Historical Investigation On The China's Reform Of Factor Marketization(1979-2013)

After 40 years of reform and opening up,the China has achieved a historic leap from “standing up” to “becoming rich”.From 1978 to 2017,China's economy achieved an average annual growth rate of 9.5%,which creates a miracle in history.However,China's economy faces multiple challenges in imbalance of demand structure,industrial structure and income distribution structure.The phenomenon where China's rapid economic growth and structural imbalances both exist simultaneously is called the “mystery of China's economic growth”.Most of the existing researches start from the typical fact of “asymmetric marketization” that China's market-based allocation of production factors lags behind the market-based allocation of commodities,and empirically analyzes the economic effects of factor price distortion to explain the “mystery of China's economic growth” and recommend policy to accelerate factor price marketization reform.However,it is rare to examine the historical process of China's reform in marketization in production of factors,and to trace the deep reasons for the lag of marketization of China's production factor from a historical perspective.Thus,under the background of focus on factor marketization reform in 2013,this paper analyzes,as a starting point,the distort production-factor pricing system and planned allocation system formed in the traditional planned economy period according to characteristics of China's production-factor marketization reform.Then this paper divides reform into exploration stage,proceeding stage and deepening stage,corresponding to the economic system transformation(1979-1991),the establishment of the market system(1992-2001)and the improvement of the market system(2002-2013).This paper systematically combines the historical context of the reform of factor marketization from 1979 to 2013,and in-depth study of the historical logic of the lag of factor marketization,trying to find the constraints of reform of production-factor marketization,provide new ideas for the current reforms.In the traditional planned economy period,the distort production-factor pricing system and planned allocation system,which originated from priority policy of heavy industry development,made China establish an independent and complete industrial system before the reform and opening up,but the cost is significantly high: the industrial structure is severely deformed,the efficiency of factor allocation is low,and the improvement living standards are stagnant.In the late 1970 s,with the transformation of economic strategy and the initiation of market-oriented reforms,reform of production-factor marketization brought to catch attention,the distort production-factor pricing system and planned allocation system became the target and starting point of production-factor marketization reform.During the period of economic system transformation(1979-1991),the reform of production-factor began to explore.Although there is still a theoretical paradox that production-factors are not commodities,the marketization of commodities prices and the diversification of market entities have impacted old pricing and allocation system,and the production-factor market began to grow up.Nevertheless,compared with the price of commodities,the degree of marketization of the production-factor is still very low and the factor price distortion is still very serious,which intensify the difficulties of macro-control and disorder of market.These conflicts make the reform to enter into the proceeding stage.During the period of establishment of the market system(1992-2001),the theoretical paradox was broken,and the commercial attributes of factors and the basic status of the factor market were established.With integration with commodities price marketization the reform of production-factor marketization began officially and proceeded comprehensively.However,state-owned enterprises bear a majority of strategic and social burdens and need support in quantity and price of factors.Thus the “double-track system” of production-factor prices is formed,which causes many frictions in the economy.Smoothing these frictions would help to create conditions for deepen factor marketization reform.During the period of improvement of the market system(2002-2013),the reform was further promoted,but was constrained by local government intervention,factor market segmentation and factor price distortion did not disappear,resulting in rapid economic growth multiple structural imbalances.Factor price distortions have become the main characteristics of traditional economic development.By examining the historical process of China's production-factor marketization reform,this paper draws the following basic conclusions: First,the overall lag of factor marketization is the basic feature of China's market system;Second,reform of production-factor marketization is constrained by multiple elements;Third,the constraint of factor marketization is originated from “two-track progressive reform strategy”;Fourth,factor price distortion is an important determinant and locking mechanism for traditional development;Fifth,accelerating the reform of production-factor marketization is the key to achieving high-quality economic development.With the changes in the development factors such as China's economic scale,factor endowment,comparative advantage and market maturity,the realistic conditions for accelerating the reform are already in place,and the reform of factor marketization has been feasible.From the historical perspective,the reform of production-factor marketization is constrained by multiple elements,involving all aspects of the economic system.Accelerating the reform of factor marketization needs to be promoted in an integrated manner,focusing on coordination with other related reforms.In this way,it is possible to really establish a competitive production-factor market system and form a modern economic system,thereby promoting quality change,efficiency change,and power change,and achieving a successful transition from high-speed growth to high-quality growth.