Unmaking China's development: the function and credibility of institutions

"Peter Ho argues that understanding China's economy necessitates an analytical refocusing from Form to Function, detached from normative assumptions about institutional appearance and developing instead a "Credibility Thesis". In this reading, once institutions endogenously emerge and persist through actors' conflicting interactions, they are credible. Ho develops this idea theoretically, methodologically, and empirically by examining institutions around the sector that propelled, yet, simultaneously destabilizes development: real estate - land, housing and natural resources. Ho shows how this sector can further both our understanding of institutions and issues of capital, labor, infrastructure and technology"--

Cover ; Half-title page; Reviews ; Title page; Copyright page; Dedication; Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; List of Boxes; Foreword; Acknowledgments; Introduction: An Archaeology of Institutions; 1 Institutional Change in Chinaâ#x80;#x99;s Development: Myths of Tenure Security and Titling; 2 In Defense of Endogenous Development: Urban and Rural Land Markets; 3 The â#x80;Credibility Thesisâ#x80;#x9D; and Its Application to Property Rights; 4 A Theorem on Dynamic Disequilibrium: Debunking Path Dependence and Equilibrium.

5 Understanding Informality and Insecurity: Empiricism as Basis for Institutionalism6 Making and Unmaking the Property Bubble: Boom, Bust, and Unintended Welfare; 7 Empty Institutions, Non-Credibility, and Power: The Grazing Ban and Mining; Conclusion: Theoretical Implications for Capital, Labor, and Beyond; Appendix: Results of the Logistic Regression Analysis; References.