ABSTRACT

This book, based on in-depth field research at the local level, assesses the different factors that are contributing to the transition to a market economy and the growth of networks in rural China. It analyses the different socio-economic actors - peasant households, out-migrants, family businesses and peasant entrepreneurs, uses the key concept of markets as a nexus of social networks, and identifies three different kinds of 'social capital' - human capital, political capital/status, and network capital.
This book demonstrates the importance of socio-political networks and highlights significant regional differences.

chapter |21 pages

Introduction and overview

part |122 pages

Case studies of markets and market actors

chapter |26 pages

Network capital, political capital and the bazaar economy in rural Yunnan

A family business survey of a periodic market

chapter |40 pages

TVE reform and patron–client networks between peasant entrepreneurs and the local government

The Sunan model versus the Wenzhou model reconsidered

chapter |25 pages

Migration, the job search and social networks

Three surveys of rural–urban migration

part |55 pages

Comparative village analyses

chapter |22 pages

Income generation and access to economic opportunities

A comparative village analysis

chapter |24 pages

The continuity and vitality of small peasant households

A case study of household behaviour under the commune system

chapter |7 pages

Concluding remarks

marketization and networks in post-reform rural China