Since China joined the WTO in 2001, the pressure for bank reforms has mounted as China ought to fully open up its financial market to foreign competition by 2006. Efficiency is key for domestic banks to survive in a liberalised environment, but it appears that the last hope for raising bank...

I present a study of ownership of firms under government rent seeking. Using its control of regulated inputs, a government agency extracts rents from a manager who undertakes an investment. Such a government rent seeking activity leads to a typical hold-up problem. Government ownership is shown...

In the past few years in China, as in some other socialist countries, the issue of legalizing private property has been put on the agenda. State property has traditionally attracted special attention of Chinese economists. The author takes a look at the theoretical studies and discussions on...