Feature Article

You have free access to this content

The Restructuring of Market Socialism in China: The Contribution of an “Agency” Theoretical Perspective

  1. Ping Zheng1,*,
  2. Richard Scase2

Article first published online: 19 DEC 2012

DOI: 10.1002/tie.21526

Issue

Thunderbird International Business Review

Thunderbird International Business Review

Volume 55, Issue 1, pages 103–114, January/February 2013

Additional Information

How to Cite

Zheng, P. and Scase, R. (2013), The Restructuring of Market Socialism in China: The Contribution of an “Agency” Theoretical Perspective. Thunderbird Int'l Bus Rev, 55: 103–114. doi: 10.1002/tie.21526

Author Information

  1. 1

    Canterbury Christ Church University—The Business School, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom

  2. 2

    University of Kent

*Canterbury Christ Church University—The Business School, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom, 0044 (0) 1227 767700 ext. 3605 (phone), 0044 (0) 1227 470442 (fax)

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 19 DEC 2012
  2. Article first published online: 19 DEC 2012

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (509K)

REFERENCES

  • 1
    Ahlstrom , D., & Bruton , G. D. (2010). Rapid institutional shifts and the co-evolution of entrepreneurial firms in transition economies. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34(3), 531–554.
    Direct Link:
  • 2
    Alexander , J. C. (1992), Some remarks on “agency” in recent sociological theory. Perspectives (Theory Section Newsletter, American Sociological Association), 15, 1–4.
  • 3
    Baker , T., Miner , A. S., & Eesley , D. T. (2003). Improvising firms: Bricolage, account giving and improvisational competencies in the founding process. Research Policy, 32, 255–276.
  • 4
    Baker , T., & Nelson , R. E. (2005). Creating something from nothing: Resource construction through entrepreneurial bricolage. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50, 329–366.
  • 5
    Battilana , J. (2006), Agency and institutions: The enabling role of individuals' social position. Organisation, 13(5), 653–676.
  • 6
    Bennett , A., & Elman , C. (2006). Qualitative research: Recent developments in case study methods. Annual Review in Political Science, 9, 455–476.
  • 7
    Benson , J. K. (1977). Organisations: A dialectic view. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, 1–21.
  • 8
    Boyer , R. (2007). How and why capitalisms differ. Economy and Society, 34, 509–557.
  • 9
    Burns , J., & Nielsen , K. (2006). How do embedded agents engage in institutional change? Journal of Economic Issues, 40, 449–456.
  • 10
    Burns , J., & Scapens , R. W. (2000). Conceptualizing management accounting change: An Institutional framework. Management Accounting Research, 11(1), 109–135.
  • 11
    Chen , C. J. P., Li , Z., Su , X., & Sun , Z. (2011). Rent-seeking incentives, corporate political connections, and the control structure of private firms: Chinese evidence. Journal of Corporate Finance, 17, 229–243.
  • 12
    Chen , J-G., Liu , Y-Q., Liu , X-H., & Ge , L-C. (2008). Research on the 30 years of China's non-state-owned units reform and development. Beijing: Economy & Management Publishing House.
  • 13
    Child , J., & Tse , D. K. (2001). China's transition and its implications for international business. Journal of International Business Studies, 32, 5–21.
  • 14
    Coleman , J. S. (1986). Social theory, social research, and a theory of action. American Journal of Sociology, 6, 1309–1335.
  • 15
    Cooke , F. L. (2004). Foreign firms in China: Modelling HRM in a toy manufacturing corporation. Human Resource Management Journal, 14(3), 31–53.
    Direct Link:
  • 16
    Davison , W. H. (1987). Creating and managing joint ventures in China. California Management Review, 29(4), 77–94.
  • 17
    DiMaggio , P., & Powell , W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organisational fields. American Sociological Review, 48, 147–160.
  • 18
    DiMaggio , P. J. (1988). Interest and agency in institutional theory. In Zucker , L. G. (Ed.), Institutional patterns and organisations: Culture and environment (pp. 3–22). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
  • 19
    Dorado , S. (2005). Institutional entrepreneurship, partaking, and convening. Organisation Studies, 26, 385–414.
  • 20
    Eisenhardt , K. M., and Graebaner , M. E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25–32.
  • 21
    Emirbayer , M., & Mische , A. (1998). What is agency? American Journal of Sociology, 103, 962–1023.
  • 22
    Fligstein , N. (1997). Social skill and institutional theory. American Behavioural Scientist, 40, 387–405.
  • 23
    Gao , Y. (2011). Government intervention, perceived benefit, and bribery of firms in transitional China. Journal of Business Ethics, 104(2), 175–184.
  • 24
    Garud , R., Hardy , C., & Maguire , S. (2007). Institutional entrepreneurship as embedded agency: An introduction to the special Issue. Organisation Studies, 28, 957–969.
  • 25
    Garud , R., Jain , S., & Kumaraswamy , A. (2002). Institutional entrepreneurship in the sponsorship of common technological standards: The case of Sun Microsystems and Java. Academy of Management Journal, 45(1), 196–214.
  • 26
    Hassard , J., Morris , J., Sheehan , J., & Xiao, Y. (2010). China's state-owned enterprises: Economic reform and organisational restructuring. Journal of Organisational Change Management, 23, 500–516.
  • 27
    Hoffman , A. J. (1999). Institutional evolution and change: Environmentalism and the US chemical industry. Academy of Management Journal, 42, 351–371.
  • 28
