Productivity Effects of TVE Privatization: The Case Study of Garment and Metal Casting Enterprises in the Greater Yangtze River Region

While it is by now well known that the privatization of township- and village-run enterprises (TVREs) has been rapidly and widely taking place in China, it is much less known whether and to what extent privatization has improved resource allocation and productivity. As a first step toward the fuller understanding of the effect of privatization, this study undertakes case studies of garment and casting enterprises in the Greater Yantgze River Region, where TVREs led miraculous economic growth in the 1980s. Our empirical results indicate that productivity was significantly enhanced by the recent privatization with time lag of a few years.