Zouping offers important general lessons for the study of China's rural transformation. The authors in this volume, all participants in a unique field research project undertaken from 1988 to 1992, address questions that are far from simple and about which there is some controversy. The questions are grouped around two issues. The first is the role of local governments as economic actors. What is this role, how have they played it, and how can we explain their behavior? Have they dominated rural economies through public ownership of industry and local planning, or has the role of local governments diminished with the rise of market transactions and private ownership? The second issue is market reform and inequality. Have rural cadres enjoyed income advantages in the new market environment? Has the provision of such collective services as education and health care declined, leading to new forms of inequality? The chapters on the role of local government all point to a single conclusion: one cannot explain the rapid development of Zouping without reference to the role of local governments and of local government officials as economic actors. Scholarly writings about the "transitional economies" have often ignored or distorted this aspect of China's reform experience. On the second issue, changes in inequality owing to market reform, the authors present mixed findings but contribute rich new data to the research on this issue.

Table of Contents:
Preface Zouping in Perspective Andrew G. Walder Local Governments as Economic Actors The Evolution of Local State Corporatism Jean C. Oi The County Government as an Industrial Corporation Andrew G. WaIder Fengjia: A Village in Transition Huang Shu-min and Stewart Odend'hal Establishing Markets: The Process of Commercialization in Agriculture Terry Sicular Distributional Consequences of Reform Work, Wealth, and Power in Agriculture: Do Political Connections Affect the Returns to Household Labor? Sarah Cook Preventive Health Care: Privatization and the Public Good Gail Henderson and T. Scott Stroup Making Schools Modern: Paradoxes of Educational Reform Lynn W. Paine Notes Contributors Tables Growth and diversification of Zouping's rural economy, 1976-1993 Growth of industry in Zouping, by level of ownership, 1980-1993 The shift from agriculture to industry in Zouping, 1980-1993 Zouping county fiscal and budgetary trends, 1980-1992 Zouping's rural development compared with national averages,1993 A comparison of Zouping with Nanhai County, Guangdong, 1993 The shift from public to private industry in Zouping, 1980-1993 Commune and brigade industry in Zouping, 1976-1983 Zouping township and village enterprise tax exemptions,1980-1989 Zouping county industry, output, and number of firms by type, 1988 and 1993 Sources of county revenue, 1988 and 1992 Zouping County's top ten revenue-generating enterprises, 1992 Population, farmland, and mechanical power in Fengjia,1949-1986 Yearly agricultural production in Fengjia, 1949-1986 Gross income from village enterprises, 1985 and 1986 Increases in per capita and gross domestic production in Fengjia, 1970-1988 Basic economic data, Zouping County, 1988-1992 Indicators of the level of commercialization in Zouping, 1988-1992 Farm household purchases of farm products in Zouping, 1990 Farm household sales of farm products in Zouping, 1990 Farm household income and its composition in Zouping, 1990 Distribution of farm households by share of income from nonagricultural business and wages in Zouping, 1990 Trade at periodic markets in Zouping, 1988-1992 Composition of social retail sales in Zouping, 1988-1992 Zouping County purchases of agricultural products from farmers, 1988 and 1992 Procurement of grain by the grain bureau in Zouping, 1978-1993 Procurement of wheat and corn by the grain bureau in Zouping, 1985-1993 Grain prices in Zouping County, 1980-1993 Cotton procurement by the state cotton and hemp company in Zouping, 1978-1993 Implicit taxes and subsidies associated with planned procurement of farm products in Zouping, 1990 Structure of the labor force in Zouping, 1993 Individual and household employment by activity, 1990 Composition of household income by per capita income quartile, 1990 Quartile share of income by source, 1990 Marginal and average products of labor (yuan per day) Average daily earnings from wage employment (yuan) Tests for differences in means of marginal product of labor by household political characteristics Zouping County socioeconomic and health indicators Infectious disease incidence per 10,000 people in Zouping County, 1965-1989 Hospital admissions by diagnostic categories, for county-level hospitals, 1986 Hospitals in four townships Village-based health resources Promotion rate to junior high school, 1978-1991 Number of elementary schools and students in Zouping, 1950-1990 Number of secondary schools and students in Zouping, 1978-1990 Changes in the structure of Zouping secondary education, 1986-1990 Funding for ordinary and central township junior high schools, Sunzhen township, 1985-1990 Maps China, with Shandong Province and Zouping County Shandong Province Zouping County Figures Monthly wheat prices, Zouping County, 1990-1991 Monthly corn prices, Zouping County, 1990-1991