Public Versus Private Ownership of Firms: Evidence from Rural China
利用中国省级数据，发现中央影响力大、社区政府权力强、市场发育程度低的地区，社区公共企业（乡镇企业）占比更高；乡镇企业有助于增加政府收入和农村非农就业，但相比私人企业可能存在效率问题。
Why are many of China's successful rural enterprises publically owned by local communities? Using a set of provincial data, we find that the share of community public firms (Township-Village Enterprises, or TVEs) relative to private enterprises is higher where the central government's influence is greater, the community government's power is stronger, and the level of market development is lower. We also find that TVEs help achieve the community government's goals of increasing government revenue, rural nonfarm employment, and rural income. However, TVEs do not increase rural income given the levels of nonfarm employment and local public goods provision, indicating possible inefficiency as compared with private enterprises.