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Social stratification in transitional economies: property rights and the structure of markets

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Abstract

In transitions from state socialism, property rights are re-allocated to organizations and groups, creating new markets and new forms of economic enterprise that reshape the stratification order. A generation of research has estimated individual-level outcomes with income equations and mobility models, relying on broad assumptions about economic change. We redirect attention to the process of economic change that structures emerging markets. The process varies across market sectors, depending on the entity that is granted rights formerly exercised by state organs, and on the combination of rights they are granted. The transformation of three sectors in China—agriculture, steel manufacturing, and real estate—shows how different allocations of property rights alter the stratification order in strikingly different ways. Historical analysis of the evolution of markets and enterprises integrates insights from economic sociology into research on social stratification, providing a structural perspective on transitions from state socialism.

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Notes

  1. Nee (1992) also investigated “hybrid” organizational forms in his analysis of rural enterprises in China, although he viewed them as a mixed type appropriate to an intermediate stage of market transition.

  2. This figure is based on the China Securities Market Database compiled by the Center for China Economic Research, Beijing, an online proprietary database with historical and current data on Chinese securities markets.

  3. Founded in China in 1999 by a foreign national, Hurun Report is a research service that compiles lists of China’s high net worth individuals, similar to more familiar lists compiled by Forbes and Fortune magazines. The Hurun Report produces twenty issues a year, along with special online supplements.

  4. China Securities Market Database cited in note 1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-2047, USA

    Andrew G. Walder & Tianjue Luo

  2. School of Business, Management Division, Columbia University, 3022 Broadway at 117th Street, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Dan Wang

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Correspondence to Andrew G. Walder.

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Walder, A.G., Luo, T. & Wang, D. Social stratification in transitional economies: property rights and the structure of markets. Theor Soc 42, 561–588 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-013-9203-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-013-9203-2

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