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'Letting Go of the Small': An Analysis of the Privatisation of Rural Enterprises in Jiangsu and Shandong

Author

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  • Samuel Ho
  • Paul Bowles
  • Xiaoyuan Dong

Abstract

Since the policy of "grasping the large, letting go of the small" was initiated in 1996, there has been a program of mass privatisation of China's rural industrial enterprises. This paper, based on interviews and survey data from three counties in Jiangsu and Shandong, analyses the process of privatisation and examines its impacts. Our analysis, which incorporates both choice theoretic and power theoretic considerations, shows how rapid privatisation was driven by the desire to prevent further asset stripping, how 'efficiency' objectives were seen as requiring majority share ownership by enterprise managers, and how the privatisation process better served the interests of some agents (most notably, township governments and enterpise managers) than others (most notably, workers).

Suggested Citation

  • Samuel Ho & Paul Bowles & Xiaoyuan Dong, 2003. "'Letting Go of the Small': An Analysis of the Privatisation of Rural Enterprises in Jiangsu and Shandong," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 1-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:39:y:2003:i:4:p:1-26
    DOI: 10.1080/713869423
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Hovey, Martin & Naughton, Tony, 2007. "A survey of enterprise reforms in China: The way forward," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 138-156, June.
    2. Ito, Junichi, 2006. "Economic and institutional reform packages and their impact on productivity: A case study of Chinese township and village enterprises," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 167-190, March.
    3. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Xiaoxuan & Song, Lina, 2011. "Internal finance and growth: Microeconometric evidence on Chinese firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 79-94, September.
    4. Dong, Xiao-Yuan & MacPhail, Fiona & Bowles, Paul & Ho, Samuel P. S., 2004. "Gender Segmentation at Work in China's Privatized Rural Industry: Some Evidence from Shandong and Jiangsu," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 979-998, June.
    5. Pandey, Manish & Dong, Xiao-yuan, 2009. "Manufacturing productivity in China and India: The role of institutional changes," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 754-766, December.
    6. Y H Dennis Wei, 2010. "Beyond New Regionalism, beyond Global Production Networks: Remaking the Sunan Model, China," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 28(1), pages 72-96, February.
    7. Xiao-yuan Dong & Louis Putterman & Bulent Unel, 2004. "Enterprise Restructuring and Firm Performance: A Comparison of Rural and Urban Enterprises in Jiangsu Province," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2004-668, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    8. Bo Cheng & Zixin Li & Baoyin Qiu & Ting Xiong, 2024. "Does Collective Decision-Making Promote SOEs' Green Innovation? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(3), pages 481-500, May.
    9. Dong, Xiao-yuan & Putterman, Louis & Unel, Bulent, 2006. "Privatization and firm performance: A comparison between rural and urban enterprises in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 608-633, September.
    10. Michael Webber, 2012. "The Dynamics of Primitive Accumulation: With Application to Rural China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(3), pages 560-579, March.
    11. David Smith, 2012. "Guanxi, Mianzi, and Business : The Impact of Culture on Corporate Governance in China," World Bank Publications - Reports 17094, The World Bank Group.
    12. Shozo Sakata, 2020. "Has Nguyen Phu Trong's Leadership Curbed Economic Reform? Economic Reform Trends in Vietnam," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 15(2), pages 305-322, July.
    13. Dong, Xiao-Yuan, 2005. "Wage inequality and between-firm wage dispersion in the 1990s: A comparison of rural and urban enterprises in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 664-687, December.

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