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2014/2015 BA-BASPV1005U The Chinese Political Economy
| English Title | |
| The Chinese Political Economy |
Course information |
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| Language | English |
| Course ECTS | 7.5 ECTS |
| Type | Elective |
| Level | Bachelor |
| Duration | One Semester |
| Course period | Autumn |
| Timetable | Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk |
| Max. participants | 50 |
| Study board |
Study Board for Asian Study Programme
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| Course coordinator | |
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| The course will be
co-taught by Professor Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard at Asia Research
Center and Professor Paul Deng at Economics Department
Administrator: Maria Isabel Christensen - mic.stu@cbs.dk |
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| Main academic disciplines | |
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| Last updated on 15-08-2014 | |
| Learning objectives | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The course aims to benefit students in the
following areas:
1. A solid understanding of modern China from an integrated political-economy perspective; 2. An in-depth knowledge of China’s economic and political system: its history, current development and the future trends; 3. How to use theories in both economics and political science to explain major issues in the world’s second largest economy; 4. Serves as great facilitator for students who are interested in working or doing business in China in the future. Students are required to:
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| Course prerequisites | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| It is preferred that students had some basic understanding about China: its people, history and culture. Some prior knowledge in introductory economics and theory of political economy is also recommended, but not required. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Examination | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Course content and structure | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Which nation currently has the fastest computer
on earth? The world’s biggest bank by market capitalization? The
world’s largest holding of foreign exchange reserves? The largest
growing middle-class for consumer products? The greatest potential
to challenge the economic, political, and technological dominance
of the West? The answer to the above questions are China, China,
and China! If you want to grasp the true magnitude and implications
of the shift of economic power that is currently changing the
world, it is essential to understand the Chinese economic reform
and its political context. This course aims to provide an integral
and detailed overview of modern China’s topical issues in both
economics and politics. It will be co-taught by Professor
Kjeld Erik Brødsgaard at Asia Research Center and Professor Paul
Deng at Economics Department.
In the first part, we focus on Chinese economy with emphasis on the great transformation since 1978, when China first initiated its economic reform after almost thirty years of stagnation and disastrous economic mismanagement. The course is organized around a number of major themes and will include references to the historical and institutional background. These themes include at least the following: 1) What were the major problems and deficiencies of the centralized planned economy before the reform, and why was reform necessary?; 2) What were the main areas of reform, their sequence, and their major impact? And in what respect was China’s economic reform different from the reforms in Eastern European countries, and why so?; 3) Why has Chinese economy been able to grow at an average rate of 10% in the past 30 years? How could economic theories help explain such a phenomenon?; 4) How capitalistic is China today? And what is the role of the state in Chinese economy?; 5) What are the major problems faced by the Chinese economy? Of those, we focus on issues such as inequality, urbanization, pollution and financial repression; 6) Finally, we discuss China’s role in world economy, its fast productivity growth and rising innovation capacity. The second part focuses on the political framework and basis for China’s economic development with an emphasis on the post-Mao Zedong era. The objective is to provide a basic understanding of the Chinese governing system and the inter-linkages between structure, power and Party. It will be argued that the Chinese political system is characterized by “fragmented authoritarianism”. The following topics will be covered: 1) The organizational setup of the Chinese political system including central-local government relations, the tiao-kuai matrix and the civil service system; 2) The formation of the Party-state including Party member statistics and profile; Party leading groups and the kou system; 3) Nomenklatura and cadre management including appointment and promotion criteria for leading cadres; ranking systems, executive remuneration and associated benefits; 4) Who is who in China including leadership transition from the current fourth generation to the new fifth generation of Chinese leaders; princeling and youth league factions; 5) Party-business-relations with a focus on rotation between business group CEOs, government ministers and provincial governors including examples from the oil sector; the relationship between administrative restructuring and business group formation; 6) Competing scenarios for China’s political system in 2020: fragmentation, strong state, partial democracy or competitive authoritarianism? Global convergence or new divergence? |
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| Teaching methods | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The course is organized around a number of major themes, and it will include lectures and class discussion with references to the historical and institutional backgrounds. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Further Information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Changes in course schedule may occur.
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Last updated on
15-08-2014