产权制度的确立和完善为中国经济发展提供了制度保障，但不同区域间对私有产权的保护仍然仍然存在巨大差异。哪些因素影响了一国之内不同地区的产权保护程度? 本课题着眼于地方治理结构在产权保护中的作用，并指出地方产权保护受到两个因素的影响：一个是地方政府内行政权力的碎片化程度，另一个是地方政府利益嵌入私营经济的程度。当政府内行政权力碎片化程度较高，且政府内精英利益与本地私营企业关联度较高时，体制内的精英更有激励去阻止政府内其他部门的掠夺行为，当地更有可能出现较好的产权保护。根据这一分析，我们建议地方经济管理部门应该适当的增加分权和监督，同时通过制度化的手段强化私营企业主和政府部门间的纽带。

The establishment of institutions that protect property rights is an important driver of China’s economic growth. There are still huge regional variations in property rights protection across China. What determines sub-national variations in property security? This study focuses on the role of local governance structure in property protection. It argues that the level of private property protection is determined by two factors: the degree of administrative fragmentation within local government, and to what degree are local government interests embedded in local private sector. Officials in localities with fragmented authority and numerous ties to the private sector are more incentivized to protect private business from predation, particularly by those from within the state. Good property rights institutions therefore are more likely to emerge in these places. The findings of the study call for a greater degree of decentralization among local bureaucracies that oversee economic issues and the establishment of institutions that enhance connections between the private sector and the local state.