| dc.description.abstract | The archives of the Taoyuan Light-Rail Company (today’s Taoyuan Bus Company) form the basis for this case study, which examines the ways in which Taiwanese entrepreneurs managed local enterprises. This thesis pays particular attention to the factors underlying the successful growth of the Taoyuan Light-Rail Company, particularly the role of the light-rail and bus industries in Taoyuan’s socioeconomic development during the colonial era, when Taiwan was ruled by Japan.
The data collected for this thesis show that the Taoyuan Light-Rail Company faced many challenges over time, including damage caused by natural disasters, threats from Mountain Aborigines prior to 1911, inflation during the First World War, the economic disruptions of the Great Depression, state rationing of goods and raw materials during World War II, and competition from other transportation companies. Nevertheless, the Taoyuan Light-Rail Company proved able to develop into one of the island’s leading transport enterprises, with a capitalization of over 1.5 million yen and a business scope covering much of northern Taiwan. This company’s success was due to both the assistance of the colonial state as well as the efforts of local elites like Chien Lang-shan 簡朗山, who utilized business tactics such as buying other transportation corporations, reducing expenses, adjusting fares, etc. In particular, the transformation of the Taoyuan Light-Rail Company’s operations from light-rail to bus played an important role in ensuring its survival when light-rail transportation had entered a period of irreversible decline.
The managerial skills of these elites enabled them to retain control of the Taoyuan Light-Rail Company throughout the entire colonial era, despite the participation of Japanese businessmen during the 1930s and 1940s. Thus, we can argue with confidence that this company was a truly native enterprise.
The Taoyuan Light-Rail Company also had a major impact on Taoyuan’s social and economic development. In terms of the local economy, the transportation networks established by this company promoted industrial growth and tourism, while also contributing to the formation of new commercial networks. In terms of local society, the fact that this company employed large numbers of Taoyuan natives contributed to social mobility, as well as the formation of social identity. In addition, this company constituted an important component of local elites’ cultural nexus of power. Finally, the strategies employed by Taiwanese elites in managing this company, which could range from cooperation to self-reliance to resistance, reveal the manifold ways in which elites could advance their interests and assure continued dominance over local society. | en_US |