Research On Chinese Local Governments' Behaviors

Local governments' behaviors, actually, embody the relationships between market and government, central government and local governments. Due to some historical, institutional and other causes, the behaviors of Chinese local governments are comparatively disordered. At the beginning of China's economic reform, the local governments did contribute greatly and creatively to the rising of market economy. However, their present activities, such as substituting the market to allocate resources and replacing the central government to adjust the economy, have turned to obstacles in the way to establishing a full market economy system. It can be stated that China's economic reform has been stepped into the stage of necessarily reforming the government itself. This paper is expected to set up a frame for normative local government behaviors, which is also an important component of a mature and perfect market economy system.This thesis consists of four parts. It starts with a general picture of China's local governments' behaviors, both historically and currently, to explain the importance and seriousness of the problem. Part II analyses the causes resulting in the problem of local governments' behaviors from the two aspects of immanent motivation and exterior institutional defects, and concludes that institutional defects induce the immanent motivation to show a character of obstacle which make local governments' behaviors more "economic" than "social" and shape "economic governments". And then in the following part, this thesis sets up a normative frame for local governments' behaviors under the theoretical guidance of western theories on governmental functions and relevant discussions of China's top leaders. And finally, this thesis provides suggestions for an institutional innovation to reform theframe, by way of removing local governments' motivation and impetus on allocating resources, to turn "economic" governments into "social" governments.Innovations of this thesis are: first, it classifies all sorts of problems in China's local governments and describes each category in detail. Second, it tries to summarize the discussions and opinions of China's top leaders on the relationship of central and local governments and governmental functions, so as to ensure that the proposed frame accords with China's actual situations. And third, it states a basic standpoint that China's local governments are "economic governments", and an institutional innovation is needed in the process of economic governments changing into social governments.