The Developing Economies
Volume 38, Number 1 (March 2000)
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CONTENTS
Marketization on the Chinese Rural Economy and Changes in the Economic Behavior of Farmers
Introduction (28KB) / Hiromi Yamamoto
Marketization of the Chinese Economy and Reform of the Grain Distribution System (130KB) / Hiromi Yamamoto
Problems concerning Grain Production and Distribution in China: The Case of Heilongjiang Province (97KB) / Toshiyuki Kako and Jianping Zhang
Rural-Urban Migration and Labor Markets in China: A Case Study in a Northeastern Province (74KB) / Wang Tianhong, Atsushi Maruyama, and Masao Kikuchi
Abstract
Hiromi
Yamamoto,"Marketization
of
the
Chinese
Economy
and
Reform
of
the
Grain
Distribution
System,"
pp.
11-50.
This
paper
analyzes
the
relationship
between
economic
liberalization
and
the
reform
of
the
grain
distribution
system,
and
the
relationship
between
economic
liberalization
and
the
terms
of
trade
between
agricultural
and
industrial
goods
in
China.
It
shows
that
the
present
reform
of
the
grain
distribution
system
represents
a
shift
from
directly
controlled
to
indirectly
controlled
management.
Given
the
differentials
between
domestic
and
international
prices,
price
increases
under
the
government's
grain
price
policy
have
reached
a
ceiling.
With
its
admittance
into
the
WTO
in
the
near
future
and
the
opening
of
its
market
for
agricultural
products,
China
will
have
to
improve
agricultural
productivity
by
undertaking
structural
adjustment
reforms.
Toshiyuki
Kako
and
Jianping
Zhang,"Problems
concerning
Grain
Production
and
Distribution
in
China:
The
Case
of
Heilongjiang
Province,"
pp.
51-79.
Heilongjiang
Province
in
northeastern
China
has
been
blessed
with
ample
agricultural
resources
and
thus
serves
as
one
of
the
most
important
food
supply
bases
in
China.
The
growth
in
grain
production
there
over
the
last
twenty
years
has
been
remarkable
and
has
contributed
greatly
to
improvement
in
the
nationwide
food
supply.
Rice
production
has
shown
the
fastest
growth
among
all
the
grains,
due
to
rapid
technological
change
and
expansion
of
rice
planted
area.
Technology
transfer
of
the
dry
field
seedling
transplantation
method
from
Japan
has
helped
most
to
stabilize
and
increase
Heilongjiang's
rice
yield
and
expand
rice
planted
area
northward,
by
overcoming
such
disadvantageous
conditions
as
cold
weather
and
short
frost-free
seasons.
Agricultural
measures,
such
as
extending
farmland
lease
contract
durations,
establishing
a
more
rational
agricultural
financial
system,
building
cooperative
sales
organizations,
and
promoting
upstream
and
downstream
industries,
are
necessary
for
the
agricultural
development
of
Heilongjiang
Province
in
the
future.
Wang
Tianhong,
Atsushi
Maruyama,
and
Masao
Kikuchi,"Rural-Urban
Migration
and
Labor
Markets
in
China:
A
Case
Study
in
a
Northeastern
Province,"
pp.
80-104.
Rural-urban
labor
migration
in
Heilongjiang
Province
is
examined
based
on
data
collected
from
micro-level
surveys
which
show
that
the
degree
of
rural-urban
migration
has
been
considerable.
Most
of
rural-urban
migrants
find
jobs
in
the
urban
informal
sector
and
the
overwhelming
majority
of
workers
in
this
sector
are
immigrants
from
rural
villages
in
the
province.
Rural
immigrants
are
also
found
in
the
blue-collar
labor
markets
of
the
urban
formal
sector.
These
urban
labor
markets
are
characterized
by
no
or
low
entry
barriers.
Comparison
of
the
daily
wage/earnings
among
various
labor
markets
along
the
rural-urban
continuum
indicates
that
significant
wage
differentials
between
the
rural
and
urban
labor
markets
induces
large
rural-urban
migration.
It
also
supports
the
hypothesis
that
the
urban
labor
markets,
excluding
the
labor
market
for
white-collar
jobs,
are
integrated
into
a
single
well
functioning
labor
market
linked
together
with
the
rural
labor
markets.
Peter Wilson,"The Dilemma of a More Advanced Developing Country: Conflicting Views on the Development Strategy of Singapore," pp. 105-34.
This paper considers why Singapore appears to be reluctant to accept reclassification as a fully developed country. The country's development record since the mid-1960s is examined from a number of perspectives including aggregate measures of income per head, structural change, changes in welfare, and comparative rankings using noneconomic criteria. Although Singapore is not easy to classify in the development spectrum, there seems to be little reason to delay reclassification unless noneconomic criteria are deemed paramount. This paper also asks whether there is any substance to the argument that Singapore has special problems of a more dynamic nature which might justify its present status as a developing country or"more advanced developing country." Whilst conventional arguments that it"lacks the depth and breadth of fully developed economies," or is not competitive enough, do uncover some special features of the Singapore economy, these are not persuasive enough to disqualify it from graduation.