Data Sets

1992–7 National Industrial Firm Data Sets

The data sets were compiled by a commercial subsidiary of a central government agency for the development of data bases for business enquiries. For confidentiality reasons, indicators related to the identity of the firms (such as firm name, address, and telephone number) were withheld. The data sets that I used in this book contain firm level information on firm code, zip code, ownership form, firm size, 4-digit industrial sector classification, starting year, total number of employees, sales revenue, net value of fixed assets, working capital, pretax profit, and administrative level of the firms' direct regulating authority. The data sets for the years through 1995 cover all the independent accounting industrial firms (see note 3 in Chapter 1 for definition) regulated by authorities at and above the level of township (xiang zhen) – the lowest administrative level of the government. The data sets for 1996–7 include only industrial enterprises of this category that had annual sales revenue exceeding 2 million yuan. Industrial activities carried out by firms at the village level and by self-employed persons (getihu) are not recorded in the data sets. Despite these limitions, the data sets offer a comprehensive coverage of essential information on economic activities in the most formalized industrial organizations. See Table A.1.