A Chinese Economic Revolution Rural Entrepreneurship in the Twentieth Century

This powerful and meticulously researched study explores the role of rural industry and entrepreneurship in the Chinese economic miracle. Linda Grove focuses on one weaving district in North China, exploring the ways in which small industrial firms have accumulated capital, organized their firms, developed nationwide marketing networks, and promoted brands over the last century. Cutting across the conventional divide between studies of history and contemporary economy, the author persuasively shows the links between traditional Chinese business practices and modern economic growth. Based on several decades of archival research, surveys, and fieldwork, A Chinese Economic Revolution provides the first English-language exploration of the business history of small Chinese firms.

Linda Grove is professor on the faculty of liberal arts and vice president for academic exchange at Sophia University in Tokyo.