The M-form hierarchy and China's economic reform☆

This is a condensed version of Qian and Xu (1992). We would like to thank Philippe Aghion, Masahiko Aoki, Patrick Bolton, Avner Grief, Athar Hussain, Carla Krüger, Nicholas Lardy, Eric Maskin, John McMillan, Dwight Perkins, Louis Putterman, Gérard Roland, Anna Seleny, Martin Weitzman and Wu Jinglian for helpful discussions and comments. Qian's research is sponsored by the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the Hewlett Fund for the Institute of International Studies at Stanford, and Xu's research is sponsored by the Center of Economic Performance (CEP) and the Suntory-Toyota International Center for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD) at London School of Economics.