Johns Hopkins SAIS expert available to discuss economic policies, industrial policies, and capitalism in China
EXPERT ADVISORY
In the era of globalization, China emerged as the world’s manufacturing titan. However, the “made in China” model — with its reliance on cheap labor and thin profits — has begun to wane.
The Chinese state eventually shifted from attracting foreign investment to promoting the technological competitiveness of domestic firms, with the most recent effort seen in Made in China 2025. This shift caused tensions between winners and losers, leading bureaucrats to compete for government budget, funding, and tax breaks for their business clients. While governments successfully motivated local businesses to upgrade in some cities — giving rise to firms such as Huawei — in other cities, the promotion of upgrading worked less effectively and may have even hurt businesses.
Paradoxically, cities where bureaucrats focused their attention on top, large global firms during the 1990s were less successful at local upgrading in the 2000s, according to Ling Chen, Assistant Professor of International Political Economy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Her new book, “Manipulating Globalization: The Influence of Bureaucrats on Business in China,” draws on in-depth interviews, original surveys, and data across hundreds of cities and thousands of firms to examine how China managed to pursue industrial policies within the globalized era.
“We felt the pressure from China’s economic rise and industrial competitiveness, but we need to know how firms got there in the first place,” Chen said. The scholar is available to further discuss:
- What are the changing strategies city governments employ to attract foreign investors?
- How do bureaucrats coordinate the relations between domestic and foreign enterprises in the electronics and IT industry?
- What kind of environments give rise to firms such as Huawei and ZTE?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of the emerging paradigm of domestic technology competitiveness?
- How does the FDI attraction model affect a government’s response to domestic upgrading and development strategies?
- How do historical top-down and bottom-up models of capitalism condition local government preferences and reactions to development initiatives?
Chen’s research interests lie in the political economy of China and East Asia — specifically the political origins of economic policies and government-business relations. Before joining Johns Hopkins SAIS in 2015, she was a Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University and Rajawali Fellow at the Ash Center of Harvard Kennedy School. Her work has appeared in World Development, Politics & Society, The China Journal, Review of International Political Economy, and New Political Economy.
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About Johns Hopkins SAIS
A division of Johns Hopkins University, the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a global institution that offers students an international perspective on today's critical issues. For nearly 75 years, Johns Hopkins SAIS has produced great leaders, thinkers, and practitioners of international relations. Public leaders and private sector executives alike seek the counsel of the faculty, whose ideas and research inform and shape policy. Johns Hopkins SAIS offers a global perspective across three campus locations: Bologna, Italy; Nanjing, China; and Washington, D.C. The school’s interdisciplinary curriculum is strongly rooted in the study of international economics, international relations, and regional studies, preparing students to address multifaceted challenges in the world today.
For more information, visit sais-jhu.edu or @SAISHopkins
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