Combating China’s corruption through learning from Taobao’s business model.

Abstract

Corruption in China is prevalent since the early centuries and in recent years, Chinese citizens are increasingly demanding for a less corrupted government. Due to its sensitive nature, studies are limited for this topic. A survey was conducted in this paper to understand the topic better. Results depicted a high correlation between the competency level of the government and the severity of corruption. The need for correction was also found to be statistically significant in affecting their perception of the severity of corruption in China. Nationality and previous visitations to China were also statistically significant in explaining the ranking of severity of corruption. This paper further explores a probable solution to the problem - learning from Taobao. Survey respondents were uncertain about studying from Taobao’s model; however, many remained confident that implementation would have an impact on reducing corruption levels. Concluding, the paper highlighted two attributes that the government can learn from: Transparency and Accountability. Areas the government could tap on include having a middleman to monitor the political officials and a feedback system that would involve active citizens’ participation to reduce corruption in China.