Also included in the volume is Nolan's well-known Journal of Peasant Studies (1993) critique of Amartya Sen's approach to famines. Nolan argues, based mainly on China's great famine following the disastrous Great Leap Forward of 1958-1959, that Sen's emphasis on people's 'entitlements' to food has obscured the key issue of food availability decline (FAD). A carefully documented account of the Chinese famine suggests that Sen's institutional solutions come into play only when the FAD has occurred, and that Sen ignores the importance of the massive falls in food output throughout China that triggered the famine.
Nolan's reprinted works appear not to have been updated for re-publication. Although there is a very brief introductory chapter that is newly written, it raises questions rather than answering them. It is disappointing, in particular, that Nolan does not confide in us any view on the reasons for sharply increased inequality in China, and its implications for the lessons for other countries of China's development policies. Nevertheless, readers (and libraries) will be glad to have the key writings of this influential writer on China conveniently collected together.
Yao and Liu's book is a collection of papers mainly by Chinese economists now resident overseas, based on a conference of the Chinese Economic Association of the UK in 2000. The 14 chapters are divided into three sections: on general economic issues; industry, agriculture and the financial market; and openness and social issues. There is also an introductory overview by the editors. Given the collection's diversity, most readers will want to read selectively. I found particularly useful the chapter by John Wong, who argues that China can maintain its competitiveness in labour intensive products by shifting production inland when the coastal regions start to move to middle income status. Also, Yang Chen and Richard Saunders' discussion of the need for further institutional innovation to strengthen property rights takes us in interesting directions, such as stock exchange reform. The quantitative analysis in Shujie Yao and Zongyi Zhang's chapter shows how both export performance and the attraction of direct foreign investment were strongly influenced by real exchange rate depreciations against the dollar from the early years of the post-1978 reforms to 1998 (where the analysis stops). Such information could have strengthened the resolve of Chinese negotiators arguing against the US case that China should revalue the renminbi!