Abstract：Economic associations, based on the system of property rights, have existed for a long time and spread widely in the traditional Chinese society. The associations surpass the limits of natural persons and play a significant role in income distribution, providing social security and maintaining social order. This paper provides a theoretical framework to explain how economic associations function as grassroots governance providers in Zhejiang Province during the Qing Dynasty. It systematically studies the forming reasons of their governance role, in order to improve the understanding of civil society’s participation in grassroots governance from a historical perspective.Firstly, spontaneously organized economic associations correspond with people’s aspiration for wealth and equality in terms of income distribution. The associations can effectively improve the economic efficiency by innovating the financing system, enhancing the credit mechanism, reducing the transaction cost and integrating the transaction market. In the primary distribution, resource allocation is based on benefit sharing in order to narrow the income distribution gap. As tax payers, the associations take social risks, engage in the redistribution of production factors, and act as tax agents by way of “tax farming”. In addition, the economic associations’ enhancement of social security with its informal power accords with the third income distribution by civil society under the Kaldor-Hicks improvement.Secondly, economic associations are non-governmental and non-profitable, which verifies the possibility of public goods providers existing outside the government and the market. Economic associations provide public goods in three aspects: public facilities, local education and social relief. Therefore, in terms of public goods provision, the associations are diversified, and can provide all-round and multi-level public goods to the grassroots society.Thirdly, economic associations have numerous types, wide distribution, large quantity, outstanding mobilization and organization ability, which enables them to gather public consensus effectively and express the demands of the people. With shared beliefs and pursuits, the associations shoulder the responsibility of social education, which enhances their political status. They not only help the floating population take turns to work the land, but also maintain the social security and the market and social order by using their rules and regulations, serving as a bridge connecting the central government and the grassroots society.Fourthly, the local government can indirectly manage the grassroots society with the help of non-governmental forces, realizing low-cost centralized governance and providing institutional space for a diversified governance system. Under the background of economic change and the reform of the financial system, economic associations among other civil societies come to play a governance role in people’s socioeconomic life. The sustainability of self-formed, self-managed, and self-operated economic associations are guaranteed by its property which can be expected to multiply. Supported by the property rights system and based on the organizational structure, economic associations show a democratic color and the institutional creativity of civil society.Compared with the gentry and other individual forces, the institutional foundation and internal logic of economic associations as grassroots governance providers are more remarkable. In Zhejiang Province in the Qing dynasty, economic associations characterized by autonomy, democratization and organization are the principals of grassroots governance. In certain regions, groups, and the handling of certain affairs, the associations are close to the formal power regarding order construction, contributing to a diversified grassroots governance system.
郑备军, 赵昕悦. 清代浙江经济性会社对基层治理的作用机制研究[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2022, 52(8): 147-160.
Zheng Beijun, Zhao Xinyue. A Study of the Function Mechanism of Zhejiang Economic Associations on Grassroots Governance in the Qing Dynasty. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2022, 52(8): 147-160.
2022, Vol. 52 
