University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 5-6-2011 Political Institutions and Regional Inequality in China: 1949 to 2005 Qiang Yan University of Missouri-St. Louis,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Yan, Qiang, "Political Institutions and Regional Inequality in China: 1949 to 2005" (2011). Dissertations. 437. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/437 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Political Institutions and Regional Inequality in China: 1949 to 2005 Qiang Yan M.A. Applied Economics, Clemson University, 2009 M.A. Political Science, University of Memphis, 2003 M.A. History, Yangzhou University, 2000 A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School at the University of Missouri—St Louis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy December 2009 Advisory Committee Dr. David Robertson, Chair Dr. Kenneth Thomas Dr. David Kimball Dr. Hung-Gay Fung Abstract Patterns of economic inequality across three Chinese regions-- the West, the Inland, and the Coastal area-- changed twice from 1949 to 2005. During the period 1949 to 1979 regional inequality decreased, and after 1979 inequality increased. Previous studies, including economic models, cultural studies, and international relations theory, cannot fully explain changes in Chinese regional inequality after 1949. This dissertation uses Institutional Theory (IT) to analyze the changing patterns of Chinese regional economic inequality after 1949.