China＇s Market Transition： A Third Reform Strategy

This paper tries to explain how China can keep domestic stability under both socialist government and rapid capitalist economic growth. By tracing China＇s reform experience and comparing it with the mainstream reform strategies, the paper argues that, first, Chin＇s reform strategy is fundamentally different from the conventional reform strategies; second, China＇s success to a large extent is the result of Chinese leaders＇ decision making and careful management over reform process rather than of simply market force. Finally, the paper suggests that the active role the Chinese Communist Party plays in economic reform grants its legitimacy, thus enabling it to enjoy political stability under long term rapid economic and social transition.

Market Transition and Income Inequality in Urban China： Evidence from Shapley Value Decomposition

China＇s market-oriented reform is expected to strengthen the role of the market in allocating resources, which raises concerns over the impact of market transformation on income distribution and earnings inequality in the past decades. This paper decomposes the sources of inequality based on the newly developed Shapley value approach and examines the contributions of the market, along with other nonmarket factors, to total inequality. Using the China Health and Nutrition Survey data over the period 1989-2009, we find that the income gap between laborers with a higher level of education and those with a lower level has widened since the transformational reforms of the economy. Our results suggest that the largest contribution of changes in income inequality can be attributed to the increase in returns to education, while the relative contributions of the household registration （hukou） system, type of sector ownership, geographic location, and gender to inequality experienced a downward trend between 1989 and 2009. The authors argue that rising income inequality is the consequence of efficiency improvements and an imperfect economic system, and that the market is a decisive force in economic development as it releases competitive signals and creates incentive mechanisms for innovation. Creating a more efficient labor market and increasing investment in human capital, particularly equalizing educational opportunities and improving the quality of education in lagging rural and inland regions to disadvantaged groups, are significant for an equitable distribution of income and sustainable development in the long run.

Structural Constraints on Legal Change:Chinese Lawyers in the Interaction between the State,the Market and Society

Studies on the sources of change in the Chinese legal system are usually based on the statist epistemology, i.e. the will of the state directs and even determines all aspects of change in the legal system. Although this epistemology can partially explain the re-creation of the Chinese legal system during the earlier period of reform and opening up, it fails to provide a comprehensive picture of the present complex situation. Taking as an example the changes in the Chinese legal profession during reform and opening up, this study employs quantitative data and empirical methods to explore the multiple dynamic impacts of the state, the market and society on the Chinese legal system. The study also proposes a theoretical framework of ＂structural constraints＂ on legal change. Since reform and opening up, the Chinese legal system has undergone a transition from state dominance to multi-agent interactions between the state, the market, society, and the legal system itself.

Employment marketization,social security inclusion and rights equalization of rural migrants

Against the backdrop of stagnation in hukou reform,a new theme in research on internal migration in China has emerged.Are reforms aimed at equalizing citizens’rights effective in promoting the rights and position of rural migrants?This paper proposes that a dual transition is taking place in China,one that is affecting the market and another in the area of social policy.The paper examines two lines of reform measures intended to equalize rights:the marketization of employment and the development of inclusive social policy.This investigation on the reforms shows that rural migrants to cities have attained citizenship-based rights to employment and job-related social insurance.This paper also discusses the issue of local citizenship as a by-product of China’s reform and development.The paper’s findings imply that rural migrants are beneficiaries of China’s dual-transition.

Returns to education in rural China

Based on one of the most widely used datasets by foreign-based sociologists,this paper examines the rate of returns to education in rural China.Compared with the previous studies that showed rather low rates in rural areas throughout the 1980s,this study finds a considerably higher rate in 1996.A chief contributor is the rapid non-agricultural development,which creates enormous upward mobility opportunities,particularly for the more educated.Due to the uneven economic development nationwide,the rate of returns to education varies widely across regions.In areas with less developed non-agricultural sectors,it remains low.In contrast,where off-farm employment is widespread,it is much higher.In addition,the labor market is functioning to allocate the more educated to better-paid jobs,but has yet to produce higher returns to education in non-agricultural sectors than in the agricultural sector.However,changes may be occurring in coastal regions.

The Growth Paths and Mechanisms of Chinese Private Enterprise

During the past forty years of reform and opening up,China’s private economy has made remarkable strides.This paper introduces start-up organizational processes into the study of elite mobility in emerging markets,exploring the relationship between the social origins of entrepreneurs and their entrepreneurial outcomes.Our research finds that the initial scale,growth rate and current size of enterprises established by elite entrepreneurs are larger than those of grassroots entrepreneurs.With the deepening of economic reform and the growth of the private economy,the social origins of large business owners generally tend to be elitist and the scale advantage of the enterprises set up by elite entrepreneurs,especially endogenous or inside-track entrepreneurs,is ever more striking.The expansion of such enterprises’superior position is mainly due to their initial advantages of scale;after the start-up period,the advantage conferred by their pace of growth does not increase synchronously.In order to promote the further development of the private economy and release its innovative potential,it is necessary to give full play to the government’s function of regulating market operations and correcting market failure,and thus actively creating a good business environment.

lntergenerational Mobility Modes and Changes in Social Class in Contemporary China

Using data from three China General Social Surveys, this paper analyzes changes in the basic situation of intergenerational mobility among social classes in China over the past 60 years. General social mobility was found to have increased, but social openness tended to show a wave-like pattern of change. Despite this, intergenerational inheritance was the main form of intergenerational mobility in every period. With the transformation of the socioeconomic system, the main mechanism of social exclusion changed from ＂systemic exclusion＂ to ＂market exclusion,＂ leading to changes in the structure of social opportunity. As a result, the form taken by intergenerational mobility varied significantly. This is chiefly evident in the gradual decline in the dominance of intergenerational inheritance among particular strata, with cross-class cyclical mobility becoming more difficult. On the one hand, changes in the social exclusion mechanism may increase social openness, making society more dynamic and strengthening social legitimacy. On the other hand, as the dominant class learns how to use market exclusion to achieve class reproduction, class solidification may still be possible in a future Chinese society.