Meg Rithmire
James E. Robison Professor of Business Administration
James E. Robison Professor of Business Administration
Meg Rithmire is the James E. Robison Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit. Professor Rithmire holds a PhD in Government from Harvard University, and her primary expertise is in the comparative political economy of development with a focus on China and Asia. Her first book, Land Bargains and Chinese Capitalism (Cambridge University Press, 2015), examines the role of land politics, urban governments, and local property rights regimes in the Chinese economic reforms. Her second book, Precarious Ties: Business and the State in Authoritarian Asia (Oxford University Press, 2023) examines state-business relations in Malaysia, Suharto's Indonesia, and the People's Republic of China. The book shows how trust or distrust between business and political elites and financial liberalization in authoritarian regimes interact to create different patterns of state-business relations. In the cases of Indonesia and contemporary China, Rithmire shows that distrust and financial liberalization produced mutual endangerment, by which business and political elites impress one another into dangerous and corrupt relationships that can be economically and politically destabilizing. Her work also focuses on China's role in the world, including Chinese outward investment and lending practices and economic relations between China and other countries, especially the United States. A new project on business geopolitical risk and resilience, for which she is co-chairing an initiative with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, focuses on how firms can and should change their governance practices to deal with geopolitical and especially national security risk.
She is a faculty associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Fairbank Center for East Asian Studies at Harvard, and the Harvard Faculty Committee on Southeast Asia. In 2022, she joined the editorial board of The China Quarterly. In 2015 and 2023, she won the Faculty Teaching Award in the Required Curriculum. She is also a member of the editorial boards for the China Quarterly and the China Journal.
- Featured Work
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How has China's economic model evolved, and what kind of capitalism does China practice? In this essay, three scholars of China's political economy describe the system as "party-state capitalism," in which China's economy is organized around the regime's political goals.In this interview, Prof. Rithmire explains the Chinese model and what it means for the world.In this video, produced by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Prof. Rithmire speaks with Keith Abell about how the Chinese economy became so reliant on real estate development and debt and what the Evergrande crisis means.This article, in Comparative Politics (April 2022), explains patterns of China's outward investments in political terms. The Chinese party-state does not direct all Chinese companies in their outward investments, but rather pushes global investment through campaigns it often cannot control. The paper shows how "crony capital" veers toward the developed world for safety rather than implementing the Chinese state's vision.Land reforms have been critical to the development of Chinese capitalism over the last several decades, yet land in China remains publicly owned. This book explores the political logic of reforms to land ownership and control, accounting for how land development and real estate have become synonymous with economic growth and prosperity in China. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and archival research, the book tracks land reforms and urban development at the national level and in three cities in a single Chinese region. The study reveals that the initial liberalization of land was reversed after China's first contemporary real estate bubble in the early 1990s and that property rights arrangements at the local level varied widely according to different local strategies for economic prosperity and political stability. The book explains how land development became central to urban strategies for growth and to the overall Chinese political economy.
- Books
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- Rithmire, Meg. Precarious Ties: Business and the State in Authoritarian Asia. Oxford University Press, 2023. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, Margaret M. Pearson, and Kellee S. Tsai. The State and Capitalism in China. Cambridge Elements, Elements in Politics and Society in East Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2023. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. Land Bargains and Chinese Capitalism: The Politics of Property Rights under Reform. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. View Details
- Journal Articles
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- Pearson, Margaret, Meg Rithmire, and Kellee Tsai. "China's Political Economy and International Backlash: From Interdependence to Security Dilemma Dynamics." International Security 47, no. 2 (Fall 2022): 135–176. View Details
- Pearson, Margaret, Meg Rithmire, and Kellee Tsai. "Party-State Capitalism in China." Current History 120, no. 827 (September 2021). View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Hao Chen. "The Emergence of Mafia-like Business Systems in China." China Quarterly 248 (December 2021): 1037–1058. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Going Out or Opting Out? Capital, Political Vulnerability, and the State in China's Outward Investment." Comparative Politics 54, no. 3 (April 2022): 477–499. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Hao Chen. "The Rise of the Investor State: State Capital in the Chinese Economy." Studies in Comparative International Development 55, no. 3 (September 2020): 257–277. View Details
- Looney, Kristen, and Meg Rithmire. "China Gambles on Modernizing Through Urbanization." Current History 116, no. 791 (September 2017): 203–209. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Land Institutions and Chinese Political Economy: Institutional Complementarities and Macroeconomic Management." Politics & Society 45, no. 1 (March 2017): 123–153. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "China's 'New Regionalism': Subnational Analysis in Chinese Political Economy." World Politics 66, no. 1 (January 2014). View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Land Politics and Local State Capacities: The Political Economy of Urban Change in China." China Quarterly, no. 216 (December 2013): 872–895. View Details
- Book Chapters
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- Pearson, Margaret M., Meg Rithmire, and Kellee S. Tsai. "The Private Economy Under Party-State Capitalism." Chap. 3 in Chinese Politics: The Xi Jinping Difference. 2nd edition edited by Stanley Rosen and Daniel C. Lynch, 67–82. Routledge, 2024. View Details
