The Institutional Logic Of Higher Education Governance Of Local Government In China

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up in China,the rapid scale expansion,structure optimization and quality improved steadily of higher education has benefited from local government,which has driven higher education to achieve a leap from "elite" → "mass" → "popularization" and played an important role on governance.In the popularization stage of higher education,governance is characterized by its large-scale complexity and heterogeneity.If we cannot clarify the institutional logic of higher education governance of local government and identify the dynamic mechanism behind the higher education behavior of local government,we will not be able to summarize "Chinese experience" and provide a "Chinese solution" for the modernization of higher education governance system and governance capacity.It is of great theoretical value and practical significance to answer the institutional logic of higher education governance of local government,construct a theoretical framework by sociology,economics and political theory,and analyze the internal mechanism of higher education governance of local government by using literature method,comparison method,statistical analysis and case study.The research makes the relationship between government and university the basic relationship in higher education governance.Taking the relationship between government and university as the starting point,the research systematically combs the mode and effect of higher education governance in European Community countries(e.g.,Britain,Germany and France).At the same time,based on the practice performance and relevant research of higher education governance in China,the research systematically investigates and analyzes the current situation of higher education governance from an overall perspective.Notably,the logical starting point of this study is that the governance behavior of higher education of local government is the internal mechanism of the institutional logic and the governance effect of higher education of local government is the external performance of the institutional logic.Furthermore,the research focus on the governance behavior of higher education of local government,go deep into the policy implementation level and evaluate the governance effect of higher education of local government policy results.Combined with the political economics theories(e.g.fiscal decentralization,"political tournament" and yardstick competition)and Weber’s sociology theory(e.g.,legitimacy,types of authority and forms of domination),the research puts forward an overall framework "The Institutional Logic of Higher Education Governance of Local Government in China".This theoretical framework answers the question of what is the institutional logic of higher education governance of local government in China,including different behavior modes of higher education governance of local government,as well as different performance and effectiveness of higher education governance.Furthermore,based on this theoretical framework,empirical analysis was divided into five parts.(1)Combined with panel data from 2004 to 2018 in 31 provinces in China,the research constructs a threshold effect model to test the nonlinear relationship between fiscal decentralization and the level of higher education expenditure of local government,and describes the evolutionary logic of higher education behavior of local government.The research found that when the financial imbalance degree is lower than the threshold(about 47.8%),it means that the local government has the power to allocate higher education resource,promote the development of local higher education,and perform the higher education behavior of competitive local government.On the contrary,the local government can only maintain the development of higher education on lower limit and perform the higher education behavior of survival local government.(2)Using the method of path analysis of structural equation model,combined with the data of 31 provinces in China from 1999 to 2017,the research effectively fits the double factor causal intermediary models(chain intermediary model)of the expansion of higher education scale in China.The study found that the effect value of the intermediary path-"fiscal decentralization → local political tournament → yardstick competition in local government → local higher education scale" is 0.297,which jointly explains the variation of 42.5% about the expansion of higher education scale in China and reveals the dynamic mechanism behind the behavior performance of higher education governance of local government.(3)Based on the data of political leaders from 1995 to 2019 in 31 provinces in China,the research investigates the impact of the political leadership of leaders in province on higher education expenditure of local government,and demonstrates that the political leadership of provincial leaders in the process of higher education governance is characterized by their age,tenure,personal education background,education level and political relevance.That is,under the charisma authority and charisma system,the stronger the willingness of provincial leaders to develop local higher education,the stronger their political leadership in the process of higher education governance,and their ruling direction is inclined to develop local higher education exactly.(4)By collecting the panel data from 2010 to 2019 in 31 provinces in China,the time-varying difference-in-difference(DID)model is constructed to evaluate the policy effect of the construction of provincial high-level universities,and examining the localization of higher education and the effectiveness of local higher education governance.(5)Collecting the panel data from 2012 to 2020 in universities,the paper conducts the time-varying DID model to evaluates the policy effect of the foundation for high-level universities in higher education of Guangdong province,which is characterized by "high-intensity and extraordinary investment",and demonstrates the necessity and feasibility of local governments participating in regional higher education competition,examines the effectiveness and deficiencies of higher education governance of competitive local governments.Finally,we discuss again the continuation and transformation of the higher education governance system in China from the aspects of "centralization and decentralization","legal authority and bureaucratic system and charisma authority and charisma system",as well as the "merit" and "fault" of higher education governance leading by local governments.In the future,we also look forward to the challenges of higher education governance of local government.