| The Chinese economy has transformed significantly since 1979, and the spread of mixed-ownership firms since the late 1990s is a notable, if under-explored part of it. Mixed ownership, combining state and private capital, presents a challenge to mainstream economic ideology and, as widely used as it is in China, may represent an alternative mode of capitalism. This dissertation draws from the varieties of capitalism, post-socialist transition, and developmental state literatures to explore economic strategies that may guide the implementation of mixed-ownership across all industries, competing with, and replacing both state- and privately-owned businesses.;Using the Chinese Economic Censuses from 2004 and 2008, the Annual Survey of Industrial Firms from 1998-2007, and my own impressions and information gathered from fieldwork in China, I approach this topic with industry-level data from across the entire economy, as well as 361,450 firm-years' worth of detailed firm-level data. I use summary statistics to show that the implementation of mixed-ownership as a general type of firm is both widespread, occurring in every sector of the economy, and making a significant proportion of firms within many industries. However, various regression models show that, while mixed ownership is progressing and evolving as a significant part of the economy, any cohesive strategy for the utilization of these firms-- by state or private investors- is only beginning to become evident by the end of the period in the study. Furthermore, I show that firm registration is only occasionally based upon the sources of capital within that firm, a fact that shows the complexity and ephemerality of the very specific forms of institutions in the economy.;At this time, it remains difficult to categorize the Chinese economy because, even after more than thirty years, the transformation continues. I argue that China does not conform well to existing models of capitalism in part due to mixed ownership, and that the state is only now evolving mixed-ownership firms into a proper development-oriented institution. In the coming decades, it is likely that these firms persist and grow into a larger role mediating state and private entrepreneur interests while promoting necessary economic goals. |
