Description: How does the Chinese banking sector really work? Nearly all financial institutions in China are managed by members of the Communist Party, yet economists and even those who engage the Chinese banking sector simply do not have a framework with which to analyze the links between banking and politics. Drawing from interviews, statistical analysis, and archival research, this book is the first to develop a framework with which to analyze how elite politics impact both monetary and banking policies. This book serves as an important reference point for all subsequent work on Chinese banking.
Brief description: Victor C. Shih is a political economist specializing in China at Northwestern University. Born in Hong Kong, Professor Shih immigrated to the United States at the age of 12. He attended the George Washington University on a University Presidential Fellowship and graduated summa cum laude in East Asian Studies with a minor in Economics. He went on to complete his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous articles appearing in academic and business journals, including The China Quarterly and The Far Eastern Economic Review, and advises the private sector on the banking industry in China. His current research concerns the political economy of fiscal transfers in China and Chinese policies toward ethnic minorities.
Review Quotes: "This impressive new book makes several important contributions: the case studies provide never before available accounts of elite politics, with vivid details of the personal and political differences among top leaders; the model of inflationary cycles provides new insights into how financial policy changed to cool an over-heating economy. It is both a fascinating portrait of elite politics in China and a rigorous test of an analytical model. Most scholars are good at one approach or the other. Shih shows he is equally gifted at both."
Bruce Dickson, George Washington University