ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Bureaucratic politics, innovation compatibility, and the dynamic diffusion of subnational decentralization reforms in China
Youlang Zhang,
Hongshan Yang,
Youlang Zhang
School of Public Administration and Policy, Capital Development and Governance Institute, Health Science, Hospital Reform and Medical Big Data Liberal Arts and Sciences Cross Platform (team), Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Hongshan Yang
School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Correspondence
Hongshan Yang, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorYoulang Zhang,
Hongshan Yang,
Youlang Zhang
School of Public Administration and Policy, Capital Development and Governance Institute, Health Science, Hospital Reform and Medical Big Data Liberal Arts and Sciences Cross Platform (team), Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Hongshan Yang
School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Correspondence
Hongshan Yang, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
enDespite the widely recognized significance of policy attributes in explaining innovation diffusion, limited research has emphasized the underlying endogenous mechanisms dictating the construction of innovation attributes. This study points out that bureaucratic politics could dynamically shape an innovation's compatibility with the potential adopters and its diffusion likelihood. Based on the subnational decentralization reforms in China, we note that compared to administrative and fiscal decentralization, political decentralization is less likely to generate personal gains and more likely to negatively affect the career prospects of local officials in a layer-by-layer personnel management system. Therefore, the study speculates that political decentralization reforms have a lower level of compatibility, consequently reducing its diffusion likelihood among local governments. We confirmed our theoretical expectations by conducting an in-depth case study of the top-down diffusion of three types of “Province-Managing-County Reforms” among 102 counties in China's Henan Province (2004–2021).
Resumen
esA pesar de la importancia ampliamente reconocida de los atributos de las políticas para explicar la difusión de la innovación, la investigación limitada ha enfatizado los mecanismos endógenos subyacentes que dictan la construcción de los atributos de la innovación. Este estudio señala que la política burocrática podría moldear dinámicamente la compatibilidad de una innovación con los adoptantes potenciales y su probabilidad de difusión. Sobre la base de las reformas de descentralización subnacional en China, observamos que, en comparación con la descentralización administrativa y fiscal, es menos probable que la descentralización política genere ganancias personales y es más probable que afecte negativamente las perspectivas de carrera de los funcionarios locales en un sistema de gestión de personal de nivel por nivel. Por lo tanto, el estudio especula que las reformas de descentralización política tienen un menor nivel de compatibilidad, lo que reduce su probabilidad de difusión entre los gobiernos locales. Confirmamos nuestras expectativas teóricas mediante la realización de un estudio de caso en profundidad de la difusión de arriba hacia abajo de tres tipos de "reformas de provincia-administración-condado" entre 102 condados en la provincia china de Henan (2004-2021).
摘要
zh尽管政策属性在解释创新扩散方面的重要性得到广泛认可，但很少有研究强调了决定创新属性构建的潜在内生机制。本研究指出，官僚政治能动态地影响创新与潜在采用者的兼容性以及创新扩散的可能性。基于中国地方分权改革，我们表明，与行政分权和财政分权相比，政治分权不太可能产生个人收益，并更可能对分层(layer-by-layer)人事管理体系中地方官员的职业前景产生负面影响。因此，本研究推测，政治分权改革的兼容性较低，从而降低了其在地方政府间扩散的可能性。通过对2004-2021年间中国河南省102个县执行的自上而下的三种“省管县改革”扩散进行深度案例研究，我们证实了理论预期。
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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