Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system
This paper considers Douglass C. North's ‘puzzle’ concerning China's household responsibility system (HRS) and offers a possible solution. China's HRS, which has evolved over the past four decades to become its dominant form of rural land ownership, has stimulated spectacular economic...
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ftsoaslib:oai:eprints.soas.ac.uk:36197 2024-05-19T07:30:03+00:00 Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system Deakin, Simon Meng, Gaofeng 2022-08 text https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/36197/ https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/36197/1/resolving_douglass_c_norths_puzzle_concerning_chinas_household_responsibility_system.pdf https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-institutional-economics/article/resolving-douglass-c-norths-puzzle-concerning-chinas-household-responsibility-system/7627E68395A4A2FC24566233F08F287C en eng Cambridge University Press https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/36197/1/resolving_douglass_c_norths_puzzle_concerning_chinas_household_responsibility_system.pdf Deakin, Simon and Meng, Gaofeng (2022) 'Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system.' Journal of Institutional Economics, 18 (4). pp. 521-535. cc_by_4 H Social Sciences (General) HB Economic Theory HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform JA Political science (General) JQ Political institutions (Asia Africa Australia) KL Asia and Eurasia Pacific Area and Antarctica H Social Sciences J Political Science K Law Journal Article PeerReviewed 2022 ftsoaslib 2024-04-30T23:44:29Z This paper considers Douglass C. North's ‘puzzle’ concerning China's household responsibility system (HRS) and offers a possible solution. China's HRS, which has evolved over the past four decades to become its dominant form of rural land ownership, has stimulated spectacular economic growth and poverty reduction; however, it is based on a type of ownership which is far removed from the property rights regime which North regarded as essential. Two features of the HRS merit attention. The first is ‘split ownership’: this refers to the allocation of different aspects of ownership, including rights of access, use, management, exclusion and alienation, to a range of individual and collective actors with interests in the land in question. The second is polycentric governance: rules governing land use are derived in part from community-level action and in part from state intervention. We argue that in explaining the functioning of the HRS we need to move beyond the narrow conception of legally enforced private property rights on which North relied. We should instead embrace understandings of ownership as an emergent, diverse and complex institution, of the kind emphasized by A.M. Honoré's legal theory of ownership and Elinor Ostrom's theories of the common-pool resource and polycentric governance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London: SOAS Research Online |
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School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London: SOAS Research Online |
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language |
English |
topic |
H Social Sciences (General) HB Economic Theory HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform JA Political science (General) JQ Political institutions (Asia Africa Australia) KL Asia and Eurasia Pacific Area and Antarctica H Social Sciences J Political Science K Law |
spellingShingle |
H Social Sciences (General) HB Economic Theory HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform JA Political science (General) JQ Political institutions (Asia Africa Australia) KL Asia and Eurasia Pacific Area and Antarctica H Social Sciences J Political Science K Law Deakin, Simon Meng, Gaofeng Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system |
topic_facet |
H Social Sciences (General) HB Economic Theory HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform JA Political science (General) JQ Political institutions (Asia Africa Australia) KL Asia and Eurasia Pacific Area and Antarctica H Social Sciences J Political Science K Law |
description |
This paper considers Douglass C. North's ‘puzzle’ concerning China's household responsibility system (HRS) and offers a possible solution. China's HRS, which has evolved over the past four decades to become its dominant form of rural land ownership, has stimulated spectacular economic growth and poverty reduction; however, it is based on a type of ownership which is far removed from the property rights regime which North regarded as essential. Two features of the HRS merit attention. The first is ‘split ownership’: this refers to the allocation of different aspects of ownership, including rights of access, use, management, exclusion and alienation, to a range of individual and collective actors with interests in the land in question. The second is polycentric governance: rules governing land use are derived in part from community-level action and in part from state intervention. We argue that in explaining the functioning of the HRS we need to move beyond the narrow conception of legally enforced private property rights on which North relied. We should instead embrace understandings of ownership as an emergent, diverse and complex institution, of the kind emphasized by A.M. Honoré's legal theory of ownership and Elinor Ostrom's theories of the common-pool resource and polycentric governance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Deakin, Simon Meng, Gaofeng |
author_facet |
Deakin, Simon Meng, Gaofeng |
author_sort |
Deakin, Simon |
title |
Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system |
title_short |
Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system |
title_full |
Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system |
title_fullStr |
Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system |
title_full_unstemmed |
Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system |
title_sort |
resolving douglass c. north’s ‘puzzle’ concerning china’s household responsibility system |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/36197/ https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/36197/1/resolving_douglass_c_norths_puzzle_concerning_chinas_household_responsibility_system.pdf https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-institutional-economics/article/resolving-douglass-c-norths-puzzle-concerning-chinas-household-responsibility-system/7627E68395A4A2FC24566233F08F287C |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/36197/1/resolving_douglass_c_norths_puzzle_concerning_chinas_household_responsibility_system.pdf Deakin, Simon and Meng, Gaofeng (2022) 'Resolving Douglass C. North’s ‘puzzle’ concerning China’s household responsibility system.' Journal of Institutional Economics, 18 (4). pp. 521-535. |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
_version_ |
1799483458741862400 |