James Kai-sing Kung, "The Tragedy of the Nomenklatura: Career Incentives and Political Radicalism during China’s Great Leap Famine"

The Fairbank Center at Harvard University presents James Kai-sing Kung as part of their New England China Seminar.

The New England China Seminar is a two-part event. Please also see:
6:30 pm – Dinner Option, see below
7:30 pm  – Lecture by Joseph Fewsmith (USCI Event Page)

James Kai-sing Kung, Professor, Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Associate Dean, School of Humanities and Social Science

A salient feature of China’s Great Leap Famine was that political radicalism varied enormously across provinces. Using excessive grain procurement as a pertinent measure, we find that such variations were patterned systematically on the political career incentives of Communist Party officials rather than the conventionally assumed ideology or personal idiosyncrasies. Political rank alone can explain 16.83% of the excess death rate: the excess procurement ratio of provinces governed by alternate members of the Central Committee was about 3% higher than in provinces governed by full members, or there was an approximate 1.11‰ increase in the excess death rate. The stronger career incentives of alternate members can be explained by the distinctly greater privileges, status, and power conferred only on the rank of full members of the Central Committee and the “entry barriers” to the Politburo that full members faced.

James Kai-sing Kung is professor of social science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests are strongly steeped in the history, institutions, and development of China. They include: estimating the economic impact of the West (most notably the diffusion of Western religion) on late imperial China; the economics of social conflicts in historical China (Sino-nomadic conflict, peasant rebellions, and piracy); the relationship between culture and development; the growth implications of technical change and population dynamics in Ming-Qing China; social mobility in Qing China; and the political economy of contemporary China. His recent publications appear in The American Political Science Review, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Economic History Review, Explorations in Economic History and Economics Letters.

Dinner Option
We welcome participants who wish to attend both sessions of the New England China Seminar to join colleagues for a buffet dinner at 6:30-7:30 pm, in Room S030. The dinner cost is $15 per person ($10 for students). Due to space limitations, we will accept 30 reservations on a first come first serve basis. Advance reservation and payment is required. Please register before noon on Thursday, November 10, 2011, by clicking here.