Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.7, 2017

The Social Composition of Private Entrepreneurs in China: Social Class and Cohort Disparities

(Abstract)

Fan Xiaoguang and Lü Peng

We use several years of survey data on private enterprises in China to examine the much-discussed topic of the “social composition of proprietors of private enterprises.” Nearly four decades of development have seen great changes in the overall make up of private entrepreneurs, with an increasing proportion having market experience and higher education qualifications and not being party members. Dividing the occupational transition of private entrepreneurs into “swapping public positions for the business world,” “changes in workplace classification,” “crossing boundaries,” “springboards” and “grassroots,” the survey found significant variations in the occupational transitions of proprietors of large, medium and small businesses prior to launching their enterprises. This is especially true of the proprietors of large enterprises, who are more likely to have moved to the private sector from public sector positions or arrived there via a change in the status of their institutions. Owners of small and medium enterprises, on the other hand, tend to have developed outside the public sector. Multiple regression and coefficient cluster analysis show that educational background and political identity influence the occupational transition of business owners in terms of social class and cohort.