Visibility Projects and De-privatization: A Case of China's Urban Bus Sector (Working Paper)

This article introduces the concept of visibility in infrastructure politics and explains how the emphasis of visibility can lead to de-privatization of a public service sector. Using China's urban bus sector as a case, I introduce what "visibility projects" are-distorted public projects aimed at increasing government officials' visibility in politics and career prospects. These projects are highly costly and often compromise business interests because political visibility does not often translate into business profits. When a sector is chosen for visibility projects, government officials often seek financial contributions and operational changes from business in the sector, creating an uneven playing field between private companies and state-owned enterprises. Private companies, facing hard budget constraints, are more likely to resist visibility projects than state-owned companies, which can ultimately lead to de-privatization by the state. I show these dynamics with a quantitative analysis based on an original dataset, a process-tracing case study, and in-depth interviews.