India was compelled by its democracy to pursue a politically decentralizing route, yet much economic decision-making authority remained embedded in New Delhi’s ossified bureaucracy, retarding growth. By contrast, China achieved economic decentralization, but preserved centralized political power, transferring economic-management responsibilities largely to provincial officials, which has created its own imbalances.
中国的政治制度与印度截然相反，但两国在最深层次结构性问题方面惊人地相似。两国都采取了分散化决策的改革——中国在20世纪80年代，印度在90年代，并取得了快速的进步。在民主制度的推动下，印度的政治决策分散化了，但相当多的经济决策当局仍嵌在新德里僵硬的官僚体制中，阻挠着经济增长。相反，中国实现了经济分散化，但保留了中央政治集权，经济管理责任大体上被下放到省级，而这导致了中国自身的失衡问题。