Short Syllabus  |   Books & Films  | Lectures & Readings 

ECON 461/661 Chinese Economy (3+0) 3 credits
Historical examination of China's economic development, with a special emphasis on its varying development strategies, and its future prospects.  
- UNR General Catalog

INTRODUCTION

This course will cover the Chinese economy, both historical and current. It will focus on the historical development of its economic institutions, on its varying economic policies and strategies, and in particular how economic reform affected different sectors of the Chinese economy.  This class is a capstone in the university core curriculum, and a diversity class. Prerequisites include:  ECON 100 or ECON 102 or RECO 100; ENG 102; CH 201; and junior or senior standing

BOOKS (both paperback)

MOVIES  

There will be a number of films you are expected to view.  A couple will be shown in class, but most will be scheduled outside of class, as follows:

You are expected to attend these film showings at the time I schedule.  If for some good reason you cannot make one of them, you may check the film out afterwards for later viewing.  

I also recommend these optional films.

• Legacy, program 3 (1991):  China: The Mandate of Heaven, V04732
• The Pacific Century, pt. 1 (1992):  The Two Coasts of China V04550
• All Under Heaven (1985) V05991
• The Gate of Heavenly Peace (1990), V05608, V05609

DATA SOURCES:

• China National Bureau of Statistics
• People's Bank of China
• China Internet Information Center

GRADES  

There will be a pass/fail quiz over some of the material in the introduction, two midterm exams (20% each), a short research paper on an assigned topic (15%), a class presentation (10%), and a final exam (25%).  Keeping up with readings, participation in discussion, along with attendance in class and at the films will count for another 10% of the grade. Except for the first midterm, exams will generally be in-class, closed-book essay questions.  

Cheating:

Any cheating will be severely punished.  Cheating includes both copying someone else's work as well as letting your work be copied, bringing in notes, text messaging or taking pictures of the exam, plagiarizing other people's words or ideas and passing them off as your own, et cetera.  At a minimum, you will receive a failing grade for the assignment or other portion of the course, with no chance to redo it, and the incident will be reported to Student Judicial Affairs.  If the dishonesty is egregious you will fail the course, and if it is a repeat offense then you can be suspended or expelled from the university.  Students who are caught cheating also lose their chance at college scholarships.  I am serious as a heart attack about this, and the university faculty are also becoming more and more serious about this.

