China's developmental state and the main determinants of its growth during the reform era

Abstract

This master thesis examines China’s national development in late 20th century in the light of Japan’s development process that has started with the Meiji restoration in late 19th century. The research is conducted in five parts in which starts with an introduction that provides a basic ideological discussion over the ideas on development and hegemony, and continues to discuss the main framework of ‘the developmental state’ theory developed by Chalmers Johnson in the early 1980s. A brief background to the theory is also presented during the first chapter, which is followed by the second chapter that offers a retrospective showcase for the ‘Japanese developmental state’ that follows with the Korean and Taiwanese and some other successful and failed examples of the model. Nonetheless, the economic stagnation in Japan that has started in the early 1990s is pictured to show the whereabouts of the ‘developmental state’ at the very place it started. The third chapter starts with China’s development story starting from the post-1978‘reform’ era. The political economy and the institutional structure of the Chinese state until recent years are examined to understand whether the Chinese state suits the ‘East Asian developmental state’ model at any measure. The fourth part includes a mathematical analysis to see whether the provided data for a wide range of Chinese industries support China’s development model to evoke the Japanese case. The fifth and the last part winds up with a conclusion.