Paths to Private Entrepreneurship: Markets and Mobility in Rural China

The transition from plan to market first began in rural China three decades ago. Sociologists since then have sought to analyze the impact of such a shift on the pattern of social stratification and mobility. This book uses rural China as a case to show a distinct pattern of inequality and mobility, characterized by low barriers of entry into private entrepreneurship, shared resource access between cadre entrepreneurs and non-cadre entrepreneurs, and the emergence of a dual elite structure, with the majority of local cadres holding onto cadre posts and the majority of entrepreneurs coming from non-cadre background. It emphasizes the massive entry of small enterprises into the private sector as a distinct form of market transition, to be distinguished from transitions driven by the large-scale privatization of state enterprises. This book should be useful to scholars and graduate students interested in socioeconomic changes in transitional societies.