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This is an anthropological study of peasant economy and culture, derived from field research on patterns of social organization and production of two ethnically different rural communities (Han and Mosuo) in northwest Yunnan, China. Its aim is to explore the local contexts for understanding the changes that recent economic reforms have brought to peasant life, and the cultural as well as ecological factors that constrain peasant economic activities. Current economic reforms have been accompanied by institutional changes, of which the most important for this research is the change in political relations between local and central governments. The expansion of local autonomy has had significant implications for the management of resources. The study shows that the behavior of the two local governments has had remarkably different economic consequences. The most noteworthy policy change in the economic reforms affecting rural society has been the implementation of the household responsibility system which brought down the twenty-year old collective system and has since altered the economic landscape of the countryside. This study emphasizes how kinship systems affect the form of household organization in both Han and Mosuo communities, and how existing social relationships are manifest in economic activities. "Rice Ears" and "Cattle Tails" are images drawing attention to the culturally salient differences in the patterns of production of the two communities. Rice ears constitute a cultural image of subsistence security in the Han community; and cattle tails constitute a cultural image of prosperity and development in the Mosuo community. Apart from the ecological factors which give rise to the particular patterns of livelihood in each community, cultural values associated the particular pattern of production account for many of the economic choices of the peasants and the persistence of economic forms.

This thesis will examine the experiences of China's urban private businesspeople over the reform-era (1978--present). I will show that this socioeconomic group has experienced colossal improvements in the political, economic and social environment in which they operate their businesses. In contrast to the early reform years, in the 1990s businesspeople have, in the words of a businesswoman I interviewed, been "given the green light." The business climate is so favourable that successful private economic actors have become an elite and privileged group. However, no analysis of China's private businesspeople is complete without attention to the issue of gender. Persistent gender bias and discrimination against women in Chinese society has a negative impact on the ability of businesswomen to take advantage of the friendly new business environment and its attendant opportunities. / The overall trend toward a basically positive business climate and the gender specific challenges experienced by businesswomen will be examined primarily by presenting personal portraits of four private businesspeople selected out of forty formal interviews conducted by the author in the spring and summer of 1998 in Tianjin city, northeastern China.

This is an anthropological study of peasant economy and culture, derived from field research on patterns of social organization and production of two ethnically different rural communities (Han and Mosuo) in northwest Yunnan, China. Its aim is to explore the local contexts for understanding the changes that recent economic reforms have brought to peasant life, and the cultural as well as ecological factors that constrain peasant economic activities. Current economic reforms have been accompanied by institutional changes, of which the most important for this research is the change in political relations between local and central governments. The expansion of local autonomy has had significant implications for the management of resources. The study shows that the behavior of the two local governments has had remarkably different economic consequences. The most noteworthy policy change in the economic reforms affecting rural society has been the implementation of the household responsibility system which brought down the twenty-year old collective system and has since altered the economic landscape of the countryside. This study emphasizes how kinship systems affect the form of household organization in both Han and Mosuo communities, and how existing social relationships are manifest in economic activities. "Rice Ears" and "Cattle Tails" are images drawing attention to the culturally salient differences in the patterns of production of the two communities. Rice ears constitute a cultural image of subsistence security in the Han community; and cattle tails constitute a cultural image of prosperity and development in the Mosuo community. Apart from the ecological factors which give rise to the particular patterns of livelihood in each community, cultural values associated the particular pattern of production account for many of the economic choices of the peasants and the persistence of economic forms. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

