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ID: 119187

Local energy efficiency policy implementation in China: bridging the gap between national priorities and local interests / Kostka, Genia; Hobbs, William

Kostka, Genia	Journal Article
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2012.

Summary/Abstract

This paper analyses Chinese sub-national governments' implementation strategies to meet national energy efficiency targets in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). Previous research has focused on the ways governance practices and decision-making structures shape implementation outcomes, yet very little attention has been given to what strategies local leaders actually employ to bridge national priorities with local interests. To illustrate how local leaders work politically, this paper highlights specific implementation methods officials use to strengthen formal incentives and create effective informal incentives to comply with energy efficiency mandates. The analysis is drawn from 53 interviews conducted in June and July of 2010 in Shanxi, a major coal-producing and energy-intensive province. Findings suggest that local government leaders conform to national directives by "bundling" the energy efficiency policy with policies of more pressing local importance or by "bundling" their energy efficiency objectives with the interests of groups with significant political influence. Ultimately, sub-national government officials frame policies in ways that give them legitimacy at the local level.

Key Words

Energy ; China ; Climate Change ; Policy Implementation ; Central - Local Relations ; Informal Incentives ;
Central – Local Relations

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ID: 110259

Rural tax reform and the extractive capacity of local state in / Liu, Mingxing; Xu, Zhigang; Su, Fubing; Tao, Ran

Liu, Mingxing	Journal Article
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Publication

2012.

Summary/Abstract

China's fiscal arrangement in the 1980s has preserved local governments' incentive but the 1994 fiscal reform recentralized revenues. Since then, farmers' tax burdens have risen steeply and become a major challenge to the state legitimacy. How to account for the huge regional variation? Why were some localities able to tax more heavily than others? Based on a national survey of village governance in China, we examine farmers' burdens empirically and identify political and social factors that explain the local governments' ability to tax farmers. This paper suggests that developments since the 1990s have shown that it overstates local discretionary power and does not pay enough attention to societal forces in understanding local public finance.

Key Words

China ; Rural Tax Reform ; Central - Local Relations ; Local Public Finance ; Farmers Burdens

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