Placing the Transformation of State-owned Enterprises in North-east China: The State, Region and Firm in a Transitional Economy

Abstract

Hu F. Z. Y. and Lin G. C. S. Placing the transformation of state-owned enterprises in North-east China: the state, region and firm in a transitional economy, Regional Studies. This study examines the nature of firm–region nexus in the transformation of state-owned enterprises in the Chinese transitional economy. A case study of the machinery sector in the Shenyang city-region of north-east China reveals a close relationship between the organizational transformation of state-owned enterprises and a regionally specific institutional environment featured by a product–market orientation toward some large, key construction projects and political commitment to achieving key equipment indigenization with a heavy reliance upon the internal labour market. The study advocates a more contextualized analysis of the positionality, interests and motivations of China's state-owned enterprises grounded in different regional and institutional contexts.

Hu F. Z. Y. and Lin G. C. S. 中国东北地区国有企业演变的地方性：转型经济中的政府、区域和企业，区域研究。本文探讨中国转型经济背景下国有企业组织演变的区域动力。基于对东北沈阳市机电工业的实证分析，揭示了当地国有企业的组织重构与服务大型国家重点建设项目需求的产品市场导向、实现核心技术装备国产化的政治使命以及以内部劳动力市场为主的人事关系等地方特定的制度氛围有着密切的关系。在此基础上，提倡企业-区域关联性研究应该更加重视具体时空和制度情景下不同企业个体的位置性、利益导向和动力机制。

区域制度氛围 发展型政府 国有企业 位置性 转型经济 中国

Hu F. Z. Y. et Lin G. C. S. Le positionnement de la transformation des entreprises publiques dans le nord-est de la Chine: l'Etat, la région, et l'entreprise dans une économie en transition, Regional Studies. Cette étude cherche à examiner la connexion entreprise-région dans la transformation des entreprises publiques dans l'économie chinoise en transition. Une étude de cas du secteur des machines situé dans la ville-région de Shenyang dans le nord-est de la Chine laisse voir un rapport étroit entre la transformation organisationnelle des entreprises publiques et un milieu institutionnel spécifique à la région caractérisé par une orientation produit-marché vers quelques grands chantiers clés et un engagement politique visant la réalisation de l'indigénisation de l'équipement essentiel, dont une dépendance importante du marché interne du travail. L'étude prône une analyse plus relativisée du postionnement, des intérêts, et des motivations des entreprises publiques chinoises fondée sur des contextes régionaux et institutionnels différents.

Milieu institutionnel régional Etat de développement Entreprises publiques Positionnement Economies en transition Chine

Hu F. Z. Y. und Lin G. C. S. Ansiedlung der Umgestaltung von Staatsbetrieben im Nordosten Chinas: Staat, Region und Firma in einer Übergangswirtschaft, Regional Studies. In dieser Studie untersuchen wir die Beschaffenheit der Verknüpfung zwischen Firmen und Regionen bei der Umgestaltung von Staatsbetrieben in der chinesischen Übergangswirtschaft. In einer Fallstudie des Maschinenbausektors in der Stadtregion Shenyang im Nordosten Chinas offenbart sich eine enge Beziehung zwischen der organisatorischen Umgestaltung von Staatsbetrieben und einer regionalspezifischen institutionellen Umgebung, die von einer Orientierung des Produktmarkts hin zu großen und wichtigen Bauprojekten sowie von einem politischen Engagement für die Inlandsbeschaffung von wichtiger Ausrüstung bei starker Abhängigkeit vom internen Arbeitsmarkt geprägt ist. In der Studie empfehlen wir eine kontextualisiertere Analyse der Positionalität, Interessen und Motivationen der chinesischen Staatsbetriebe, die auf den verschiedenen regionalen und institutionellen Kontexten aufbaut.

Regionale institutionelle Umgebung Entwicklungsstaat Staatsbetriebe Positionalität Übergangswirtschaften China

Hu F. Z. Y. y Lin G. C. S. Ubicar la transformación de las empresas estatales del noreste de China: el estado, la región y la empresa en una economía transicional, Regional Studies. En este estudio analizamos el tipo de nexo entre las empresas y regiones en lo que respecta a la transformación de las empresas estatales en la economía transicional de China. Un estudio monográfico sobre el sector de la maquinaria en la región metropolitana de Shenyang al noreste de China revela una estrecha relación entre la transformación organizativa de las empresas estatales y un marco institucional específico para las regiones caracterizado por una orientación del mercado de productos hacia importantes proyectos de construcción y el compromiso político para lograr la indigenización del equipo clave con una fuerte dependencia del mercado laboral interno. En este estudio recomendamos un análisis mas contextualizado de la posicionalidad, los intereses y las motivaciones de las empresas estatales chinas basado en diferentes contextos regionales e institucionales.

Marco institucional regional Estado de desarrollo Empresas estatales Posicionalidad Economías transicionales China

Keywords:

• Regional institutional environment
• Developmental state
• State-owned enterprises
• Positionality
• Transitional economies
• China

JEL classifications:

• D22
• P31
• R11

Acknowledgement

This work was sponsored by a postdoctoral fellowship obtained from the University Research Committee and the Faculty of Social Sciences, HKU, as well as by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Number 40701043) and the Research Grants Council of the HKSAR, China (Number GRF-HKU 747509H). The authors wish to thank the Editor and two anonymous referees for their insightful comments and helpful suggestions.

Notes

The discussion of labour management in the extant literature of regional studies is also related to the notion of flexibility. It is argued that there are three major domains of labour relations in which producers may attempt to induce flexibility. First, they may seek to make wage rates downwardly adjustable and strike wage bargains on an individualized worker-by-worker basis. Second, they may seek the advantages of internal flexibility through strategies that enhance the re-deployability of the workforce across the shop floor. Third, they may seek external flexibility through strategies that promote quantitative adjustment of their labour intake. For details, see Storper and Scott (1990).

Interview notes, 19 October 2004 and 27 July 2005.

It should be pointed out that the location factors listed here and the organizational features identified above are not exclusively specific to Shenyang, but may also apply to some other old industrial regions in north-east and north China. This case study of Shenyang is intended to reveal the importance of place-specific factors shared by regions with similar industrial structure and socialist development history.

Interview notes for Shenyang, 19 October 2004.

Interview notes, 27 October, 4 November and 11 November 2004.

On 5 October 2003, the Party centre and the State Council jointly issued the watershed document entitled ‘Certain Opinions Regarding Implementing the Strategies of Reviving the Old Industrial Bases Including the North-east China’ (Guanyu shishi dongbei diqu deng laogongye jidi zhenxing zhanlue de ruogan yijian). For a recent discussion of the causes and consequences of the ‘revive the northeast’ programme, see Chung et al. (2009).

One type of preferential treatment by central government was the approval of large capital construction and technological innovation projects in north-east China. It was reported that even before the State Council's Office for Reviving the North-east China was established, the National Development and Reform Commission has approved 100 key projects with a total investment of RMB61 billion in the three north-east provinces (Chung et al., 2009). Over half of the projects were concentrated in Liaoning province, which accounted for around 50% of the industrial output value and total assets of SOEs among north-east China.

Interview notes in Shenyang, 19 October 2004.

Interview notes in Shenyang, 5 November 2004.

See http://www.c-cnc.com/news/news.asp?id=7178 (accessed on 20 September 2006).