The state and the development of corporate insolvency law in China and Russia: A comparative perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the origin of the development of insolvency laws in China and Russia and explores the evolving role of the states in the legislative process. Design/methodology/approach – The study is conducted based on the analysis of historical materials and the relevant secondary sources written in Chinese and Russian. Findings – The paper argues that the development of the insolvency laws in China and Russia underlines the diverging perceptions by the states about the ways to improve economic performance through reforming their respective state enterprise system. On the other hand, the unsatisfactory utilisation of the laws in the these countries revealed the incompleteness of the wider institutional reform that opened up possibilities for predatory exploitations and corruptive practices which in turn upset the market-building in these developing economies. Originality value – This study highlights that by bring back the state into the analysis, the competing ideas, interests and institutions in the development of insolvency laws can be identified. Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited.