This book addresses two of the most important trends in political economy during the last two decades - globalization and decentralization - in the context of the world's most rapidly growing economic power, China. The intent is to provide a better understanding of how local political and economic institutions shape the ability of Chinese state-owned firms to utilize foreign direct investment (FDI) to remake themselves in the transition from inefficient and technologically backward firms into powerful national champions. In a global economy, the author argues, local governments are increasingly the agents of industrial transformation at the level of the firm. Local institutions are durable over time, and they have important economic consequences. Through an analysis of five Chinese regions, the treatment seeks to specify the opportunities and constraints that alternative institutional structures create, how they change over time, and ultimately, how they prepare Chinese firms for the challenge of global competition.
Eric Thun teaches at the University of Oxford, where he is the Peter Moores University Lecturer in Chinese Business Studies at the Saïd Business School and a Fellow of Brasenose College. He formerly served as Assistant Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and was a post-doctoral Fellow at the M.I.T. Industrial Performance Center.
Part I. Introduction: 1. Local governments, FDI, and industrial development; 2. The view from the center; Part II. Development in a Protected Market: 3. Coordinating development in the auto sector; 4. Shanghai: a local development state; 5. Beijing and Guangzhou: laissez-faire local states; 6. Changchun and Wuhan: firm-dominated localities; Part III. Deepening Global Integration: 7. Global integration and the challenge of upgrading; 8. Growth, change, and the challenge of governance; Part IV. Conclusion: 9. Local institutions in a global economy.
'The book blends real scholarship with practical insights, and is highly readable. It should benefit anyone interested in China - government officials, politicians, businessmen and academics.' Journal of China Quarterly
