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Chinese original edition © 2013 China Renmin University Press
By Lu Yilong
English edition © 2015 by Enrich Professional Publishing, Inc.
With the title Rural Development in China: The Rise of Innovative Institutions and Markets Volume 1
Translated by Yu Lun
Edited by Glenn Griffith, Phoebe Poon, and Yu Lun
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Contents
Preface ............................................................................................................. vii
Chapter 1 Institutional Innovations and Rural Market Development ..... 1
Chapter 2 Institutional Supply, Demands on Institutions, ......................... 21
and China’s Rural Development
Chapter 3 Reform of the Urban-Rural Dual Structure ................................. 43
and China’s Rural Development
Chapter 4 Farmland Expropriation and the Reform .................................... 91
of the Rural Land System
Notes ............................................................................................................. 111
Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 115
Index ............................................................................................................. 123
Preface
Looking at China’s implementation of the Reform and Opening Up policy over
the past 30 years, the following observations can be made: reform is the only
way to ensure steady and stable development. Reform, in essence, is institutional
innovation through which society and the economy embrace greater progress and
productivity as well as get rid of ineffective institutional arrangements. Therefore,
in a sense, institutional innovation can be counted as a productive force, for its
process encompasses achievements from various fields, including philosophy,
social sciences, as well as advanced economic and social management.
Originating in rural areas, the Reform and Opening Up policy made happen
the first leap in China’s economic and social development: China has got rid of
destitution and begun striding towards moderate prosperity. In the meantime,
however, sluggish rural development remains a big problem. The second leap
would require the development of China’s rural areas, for they are the bottleneck of
national development, or in marketing terms, the hole of the “leaky bucket,” while
at the same time being the solid foundation of all socioeconomic progress. Then,
how is it possible to realize the second leap in rural China? They key lies very likely
in institutional innovation: changing the impeding institutional arrangements and
establishing institutions that could stimulate development. This book will discuss
how rural China, in this new era, should develop in the respects of institutions and
market, specifically what institutional factors are constraining the development of
the rural market and the “three rurals” of agriculture, villages, and farmers, and
what kind of institutional innovations and institutional arrangements could bring
improvements.
The development of rural China has long been the concern of Chinese
sociologists: Yan Yangchu raised the idea of village construction movement, Wu
Wenzao initiated community studies, Fei Xiaotong proposed the developmental
model of “leaving the land but not the village,” the approach of constructing small
towns, and the theory of coordinated regional development, and Philip C. C. Huang
(Huang Zongzhi) developed the idea of “the third way” of rural development.
This book chooses to discuss China’s rural development from the perspectives
of institutions and market development mainly because of two reasons. First,
institutions are a comprehensive variable that shows clearly the relationships among
institutions, social activities, and development, for institutions combine factors of
all fields from the economic and political to the social and cultural. This suits the
research of rural development, which is a complex issue itself, perfectly. Second,
rural development depends on economic progress, whose key is the development
of the market against the backdrop of marketization and globalization. Effective
vii
Preface
leveraging of the market system would not only drive the development of the rural
economy but also help solve problems of the “three rurals.” Although not almighty,
the market has its effect in promoting development, and neglecting this “invisible
hand” would gravely discount the efficiency of socioeconomic development.
G. William Skinner has conducted research on the relationship between the
marketing system and social development in rural China, and Justin Yifu Lin makes
developing rural markets the key of his rural reconstruction theory. In the field of
institutional analysis, the neoinstitutional school has developed plenty of models.
Borrowing the achievements of these past studies, this book takes a sociological
perspective and uses empirical studies to discuss the interrelations and trends in
China’s institutional changes, market development, and rural development.
In terms of empirical studies, this book adopts the China General Social Survey
(CGSS) and uses its data for analyses of the household registration system, the
urban-rural structure, farmland expropriation, farmers’ actions of “braving the
market,” market awareness, and the use of rural land. Also included are analyses
of field surveys on rural market development in Xiaogang Village, Anhui Province;
Dingzhou, Hebei Province; and suburban Beijing. The above studies are used to
figure out the status quo and problems in rural China and its market development
as well as investigate how these problems are related to institutional arrangements.
This book is divided into three volumes:
• Volume 1 is tackles institutional issues in China’s rural development,
covering institutional innovation, rural reconstruction, the household
registration system, the urban-rural structure, and the rural land system.
• Volume 2 focuses on specific issues in rural market development, such as:
government-induced institutional innovations; emerging factor markets;
farmers’ “braving the market”; farmers’ market awareness; farmers’ uses of
rural land; rural fairs; and the cultivation of entrepreneurial talent in rural
areas.
• Volume 3 discusses the developmental issues of rural China from a historical
lens. This volume contains analyses of China’s 60 years of rural development;
changes in the Chinese rural class structure and hierarchy; dilemmas in
post-earthbound China; and the recent progress and future path of China’s
rural development.
The theoretical discussions and explanations in this book are based on empirical
studies. The following ideas may require further improvement, but they are
based on the author’s understanding of the macro- and micro-experience of rural
development in China: reforms towards a “unitary system” for urban and rural
institutions; induced institutional innovations; farmers’ “braving the market”;
“post-earthbound China”; and diverse paths towards urbanization and rural
development.
viii
1
Chapter
Institutional
Innovations and Rural
Market Development
