Description

In response to Xi Jinping’s call to strengthen China’s Communist Party leadership over state-owned enterprises (SOEs), over 600 SOEs listed on Chinese stock exchanges amended their corporate charters to enhance Party control from 2015 to 2017. This unprecedented move provides us with a rare opportunity to examine the relation between political control and firm-level characteristics. Specifically, we measure political control by examining an SOE’s responsiveness to the Party’s call (i.e., whether it amended its charter), and the intensity of the amendment (i.e., whether it adopted certain provisions allowing the Party to exercise decisive influence). We found that three characteristics of ownership in partially privatized SOEs—the amount of state shareholding, the political hierarchy of the state owner, and cross listing are important determinants of political control.

About The Speaker

Dr Angela Zhang’s research focuses on applying economic analysis to the study of transnational legal issues. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in academic journals including Stanford Journal of International Law, University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, Cornell International Law Journal and China Quarterly. Before joining academia, Angela practiced bankruptcy law at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York and antitrust law at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Brussels. She also has practice experience in Beijing, Hong Kong and London. Angela received her LLB from Peking University in 2004 and her JSD (2011), JD (2008) and LLM (2006) from the University of Chicago Law School. While at Chicago, she wrote her doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Judge Richard A Posner.