{"product_id":"how-china-escaped-the-poverty-trap-cornell-studies-in-political-economy","title":"How China Escaped the Poverty Trap (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)","description":"WINNER OF THE 2017 PETER KATZENSTEIN BOOK PRIZE\n\"BEST OF BOOKS IN 2017\" BY FOREIGN AFFAIRS\nWINNER OF THE 2018 VIVIAN ZELIZER PRIZE BEST BOOK AWARD IN ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY\n\n\"How China Escaped the Poverty Trap truly offers game-changing ideas for the analysis and implementation of socio-economic development and should have a major impact across many social sciences.\"\n― Zelizer Best Book in Economic Sociology Prize Committee\nAcclaimed as \"game changing\" and \"field shifting,\" How China Escaped the Poverty Trapadvances a new paradigm in the political economy of development and sheds new light on China's rise.\nHow can poor and weak societies escape poverty traps? Political economists have traditionally offered three answers: \"stimulate growth first,\" \"build good institutions first,\" or \"some fortunate nations inherited good institutions that led to growth.\"\nYuen Yuen Ang rejects all three schools of thought and their underlying assumptions: linear causation, a mechanistic worldview, and historical determinism. Instead, she launches a new paradigm grounded in complex adaptive systems, which embraces the reality of interdependence and humanity's capacity to innovate.\nCombining this original lens with more than 400 interviews with Chinese bureaucrats and entrepreneurs, Ang systematically reenacts the complex process that turned China from a communist backwater into a global juggernaut in just 35 years. Contrary to popular misconceptions, she shows that what drove China's great transformation was not centralized authoritarian control, but \"directed improvisation\"—top-down directions from Beijing paired with bottom-up improvisation among local officials.\nHer analysis reveals two broad lessons on development. First, transformative change requires an adaptive governing system that empowers ground-level actors to create new solutions for evolving problems. Second, the first step out of the poverty trap is to \"use what you have\"—harnessing existing resources to kick-start new markets, even if that means defying first-world norms.\nBold and meticulously researched, How China Escaped the Poverty Trapopens up a whole new avenue of thinking for scholars, practitioners, and anyone seeking to build adaptive systems.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 1501700200\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: BVV.1501700200.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Ang, Yuen Yuen\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact  including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Blue Vase Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43374660780093,"sku":"BVV.1501700200.G","price":15.31,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0589\/4225\/9261\/files\/1501700200-0.jpg?v=1784594300","url":"https:\/\/www.bluevasebooks.com\/products\/how-china-escaped-the-poverty-trap-cornell-studies-in-political-economy","provider":"Blue Vase Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}