Marxist-Leninist State Capacity

Marxist-Leninist state capacity is the comparative claim in Getting entrepreneurial in Korea (Summer School) that some formerly Marxist-Leninist systems can grow quickly after dropping Marxism as economic doctrine because they retain strong state capacity. Oliver Kim names China and Vietnam as examples of economies that changed economic policy while keeping political control.

The source uses the idea to explain why North Korea is not simply held back by authoritarianism in general. Its problem is that the regime treats independent market success and alternative centers of power as threats, so donju entrepreneurship remains fragile rather than protected.

Connections

• China, Vietnam, and North Korea - source comparison cases.
• Informal Property-Rights Protection / 非正式产权保护 and Property Rights As Investment Incentive - institutional conditions that distinguish tolerated enterprise from confiscation risk.
• Development Economics - field context for the state-capacity comparison.