    Jefferson , G., Hu , A. G. Z., Guan , X., & Yu , X. (2003). Ownership, performance, and innovation in China's large- and medium-size industrial enterprise sector. China Economic Review, 14(1), 89–113.
  • 29
    Jiang , F-M. (2006). The determinants of the effectiveness of foreign direct investment in China: An empirical study of joint and sole ventures. International Journal of Management, 23, 891–908.
  • 30
    Kalantaridis , C. (2007). Institutional change in post-socialist regimes: Public policy and beyond. Journal of Economic Issues, 41, 435–442.
  • 31
    Kshetri , N. (2007). Institutional changes affecting entrepreneurship in China. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 12, 415–432.
  • 32
    Lamberg , J. A., & Pajunen , K. (2010). Agency, institutional change, and continuity: The case of the Finnish Civil War. Journal of Management Studies, 47, 815–836.
    Direct Link:
  • 33
    Lau , C. M., & Bruton , G. D. (2008). FDI in China: What we know and what we need to study next. Academy of Management Perspective, 22(4), 30–46.
  • 34
    Li , S., & Xia , J. (2008). The roles and performance of state firms and non-state firms in China's economic transition. World Development, 36(1), 39–54.
  • 35
    Liu , G. S., & Garino , G. (2001). Privatization or competition. Economics of Planning, 34, 35–51.
  • 36
    Liu , G. S., & Woo , W. T. (2001). How will ownership in China's industrial sector evolve WTO accession? China Economic Review 12(1), 137–161.
  • 37
    Lukes , S. (1973). Individualism. Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell.
  • 38
    Meyer , J. W., & Rowan , B. (1977). Institutionalized organisations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 340–363.
  • 39
    Nee , V., & Opper , S. (2010). Political capital in a market economy. Social Forces, 88, 2105–2132.
  • 40
    Newman , K. (2000). Organisational transformation during institutional upheaval. Academy of Management Review, 25, 602–619.
  • 41
    North , D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  • 42
    Oliver , C. (1996). The institutional embeddedness of economic activity. Advances in Strategic Management, 13, 163–186.
  • 43
    Peng , M. W. (2003). Institutional transitions and strategic choices. Academy of Management Review, 28, 525–550.
  • 44
    Peng , M. W., Tan , J., & Tong , T. (2004). Ownership types and strategic groups in an emerging economy. Journal of Management Studies, 41, 1105–1129.
    Direct Link:
  • 45
    Puffer , S. M., McCarthy , D. J., & Boisot , M. (2010). Entrepreneurship in Russia and China: The impact of formal institutional voids. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34, 441–467.
    Direct Link:
  • 46
    Purdy , J., & Gray , B. (2009). Conflicting logics, mechanisms of diffusion and multilevel dynamics in emerging institutional fields. Academy of Management Journal, 52, 355–380.
  • 47
    Redding , G., & Witt , M. A. (2009). China's business system and its future trajectory. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 26, 381–399.
  • 48
    Sanders , R., & Chen, Y. (2005). On privatization and property rights: Should China go down the road of outright privatization? Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, 3(3), 231–245.
  • 49
    Scott , W. R. (1987). The adolesence of insitutional theory. Administrative Science Quarterly, 32, 493.
  • 50
    Scott , W. R. (2002). The changing world of Chinese enterprise: An institutional perspective. In A. S. Tsui & C. M. Lau (Eds.), The management of enterprises in the People's Republic of China (pp. 59–78). New York, NY: Kluwer Academic.
  • 51
    Scott , W. R. (2007). Institutions and organizations: Ideas and interests. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • 52
    Seo , M-G., & Creed , W. E. D. (2002). Institutional contradictions, praxis, and institutional change: A dialectical perspective. Academy of Management Review, 27(2), 222–247.
  • 53
    Sheehan , J., Morris , J., & Hassard , J. (2000). Redundancies in Chinese state enterprises: A research report. Journal of Industrial Relations, 39, 486–501.
    Direct Link:
  • 54
    Su , C., & Littlefield , J. E. (2001). Entering guanxi: A business ethical dilemma in mainland China? Journal of Business Ethics, 33(3), 199–210.
  • 55
    Tan , J. (2002). Impact of ownership type on environment-strategy linkage and performance: Evidence from a transitional economy. Journal of Management Studies, 39, 333–354.
    Direct Link:
  • 56
    Tung , S., & Cho , S. (2001). Determinants of regional investment decisions in China: An econometric model of tax incentive policy. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 17, 167–185.
  • 57
    Wang , H., & Han , G. (2008). Local government's “black box” in small and medium-sized private enterprises' transownership M&A failure. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 15, 719–732.
  • 58
    Xinhua News. (2001, June 25). Special report: The three representatives. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20010625/422678.htm
  • 59
    Yang , K. (2002). Double entrepreneurship in China's economic reform: An analytical framework. Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 30(1), 134–148.
  • 60
    Yang , K. (2004). Institutional holes and entrepreneurship in China. Sociological Review, 52, 371–389.
    Direct Link:
  • 61
    Yano , G., & Shiraishi , M. (2004). Efficiency of Chinese township and village enterprises and property rights in the 1990s: Case study of Wuxi. Comparative Economic Studies, 46, 311–340.
  • 62
    Yin , R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). London, England: Sage.
  • 63
    Yu , J-P. (2004). Foreign investment policies, national benefits and economic development. Economics Studies, 5.
View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (509K)