Insecure Property rights and Government Ownership of Firms

China's remarkable economic growth occurred despite (1) the lack of rule of law to secure property rights against state encroachment; and (2) government ownership of most new and successful non-state firms. We develop a theory of ownership under state predation that incorporates these two considerations. In our theory, "private ownership" leads to excessive revenue hiding and "state ownership" fails to provide incentives for managers and local governments in a credible way. In contrast, "local government ownership" integrates local government activities and business activities together, which may not only provide incentives for local governments, but also involves less revenue hiding from the local government and less predation from the state. Furthermore, ownership diversity across localities and within a locality is possible. Our theory is consistent with empirical evidence from China. We thus interpret local government ownership as an organizational response to imperfect state institutions.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39442/3/wp52.pd

Institutional Environment, Community Government, and Corporate Governance: Understanding China's Township-Village Enterprises

We study China's township-village enterprises (TVES) from an organizational perspective with a focus on governance. Unlike most previous studies, we interpret the firm boundaries of TVEs at the community level rather than the enterprise level. From this perspective, we analyze the central role that community governments play in TVE governance as an organizational response to the imperfect institutional environment of both state and market. Specifically, we show that the community government's involvement in TVEs helps overcome the problems of state predation and under-financing of private enterprises. We also explain why TVE governance leads to harder budget constraints than state-owned enterprises.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39449/3/wp59.pd

Insecure Property rights and Government Ownership of Firms

China's remarkable economic growth occurred despite (1) the lack of rule of law to secure property rights against state encroachment; and (2) government ownership of most new and successful non-state firms. We develop a theory of ownership under state predation that incorporates these two considerations. In our theory, "private ownership" leads to excessive revenue hiding and "state ownership" fails to provide incentives for managers and local governments in a credible way. In contrast, "local government ownership" integrates local government activities and business activities together, which may not only provide incentives for local governments, but also involves less revenue hiding from the local government and less predation from the state. Furthermore, ownership diversity across localities and within a locality is possible. Our theory is consistent with empirical evidence from China. We thus interpret local government ownership as an organizational response to imperfect state institutions.

Institutional Environment, Community Government, and Corporate Governance: Understanding China's Township-Village Enterprises

We study China's township-village enterprises (TVES) from an organizational perspective with a focus on governance. Unlike most previous studies, we interpret the firm boundaries of TVEs at the community level rather than the enterprise level. From this perspective, we analyze the central role that community governments play in TVE governance as an organizational response to the imperfect institutional environment of both state and market. Specifically, we show that the community government's involvement in TVEs helps overcome the problems of state predation and under-financing of private enterprises. We also explain why TVE governance leads to harder budget constraints than state-owned enterprises.institutions, corporate governance, community, township-village enterprises, China

Insecure Property Rights And Government Ownership Of Firms

We develop a theory of the ownership of firms in an environment without secure property rights against state encroachment. "Private ownership" leads to excessive revenue hiding, and "state ownership" (i.e., national government ownership) fails to provide incentives for managers and local governments in a credible way. Because "local government ownership" integrates local government activities and business activities, local government may better serve the interests of the national government, and thus local government ownership may credibly limit state predation, increase local public goods provision, and reduce costly revenue hiding. We use our theory to interpret the relative success of local governmen-towned firms during China's transition to a market economy. © 2000 the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Institutional Environment, Community Government, and Corporate Governance: Understanding China's Township-Village Enterprises

Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, April 1998. We study China's township-village enterprises (TVEs) from an organizational perspective with a focus on governance. Unlike most previous studies, we interpret the firm boundaries of TVEs at the community level rather than the enterprise level. From this perspective, we analyze the central role that community governments play in TVE governance as an organizational response to the imperfect institutional environment of both state and market. Specifically, we show that the community government's involvement in TVEs helps overcome the problems of state predation and under-financing of private enterprises. We also explain why TVE governance leads to harder budget constraints than state-owned enterprises.

Insecure Property Rights and Government Ownership of Firms

Forthcoming, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1998 We develop a theory of the ownership of firms in an environment without secure property rights against state encroachment. "Private ownership" leads to excessive revenue hiding and "state ownership" (i.e., national government ownership) fails to provide incentives for managers and local governments in a credible way. Because "local government ownership" integrates local government activities and business activities, local government may better serve the interests of the national government, and thus local government ownership may credibly limit state predation, increase local public goods provision, and reduce costly revenue hiding. We use our theory to interpret the relative success of local government-owned firms during China's transition to a market economy. Key Words: Property Rights, Ownership, State Predation, Local Government, Multi-Task, ChinaProperty Rights, Ownership, State Predation, Local Government, Multi-Task, China