This book examines the nature of the marketization of corporate boards following the introduction of the split share reform, corporate board and shareholder relations, corporate performance, and risk-taking conduct in China. The chapters cover topics such as determinants of corporate board size and independence, corporate risk-taking conduct under different controlling shareholder types. The book deepens our understanding of corporate governance mechanisms as most previous studies have limited their findings using mainstream perspectives grounded on neoclassical theory. It outlines that China’s corporate board composition is determined by the board’s scope of operation, monitoring, bargaining power, and other governance mechanisms and regulations. It also offers a comparison between China’s experience with other economies in general and other transition economies in particular. As such, the book represents an essential overview of the current concerns regarding corporate governance in China. It is of great interest to legal researchers, policymakers, and legal practitioners working with business investments in China.

Looking at the governance of resources companies in China, this book tackles contemporary issues of resource security and environmental change which are closely related to the depletion of the world’s natural resources. It contains case studies of other international resources giants such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Shell and Chevron to enhance readers understanding of the differences that exist between them and Chinese resources companies.

This volume is a selection of Chinese political scholar Xianglin Xu’s published works spanning nearly 20 years of research that explore and discuss the socio-economic transition in China under state political reform. Contextualized within the decades following the 80s, the author analyzes patterns observed from empirical studies, and breaks down the underlining reasoning, conditions and functionalities behind the incremental reform policies pushed forward by the Party and government. The collection is broken up into four sections: the first provides a general framework and theoretical / historical introduction to social transition research in the case of China; the second section discusses the underpinning logic behind political reform in China and practical concerns; the third section follows with discussions on reform policy practices within China including application and trajectory; the final section concludes with an analysis of reform within state institutional infrastructure and policy innovation.

The world economy is facing unprecedented challenges brought by the still unfolding global financial crisis. At this critical juncture in history, China's economic performance and financial stability are closely watched across the world. The current global economic downturn and the rigidities it poses on the growth prospects of any individual economy are a testing ground for the effects of China's corporate governance reform and financial reform that have been taking place in recent years. It is now a proper time to assess whether these reforms have yielded meaningful results which can help China withstand and navigate through the most severe economic difficulties of our times. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review and critique of corporate governance reforms and related financial reforms in China during the country's transition to a market economy, involving its enterprise, banking and capital markets sectors. China's participation in economic globalization, symbolized by its accession to the World Trade Organization, is taken as a broad background to the country's domestic reform agenda. By exploring the dynamics of China's evolving corporate governance regime, this book presents an important country study of corporate governance reforms in developing and post-communist transition economies to show the possibility of alternative paths to the market.

The analysis is notable for its insistence that, for a corporate governance system to work, the principles and practicalities of that system must be derived from customary cultural norms. Experience shows that imported models, although they may be enshrined in law, lead to economic stagnation unless actual practice is monitored and reformed and the laws change to reflect these necessary adjustments. Thus the model proposed here begins with the Company Law of 1994, and proceeds to show how practical experience is already providing valuable data for the task of improving the law.

China’s extraordinary economic growth is inspiring research from a wide spectrum of fields to explain the phenomenon: What are the primary drivers of China’s economic growth? Can it be sustained? Can the Chinese business model be emulated by other countries? What long-term effects will China’s economic growth have on the global economy? In this volume, Chun Liao explores these issues in the context of firms’ governance structures, arguing that China’s dual business system of state-owned enterprises and private enterprises is uniquely suited to the challenges of economic development in the twenty-first century. On the one hand, China’s state-owned enterprises are characterized by state coordination, bank financing, insulation from the stock market fluctuations, and incremental productivity-enhancing innovations, which are similar to the firms in the business systems of coordinated market economies (like Germany and Japan). On the other hand, China’s private enterprises are characterized by private (often family) ownership, hard budget constraints, profit maximization, and more risky radical innovation, which are similar to the firms in the business systems of liberal market economies (like the US and the UK). Based on the state controlling shareholding in the state sector, the boundary between the state sector business system and private sector business system is clear. This dual type system is contrasted with those in liberal market economies and those in coordinated market economies, where only one type system dominates. Drawing from empirical data and industry analysis over the past 15 years, Liao provides unparalleled access to the dynamics of the Chinese economy, including ownership structure, management design, labor-management relations, business infrastructure, capitalization (including role of banks and financial institutions, private investment, and FDI) in both the public and private sectors. In the process, she analyzes both opportunities and challenges that result from China’s dual business system, particularly in regard to innovation, core competitiveness, and sustainable growth in both state strategic technology-based industries and private high technology industries . The result is an approach that sheds new light on China’s economic performance and its rise as a player on the international stage.

The papers in Governance, Decentralization and Reform in China, India and Russia, which were presented at a ZEF conference in May 1999, deal with three critical aspects of governance in China, India, and Russia: political reforms at the local level; fiscal reforms in intergovernmental relations; and legal reforms. The volume collects contributions from 24 outstanding economists, political scientists and legal specialists including Vito Tanzi, Daniel Treisman, Pranab Bardham, Jean Drèze, Katharina Pistor and Kathryn Hendley. Distorted economic and political incentive structures, capture of the state by powerful élites and inoperative legal systems are factors that have greatly complicated the political economy of reform in these three large countries with heterogeneous populations. Addressing these political and institutional issues is essential to designing good policies. One particular goal of this volume is to bring together new analytical insights and empirical evidence on governance, a new and growing field of research. The volume is divided into three parts: fiscal federalism; decentralization and provision of local public goods; and legal reforms. Part I discusses the role of incentives in fiscal federalism. The papers analyze the effects of different revenue-sharing mechanisms between different levels of government, in particular the effects on regional growth and inequality and the incentives that local politicians may have to provide public goods depending on fiscal arrangements with the central government. In adapting their governance structures, all three countries have been striving for increased decentralization. But the theoretical literature suggests that, in a decentralized setting, second-best solutions must prevail: it is not possible to ensure incentive compatibility simultaneously with optimal allocation of resources and a balanced budget in providing public goods. Part II discusses taxation and public expenditure management both as a political and as a budgetary process. Two questions which the papers address are: Does participation of stakeholders and accountability of public authorities improve economic and social outcomes? Does better governance in the provision of basic goods such as health care and education improve equity? While decentralization is often seen as a way to improve the quality of public services, rule-based governance is viewed as a safeguard against the arbitrariness of public officials and weaknesses in law enforcement. The five papers in Part III focus on the rule of law; the role of the judicial system in establishing a rule-based economy; and the effectiveness of legal institutions during the transition from socialism to a market economy. They present overviews of current legal reform issues in the three countries and discuss various conceptual approaches to addressing legal reform issues.

This book elucidates fundamental governance features and issues in contemporary China. While especially focusing on principal governance areas, it offers comprehensive coverage, capturing the dynamics of governance across vertical and horizontal connexions. The book is succinctly written and systematically addresses essential governance aspects that to date have only been dealt with separately and sporadically: state governance, the executive branch and administration, organization of production and approaches to production, and governance conventions and protocols. Further, it examines the evolution of governance practice in terms of both political and legal superstructure and economic base/infrastructure. Adopting a purely analytical approach and making no value judgments on the country’s social institutions and political systems, the book offers a vital resource to help readers grasp the complexities of governance in China.