The Changes In The Scale Of Dibao Recipients Under The Perspective Of Policy Implementation

In the context of the continuous shrinkage of the scale of Minimum Living Standard System(known as Dibao)recipients accompanying with the increasing Dibao standard,scholars try to explain the reason of changes in the scale of Dibao recipients.They find out different analytic perspectives relate to economic development,Dibao standard,and policy implementation respectively.Based on the unique case of “decline first,then rise,and then fall” in Zhejiang Province’s scale of the Dibao recipients,we find that the explanatory power of economic development and Dibao standard were challenged,and that the perspective of policy implementation remains the explanatory power.Based on the analytical framework of “political incentives-institutional constraint-expediency strategy”,this thesis analyzes the reason of the changes in the scale of Dibao recipients from the perspective of policy implementation.The main content and conclusions of this research include the following aspects:1)The analysis framework of "political incentives-institutional constraintsexpediency strategies" is proposed.This framework continues the "integrated research" perspective of policy implementation research.Among them,based on the incentive theory,political incentives focus on the impact of the adjustments of performance evaluation system and the changes of the status of the client on the incentive intensity,which responds to the the dynamic mechanism.Based on historical institutionalism,institutional constraints focus on the threshold conditions set by regulatory institutions for the Dibao qualification,and take into account the influence of technical means,organizational platform and regulatory mechanism on the intensity of institutional constraints,which responds to the basic conditions.Based on rational choice institutionalism,the expediency strategy focuses on how local governments enhance the ability to include the special difficult objects through the expansion of discretionary power,so as to respond to the flexible space.2)Demonstrating the explanatory power of the perspective of policy implementation on the changes in the scale of Dibao recipients.The changes in the scale of Dibao recipients in Zhejiang from 2011 to 2019 presents an overall trend of "decline first,then rise,and then fall".By comparing the scale of Dibao recipients with other potential influencing factors(such as GDP and the Dibao standard),it is found that both the perspective of economic development and Dibao standard have certain explanatory power,but neither can fully explain the changes.On the basis of finding that the inflection point of the change trend of the scale of Dibao recipients in Zhejiang Province fits the time node of the key policy event,quantitative analysis found that the assessment of the proportion of Dibao recipients has a significant positive impact on the change of the scale of Dibao recipients.The special governance of Dibao has a significant negative impact on the changes in the scale of Dibao recipients.Therefore,the perspective of policy implementation provides room for explanation for the reasons for the changes in the scale of Dibao recipients.3)Analyzing the influence mechanism of political incentive on the change of the scale of Dibao recipients.Based on the research on the rising period of the scale of the Dibao recipients,it is found that the "assessment of the proportion of Dibao recipients" makes the proportion of Dibao recipients become an assessment index for local governments,and makes the entrusting party to increase the proportion of Dibao recipients change from the civil affairs department to the authoritative party committee and government,which strengthens the political incentive.Therefore,the local government prioritizes the increase of the proportion of subsistence allowances,invests more governance resources in the affairs of Dibao recipients,and seeks out potential recipients of Dibao through the construction of active discovery mechanisms and other means.The evaluation results showed that the policy implementation under strong incentives increased the scale of the Dibao recipients,and did not significantly increase the rate of “wrong coverage”.4)Analyzing the influence mechanism of institutional constraint on the change of the scale of Dibao recipients.Based on the research on the falling back period of the scale of the Dibao recipients,it is found that during the period of "Special Governance of Dibao",the introduction of regulatory systems,the perfection of technology and organization platform,the strengthening of the supervision mechanism and its characteristic of "heavy wrong coverage,light leakage",strengthen the institutional constraints,which raising the threshold of the qualification,and more conducive to avoid the "wrong covergage".The policy implementation shows the characteristic of "leakage rather than wrong coverage".In this context,the review of Dibao eligibility has been rigorous,and the work of reimbursement of Dibao has been strengthened,and the scale of Dibao recipients has declined.However people with special difficulties,such as the old with no one to support and low-income people with borderline precautionary saving,are also exposed to the risk of "leakage".5)Analyzing the influence mechanism of expediency strategy on the change of the scale of Dibao recipients.Based on the research of local governments’ efforts to expand the scale of Dibao recipients during the the falling back period,it is found that local governments use the structural tension between policy uniformity and implementation flexibility to enhance their ability to include groups with special difficulties through the exercise of discretion.Based on the analysis of three local cases,the translation of policy texts,local joint social assistance meetings,and due diligence measures were implemented by creating "policy space",establishing a "collective responsibility" mechanism,and establishing a "due diligence and fault tolerance" mechanism respectively,to extend discretion to include groups with special difficulties.On the basis of case studies,this study points out that the changes in the scale of the Dibao recipients are the result of political incentives,institutional constraints,and expediency strategies.Then,policy recommendations were made,which include that improving the status and resource input of Dibao,carefully formulating the restrictive thresholds for Dibao qualification,improving the implementation system of Dibao,and optimizing the supervision and accountability system of Dibao,to improve the situation of targeting and to appropriately expand the scale of Dibao recipients.Based on the above findings,this research may have the following breakthroughs and contributions.First,put forward an analysis framework of “political incentivesinstitutional constraints-expediency strategies” and clarify the mechanism.Second,it puts forward the regulatory bias of “leakage rather than wrong coverage”,which are embedded in the analysis of the reasons of the changes in the scale of Dibao recipients.Third,point out the risk of “leakage” behind the phenomenon of decreasing scale of Dibao recipients,and analyze the reasons.Fourth,point out the positive role of discretion in the identification of Dibao recipients.Fifth,research on the cases of local policy innovations for expanding the scale of Dibao recipients.