ECON 461:  Chinese Economy Assignment:  Sign up for and research one of the following current economic topics, or propose an alternative topic on a current issue of the Chinese economy.  In your own words, write a professional paper based on your research.  Look up and present data from the China Statistical Yearbook. Paper Due Date:  Monday, June 4, 2012.  Late papers will lose one-half grade per day. Length:  The paper should be approximately seven pages long, not including the cover page and any references or tables.  This is just a target, and your paper can be a little bigger or smaller as needs be.  This paper must be typewritten and double-spaced. Paper Format:  Use APA style for your references and citations.   Topic:  Choose one of the following current economic topics, or use one of the chapters from Starr or Naughton as a starting point for research: China's automotive industry China's software industry China’s telecommunications industry China’s sources of energy Current conditions in Chinese agriculture The Impact of U.S. Food Exports to China The Chinese-U.S. Bilateral Trade Deficit What would happen if the Yuan floated? China’s foreign exchange reserves China's effect on world oil prices How was China affected by the Asian Financial Crisis? Privatization and consolidation in Chinese State-owned Enterprises Chinese fiscal policy Chinese monetary policy Chinese price inflation Why is China’s savings rate high? China's banking industry Foreign banks in the China market Chinese Stock Markets China’s educational system Science and technology in China How did WTO Accession affect China's trade? Official Corruption in China China’s Growth Prospects By Monday, May 23, e-mail me with your choice of topics.  If you have your own idea, you may ask for my approval.  No more than one person per topic, so fast movers get first choice. Presentation:  Prepare a ten-minute Powerpoint presentation on your research paper.  You will present this the last week of class, and your presentation will be graded by both the instructor and your fellow students. More on the Paper Format... Your paper should have a cover page that has your name, my class, the date, the title, and a one-paragraph abstract that summarizes your paper.  You should have an introduction that begins on page 1, and a conclusion at the end.  Use section headings to clarify your paper's organization.  Put page numbers at the bottom, but do not number the cover page and abstract, your references page, or any endnotes (not footnotes) if you have them.  Any figures or tables should each be put on their own page at the back of the paper, and they should be referred to in the text as Figure 1 or Table 4, for example.  Again, the cover page, references, and tables are not numbered, and are not included in the page count. Remember this is NOT an opinion paper, and it is not a creative writing project!  As much as possible, you are expected to base your paper on material you have studied for this class, and on outside research, and not base it on opinions that you had coming into this class.  I like papers that try to be objective, and I suggest you avoid being flip, funny or sarcastic.  Remember that you are expected to find and present data related to your topic. Make sure that any data you use is from reliable sources, and please cite primary sources, not secondary ones. When you do outside research, rely primarily on books, articles in professional and business journals, and articles in academic publications.  Minimize your reliance on unpublished internet sources; though these sources can be more current, they do not go through any review or editing process to determine whether their arguments are valid or substantiated by evidence.  Online magazines or journals, or official institutional websites, are OK though not preferred; you must avoid using blogs or websites written by random kooks or their kooky organizations. Wikipedia is not an acceptable source, but it is sometimes helpful to start with it and refer to the sources cited. Again, I want you to use APA style for your references and citations, as much as possible.  The library has information on this at  http://www.library.unr.edu/depts/reference/webref/style.html#APA, and Long Island University has a helpful website at http://www.liu.edu/CWIS/CWP/library/workshop/citapa.htm.  In particular, pay attention to how to cite online websites. You need to cite all sources you use in your paper, and list your references alphabetically after your conclusion, not in footnotes.  Use single-spaced endnotes only to explain points in more detail, if you feel it is necessary and do not want to clutter the text.  Again, do not use endnotes (or footnotes) for citations of your references. Citations briefly list your sources in the relevant parts of your text, and references list the full information on how to find those sources.  References are included at the end of the paper, in a separate section called References. or Works Cited.  All citations are referenced, and all references are cited. APA styles can vary a little, but you will need to cite your sources by surname(s) and year, not title, journal, or url.  In your citations, put the surname(s) and the year sepated by a comma, in parentheses.  For example, the seven references listed below would be cited in the text as (Olson, 2000), (Cargill & Parker, 2003), (Parker, 1995), (Banks, Parker, & Wendel, 2001), (Economist, 1997), (World Bank, 1993), and (IMF, 2001).  