This study examines the movement to establish and consolidate rural people's communes in China during the period 1958-1965. It concentrates on the development and consolidation of people's communes in the northern province of Shandong. The thesis argues that there are two trends in contemporary theories of Third World Development. One sees the development of Third World countries as a process of economic moves through adoption of advanced western technology and by the transformation of social institutions according to the features of ideal type of the western model. The other suggests that the development of Third World countries is not merely a process of economic growth, but is conditioned both by their respective historical backgrounds and the world-system. It is argued that China subscribes to the latter version of development theory. It is suggested that, historically, Chinese society followed a particular path of development. The western impact on China gradually brought about the disintegration of the traditional society. Chinese development strategy after 1949, especially after the establishment of the people's communes, is distinctive and differs not only from the dominant mode of development in China's past, but also from the modes in advanced societies of western Europe and North America, and the Third World in general. The people's commune is considered as possessing an identifiable structure and subject to a process of growth and change. Its development is seen as a response to basic economic realities and also, to an important degree, to human decision-making. It is argued that the commune system is at the center of China's strategy for rural development. Within the context of Shandong, the development of the people's commune is seen through an analysis of agricultural production, local industry, building of water conservancy, as well as changes in family institutions. The analysis of this study shows that the characteristics of the development of the people's communes during 1958-1965 manifest in two major aspects. First, development planning aims at resolving certain peasant problems which are a heritage of the traditional mode of economic development in China, and to fulfill modernization and some specific ideological goals. Secondly, the development of the people's communes helps to retain the traditional structure of rural community. The latter is essentially found in the features of self-control and self-sufficiency in political and economic life in the people's communes, and also in the development of human relations. The major sources of this study consist of documentary research, i.e., Chinese local and national newspapers of the period under study, and magazines of the same period. Interviews of émigrés were also used as supplementary sources. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Unknown

Following the footsteps of British merchants, Jewish merchants began migrating to China's coastal ports starting from the 1840s. Small in their number, they exerted great influence on Shanghai's economic development. The community of Jews from Baghdad, for instance, wielded enormous clout in coastal China's economic and financial markets. To fill the gap of the economic and financial activities of the Jewish merchants' community in the existing literature, this dissertation considers Jewish economic activities in Shanghai using the Kadoorie enterprise as a case study. It examines the emergence, development and retreat of the Jewish merchants' community and argues that the Jewish merchants' community seized the opportunity of the changing political and economic environment in China to engage in the capital market in Shanghai and to enlarge their influence in the Chinese economy. Through the case study of the Kadoories, this dissertation focuses on the financial side of their operations and suggests that the Jewish merchants' community in Shanghai had established their identity and status in the Far East through expanding their economic influences. This dissertation starts by analyzing how the Kadoories knocked over the obstacles on the problem of nationality and started their business in Shanghai with the British legal tools. It further investigates their methods of raising capital and highlights their economic contributions. This dissertation examines the business strategies of the Jewish merchants, as a migration diaspora given the vagaries of the global economy and the changing political situation in coastal China. It then explores the interactions and power struggles between the Kadoories and their business partners to explain the business network of the Jewish merchants and account for the building up of the economic influence of the Jewish merchants' community in China. Furthermore, the case study examines how the Jewish merchants adapted their business strategies in response to political and economic changes. Examining the economic activities of these Jewish merchants provides insight into China's economic history. The case study of the Kadoories also reveals the fluctuations in Shanghai's economy and the characteristics of economic changes in contemporary China. Finally, this dissertation highlights the retreat of the Kadoories from Shanghai after 1945. At present, the Kadoories are still conducting business in China.

The study of Chinese economic and social problems requires that certain fundamental Chinese conditions be kept constantly in mind by the Western student, lest he attempt to analyze from the contemporary economic and social viewpoints of his own country. Accomplishments and plans must both be considered in relation to what has gone before and what is within the realm of possibility under given conditions, rather than by comparison with accomplishments and plans in other countries where the basic situation is entirely different. The object of this paper is to place cooperatives in relation to the to the reconstruction as a whole, and to estimate the extent to which cooperatives are an effective instrument of economic reconstruction. As the Kuomintang or Nationalist Party has been the governing power in China since 1928, this study of necessity a description of cooperatives as a phase of reconstruction under the Kuomintang.

