Peer Reviewed Journal Publications by John Donaldson
The China Quarterly , 2022
Why do provincial governments change policy, even when those policies have proven successful? Thi... more Why do provincial governments change policy, even when those policies have proven successful? This paper explores a debate regarding the determinants of provincial policy choice and the degree of discretion provinces are permitted in this area. It does so by scrutinizing the shift in Guizhou's development policy from a poverty reduction orientation to a wholehearted pursuit of economic growth, urbanization and industrialization. In contrast to those who argue that central experience, prospects for promotion or local conditions are key factors explaining policy choice, the paper concludes that Guizhou's shift in policy had more to do with the backgrounds and experiences of top provincial leaders. The result has implications for our understanding of central–local relations and local government decision making.
The Journal of Peasant Studies, 2022
Food, Culture and Society , 2020
Journal of Contemporary Asia , 2020
Modern China , 2019
Why do poor farmers not take up microcredit loans, even when the terms are designed to be pro-poo... more Why do poor farmers not take up microcredit loans, even when the terms are designed to be pro-poor? Fieldwork in a village in China's Guizhou province revealed a puzzle: although the county government had designed a loan program that was intended to be unusually pro-poor, only three of the 349 eligible households had successfully applied. This article analyzes three potential hypotheses: farmer failure (risk aversion or financially illiteracy); market failure (lack of viable or stable market opportunities); and institutional failure (structural or institutional barriers precluding taking up loans). Based on evidence from intensive interviews, we reject the first hypothesis, and conclude that the persistence of structural and institutional barriers can preclude the poor from taking up loans. However,
Annals of Tourism Research , 2019
What political and social factors shape the ability of rural-based tourism in areas with large pr... more What political and social factors shape the ability of rural-based tourism in areas with large proportions of ethnic minorities to reduce rural poverty? This study focuses on four comparable cases in a province in Southwestern China to understand the conditions under which high revenue, pro-poor tourist sites can be developed. Because most tourist areas have difficulty simultaneously expanding tourism while promoting pro-poor tourism, most sites traverse two developmental sequences: a) expanding revenue before subsequently ensuring the poor benefit or b) ensuring a pro-poor structure and then expanding revenue. These case studies show the challenges of traversing either pathway. Because expanding tourism further empowers already privileged actors, these actors are able to block a subsequent shift to a pro-poor structure. Moreover, such sites are often perceived as being successful, reducing the justification to make structural changes. For these reasons, while the second pathway is fraught with difficulty, the first pathway presents nearly insurmountable barriers.
Immiserizing Growth: When Growth Fails the Poor , 2019
China Journal , 2017
Since the 1990s, agricultural cooperatives-particularly what China calls Farmers' Specialized Coo... more Since the 1990s, agricultural cooperatives-particularly what China calls Farmers' Specialized Cooperatives-have experienced rapid expansion in China. After more than two decades of growth and policy support, what is the overall performance of the ever-increasing numbers of these cooperatives? We visited 50 cooperatives across the country, most of which had officially lauded as successful, to make a first-hand evaluation of their overall status and performance. We argue that judging by either international or Chinese standards, the vast majority of these agricultural cooperatives are not authentic and fail to deliver expected benefits to smallholders. We categorize them into five types: genuine cooperatives, shell cooperatives, de facto private agribusinesses, de-cooperativized cooperatives, and failed cooperatives. Four barriers impede the long-term prospects of authentic cooperatives: social differentiation, lack of trust, unpredictable markets, and poor policy design and implementation.
Development Policy Review, 2016
Of the myriad approaches to reducing poverty, which have proven effective on a national scale? Th... more Of the myriad approaches to reducing poverty, which have proven effective on a national scale? This research paper analyses 15 systematically selected national cases of demonstrated rapid poverty reduction, seeking insights on effective approaches to reducing poverty. From these 15 economies, in which the bottom quintile experienced an annual increase in income of at least 6 per cent over at least a decade, emerge four poverty-reduction pathways: i) industrialisation, ii) rural development, iii) social welfare and iv) petroleum-generated employment. In addition to helping us understand what policy approaches have actually helped reduce poverty, this paper has implications for understandings of economic growth, the impact of pro-growth policies, the relationship between state and market, and the roles of non-government organisations and civil society.
