The social organization of entrepreneurship: The rise of private firms in China.

摘要

This study investigates the social organization of entrepreneurship and the emergence of markets. I adopt an embeddedness perspective to explain how structural forces and government interests affect business behavior. The data come from recent surveys and intensive interviews with business owners and government officials in China. I focus on four aspects of entrepreneurial growth that inform central issues in the fields of economic sociology and social change. First, I explain the growth of private firms in China as a response to market incentives, which is a result of the gradual retreat of the state's monopoly over resource allocation. The "path dependent" nature of economic reform also creates opportunities that channel entrepreneurs into certain market niches. Second, I examine the origin of entrepreneurship by looking at how the existing system of stratification blocks some individuals from the conventional paths of upward mobility, forcing them to look for alternatives in the emerging market sector. Third, I investigate the extent to which entrepreneurs use network ties to reduce uncertainties. By analyzing institutionalization and marketization as simultaneous and interactive processes rather than treating the former as a precondition for the latter, I focus on the dynamics of bargaining between bureaucrats and entrepreneurs. Disaggregating the role of state as a monolithic actor, I examine how conflict of political interests affects transaction costs for entrepreneurs. Finally, I specify the conditions for the continued growth of private firms, with an emphasis on the role of the state in protecting and regulating business behavior. I explore the impact of an entrepreneurial strata on economic and social life in China, including the issue of whether it leads to the emergence of a full-fledged market economy and a more pluralistic society.