Purpose - This paper provides a systematic comparison of the level of business diversification in China and eight other large economies for the 2001 to 2005 period. We investigate reasons why Chinese firms are more diversified than companies elsewhere.Design/methodology/approach - We collect...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic comparison of the level of business diversification in China and eight other large economies for the 2001‐2005 period. The reasons why publicly listed Chinese firms are more diversified than companies elsewhere are investigated....