How Policy Shapes Politics: Uneven Environmental Policy Implementation in China

ABSTRACT

The literature on policy implementation has primarily focused on regime type, institutional capacity, and leadership will in explaining policy success, while giving less attention to the details of policy design. This article argues that, when explaining unevenness in policy implementation, the devil is in the details. It turns to four Chinese environmental policies: Pollution Penalty, Cap-and-Trade, Coal-to-Gas, and Environmental Protection Tax. Despite involving similar stakeholders and sharing the same goal of pollution control, the outcomes of these policies vary enormously: over-implementation of Coal-to-Gas, sporadic implementation of Pollution Penalty, symbolic implementation of Cap-and-Trade, and effective implementation of Environmental Protection Tax. Uneven implementation is best explained by the varying costs associated with the ‘start-up’ and ‘maintenance’ of these policies. This study contributes to the literature on developmental states and institutional change by calling attention to the importance of policy design for explaining otherwise puzzling variation in policy implementation.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Peter Gourevitch, Politics in Hard Times: Comparative Responses to International Economic Crises (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986), p. 17.

² Iza Ding, The Performative State: Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2022). Denise van der Kamp, Clean Air at What Cost? The Rise of Blunt Force Pollution Regulation in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023).

³ Bruce Gilley, ‘Authoritarian environmentalism and China’s response to climate change’, Environmental Politics 21(2), (2012), pp. 287–307.

⁴ Yifei Li and Judith Shapiro, China Goes Green: Coercive Environmentalism for a Troubled Planet (John Wiley & Sons, 2020).

⁵ Kenneth Lieberthal and Michael Oksenberg, Policy Making in China: Leaders, Structures, and Processes (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988). Abigail Jahiel, ‘The organization of environmental protection in China’, The China Quarterly 156, (1998), pp. 757–787. Andrew Mertha, ‘“Fragmented authoritarianism 2.0”: political pluralization in the Chinese policy process’, The China Quarterly 200, (2009), pp. 995–1012.

⁶ Elizabeth Perry and Sebastian Heilmann eds., Mao’s Invisible Hand: the Political Foundations of Adaptive Governance in China (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2011).

⁷ Chalmers Johnson, MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925–1975 (Stanford University Press, 1982).

⁸ Richard Doner, Bryan Ritchie and Dan Slater, ‘Systemic vulnerability and the origins of developmental states: Northeast and Southeast Asia in comparative perspective’, International Organization 59(2), (2005), pp. 327–361.

⁹ Christoph Steinhardt and Fengshi Wu, ‘In the name of the public: environmental protest and the changing landscape of popular contention in China’, The China Journal 75(1), (2016), pp. 61–82. Jessica Teets, Civil Society Under Authoritarianism: The China Model (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). Iza Ding, ‘Performative governance’, World Politics 72(4), (2020): pp. 525–556.

¹⁰ Sarah Eaton and Genia Kostka, ‘Authoritarian environmentalism undermined? Local leaders’ time horizons and environmental policy implementation in China’, The China Quarterly 218, (2014), pp. 359–380. Michael Davidson, Valerie J. Karplus, Joanna I. Lewis, Jonas Nahm, and Alex Wang, ‘Risks of decoupling from China on low-carbon technologies’, Science 377(6612), (2022), pp. 1266–1269. Xun Cao, Genia Kostka and Xu Xu, ‘Environmental political business cycles: the case of PM2.5 air pollution in Chinese prefectures’, Environmental Science & Policy 93, (2019), pp. 92–100. van der Kamp, Clean Air at What Cost?

¹¹ Peter Evans and James Rauch, ‘Bureaucracy and growth: a cross-national analysis of the effects of “Weberian” state structures on economic growth’, American Sociological Review 64(5), (1999), pp. 748–765. Stephan Haggard, Developmental States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018).

¹² Richard Doner, The Politics of Uneven Development: Thailand’s Economic Growth in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

¹³ Peter Evans, Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995). David Waldner, State Building and Late Development (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999).

¹⁴ Jahiel, ‘The organization of environmental protection’. Ding, The Performative State.

¹⁵ Iza Ding, ‘The politics of pollution emissions trading in China’, in Greening East Asia: The Rise of the Eco-Developmental State eds. A. Esarey, M. A. Haddad, J. I. Lewis and S. Harrell, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2020), pp. 76–91.

¹⁶ Kevin O’Brien and Lianjiang Li, ‘Selective policy implementation in rural China’, Comparative Politics (1999), p. 167.

¹⁷ Ibid.

