Economic development and local transformation in coastal China after 1978 : an examination of the validity of the actor-oriented perspective
Date
2000
Authors
Kimura, Mika
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Abstract
This thesis evaluates the alternative perspective, actor-oriented approach proposed by Norman Long in order to determine whether it can provide greater understanding of diverse local economic development patterns. To this end, I have examined the triangular relationship between global, national, and local forces in each locality with particular emphasis on local actors' roles in three localities of Coastal China, Wenzhou, Sunan, and the Eastern delta of the Pearl River Delta. The findings from the case studies in this thesis suggest that each locality's unique economic development pattern is determined by configurations of these three forces. The influences of exogeneous forces necessarily interact with each locality's unique endogeneous forces . Within the given structural circumstances, either constraining or beneficial, local actors also formulate plans and act on them. For this reason, this thesis suggests that an actor-oriented approach, in conjunction with other structural approaches, may provide greater understanding of the complex process of local economic development patterns.