Does Market Transition Eclipse the Value of Firms’ Political Connections? A Longitudinal Study of Publicly Listed Firms in China

Economic transitions from state planning and redistribution to market exchange create many businesses opportunities. But such transitions also create great uncertainty because many interdependent factors – modes of exchange, types of products, and forms of organizations – are in flux. Uncertainty is even greater when political institutions remain authoritarian because then rule of law is weak and state bureaucrats retain considerable power over...