Showing papers in "Journal of Chinese governance in 2022"
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors examined the effect of the four aforementioned roles on policy adoption by county-level governments on the old age allowance policy (OAAP), and found that provinces playing the roles of designer, co-provider, and pressure-giver exert a significantly more positive impact on the acceptance of the OAAP by their county-Level administrations than provinces performing as subcontractors.
Abstract: Abstract The provincial governments in China and their impact on the policy adoption of county-level administrations remain understudied. This article contributes to the study of policy adoption by dividing the roles enacted by provincial governments into the four following types: subcontractor, pressure-giver, designer, and co-provider. It utilizes the event history analysis method to examine the effects of the four aforementioned roles on policy adoption by county-level governments on the Old Age Allowance Policy (OAAP). The results suggest that provinces playing the roles of designer, co-provider, and pressure-giver exert a significantly more positive impact on the acceptance of the OAAP by their county-level administrations than provinces performing as subcontractors. Meanwhile, the subcontractor-then-designer role exerts a negative influence on the espousal of the OAAP by county-level governments. These findings deliver a new theoretical account of the vertical approach to policy diffusion and offer substantive practical implications for social policy applications in hierarchical societies.
3 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigate how local governments respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with tension by analyzing the policy divergence between central and local governments under the influence of the conflicting goals of pandemic control and economic recovery.
Abstract: Abstract How local governments respond to the COVID-19 pandemic has received much scholarly attention. The existing literature mainly focuses on epidemic prevention, while the contradictory policy goals of pandemic control and economic recovery are less investigated. How do local governments respond to such tasks with tension? This article approaches the question by analysing the policy divergence between central and local governments under the influence of the conflicting goals. Utilising an original dataset of policy divergence in work and production resumption policies between central and 244 municipal governments in China, this study finds that pandemic control is the priority of local governments, and the rationality-based logic rather than the capacity-based logic is followed by local leaders when formulating policy responses. The results extend the theoretical understanding of local governments’ policy response under pandemic conditions and provide a theoretical basis for better management of the pandemic in practice.
3 citations
TL;DR: Li et al. as discussed by the authors investigated the effects of rural land titling on market participation in rural China and found that clear and well-defined farmland property rights increase land rental activities and raise rental prices.
Abstract: Abstract The incomplete and unstable property rights of farmland in rural China hinder the development of the nation’s farmland rental market. The Chinese government implemented a land titling program in 2008 and conducted several pilot programs in various provinces to remove the barriers resulting from ambiguous property rights. Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this paper investigates the effects of rural land titling on market participation in rural China. First, we provide novel evidence regarding the impact of land titling on land market participation and investigate the heterogeneous wealth effects and geographic locations of land rental decisions. Second, we examine the endogeneity of land titling program implementation through empirical analysis. Our results indicate that clear and well-defined farmland property rights increase land rental activities and raise rental prices. We also find a significantly negative wealth effect in land transfer decisions, indicating that land titling encourages poorer farmers to rent out farmland. Land titling is found to promote land transfer, with the strongest effect in central China, and raise rental rates, with the largest increase in western China.
2 citations
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper investigated the relationship between the Party, state and society at the sub-municipal level through one state-facing participatory budgeting initiative and one society-facing PB initiative.
Abstract: Abstract This article provides a qualitative examination of two cases of Participatory Budgeting (PB) in Shanghai – a long-running PB initiative in Minhang District, organised in cooperation with the District People’s Congress, and a one-off project in Yangjing Sub-district, Pudong, in 2017, jointly organised by a community foundation and residents’ committee. The article seeks to interrogate the relationship between the Party, state and society at the sub-municipal level through one ‘state-facing’ PB initiative and one ‘society-facing’ PB initiative. We reveal how PB is deeply embedded in Party structures and networks, formally in the case of Minhang and informally in the case of Yangjing. Our research contributes to three debates on participatory governance in urban China. Firstly, contrary to the existing literature, PB neither primarily ‘emancipates’ citizens nor off-loads budgetary decisions onto them; instead, PB contributes towards party-building and citizens’ orderly participation, thereby strengthening overall Party leadership. Secondly, we challenge the widely-used term ‘party-state’, instead separating out these three entities and showing how they serve distinct roles in grassroots governance innovations such as PB. Thirdly, we show how participatory mechanisms developed in one political and cultural context can have vastly differing effects when employed in another.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigated the relationship between collaboration networks and performance, and examined the mediating roles of the contingency plan and absorptive capacity in this relationship, finding that collaboration networks have a positive association with emergency performance.
Abstract: Abstract The existing research identifies that cross-organizational collaboration is important in the enhancement of emergency management. However, little effort has been made to empirically examine how collaboration contributes to emergency performance. Within this field lies a theoretical controversy that institutional arrangement and dynamic capability compete with each other to enhance emergency collaboration. Numerous studies find that a contingency plan, as a form of institutional arrangement, is necessary for ensuring collaboration in a planned and legitimate manner. Conversely, research also suggests that absorptive capacity, as an important dynamic capability for organizations to adapt to changing environments, is beneficial to the improvement of emergency collaboration. The current study contributes to the understanding of the influence of collaboration on emergency performance by (1) investigating the relationship between collaboration networks and performance, and (2) examining the mediating roles of the contingency plan and absorptive capacity in this relationship. Employing structural equation modeling with data from 110 cases of emergency drills in Shanghai, results suggest that collaboration networks have a positive association with emergency performance, which is simultaneously mediated by contingency plan and absorptive capacity, and further demonstrate that absorptive capacity exerts a stronger effect than contingency plan. Overall, the findings point to a need to dissolve the nuanced contradiction between the institutions and dynamic capability and weigh the two approaches when implementing emergency collaboration across organizations.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors investigated the effect of the personal characteristics of municipal leaders, mainly their tenure of office and political rotation, on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic at the city level.
