This work details the growing phenomenon of state capitalism, a system in which governments drive local economies through ownership of market-dominant companies. This trend, Bremmer argues, threatens America's competitive edge and the conduct of free markets everywhere.

We provide the first test of the Hoff and Stiglitz (2004) model predicting whether and under what conditions mass privatizations are accompanied by asset stripping. In addition to directly testing the theory, we also tackle an important policy-oriented issue of why a large number of efficient...