Coase on China: Property rights and transaction costs revisited

Abstract

The Coase theorem is usually presented in a reduced form that makes the questionable assumption that transaction costs can be zero. It also overlooks the effects of sharing the benefit obtained by cooperative agreements. Actually, in post-Mao China Coase’s theorem unexpectedly worked in the most fluid of situation although property rights were in the making and benefits accrued were large. The experience of Chinese capitalism demands a recasting of the Coase theorem to make it less static and more powerful than it appears in the usual static reduce form.