The Economy of The Song Dynasty or The Experience of Failed Modernization: The Boundaries of Institutional Corridors

Abstract

The article contributes to institutional matrices theory (Kirdina, 2011). On the reforms carried out in China during the Song Dynasty in the second half of the XI century, the hypothesis of the existence of so-called "institutional corridors" is considered. The "institutional corridor" implies a space limited by a set of certain institutions that define the principles of decision-making and the boundaries of institutional environment reform. The article briefly describes the economic situation of China during the Song dynasty, analyzes the main reforms carried out by the first Minister of the empire Wang Anshi and the reasons for their failure. The concept of jing ji is analyzed. Jing ji assumes an integrated approach to regulating the economy in China, based on Confucian ethics' moral and ethical concepts. The concept of jing ji has become the main one in regulating the economy in China. It is concluded that Confucian ideology during the implementation of the Wang Anshi reforms became the defining boundary of the "institutional corridor" of the variable that predetermined the failure of the reforms. The reforms of Wang Anshi, often called a Proto-Keynesian, went beyond the ideological "institutional corridor" and were therefore doomed to failure.