Kaicheng Luo, Shaoda Wang, and David Y. Yang
Afundamental question in governance concerns the merits of centralized versus decentralized policymaking. While top-down, centralized policymaking may streamline adoption, enhance efficiency, and improve coordination between regions, it often sacrifices the local suitability of bottom-up, decentralized policy initiatives. This tension is especially relevant when governing large nations with many regional differences. However, measuring centralization in policymaking is difficult because it requires tracing the origin and spread of all policies across layers of government hierarchy; as a result, most studies of centralization and decentralization focus on only one policy. Assessing centralization’s impact on policy outcomes is even more demanding because it involves linking policies to both local conditions and intended outcomes.
Our research examines the centralization of policymaking in China and how it has affected the local suitability of policies across all domains over the past two decades. We investigated two questions: First, what share of local governments’ policy portfolios is shaped by the central government’s direct involvement? Second, does the central government’s direct involvement undermine policy suitability and effectiveness at the local level?
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