Interpersonal networks and workplace controls in urban China

The study attempts to test empirically and directly the causal link between interpersonal relations and social organization in China. It examines the patterns of interpersonal relations, and tries to find out how they are linked to the special systems of social control in China. The central question is to what extent and in what ways the characteristics of an individual's interpersonal network are linked to the characteristics of his or her work organization. Survey work conducted in the city of Tianjin in 1986 was concerned with questions on the respondents' social ties and the organizational features of their work units, specifically the provision of benefits and assistance. -from Author