The Political Economy of Corruption in China

This book examines all facets of corruption -- the incidence, monetary value. the kinds of goods exchanged, the perpetrators and their strategies -- in China since 1949. Challenging the popular wisdom which attributes corruption to a lack of resources, a high concentration of power, and the absence of an institutionalized criminal justice system. Julia Kwong suggests a more complex relationship between corruption and the political economy by exploring the irony of how ideology and organizational structures under socialism can at once restrain and encourage corruption. She turns to the changing political economy under socialism to explain the parabolic evolution of corruption. Under classical socialism (1949-1976, when corruption declined), the egalitarianism and anti-materialistic orientation tempered the drive for materialistic gains and deterred corruption: and the concentration of power at the top restricted the opportunities for the lower levels to abuse power. Under market socialism (1976-1989, when corruption increased again), preoccupation with making profit and with material comfort undermined the commitment to honest governance.