¹⁸ Doner, The Politics of Uneven Development, p. 4.

¹⁹ Although ‘benefits’ usually appear in the same discussion as ‘costs’, this analysis effectively holds benefits constant. Environmental policies tend to yield minimal benefits to the subjects of policy implementation such as firms and individuals; and potential gains are diffused at the societal level.

²⁰ Alan Jacobs, ‘Policymaking as a political constraint: institutional development in the U.S. Social Security program’, in J. Mahoney and K. Thelen, eds, Explaining Institutional Change: Ambiguity, Agency, and Power (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 95.

²¹ Denise van der Kamp, ‘Governance by uncertainty: changing patterns in China’s environmental enforcement’, Studies in Comparative International Development (2023), pp. 1–24.

²² Ding, The Performative State.

²³ ‘China’s Xi wants “win-win cooperation’ with US’, BBC, (September 25 2015). Accessed June 2. 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34355581.

²⁴ Interview with NDRC bureaucrat, August 2017. Interview with former NDRC bureaucrat, July 2019.

²⁵ ‘China launches nationwide carbon trading system’, Xinhua, (December, 19 2017). Accessed June 2, 2024. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017–12/19/c_136838026.htm.

²⁶ ‘中国碳市场建设成效与展望’ [‘Achievements and prospects of China’s carbon market’], Beijing Institute of Technology, (January 7 2024). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://ceep.bit.edu.cn/docs//2024–01/219593cdd56840468f1362cc09783feb.pdf.

²⁷ Ding, ‘The politics of pollution emissions trading in China’.

²⁸ Sangbum Shin, ‘China’s failure of policy innovation: the case of sulphur dioxide emission trading’, Environmental Politics 22(6), (2013): pp. 918–934. Bing Zhang, Hanxun Fei, Pan He, Yuan Xu, Zhanfeng Dong, and Oran R. Young, ‘The indecisive role of the market in China’s SO₂ and COD emissions trading’, Environmental Politics 25(5), (2016): pp. 875–98.

²⁹ ‘China launches world’s largest carbon market: but is it ambitious enough?’, Nature, (July 20 2021). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01989-7.

³⁰ See Ding, The Performative State, Chapters 2 & 3.

³¹ Ding, ‘The politics of pollution emissions trading’.

³² Hongyun Han and Yingde Hu, ‘浙江省企业排污权交易参与意愿的影响因素研究’.

[‘Factors affecting firms’ participation willingness in tradable emissions permits in Zhejiang province’], 中国环境科学 [China Environmental Science] 31(3), (2011), pp. 510–515.

³³ Shin, ‘China’s failure of policy innovation’, p. 928.

³⁴ Interview with EPB official, April 2016.

³⁵ Interview with EPB official, February 2024.

³⁶ ‘中国碳市场建设成效与展望’ [‘Achievements and prospects of China’s carbon market’], Beijing Institute of Technology, (7 January 2024). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://ceep.bit.edu.cn/docs//2024–01/219593cdd56840468f1362cc09783feb.pdf.

³⁷ Zhang et al, ‘The indecisive role’.

³⁸ ‘京津冀及周边地区2017–2018年秋冬季大气污染综合治理攻坚行动方案’, Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), (August 24 2017). Accessed June 2, 2024 https://www.mee.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/bwj/201708/W020170824378273815892.pdf.

³⁹ ‘中国强推煤改气惹民怨, 为什么环保与温暖不可兼得?’, The Initium [端传媒], (6 December 2017). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://theinitium.com/zh-Hans/roundtable/20171206-roundtable-zh-change-coal-to-gas.

⁴⁰ Ibid.

⁴¹ ‘环保部: 今年北方将完成煤改400万户, 前提确保百姓不受冻’, The Paper [澎湃新闻], (11 February 2018). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1988217.

⁴² The Initium, ‘中国强推煤改气惹民怨’.

⁴³ Ibid.

⁴⁴ ‘中国入冬强推“煤改气”致部分地区民众无气受冻’, BBC (Chinese version), (December 4 2017). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-42219912.

⁴⁵ Ibid. The Initium, ‘中国强推煤改气惹民怨’.

⁴⁶ ‘China does U-turn on coal ban to avert heating crisis’, BBC, (8 December 2017). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42266768. The Paper, ‘环保部’

⁴⁷ ‘单仁平: 煤改气, 国家不是要让部分群众冻着’, Global Times, (December 4 2017). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://m.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnK5UwM.

