Table of Contents

Introduction

Privatization and Institutional Change: Toward an Eclectic Perspective
Driving Forces of Privatization
Political Actors as Change Agents: The Main Storyline
Note on Statistical Analyses, Data Sources and Chinese Materials

1. The Changing Fate of Private Ownership since 1949

Socialist Transformation and the Mao Era
From Getihu to "Equal Protection" of Public and Private Property Rights
Reversal or Moderation of Privatization?
Broad Trends of Change
Summary and Questions

2. Demographic Pressures

Structure and Change of the Post-1949 Population
Buildup of Employment Pressures
Labor Market: Occupational and Spatial Movements
Ageing and Old Age Support
Summary

3. The Evolving Structure of Public Finance

"Unified Revenue and Spending"
Fiscal Contracts
Revenue Partitioning
Implications

4. Careerism and Moral Hazard in Early Marketization

Large Is Beautiful: Political Performance Assessment under Economic Decentralization
The TVE Spectacle
The SOE Sideshow
Summary
5. Rule Bending for the Necessary Evil

Uneven Paces of Early Privatization
The Wenzhou Story Retold
Beyond Wenzhou
Summary

6. FDI and Privatization

Centrally Imposed Constraints and Local Rule Bending
FDI Entry Mode and Resource Dependence
Bi-polar Concentration of Risk Taking
Summary

7. The Tipping Point and Beyond

The Triggers
The Political Bandwagon
From Industrial Development to Urbanization
Asset Stripping and Insider Control
The End Game: SASAC and the Remaining SOEs
Summary

Conclusion

Institutional Stability and Unintended Consequences of Rule Compliance
Non-compliance and Political Risk Management
Path Dependence in Endogenous Institutional Change

Bibliography

About the Author

Yi-min Lin teaches at the Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Reviews

"The author carefully studies the interactions among the political actors in this important era and offers insights on institutional change using China as a case study. The title is particularly suitable for readers interested in the political economy of modern China. Accessible to all readers." -- CHOICE
"Yi-min Lin's study illuminates the underlying economic and political forces that led the Chinese Communist Party to tolerate and even encourage the growth of private businesses, which he estimates accounted for about two-thirds of China's economic activity by 2014."
-- Nicholas R. Lardy, Anthony M Solomon Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
"This carefully researched book offers a new and compelling explanation on how and why public ownership has declined in socialist China over the last 30 some years."
-- Shaoguang Wang, Department of Government and Public Administration, Chinese University of Hong Kong