Original
A Risk-Averse Principal-Agent Framework: Private Security Companies in China’s Overseas Interest Protection
Abstract
As China’s investments under the Belt and Road Initiative proliferate, securing its extraterritorial interests has assumed urgency. With a military footprint abroad lagging behind its economic clout, Beijing has advocated for state-owned enterprises to entrust protective responsibilities to Chinese private security companies (PSCs). Leveraging quantitative scrutiny of datasets from the China Security Association, this study elucidates the advancement of Chinese PSCs in proliferation velocity, spatial distribution, and service diversification, wherein they assume supplementary roles in protecting the commercial assets and personnel of state-owned conglomerates. Yet, as China lacks legislative frameworks to oversee their operations, state-owned enterprises evince circumspection in devolving security mandates, while PSCs, encumbered by inadequate incentives and labyrinthine risks, engender suboptimal principal-agent paradigm, accentuating lacunae in the efficacious protection of China’s extraterritorial interests.
中文
风险厌恶型委托—代理框架：中国海外利益保护中的私营安保公司
摘要
随着“一带一路”倡议下中国投资的激增，保护其境外利益已变得紧迫。由于海外军事存在落后于其经济影响力，北京倡导国有企业将保护职责委托给中国私营安保公司（PSCs）。本研究利用对中国保安协会数据集的定量考察，阐明了中国私营安保公司在扩张速度、空间分布和服务多样化方面的进展，其中它们在保护大型国有企业商业资产和人员方面发挥补充作用。然而，由于中国缺乏监管其运营的立法框架，国有企业在下放安保任务时表现出谨慎，而私营安保公司因激励不足和错综复杂的风险而受掣肘，导致次优的委托—代理范式，凸显了中国境外利益有效保护方面的缺口。
关键词
私营安保公司、委托—代理框架、风险厌恶、中国海外利益保护、一带一路、国有企业、境外利益、安全治理