Chinese peasant entrepreneurs: an examination of township and village

One of the greatest achievements in China's economic reform is the development of rural township and village enterprises (TVEs). Their importance in the national economy can be seen from the fact that by the end of 1993, TVEs accounted for nearly one third of the agricultural labour force, and one fifth of the total labour force nationwide. Despite some research attention being given to Chinese TVEs, the peasant entrepreneurs, owners and /or managers of these enterprises have remained largely unknown in the West. Who are they? Where are they from? What are their unique characteristics which distinguish them from both managers in the state-owned Chinese enterprises (SOEs) and small business owners /entrepreneurs in the West? What environmental factors contribute to the shaping of these characteristics? What are the problems faced by them and the possible solutions? This paper addresses these questions

'To get rich is not only glorious': economic reform and the new entrepreneurial party secretaries

This article examines the profound transformation market reforms have brought to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) rural grassroots organizations. Focusing on the political rise of private entrepreneurs and other economically successful individuals who recently obtained village Party secretary appointments in a north China county, the article explores their differing promotion channels, power bases, political resources and motivations to take up the CCP's grassroots leadership position. It demonstrates that the variety among the new entrepreneurial Party secretaries – from large factory owners to de facto farm managers – shaped the network resource, factional affiliation and socio-political capital they rely upon to exercise their newly attained power. It also shows the crucial role played by community-based endogenous forces in transmitting the power of economic liberalization into dynamics for the reshuffling of the Communist Party leadership at the grassroots level.published_or_final_versio

Strategic Choice And Institutional Ambiguity: A History Of Entrepreneurial Emergence In Rural China

This conceptual research suggests that path dependence historically created a limited array of entrepreneurial choices in rural China including various forms of collective and private business ownership. However, collective ownership historically gave rural Chinese entrepreneurs increased sociopolitical legitimacy thereby increasing access to resources such as capital; however, during China’s reform era many rural entrepreneurs chose private rather than collective ownership, an economically illogical choice. This seemingly illogical choice resulted in changes in China’s institutional fabric such that the most historically illogical choice—private business ownership—became the most logical choice. This suggests that entrepreneurial choice extends beyond economic rationality to a more complex environment of options

SME development as an aspect of rural development

The rural population of Central Asia depends on agriculture for a significant proportion of household income. Yet production and productivity levels in the farm sector have fallen, and agriculture cannot continue to absorb excess labour without rural income levels falling still further. Small and medium enterprises have a key role to play in promoting equitable economic growth and reducing poverty in the rural areas of Central Asia. The small and medium enterprise (SME) sector is relatively dynamic, interacts favourably with the farm sector, and has the potential to absorb excess labour in the farm sector, and to provide rural households with key additional sources of income. This paper assesses the significance of SMEs in the rural economy, and then builds on that assessment to analyse the policy and regulatory environment for rural SMEs. Policy responses to the particular challenges offered for SME development by rural areas are outlined. Practical recommendations for effective rural SME promotion by central and local government and governmental agencies are presented, with relevant examples and case studies where appropriate to provide a real world context

Chinese entrepreneurship in context: specialization, localization and their impact on Italian industrial districts

Chinese migration flows represent a relatively new phenomenon in Italy. Its entrepreneurial nature is reflected in massive flows Chinese businessman employed both in manufacturing and commercial activities, with a dense concentration in correspondence of some industrial districts. The aim of the paper is to shed some light on current Chinese specialization of economic activities and localization across Italian regions and industrial districts, to test interpretative research hypothesis on Chinese entrepreneurship models and identify agglomeration forces underlying the emergence of so-called Chinese ethnic businesses. Some reflections on the manufacturing and commercial attitude of Chinese entrepreneurship will also be considered. The utilization of native-Chinese entrepreneurs as unit of observation represents an innovative methodological contribution based on ASIA-ISTAT archives. The exercise of explorative analysis based on data processing and spatial analysis will finally highlight business migration patterns, which represent new socio-economic challenges for Italian industrial districts

