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14 - Chinese Business History: Its Development, Present Situation, and Future Direction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2009

By
Chi-Kong Lai
Edited by
Franco Amatori  and
Geoffrey Jones
Chi-Kong Lai
Affiliation:
Director, Asian Business History Centre and Senior Lecturer in Modern Chinese History University of Queensland, Australia
Franco Amatori
Affiliation:
Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan
Geoffrey Jones
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Massachusetts
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Summary

Studies of Chinese business have often sought explanations in Chinese business culture and organization, giving particular attention to, among other things, the growth or stagnation of the Chinese economy, state–business relations, and the business practices of guanxi (relationship or connections). Several conferences have been organized, and proceedings, journal articles, and books have been published, not to mention a number of M.A. and Ph.D. theses in Chinese, Japanese, German, and English.

The goal of this essay is to review the field and recent trends in Chinese business history. The aims and influence of the sources and Chinese business history publications will be addressed. I will then proceed with an investigation of academic works in Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and Western publications, highlighting the differences in the explanation and conceptualization of Chinese business and economic behavior and demonstrating how these are influenced by the regions, disciplines, interests, and personal backgrounds of the scholars. I will also provide some possible research directions in Chinese business history.

A RECENT UPSURGE OF RESEARCH

During the past two decades, there has been growing international interest in Chinese business history research. Institutionally speaking, there is still no centralized international organization focused on Chinese business history. However, an international Chinese business history newsletter, Chinese Business History, is published by the East Asia Program of Cornell University to encourage scholarly research on Chinese business history.

Type
Chapter
Information
Business History around the World , pp. 298 - 316
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

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References

Brown, Raj, ed. Chinese Business Enterprise. 4 vols. London, 1996. This is the best collection of essays on Chinese business history
Cochran, Sherman. Encountering Chinese Networks. Berkeley, 2000. Chan, Wellington K. K. Merchants, Mandarins, and Modern Enterprise in Late Ch'ing China. Cambridge, 1977. These books are the best studies on Chinese enterprise
Faure, David. China and Capitalism: Business Enterprise in Modern China. Hong Kong, 1994; Eastman, Lloyd E. Family, Fields and Ancestors: Constancy and Change in China's Social and Economic History, 1550–1949. New York, 1988. These two books are the best short histories of business and economic change in the long run
Goodman, Bryna. Native Place, City, and Nation: Regional Networks and Identities in Shanghai, 1853–1937. Berkeley, 1995. This is the classic work on Chinese native place associations
Hamilton, Gary, ed. Business Networks and Economic Development in East and Southeast Asia. Hong Kong, 1991. This is the best book on Chinese business networks
Hao, Yen-p'ing. The Commercial Revolution in Nineteenth Century China. Berkeley, 1986. This book is especially helpful for understanding issues of Sino–Western business relations, foreign investment, and international trade
MacPherson, Kerrie L., ed. Asian Department Stores. Honolulu, 1998; Watson, James L., ed. Golden Arches East: McDonald's in East Asia. Stanford, 1997. These two books are the best works on Chinese consumer culture
McElderry, Andrea and Bob Gardella, eds. Scholarly Research on Chinese Business History: Interpretive Trends and Priorities for the Future. Armonk, NY, 1998. This is the best introduction to the field of Chinese business history
Rowe, William T. Hankow: Commerce and Society in a Chinese City, 1796–1889. Stanford, 1984; Kwan, Man Bun. The Salt Merchants of Tianjin. Honolulu, 2001. These are the best case studies on regional business development
Wright, Tim. Coal Mining in China's Economy and Society, 1895–1937. Cambridge, 1984. This is a very informative book on Chinese enterprise management
Wright, Tim. ed. The Chinese Economy in the Early Twentieth Century. New York, 1992. This book is a good overview of Chinese perspectives on Chinese business history

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