Professor Minxin Pei: the origins and dynamics of crony capitalism in China

Corruption in the post-Tiananmen era exhibits distinct characteristics not found in the 1980s, such as astronomical sums of money looted by officials, their family members, and their cronies in the private sector, large networks of co-conspirators, and the sale of public office. By examining the evolution of Chinese economic and political institutions since the early 1990s, we can trace the emergence of crony capitalism to two critical changes in the control of property rights of the assets owned by the state and the personnel management of the officials the ruling Communist Party. The insights from a sample of 260 prosecuted cases of corruption involving multiple officials and businessmen suggest that crony capitalism in China has evolved into a decentralised kleptocracy with its own market rules and dynamics. SPEAKER: Professor Minxin Pei, Claremont McKenna College, US Presented by Sydney Ideas and the China Studies Centre on 29 Mar 2017: http://sydney.edu.au/sydney_ideas/lectures/2017/professor_minxin_pei.shtml