Ray Yep’s book is a case study of the changing dynamics between the local state and managers of collective township and village enterprises (TVE, xianzhen qiye) in rural China. The fieldwork was undertaken from 1995-1998 in Zibo prefecture in Shandong province (a map and basic demographic and socio-economic data would have been useful).  In seven chapters the author focuses on how managers in TVEs have become economically and politically empowered partners of the local state since rural refor..

Delman, Jorgen

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 China Perspectives 
55 | september - october 2004
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Ray Yep, Manager Empowerment in China. Political
Implications of Rural Industrialization in the Reform
Area
London, New York, RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, XIV+242 p.
Jorgen Delman
Édition électronique
URL : http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/427
ISSN : 1996-4617
Éditeur
Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine
Édition imprimée
Date de publication : 1 octobre 2004
ISSN : 2070-3449
 
Référence électronique
Jorgen Delman, « Ray Yep, Manager Empowerment in China. Political Implications of Rural
Industrialization in the Reform Area », China Perspectives [En ligne], 55 | september - october 2004, mis
en ligne le 28 novembre 2006, consulté le 28 octobre 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/
chinaperspectives/427 
Ce document a été généré automatiquement le 28 octobre 2019.
© All rights reserved
Ray Yep, Manager Empowerment in
China. Political Implications of Rural
Industrialization in the Reform Area
London, New York, RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, XIV+242 p.
Jorgen Delman
1 Ray Yep’s book is a case study of the changing dynamics between the local state and
managers of collective township and village enterprises (TVE, xianzhen qiye) in rural
China. The fieldwork was undertaken from 1995-1998 in Zibo prefecture in Shandong
province (a  map and basic  demographic  and socio-economic data  would have been
useful). 
2 In  seven  chapters  the  author  focuses  on  how  managers  in  TVEs  have  become
economically and politically empowered partners of the local state since rural reforms
started  in  the  early  1980s.  Chapter  one  provides  an  overview  of  the  theoretical
framework and of the relevant literature on the development of the TVE sector. The
key arguments/assumptions are : 1) There is a local situation with a dynamic pattern of
interaction  between  the  state  and  the  TVE  managers  as  increasingly  powerful
economic,  social  and  political  actors.  These  managers  are  a  special  breed  of
entrepreneurs who do not own their assets. The managers have risen in the emerging
new rural political and economic order and have a growing impact on the shaping of
the local state-society relationship ; 2) The rise of new social interest groups does not
necessarily  lead  to  more  tension  between  state  and  society.  Rather,  a  symbiotic,
particularistic relationship has emerged. The local state finds managers indispensable
since they turn idle state assets into streams of income. From the managers’ point of
view, the support of the local state is necessary to reduce the transaction costs of doing
business in rural areas ; and 3) The rural economy and the relationship between the
local state and the TVE managers evolve in a space where socialist legacy and demand
for market reforms make the outcome of the reform process uncertain. 
3 Chapter two presents a contextual overview of China’s rural transformation and the
rise  of  TVEs  in  a  historical  perspective.  Chapters  three  to  seven  present  the  main
Ray Yep, Manager Empowerment in China. Political Implications of Rural Indust...
China Perspectives, 55 | september - october 2004
1
analysis. The first three of these deal with the rise of the TVE managers, the role of the
local state and the dynamic of their relationship. Yep argues that TVE managers have
become indispensable to local  economic development and that there is  a  clear link
between entrepreneurial success and the accumulation of political capital.  However,
political  capital  is  but  one  of  the  elements  in  a  successful  career.  Education,
professional knowledge and relevant experience are also important. Yep also argues
that government support continues to be necessary for a range of reasons, e.g. to get
access to credit, and that life can be difficult for the TVE managers without it. On the
other hand, local governments are heavily relying on taxes and profit transfers from
the TVEs and this has forced the local state to allow the managers room to manoeuvre. 
4 Chapter six,  on enterprise reform, is  a  historical  precursor to the more interesting
subsequent chapter on shareholding reforms (both chapters  primarily  relate  to  the
situation in the mid 1990s). In 1995, about half of Zibo’s enterprises had been reformed
and dissociated from direct  government  control.  However,  reforms led  to  different
property regimes, but in most cases the authorities in Zibo maintained control through
a  share  majority.  Still,  Yep  finds  that  managers  are  the  winners  of  the  enterprise
reform process in terms of gaining more independence and control over the assets of
their enterprises, while also increasing their personal wealth. However, they still have
to be acutely aware of the limits to their autonomy and their obligations towards the
local power holders and society. 
5 Although reforms have led to an increasing delegation of management authority and
asset  control  to  managers,  Yep  debates  whether  privatisation  of  TVEs  is  actually
spreading in rural areas despite the intentions of the central government. It is true that
local governments often devise ways to maintain influence in the reformed enterprises,
as  is  the  case  in  Zibo.  However,  private  enterprise  as  such is  on  the  rise  and this
reviewer is of the view that private enterprise will eventually become more attractive
to  rural  entrepreneurs  as  the  business  environment  becomes  more  regulated.
Therefore, there is reason to doubt that TVEs will survive in the long run. They would
more likely turn private—legally or informally—to avoid the interference from the local
government to be able to survive in competition with true private enterprises. This
could potentially deprive local governments of their most important source of income.
6 The reviewer agrees with Yep’s conclusion that it is possible to foresee that managers
of  TVEs  will  become  increasingly  important  in  rural  areas.  This  would  go  for  the
emerging  group  of  private  entrepreneurs  as  well.  There  is  often  a  symbiotic
relationship with the local state, where managers and the local state can thrive from
the  relationship.  But  there  is  also  a  changing  pattern  of  articulation  and
accommodation of the interests of the increasingly stronger managerial elites, and one
may ask if  they will  not  start  organising on their  own and pursue their  particular
interests  through  collective  action ?  Yep  found  that  collective  action  is  hardly
necessary for managers that have direct access to local officials. But he also notes that
there has been instances of collective action by managers in China in the 1980s and
1990s and that more and more managers consider collective action a possible option
when policy issues of a wider concern are involved.
7 The data sets on enterprises and managers are essentially of a quite varied nature in
terms  of  research  goals,  sample  population  and  timing,  and  Yep  admits to  their
limitations.  They are  not  representative of  the entire  population of  TVE managers,
neither in Tangshan, Zibo, nor nationally, nor do they fully reflect the importance of
Ray Yep, Manager Empowerment in China. Political Implications of Rural Indust...
China Perspectives, 55 | september - october 2004
2
informal political dynamics. The reviewer would argue that Yep exploits these data sets
to the very limit in his analysis. However, other unique data from the region tend to
balance off this weakness.
8 The book has been adapted from Yep’s PhD study, and in some instances the reviewer is
reminded of this origin. The theoretical and methodological sections could have been
more consistent. There are a number of misrepresentations of Chinese words in pinyin.
A list of the Chinese characters for the words quoted in pinyin would have been useful.
That said, Yep’s book is an interesting and enlightening study. It is full of fresh and
fascinating analysis as well as hard data. It is recommended to the specialist interested
in the rural political economy in China and in its enterprise reforms.
Ray Yep, Manager Empowerment in China. Political Implications of Rural Indust...
China Perspectives, 55 | september - october 2004
3


Ray Yep, Manager Empowerment in China. Political Implications of Rural Industrialization in the Reform Area

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