IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/asiaps/v9y2022i1p5-22.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Novel virus, novel response: Local discretion and responses to COVID‐19 in Hebei Province, China

Author

Listed:
  • Hong Gao
  • Adam Tyson
  • Guangxin Cheng

Abstract

The Chinese Communist Party is consolidating one party rule under the leadership of Xi Jinping. Beijing seeks to rule by central mandate while limiting local autonomy. The central government response to the COVID‐19 public health emergency reinforces this view. In January 2020 Beijing established the Central Epidemic Response Leading Group to mobilise a comprehensive nationwide policy effort to contain the virus. The exceptional nature of the COVID‐19 national emergency allows the central government to project power over local authorities and leverage over citizens, but we argue that this is a short‐term phenomenon because local disease control initiatives remain important, with local authorities adapting national policies to meet constituent needs. There are degrees of policy discretion and divergence at the subnational level that enable context‐specific responses to the virus within China’s strict bureaucratic hierarchy. Primary data derives from interviews and observations in Nancun village, Hebei Province, conducted from January to April 2020. Evidence from Nancun explains how local authorities interpret the edicts and mandates of the central government.

Suggested Citation

  • Hong Gao & Adam Tyson & Guangxin Cheng, 2022. "Novel virus, novel response: Local discretion and responses to COVID‐19 in Hebei Province, China," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 5-22, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:asiaps:v:9:y:2022:i:1:p:5-22
    DOI: 10.1002/app5.342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/app5.342
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/app5.342?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yang, Yuanyuan & Liu, Yansui & Li, Yurui & Li, Jintao, 2018. "Measure of urban-rural transformation in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in the new millennium: Population-land-industry perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 595-608.
    2. Birney, Mayling, 2014. "Decentralization and veiled corruption under China's "rule of mandates"," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 45826, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Birney, Mayling, 2014. "Decentralization and Veiled Corruption under China’s “Rule of Mandates”," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 55-67.
    4. van der Kamp, Denise & Lorentzen, Peter & Mattingly, Daniel, 2017. "Racing to the Bottom or to the Top? Decentralization, Revenue Pressures, and Governance Reform in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 164-176.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ji, Mianmian & Lv, Wendai, 2022. "Demonstration zones reform and corporate philanthropy: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    2. Kong, Gaowen & Ji, Mianmian & Guo, Yuemei, 2021. "Political promotion events and energy conservation decisions: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Shenghui Tong, 2022. "Corruption and anti‐corruption in China: a review and future research agenda," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 36(1), pages 3-16, May.
    4. Ge Xin & Jia Chen, 2023. "Decentralized governance and collective action dilemma: Sub‐national governments' responses to COVID‐19 in China," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(2), pages 163-175, May.
    5. Xinyu Fan & Feng Yang, 2019. "Strategic promotion, reputation, and responsiveness in bureaucratic hierarchies," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 31(3), pages 286-307, July.
    6. Zhou, Wenwen & shi, Yu & Zhao, Tian & Cao, Ximeng & Li, Jialin, 2024. "Government regulation, horizontal coopetition, and low-carbon technology innovation: A tripartite evolutionary game analysis of government and homogeneous energy enterprises," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    7. Lan Guo & Ling Yang, 2023. "The Corporate Economic Influence and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, July.
    8. Ren Wang & Yuxiang Bian & Han Gao & Jie Hou, 2023. "Optimal Environmental Policy for Heterogeneous Governments in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-12, February.
    9. Wang, Bo & Li, Fan & Feng, Shuyi & Shen, Tong, 2020. "Transfer of development rights, farmland preservation, and economic growth: a case study of Chongqing’s land quotas trading program," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    10. Haixiang Xu & Rui Zhang, 2024. "Dynamic Analysis of Urban Land Use Efficiency in the Western Taiwan Strait Economic Zone," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-26, August.
    11. van der Kamp, Denise & Lorentzen, Peter & Mattingly, Daniel, 2017. "Racing to the Bottom or to the Top? Decentralization, Revenue Pressures, and Governance Reform in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 164-176.
    12. Pengsheng Li & Yanying Chen, 2019. "The Influence of Enterprises’ Bargaining Power on the Green Total Factor Productivity Effect of Environmental Regulation—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-20, September.
    13. Qianqian Huang & Benhong Peng & Xin Sheng & Anxia Wan, 2022. "Exploring new ideas for sustainable development of urban agglomerations-based on the coupling of people’s livelihood and environmental governance," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(8), pages 9985-10004, August.
    14. Yue, Wenze & Wang, Tianyu & Liu, Yong & Zhang, Qun & Ye, Xinyue, 2019. "Mismatch of morphological and functional polycentricity in Chinese cities: An evidence from land development and functional linkage," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    15. Huiying Zhang & Zijian Zhu, 2024. "Mobile Government Service Promotion Strategies: Exploring Sustainable Development Pathways Based on Provincial Government Practices in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-21, August.
    16. Kuo Zhou & Baicheng Zhou & Mengmeng Yu, 2020. "The impacts of fiscal decentralization on environmental innovation in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 1690-1710, December.
    17. Zhang, Shouguo & Zhang, Jianjun & Dai, Yixin & Zhang, Ling, 2025. "Mitigating conflicts in the implementation of intensive land use policies: Insights from a tripartite evolutionary game model," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    18. Duy Tung Bui & Canh Phuc Nguyen & Thanh Su Dinh, 2021. "Fiscal Decentralisation and Externalities on Economic Growth: Spatial-provincial evidence from Vietnam," Journal of Economic Development, The Economic Research Institute, Chung-Ang University, vol. 46(4), pages 31-64.
    19. Shu-Yi Chi & Tsorng-Chyi Hwang & Li-Hsien Chien, 2023. "Business Policy and Competitiveness of Farmers’ Organizations—Empirical Evidence from Taiwan," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, February.
    20. Ma, Wenqiu & Jiang, Guanghui & Chen, Yunhao & Qu, Yanbo & Zhou, Tao & Li, Wenqing, 2020. "How feasible is regional integration for reconciling land use conflicts across the urban–rural interface? Evidence from Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan region in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:asiaps:v:9:y:2022:i:1:p:5-22. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=2050-2680 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.