Friends with Benefits: How Political Connections Help to Sustain Private Enterprise Growth in China
通过分析511家中国私营企业调查数据，发现企业主通过建立政治关系应对政府歧视，产权不安全程度每增加一个标准差，政府中的“朋友”数量增加22%，这些关系能缓解土地获取困难和过度监管对企业增长的一半负面影响。
By analysing data from a survey of 511 Chinese private enterprises, we find that their owners respond to government discrimination by developing political connections with government officials. A one‐standard‐deviation increase in the insecurity of property rights has the effect of increasing the number of ‘friends’ in the government by a substantial 22%. These ‘friends’ significantly help to mitigate by half the negative effect arising from the difficulties of obtaining land and excessive regulations on enterprise growth. This explains why an institutional environment of weak property rights has not stopped private enterprises in China from developing rapidly.