ABSTRACT
This chapter indicates that the role of guanxi that is, particularistic connections, remains significant for all firms, especially private ones. It demonstrates the place of private business in the economic field continues to evolve, and the institutions governing the field do as well. Fields have histories and they are malleable. They change, through a combination of 'conflict and competition' among the actors within them and external influences, since each field is part of the larger 'ensemble' of fields comprising society. Sets of rules govern behavior in each field; that is, rules govern each position in the field, as well as the engagement among actors. The actors compete to gain whatever type of capital is the currency of the field economic, political, cultural, and symbolic being the main varieties. There are principles of 'convertibility' among the various types of capital; for instance, whether and how economic capital can be converted into political capital for use in the political field.
