Comparing the Railway Bureaucracies in China and India with Kyle Chan

Kyle Chan visits the Belt and Road Podcast to talk about state capacity in railway bureaucracies in China and India, his research collected while riding trains through the two countries, the incredibly mundane naming of Chinese companies, and much more. This episode discusses Kyle's research published in two articles:  Inside China's state-owned enterprises: Managed competition through a multi-level structure (2022) and The organizational roots of state capacity: Comparing railway bureaucracies in China and India (2022).

Kyle Chan is a PhD student in sociology at Princeton University, where his research focuses on bureaucracy and infrastructure development in China and India. He spent two years doing fieldwork in both countries looking at railway development, including that of China's high-speed rail system.

Recommendations:

Kyle:

• The Chinese Mayor (2015 documentary)
• Powerless (2014 documentary)

Erik:

• Rühlig, Tim. Chinese Influence through technical standardization power (2022).
• Tár (2022 film)

Juliet:

• High Stakes: China's Leadership in Global Biodiversity Governance by Jesse Rodenbiker in the New Security Beat.
• Coverage of the Convention on Biological Diversity in China Dialogue