This book examines the role of institutions in Chinaâs recent large-scale economic social and political transformation. The book argues that although the importance of institutions in Chinaâs rapid economic growth and social development over the past 30 years is widely acknowledged exactly how institutions affect changes in particular national and historical settings is less well understood. Unlike existing literature it offers perspectives from a variety of disciplines - including law economics politics international relations and communication studies â to consider whether institutions form evolve and change differently according to their historical or cultural environments and if their utilitarian functions can and should be observed identified and measured in different ways. The book discusses Chinaâs political and legal institutions; the international institutions with which China engages; institutions promoting science and technology; media companies; and local institutions including the household registration system. It also examines how institutions themselves have been formed changed and re-formed over recent decades and suggests theoretical and methodological adjustments in institutional analysis to allow a fuller understanding of the institutional dynamics of Chinaâs transformation. . Language: English