Research on Socio-Economic Changes in Contemporary Rural China: A Study Centered on the Su South Region

Author: Wang Yugui, Lou Shenghua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-03-01
Features: This book is the first comprehensive, in-depth, and systematic study from the perspective of the interrelationship between institutional change and social change, examining the socio-economic transformation in the rural areas of southern Jiangsu since the founding of the People's Republic of China, particularly during the periods of land reform, agricultural cooperation movement (socialist transformation of agriculture), people's communes, and the household responsibility system. Under the guidance of macro policies, institutional changes occurred frequently in the rural areas of southern Jiangsu with relatively intense degrees, but they did not produce the expected performance as anticipated by the institutional suppliers. Fundamentally, this was because these reforms did not stem from the endogenous needs of regional socio-economic development. While accepting institutional arrangements on a macro level, the southern Jiangsu region also actively explored effective ways to integrate these institutions with local conditions, successfully addressing the typically difficult issues of "path dependence" and institutional innovation in institutional transformation. This is precisely the reason why the socio-economic development in this region, though gradual, remained stable after the founding of the PRC, avoiding the large fluctuations often seen in other regions under similar circumstances. Broadly speaking, the successful experience of southern Jiangsu in regional socio-economic development since the founding of the PRC is also a kind of "southern Jiangsu model." Studying the socio-economic transformation in contemporary rural southern Jiangsu from the perspectives of institutional change and social change is not only novel but also fills the gaps in previous academic research.