Tamar Groswald Ozery – Illiberal Governance and the Rise of China’s Public Firms: an Oxymoron or China’s Greatest Triumph

Abstract

This article discusses the puzzling allure of Chinese public firms to external suppliers of capital while illuminating the functions of illiberal governance through the Chinese state’s and Communist Party capacities within firms. It argues that Chinese public firms were able to grow and expand, attracting external finance, not despite the function of “bad” corporate governance institutions but because of them. The Article shows how alongside its many obstructions, China’s illiberal governance system plays an important role in promoting market regularity, providing investors with the assurances necessary to secure the flow of external finance.