Maoist China: During the embryonic stage of communist centralization, the productivity of manufacturing sectors more than doubled; this growth was largely obtained by the exploitation from agriculture and low compensation for workers

Chi, Shawn, Rob Peter to Pay Paul: The Maoist Growth of a Socialist Economy (January 1, 2022). SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4006757

Abstract: This paper explains the stylized facts during China's collectivization movement. Despite the spectacular organization of communism, few studies, to my knowledge, have systematically assessed its uncanny productivity effects. I examine the inter-industrial difference of productivity growth and compare its outcome to a decentralized capitalist economy. During the embryonic stage of communist centralization, the productivity of manufacturing sectors more than doubled. However, this manufacturing growth is largely obtained by the exploitation from agriculture and low compensation for workers.

Keywords: socialistic economy, industrialization, productivity, exploitation

JEL Classification: D24, N15, O14, P21, P32