We test for the relative importance of guanxi (‘connections’) as a catalyst for entrepreneurship in urban China using survey data from five cities for the period 1996-2001. We find that guanxi with the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) is negatively correlated with the likelihood of being either...

The "dual-track approach" for transition would have to be facilitated by an endogenous movement of workers away from the state into private jobs. Yet, using the Chinese Household Income Project Series (CHIPs) data for the year 2002, we document preferences and premiums for state jobs in urban...