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Entrepreneurial talent and economic development in China

Author

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  • Zhang, Weiying
  • Cooper, W.W.
  • Deng, Honghui
  • Parker, Barnett R.
  • Ruefli, Timothy W.

Abstract

In this paper, we argue that the economic miracle of China in the past three decades can be attributed to the reallocation of entrepreneurial talent from the government/state and agricultural sectors to business activities. This change is unprecedented in the past two thousand years of Chinese history. When entrepreneurial talent was moved more to business activities, it created wealth, and the economy boomed. Three dominant groups of entrepreneurs are identified: (1) Peasants-turned entrepreneurs, (2) officials-turned entrepreneurs, and (3) overseas-returned, and engineers-turned, entrepreneurs. They have emerged sequentially, and successively led three decades of economic growth. The success of the Chinese economy arises from a gradual replacement of position-based rights with property-based rights that has triggered this reallocation of entrepreneurial talent. We also argue that when position-based and property-based rights coexist, value-creating and rent-seeking can be complementary. Therefore, one should not be puzzled by the coexistence of rapid economic growth and pervasive corruption in China. In order to improve the efficiency of allocation of entrepreneurial talent and efforts, it is important to further reduce the domain of position-based rights, and build a better-defined and more effectively-protected property rights system.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Weiying & Cooper, W.W. & Deng, Honghui & Parker, Barnett R. & Ruefli, Timothy W., 2010. "Entrepreneurial talent and economic development in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 178-192, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:44:y:2010:i:4:p:178-192
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    Cited by:

    1. William T. Allen & Han Shen, 2011. "Assessing China's Top-Down Securities Markets," NBER Working Papers 16713, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Lu Liu & Shenshen Si & Jing Li, 2023. "Research on the Effect of Regional Talent Allocation on High-Quality Economic Development—Based on the Perspective of Innovation-Driven Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Yong He & Siwei Gao & Nuo Liao, 2016. "An Intelligent Computing Approach to Evaluating the Contribution Rate of Talent on Economic Growth," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 48(3), pages 399-423, October.
    4. Mayer-Haug, Katrin & Read, Stuart & Brinckmann, Jan & Dew, Nicholas & Grichnik, Dietmar, 2013. "Entrepreneurial talent and venture performance: A meta-analytic investigation of SMEs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1251-1273.
    5. Lopes, Tiago Camarinha, 2025. "Formal similarity and real distinction between capitalist and socialist economic planning," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 209-219.
    6. Ju, Xiangui & Ferreira, Fernando A.F. & Wang, Min, 2020. "Innovation, agile project management and firm performance in a public sector-dominated economy: Empirical evidence from high-tech small and medium-sized enterprises in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    7. William T. Allen & Han Shen, 2012. "Assessing China's Top-Down Securities Markets," NBER Chapters, in: Capitalizing China, pages 149-195, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Robertson, Jeandri & Pitt, Leyland & Ferreira, Caitlin, 2020. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and the public sector: A bibliographic analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

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