Chinese township village enterprises as vaguely defined cooperations

Weitzman, M and Xu, Chenggang (1993) Chinese township village enterprises as vaguely defined cooperations. CEP Discussion Papers (CEPDP0155). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

This paper concerns the paradoxes and dilemmas that the very successful "Chinese model" presents for transition theory. The "Chinese model" is centered on the development of township-village enterprises. The main purpose of this paper is to make the case that TVE's are not just some form of disguised capitalist institution; they are much better described as "vaguely defined cooperatives" - meaning an essentially communal organization extremely far removed from having a well defined ownership structure. That a transition strategy based on vaguely defined cooperatives should be so successful presents a severe challenge for traditional property rights theory. We speculate that to address this challenge properly, traditional property rights theory should be extended by including a dimension corresponding to the degree of individualism/cooperation existing in a society. A model of the required extension is described. Implications and applications are discussed.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/discussion...
Additional Information:	© 1993 The Author(s)
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Date Deposited:	10 Mar 2008 11:37
Last Modified:	26 Feb 2024 14:48
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/3754

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