本文從後全球經濟衰退時期珠江三角洲地區代工模式可能面臨終結做為出發點，探討私營中資企業主的創業過程對理解改革開放後中國資本主義生成所造成的影響。以往解釋中國私營企業興起的觀點，特別是在長江三角洲以集體鄉鎮企業為主導的蘇南地區，主要是依賴由下到上的制度創新，以克服不利於私營企業發展的國家政策，並且透過工業區內人際網絡的緊密連結，進一步建立可資信賴的商業交易規範。這些多為非正式的制度安排與社會規範，不僅解決了集體行動可能出現的搭便車問題，也進一步增加私營企業在國內的競爭優勢。然而這種「資本主義來自民間」的觀點卻忽略了研究中國經濟轉型必須面對地方上制度歧異性的問題。因為在以外資企業為主的珠三角地區，中資企業主面對的組織場域全然不同於長三角，這些企業主創業所需的訂單、資金、技術、人力、管理知識及技巧等，不一定得來自民間自身社會網絡的支持，也可能是跨國資本（例如台商）引導下的結果；亦即，中國資本主義經濟制度與商業規範的建構可能是一種由外而內的產物。最後，本文希望藉由這個個案分析增進我們對外生性資本與後進國家資本主義生成的瞭解，並與現階段中國國家資本主義的發展路徑進行對話。

This paper explores the start-up process of Chinese private manufacturing firms in the Pearl River Delta during the post-global recession. Previous studies on the emergence of private enterprises in China have emphasized the perspective of “capitalism from below,” arguing that entrepreneurs devised institutional innovations through trial and error that enabled them to decouple from the established, unfavorable economic order. These informal institutional arrangements in the Yangzi River Delta not only resolved the free-rider problem, but also developed competitive advantages in self-organized industrial clusters. The perspective of “capitalism from below,” however, overlooked the local institutional divergence in studying Chinese economic transition. Since local manufacturing firms in the Pearl River Delta are embedded in an organizational field controlled by transnational enterprises, Taiwanese investors in particular, these nascent private entrepreneurs may acquire capital, techniques, human resources, and management skills from transnational capitalists other than local social networks. In other words, China’s capitalist economic institutions and business norms are forms of “capitalism from outside.” This case study is intended not only to enhance our understanding of late-comers on the emergence of capitalism, but also to contribute to the dialogue with Chinese state capitalism at this stage.