- Pearson, Margaret, Meg Rithmire, and Kellee Tsai. "How Does Party-State Capitalism in China Interact with Global Capitalism?" Chap. 27 in The China Questions 2: Critical Insights into U.S.–China Relations, edited by Maria Adele Carrai, Jennifer Rudolph, and Michael Szonyi, 250–257. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2022. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Local States of Play: Land and Urban Politics in Reform-Era China." In Inside Countries: Subnational Research in Comparative Politics, edited by Agustina Giraudy, Eduardo Moncada, and Richard Snyder, 318–350. Cambridge University Press, 2019. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Will Urbanization Save the Chinese Economy or Destroy it?" Chap. 16 in The China Questions: Critical Insights into a Rising Power, edited by Jennifer Rudolph and Michael Szonyi. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018. View Details
- Working Papers
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- Rithmire, Meg, and Hao Chen. "The Emergence of Mafia-like Business Systems in China." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-098, March 2021. View Details
- Pearson, Margaret, Meg Rithmire, and Kellee Tsai. "Party-State Capitalism in China." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-065, November 2020. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Going Out or Opting Out? Capital, Political Vulnerability, and the State in China's Outward Investment." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-009, June 2019. (Revised January 2021.) View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Rithmire, Meg. "ALDDN: Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 723-033, March 2023. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Illiberalism and Interdependence." Harvard Business School Module Note 723-032, February 2023. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Snapp: Scaling Under Sanctions in Iran (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 723-411, December 2022. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "National Security and Transnational Capitalism." Harvard Business School Technical Note 723-016, November 2022. View Details
- Hsieh, Nien-he, Meg Rithmire, and Shu Lin. "OneSmart." Harvard Business School Case 723-017, November 2022. (Revised March 2023.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "China's Management of COVID-19: People’s War or Chernobyl Moment? (A)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 723-377, February 2023. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Political Legitimacy and Global Capital Markets: Malaysia’s 1MDB (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 723-005, August 2022. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Chinese Infrastructure Investments in Sri Lanka: A Pearl or a Teardrop on the Belt and Road?" Harvard Business School Teaching Note 723-004, July 2022. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Lattice Semiconductor and the Future of Chinese High-Tech Acquisitions in the United States." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 722-031, December 2021. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Debora L. Spar. "ALDDN: Advancing Local Dairy Development in Nigeria." Harvard Business School Case 721-026, March 2021. (Revised May 2021.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "The Clean Network and the Future of Global Technology Competition." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 721-062, June 2021. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Capitalism and the Party-State: The People’s Republic of China at 70." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 721-056, May 2021. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Courtney Han. "The Clean Network and the Future of Global Technology Competition." Harvard Business School Case 721-045, April 2021. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Courtney Han. "China's Management of COVID-19 (B): Victory?" Harvard Business School Supplement 721-008, September 2020. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Courtney Han. "Capitalism and the Party-State: The People's Republic of China at 70." Harvard Business School Case 721-040, March 2021. (Revised December 2023.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Courtney Han. "Political Legitimacy and Global Capital Markets: Malaysia's 1MDB (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 721-042, March 2021. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Snapp: Scaling Under Sanctions in Iran (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 721-036, March 2021. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Gamze Yucaoglu. "Snapp: Scaling Under Sanctions in Iran (A)." Harvard Business School Case 721-020, January 2021. (Revised July 2022.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Courtney Han. "China's Management of COVID-19 (A): People's War or Chernobyl Moment?" Harvard Business School Case 720-035, March 2020. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Courtney Han. "Political Legitimacy and Global Capital Markets: Malaysia's 1MDB (A)." Harvard Business School Case 720-030, March 2020. (Revised February 2023.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Yihao Li. "Lattice Semiconductor and the Future of Chinese High-Tech Acquisitions in the United States." Harvard Business School Case 719-059, January 2019. (Revised June 2019.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Yihao Li. "Chinese Infrastructure Investments in Sri Lanka: A Pearl or a Teardrop on the Belt and Road?" Harvard Business School Case 719-046, January 2019. (Revised January 2022.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Dawn H. Lau. "Philippines: From Sick Man to Strong Man." Harvard Business School Case 717-058, June 2017. (Revised October 2017.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg, and Julio J. Rotemberg. "Business and Politics in the Age of Inequality." Harvard Business School Case 715-051, May 2015. (Revised February 2016.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Business and Politics in the Age of Inequality." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 716-067, February 2016. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Egypt: The End of the Revolution?" Harvard Business School Case 715-041, April 2015. (Revised January 2016.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Egypt: The End of the Revolution?" Harvard Business School Teaching Note 716-005, September 2015. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "Egypt: The End of a Revolution?" Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 716-701, September 2015. View Details
- Di Tella, Rafael, Meg Rithmire, and Kait Szydlowski. "Governing the 'Chinese Dream': Corruption, Inequality and the Rule of Law." Harvard Business School Case 715-023, December 2014. (Revised November 2015.) View Details