Abstract: Abstract In discussing government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the leadership of local officials is an important dimension that has been studied less than other aspects. From the perspective of political incentives, this paper empirically investigates the effect of the personal characteristics of municipal leaders, mainly their tenure of office and political rotation, on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic at the city level. The results indicate a negative relationship between tenure of office and the diagnostic rate of COVID-19. The experience of having diverse political rotation has strong positive effects on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, especially in places with higher infection risks and better health resources. Due to the division of labor and cooperation between the Communist Party of China and the government, municipal party secretaries and mayors play different roles in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic. The findings contribute to understanding the dynamic relationship among political incentives, bureaucratic behaviors and performance in the anti-epidemic process in general.
2 citations
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper examined 2,422 performance evaluation reports and policies released to the public and found that the public values structure were composed of relations of hierarchy, proximity, and causality.
Abstract: Abstract Performance evaluations often convey values promoted by the government. However, it is unclear in the Chinese context what ‘performance’ means when referring to appraised values because little empirical evidence exists, particularly regarding the relations between values. This study examines Hangzhou, a pioneering case among Chinese municipalities of comprehensive performance evaluation, to analyze the relations between values. We examined 2,422 performance evaluation reports and policies released to the public. After conducting content and social network analyses, we theorized the public values structure were composed of relations of hierarchy, proximity, and causality. Our findings indicate prime values were listed prior to instrumental or market-driven values. The proximity between public interest and quality is demonstrated by the highest correlation coefficients. Each value cluster contains a causal relationship, indicating one value is the means to another. We discuss the values-oriented approach to performance evaluation, the contextual nature of public values studies, and the limits of using public satisfaction in performance evaluation. As an exploratory study, this work identifies values advocated by local governments in China; such findings are absent from existing research. Moreover, this study provides a practical method for empirically studying public values.
1 citations
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors put the power centralization drive of the CPC since 2012 into perspective by going back to the Party's history and employing the retrospective governance studies approach, it singles out three cases in the CPC's history in which top Party leaders chose to reinforce the CPC’s centralized system even when the Party had made strides in the previous stage, including creating the Instruction Request and Work Report System in 1948, adjusting Party-government relations in 1953 and prioritizing top-level design since the 18th Party Congress in 2012.
Abstract: Abstract This article puts the power centralization drive of the CPC since 2012 into perspective by going back to the Party’s history. By employing the retrospective governance studies approach, it singles out three cases in the CPC’s history in which top Party leaders chose to reinforce the CPC’s centralized system even when the Party had made strides in the previous stage, including creating the Instruction Request and Work Report System in 1948, adjusting Party-government Relations in 1953 and prioritizing top-level design since the 18th Party Congress in 2012. Based on a detailed analysis and comparison of the background, process and repercussions of furthering the CPC’s centralized system in the three cases, this article concludes that top Party leaders chose to further strengthen the CPC’s centralized system even when the Party was making strides in its cause primarily because of their concerns about the negative influences, real or imaginary, of the changing environment on the organizational integrity of the Party. By demonstrating the significance of CPC’s Leninist heritage in enabling its resilience, the present analysis broadens the scope of authoritarian resilience studies.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper investigated the effects of Chinese business leaders' membership in the National People's Congress (NPC) on government subsidy, firm's strategic change, and labor inefficiency.
Abstract: Abstract To better understand the government-business relations and the governance in China, this study investigates the effects of Chinese business leaders’ membership in the National People’s Congress (NPC) on government subsidy, firm’s strategic change, and labor inefficiency. Our sample consists of 959 firms with business leaders in the 10th and 11th NPC, which account for 88% of the total firms that have business leaders in the NPC. To make a valid comparison, we used various criteria to create a matching sample of 44,894 firms that have no business leaders in the NPC. The results suggest that NPC membership has a positive effect on government subsidy, and negative effects on firm’s strategic change and labor inefficiency. After conducting a post-hoc analysis, we found interesting interaction effects of NPC membership and firm ownership upon firm’s strategic change and labor inefficiency. State-owned firms had stronger negative relationships between NPC membership and strategic change, and between NPC membership and labor inefficiency.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper refines the three key elements of collaboration from the perspective of supply chain, economy and geography and puts forward the optimal zoning scheme of interregional collaboration for food safety governance.
Abstract: Abstract The spatial spillover of food safety risks and the regional mobility of food enterprises make territorial governance inefficient, which calls for interregional collaboration to enhance food safety in the context of territorial governance. However, due to the lack of a collaborative food safety governance scheme, there has been no substantial progress in interregional collaboration for food safety governance in China. Therefore, this paper refines the three key elements of collaboration from the perspective of supply chain, economy and geography and puts forward the optimal zoning scheme of interregional collaboration for food safety governance. By analysing the evolution trend of interregional collaboration, we found China has already produced the germination of interregional collaboration in terms of food safety issues, though it has been slow and volatile. To promote the process of interregional collaboration, this paper also analyses the determinants of the coordinated regulatory performance of food safety. The results show that collaborative actions within regions can facilitate coordinated regulatory practice. The interregional difference in regulatory intensity and consumption patterns hinder the interregional collaboration for food safety governance, while the interregional difference in industrial structure inversely promotes the coordinated regulatory performance. These findings lend support to effective promotion of interregional collaboration.