Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: New Books in Human Rights
Episode: Yue Hou, "The Private Sector in Public Office: Selective Property Rights in China" (Cambridge UP, 2020)
Description: In China, roughly 60% of GDP and 80% of employment comes from the private sector – yet half of private entrepreneurs report that they faced expropriation of property by local governments. Yue Hou’s rich, detailed, and ambitious book documents how private entrepreneurs protect their property from expropriation by running for office – and using their public roles to advance their private economic interest. Entrepreneurs who hold local legislative seats can leverage their political status to deter predatory behavior by lower-level bureaucrats who fear retribution or punishment from the legislator’s political network. Joining local legislatures allows private owners to creatively build a system o...