- Di Tella, Rafael, and Meg Rithmire. "The 'Chinese Dream': Corruption, Inequality, and the Rule of Law." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 715-057, June 2015. View Details
- Werker, Eric, Meg Rithmire, Benjamin Kennedy, and Andrew Knauer. "Pittsburgh." Harvard Business School Case 713-035, January 2013. (Revised October 2015.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "The “Chongqing Model” and the Future of China ." Harvard Business School Case 713-028, December 2012. (Revised July 2013.) View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "The 'Chongqing Model' and the Future of China." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 716-004, September 2015. View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "The 'Chongqing Model' and the Future of China." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 716-702, September 2015. View Details
- Other Publications and Materials
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- Pearson, Margaret M., Meg Rithmire, and Kellee S. Tsai. "The New China Shock: How Beijing’s Party-State Capitalism Is Changing the Global Economy." ForeignAffairs.com (December 8, 2022). View Details
- Brautigam, Deborah, and Meg Rithmire. "The Chinese Debt Trap Is a Myth: The Narrative Wrongfully Portrays Both Beijing and the Developing Countries It Deals With." The Atlantic (website) (February 6, 2021). View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "The State Department Says the Chinese Communist Party Controls Chinese Companies. It's Not That Simple." Washington Post (September 8, 2020). View Details
- Rithmire, Meg. "The Resurgent Role of the State in China's Economy: Experimentation, Domestic Politics, and U.S. Policy." Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations, October 2020. View Details
- Research Summary
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My research and course development focus on questions of how markets and market mechanisms interact with concentrated political power, especially in the context of authoritarian or illiberal regimes. Geographically, my expertise is in the political economy of Asia, especially the People’s Republic of China (PRC), but over the last ten years, my work has evolved from a detailed empirical focus on China’s domestic political economy to putting China in comparative and historical perspective and understanding its influence in the world as Chinese economic actors have globalized.Economic interdependence between the US and China was imagined years ago to be a source of security and prosperity for both countries, but is now the site of concerns about risk and national security on both sides. My work has examined how that shift has come about, what tools the US and other countries have adopted to manage security in the context of interdependence, and what role US businesses have in managing risk.
I am co-chairing an initiative at the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation on Business Geopolitical Risk and Resilience focusing on how US firms can and should manage risk, especially national security risk, when engaging with and in China.Land Bargains and Chinese Capitalism: The Politics of Property Rights under Reform
Published October 2015
China since the 1980s has been the scene of unprecedented efforts at urban construction and growth, even in the absence of privatization of ownership over land. These efforts were made possible by the separation of land use and ownership rights and, therefore, the initiation of markets in land in the late 1980s. This book examines the emergence of property rights practices over urban land and property at the national and subnational levels in China. At the national level, I draw on government documents and other Chinese sources to analyze the decision to initiate land markets in 1988, the first national experience with real estate markets, and policy changes thatreorganized land, fiscal, and financial institutions in the 1990s. At the subnational level, I rely on a controlled comparison of three cities in a single region—China’s Northeastern “rustbelt”—to examine how different local political economies differently configured property rights practices. The book advances a novel theoretical argument about the politics of property rights as endogenous to the process of political reform. I emphasize the roles of political bargaining (the articulation and recognition of property rights claims as a form of political accommodation) and moral argument (competing claims to legitimacy) in property rights change. The empirical contribution of the book concerns the centrality of property rights to China’s local and national economic development strategies. Property rights were deployed as political and economic resources at the local and national levels, figuring prominently in various groups’ efforts at capital accumulation as well as state strategies of political inclusion and appeasement. Ultimately, by illuminating subnational practice in land politics and national level development of land institutions, this book puts land at the center of explaining the unique evolution of Chinese capitalism in its first three decades, and concludes that the fiscal and financial systems make reliance on land revenue hard to break.In Precarious Ties: Business and the State in Authoritarian Asia (Oxford University Press, 2023) and related papers, I examine the political foundations and economic effects of different patterns of state-business relations in authoritarian regimes with a focus on China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The book distinguishes between mutual alignment, when the interests of business and the state are mostly aligned with each other and with efforts toward economic growth, and mutual endangerment, when business elites adapt to distrust and vulnerability by impressing one another and political elites into dangerous relationships that have negative effects on society and economic stability. I show that mutual endangerment manifests in asset expatriation, financial malfeasance, and weaponization of information, or kompromat. - Awards & Honors
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Recipient of the 2023 HBS Student Association Faculty Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Elective Curriculum.Received the 2020 Greenhill Award for Outstanding Service to the HBS Community.Recipient of the 2015 Charles M. Williams Award for Teaching Excellence.Received the 2015 HBS Student Association Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Required Curriculum.
- Additional Information
- Areas of Interest
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- economic development
- economic institutions
- emerging markets
- foreign direct investment
- globalization
- bank debt
- corruption
- cross-cultural/cross-border
- developing countries
- diasporas
- government and business
- infrastructure
- joint ventures
- political economy
- privatization
- real estate
- China
- East Asia
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- Southeast Asia
Additional TopicsIndustriesGeographies