| Like other leading economies in the world, China is transitioning toward a "regulatory state." Since the 1990s, a number of Independent Regulatory Agencies (IRAs) have been established in China, covering areas such as financial, electricity and airline industries. Research on China IRAs, however, is very limited and is still in the beginning stage. This dissertation aims to improve the understanding on China IRAs. Through conducting surveys and interviews with senior officials from the IRAs, outside consultants, and independent scholars, this dissertation not only presents a comprehensive view of the governance state of China IRAs, but identifies the major constraints to them when fulfilling their regulatory responsibilities. This dissertation concludes that while there are still many inadequacies, China IRAs have made substantial movement toward the global benchmark of the independent regulator in the development of China's regulatory state. The constraints identified in this research also provide important references for the future design of new IRA in China. |
