De Tocquevillian Moments: Chinese Private Entrepreneurs’ Charitable Contributions.

Much as in the years just before the French Revolution, the private business sector can turn to charity, the purchase of public offices, and other collaborations with government. Exceptional efforts of this type can signal exceptional problems with business legitimacy and high uncertainty about government rule making. In the middle 1990s, newly emerging Chinese entrepreneurs shared many of these problems. National survey data for 2,865 Chinese private entrepreneurs show that these entrepreneurs give frequently, at levels exceeding those in the U.S. for similar size firms. High levels of giving were often converted into membership on political councils, which in turn increased their reports of status in society. Many other standard determinants ? peer pressure, retail marketing ? emerge in the patterns of giving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]