Journal of Contemporary China , 2013
China advocate the privatization of land ownership in China as a necessary step for the transform... more China advocate the privatization of land ownership in China as a necessary step for the transformation of China's agriculture system into a modern, large-scale, marketoriented and technology-intensive one. Chinese scholars advocating land privatization, for their part, typically argue that land privatization would better protect farmers' rights and interests. We present a contrarian view to these calls for land privatization. Under China's current system of collective land ownership and individualized land use rights, agriculture has modernized rapidly in China in a way that avoided privatization's many downsides. Land privatization, by contrast, would only exacerbate class inequality and social tension in rural China and further weaken farmers' positions in dealing with more powerful actors. Through analyzing six dimensions of this issueincreasing investment in land and agricultural productivity, promoting scaled-up modern agriculture, protecting farmer's land rights and preventing land grabs, enhancing rural livelihoods, and facilitating rural migrants' integration into cities
Journal of Contemporary China , 2009
Politics and Society , 2010
The development of factor markets has opened Chinese agriculture for the penetration of capitalis... more The development of factor markets has opened Chinese agriculture for the penetration of capitalism. This new round of rural transformation-China's agrarian transition-raises the agrarian question in the Chinese context. This study investigates how capitalist forms and relations of production transform agricultural production and the peasantry class in rural China. The authors identify six forms of nonpeasant agricultural production, compare the labor regimes and direct producers' socioeconomic statuses across these forms, and evaluate the role of China's land-rights institution in shaping these forms. The empirical investigation presents three main findings: (1) Peasant differentiation: capitalist forms of agricultural production differentiate peasants into a variety of new class positions. (2) Market-based stratification: producers in capitalist agriculture are primarily stratified by their positions in labor and land markets; their socioeconomic statuses are linked with their varying degrees of proletarianization. (3) Institutional mediation: rural China's dual-track land system plays a crucial role in shaping the diverse and unique forms of capitalist production.
Politics and Policy, 2007
The reform of agriculture in China is cited by scholars advocating economic growth through market... more The reform of agriculture in China is cited by scholars advocating economic growth through market reform. Such scholars argue that this aspect of reform has been characterized by the liberalization of markets for agricultural commodities, which spurred production, increased rural incomes, and reduced poverty. This view exaggerates the roles played by open markets and economic growth in that reform. This article argues that the role of the state in redistributing public assets, establishing institutions that supported markets, and designing and implementing poverty reduction policies also reduced poverty in China. I conclude that scholars, not just in China's case but also more generally, should examine the economic and political effects of various possible relationships between state and market. I offer this as one way forward in deepening our understanding of the role of politics and policy in promoting development and reducing poverty. Socialism means eliminating poverty. Pauperism is not socialism.
China Quarterly , 2007
How did the differing strategies adopted to develop tourism in Guizhou (贵州) and Yunnan (云南) affec... more How did the differing strategies adopted to develop tourism in Guizhou (贵州) and Yunnan (云南) affect patterns of economic development and poverty reduction? The answer is paradoxical. Both provincial governments incorporated tourism as part of their overall development strategies, but their eventual tourism sites were distributed and structured strikingly differently. In Yunnan, although tourism contributed to rapid economic growth, it did not reduce rural poverty as much as might be expected from a large rural-based industry. By contrast, Guizhou's relatively small-scale tourism industry, although not contributing significantly to growth, was distributed largely in poor areas and was structured to allow poor people to participate directly. The conclusions have implications for our understanding of provincial development strategy in China and ways that tourism can be used for development and poverty reduction.
International Studies Quarterly , 2003
Other Academic Publications by John Donaldson
Towards Pax Sinica? China's Rise and Transformation: Impacts and Implications, 2009
Singapore: The Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA) , 2021
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Peer Reviewed Journal Publications by John Donaldson
Other Academic Publications by John Donaldson