ABSTRACT
New economic associations set up by specialized households reflect attempts to resolve certain problems resulting from the fragmented nature of labor, capital, and production assets in independent specialized households. Specialized households, particularly the more fully autonomous operations, tend to be large families with more labor power than average. A study conducted by the Hunan provincial party policy research office attempts to categorize economic associations on the basis of investigations in one county. Associations of a coordinated character are the second type of association discussed in the Hunan report. The Hunan report provides an example to illustrate the nature of cooperation within an association involving coordination without combination. The associations are also creating jobs for rural middle school graduates who formerly complained that in the villages there were jobs in which they could actually make use of their education. Economic associations are having a major impact on the modernization of farming.
