Modern Economy and Business in China
Provides an integrated approach to analyzing the economy, geopolitics, and political economy of China through case studies, lectures, and class discussions. Covers modern history, economics, and politics in China that shape the business environment, cases of companies entering or operating in the Chinese market, and also issues related to Taiwan and Hong Kong. Students work on real-world problems and challenges facing policymakers and company executives. Topics include economic and political decision-making, technological development, economic growth, capital inflows and outflows, middle-income trap, and advantages and disadvantages of autocracy.
Spring 2008 · Economy and Business in Modern China and India
As markets or production bases, China and India are becoming important and integral players in the global economy. Foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio investments and outsourcing businesses have increased dramatically in these two economies. Despite the rising importance of these two economies on the world stage, our knowledge and analysis of these two countries in an integrated manner has remained poor. The two are often lumped together by business analysts as "emerging markets," despite the substantial differences in their political systems, reform policies and business organizations. Academics, in contrast, have tended to treat the two countries separately, preferring to specialize in issues and questions specific to one or the other country. The purpose of this course is to analyze these two countries within a coherent analytical framework. Our learning model is inductive, and heavily based on class discussions and participation. The group projects should aim at integrating analysis, knowledge and understanding of these two countries. We will also experiment with other forms of group projects, such as creating and working on business plans and those projects that integrate research from field trips with more traditional research, such as library research. There is no prerequisite but 15.012 (Applied Macro- and International Economics) and 15.223 (Global Markets, National Policies and the Competitive Advantage of Firms) are highly recommended.
Readings
- SES #: 1 · TOPICS: Introduction to the course · READINGS: Engardio, Peter. “A New World Economy.” Businessweek , August 22, 2005.
- Vietor, Richard, and Emily Thompson. “India on the Move.” HBS Case: 9-703-050, March 10, 2008.
- Oi, Jean, Chris Bebenek, and Debora Spar. “China: Building ‘Capitalism with Socialist Characteristics.’” HBS Case: 9-706-041, October 16, 2006.
- Anand, Bharat, Nitin Nohria, and John Pegg. “ICICI (A).” HBS Case: 9-701-064, March 31, 2003.
- McFarlan, F. Warren, Li Jin, and Tracy Yuen Manty. “China’s Financial Markets: 2006.” HBS Case: 9-307-058, October 29, 3006.
- “Infosys in India: Building a Software Giant in a Corrupt Environment.” HBS Case: 9-707-030, January 23, 2007.
- Farhoomand, Ali, and Claudia Woo. “Business Corruption in China.” Hong Kong University Case. Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong University Publishing. Case: 581, June 22, 2006.
- Lu, Qiwen. “The Legend Computer Group Company.” Chapter 3 in China’s Leap into the Information Age . New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780198295372.
- Rukstad, Michael, et al. “A Technology Legend in China.” HBS Case: 9-701-052, April 5, 2001. (Consult the exhibits of this case. No need to read the case.)
- Nanda, Ashish, and Thomas J. DeLong. “Infosys Technologies.” HBS Case: 9-801-445, May 9, 2001.
- Kuemmerle, Walter, and William Coughlin. “Infosys: Financing an Indian Software Start-up.” HBS Case: 9-800-103, April 5, 2000.
- Khanna, Tarun, Krishna Palepu, and Richard Bullock. “Blue River Capital.” HBS Case: 9-708-448, October 4, 2007.
- Glynn, John, Peter Ziebelman, and Bethany Coates. “StartUp Capital Ventures.” Stanford Business School Case. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Publishing. Case: E-247, February 2, 2007.
- Huang, Yasheng, and Jean Yang. “SOHO China.” HBS Case: 9-703-011, March 24, 2003.
- Khanna, Tarun, and Paula Campbell. “Diasporas: Causes and Effects.” HBS Case: 9-703-510, April 22, 2003.
- Huang, Yasheng. “FDI in China.” HBS Case: 9-701-061, March 14, 2001.
- Wells, Louis, Jr. “Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (A) and (B) (Abridged).” HBS Case: 9-797-085, 9-797-086, February 4, 1997. (Skim part B.)
- Huang, Yasheng, and Harold Hogan Jr. “India’s Intellectual Property Rights Regime and the Pharmaceutical Industry.” HBS Case: 9-702-039, March 25, 2002.
- von Krogh, Georg, and Stefan Haefliger. “Nurturing Respect for IP in China.” Harvard Business School Review 84, no. 4 (2007): 23-24.
- Huang, Yasheng, and Eric Thun. “Shanghai Volkswagen.” HBS Case: 9-700-001, July 8, 1999.
- Tao, Zhigang, and Emily Ho. “Shanghai General Motors: The Rise of a Late-Comer.” Hong Kong University Case. Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong University Publishing. Case: 395, April 27, 2005. (Skim only.)
- Rangan, V. Kasturi, and Rohithari Rajan. “Unilever in India: Hindustan Lever’s Project Shakti — Marketing FMCG to the Rural Consumer.” HBS Case: 9-505-056, June 27, 2007.
- Rangan, V. Kasturi. “The Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight.” HBS Case: 9-593-098, April 1, 1993.
- Prahalad, C. K., and Allen Hammond. “Serving the World’s Poor, Profitably.” Harvard Business Review , September 2002, 48-58.
- Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom . New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1999. ISBN: 9780385720274. (Read the introductory chapter and chapters 6 and 7.)
- Huang, Yasheng, and Tarun Khanna. “Can India Overtake China?” Foreign Policy , July 2003, 74-81.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: None G (Spring) 3-0-9 units
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2008
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.