Corruption by design : bribery in Chinese enterprise licensing

This article presents a game theoretic institutional analysis of bureaucratic corruption: bribery in Chinese enterprise licensing. Formal structures and informal expectations are identified as features of institutional design that shape choices by strategic individuals to produce corrupt outcomes. Bribery (as an equilibrium) is deductively derived as a solution in a signaling game; the game form is empirically derived from features of institutional design. Exercises in comparative statics explore the robustness of bribery as an equilibrium when game parameter values are altered to reflect changes in institutional design. The exercises indicate that reducing corruption, in the sense of reducing bribe sizes, is relatively unproblematic. To move away entirely from corrupt equilibria, however, requires far more dramatic change in institutional design and may not be feasible through changes in formal structures alone

Ideological congruence in the Chinese countryside : village leaders and their electorates and selectorates

Recent changes in economic and political organization in the Chinese countryside are producing a new basis for inquiry into congruence between village leaders and those who choose them—namely, their electorates of ordinary villagers and selectorates of leaders at the higher township level. This paper draws on 1990 survey data to analyze the connection between village leaders and their electorates and selectorates, in terms of congruence of positions along an economic ideology dimension measuring orientations to the importance of state management relative to private individual initiative in economic development. Results of multivariate regression analyses of congruence in terms of responsiveness, proximity, and centrism indicate: (1) there is significant congruence between village leaders and their electorates and selectorates along the dimension, and (2) inter-village variation in congruence between village leaders and their electorates results in significant part from institutions and attitudes associated with efforts at grassroots democratization

Wielding the sword: President Xi’s new anti-corruption campaign

A state achieves legitimacy through multiple sources, one of which is the effectiveness of its governance. Generations of scholars since Hobbes have identified the maintenance of peace and order as core functions of a legitimate state. In the modern world, economic prosperity, social stability and effective control of corruption often provide adequate compensation for a deficit of democracy. Corruption closely correlates with legitimacy. While a perceived pervasive, endemic corruption undermines the legitimacy of a regime, a successful anti-corruption campaign can allow a regime to recover from a crisis of legitimacy (Gilley 2009; Seligson and Booth 2009). This is the rationale behind the periodical campaigns against corruption that have been conducted by the Chinese Communist Party (‘Party’ or ‘CCP’) (Manion 2004; Wedeman 2012). Political leaders in China have found it expedient to use anti-corruption campaigns to remove their political foes, to rein in the bureaucracy and to restore public confidence in their ability to rule. Through anti-corruption campaigns, emerging political leaders consolidate their political power, secure loyalty from political factions and regional political forces, and enhance their legitimacy in the eyes of the general public. In an authoritarian state that experiences a high level of corruption, an anti-corruption campaign is a delicate political battle that addresses two significant concerns. The first concern is to orchestrate the campaign so that it is regime-reinforcing instead of regime-undermining. To remain credible, the regime must demonstrate its willingness and capacity to punish corrupt officials at the highest levels.preprin

Metabolite profiling reveals new insights into the regulation of serum urate in humans

Albrecht E, Waldenberger M, Krumsiek J, et al. Metabolite profiling reveals new insights into the regulation of serum urate in humans. Metabolomics. 2013;10(1):141-151.Serum urate, the final breakdown product of purine metabolism, is causally involved in the pathogenesis of gout, and implicated in cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Serum urate levels highly differ between men and women; however the underlying biological processes in its regulation are still not completely understood and are assumed to result from a complex interplay between genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. In order to describe the metabolic vicinity of serum urate, we analyzed 355 metabolites in 1,764 individuals of the population-based KORA F4 study and constructed a metabolite network around serum urate using Gaussian Graphical Modeling in a hypothesis-free approach. We subsequently investigated the effect of sex and urate lowering medication on all 38 metabolites assigned to the network. Within the resulting network three main clusters could be detected around urate, including the well-known pathway of purine metabolism, as well as several dipeptides, a group of essential amino acids, and a group of steroids. Of the 38 assigned metabolites, 25 showed strong differences between sexes. Association with uricostatic medication intake was not only confined to purine metabolism but seen for seven metabolites within the network. Our findings highlight pathways that are important in the regulation of serum urate and suggest that dipeptides, amino acids, and steroid hormones are playing a role in its regulation. The findings might have an impact on the development of specific targets in the treatment and prevention of hyperuricemia