Kung Ching-yi. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-191). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.vi / List of Tables --- p.vii / Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.8 / Chapter Chapter 3. --- Data --- p.32 / Chapter Chapter 4. --- The Gender Wage Differential: A First Look --- p.49 / Chapter Chapter 5. --- Returns to Schooling --- p.89 / Chapter Chapter 6. --- Decomposition of Gender Wage Differential --- p.140 / Chapter Chapter 7. --- Change of the Gender Wage Differentials from 1988through1999 --- p.163 / Chapter Chapter 8. --- Conclusion --- p.178 / Appendix: Alternative Treatments of Schooling Years and Potential Experience --- p.181 / References --- p.187

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: According to the Economist, India and China (amongst others countries) are expected to be the leading economies of the 21st century (The Economist, October 2003: 78). Significant FDI has been invested into both these countries - China to a much larger extent than India (2003 - China: US$58 bn; India: US$3.8 bn - Refer to Table 2.2, Table 3.2, and the graph in Appendix 6.4). To the best of the writer's knowledge, there has not been any study comparing the economic and operating environments of these two nations, and the attractiveness of investment in them. The purpose of the project is to conduct a comprehensive study to examine whether equal investment in India would be worthwhile, by comparing the economic and operating environments of India and China. The research methodology included both primary research and secondary data analysis. The primary data were gathered through personal and telephonic interviews, while the secondary data were obtained from books, journals, the financial press, articles, the Internet, and case studies. The interviews comprised a blend of open and closed questions to extract the most accurate responses from interviewees. Six South African companies were interviewed - four operate in India and three operate in China. (One of these companies - SAB Miller operated in both these countries). The companies operating in India were Shoprite Checkers, SAB Miller, Nando's International, and Old Mutual. The countries operating in China were Kumba Resources, SAB Miller, and Barloworld. The research identified several similarities as well as some differences between these Asian nations. In conclusion, the research revealed that China and India are at present seen as the favourite investment destinations by many multinational businesses wishing to expand abroad. Yet both these countries, despite their similarities and the lure of great potential, are very difficult markets to operate in, and require careful planning, analysis and thought before expansion into these countries. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Volgens The Economist sal Indië en China (onder ander lande) na verwagting die toonaangewende ekonomiee van die 21ste eeu wees (The Economist, Oktober 2003: 78). Beduidende bedrae in buitelandse direkte investering is in beide hierdie lande belê - tot 'n baie groter omvang in China as in Indië (2003 - China: VS$S8 miljard; lndië : VS$3,8 miljard). (Verwys na tabeI2.2, Tabc1 3.2 en die grafiek in AanhangseI 6.4.) Na die beste wete van die skrywer bestaan daar geen vergelykende studie van die ekonomiese- en bedryfsomgewings van hierdie twee volke, en die aantreklikheid van belegging by hulle nie. Die doel van die projek is om 'n omvattende studie te onderneem om vas te stel of gelyke investering in Indië lonend sal wees deur die ekonomiese en bedryfsomgewings van lndië met die van China te vergelyk. Die navorsingsmetodologie het beide primere navorsing en sekondere dataontleding ingesluit. Die primere data is deur persoonlike en telefoononderhoude versamel, terwyl die sekondere data uit boeke, joernale, die finansiele media, artikels, die Internet en gevallestudies verkry is. Die onderhoude het bestaan uit 'n mengsel van oop en geslote vrae om die akkuraatste reaksies van onderhoudelinge te verkry. Daar is onderhoude met ses Suid-Afrikaanse maatskappye gevoer - vier doen sake in Indie en drie doen sake in China. (Een van hierdie maatskappye - SAB Miller - doen sake in albei hierdie lande.) Die maatskappye wat sake doen in Indie is Shoprite Checkers, SAB Miller, Nando's Internasionaal en Ou Mutual. Die maatskappye wat in China sake doen, is Khumba Resources, SAB Miller en BarloworId. Die navorsing het verskeie ooreenkomste asook sommige verskille tussen hierdie Asiatiese nasies geidentifiseer. Ten sIotte, die navorsing het onthul dat vele multinasionale ondernemings wat graag in die buiteland wil uitbrei, China en Indie as die jongste beleggingsbestemmings oorweeg. Tog is albei hierdie lande, ondanks hulle ooreenkomste en die lokmiddel van groot potensiaal, baie moeilike lande om in sake te doen. Dit vereis versigtige beplanning, ontleding en denke voor daar na hierdie lande uitgebrei word.