The moral economy of guanxi and the market of corruption: Networks, brokers and corruption in China’s courts
| Date | 01 November 2018 |
| Author | Ling Li |
| DOI | 10.1177/0192512118791585 |
| Published date | 01 November 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512118791585
International Political Science Review
2018, Vol. 39(5) 634 –646
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512118791585
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The moral economy of guanxi
and the market of corruption:
Networks, brokers and
corruption in China’s courts
Ling Li
University of Vienna, Austria
Abstract
In this article, I offer an economic analysis of the characteristics that are associated with corruption when it
is facilitated through social exchange or guanxi as it is called in China. To that end, I challenge the framework
applied in classic social exchange theories and contend that social exchange can be better distinguished
from market exchange based on whether the intention to exchange is concealed and not based on the
exchanging parties’ subjective reflections on the nature and outlook of their exchange relationship. I also
identify that corruption participants rely on a self-executable operating mechanism to facilitate negotiation
and enforcement of exchange terms instead of the informal reputational system that is used in ordinary
social exchange. In addition, I explain how the involvement of professional brokers democratizes guanxi-
based corruption and extends the otherwise privileged exchange opportunities to those beyond the guanxi
networks with lowered cost.
Keywords
Social exchange theory, guanxi and corruption, economic analysis of corruption, transaction costs, gift-
exchange, corruption intermediaries/brokers, moral economy, culture of corruption, China’s courts
Introduction
In this article, I intend to demonstrate how corruption participants ‘moralize’ corruption by grafting
corruption on to a social setting and employing social norms to navigate the course of corruption.
This discussion necessarily concerns an omnipotent and omnipresent social phenomenon in China
called guanxi. Guanxi represents a particularistic relationship used to facilitate favour-exchange
and is considered a close equivalent to blat in Russia, vruzki in Bulgaria, pistolão in Brazil, wasta
Corresponding author:
Ling Li, Department of East Asian Studies/Sinology, University of Vienna, Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2, Tür 2.3, Vienna, 1090,
Austria.
Email: liling6234@gmail.com
791585IPS0010.1177/0192512118791585International Political Science ReviewLi
research-article2018
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