The institution of a stockmarket in a socialist economy: Notes on the Chinese economic reform program

This paper is concerned with three questions: (a) how would a stockmarket help economic and industrial development in a country like China; (b) will a stockmarket be system-compatible; and (c) if a full-fledged stockmarket is indeed introduced in a socialist economy, can its “negative influences” (speculation, booms and crashes) be minimized? These issues are examined analytically with the help of empirical evidence of stockmarket behavior in advanced and newly industrializing economies. Although the paper considers the specific case of China, the argument is more general and has application to other developing as well as centrally planned economies.