "Decentralization, Corruption and Government Accountability: An Overview," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-152, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    20. Tinglin Zhang & Bindong Sun & Yinyin Cai & Rui Wang, 2019. "Government fragmentation and economic growth in China’s cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(9), pages 1850-1864, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:soudev:v:1:y:2006:i:1:p:1-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.