Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Author: Jie WANG, Master Student, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, wangjie15@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn; Zhilin LIU, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, zhilinliu@tsinghua.edu.cn

Abstract:

Experimentation has been recognized as an important feature of China’s policy innovation and policy transformation (Heilmann, 2008; Mei and Liu, 2014). The central government actively used experimentation – pilot programs (shidian) and demonstration programs (shifan) to promote new policy initiatives. As environmental sustainability assumes a top priority in China’s policy agenda, central government ministries have initiated a varieties of experimental programs aimed at promoting sustainability related policy goals and measures. Scholars have studied on the role and performance of such local experimentation in China’s policy transformation from a central-local perspective. Two logics – top-down selection and local competition – coexist in sustainability experimentation. However, with relatively few exceptions (e.g. Zhu & Zhang, 2015), little research has been conducted over the spatial distribution of local experimentation, and particularly what may determine the chance of a locality being selected as a pilot city for policy experimentation.

In this paper, we investigate the spatial patterns – as well as the determinants of local sustainability experimentation in Chinese cities, focusing on low-carbon pilot program initiated by the National Development and Reform Commission. Up until now, three rounds of low-carbon pilot programs have been conducted in China in 2010, 2012 and 2017 respectively. Using event history analysis and logic model, the empirical research aims to answer two questions. (1) What is the spatial distribution of local sustainability experimentation? (2) From a central-local perspective, what factors will influence cities’ chance of being an experimentation site for sustainability policies?

The preliminary results show that in the case of low-carbon pilot cities, for the first two rounds of pilot programs, the central ministry took more regional equilibrium into consideration. However, in the third round, the spatial distribution of low-carbon pilot cities showed some spatial cluster, especially in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces. Besides, level of economic development, incentive of local leaders and the administrative level all play significant roles in the acceptance of environmental pilots.

Keywords: Sustainability; Local Experimentation; Inter-jurisdictional Competition; Spatial Analysis; China