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Business, Government & the International Economy

Business, Government & the International Economy

  • Faculty
  • Curriculum
  • Seminars & Conferences
  • Awards & Honors
Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors
    • March 16, 2023
    • Other Article

    How Putin Uses Hanoi’s 1960s Playbook to Divide the American Public on Foreign Policy

    By: Jeremy Friedman

    • March 16, 2023
    • Other Article

    How Putin Uses Hanoi’s 1960s Playbook to Divide the American Public on Foreign Policy

    By: Jeremy Friedman

    • March 2023
    • Case

    Russia: A Drama in Three Acts (B)

    By: Rawi Abdelal, Kateryna Olkhovyk and Davit Gasparyan

    Supplements the (A) case.

    • March 2023
    • Case

    Russia: A Drama in Three Acts (B)

    By: Rawi Abdelal, Kateryna Olkhovyk and Davit Gasparyan

    Supplements the (A) case.

    • 2023
    • Working Paper

    Rule by Market: The Chinese State in Factor Markets

    By: Meg Rithmire

    Political economy on China and beyond generally has been premised on a trade-off between state and market power. In the context of China’s reforms, markets and market mechanisms were hypothesized to replace state power in allocating important economic resources. Yet, even as market mechanisms have been introduced in important realms, the state appears to retain power over supply and demand, and, by extension, prices. This paper examines the introduction, and eventual adjustment and constraint, of markets in two important arenas: land and equity markets. Through process tracing and by analyzing a large body of policy documents from various levels of government in both arenas, I uncover a cycle by which the Chinese state embraced market mechanisms to address problems of misallocation, met uncomfortable outcomes of instability and “bubble” behavior during partial liberalization, and reconfigured state control over supply and demand of land and capital while retaining market mechanisms to facilitate competition but not set prices. In both arenas, the Chinese state “rules by market,” by which market mechanisms facilitate, rather than replace, state control over allocation of resources. Rule by market is characterized by authoritarian responses (including populist crackdowns and the use of the state’s coercive apparatus) to respond to market instability as well as institutional reconfigurations involving “red lines” to structure exchange, the setting of indirect price controls, and the rise of novel institutions to enforce these. Rule by market helps make sense of a number of empirical puzzles in China’s political economy, such as bubbles that never seem to pop and cycles of liberalization and crackdown, and suggests amendments to several ideas about how the CCP has managed markets with monopolized political power.

    • 2023
    • Working Paper

    Rule by Market: The Chinese State in Factor Markets

    By: Meg Rithmire

    Political economy on China and beyond generally has been premised on a trade-off between state and market power. In the context of China’s reforms, markets and market mechanisms were hypothesized to replace state power in allocating important economic resources. Yet, even as market mechanisms have been introduced in important realms, the state...

About the Unit

The BGIE Unit conducts research on, and teaches about, the economic, political, social, and legal environment in which business operates. The Unit includes scholars trained in economics, political science, and history; in its work, it draws on perspectives from all three of these disciplines.

The following demonstrates one way of classifying the approaches the Unit takes to learning and teaching.

  • The Unit examines the “rules” and policies established by government and other non-business institutions that affect business in the United States.
  • The Unit turns to history to understand the origins of today’s business environment as well as some of the alternatives that have emerged from time to time.
  • The Unit examines other countries’ business environments and their historical development.
  • The BGIE group is deeply interested in the impact of globalization and the way rules are emerging to govern international economic transactions as globalization proceeds.

Recent Publications

How Putin Uses Hanoi’s 1960s Playbook to Divide the American Public on Foreign Policy

By: Jeremy Friedman
  • March 16, 2023 |
  • Other Article |
  • Jurist
Keywords: Public Opinion; International Relations
Citation
Read Now
Related
Friedman, Jeremy. "How Putin Uses Hanoi’s 1960s Playbook to Divide the American Public on Foreign Policy." Jurist (March 16, 2023).

Copper Nationalization in Chile

By: Jeremy Friedman
  • March 2023 |
  • Teaching Note |
  • Faculty Research
Teaching Note for HBS Case 722-016.
Citation
Purchase
Related
Friedman, Jeremy. "Copper Nationalization in Chile." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 723-055, March 2023.

Russia: A Drama in Three Acts (B)

By: Rawi Abdelal, Kateryna Olkhovyk and Davit Gasparyan
  • March 2023 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Supplements the (A) case.
Keywords: Russia; Ukraine
Citation
Educators
Related
Abdelal, Rawi, Kateryna Olkhovyk, and Davit Gasparyan. "Russia: A Drama in Three Acts (B)." Harvard Business School Case 723-057, March 2023.

