A question of ownership

We are dominated by ideals: perfect tax systems, monetary discipline, level playing fields and - above all - unambiguous lines of ownership. In the real world, though, financial systems and ownership structures are never quite what they seem. The governance of a US joint-stock company is not that far removed from a Chinese village-owned enterprise. And this may not be the best time to impose our ideals on Asia, argues Harrison Young.

In 1994, on my first visit to Beijing, I asked a vice-minister in one of the planning agencies what was the hardest aspect of enterprise restructuring. “Finding the owner,” he said. This is a deep saying. It applies to everything that is going on in Asia today. It encapsulates the discoveries east and west are on the brink of making from their current encounter.

Consider the classic Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE). It makes something, though maybe not too well.

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