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Article summary:
1. This article examines the role of social ties in the selection of China's political elite.
2. The authors find that having a hometown or college connection with an incumbent Politburo member is associated with a 5-9 percentage point reduction in selection probability.
3. This "connections penalty" is equally strong for retiring Politburo members and much stronger for junior Politburo members, suggesting intra-factional competition plays a role.
Article analysis:
The article “Social Ties and the Selection of China’s Political Elite” by Fisman et al. is a well-researched and reliable piece of work that provides valuable insights into the selection process of China’s political elite. The authors use fixed effects to absorb quality differences across cities and colleges, which helps to ensure that their results are not biased by external factors. Furthermore, they focus on shared hometown and college connections rather than workplace connections, which allows them to better understand how social ties affect selection probabilities.
However, there are some potential biases in the article that should be noted. For example, the authors do not explore counterarguments or present both sides equally when discussing their findings; instead, they focus solely on their own research results without considering any other perspectives or evidence that may contradict their conclusions. Additionally, it is possible that some of the data used in this study may be incomplete or inaccurate due to limitations in access to information about Chinese politics and government officials.
In conclusion, this article provides valuable insights into how social ties influence the selection process of China’s political elite but should be read with caution due to potential biases and incomplete data sources.