In citations and references, you may use the ampersand "&" for multiple authors, but in text use "and" instead.  Only use first names in the text if the person is the subject, not the source. Page numbers are appropriate for a quote and for a citation from a book, but are not necessary for an idea from a journal article.  You may use a colon before the page number(s), if appropriate, instead of the "pp." abbreviation, e.g., (Olson, 2000: 68-69).   For sources with more than two authors, cite all authors the first time and then later use "et al." (et alia, Latin for "and others"), though if there are more than three you can use "et al." the first time.  For example, source (4) below would be cited as (Bhattacharyya, et al., 1994).  If you are citing two sources with the same author(s) and year, cite and reference them with the year plus a, b, c, ..., e.g., (Parker, 1995a) and (Parker, 1995b). If the paper is not yet published, you might use the word "forthcoming" instead.  Again, you should use full names for historical figures, but only last names for your research sources. I have pet peeves you should know about. Some are careless errors, and some are issues of preference: "It's" means "it is," while "its" is possessive.   "Lose" is a verb (pronounced like "looze"), while "loose" is an adjective (with a "s" sound, not a "z"). "Boarder" is somebody who rents a room in your house, not a boundary between countries. Paragraphs need to hold together, not be too long or too short (i.e, more than a sentence, less than a page).  The first sentence should give the reader some clue of what the paragraph is about.  Vary your sentences a little for more interesting reading.  Your paper should not ramble, and should make logical sense.  Learn to use colons and semicolons properly. For example, a semicolon separates two stand-alone sentences making a similar point.   In the U.S., commas and periods go within the ending quote mark (though not if there is a citation at the end of the sentence).  Don't quote unless the quote is just too good to pass up; instead, learn to paraphrase.  All sentences must have, at minimum, a subject and a verb.   The abbreviation e.g. means "for example," while i.e. means "in other words." "et al." is an abbreviation for "et alia," which means "and others."  It needs a period like all abbreviations. I don't like too many exclamation points!  Use the College Handbook or similar source for a style guide.  I like papers that try to be professional and objective, and I suggest you avoid being flip, funny or sarcastic as much as possible. Academic Dishonesty: The university has a strict policy against academic dishonesty, and this includes plagiarism.  I strongly support this policy. Write with your own words, and if you need to use more than a few words from somebody else you must quote them and cite your source. When you are using somebody else's ideas and information, you must still cite them even if you have used your own words. Every semester I catch somebody cheating.  At a minimum, I will fail you on the assignment, and if the plagiarism is blatant I will fail you in the course.  I will also report the matter to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs, and if the plagiarism is particularly egregious or if you are a repeat offender, they may even expell you from the university. Academic dishonesty also makes you ineligible for future scholarships. As long as you are making a good effort at citing your sources, I will be reasonable, and a mere phrase here and there will not necessarily set off alarm bells.  You don't have to go overboard and cite the same source over and over within the same paragraph, as long as it is apparent that you are giving appropriate credit where credit is due.  But lifting somebody else's work, using their words or stealing their ideas without proper attribution, is plagiarism.  Getting material off the internet, copying sentences out of a book without using quotation marks, or even buying a paper from a "research service" is dangerous and stupid.  It is better that you drop out of school now to save us all the trouble. Back Up! Every semester somebody forgets to back up their document, and they lose it the night before it is due when a virus hits them or their computer crashes.  I don't know how, but your computer seems to know when you are stressed.  Make a second copy on another diskette, for security. Grading: Your paper will be graded for grammar, spelling, clarity, logic, and flow as well as accuracy and originality of content.  Have somebody read it over for typographical errors and things that just don't make sense.  Don't turn in a rough draft, turn in a polished document.  I prefer that you write this paper in a professional tone, and avoid being flippant.  Originality matters, but it is an issue of content and how you put together material you have learned, not an issue of creative style.  A good paper will be interesting and original, and will make a logical argument that addresses the assigned topic.  A good paper will be well-organized and well-written, will follow the format requested above, and will also demonstrate that the writer has a good grasp on the material.  A good paper will be analytical, will back up potentially controversial or unusual statements with evidence, and will make a solid case.

