China’s OBOR as a Geo-Functional Institutionalist Project

Kaplan Yilmaz ()
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Kaplan Yilmaz: Department of Business, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Erzurum Technical University Çat Yolu Üzeri 4.km, Erzurum 25070, Turkey

TalTech Journal of European Studies, 2017, vol. 7, issue 1, 7-23

Abstract: This study analyses the feasibility of China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative from an institutionalist perspective. The initiative is undertaken as a ‘geo-functional institutionalist’ project, and this strengthens its feasibility. Firstly, the initiative aims to institutionalize a new international structure paralleling the existing Western-dominated one through which China could re-organize its position as an ‘agenda entrepreneur’ in the world without any clash with the West. Secondly, the initiative follows a functionalist strategy. It offers a ‘win-win’ functionalist framework without any hegemonic ambition; thus, the initiative attracts the attention of the rest of the world. China also follows a pure functionalist and bilateral/regional way to deal with the heterogeneity problem among the target countries. However, China’s institutionalization attempt might be isomorphic with the existing Western-dominated system in terms of its hegemonic structure due to the cognitive limitations in finding alternatives, and this might ruin the feasibility of the initiative.

Keywords: China; functionalism; institutionalism; New Silk Road; One Belt; One Road initiative (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:bjeust:v:7:y:2017:i:1:p:7-23:n:2

DOI: 10.1515/bjes-2017-0002

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