A balanced assessment of the extent to which the reforms have actually altered state enterprise behaviour in China ... This study is the first book-length product of an enormous research project which has included field research at more than 30 state-owned enterprises, as well as survey data from more than 1,000 enterprises. Clearly the research has to date produced far more data than could usefully be included in a single monograph, and further publications are eagerly awaited ... the opening section surveying the different phases of reform is a model of clarity and conciseness ... What really makes this book indispensable is its wealth of statistical data on all aspects of enterprise operations and relationships under the reforms ... the case is thoughtfully made, and is a timely contribution to the debate on ownership and reform of state-owned enterprises.

Times Higher Education Supplement

Hay and co-authors provide a significant, multi-faceted entry into the already substantial body of sophisticated statistical work on Chinese enterprises ... those interested in the progress of the economic reforms in the industrial sector need not miss, and should not overlook, the major conclusions which are, fortunately, fairly clearly laid out in the conclusions to each chapter ... their work contributes valuably setting out the puzzle that future work must strive to explain.

Louis Putterman, China Quarterly, Vol. 146, June '96