This paper examines the Sachs-Woo hypothesis that the gradual approach to reform, though successful in China, was not possible in the USSR because of structural differences between these two economies. To examine this hypothesis, this paper abstracts from the issue of structural differences by...

This paper examines the Sachs and Woo hypothesis that the experience of Vietnam's 1989 reforms shows that China would have grown faster had she followed the ‘big bang’ approach to reform instead of the gradual approach. The paper scrutinises this hypothesis from the viewpoint of accuracy of...