Zouping in Transition: The Process of Reform in Rural North China / Edition 1

by Andrew G. Walder

Overview

Zouping offers important general lessons for the study of China's rural transformation. The authors in this volume, all participants in a unique field research project undertaken from 1988 to 1992, address questions that are far from simple and about which there is some controversy.

The questions are grouped around two issues. The first is the role of local governments as economic actors. What is this role, how have they played it, and how can we explain their behavior? Have they dominated rural economies through public ownership of industry and local planning, or has the role of local governments diminished with the rise of market transactions and private ownership? The second issue is market reform and inequality. Have rural cadres enjoyed income advantages in the new market environment? Has the provision of such collective services as education and health care declined, leading to new forms of inequality?

The chapters on the role of local government all point to a single conclusion: one cannot explain the rapid development of Zouping without reference to the role of local governments and of local government officials as economic actors. Scholarly writings about the "transitional economies" have often ignored or distorted this aspect of China's reform experience. On the second issue, changes in inequality owing to market reform, the authors present mixed findings but contribute rich new data to the research on this issue.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674968561
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	07/15/1998
Series:	Harvard Contemporary China Series , #11
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Andrew G. Walder is Denise O’Leary and Kent Thiry Professor of Sociology at Stanford University. His previous books include Fractured Rebellion, which won the Barrington Moore Book Award, and China Under Mao (both from Harvard). A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Guggenheim fellow, Walder has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Science, and the Ford Foundation.

Table of Contents

Preface

Zouping in Perspective
Andrew G. Walder

Local Governments as Economic Actors

The Evolution of Local State Corporatism
Jean C. Oi

The County Government as an Industrial Corporation
Andrew G. WaIder

Fengjia: A Village in Transition
Huang Shu-min and Stewart Odend'hal

Establishing Markets: The Process of Commercialization in Agriculture
Terry Sicular

Distributional Consequences of Reform

Work, Wealth, and Power in Agriculture: Do Political Connections Affect the Returns to Household Labor?
Sarah Cook

Preventive Health Care: Privatization and the Public Good
Gail Henderson and T. Scott Stroup

Making Schools Modern: Paradoxes of Educational Reform
Lynn W. Paine

Notes

Contributors

Tables

Growth and diversification of Zouping's rural economy, 1976-1993

Growth of industry in Zouping, by level of ownership, 1980-1993

The shift from agriculture to industry in Zouping, 1980-1993

Zouping county fiscal and budgetary trends, 1980-1992

Zouping's rural development compared with national averages,1993

A comparison of Zouping with Nanhai County, Guangdong, 1993

The shift from public to private industry in Zouping, 1980-1993

Commune and brigade industry in Zouping, 1976-1983

Zouping township and village enterprise tax exemptions,1980-1989

Zouping county industry, output, and number of firms by type, 1988 and 1993

Sources of county revenue, 1988 and 1992

Zouping County's top ten revenue-generating enterprises, 1992

Population, farmland, and mechanical power in Fengjia,1949-1986

Yearly agricultural production in Fengjia, 1949-1986

Gross income from village enterprises, 1985 and 1986

Increases in per capita and gross domestic production in Fengjia, 1970-1988

Basic economic data, Zouping County, 1988-1992

Indicators of the level of commercialization in Zouping, 1988-1992

Farm household purchases of farm products in Zouping, 1990

Farm household sales of farm products in Zouping, 1990

Farm household income and its composition in Zouping, 1990

Distribution of farm households by share of income from nonagricultural business and wages in Zouping, 1990

Trade at periodic markets in Zouping, 1988-1992

Composition of social retail sales in Zouping, 1988-1992

Zouping County purchases of agricultural products from farmers, 1988 and 1992

Procurement of grain by the grain bureau in Zouping, 1978-1993

Procurement of wheat and corn by the grain bureau in Zouping, 1985-1993

Grain prices in Zouping County, 1980-1993

Cotton procurement by the state cotton and hemp company in Zouping, 1978-1993

Implicit taxes and subsidies associated with planned procurement of farm products in Zouping, 1990

