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Capitalizing China

China’s economic boom over the last two decades has taken many analysts by surprise, given the ongoing role of central government planning. Its current growth trajectory suggests that the size of its economy could soon surpass that of the United States. Some argue that continued growth and the expanding middle class will ultimately exert pressure on the government to bring about greater openness of the financial market.
 
To better understand China’s recent economic performance, this volume examines the distinctive system it has developed: “market socialism with Chinese characteristics.” While its formal institutional makeup resembles that of a free-market economy, many of its practices remain socialist, including strategically placed state-owned enterprises that wield influence both directly and through controlled business groups, and Communist Party cells whose purpose is to maintain control of many segments of the economy. China’s economic system, the contributors find, also retains many historical characteristics that play a central role in managing the economy. These and other issues are examined in chapters on China’s financial regulations, corporate governance codes, bankruptcy laws, taxation, and disclosure rules.


368 pages | 51 line drawings, 42 tables | 6 x 9 | © 2012

National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report

Economics and Business: Economics--Government Finance, Economics--International and Comparative

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Translating Market Socialism with Chinese Characteristics into Sustained Prosperity
Joseph P. H. Fan, Randall Morck, and Bernard Yeung

I. Financial System and Its Governance

1. The Governance of China’s Finance
Katharina Pistor
Comment: Zheng Song
2. China’s Financial System: Opportunities and Challenges 
Franklin Allen, Jun “QJ” Qian, Chenying Zhang, and Mengxin Zhao
Comment: Chenggang Xu

II. Governance of Stock Markets

3. Assessing China’s Top-Down Securities Markets 
William T. Allen and Han Shen
Comment: Qiao Liu
4. Institutions and Information Environment of Chinese Listed Firms
Joseph D. Piotroski and T. J. Wong
Comment: Li Jin

III. Capital Accumulation

5. Why Are Saving Rates So High in China?
Dennis Tao Yang, Junsen Zhang, and Shaojie Zhou
Comment: Leslie Young
6. The Chinese Corporate Savings Puzzle: A Firm-Level Cross-Country Perspective
Tamim Bayoumi, Hui Tong, and Shang-Jin Wei
Comment: Ning Zhu

IV. Public Finance

7. Financial Strategies for Nation Building
Zhiwu Chen   
Comment: Jiahua Che
8. Provincial and Local Governments in China: Fiscal Institutions and Government Behavior
Roger H. Gordon and Wei Li
Comment: Zhigang Li

Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index

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