Using data from a recent national survey on the ownership reform of state-owned enterprises in China, we study the effects of reducing politician control and agency problems on a number of reform outcomes. Taking into account the endogenous nature of the reform, we find that these outcome...

The generally held belief that China’s consumption is too low is a myth based on inadequate theory, a misreading of official statistics and the use of market exchange rates for making international comparisons. Chinese official statistics underestimate consumption expenditure on housing,...

China’s consumption rate is widely believed to be too low. In this paper, we show that official statistics have significantly underestimated Chinese household consumption. First, a lot of private consumption is paid for by companies but cannot be accounted for in official statistics. Second,...

This paper uses data from a large survey of Chinese firms to investigate whether local government efforts to facilitate market development improve firm efficiency. Both government provision of information about products, markets, and innovation and government assistance in arranging loans are...

"This paper evaluates China's corporatization drive based on an assessment of the state sector's current problems. It shows that the worsening agency problem and excessive welfare burdens, as well as increasing competition, have contributed to the increasing losses experienced by Chinese...

In a simple hold-up model with contractible cost-related variables, I show that an optimal requirement contract with "standard cost"--based nonlinear pricing can provide both ex post flexibility for adaptation and ex ante incentives for relationship-specific investments. The result is related to...

This paper uses a simple make-or-buy model to summarize and illustrate some of the distinguishing aspects of Williamson's transaction cost theory. It is shown that each mode of governance is associated with a different degree of incentive intensity, which in turn is attributable to the...

This article develops a two-period double moral hazard model with incomplete contracting to explore the implication of a possible adverse effect of unilateral control on the optimal revenue sharing and control allocation in a joint venture. We identify conditions under which joint ownership and...

Public listing is a key reform measure for large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China. We find evidence that public listing lowers state ownership significantly, lessens firms' reliance on debt finance, and allows firms to increase capital expenditure, at least temporarily. We also find that...