Firm-government relations Chinese style : theoretical and empirical analysis of the impact of network relations on economic performance in rural China

The dissertation develops a comprehensive theoretical framework which concerns the impact of institutional framework on economic performance at the micro and macro level. After extensively examining the existing literature, the conception of firm-government network relations and strategic alliances as external management resources is operationalized by applying social capital and social network analysis. At the methodological level it integrates quantitative network methodologies with advanced micro-econometric analyses of firm production (stochastic frontier approach) to systematically study the impacts of firm-government network relations on firm's economic performance in China. In particular, by using a unique own survey of Chinese agribusiness firms a comprehensive and theoretically founded econometric analysis of the impact of firm-government relations on economy performance at the micro and macro level has been conducted.