CIRJE-J-39. Zhong, Fei, "Big Bang versus Gradualism : The Political-Economy of the Patterns in Transition", January 2001.

This review article provides an analytical and comprehensive overview of the literature with mathematically rigorous analysis, focusing on the patterns in transition economies, where optimal speed, suitable scale, and appropriate sequencing of reforms are debated in the filed of political economy. It concludes that the big-bang strategy asserting a quick and simultaneous introduction of all reforms is not only the first-best policy to enhance economic efficiency, but also a necessary channel though which the property rights can be enforced effectively. Various qualitative and quantitative reasons are given for why the development of an institutional framework has a significant positive impact on economic growth. Meanwhile, it is also the case for gradualism when the effects of uncertainty and the constraints of political acceptability in the process of reforms are taken into account. The Chinese experience addresses some issues in transitional economies that may not be explained forcibly by the conventional wisdom, in which clearly-defined property rights within a regular economic environment are a prerequisite for economic mechanisms to perform well.