Using life history information of a national sample of urban Chinese residents, this book examines how shifting state policies and political processes led to drastic fluctuations of opportunities in education attainment, employment, promotions, and economic benefits over a 45-year history. The author addresses issues about the evolution of state socialism in China and the sources and extent of fundamental changes over the last two decades to demonstrate how the socialist state's policies affected everyday life in urban China.

Written rules in formal organizations are distinctive elements of organizational history; they shape organizational change and are in turn shaped by it. These rules are created, revised, and eliminated in ways that leave historical traces, and they have a visibility and durability that elude non-written rules. They thus provide rich data for an empirical probe into the dynamics of organizational history. This study uses qualitative and quantitative data from the history of a specific organization, Stanford University, to develop speculations about the ways in which written rules change. It...

Using life history information of a national sample of urban Chinese residents, this book examines how shifting state policies and political processes led to drastic fluctuations of opportunities in education attainment, employment, promotions, and economic benefits over a 45-year history. The author addresses issues about the evolution of state socialism in China and the sources and extent of fundamental changes over the last two decades to demonstrate how the socialist state's policies affected everyday life in urban China.