ABSTRACT
China’s initial reforms triggered an unprecedented acceleration of agricultural growth. From 1979 to 1984, the gross value of agricultural output increased in real terms at an annual rate of 7.6 percent, and grain production rose by 4.9 percent annually (ZGTJNJ, 1989). Empirical studies (McMillan et al. 1989; Lin 1992; Huang and Rozelle 1996) attribute a significant part of this increase to the incentives associated with better residual income rights. 1 Growth slackened after 1984, however, especially for grain production. From 1985 to 1994, grain output rose only 0.9 percent per year (ZGTJNJ 1996), despite expanded efforts to further liberalize rural input and output markets.
