The Declining Significance ofGuanxiin China's Economic Transition

Abstract

Recently a number of scholars have examined guanxi (connections/social relationships) and its role in the structure of Chinese society as the economic transition progresses. While many China scholars view guanxi as a deep-seated cultural fact of Chinese society, I view guanxi as an institutionally defined system – i.e. a system that depends on the institutional structure of society rather than on culture – that is changing in stride with the institutional changes of the reform era. Some scholars have argued that social networks and the use of these networks to exchange gifts and favours (guanxi xue or guanxi practice) are increasing in imnnrtanre. in China's transition.

Goodguanxiand badguanxi: Western bankers and the role of network practices in institutional change in China

“…However, apart from guanxi itself, there also exists a separate phenomena, guanxi xue (or guanxi practice) which refers to the material aspect of relationship building or the "manufacturing of obligation and indebtedness" which can be achieved through gift and favour exchange (Guthrie, 1998;Yang, 1994). Broadly speaking, the academic study of guanxi and guanxi practice can be divided into two theoretical positions.…”

Personal Networking in Russia and China:

“…With money being the key issue to success rather than power and a market economy in development one would anticipate that blat and guanxi would be fading (Child & Tse, 2001;Guthrie, 1998 or to high quality medical services, for example, is a matter of activating personal networks.…”

Connected and Disconnected in Viet Nam: Remaking Social Relations in a Post-socialist Nation

“…Beyond Vietnam, the importance of social connections has been attributed to shortages in political economy and formal institutional weakness, leading to greater uncertainty and people's reliance on social connections in order to reduce uncertainty (Guthrie 1998;Walder 1986 In Vietnamese, Núi means mountain, and people imagined that she was a mountain of money. Moving to the south in 1975 after the American war, Núi maintained contact with the village through her family and a number of migratory villagers who went to work in or visited her enterprise.…”