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Decentralization and Veiled Corruption under China’s “Rule of Mandates”

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  • Birney, Mayling

Abstract

This paper shows why corruption is especially difficult to detect under China’s system of decentralized authoritarian rule, which I call a “rule of mandates.” Local officials must pursue high priority political targets but have immense discretion over which laws to implement. A relative standard for corruption consequently arises since non-implementation of laws may be mandate-serving or may be corrupt; and determining which requires extra information on why non-implementation occurred. The theory is supported by evidence from original survey and case research on the implementation of the village elections law. I discuss implications for anticorruption efforts, development patterns, and future research.

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  • Birney, Mayling, 2014. "Decentralization and Veiled Corruption under China’s “Rule of Mandates”," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 55-67.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:53:y:2014:i:c:p:55-67
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.01.006
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    3. Paul Minard, 2020. "Institutions and China's comparative development," Papers 2001.02804, arXiv.org.
    4. Ji, Mianmian & Lv, Wendai, 2022. "Demonstration zones reform and corporate philanthropy: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    5. Jin, Yanhong & Fan, Maoyong & Cheng, Mingwang & Shi, Qinghua, 2014. "The economic gains of cadre status in rural China: Investigating effects and mechanisms," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 185-200.
    6. Charlotte Lee & Xiaobin He, 2014. "Go East, Young Cadre: Experiments in Inter-Provincial Training of Party and State Managers in China," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(2), pages 329-352, March.
    7. You, Jing & Nie, Huihua, 2017. "Who determines Chinese firms' engagement in corruption: Themselves or neighbors?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 29-46.
    8. 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.
    9. Luigi Bonatti & Andrea Fracasso, 2016. "Modelling The Transition Towards The Renminbi'S Full Convertibility: Implications For China'S Growth," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(S1), pages 146-170, December.
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    12. Jean-Louis COMBES & Mary-Françoise RENARD & Sampawende Jules TAPSOBA, 2015. "Provincial Public Expenditure in China: A Tale of Profligacy," Working Papers 201524, CERDI.
    13. 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.
    14. Cai, Meina & Sun, Xin, 2018. "Institutional bindingness, power structure, and land expropriation in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 172-186.
    15. Peter Evans & Patrick Heller, 2018. "The state and development," WIDER Working Paper Series 112, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
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