"The book provides a compelling argument for the dangers of soft budget constraints created by the intimate linkage between the Rural Credit Cooperatives RCCs and the local government bureaucracy. Apart from providing an analysis of the rural banking sector, this interesting volume offers valuable insights into the political economy of rural China." —Ane Bislev,China Review InternationalVolume 19, No. 4, 2012The institutional explanation of the bias builds upon a rich body of literature on cadre management and the fiscal system, and will be good reading for graduate and advanced students. All in all, the book is a welcome contribution to the literature of rural credits, and testifies to how much work is still needed on this important subject.(The China Journal) This book would be ideal for students of political economy, rural development, local government, and public finance in China, among others. The clear writing style and the richly informative local case studies also make the book all the more enjoyable.- Gang Guo (Journal of Chinese Political Science)