POLITICAL ECONOMY: Politicizing Business; Professor Ning Leng (Georgetown University)

This study provides a nuanced view of the complex relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and the private sector of the economy. Using detailed case studies of the urban bus sector and waste management, I demonstrate how businesses provide career support to individual officials through visibility projects and offer systemic support that aids social control. Government–business relations are driven by the incentive system under which local officials operate.