This dissertation research support allows the student to explain the regional differences in economic liberalization policies in china between 1978 and 1994. Data collected concern the regional differences in the governmental policies toward non-sate owned industry and the political-economic characteristics of the provinces between 1978 and 1994. The research applies the major political-economic theories to the variation in the national and provincial license registration, loaning, and taxation policies toward non-state-owned industry in thirty Chinese provinces. Through the test of the validity of four explanations - - growth, revenue, political support, and interest group explanations the research explains why some provinces were more favorable toward non-state owned industry than the others. In the test, the quantitative measurements for the national and provincial reform policies will be regressed on the political economic variables drawn from the hypotheses. Several strong indicator variables are used to quantify the data on the national and provincial policies of economic liberalization. The political-economic characteristics of the provinces, such as the size of the state-owned industry, are quantitative. The research thus involves the collection of data on the national and provincial policies and on the political-economic characteristics of the provinces. The student uses data collected at the major Chines collections in the US and China. A data set on the national and provincial reform policies and on the political-economic characteristics of Chinese provinces will be produced and made available to other scholars interested in the topic.