⁴⁸ Yanhua Deng, Kevin J. O’Brien, and Jiajian Chen, ‘Enthusiastic policy implementation and its aftermath: the sudden expansion and contraction of China’s microfinance for women programme’, The China Quarterly 234, (2018), pp. 506–526.

⁴⁹ MEE, ‘京津冀’, p.25.

⁵⁰ See MEE, ‘京津冀’, for detailed, month-by-month implementation instructions that were issued for all 28 cities.

⁵¹ Interview with EPB official, August 2015.

⁵² Ibid.

⁵³ van der Kamp, Clean Air, Chapter 3.

⁵⁴ Global Times, ‘单仁平’.

⁵⁵ ‘国家发改委连发通知强调“煤改气”不能一哄而上’, China Environment News [中国环境报], (November 7 2013).

⁵⁶ Van der Kamp, Clean Air, 100.

⁵⁷ Interviews with representatives of the chemical industry, Shanghai and Jiangsu province, December 2019.

⁵⁸ Yongdong Shen and Anna Ahlers, ‘Blue sky fabrication in China: science-policy integration in air pollution regulation campaigns for mega-events’, Environmental Sciences & Policy 94, (2019), pp. 135–142.

⁵⁹ Van Rooij, ‘Implementation of Chinese environmental law’, p. 67.

⁶⁰ See, for instance, a description of the 2001 ‘Strict Inspections and Sanctions Campaign’ which was itself a response to a the failed ‘fifteen small’ [十五小] campaign in the 1990s. Benjamin van Rooij, ‘Implementation of Chinese environmental law: regular enforcement and political campaigns’, Development and Change 37(1), (2006), pp. 57–74.

⁶¹ Van der Kamp, ‘Governance by uncertainty’.

⁶² Ibid.

⁶³ Denise van der Kamp, ‘Can police patrols prevent pollution? The limits of authoritarian environmental governance in China’, Comparative Politics 53(3), (2021), pp.403–433.

⁶⁴ ‘排污费改环保税有何不同? 企业尝到少排少缴甜头’, 法制日报 [Legal Daily], (May 17 2018). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.chinanews.com.cn/m/cj/2018/05–17/8515679.shtml.

⁶⁵ Ding, The Performative State. Eaton and Kostka, ‘Authoritarian environmentalism’. Victoria Shen, The Political Regulation Wave: A Case of How Local Incentives Systematically Shape Air Quality in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022). Wei Shen and Dong Jiang, ‘Making authoritarian environmentalism accountable? Understanding China’s new reforms on environmental governance’, The Journal of Environment & Development 30(1), (2021), pp. 41–67.

⁶⁶ Sarah E. Anderson, Mark T. Buntaine, Mengdi Liu, and Bing Zhang, ‘Non‐governmental monitoring of local governments increases compliance with central mandates: a national‐scale field experiment in China’, American Journal of Political Science 63(3), (2019), pp. 626–643. Coraline Goron and Gillian Bolsover, ‘Engagement or control? The impact of the Chinese environmental protection bureaus’ burgeoning online presence in local environmental governance’, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 63(1), (2020), pp. 87–108. Deborah Seligsohn, Mengdi Liu, and Bing Zhang, ‘The sound of one hand clapping: transparency without accountability’, Environmental Politics 27(5), (2018), pp. 804–829.

⁶⁷ Qing Deng, ‘Foreign direct investment and discriminatory environmental enforcement: a firm level perspective’, Environmental Politics 30(6), (2021), pp. 958–980. Kai Jia and Shaowei Chen, ‘Could campaign-style enforcement improve environmental performance? Evidence from China’s central environmental protection inspection’, Journal of environmental management 245, (2019), pp. 282–290. Valerie Karplus and Mengying Wu, ‘Dynamic responses of SO2 pollution to China’s environmental inspections’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120(17), (2023), e2214262120.

⁶⁸ Jonas Nahm and Edward S. Steinfeld, ‘Scale-up nation: China’s specialization in innovative manufacturing’, World Development 54, (2014), pp. 288–300. Michael R. Davidson, Valerie J. Karplus, Joanna I. Lewis, Jonas Nahm, and Alex Wang, ‘Risks of decoupling from China on low-carbon technologies’, Science 377(6612), (2022), pp.1266–1269.

⁶⁹ David M. Konisky and Manuel P. Teodoro, ‘When governments regulate governments’, American Journal of Political Science 60(3), (2016), pp. 559–574.

⁷⁰ See for instance, ‘Critics say spill highlights lax West Virginia regulations’, New York Times, (12 January, 2014). Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/us/critics-say-chemical-spill-highlights-lax-west-virginia-regulations.html.