published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

This research aims to examine the interactions, transformation and implications of the government-business relations of entrepreneurial families in Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The similarities and differences of their operational patterns, strategies and impacts are also investigated. Establishing the political dimension as the foundation for this study enables this research to enrich the understanding of Chinese entrepreneurial families and address the gaps of conventional theories. Three influential entrepreneurial families in the cross strait tri-region—the Rong family in Wuxi, the Koo family in Taiwan and the Fok family in Hong Kong—are examined, with the application of clientelism and corporatism as the theoretical framework for analysis. Traditional Chinese values on business and businessmen are integrated into the theoretical discussion that serves as the basis of critical review of conventional theories and formulation of a new government-business relations theory relevant to the context of Chinese societies. All assumptions leading to such a theory are substantiated through conducting historical reviews and empirical analysis. This research primarily adopts a qualitative approach, using multiple case studies, historical and literature review, document analysis (including opened secret archives), in-depth interviews and field research. The research argues that such relations are rooted in the traditional Chinese cultural values and ideologies. With the support of party-state apparatus, or state apparatus, as well as operational mechanisms at both an individual and organizational level, the party-state-led or government-led government-business relations are established and sustained through various pathways. They also come as an embodiment of political alliance as the individual and organizational frameworks of corporatism interact and modify each other. It is asserted that an underlying mechanism is in constant operation to sustain the relational dynamics, but that such a mechanism cannot be explained in terms of legal considerations. The government-business relations of Chinese entrepreneurial families present cooperation but not opposition, and emphasize mutual dependence, trust and loyalty, which cannot be satisfactorily interpreted with clientelism. Public interests, or at least the coexistence of public and private interests, characterize the collaboration between the two parties in question. This research further reveals that entrepreneurial families undertake more political costs and risks than general family enterprises. This in turn provides proof of both the positive and the negative sides of political capital, which can potentially evoke extreme effects and constitute unstable factors for the development of entrepreneurial families. This understanding deviates from the past discourse which upholds the view that participation in government-business relations brings reasonable expectations about acquiring more interests on the part of entrepreneurial families. A comprehensive analysis of the involved interests and costs, opportunities and crises, as well as contributions and disadvantages confronting entrepreneurial families as a consequence of engaging in such government-business relations?as well as the manifestation of the distinctive operational models underlying such relations?are the important contributions made by this research. / published_or_final_version / Humanities and Social Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy