The Political Economy of Chinese Rural Industry and Commerce in Historical Perspective
Author(s)
Wong, R. Bin
Abstract
Studies of Chinese reform-era rural industry and commerce usually have not considered the political economy before 1949. This article suggests several ways in which an understanding of the political economy of the Chinese handicraft industry and commerce in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, as well as in the period since 1949, can strengthen understanding of current practices & future possibilities. It considers especially the role of social networks in reducing transaction costs and the particular ways in which officials encouraged rural industry in different historical periods in order to highlight features of recent Chinese practices that may make more sense when we recognize how they draw on assumptions and sensibilities typical of earlier periods of Chinese political economy.
