2023/07/31 by Adam K. Frost, Zeren Li · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance #Chinese history and philosophy #Japanese History and Culture
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0305741023001133
openalex publication_date 2023/07/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Abstract In this article we develop and analyse novel datasets to retrace the persistence and scale of underground market activity in Maoist China. We show that, contrary to received wisdom, Chinese citizens continued to engage in market-based transactions long after “socialist transformation” was ostensibly complete, and that this activity constituted a substantial proportion of local economic output throughout the Maoist era. This helps to explain, in part, why, when markets were officially reopened in China, private economic activity took off. We arrive at these findings through the development and analysis of novel datasets based on unconventional historical sources – namely, a collection of 2,690 cases of “speculation and profiteering” that were recovered from flea markets in eastern China. We show how these grassroots sources can be systematically analysed and used, in lieu of official statistical aggregates, to develop new insights into the macro workings of the Maoist economy.