The Rise and Fall of Local Elections in China: Theory and Empirical Evidence on the Autocrat's Trade-Off

62 Pages Posted: 21 Feb 2018 Last revised: 7 Feb 2020

See all articles by Monica Martinez-Bravo

Monica Martinez-Bravo

Centre for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI)

Gerard Padró i Miquel

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Nancy Qian

Yale University - Department of Economics

Yang Yao

Peking University

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 13, 2017

Abstract

We propose a simple informational theory to explain why autocratic regimes introduce local elections. Because citizens have better information on local officials than the distant central government, delegation of authority via local elections improves selection and performance of local officials. However, local officials under elections have no incentive to implement unpopular centrally mandated policies. The model makes several predictions: i) elections pose a trade-off between performance and vertical control; ii) elections improve the selection of officials; and iii) an increase in bureaucratic capacity reduces the desirability of elections for the autocrat. To test (i) and (ii), we collect a large village-level panel dataset from rural China. Consistent with the model, we find that elections improve (weaken) the implementation of popular (unpopular) policies, and improve official selection. We provide a large body of qualitative and descriptive evidence to support (iii). In doing so, we shed light on why the Chinese government has systematically undermined village governments twenty years after they were introduced.

Keywords: political economy, economic development, institutions

JEL Classification: O2, P3, P16

Suggested Citation

Martinez-Bravo, Monica and Padro i Miquel, Gerard and Qian, Nancy and Yao, Yang, The Rise and Fall of Local Elections in China: Theory and Empirical Evidence on the Autocrat's Trade-Off (November 13, 2017). Global Poverty Research Lab Working Paper No. 17-115, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3127097 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3127097

Monica Martinez-Bravo

Centre for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI) ( email )

Casado del Alisal 5
28014 Madrid
Spain

Gerard Padro i Miquel

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) ( email )

Houghton Street
London, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Nancy Qian (Contact Author)

Yale University - Department of Economics ( email )

28 Hillhouse Ave
New Haven, CT 06520-8268
United States

Yang Yao

Peking University ( email )

No. 38 Xueyuan Road
Haidian District
Beijing, Beijing 100871
China

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