Brown University Working Group on China: Henderson, J. Vernon

Vernon Henderson first worked on China as a member of a team of economic experts engaged by the World Bank in 1984, which undertook a study of China's economic prospects and issues looking to the year 2000. Henderson examined the challenges associated with urbanization in a transitioning economy. The team spent 6 weeks travelling through China in the Spring 1985 and Henderson returned with his family for another 5 months later that year. In 2000, in preparation for the tenth 5 year plan, a World Bank team examined problems and prospects associated with China's rapid urbanization and urban transformation, under China' institutional restrictions. Henderson's participation in the that project led to a research project on the economic and social costs of the hukou system which restricts migration and urbanization in China. Henderson teaches a course on urbanization in China, examining urban population growth, migration, housing markets, issues facing migrants in cities, and the urban transformation of Shanghai.

Publications and reports on China:

"International Experience in Urbanization and its Relevance for China ,"  World Bank Staff Working , paper no. 758, 1986.           

"Urban Issues in a Planned Economy: China ,"  Chapter 11 in Urban Development: Theory, Fact and Illusion , Oxford University Press, 1988

“The Spatial Distribution of Economic Activities in Japan and China (with M. Fujita, Y. Kanemoto,  T. Mori), Handbook of Urban and Regional Economics , J.V. Henderson and J-F Thisse (eds), North Holland . 2004.

 "Growth of China 's Medium Size Cities" Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs 2005 . W. Gale and J. Rothenberg (eds.) Brookings Institute, 2005

“How Migration Restrictions Limit Agglomeration and Productivity in China ,” Journal of Economic Development , (with C.C Au), forthcoming (on journal website)

“Are Chinese Cities Too Small”, Review of Economic Studies, forthcoming (on journal website).

"Spatial Dimensions of Chinese Economic Development" (with K.W. Chan and K.Y. Tsui) China's Economic Transition: Origins, Mechanism and Consequences" L. Brandt and T. Rawski (eds),  forthcoming