Re-Interpreting the "Chinese miracle"

The rapid economic development and transformation of Chinese society over the past three decades has, by a large mass of analysts, been called a "Miracle." This paper not only addresses the shortcomings of existing interpretations but also develops a new multi-dimensional framework based on North's theory of institutional change and Hayek's theory of institutional evolution to explain China's miraculous growth. Our analysis shows that both Hayekian spontaneous order and Popper's "piecemeal social engineering" played a major role in attaining China's miraculous growth.