China's post-Mao market reform, even after the Asian crisis, does not conform to the standard IMF/World Bank model and the state continues to mediate market reform. Three principal factors have influenced how the state mediates China's market reform: path dependency, a result of China's communist and nationalist revolution; China's geography, which favours developmental-state-type industrialisation; and most important of all, the Chinese Communist Party's successful post-Mao self-reinvention that has enabled it to remain in power as a monopolistic party. These factors determine that China's engagement with neo-liberalism will be a loose hug rather than an intimate embrace.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to inspect disaster risk reduction (DRR) challenges from a political economy (PE) perspective and to explore how PE determinants facilitate or hinder effective DRR in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study, using semi-structured in-depth interviews, official documents and literature review has been conducted to explore the current process and practices of DRR in Bangladesh. The specific focus is on the distribution of public spending on flood shelters implemented by the Department of Disaster Management. Findings The study revealed a number of findings, including that the interest and incentives of influencing decision makers matter; formal and informal institutions have influence; and the values and ideas of dominating stakeholders’ impact on decisions regarding public spending of DRR in Bangladesh. These PE factors often hinder efficiency by leading to overlapping efforts and inefficient use of scarce resources. DRR planners and practitioners need to take steps to mitigate potential risks from PE processes in the allocations of DRR funding by implementing improved distribution arrangements. Originality/value Despite many successes in dealing with disasters, Bangladesh faces several challenges, including better governance of funds. DRR challenges can be considered as a problem of PE, which concerns the distribution of resources, and includes how powerful decision makers affect economic choices. Prior research examining the challenges in DRR-related funding distribution from a PE perspective is limited. Therefore, this study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by focusing on the situation in Bangladesh from this perspective. The authors elaborate how PE determinants can function as both barrier and opportunities on the ground in DRR-related fund distribution and in the selection of project locations and beneficiaries.