Under what conditions do governments collaborate? A qualitative comparative analysis of air pollution control in China

ABSTRACT

Based on the collaborative governance framework, this paper proposes four starting conditions that affect the establishment of intergovernmental collaboration: power imbalance, resource imbalance, prehistory of collaboration and participation of superior levels of government. The interaction of these conditions is tested with collaborative practice among local governments in China to control air pollution. The qualitative comparative analysis results show that wheel-shaped, umbrella-shaped and fan-shaped modes promote collaboration. Non-participation of superior levels of government and strong–strong competition modes inhibit collaboration. External leadership and internal leadership play important roles in the initiation of interlocal collaboration.

KEYWORDS:

• Inter-governmental collaboration
• qualitative comparative analysis
• leadership
• air pollution control

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Developed by the Center of Complex Decision Analysis at Fudan University, Project Homepage: https://github.com/buka632/Fm-QCA

2. Interviews with cadres working in Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment in 2018. We have conducted 11 face-to-face and semi-structured interviews from August 2017 to July 2018 to gain a better understanding of the practices of intergovernmental collaboration on air pollution to explain the causal paths. The interviewees were government cadres, the persons who hold positions of managing air pollution affairs, coming from Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Xi’an Ecology and Environment Bureau, Environmental Protection Agency of Hangzhou, and Nanjing Ecology and Environment Bureau. The contents of the interviews were mainly focused on the current situation of the regional collaborative governance for air pollution in China and the processes, experiences and obstacles of establishing intergovernmental collaboration. These interviews provided practical insights that guide us in exploring the theoretical paths to be tested in QCA analyses.

3. Interviews with cadres working in Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment in 2018.

4. Interviews with cadres working in Xi’an Ecology and Environment Bureau in 2018.

5. Interviews with cadres working in Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China in 2018.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Key Philosophy and Social Science Research Project of Chinese Ministry of Education under Grant 17JZD025; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 71573176.

Notes on contributors

Yao Liu

Yao Liu is a PhD student in the School of International and Public Affairs at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research interests include government innovation, technology and environmental policy.

Jiannan Wu

Jiannan Wu is a Distinguished Professor and an Executive Vice Director of China Institute for Urban Governance at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He has worked on performance management, government innovation, urban governance, and particularly towards city air pollution.

Hongtao Yi

Hongtao Yi is an associate professor in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. His research focuses on network governance, collaborative governance, policy process, and energy and environmental policy.

Jing Wen

Jing Wen is a master student in the School of International and Public Affairs at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her research interests include performance management and environmental policy.