Online Book Talk—Household Registration: A Tale of Two Cities

You’re invited to an online discussion with Anthony Saich, Director of the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, and Kunling Zhang, Assistant Professor of Economics at Beijing Normal University, on their latest book, Institutional Change and Adaptive Efficiency: A Study of China’s Hukou System Evolution. Rana Mitter, S.T. Lee Professor of US-Asia Relations, will serve as discussant. This event is co-sponsored by the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

Abstract

The household registration system (hukou) is widely seen as a major factor contributing to inequality in China. Individuals’ benefits depend on where their registration is located, with rural residents enjoying considerably less welfare support than their urban counterparts. This has been especially problematic for migrant laborers. There have been calls to abolish the system, and even the central leadership has advocated for its amendment or removal. Yet, many cities maintain it in some form. This talk explains why. 

Before reforms, policy was exogenous, determined by Beijing. Subsequently, changes have become exogenous, driven by bottom-up initiatives to modify the system. An examination of the cities of Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou reveals how the local political economy shapes the outcomes of hukou reform. 

About the Speakers

Anthony Saich is the director of the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School.  

Saich was a trustee member of the National Committee on US-China Relations (2014-20), is a board member of AMC Entertainment Inc. and International Bridges to Justice and was the Chair of the China Medical Board (2015-2019). Previously, he was the representative for the Ford Foundation’s China Office from 1994 to 1999. The work at the Foundation included programs on legal representation, reproductive health, poverty alleviation, and international affairs. Prior to this, he was director of the Sinological Institute at Leiden University in the Netherlands. 

His current research focuses on politics and governance in post-Mao China and philanthropy in China. His most recent books include From Rebel to Ruler. One Hundred Years of the Chinese Communist Party (2021); Finding Allies and Making Revolution. The Early years of the Chinese Communist Party (2020); Governance and Politics of China (Fifth edition, forthcoming); Institutional Change and Adaptive Efficiency. A Study of China’s Hukou System Evolution (2023). 

Kunling Zhang holds a PhD in Economics from Beijing Normal University. He is now an Assistant Professor of Economics in Belt and Road School at Beijing Normal University, teaching courses to graduate and undergraduate students on public economics. Previously, he was a visiting fellow at the Australian National University (2017–2018) and Harvard Kennedy School (2019–2020). His current research focuses on the fields of development economics, institutional economics and political economy, especially the role of institutional change in economic transformation of developing countries. He has published about 20 academic articles on economics (in both Chinese and English). 

Rana Mitter is the S.T. Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is the author of several books, including Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II (2013) which won the 2014 RUSI/Duke of Westminster’s Medal for Military Literature, and was named a Book of the Year in the Financial Times and Economist. His latest book is China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism (Harvard, 2020).  

His writing on contemporary China has appeared recently in Foreign Affairs, the Harvard Business Review, The Spectator, The Critic, and The Guardian. He has commented regularly on China in media and forums around the world, including at the World Economic Forum at Davos. His recent documentary on contemporary Chinese politics “Meanwhile in Beijing” is available on BBC Sounds. He is co-author, with Sophia Gaston, of the report “Conceptualizing a UK-China Engagement Strategy” (British Foreign Policy Group, 2020). He won the 2020 Medlicott Medal for Service to History, awarded by the UK Historical Association. He previously taught at Oxford, and is a Fellow of the British Academy. 

Event Details

This event is online-only and registration is required. A recording will be made available after the event’s conclusion.

The Ash Center encourages individuals with disabilities to participate in its events. Should you wish to enquire about an accommodation, please contact our events team at info@ash.harvard.edu prior to the event.

Additional questions? Email the Ash Center events team at info@ash.harvard.edu.