I.  Introduction

In this section, we first discuss the growing importance of China in the world economy, and why China's economy is so important (and interesting) for economists to study.  We will then cover some basic necessities of studying about China, including basic statistics, geography, and language (i.e., how to romanize it, how to pronounce it, how names work, and what some common place names mean).

• Handout on pronunciation, geography, and dynasty names.
• Read Starr, ch. 1, Naughton, ch. 1.
• Powerpoint Lecture Notes 1(a)
• Powerpoint Lecture Notes 1(b)

Pass/Fail Quiz on Basic Geography, History, and Pronunciation (Tuesday for first try, after class for later tries)

II.  Economic History of China "Before Liberation"

   A. China's Economy during the Ming and Qing

In this section, we will review the economic and political history of China, in order for you to appreciate the depth and continuity of Chinese history, and to answer a number of fundamental questions. How did China's level of development compare with the rest of the world, and how can economic theories of development apply to Imperial China? What economic and historical patterns appear to repeat themselves? Why did China become so inward-looking? How and why did China's economy change over time? What are the theoretical answers to the Needham Question?

• An easy summary of China's economic history. 
• Read Starr, ch. 2.
• Powerpoint Lecture Notes 2

Why did China, once one of the world's most advanced economies, become the "sick man of Asia" by the end of the 19th Century? How was China affected by its interaction with the outside world, particularly after the arrival of the Western Barbarians? Why didn't China's first revolution succeed, and how was China ripe for another revolution, this time one led by the Chinese Communist Party?

• Imperial China Lecture Notes (pdf)
• Read Naughton, ch. 2.
• Film:  China, v. 1 (1997):  China in Revolution, 1911-1949 .

In this section, we will cover the development of socialism in China. 

• Read Starr, ch. 3-4.
• Read Naughton, ch. 3, 10, 11.
• Film:  China, v. 2 (1997):  The Mao Years, 1949-1976.
• Powerpoint Lecture Notes 3

We begin first with a discussion of the philosophies of Marx and Lenin, and the development of the Stalinist model in the USSR. We then discuss some key elements of "Mao Zedong Thought," as it pertained to Chinese economic development.

We then move on to how the Socialist economy was actually implemented in China. In particular, we will discuss initial industrialization strategies and performance, and how the Chinese peasant's life was affected by changes in China's agricultural policies.

We will first discuss the campaigns that set the stage for the Great Leap Forward.  We will then discuss the economics and politics behind the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, and how this turmoil affected China's economic development.

What do the theories and available data tell us about China's economic development under Chairman Mao?

IV. Economic Reform under Deng Xiaoping

This section will cover how China changed after Mao.  

1. Read Naughton, ch. 4, 6, 8, 12, 13, 16.
2. Read Parker, E. (1995), "Prospects for the state-owned enterprise in China's Socialist Market Economy," Asian Perspective 19(1): 7-35.
3. Film:  China, v.3 (1997):  Born under the Red Flag, 1976-1997.
4. Powerpoint Lecture Notes 4

We will discuss the problems of China's Socialist Economy after Mao, the first steps toward reform by Mao and his successor, Hua Guofeng, and finally the rise (and fall, and rise, and fall, and rise) of Deng Xiaoping as China's paramount leader.

In this section, we will start first with the new political climate under Deng, and how economic reform attacked the stagnant agricultural economy. We will then cover China's new "Open Door" policies, and how they affected the economy. Next, we will discuss the second wave of industrial reform, and how it ultimately transformed the Chinese economy in ways completely unexpected by the leadership. We will then review the economic lessons of China's reform, the contradictions of economic reform, and the events leading to "Liu Si" in Tian'anmen square fifteen years ago.

What do the theories and available data tell us about China's economic performance during the reform period?  What problems needed to be addressed?

V. The Socialist Market Economy

This section will focus on China's drive to a market economy in the 1990s.

1. Read Starr, ch. 5, 6, 12, 13, 14.
2. Read Naughton, ch. 5, 9, 18-19.
3. Read Cargill, T.F., & E. Parker (2001), "Financial liberalization in China: Limitations and lessons of the Japanese regime," Journal of the Asia-Pacific Economy 6(1): 1-21. 
   
4. Film:  China in the Red (2003).
5. Powerpoint Lecture Notes 5

We will discuss the problems that emerged under the retrenchment period, and the counter-examples of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. We will discuss the major philosophical changes and reforms that began and ultimately characterized the Shehuizhuyi Shichang Jingji.

We first discuss the problems of China's state-owned enterprises, and the role of the state-owned commercial banks.  We will then discuss the Asian Financial Crisis, and how this both affected China and yielded particularly important lessons for China's future economic development. 

We will discuss what led China to become one of the world's major trading economies, and what issues and challenges this presented to China and the United States.

1. Read Starr, ch. 18.
2. Read Naughton, ch. 17.
3. Read Cargill, T.F., F. Guerrero, & E. Parker (2006), "Policy traps and the linkage between China's financial and foreign exchange systems," in China as a World Workshop, edited by K.H. Zhang: ch. 11, pp. 188-221 (Routledge, Taylor & Francis).
4. Powerpoint Lecture Notes 6