Autonomy and Performance: Decentralization Reforms in Zhejiang Province,China

Decentralization reforms rarely live up to the high hopes and expectations of the reformers for a variety of reasons rooted in actions and omissions of the governments pursuing it or in the context in which it is undertaken. The paper examines the experience of Zhejiang Province where decentralization was successful in achieving and indeed exceeding initial expectations. The remarkable feature of its reforms was ‘performance‐based’ decentralization wherein localities showing superior performance were awarded additional autonomy at a faster speed while the rest were given additional support to build their capacity for assuming more responsibility in the future. To understand the effects of this unique pattern of decentralization, the paper compares the performance of participating and non‐participating counties under five waves of reforms between 1992 and 2008, based on indicators such as gross domestic product, industrial output and local government revenue. It finds that performance‐based decentralization not only helped overcome the problem of capacity deficits but also fostered capacity in weaker counties to assume more autonomy in the future. The paper confirms that speed and sequence of transfer of autonomy and responsibilities to local governments are as important as the content of decentralization. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Institutions and Poverty

This study utilises eight alternative measures of institutions and the instrumental variable method to examine the impacts of institutions on poverty. The estimates show that an economy with a robust system to control corruption, an effective government, and a stable political system will create the conditions to promote economic growth, minimise income distribution conflicts, and reduce poverty. Corruption, ineffective governments, and political instability will not only hurt income levels through market inefficiencies, but also escalate poverty incidence via increased income inequality. The results also imply that the quality of the regulatory system, rule of law, voice and accountability, and expropriation risk are inversely related to poverty but their effect on poverty is via average income rather than income distribution.     

政策子系统框架和政策改变:政策过程的后实证分析

“后实证主义”对政策过程的分析 ,强调的是政策过程中政策话语的作用。文章讨论政策网络和政策共同体整合思想和利益的方式 ,展示了不同的子系统框架与政策改变过程之间的关系。在一个既定的政策部门里 ,政策子系统的属性揭示出政策子系统回应思想和利益变化的倾向 ,政策子系统的属性表征着政策改变的方式和速度。