Path Creation? Processes and Networks: How the Chinese Rural Tax Reform Began

How can we possibly deviate from trodden paths and accustomed practices, given the weight of institutional inertia and resistance against change? This paper looks into the early phases of the emergence of the Chinese rural tax-for-fee reform to seek an answer. It describes how the reform came into being through going “back the time line”. Having a better understanding of the early processes, this paper argues, has significance for its own sake – given that the early stages mark the departure (if any) from existing paths –as well as contributing towards a better understanding of sustainability.