1st Edition
China, the West and the Myth of New Public Management Neoliberalism and its Discontents
In the West, innovations in new public management (NPM) have been regarded as part of the neoliberal project, whilst in China, these reforms have emerged from a very different economic and social landscape. Despite these differences however, similar measures to those introduced in the West have been adopted by the Chinese state, which has largely abandoned the planned economy and adopted market mechanisms in the pursuit of improved economic efficiency and growth.
Evaluating the results of these reforms in both China and the West between 1978 and 2011, this book shows that despite substantial improvements in economic efficiency in both cases under consideration, there have been considerable negative impacts on the distribution of wealth, access to public services, levels of poverty, public health, and the incidence of crime. Further, this book explores the different results of NPM in China and the West and the conclusions Paolo Urio draws have timely significance, as he suggests that China has been able to change its policies more rapidly and thus more effectively respond to the challenges posed by the current economic crisis.
Drawing on both Western and Chinese sources, this innovative book compares the consequences of their public management reforms, taking into account the impact on both the economy and society. As such, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars working in the fields of Chinese studies, Asian studies, business, economics, strategic public management and comparative studies in capitalism and socialism.
Introduction Part I: Analysing Public Management in China and in the West Chapter 1. From Public Administration to New Public Management: An intellectual journey Chapter 2. Comparing New Public Management in China and in the West: Some theoretical and methodological problems 2.1 Markets, free markets, market mechanisms, capitalism, and socialism 2.2 NPM, Capitalism, Neoliberalism, and the Washington Consensus 2.3 Capitalism, Welfare States, and empirical typologies of public management in the West 2.4 Measuring the impact of NPM in China and in the West 2.5 What we will actually compare Part II: The rise of New Public Management in China and in the West Chapter 3. The foundations of the Western experiment: Neoliberalism, New Public Management and the Washington consensus 3.1 The New Public Management or the impossible new paradigm of public management 3.2 The New Public Management and the impossible typology of NPM variants 3.3 The New Public Management and the doing away of democratic values 3.4 The New Public management, or: when the citizen gives way to the customer 3.5 The New Public Management or the inescapable consequences of the globalization of the economy 3.6 The New Public Management or the art of marketing in public management 3.7 The New Public Management ideal-type 3.8 The technical difficulties of NPM Chapter 4. The foundation of Chinese New Public Management: Deng’s reforms, or the demise of planned economy and the introduction of market mechanisms 3.1 The Chinese NPM: the choice of market mechanisms 3.2 Restoring China as a world power 3.3 How Chinese think and define their strategies 3.4 Fundamentals of China’s strategy for implementing NPM: market mechanisms, economic development, freedom and its limits 3.5 The importance of Chinese characteristics and the reference to socialism 3.6 The opening up of the decision-making process Part III: The crisis of New Public Management in the West and in China Chapter 5. The Western experiment: some positive economic achievements, many societal problems 5.1 The economic perspective: a view from above, or the development of economic power 5.2 The social perspective: a view from below, or the development of inequalities Chapter 6. The Chinese experiment: many success stories, considerable disparities and environmental damages, but also an astonishing capacity for reversing past policies 6.1 The economic perspective: a view from above, or catching up with the West 6.2 The social perspective: a view from below, or the development of inequalities 6.3 The rebalancing of Chinese society Conclusion. Chinese way, Western way, the 2008-11 crisis and beyond
Biography
Paolo Urio is Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Professor Urio has undertaken research on China’s reforms since 1997 and has published Reconciling State, Market and Society in China (Routledge 2010) on the subject. Between 1998 and 2003 he organized and directed a programme that trained in public management more than 400 senior Chinese civil servants and senior Party cadres.