Mossadeq’s Gambit: The US, UK, and Iranian Oil Nationalization

By: Jeremy Friedman
  • March 2023 |
  • Teaching Note |
  • Faculty Research
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 722-065.
Citation
Purchase
Related
Friedman, Jeremy. "Mossadeq’s Gambit: The US, UK, and Iranian Oil Nationalization." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 723-054, March 2023.

Stalin’s Capitalists: American Business and Soviet Industrialization

By: Jeremy Friedman
  • March 2023 |
  • Teaching Note |
  • Faculty Research
Citation
Related
Friedman, Jeremy. "Stalin’s Capitalists: American Business and Soviet Industrialization." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 723-053, March 2023.

Rule by Market: The Chinese State in Factor Markets

By: Meg Rithmire
  • 2023 |
  • Working Paper |
  • Faculty Research
Political economy on China and beyond generally has been premised on a trade-off between state and market power. In the context of China’s reforms, markets and market mechanisms were hypothesized to replace state power in allocating important economic resources. Yet, even as market mechanisms have been introduced in important realms, the state appears to retain power over supply and demand, and, by extension, prices. This paper examines the introduction, and eventual adjustment and constraint, of markets in two important arenas: land and equity markets. Through process tracing and by analyzing a large body of policy documents from various levels of government in both arenas, I uncover a cycle by which the Chinese state embraced market mechanisms to address problems of misallocation, met uncomfortable outcomes of instability and “bubble” behavior during partial liberalization, and reconfigured state control over supply and demand of land and capital while retaining market mechanisms to facilitate competition but not set prices. In both arenas, the Chinese state “rules by market,” by which market mechanisms facilitate, rather than replace, state control over allocation of resources. Rule by market is characterized by authoritarian responses (including populist crackdowns and the use of the state’s coercive apparatus) to respond to market instability as well as institutional reconfigurations involving “red lines” to structure exchange, the setting of indirect price controls, and the rise of novel institutions to enforce these. Rule by market helps make sense of a number of empirical puzzles in China’s political economy, such as bubbles that never seem to pop and cycles of liberalization and crackdown, and suggests amendments to several ideas about how the CCP has managed markets with monopolized political power.
Keywords: Economic Systems; Government and Politics; China
Citation
Read Now
Related
Rithmire, Meg. "Rule by Market: The Chinese State in Factor Markets." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-040, March 2023.

The Creation and Fissuring of Consensus

By: Vincent Pons
  • March 2023 |
  • Module Note |
  • Faculty Research
Citation
Purchase
Related
Pons, Vincent. "The Creation and Fissuring of Consensus." Harvard Business School Module Note 723-048, March 2023.

ALDDN: Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria

By: Meg Rithmire
  • March 2023 |
  • Teaching Note |
  • Faculty Research
Teaching Note for HBS No. 721-026.
Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Nigeria
Citation
Purchase
Related
Rithmire, Meg. "ALDDN: Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 723-033, March 2023.
More Publications

In the News

    • 22 Mar 2023
    • Harvard Business School

    Behind the Research: Marlous van Waijenburg

    Re: Marlous van Waijenburg
    • 16 Mar 2023
    • JURIST Legal News

    How Putin Uses Hanoi’s 1960s Playbook to Divide the American Public on Foreign Policy

    Re: Jeremy Friedman
    • 23 Feb 2023
    • Chronicle

    Slamming the Door on Scholarship

    Re: Jeremy Friedman
→More Faculty News

HBS Working Knowledge

    • 31 Oct 2022

    Why the Largest Minority Group Faces the Most Hate—and How to Push Back

    Re: Marco E. Tabellini
    • 17 Oct 2022

    Why Quiet Quitters Need More Than Money to Re-Engage

    Re: Rawi E. Abdelal & Siyu Zhang
    • 12 Apr 2022

    Racism, Colonialism, and Britain's Legacy of Violence

    Re: Caroline M. Elkins
→More Working Knowledge Articles

Harvard Business Publishing

    • March 2012
    • Article

    Macroeconomic Policy and U.S. Competitiveness

    By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Matthew Weinzierl
    • February 2023 (Revised March 2023)
    • Case

    Amazon and the Future of Organized Labor

    By: Reshmaan Hussam, Trevor Fetter and Grace Liu
→More Harvard Business Publishing

Seminars & Conferences

There are no upcoming events.

→More Seminars & Conferences

Faculty Positions

Harvard Business School seeks candidates in all fields for full time positions. Candidates with outstanding records in PhD or DBA programs are encouraged to apply.
→Learn More

Contact Information

Business, Government & the International Economy Unit
Harvard Business School
Morgan Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
BGIE@hbs.edu

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