Replication data for: Hayek, Local Information, and Commanding Heights: Decentralizing State-Owned Enterprises in China

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Zhangkai Huang; Lixing Li; Guangrong Ma; Lixin Colin Xu

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
AER_2015_0592_R2__Data.zip	application/zip	36.8 MB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM
Figure-B-2.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	13.4 KB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM
Figure-I-1.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	11.5 KB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM
Readme.pdf	application/pdf	25.3 KB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM
appendix170123.do	text/plain	27.7 KB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM
dece.dta	application/octet-stream	13.7 MB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM
dece_SOE2consec.dta	application/octet-stream	12.2 MB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM
dece_SOE50p.dta	application/octet-stream	7.7 MB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM
dece_SOEcontrol.dta	application/octet-stream	10.9 MB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM
dece_SOEregis.dta	application/octet-stream	9.3 MB	10/12/2019 12:24:AM

Project Description

Summary: Hayek (1945) argues that local information is key to understanding the efficiency of alternative economic systems and whether production should be centralized or decentralized. The Chinese experience of decentralizing SOEs confirms this insight: when the distance to the government is farther, the SOE is more likely to be decentralized, and this distance-decentralization link is more pronounced with higher communication costs and greater firm-performance heterogeneity. However, when the Chinese central government oversees SOEs in strategic industries, the distance-decentralization link is muted. We also consider alternative agency-cost-based explanations, and do not find much support.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      D22 Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
      D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
      L25 Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
      L32 Public Enterprises; Public-Private Enterprises
      L33 Comparison of Public and Private Enterprises and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
      O14 Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
      P31 Socialist Enterprises and Their Transitions

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-12]

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DDI 2.5

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