ABSTRACT
Does wealth contribute positively to status claims in China? The Western
literature on post-1978 market transition in China has not addressed this
question directly. This is surprising since market reforms have provided
scholars with a unique opportunity to study the changing mechanisms of
status attainment in the post-1978 era. Indeed, Chinese social stratification
and mobility has stood out as one of the most developed research fields in
China Studies (Bian 2002; Li and Walder 2001; Nee 1989; Oi and Walder
1999; Walder 1995; Walder 1998; Walder, Li and Treiman 2000; Xueguang Zhou 2000; Xueguang Zhou 2004).