Structure of the labor force in Zouping, 1993

Individual and household employment by activity, 1990

Composition of household income by per capita income quartile, 1990

Quartile share of income by source, 1990

Marginal and average products of labor (yuan per day)

Average daily earnings from wage employment (yuan)

Tests for differences in means of marginal product of labor by household political characteristics

Zouping County socioeconomic and health indicators

Infectious disease incidence per 10,000 people in Zouping County, 1965-1989

Hospital admissions by diagnostic categories, for county-level hospitals, 1986

Hospitals in four townships

Village-based health resources

Promotion rate to junior high school, 1978-1991

Number of elementary schools and students in Zouping, 1950-1990

Number of secondary schools and students in Zouping, 1978-1990

Changes in the structure of Zouping secondary education, 1986-1990

Funding for ordinary and central township junior high schools, Sunzhen township, 1985-1990

Maps

China, with Shandong Province and Zouping County

Shandong Province

Zouping County

Figures

Monthly wheat prices, Zouping County, 1990-1991

Monthly corn prices, Zouping County, 1990-1991

Editorial Reviews

Andrew Walder makes a major addition to our understanding of the economic role of county government in the reform period...In this highly interesting book, Zouping comes to the fore as a rather sleepy county which is pushed by outside forces into modernity with all its problems. The volume is a major addition to our understanding of institutional change, cadres and policies in North China.

China Information - Eduard B. Vermeer

[A] well-researched and timely book.

Asian Studies Review - Colin Mackerras

No review can do justice to all the significant findings of this rich volume...The book addresses some of the knottier issues that have dominated scholarship for a decade or more, presenting provocative new material and findings. Future debates on these issues must address the work on Zouping collected here.

China Journal - Michelle S. Mood

The introductory chapter by Andrew Walder starts with rich statistics to situate Zouping county in rural China. He then spells out the objectives of this volume… [his] goals are ably accomplished by the next seven chapters that are based on empirical studies using data from interviews, observations, official statistics, and survey data from a unique research project undertaken from 1988 to 1993…The book provides valuable insights into the process which local government shapes the development and stratification of a country in northern China. It is an important and timely rendering of the rural reforms and will prompt researchers on transitional societies to focus on the forces that shape the dynamics of transition.

Contemporary Sociology - Xiaoling Shu

This is a unique book that brings together interdisciplinary research on one county by outstanding China scholars.

Thomas P. Bernstein

The introductory chapter by Andrew Walder starts with rich statistics to situate Zouping county in rural China. He then spells out the objectives of this volume… [his] goals are ably accomplished by the next seven chapters that are based on empirical studies using data from interviews, observations, official statistics, and survey data from a unique research project undertaken from 1988 to 1993…The book provides valuable insights into the process which local government shapes the development and stratification of a country in northern China. It is an important and timely rendering of the rural reforms and will prompt researchers on transitional societies to focus on the forces that shape the dynamics of transition.
— Xiaoling Shu

Contemporary Sociology

[A] well-researched and timely book.
— Colin Mackerras

Asian Studies Review

Andrew Walder makes a major addition to our understanding of the economic role of county government in the reform period...In this highly interesting book, Zouping comes to the fore as a rather sleepy county which is pushed by outside forces into modernity with all its problems. The volume is a major addition to our understanding of institutional change, cadres and policies in North China.
— Eduard B. Vermeer

China Information

No review can do justice to all the significant findings of this rich volume...The book addresses some of the knottier issues that have dominated scholarship for a decade or more, presenting provocative new material and findings. Future debates on these issues must address the work on Zouping collected here.

— Michelle S. Mood

China Journal

This is a unique book that brings together interdisciplinary research on one county by outstanding China scholars.

Columbia University Thomas P. Bernstein