Are State-Owned Companies Underperforming? A Case Study of Chinese Listed Property Companies

Abstract

China's privatization program was initiated in April 1984 through the State Commission; however, the State continues to hold dominant shares in privatized companies. The fast growing economy has created a favorable environment for the private economy to develop, especially in property markets that have been booming since 2000. This study uses data of all the listed property companies in China's stock markets from 2000 to 2005 to investigate two issues: (1) who owns China's listed property companies; and (2) the performance differences between these two types of property companies. The goals of the research are to examine whether state-owned companies are less efficient and underperform privately-owned companies in the property sector and what type of property companies are good investments.