The Strawberry Growth Underneath the Nettle: the emergence of entrepreneurs in China

Chinese entrepreneurs innovatively manage organisations in the absence of strong economic institutions, under conditions of high environmental and technological uncertainty. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study designed to investigate how Chinese entrepreneurs can be successful in such an environment. We found that Chinese entrepreneurial activity relies on social institutions rather than on economic institutions. We offer a sociological theory which explains why the reliance on social institutions leads to such an unprecedented success. We conclude that the strong rule-enforcement mechanisms generate reliable behavioral patterns, and that these in turn efficiently reduce uncertainty to tolerable levels.networks;social capital;evolutionary economics;Comparative business systems;private sector in China

'Authoritarian Resilience' and effective policy implementation in contemporary China: A local state perspective

The authors argue that China's "authoritarian resilience" cannot be fully grasped without adopting a local state perspective to examine the way that policy-making plays out at county level and below. Although local cadre bureaucracies have to obey upper levels, they still have substantial maneuvering space to shape the implementation of policies. Arguably, effective policy implementation is a manifestation and a result of systemic adaptiveness, effectiveness refering to the way that policies are adjusted according to local development blueprints, managed in terms of policy coordination across local government bureaus, experimentation and innovation, regular evaluation, and mobilization of public support. This article is structured as follows: first, it highlights important policy changes and institutional reforms launched by the central government in the early 2000s, which impacted strongly on local state governance and laid the groundwork for effective policy implementation. The authors then focus on the "Construction of a New Socialist Countryside" "macro-policy" as a frame of reference to show how local governments at county and township levels ensure effective policy implementation. It is argued that local cadres act as developmental agents who are able to manoeuver successfully between central state requirements and local needs to ensure that things are getting done "on the ground". Subsequently, we show how local governments interact with and "guide" private entrepreneurs as important stakeholders in implementing local development blueprints and strengthening public goods provision. In the conclusion, the main findings and arguments are summarized

Failing entrepreneurial governance: From economic crisis to fiscal crisis in the city of Dongguan, China

This paper analyzes the recent fiscal crisis among villages in the city of Dongguan. The city has been an exemplar of export-oriented growth in China. Rapid economic development has been attributed to local state entrepreneurial governance based on a close relationship between the local state and enterprises. However, this development approach has led to a severe fiscal crisis, especially at the village level, due to declining rental incomes, ineffective village governance and a heavy burden of public service expenditure following the global financial crisis. This paper examines the configuration of local governance and how an economic crisis has evolved into a public finance crisis in the city. Until now the limits of entrepreneurial governance have been understood only with regard to negative social impacts. This paper reveals the limits of a developmental approach

Political Economy of Village Governance in Contemporary China

Thesis (PhD) - Indiana University, Political Science, 2006Rural development and transformation in post-Mao China is one of the most remarkable scenarios in transition countries. With the dismantlement of collectivized farming and the rural reforms since the late 1970s, villages have become diverse in terms of institutional structure. In some villages, one or a few cadres still dominate decision making over public affairs, while, in others, villagers actively participate in the decision making in one way or another. How do the different institutional structures of villages influence governance performance in terms of providing public goods and services? Do the villages with more peasant participation in decision making over public affairs have better performance than those with less peasant participation? This analysis is aimed at an initial answer to the questions by engaging in empirical, in-depth case studies in contemporary rural China. With the help of four Chinese scholars, I identified four villages with different institutional structures as cases for this project. I have examined and compared the four communities' governance performance in providing roads, primary schools, land allocation, and fiscal management. The findings suggest that the villages with more villager participation in decision making have better performance in providing public goods and services. The implication of the study for rural development in transition societies is to encourage peasants' participation and to draw upon their capabilities and local knowledge. The empirical data for the study rely on my field research of six months in the four communities in 2004. The methods of collecting the data include interviews with villagers and cadres as well as extensive field observations and archival research