Abstract
This paper examines how Chinese shan-zhai entrepreneurs draw on various kinds of rhetorical strategies to build legitimacy and advantage. The research period is from 1998 to 2011, a period during which the shan-zhai industry grew from an informal and shattered one to a formal and competitive one. We emphasize three kinds of legitimacy – pragmatic, moral, and cognitive – that Chinese entrepreneurs need to ensure survival and growth. Grounded on a case study approach, we show that the process of legitimizing is strategically constructed as a sequence of steps: from pragmatic through moral to cognitive.