This book examines the case for and against collective farms in developing countries. Basing his account on a careful analysis of China's rural economy from the 1950s to the 1980s, the author argues that collective farms have serious shortcomings and that they are not the most suitable institutional form for rural economic development in poor countries. Nolan sets his argument within the context of debates, stemming from the clash between Stalin and Bukharin in the 1920s, about the value of collectivization of the peasantry and about the relationship between central planning and the market. He traces the impact of these debates on development strategies in China and elsewhere. In assessing these strategies, Nolan provides a detailed account of the rural economy in China under Mao and of the post-1978 rural reforms, highlighting some of the problems that have yet to be resolved. This book should appeal to second or third year university students in developmental economics and the sociology of development.