Abstract: This paper aimed to insight into the internal mechanism of institutional factor's effect on enterprise risk behavior. Following Bowman's paradox, a comprehensive research and comparison on the risk propensity between state-own enterprises and private enterprises in China are developed in this article. By empirical comparison on the sample derived from listed companies during three different periods, the following results are indicated:(1) Whether at the overall level or at the industry level, the state-owned enterprises are more inclined to take risks than private enterprises before the outbreak of financial crisis in 2008, and the gap of risk propensity between the two has been reducing constantly; (2) In the wake of financial crisis, it is found that the contrast results of risk propensity between state-owned and private enterprises are different from the previous results at different target level cases; (3) In the cases above the target level, the risk behaviors of both state-owned enterprises and private enterprises are not consistent with the expectation of prospect theory. These indicate that institutional factor largely determines the enterprise risk behavior in China. In addition, the risk propensity of enterprises is partly affected by their own development level and economic environment. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a mechanism of enterprise risk behavior management in China, which can effectively advance multi-lateral cooperation among government, enterprise and market, and achieve optimization of organizing function, based on the reform and development.

Key words: Bowman's paradox, risk propensity, state-owned enterprises, private enterprises