ABSTRACT
Tsang Shu-ki analyses reforms and integration in Greater China from the perspective of political economy. Studies continue to demonstrate the validity of cross-national comparisons and similarities between ethnic Chinese, presumably reinforced by foreign direct investment and joint ventures. Kaiser et al continue with the theme of inward investment in China at greater length. As a result, on the surface at least, to offer an intuitively persuasive explanation of the competitiveness of Greater China and of the prospects for intra-regional economic convergence, the culturalist approach is perhaps worth examining in more detail. In particular, the methodological procedure of culturalist approaches warrants critical examination. Culture has already been used to explain successful economic development in Japan and the ‘East Asian Tigers’, and for this reason its intuitive appeal as far as explaining competitiveness within, and convergence between, the regions of Greater China is obvious enough.
