Transforming Rural China: How Local Institutions Shape Property Rights in China

 It is often assumed that privatization leads to profit, and that well-delineated property rights and a strong private sector will help boost an economy. This book investigates the property rights in Chinese enterprises in the reform era, finding that distinction between the public and the private are blurred, that national reform policies are implemented unevenly across the country, and that enterprises owned by local governments, in Shanghai, for example, are actually extremely profitable.

Review: 'Hail the brilliance of Chen Chih-jou. He has smashed this common (mis)understanding of China in a book that is nothing short of revolutionary in how we must come to understand China: in disunity' - Asia Times Online

'This is one of the most insightful books on contemporary China, and arguably the most important.' - Asia Times Online

'Debates over the role of the local state in China's market transition have generated an important substream of scholarship exploring changes in rural property rights. This book is a welcome contribution to the topic.' - The China Journal