This commentary applauds Haveman, Joseph-Goteiner, and Li's (2023) efforts to build arguments around institutional logics to explain China’s remarkable economic progress since 1978. But it also calls for broadening the focus of this inquiry so it can more generally explain why and how some societies are able to build connections between cultures and institutions that enable widespread societal progress, while other countries fail to do so. In particular, I suggest that this line of inquiry would benefit from drawing more deeply on the extensive body of writings by economic historians who have compared the economic progress of different societies over a long period.

本文赞同对中国过去几十年来的经济增长进行‘制度逻辑’的分析，因为这些不同的制度逻辑对我们理解社会变革有至关重要的作用。为了说明这一点，本文首先回顾以往文献，讨论诸如价值观、信念、社会规范等文化元素体系，以及在社会秩序结构演变过程中，这些文化元素体系对于界定和解释社会经济变化过程中具体措施的作用，尤其是威权的形式和合作模式。本文着重讨论了这些秩序形式及决定因素。作者认为，中国的经验可以很好地用来说明 个事实，那就是：文化塑造体制，体制塑造经济政策和应对措施。