China's Macroeconomic Development: The Role of Gradualist Reforms / Kaiji Chen, Tao Zha.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chen, Kaiji.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Zha, Tao.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w31395.

NBER working paper series no. w31395

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023.

Summary:

This paper reviews recent literature on China's macroeconomic development, emphasizing the critical role of the gradualist approach over the past four decades. Beyond China's structural transformation, we explore various aspects such as high saving rates, the housing boom, an expanding current account surplus, and rising inequality. We propose a unifying framework that encapsulates key development stages, contrasting gradualism with a laissez-faire counterfactual. Our analysis illustrates how China's gradual policy reforms, amidst highly imperfect financial markets, have effectively helped spur GDP growth throughout its macroeconomic evolution. We highlight the tradeoffs between accelerating GDP growth and safeguarding China's long-term financial stability.

Notes:

Print version record

June 2023.