Private equity in China : an institutional comparative study.

Summary Fund investment in the equity of unlisted companies has become a major institution of 21st century capitalism. This thesis constitutes an in-depth study of the developments and characteristics of investment funds operating in China. It is applied within the framework of institutional analysis and follows the logic of the variety of capitalisms while using a multidisciplinary method. We develop a comparative study between Chinese, French and English funds based on the institutional differences among the business models of the three countries. Our analysis shows that the specificity of China's economic development is mainly linked to the role of the Chinese state, the importance of guanxi in the business sphere and the great complexity of the market created by the "dependency path". As a result, for investment funds in China we notice a stronger influence of the Chinese state, the extensive impact of guanxi, the more diversified use of information sources, the more limited choice of financial tools, and the preference of Chinese entrepreneurs to keep control of their firms. Our econometric analysis indicates that labor market rigidity, economic openness, and taxation on profits have the greatest impact on fund activity and that, compared to France, England, and the United States, China has larger coefficients on GDP growth, consumption growth per household, political stability, and infrastructure.